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The European Climate Law: Strengthening EU Procedural Climate Governance?
Get PDFIn 2021, the European Union (EU) adopted the so-called European Climate Law (ECL), enshrining in law the 2050 climate-neutrality objective and upgraded 2030 emission reduction target. The ECL bears the hallmarks of what we term ‘procedural climate governance’, which comprises the regulatory frameworks, instruments, institutions and processes that shape substantive climate policies and their implementation. This article identifies seven key functions of procedural climate governance—target-setting; planning; monitoring and evaluation; climate policy integration; scientific expert advice; access to justice; and public participation—and uses these for critically assessing the ECL. We argue that while the ECL has significantly strengthened important aspects of EU procedural climate governance, further reforms are needed for the EU to develop and implement the substantive policies towards a climate-neutral and climate-resilient economy and society and to bolster public support and ownership of the transition. The upcoming reviews of the ECL and the Governance Regulation provide a critical opportunity for strengthening procedural climate governance in the EU.Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin
Dryland Performance Tests Are Not Good Predictors of World Aquatics Points in Elite Male and Female Swimmers
Get PDFSwim performance can be reliant on strength and power. Standardisation of swim performance in different events, distances, and sexes can be completed using World Aquatics points, allowing for ranking of swimmers. The aim of this retrospective cross-sectional study was to assess whether relationships between World Aquatics points and dryland markers of performance existed in male and female elite swimmers separately and combined. Methods: Dryland tests included Optojump® photoelectric cell countermovement jump, countermovement jump reach with a Vertec® system, standing broad jump using a tape measure, repetition maximum testing in the barbell back squat, barbell deadlift, and barbell bench press. Swim performance data and dryland test data onelite male (n = 38) and female (n = 20) Scottish swimmers from 2009–2017 were collected. Swim performance data were converted to World Aquatics federation points, and Bayesian linear regression analyses examined relationships between World Aquatics points and dryland performance tests:countermovement jump height (cm) using an Optojump® photoelectric cells system, countermove ment jump height (cm) using a Vertec® device, standing broad jump distance (cm), relative strength(load lifted (kg) per kg of body mass) in the barbell bench press (kg/kg), barbell back squat (kg/kg), barbell deadlift (kg/kg). Results: The Bayesian estimates of change of World Aquatics points for a unit change in jump-based measures were: Optojump®—men = 0.6, women = 0.6, combined = 0.4; Vertec®—men = 4.3, women = −1.6, combined = 2.4; standing broad jump—men = 0, women = −0, combined = 0.4. Strength-based measures were: barbell back squat—men = 2.3, women = 22, combined = −2.5; barbell deadlift—men = −5; barbell bench press—men = 41.8. Conclusions: Dryland performance tests are not good predictors of World Aquatics points and should rather be used for assessing training quality and monitoring injury risks
Counter-hostility as defensive strategy in a hostile takeover: The acquisition of Hillards supermarket chain by Tesco
Get PDFHillards was a retail supermarket firm based in Yorkshire in the North of England between 1885 and 1987, when it was subject to a hostile takeover from Tesco. Using archival and interview data this article explores how Hillards pursued a sensemaking process to engage in a strategy of counter-hostility to the takeover attempt. Ultimately the firm was acquired by Tesco. By examining Hillards’ defence strategy, this paper contributes to the understanding of the nature of strategy-making within a takeover. The article shows how in defeat Hillards was able to secure a partial victory in the form of a substantially increased cost of acquisition, so maximising shareholder value. This contributes to the history of the supermarket sector, and the history of family firms in the UK
Social Judgments from Faces and Bodies
Get PDFDespite the primacy of the face in social perception research, people often base their impressions on whole persons (i.e., faces and bodies). Yet, perceptions of whole persons remain critically under-researched. We address this knowledge gap by testing the relative contributions of faces and bodies to various fundamental social judgments. Results show that faces and bodies contribute different amounts to particular social judgments on orthogonal axes of social perception: bodies primarily influence status and ability judgments whereas faces primarily influence warmth-related evaluations. One possible reason for this may be differences in signal that bodies and faces provide for judgments along these two axes. To test this, we extended our investigation to social judgment accuracy, given that signal is a precondition to accuracy. Focusing on one kind of status/ability judgment—impressions of social class standing—we found that perceivers can discern individuals’ social class standing from faces, bodies, and whole persons. Conditions that included bodies returned higher accuracy, indicating that bodies may contain more signal to individuals’ social class than faces do. Within bodies, shape cued social class more than details of individuals’ clothing. Altogether, these findings highlight the importance of the body for fully understanding processes and outcomes in person perception
