Marie Harder

Evaluating the performance of a fortnightly collection of household waste separated into compostables, recyclates and refuse in the south of England

A new system of waste collection and source separation is reported. Its introduction has precipitated immediate reductions of 55% of waste going to landfill (from 18.1 kg per household per week to 8.2 kg per household per week). The CROWN scheme, set up by Wealden District Council, uses a ‘green’ wheelie bin for compostable materials and a ‘black’ wheelie bin for other wastes which are collected on alternate weeks only. A kerbside recyclates box is also provided for papers and metals. This replaces a simple kerbside scheme and analysis of the waste before and after the change also shows that the amount of waste in the recyclates boxes and participation rates for its use have increased.

The Earth Charter and the ESDinds initiative: developing indicators and assessment tools for Civil Society Organisations to examine the values dimensions of sustainability projects

This descriptive report outlines an innovative project in which Earth Charter International is actively involved. The project aims to develop approaches, indicators and tools for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to be able to measure values-based aspects and impacts of their work at the project level. Many CSOs have an intuitive feeling that their projects are more successful when there is a resonance of values with those involved; this project aims to make such aspects tangible, measurable and transferable to other CSOs. The two year, EU-funded project called ESDinds is characterised by a collaborative partnership between a geographically and culturally diverse consortium consisting of four CSOs (including the Earth Charter International Secretariat) and two universities. The research design takes an iterative, grounded research approach to indicator development.

An IBM description of coexistence in the platinum isotopes

Abstract The available data on the light platinum isotopes have, until now, lacked calculations which reproduce them. A configuration-mixing calculation is presented which describes these nuclei in terms of a normal (near-spherical) and a deformed configuration, the latter becoming the ground configuration near neutron mid-shell. The deformed configuration is modelled as a proton pair excitation across the Z = 82 shell gap within the Interacting Boson Model, and allowed to mix with the normal configuration. The systematics of level energies, electromagnetic transition rates and moments, isotope and isomer shifts are studied. The latter are shown to be sensitive probes of the configuration-mixing strength.

Can values be measured? Significant contributions from a small civil society organization through action research

A collaborative partnership is developing a values-based indicator framework for use by civil society organizations (CSOs). A key sub-study on the relevance and usability of such indicators was carried out through an action research process with a CSO and it was found that: 1) it was, indeed, possible to develop useful and relevant indicators for the presence of CSO values; 2) it was not useful to tie each indicator to only one value; 3) the indicators were more ‘universal’ than the values for which they had been derived; 4) these indicators were not considered valid by the user CSO without being ‘localized’; 5) the use of our values-based framework caused substantive transformational learning within this CSO. The importance of these findings to studies on values and to design issues central to formal values-based measurement work, such as face validity and catalytic validity, is drawn out. The principles of emancipatory action research used are shown to be key to the results, which themselves form foundational elements that led to key and significant understandings and modifications of the values-based framework.

FIRST OBSERVATION OF EXCITED STATES IN THE NEUTRON DEFICIENT NUCLEI 168PT AND 170PT

Abstract Excited states have been observed for the first time in 168 Pt and 170 Pt using the α -decay recoil-tagging technique. The trend of decreasing deformation moving away from the N =104 mid-shell continues for 170 Pt but the structure of 168 Pt is significantly different. The low spin level energy systematics in 168 – 184 Pt are presented and discussed within the framework of the interacting boson model.

Indigenous Participation in Intercultural Education: Learning from Mexico and Tanzania

Intercultural education seeks to create a forum for integrating Western scientific knowledge and indigenousknowledge to address local and global challenges such as biocultural diversity conservation, natural resource management, and social justice for indigenous peoples. Intercultural education is based on learning together with, rather than learning about orfrom, indigenous communities. In the best examples, problem-based learning dissolves the dichotomy between indigenous and nonindigenous, resulting in full partnerships in which participants share expertise to meet mutual needs. With reference toliterature and two illustrative examples of intercultural education initiatives in Mexico and Tanzania, we present an originalconceptual framework for assessing indigenous participation in intercultural education. This incorporates a new ladder of participation depth (in relation to both curriculum content and decision making) alongside separate considerations of breadth, i.e., stakeholder diversity, and scope, i.e., the number of key project stages in which certain stakeholder groups are participating.The framework can be used to compare intercultural education initiatives in differing contexts and might be adaptable to other intercultural work.

What Is Participation? Design Leads the Way to a Cross-Disciplinary Framework

In this paper we present a way of thinking which clarifies concepts of participation across not only diverse design areas but across other disciplines, allowing clearer comparisons and cross-referencing. It should facilitate more productive building of a knowledge base around participation concepts. We suggest that Design is the best field to lead on this.

Entry into force and then? The Paris agreement and state accountability

ABSTRACT The entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change brings expectations that states will be held to account for their commitments. The article elaborates on why this is not a realistic assumption unless a broader multilevel perspective is taken on the nature of accountability regimes for international (legal) agreements. The formal accountability mechanisms of such agreements tend to be weak, and there are no indications that they will be stronger for the recent global goals adopted in the Paris Agreement. Looking beyond only peer review among states, national institutions, direct civil society engagement and internal government processes – while each coming with their own strengths and weaknesses – provide additional accountability pathways that together may do a better job. Scientific enquiry is, however, required to better understand, support and find improved mixtures of, and perhaps to move beyond, these accountability pathways. Policy relevance This perspective provides something of a clarion call for a variety of different types of actors at both global and national levels to engage in ensuring that states keep the promises they made in the Paris Agreement. It particularly highlights the importance of national institutions and civil society to step up to the task in the present world order, where states are reluctant to build strong accountability regimes at the global level.

Anomaly in O(6) 196Pt

Abstract A strong E0 transition linking the first and second excited 0 + states in 196 Pt has been found using the (n,e − ) reaction. This transition is forbidden in the O(6) limit of the IBM, yet is over 20 times stronger than an allowed E0 transition depopulating the same level. This clean test of the wavefunctions of these 0 + states indicates that one or both do not fall within an 0(6) description.

Making the Invisible Visible: Designing Values-Based Indicators and Tools for Identifying and Closing ‘Value-Action Gaps’

It has often been observed that even when people publicly espouse certain values, they do not inevitably perform the actions or behaviours that one would expect to be associated with these values. This has been termed a ‘value-action gap’. Academic research on the barriers to pro-environmental behaviour has served primarily to highlight the complexity of this area; but a problem-centred approach to learning, led by civil society organizations, has been shown to generate effective solutions. One example is the design and use of values-based indicators—statements that link generic or specific ‘values vocabulary’ to specific real-world referents such as behaviours or perceptions. In this chapter, we discuss the application of values-based indicators for the twofold purpose of reflection (inspiring teaching and learning) and evaluation (guiding organizational development). We first describe the EU-funded project within which values-based indicators were initially developed, and provide an overview of the processes leading to the initial design of a project evaluation toolkit (‘WeValue’) and the evidence of its usefulness for identifying and bridging value-action gaps in civil society organizations providing education for sustainability. The central section of this paper reports on a co-design project to develop a toolkit of values-based indicators for secondary schools, primarily for teaching and learning purposes. Finally, in the discussion section, we suggest a theoretical grounding for the use of values-based indicators to close value-action gaps; identify a new kind of gap that has not previously been described in the literature; and reflect on some of the wider implications of our work.