Quantitative Storytelling: Science, Narratives, and Uncertainty in Nexus Innovations

Innovations are central instruments of sustainability policies. They project future visions onto technological solutions and enable win-win framings of complex sustainability issues. Yet, they also create new problems by interconnecting different resources such as water, food, and energy, what is known as the “WEF nexus.” In this paper, we apply a new approach called Quantitative Storytelling (QST) to the assessment of four innovations with a strong nexus component in EU policy: biofuels, shale gas, electric vehicles, and alternative water resources. Recognizing irreducible pluralism and uncertainties, QST inspects the relationships between the narratives used to frame sustainability issues and the evidence on those issues. Our experiences outlined two rationales for implementing QST. First, QST can be used to question dominant narratives that promote certain innovations despite evidence against their effectiveness. Second, QST can offer avenues for pluralistic processes of co-creation of alternative narratives and imaginaries. We reflect on the implementation of QST and on the role played by different uncertainties throughout these processes. Our experiences suggest that while the role of nexus assessments using both numbers and narratives may not be instrumental in directly inducing policy change, they are valuable means to open discussions on innovations outside of dominant nexus imaginaries.

Ai And Covid-19- Current State And Future Visions

The COVID-19 outbreak has brought about countless passing and has shown that there is still a ton of work to be finished with information and computerized reasoning. An introduction on general wellbeing standards is first introduced to completely fathom the intricacies of a outbreak with importance to man-made consciousness. Following that, various parts of conclusion and treatment, just as their relationship to man-made reasoning, are talked about, just as an expected expectation of an ideal use of AI in a outbreak. At last, consider the exercises realized and what lies ahead.

Reflections on the future visions of UK tourism outlined in Burkart and Medlik's 1974 book: tourism: past, present, and future

PurposeTo explore the future visions outlined in one of the first academic books on UK tourism to venture into tourism futures. Through today’s lens, their visions are explored through three topics: Future Markets and Destinations; Future Resources; and the Future Organization of Tourism.Design/methodology/approachExploring the backstory, key drivers and tipping points of UK tourism development and tourism education during the 1960s and 1970s, they help to understand the rationale for the authors 1974 future visions of UK tourism. These visions are tested against reality, using a mixture of data, softer evidence and the authors’ judgements.FindingsAcknowledging the authors showed courage in presenting their future visions, when so little was known about the development of tourism, let alone tourism futures. The article highlights the successes and failures of their future visions across 20 tourism sectors, through 55 tourism forecasts. The reasons for weaknesses in some of their forecasts, and their foresight in highlighting little known issues are explored, along with key learning points for tourism futurists.Research limitations/implicationsThe future visions of UK tourism were tested against data and other evidence, but this was not always possible. Therefore, the success or failures of some of the visions are based on the authors’ judgement.Originality/valueOver the past 50 years, there has been a steady growth in tourism futures studies. Given the recent increase in awareness of history in driving futures thinking, perhaps now is the time to apply this viewpoint to previously published tourism futures studies because such reviews provide a timely reminder of the transient nature of tourism futures gazing.

Organising terminology work in Sweden from the 1940s onwards

The present study deals with organised terminology work in Sweden from the 1940s to the late 2010s. Using archive material, we describe how practical terminology work was carried out in Sweden during the period 1941–2018/2019, when the Swedish Centre for Technical Terminology/the Swedish Centre for Terminology (TNC) was the central actor. Thereafter, we discuss models for building a new infrastructure for terminology work after the closure of the TNC in 2018/2019. This discussion is based on interviews and analyses of articles and current reports. The study shows that multifaceted contacts with experts, academia, industry and society have played an essential role for terminology work in Sweden since the 1930s. In the current situation (2019), the activities are being reorganised and responsibility for terminology work is distributed between several actors. A new main actor is the government agency known as the Institute of Language and Folklore (Isof). Finally, we discuss future visions for terminology work in Sweden.

Mass Self-Isolation and the Imaginary World of the Future: Visions and Time Spans Reflected in Memes

The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic as well as the restrictions and measures that were taken to fight it had a great effect on the society. Thus, a lot of memes were created the authors of which frequently related their visions and ideas about mass self-isolation to a particular time span within and after this period. This paper focuses on such polycode texts and considers the ideas and visions that are expressed in them. As the results of the research demonstrate, the image of the world during and after the mass self-isolation period depicted in memes is often opposed to the familiar reality people were accustomed to. The very first days, weeks and months of social isolation, the post-mass-self-isolation months that followed, years of the near and distant future were put into context. The authors mentioned the changes that they thought occurred or would occur in relation to the behaviour, habits, appearance and psychological state of a person, social interaction, etc., expressing concerns, mentioning problems and joking about them. Some of these visions were not far from the truth, while others were far from reality. Due to the exaggeration and hyperbolization of these ideas and metaphorical and figurative perception of the observed phenomena, an image of alternative conceivable reality and imaginary world was constructed, parts of which might be distorted or merely fictional. From the early days of mass self-isolation and after it, vaccines were considered to be a means of getting the world back to normal. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic as well as the restrictions and measures that were taken to fight it had a great effect on the society. Thus, a lot of memes were created the authors of which frequently related their visions and ideas about mass self-isolation to a particular time span within and after this period. This paper focuses on such polycode texts and considers the ideas and visions that are expressed in them. As the results of the research demonstrate, the image of the world during and after the mass self-isolation period depicted in memes is often opposed to the familiar reality people were accustomed to. The very first days, weeks and months of social isolation, the post-mass-self-isolation months that followed, years of the near and distant future were put into context. The authors mentioned the changes that they thought occurred or would occur in relation to the behaviour, habits, appearance and psychological state of a person, social interaction, etc., expressing concerns, mentioning problems and joking about them. Some of these visions were not far from the truth, while others were far from reality. Due to the exaggeration and hyperbolization of these ideas and metaphorical and figurative perception of the observed phenomena, an image of alternative conceivable reality and imaginary world was constructed, parts of which might be distorted or merely fictional. From the early days of mass self-isolation and after it, vaccines were considered to be a means of getting the world back to normal.