Counter-fun, scholarly legitimacy, and environmental engagement – or why academics should code games

Acknowledged as urgent and complex, the communication of environmental science is at once an outcome and a subject of academic research. In this article, we detail the results of workshops with young residents of five “Antarctic gateway cities” (Hobart, Christchurch, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, and Cape Town) who helped design and evaluate an online game that sought to communicate complex intersections of climate policy and science. We focus here on secondary effects of the workshops and game. On the one hand, outputs such as digital games respond to renewed desires for and from researchers to reach beyond scholarly sanctuaries and engage with real-world issues and communities in ways that question barriers of expertise and institutional entitlement. On the other, such dissolutions expose gaps in competency that can unnerve both researchers and participants, interrogating the expediency of collaborative game design and evaluation, and posing questions about the broader role and scope of “non-traditional” research outputs. Elaborating on Pérez Latorre’s notion of “counter-fun”, we chart our efforts to engage youth audiences in Antarctic cities through workshops, social media and anonymous statistics derived from gameplay. We conclude that game design and evaluation, as methods that bind and orient researchers and participants toward common objects of interest, can yield surprising channels of speculation and dialogue that align neither with conventional research nor the planned engagement of non-traditional outputs.

Climate change—that is not real! A comparative analysis of climate-sceptic think tanks in the USA and Germany

The science is clear: climate change is real. In 2015, 195 countries adopted the global climate deal in Paris. Nonetheless, numerous well-organized conservative think tanks (CTTs) deny that climate change is happening. We ask what kind of counterclaims are used by climate-sceptic CTTs and to what extent these counterclaims change over time. We analyse about 2500 blog articles from prominent CTTs in the USA and Germany between 2008 and 2016. Our results show that sceptical arguments about climate policy and science dominate the countermovement. At the same time, we detect that the prevalence of counterclaims is CTT-specific and that US think tanks show a greater variability compared to their German counterparts. In a surprising outcome, we find that the Paris Agreement did not affect the climate denial movement. Based on these insights, we discuss our contributions to social movement research in the climate change denial context and derive conclusions for pro-climate campaigns.

From Barbara to Bia: Art, policy and science dialoguing with rights and health of lesbians in Brazil

Issue Discrimination and homophobia are latent and can affect health. Chico Buarque composed at least three songs about lesbian love: Barbara (with Ruy Guerra - 1972), Sea and Moon (1980) and Blues for Bia (2017). Problem Beginning with the view that art can manifest itself as narrative, this paper analyzes the alignment of the content of the three songs mentioned above with Brazilian policies ensuring LGBT rights and the trend of studies on lesbian health in Brazil from 1970 to 2019. The results can assist the promotion of discussions in other places. We performed 1) a search of governmental policies aimed at protecting the rights of the LGBT population; 2) a systematic search for studies on lesbian health in PUBMED; 3) a musical analysis of the songs. Results The 1970s was marked by a military government when the love addressed in the song 'Barbara' was closeted and sad. The song (composed in a minor tone) uses half-step intervals, generating melancholy feelings. In the 1980s, still under a dictatorial government, several social movements initiated a militant stance for the LGBT movement and the song “Sea and Moon” addressed the suicide of a lesbian couple. We found no government actions in this period or studies conducted in Brazil in the PUBMED database up to 1998. Government policies emerged in the 2000s, especially through the program entitled 'Brazil without Homophobia' in 2004. Other policies followed and intensified in the 2010s. The number of studies increased from seven up to the year 2009 to 105 from 2010 onward. “Blues for Bia” addresses sexual freedom with lightheartedness. Lessons The increase in policies for the rights of the LGBT population was aligned with a trend in studies on lesbian health and with the three songs analyzed. Songs began with sad, negative tones until finally arriving at issues of autonomy and freedom, suggesting the importance of the maintenance of these actions that can alleviate problems related to LGBT rights and health. Key messages Policies for LGBT rights and studies on lesbian health have increased in Brazil since 2000s, especially after 2010. The tone of the songs studied changed from pain to lightness, in line with increase of the research and policies, emphasizing the importance of such actions.

