scholarly journals Renewed coexistence: learning from steering group stakeholders on a beaver reintroduction project in England

2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger E. Auster ◽  
Stewart W. Barr ◽  
Richard E. Brazier

AbstractSpecies reintroductions are growing in popularity, and example motivations include supporting species populations or the restoration of ecosystem function. Interactions between humans and the reintroduced species are likely to occur post-reintroduction. Coexistence between humans and wildlife is adaptive and dynamic, in part requiring management of conflicts between humans and wildlife, or of conflicts between humans over wildlife management. We seek to learn from the experiences of steering group members in a Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) project in England and identify how governance of coexistence with reintroduced species may differ from the governance of coexistence with species that are already present in the landscape. Using a qualitative thematic analysis of an online survey, we identify a series of lessons in six key areas: (1) project governance, (2) stakeholder engagement, (3) research and monitoring programme, (4) strategy to manage arising conflicts, (5) public engagement, and (6) broad perspectives on reintroduction trials. We advocate for reflective evaluation as an essential component of reintroduction projects to enable knowledge-sharing from experiences, leading to improved practices in the future. Reflecting on our analysis, we identify and define ‘Renewed Coexistence’—a new term that draws on pre-existing coexistence knowledge but identifies the unique elements that relate to governing coexistence with reintroduced species.

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1131-1138
Author(s):  
Lauren E. Dignazio ◽  
Megan M. Kenny ◽  
Erik X. Raj ◽  
Kyle D. Pelkey

Purpose It is known that people who stutter (PWS) benefit from self-help experiences, such as attending support groups or conferences. However, limited research has been done to explore the listening of stuttering-related podcasts as a form of self-help for PWS. This study seeks to understand the reasons why PWS listen to stuttering-related podcasts and provide descriptions of their listening experiences. Method Thirty-three PWS who have listened to stuttering-related podcasts were recruited to participate in an online survey that included multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Responses were analyzed and grouped into descriptive themes. Results Participants reported listening to stuttering-related podcasts as a way to gain information and perspective. They also reported experiences that fit themes of empowerment and camaraderie, as a result of listening. Conclusions Stuttering-related podcasts seem to be a positive self-help tool for PWS. Stuttering support group leaders and/or speech-language pathologists may consider introducing their group members or clients who stutter to this type of audio-based self-help experience.


2021 ◽  
pp. 152483992110423
Author(s):  
Hendrika Meischke ◽  
Megan Rogers ◽  
Sarah Manchanda ◽  
Jeanne M. Sears ◽  
Debra Revere ◽  
...  

This article describes the development and evaluation of an online workplace stress reduction toolkit for use by managers of 9-1-1 emergency communication centers (ECCs). A three-step process for development and testing of digital learning resources was used: (1) establishing need and focus through ECC manager stakeholder engagement, (2) pretesting of the toolkit with the target ECC manager audience, and (3) toolkit utilization and evaluation. The toolkit was developed in close partnership with stakeholders throughout the entire process. Toolkit usage was documented via registration data. The evaluation utilized an online survey that included closed and open-ended questions, which were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic analysis. Over a 20-month period, 274 people registered for the toolkit and, of those, 184 (67%) accessed the content. Respondents to the evaluation survey (N = 156) scored the toolkit highly on satisfaction, self-efficacy, and perceived utility measures. Survey respondents reported intent to apply toolkit content through the following: providing organizational resources to help workers take better care of themselves (41%); creating a lower stress worksite environment (35%) and sharing resources with staff to (1) reduce stress (19%), (2) support conflict resolution (21%), and (3) prevent and/or stop bullying (17%). In delivering actionable content to ECC managers, the toolkit shows promise in addressing and mitigating occupational stress in ECCs. Further research needs to determine the relationship of this strategy for reducing ECC stress.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Catrin Titgemeyer ◽  
Christian Patrick Schaaf

