980 research outputs found
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Life cycle assessment of sugarcane growing process in Fiji
No full textSugarcane is an economically important crop in Fiji as it has considerable impact on the gross domestic product and around 22% (200,000) of the population is directly or indirectly dependent on the sugarcane industry. Considering the importance of this crop, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed in order to understand environmental impacts. In this paper, Fijian sugarcane production was assessed to produce a set of LCA results for defined impacts. The results can be used in subsequent assessments of sugarcane-related products and provide significant insights into the current impacts. Life cycle impact assessment results were generated using CML, ReCiPe and Impact 2002 + models running in Open LCA software using the Ecoinvent database. This connected the system flows and process flow to the product systems in order to calculate the life cycle impact assessment results to be based on local data for comparable and accurate evaluation. Previous analysis revealed that sugarcane production has a considerable impact on global warming potential because of the significant use of fossil fuels in farm machineries and transportation, and the production and use of agrochemicals. Results from this study show that sugarcane production has least impact on ozone layer depletion. Fertilizer production and usage was found to be one of the key issues affecting various impact categories. These results will assist further assessments on the sugarcane products and systems. However, in order to further develop the LCA tool for Fijian agricultural systems, development and testing of life cycle impact assessment models is necessary for Fijian conditions. This will ensure further accuracy of model outputs and supply more realistic and real-time results on emissions
Improving health and well-being through climate change adaptation
No full textUnderstanding the perceptions of climate change impacts on people’s health and well-being in coastal communities is essential to develop adaptation strategies that will improve the health and well-being of community members in coastal areas. Here, an integrated mixed method approach: concurrent convergence parallel triangulation design – was used in 5 coastal communities in Tongatapu, Tonga. Community members were interviewed. Some of them had their health and well-being affected by climate change and some were not affected. Their responses were analyzed using a non-parametric test – chi-square analysis. Themes regarding the impact of climate change on health and well-being were then used to generate a further hypothesis. The results show that those whose health and well-being was affected differed significantly from those who were unaffected. They also indicated that all aspects of well-being: physical, mental and spiritual were affected by climate change and that people were eager to see the implementation of climate change adaptation strategies to improve their health and restore their mental well-being. It is thus essential to include these issues in adaptation strategies to ensure that local people are supporting and taking ownership of their resilience building
Autism and Flexischooling
No full textAlthough there is a great deal that schools can, and do, do to support autistic children to access schools, that great advocate for inclusion in education, Mary Warnock, agreed with Lorna Wing that for some autistic children there is no such thing as true inclusion in mainstream school (in Cigman, 2006. For some, full time mainstream school by its very nature ise so challenging, exhausting, isolating and downright frightening that these children experience no true inclusion at all.
Some parents faced with this challenge choose to home educate, but for many this is neither a practical nor desirable option. This article explores a third way: neither full-time school nor full-time home, but a negotiated, agreed, respectful, informed and professional approach that places the needs of the autistic child firmly at its centr
Don't panic: it's only a neurodevelopmental difference!
No full textWhy do we continue to position autism as 'other'? If we just open our eyes to people around us, we will find that autism is just one way of being a human being
Sexual crime and circles of support and accountability
No full textThis book offers a collection of original contributions to current research available on Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA). by engaging with current literature and unpublished research in the field. The book explores the role of narrative identity in desistance from sexual crime and how CoSA maps onto this, as well as a history of CoSA across the world. The text then moves into an empirical section, reporting on some unpublished findings, including an evaluation of a new prison-based CoSA in the UK. Lastly, the experiences of service users and the influence of media perceptions are explored, offering a space for he 'unheard voices' as well as consideration of future directions for practitioners. The book is relevant not just to psychologists, criminologists, social workers and students, but to practitioners and the general public with an interest in learning about CoSA
Disasters are not natural
No full textSteve, Lee and Ksenia argue for a greater understanding that disasters arising from hazardous events are not natural and that we should therefore avoid using the term ‘natural disaster’
Early years challenges for the future
No full textFuture challenges include meeting all young learners’ needs, with opportunities for them to use their full potential to meet the needs of changing local, national and international contexts. Meeting these challenges requires a broad framework to allow for independent thinking (see Chapter 5 on children’s philosophical thinking) and a willingness to be open to new ideas and ways of working, considering approaches in other countries and adopting those deemed to have a positive impact. Approaches will need constant adjustment to fit the continually changing contexts of future needs, including those concerning technological advances, health, equality and the imperative to offer education for all
Teaching trainee teachers to meet the needs of autistic pupils: ‘How the devil do we do that in the time available?’
No full textA perspective article for the Teacher Education Advancement Network 'scholarly papers on-line repository, Storehouse.
As of this year, all Initial Teacher Training (ITT) must include training in autism. This article discusses a perspective on what this training might usefully include
'Insiderness' in my pilot study research
No full textI am in the second year of an EdD and have just completed my pilot study. My research aims to illuminate and interrogate the stories mothers who are also Primary and Foundation Stage teachers tell about their experiences of this special situation of ‘teacher-motherhood’. My pilot study involved one participant, Sian (pseudonym) in one unstructured, life story interview (Goodson, 2013). The methodological approach for this pilot and the main study is a postmodern feminist narrative approach. The pilot study findings suggest that Sian’s story of teacher motherhood describes her as being ultimately responsibility for all of the children she cares for, including her own child, at all times. A major feature of my thinking (and worrying) about the pilot study has been the idea of insider research; what this means and what implications there are for the validity of data if insider research is carried out (Drake, 2010). In this article, I will be considering the insiderness of the research relationship between Sian and I. It has been a recurring theme in my research journal and has touched every aspect of the pilot study project. The issues I faced as an insider researcher are also explored and the definition and need to demarcate research relationships are questioned. It is not my intention to cover the pilot study in detail, but some context will be given for clarity
Circles of support and accountability, assisted desistance and community transition
No full textThis chapter will focus on what we know about sexual offending and desistence from sexual crime. It will contain a summary of sexual offending from a psychologist’s point of view. Both historical psychological studies and more recent developments of thinking in this area will be explored including seminal theories of sexual offending and desistance. These are explored in relation to Circles, and how Circles of Support can assist in desistance from crime where prison rehabilitation falls short. Recent research findings will be incorporated and implications for treatment and promoting desistance from crime will be explored