Dismissal Legislation and the Transition Payment in the Netherlands: Towards employment security?

The purpose of protection against dismissal is to protect the employee against unjustified dismissal, which is expected to lead to stable employment relationships and job security. In recent years, the concept of employment security has entered the world of policy and science. This article aims to contribute to the field of labour law by investigating the objectives and effects of the Dutch transition payment process in relation to the relatively new notion of employment security. To do so, the ins and outs of the Dutch transition payment process are discussed. We compare and analyse the Dutch dismissal law before and after the introduction of the Work and Security Act ( Wet werk en zekerheid (WWZ)) on 1 July 2015. We discuss the (unintended) employer and employee effects of dismissal law reform in the Netherlands and we analyse the objectives of the transition payment in relation to employment security. Based on a large-scale survey of redundant employees we shed light on the question of whether the transition payment is used for the purpose intended by the legislature. This article concludes by discussing the changes to the transition payment and dismissal compensation with the introduction of the new Balanced Labour Market Act ( Wet arbeidsmarkt in balans (WAB)) on 1 January 2020. Although the legislature has attributed a clear formal transition function to the transition payment, the transition function is lacking from a substantive law perspective and we conclude that employment security is still in its infancy in Dutch dismissal legislation.

Preschool Child Nutritional Status in Nepal in 2016: A National Profile and 40-Year Comparative Trend

Background: Preschool child anthropometric status has been assessed nationally in Nepal since 1975, with semi-decadal surveys since 1996, plus several recent, short-interval surveys to track progress toward achieving a World Health Assembly (WHA) goal to reduce stunting to 24% by 2025. Objective: We report prevalence of preschool child stunting and wasting from a national survey in 2016 and place findings into the context of national trends and alignment for Nepal to attain its WHA 2025 goal. Methods: A representative, midyear Policy and Science for Health, Agriculture and Nutrition (PoSHAN) survey was conducted in 2016 on 5479 children <60 months in 4051 households in 21 village development committees. Child weight and height were measured, and sociodemographic factors were assessed. Data from previous surveys (Nepal Demographic Health Surveys, PoSHAN) were also acquired, and rates of stunting (<−2 height-for-age z score) and wasting (<−2 weight-for-height z score) were compared to current World Health Organization standards. Trends were expressed as average annual rates of reduction (AARR). Results: Nationally, in 2016, 34.1% of preschoolers were stunted and 13.7% wasted. Stunting was highest in the Mountains (40.6%) and wasting highest in the Tarai (18.9%). Trend analysis revealed a steady decline (3.8% AARR) in stunting from 2001 to 2013, with virtually no decline from 2013 to 2016. Wasting has been continually high and variable, at ≥8%, since 1975. Conclusions: Following a steady decline in prevalence, preschool child stunting has plateaued at ∼35% in Nepal, while wasting has changed little over time, offering the opportunity to inform, reassess, and adjust, as needed, efforts to reach WHA 2025 goals.

Implementation of Good Government Governance through E-Government

The article explain about the implementation of e-government management in Tasikmalaya city, West Java. Using a qualitative approach, the researcher is an instrument obliged to collect, process, analyze, interpret and verify the data and information. The observation and participatory research done by observing the processes of implementation of policy implementation of e-government in Tasikmalaya, which concerns such aspects as idealized policy, implementing organization, target groups, and environmental factors. Data and information through observation and in-depth interviews to informants are the key in collecting the data. The validity and reliability of data and information are performed by triangulation, clarification and description explained and verified by theories of public policy and science administration to formulate answers from the research questions. The result of this research shows that the implementation of e-government policy in Tasikmalaya city has not shown towards the understanding of the policies that favor e-government in the city of Tasikmalaya. The ideal policy on the implementation of e-government were not yet properly implemented by the fact that in implementing organization in the department of communication of Tasikmalaya city were not optimally effective in coaching, services and protection as well as socialization and the process and preparation of program planning. In this case the aspirations of the people are less involved in the formulation of the policy of e-government implementation resulted in the implementation; it did only accept without commenting and understanding the implementation of the e-government.