scholarly journals Environmental geology: Branch of geosciences or a marketing term?

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 1101
Author(s):  
Α. ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΑΔΗΣ

Environmental Geology is considered to have been coined for the environmental sensitive market. It originated in the United States in the late 1960's to attract students to save the closure of University Geology Departments. After almost thirty years there are still questions about its viability as a stand alone branch of geological sciences, since by definition it encompasses all the specialised branches of engineering geology, economic geology, structural geology, hydrogeology, geochemistry, geophysics, etc. The environmental geologist must, therefore, be a "super geologist", which is an impossibility by present day standards. University curricula in Environmental Geology still teach the basic geological subjects of geology degrees, since these serve as a strong foundation for courses in the environmental field. In the United States, students are required to take at least four elective courses in environmentally orientated earth science subjects during their first degree. Whereas in the United Kingdom a Master of Science course in environmental subjects is recommended as a follow-up to the first degree in Environmental Geology, again a misnomer for the degree in pure Geology. It is quite apparent that Universities jumped on the bandwagon of the environmental market, without serious thought into what they were embarking. They created a non-existent market orientated branch of geological sciences, Environmental Geology, and they subsequently realised that it is impossible to produce the "super student" and the "super geologist", for this is what is in fact demanded. It is strongly believed, that specialists in the different branches of geological sciences, because of their in depth study of the natural geological environment and its processes, have considerable knowledge and expertise to be applied in the solution of environmental problems. This must, therefore, be advertised by both Universities and State Geological Surveys, for advertising is a more powerful tool of getting the message across to the public and to policy-makers, rather than by making up new branches of science with no content.

Author(s):  
Matthew A. Baum ◽  
Philip B. K. Potter

This chapter examines the decisions of the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, and Poland regarding whether they would join with the United States in the Iraq coalition, the goal of which was to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Among these countries, there was much variation in both key variables identified as the ingredients of constraint and in the extent to which leaders were responsive to pressure from either their domestic publics or the United States. The key lesson from these case studies is that democratic constraint is fragile and elusive. These cases point to a variety of means by which policy makers outmaneuvered a consistently antiwar European public. Media and partisan political opposition are clearly an important part of the overall story and, more significantly, are among the few factors that hold steady from case to case.


Author(s):  
Gareth Wall

Drawing on innovative local government and community initiatives from the United Kingdom and the United States, Guinan and O’Neill’s 'The Case for Community Wealth Building' is a timely and optimistically critical contribution to discussions on inclusive community-owned local economic development. This short thesis aimed at practitioners, policy-makers and theorists alike, looks at alternative models of local economic ownership. At just 116 pages, this accessible book, whilst drawing on a good if limited range of academic and case study literature, reads more in the tradition of a radical political pamphlet than a dense academic text.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Tromble ◽  
Karin Koole

Social media offer direct lines of communication to many democratic representatives, and, in some instances, they may provide policy-makers and journalists with a better sense of public views. But, are the voices expressed on social media worth heeding? Impersonal and anonymous communication often invites negativity and abuse, including racism and sexism. Indeed, evidence suggests that women face particularly high levels of abuse online. And yet we know relatively little about the role of sexism in citizens’ digitally mediated interactions with their political representatives. Do people direct more criticism and hostility towards female politicians? Using Twitter data comparing political engagement in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, we actually find reason for optimism. In the United Kingdom and the United States, there are no differences in the tone of messages sent to male and female politicians, and Dutch citizens direct more positive messages towards women. Across all three countries, gendered insults towards women are rare.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amaia Del Campo ◽  
Marisalva Fávero

Abstract. During the last decades, several studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of sexual abuse prevention programs implemented in different countries. In this article, we present a review of 70 studies (1981–2017) evaluating prevention programs, conducted mostly in the United States and Canada, although with a considerable presence also in other countries, such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The results of these studies, in general, are very promising and encourage us to continue this type of intervention, almost unanimously confirming its effectiveness. Prevention programs encourage children and adolescents to report the abuse experienced and they may help to reduce the trauma of sexual abuse if there are victims among the participants. We also found that some evaluations have not considered the possible negative effects of this type of programs in the event that they are applied inappropriately. Finally, we present some methodological considerations as critical analysis to this type of evaluations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 119 (820) ◽  
pp. 303-309
Author(s):  
J. Nicholas Ziegler

Comparing the virus responses in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States shows that in order for scientific expertise to result in effective policy, rational political leadership is required. Each of these three countries is known for advanced biomedical research, yet their experiences in the COVID-19 pandemic diverged widely. Germany’s political leadership carefully followed scientific advice and organized public–private partnerships to scale up testing, resulting in relatively low infection levels. The UK and US political responses were far more erratic and less informed by scientific advice—and proved much less effective.


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