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The Social Construction of Narratives and Arguments in Animal Welfare Discourse and Debate
Get PDFStakeholders can hold conflicting values and viewpoints, on what animal welfare is and
how a good life is achieved and can signal different problems, or problematize specific aspects of
farm animal welfare, and propose different actions or interventions within food supply chains. The
aim of the study is to explore the contribution of narrative and argumentative discourse to the social
construction and framing of animal welfare and its implications. The methodological approach in
this research is composed of two phases with phase 1 being the foundational structured literature
search in both academic and grey literature. Phase 2 was the analysis of the secondary data from
the literature review to develop a synthesized iterative paper and in doing so develop a typology
of five narratives: the ‘farming as a business’ narrative, the ‘religion-based’ narrative, the ‘research,
legislative and political based narrative’, the ‘higher welfare’ narrative, and the “animal rights/powerbased” narrative. Our findings demonstrate the contestation within the stakeholder discourse of
the articulation of why farm animals should have a good life. Performance-related perspectives
are rooted in the value-laden language and narratives that shape the arguments regarding notions
of good and bad welfare; the emergent positioning of positive welfare for farm animals as well as
how to achieve a good life in practice. The novel contribution of this review is the application of
an explanatory word-language-discourse-person-situation-environment framework in this specific
context to inform future research on animal welfare discourse analysis
Positive Aspects of Welfare in Sheep: Current Debates and Future Opportunities
Get PDFPositive welfare represents an expansion of the traditional animal welfare understanding that animal welfare is defined by minimizing negative experiences such as stress, pain,
suffering, and disease. Positive welfare as a concept shifts the narrative from just reducing negative
experiences to intentionally providing animals with increased opportunities to have positive experiences and feelings. The concept, although around for several decades, is in its infancy in terms of
developing ways of assessing positive welfare on farms. Therefore, the adoption of practices that
promote opportunities for positive welfare and experiences faces challenges, especially in monitoring
continuous improvement at the farm level. The most apparent challenge is the lack of validated
indicators to characterize a full spectrum of positive welfare experiences and feelings for farm animals.
Assessing positive welfare in extensively reared animals such as sheep may pose additional practical
challenges too. Using an iterative approach, this critical review aims to explore the extent to which
positive welfare interventions and indicators are positioned and have been developed within the
literature on sheep welfare. This paper critiques existing literature in terms of potential indicators for
current and future research and characterizes the practicality and suitability of these indicators for
on-farm welfare assessments. Finally, potential aspects of positive welfare for sheep are highlighted
so that they may guide future research and practical implementation on farms
Effects of waste plastics as partial fine-aggregate replacement for reinforced low-carbon concrete pavements
Get PDFUsing waste plastics as a partial natural aggregate replacement and monitoring strength and workability reduction in pavement structures is vital to net-carbon zero. This study explores the utilisation of waste plastic as a fine aggregate replacement in medium-strength reinforced concrete pavements, for improving plastic aggregate performance and the intrinsic reasoning for observed strength performance. Various weight fractions of fines were substituted by the same weight of plastic aggregates ranging from 5–15% according to the appropriate standards (Eurocodes and British Standards). The physical and mechanical properties of the composites were analysed. The results indicated that the use of polymeric materials as a partial replacement for fines contributed to a decrease in workability, compressive strength and push-out bond between steel reinforcement and concrete. Despite these trends, 5% replacement of fine aggregates with plastic waste surpassed all the feasibility criteria. Furthermore, using 10% of plastic replacement by weight was deemed feasible in non-structural applications such as roads, pavements, and facades. The outputs have demonstrated environmental engineering concepts in tackling plastic waste, providing an alternative to conventional aggregate. Environmental benefits can arise due to the removal of potentially hazardous plastics from entering ecosystems as well as minimising dredging of global sand reserves
Full Curriculum-Based Venture Creation Programmes: Current Knowledge and Research Challenges
Get PDFPurpose
Full curriculum-based Venture Creation Programmes (VCPs) are a relatively new and potentially underutilised form of degree programme in which students explore the on-going creation of a new venture as a primary aspect of their formal study. The highly experiential nature of VCPs has the potential to meet the calls of researchers and policy makers for students to actively participate in and control their own learning for enterprise and entrepreneurship. However, research into VCP’s remains limited which constrains their development. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to review the literature surrounding VCPs in order to investigate the current research and explore areas for further study to support the development of these courses.