Social Disability as Disaster: Case Studies of the Covid-19 Pandemic on People Living with Disabilities
Get PDFSocial disability is a process or event that significantly disrupts, paralyzes, or prevents the formation and/or sustaining of interpersonal social relations required for meeting human needs. When prolonged, the ‘disabling’ of essential human interrelationships can have a destructive impact. This is especially true in communities where people are highly interdependent and where individuals living with disabilities rely upon social relationships to prevent isolation and decline in overall wellbeing. Meanwhile, disaster response systems have developed to first rescue or protect individuals’ ‘bare life’ and immediate, bodily needs. We argue that these systems, intended to mitigate disaster, can exacerbate social disability as a kind of collateral damage. We explore this problem as it unfolded amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in two research sites: one located in rural, northern Scotland and another located in rural, Midwestern United States. The Scottish research focuses on experiences, causes and risks of social disability for adults living with disabilities within a small rural community, while the U.S. research focuses on emergence of and resistance to social disability among residents of a continuing care retirement community for 55+ aged adults. We conclude with implications and recommendations for disaster intervention and future research
Reframing informal institutional voids as the attempted remaking of contested social spaces: Evidence from England
Get PDFThe conventional perspective on institutional voids as mere absences has recently faced criticism. Recent research suggests that voids are instead sites of contestation between institutions. However, understanding the specifics of this and how informal voids function in such contestations requires deeper investigation. We combine insights from the institutional voids and political theory literatures to reconceptualise informal voids as spaces of attempted institutional remaking which occurs through three key activities - developing new norms, devising legitimate political interventions and negotiating new rules. We present data from 123 interviews to demonstrate these three activities. This evidence enables us to challenge two assumptions in the voids literature and to demonstrate how an informal void (as reconceptualised) functions at the nexus of health and urban development in England. This study has implications for investigating informal voids as active social spaces, where actors attempt to remake contested social spaces through three core types of activity
A scoping review of academic and grey literature on migrant health research conducted in Scotland
Get PDFBackground: Migration to Scotland has increased since 2002 with an increase in European residents and participation in the Asylum dispersal scheme. Scotland has become more ethnically diverse, and 10% of the current population were born abroad. Migration and ethnicity are determinants of health, and information on the health status of migrants to Scotland and their access to and barriers to care facilitates the planning and delivery of equitable health services. This study aimed to scope existing peer-reviewed research and grey literature to identify gaps in evidence regarding the health of migrants in Scotland. Methods: A scoping review on the health of migrants in Scotland was carried out for dates January 2002 to March 2023, inclusive of peer-reviewed journals and grey literature. CINAHL/ Web of Science/SocIndex and Medline databases were systematically searched along with government and third-sector websites. The searches identified 2166 journal articles and 170 grey literature documents for screening. Included articles were categorised according to the World Health Organisation’s 2016 Strategy and Action Plan for Refugee and Migrant Health in the European region. This approach builds on a previously published literature review on Migrant Health in the Republic of Ireland. Results: Seventy-one peer reviewed journal articles and 29 grey literature documents were included in the review. 66% were carried out from 2013 onwards and the majority focused on asylum seekers or unspecified migrant groups. Most research identified was on the World Health Organisation’s strategic areas of right to health of refugees, social determinants of health and public health planning and strengthening health systems. There were fewer studies on the strategic areas of frameworks for collaborative action, preventing communicable disease, preventing non-communicable disease, health screening and assessment and improving health information and communication. Conclusion: While research on migrant health in Scotland has increased in recent years significant gaps remain. Future priorities should include studies of undocumented migrants, migrant workers, and additional research is required on the issue of improving health information and communication
Fostering teacher agency in school-based climate change education in England, UK