BACKGROUND Due to the nature of rare diseases with affected individuals being widely geographically dispersed, finding an in-person/offline support group itself can be a challenge. Affected individuals therefore turn to social networking platforms such as Facebook for online support groups. OBJECTIVE We aim to put into perspective the opportunities Facebook offers as a tool for pediatric rare disease support groups by investigating its use, advantages and limitations including privacy concerns. We analyze group accessibility and usage, advantages specific to rare diseases, perceived privacy and views on using Facebook for communication between health professionals and parents, pharmaceutical companies and for study recruitment. METHODS We contacted twelve Facebook support groups for twelve respective rare diseases with pediatric onset and invited group members to participate in a cross-sectional online survey. RESULTS Of 231 respondents, 87.0% (n=201) respondents were female, 12.6% (n=29) were male and 1 respondent reported another sex (0.4%, n=1). Respondents’ mean age was 41.56 years (SEM=0.621, SD=9.375). 91.3% (n=211) respondents were parents (183 mothers, 27 fathers, 1 other sex). 59.7% (n=138) reported a self-initiated search for the Facebook group, 24.2% (n=56) received recommendations from their health professionals, 12.6% (n=29) recommendations from someone else affected by the disease. On average, support group members visited Facebook at least once a day, visited and passively participated (read/liked posts) several times a week and participated actively (commented/posted) once a month. 79,6% agreed that they would like to have health professionals as members of the respective Facebook group. Group members expressed more concern about privacy issues on Facebook in general than in their respective Facebook support groups, with concerns mostly related to Facebook itself and non-group-members. CONCLUSIONS Our study confirmed that Facebook enhances support group accessibility for parents of children with rare diseases. Group participants perceive a reduction and elimination of distance, a common challenge in rare disease, and Facebook support groups create an environment of perceived privacy. The group’s privacy setting can be a critical factor for active support group participation. Sharing personal information and pictures on Facebook is very common among group participants, which shows the importance of discussing and protecting children’s privacy rights in this context. CLINICALTRIAL DRKS00016067


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 758-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Samuel ◽  
Ken Peattie ◽  
Bob Doherty

Purpose This paper aims to further the authors’ understanding of brand communities, and their role in brand co-creation, through empirical and theoretical contributions derived from researching the marketing dynamics operating within a successful but atypical form of brand community, Fairtrade Towns (FTT). Design/methodology/approach The paper reflects a pragmatic application of Grounded Theory, which captured qualitative data from key “insiders”, with a particular emphasis on FTT steering group members and their role as “prosumers”. Data were gathered via ethnographic involvement within one town and semi-structured interviews with participants in others. Findings FTTs, as brand communities, demonstrate elements of co-creation that go beyond the dominant theories and models within the marketing literature. They operate in, and relate to, real places rather than the online environments that dominate the literature on this subject. Unusually, the interactions between brand marketers and consumers are not the primary source of co-creation in FTTs. Instead, factors usually identified as merely secondary providers of additional brand knowledge become key initiators and sources of co-creation and active “citizen marketer” engagement. Originality/value This study demonstrates how brand co-creation can operate in physical geographical communities in ways that are formal without being managed by conventional brand managers. It conceptualises FTTs as a nested and “glocalised” brand and demonstrates how steering group members facilitate the process of co-creation as prosumers. It empirically demonstrates how FTTs have evolved to become unusually complex brand communities in terms of the variety of stakeholders and the multiplicity of brands involved, and the governance of the localised brand co-creation process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 718-728
Author(s):  
Lisa McDonald ◽  
Chantal Barriault ◽  
Thomas Merritt

In this pilot study, we used a mixed methods online survey to ask science popularizers how gender harassment influences the way they communicate science to the public. Popularizers reported that gender harassment caused the science popularization field to increasingly strive for gender inclusivity in the creation of content. However, harassment made female popularizers feel they must emphasize their legitimacy, quite conscious of their clothing choices, and wary of engaging the public through mediums or topics that provoke more severe harassment. Implications for science communication and public engagement are discussed.


Author(s):  
Dorota Chapko ◽  
Jessica Butler ◽  
Corri Black ◽  
Marjorie Johnston ◽  
Caroline Fall ◽  
...  

IntroductionWe now have the opportunity to disentangle the complexities of lifespan brain health through linking rich birth cohorts data to novel information utilizing health informatics techniques. Wellcome Trust evidenced that efforts to manage and link digital health data require exploring the attitudes of public and data guardians towards this initiative. Objectives and ApproachOur teams in Aberdeen, Mysore and Mumbai have established general population cohorts that have provided evidence on the early-life origins of later-life diseases. In 2016, we engaged with the participants of the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s (62-68,N~8,400) in an event attended by 350 study members. We are also engaging with members and data guardians of Mysore Parthenon Cohort (20-21y,N~500), Mysore Birth Records Cohort (51-83y,N~750), and Mumbai Maternal Nutrition Cohort (5-11y,N~1,600). This qualitative project utilises focus groups and individual interviews. The goal is to understand their attitudes and perceived public benefits towards future novel data collection, data platforms and biorepositories. ResultsThe ACONF event attendees were very willing to volunteer for further studies. The highest support was for ‘provide a blood sample’ (92%) and the lowest for ‘take an online survey’ (83%). They were satisfied with data governance but had incomplete understanding of linkage possibilities with their data. Through the ongoing activities in Mysore and in Mumbai, we aim to achieve the following: 1) Develop awareness of health informatics through public engagement with participants and researchers; 2) Explore attitudes and potential barriers to creation of secure data linkage between imaging, laboratory, health data and outcomes to facilitate future linkage studies; 3) Understand what is required for interoperable, secure data storage and plan future biorepository as a resource for researchers that will build over time in India. Conclusion/ImplicationsThe proposed activities will inform preparation of a large scale grant to investigate the hypothesis that early life environment affects future risk of mental illness and cognitive ability globally. They will also begin to create a platform of enduring value for future cross-cultural population research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark S C Reed ◽  
Sophie Duncan ◽  
Paul Manners ◽  
Diana Pound ◽  
Lucy Armitage ◽  
...  