Methodology
A systematic literature review was conducted in order to find and explore literature around VCPs, defined here as credit-bearing whole programmes of study, focused on learning for entrepreneurship, with the creation of a real-life business venture as an integral part of the learning experience, on which completion of the programme is dependent. First, academic literature published in peer-reviewed journals was collected through a systematic search. In parallel with this, academic colleagues working in this space were contacted for recommendations of literature and for information on work in progress. This led to additional emerging work being discovered that is primarily being presented at conferences. A further general Internet search was conducted to find non-academic information, reports and literature relating to VCP practice.
Findings
Four themes were explored covering the entire student journey 1) application and recruitment; 2) teaching, learning and assessment; 3) development of entrepreneurial identity; and 4) entrepreneurial outcomes. The literature presented in the paper suggests that VCPs can meet calls to provide an innovative curriculum based on experiential learning principles. VCPs can provide a positive learning experience in addition to leading to actual business start-up during the degree or after graduation.
Value
This paper presents a comprehensive review of literature focussing on VCPs. Recommendations are made for further research. A key question remains: if full VCPs have the potential to enhance learning, produce positive business outcomes, and address policy calls, why are there so few known VCPs at universities around the world
A revised system for interpreting great crested newt habitat suitability indices
Get PDFA widely used system for assessing habitat for the great crested newt, uses five categories ranging from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’ based on thresholds for the habitat suitability index. However, how these categories relate to pond occupancy, at an England wide scale, is unknown. Equally, the habitat suitability index system has so far only been validated using traditional direct observation methods rather than environmental DNA protocols that are becoming commonplace. Without further validation on a national scale, misleading decisions may be made concerning the likely presence or likely absence of great crested newts. Using environmental DNA data collected from over 5300 ponds distributed across much of England, we show that the existing scoring system underestimates pond occupancy in the lower categories and overestimates pond occupancy in the higher categories, while the median habitat suitability index value was found just within the “good” category. We found that the median habitat suitability index for occupied ponds was 0.7, confirming this value as a target to aim for when creating or restoring ponds for great crested newts. We suggest a revised system based on the median occupied pond habitat suitability index score, whereby the two extreme “poor” and “excellent” categories each contain just 10% of occupied ponds; the “below average” and “good” categories each contain 20% of all occupied ponds, and the “average” category contains the central 40% of occupied ponds. Although regional variation in estimated pond occupancy rates using this system may need to be accounted for when interpreting habitat suitability index scores, the revised scoring system is generally robust across England. Both the existing and revised habitat suitability index scoring systems are no substitute for surveys, and caution is needed when interpreting absence of newts based on habitat suitability data only
A Coherent Approach of Statistical Modelling to address the behavioural status of water consumption and available water resources for semi-urban areas in Southeast Asia
No full textAbstract
This study analysed recent water resources and water consumption datasets from semi-urban towns in the South Asian country
of Sri Lanka. It presents a comprehensive assessment of behavioural status of water consumption over the past 5 years taking
into consideration the impact on rainfall, precipitation patterns and temperature fluctuations. The findings provide important
information on residential demand management and the threshold of consumption by residential users to apply in decision
making process. Furthermore, this information informs policymakers, the water authority, and consumers not only in Sri Lanka,
but across Southeast Asia and globally on critical water infrastructure, sustainable water resources and the applications of water forecasting for similar developing countries. The present observations contribute to the usefulness of statistical modelling
methods in analysing, interpreting and understanding large datasets around available water resources and water consumption,