Get PDFDrawing on conceptualisations of teacher agency through the ecological approach, and in the context of recent policy activity, we explored primary and secondary school teachers' experiences of agency in relation to climate change education in England. Data collection occurred over two distinct but related phases. Firstly, we completed a series of interviews with the same three secondary geography teachers at the outset of their careers (15 interviews during 2020–2022) which included 1 year of Initial Teacher Education and 2 years as Early Career Teachers (ECTs). Secondly, we captured the experiences of further 24 in-service science and geography teachers (with expertise beyond the ECT period) through two online workshops held in November 2022, the first for primary teachers (n = 10) and the second for secondary teachers (n = 10). Interviews were held with four teachers (two primary and two secondary) who could not attend the workshops (n = 4). Our findings underline the importance of structures (e.g. school leadership) and culture (e.g. ideas and values) in fostering teacher agency. Teachers across primary and secondary phases and at different career stages highlighted the value of curricular and extra-curricular spaces for climate change education. If all children and young people are to access effective climate change education, researchers and policy makers will need to further consider ways to ensure teachers can achieve agency, including through access to transformative professional learning which fosters agency in relation to climate change education
Unity in diversity: Exploring the effect of oneness with humanity on the willingness to donate to Syrian and Ukrainian refugees
Get PDFA sense of oneness with another person or group implies a sense of interconnectedness and overlap with that other, and perceived oneness has been found to foster willingness to help others in need. Despite its potential importance, little empirical research has explored the influence of sense of oneness on attitudes and behaviours towards refugees. This work addresses the question of whether encouraging a sense of oneness with all humanity can increase people's perceived oneness with specific refugee outgroups and, through this, willingness to donate to refugees to help them. People might often be reluctant to see overlap between themselves and outgroups, but perceived oneness with outgroups should increase if perceived oneness with all of humanity is salient. This means that increasing perceived oneness with all of humanity could potentially be a powerful lever to increase perceived oneness with refugees, and willingness to help them. In one exploratory (N = 165) and one preregistered confirmatory experimental study (N = 180), we show that individuals primed with the idea of oneness with all humanity reported heightened oneness with refugees, and this in turn predicted higher willingness to donate to both Syrian and Ukrainian refugees
Participatory development of an mHealth intervention delivered in general practice to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour of patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (ENERGISED)
Get PDFBackground The escalating global prevalence of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes presents a major public health challenge. Physical activity plays a critical role in managing (pre)diabetes; however, adherence to physical activity recommendations remains low. The ENERGISED trial was designed to address these challenges by integrating mHealth tools into the routine practice of general practitioners, aiming for a significant, scalable impact in (pre)diabetes patient care through increased physical activity and reduced sedentary behaviour. Methods The mHealth intervention for the ENERGISED trial was developed according to the mHealth development and evaluation framework, which includes the active participation of (pre)diabetes patients. This iterative process encompasses four sequential phases: (a) conceptualisation to identify key aspects of the intervention; (b) formative research including two focus groups with (pre)diabetes patients (n = 14) to tailor the intervention to the needs and preferences of the target population; (c) pre-testing using think-aloud patient interviews (n = 7) to optimise the intervention components; and (d) piloting (n = 10) to refine the intervention to its final form. Results The final intervention comprises six types of text messages, each embodying different behaviour change techniques. Some of the messages, such as those providing interim reviews of the patients’ weekly step goal or feedback on their weekly performance, are delivered at fixed times of the week. Others are triggered just in time by specific physical behaviour events as detected by the Fitbit activity tracker: for example, prompts to increase walking pace are triggered after 5 min of continuous walking; and prompts to interrupt sitting following 30 min of uninterrupted sitting. For patients without a smartphone or reliable internet connection, the intervention is adapted to ensure inclusivity. Patients receive on average three to six messages per week for 12 months. During the first six months, the text messaging is supplemented with monthly phone counselling to enable personalisation of the intervention, assistance with technical issues, and enhancement of adherence. Conclusions The participatory development of the ENERGISED mHealth intervention, incorporating just-in-time prompts, has the potential to significantly enhance the capacity of general practitioners for personalised behavioural counselling on physical activity in (pre)diabetes patients, with implications for broader applications in primary care.Additional authors: Richard Cimler, Jana Pelclova, James J. Tufano, Michal Steffl, Bohumil Seifert, Tom Yates, Tess Harris & Tomas Vetrovsk
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