Despite growing interest in public engagement with research, there are many challenges to evaluating engagement. Evaluation findings are rarely shared or lead to demonstrable improvements in engagement practice. This has led to calls for a common 'evaluation standard' to provide tools and guidance for evaluating public engagement and driving good practice. This paper proposes just such a standard. A conceptual framework summarizes the three main ways in which evaluation can provide judgements about, and enhance the effectiveness of, public engagement with research. A methodological framework is then proposed to operationalize the conceptual framework. The standard is developed via a literature review, semi-structured interviews at Queen Mary University of London and an online survey. It is tested and refined in situ in a large public engagement event and applied post hoc to a range of public engagement impact case studies from the Research Excellence Framework. The goal is to standardize good practice in the evaluation of public engagement, rather than to use standard evaluation methods and indicators, given concerns from interviewees and the literature about the validity of using standard methods or indicators to cover such a wide range of engagement methods, designs, purposes and contexts. Adoption of the proposed standard by funders of public engagement activities could promote more widespread, high-quality evaluation, and facilitate longitudinal studies to draw our lessons for the funding and practice of public engagement across the higher education sector.


BioScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nalini M Nadkarni ◽  
Caitlin Q Weber ◽  
Shelley V Goldman ◽  
Dennis L Schatz ◽  
Sue Allen ◽  
...  

Abstract Scientists are increasingly motivated to engage the public, particularly those who do not or cannot access traditional science education opportunities. Communication researchers have identified shortcomings of the deficit model approach, which assumes that skepticism toward science is based on a lack of information or scientific literacy, and encourage scientists to facilitate open-minded exchange with the public. We describe an ambassador approach, to develop a scientist's impact identity, which integrates his or her research, personal interests and experiences to achieve societal impacts. The scientist identifies a community or focal group to engage, on the basis of his or her impact identity, learns about that group, and promotes inclusion of all group members by engaging in venues in which that group naturally gathers, rather than in traditional education settings. Focal group members stated that scientists communicated effectively and were responsive to participant questions and ideas. Scientists reported professional and personal benefits from this approach.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anouk Smeekes ◽  
Shelley McKeown ◽  
Charis Psaltis

In historically divided societies, narratives play an important role in understanding the maintenance and perception of identities and group status over time. Moving beyond the consequences of identity continuity perceptions, in this paper we were interested in the antecedents of perceived collective continuity, specifically the role of narratives and threat perceptions. We predicted that endorsement of ingroup narratives would be associated with higher perceived continuity through stronger perceptions of group threat. To test this hypothesis, we recruited participants from both majority and minority groups in Northern Ireland (N = 268) and in Cyprus (N = 413) to complete an online survey to examine their endorsement of ingroup and outgroup narratives, their perceptions of identity continuity and feelings of threat. We tested these predictions with path analyses. In line with our hypothesis, results demonstrate that, for both majority and minority groups, if group members feel threatened they are more likely to endorse their ingroup historical narrative as this helps them to maintain a sense of continuity of their ingroup identity. Findings are discussed in relation to the importance of considering narratives in intergroup relations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Sarah Iqbal ◽  
Banya Kar

Lately, the Indian research ecosystem has seen an upward trend in scientists showing interest in communicating their science and engaging with non-scientific audiences; however, the number and variety of science communication or public engagement activities undertaken formally by scientists remains low in the country. There could be many contributing factors for this trend. To explore this further, the science funding public charity in India, DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance (India Alliance), in a first of its kind of study by a funding agency in India, surveyed its 243 research grantees in November 2020 requesting their views on public engagement with science in India through an online survey. The survey included both quantitative as well as open-ended questions to assess the understanding of, participation in, and attitude of India Alliance Fellows/Grantees towards public engagement with research, identify the enablers, challenges, and barriers to public engagement for India Alliance Fellows/Grantees, understand the specific needs (training/capacity-building, funding, etc.) and develop recommendations for India Alliance as well as for the larger scientific ecosystem in the country. The survey showed that India Alliance grantees are largely motivated to engage with the public about science or their research but lack professional recognition and incentives, training and structural support to undertake public engagement activities.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document