providing reliable information to water utilities in reducing a tedious approach of water monitoring and assessment programmes
in the regio
Opportunities for Mitigating Soil Compaction in Europe—Case Studies from the SoilCare Project Using Soil-Improving Cropping Systems
Get PDFSoil compaction (SC) is a major threat for agriculture in Europe that affects many ecosystem functions, such as water and air circulation in soils, root growth, and crop production. Our objective was to present the results from five short-term (<5 years) case studies located along the north–south and east–west gradients and conducted within the SoilCare project using soil-improving cropping systems (SICSs) for mitigating topsoil and subsoil SC. Two study sites (SSs) focused on natural subsoil (˃25 cm) compaction using subsoiling tillage treatments to depths of 35 cm (Sweden) and 60 cm (Romania). The other SSs addressed both topsoil and subsoil SC (˃25 cm, Norway and United Kingdom; ˃30 cm, Italy) using deep-rooted bio-drilling crops and different tillage types or a combination of both. Each SS evaluated the effectiveness of the SICSs by measuring the soil physical properties, and we calculated SC indices. The SICSs showed promising results—for example, alfalfa in Norway showed good potential for alleviating SC (the subsoil density decreased from 1.69 to 1.45 g cm−1) and subsoiling at the Swedish SS improved root penetration into the subsoil by about 10 cm—but the effects of SICSs on yields were generally small. These case studies also reflected difficulties in implementing SICSs, some of which are under development, and we discuss methodological issues for measuring their effectiveness. There is a need for refining these SICSs and for evaluating their longer-term effect under a wider range of pedoclimatic conditions
Ancient woodland indicator species: can old herbarium specimens supplement recent records to inform ecological management?
Get PDFOld herbarium specimens have become increasingly well-recognised as a rich source of ecological baseline data. For long-continuity plant communities, such as ancient woodland, these records may be particularly important for present day ecological management. To evaluate this potential, searches for pre-1950 Ancient Woodland Indicator (AWI) herbarium specimens collected in East Gloucestershire, UK, were conducted using digital open access sources and the physical Royal Agricultural University herbarium. In total 305 specimens were retrieved from twelve herbaria, with small regional collections being particularly important sources. The earliest specimen dated to 1834. There was a significant association between old specimen availability and year of collection, due to a peak in the late-1800s and early-1900s. Over half of the AWI species for the region were represented, although some taxonomic bias was evident. To determine if old AWI specimens contributed any new location records, 246 unique specimens with detailed georeferences were mapped and compared to the locations of 1950-1999 and 2000-2021 biological records. One third of the pre-1950 specimens had not been recorded in the same locality since collection of the old specimen, indicating either a gap in recent records or floristic change. However, length of time since specimen collection was not a predictor of a 1950-2000 or 2000-2021 record in the same locality. Overall, it is highly recommended that policy-makers, land managers and field surveyors consult old AWI herbarium records for ancient woodland identification, management, and restoration
The anatomy of ‘So-called Food-Fraud Scandals’ in the UK 1970–2018: Developing a contextualised understanding.
Get PDFIn the last four decades, the food industry in the United Kingdom has been subject to a considerable number of so-called “food-fraud scandals”. These incidents mainly relate to actual or alleged fraudulent activity which has resulted in public outcries about the criminality and industry malpractices which may underpin them. An analysis of these ‘scandals’ reveals that there is a ‘scripted’ nature to both their revelation and resolution, which can be modelled to help better understand how to investigate and theorise these incidents in context. This approach enables a better, more nuanced understanding of how to read the signs that link an incident to a given modus operandi and as a consequence enables relevant actors to take more appropriate and timely responsive actions, especially in the midst of a scandal narrative. Eight food related incidents are scrutinised, some termed scandals, and others that whilst receiving local or national media attention were not framed in the associated discourse as ‘being scandals.’ These case studies demonstrate the contextualised anatomies of each specific incident to then identify the associated scripted themes and responses. The framework developed as an output from this research is of value in recognising the stages and nuances of a food-fraud scandal narrative