Untold benefits of healthy eating

The last two years have been dominated by discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, there is another health crisis across our country that has fallen somewhat off the public agenda.

València — Sustainable Food World Capital. A Social Sciences Vision

The declaration of València as the World Sustainable Food Capital in 2017, based on the market-gardening system of l’Horta — an area girding the city, has put key subjects such as sustainable production and healthy eating on the public agenda. The process leading up to the declaration (which is in part a heritage-based project) has been fraught with contradictions and conflicts stemming from the city’s political, economic and identity dimensions. Examining this process from a Social Sciences angle is of value not only indrawing lessons but also for spawning debating forums in which solutions can be proposed.

Communicating scientific uncertainty in a rapidly evolving situation: a framing analysis of Canadian coverage in early days of COVID-19

Background The COVID-19 pandemic brought the production of scientific knowledge onto the public agenda in real-time. News media and commentators analysed the successes and failures of the pandemic response in real-time, bringing the process of scientific inquiry, which is also fraught with uncertainty, onto the public agenda. We examine how Canadian newspapers framed scientific uncertainty in their initial coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and how journalists made sense of the scientific process. Methods We conducted a framing analysis of 1143 news stories and opinion during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a qualitative analysis software, our analysis focused, first, on how scientific uncertainty was framed in hard news and opinion discourse (editorial, op-ed). Second, we compared how specialist health and science reporters discussed scientific evidence versus non-specialist reporters in hard news and columns. Results Uncertainty emerged as a “master frame” across the sample, and four additional framing strategies were used by reporters and commentators when covering the pandemic: (1), evidence -focusing on presence or absence of it-; (2) transparency and leadership -focusing on the pandemic response-; (3) duelling experts – highlighting disagreement among experts or criticizing public health decisions for not adhering to expert recommendations-; and (4) mixed messaging -criticizing public health communication efforts. While specialist journalists understood that scientific knowledge evolves and the process is fraught with uncertainty, non-specialist reporters and commentators expressed frustration over changing public health guidelines, leading to the politicization of the pandemic response and condemnation of elected officials’ decisions. Conclusions Managing scientific uncertainty in evolving science-policy situations requires timely and clear communication. Public health officials and political leaders need to provide clear and consistent messages and access to data regarding infection prevention guidelines. Public health officials should quickly engage in communication course corrections if original messages are missing the intended mark, and clearly explain the shift. Finally, public health communicators should be aware of and more responsive to a variety of media reporters, who will bring different interpretative frames to their reporting. More care and effort are needed in these communication engagements to minimize inconsistencies, uncertainty, and politicization.

What Opportunities Exist for Making the Food Supply Nutrition Friendly? A Policy Space Analysis in Mexico

Background: As part of a global policy response for addressing malnutrition, food system actions have been proposed. Within food system interventions, policies directed to supply chains have the potential to increase the availability and affordability of a healthy diet. This qualitative study aimed to identify opportunities to integrate nutrition as a priority into the food supply policy space in Mexico. Methods: Data were collected through analysis of 19 policy documents and 20 semi-structured stakeholder interviews. As an analytical framework, we used Policy Space Analysis and embedded the Advocacy Coalition Framework and the steps of the food chain of the conceptual framework of food systems for diets and nutrition. Results: Policy issues relevant to nutrition were viewed differently in the economic and agricultural sectors versus the health sector. Overall, the main policy objective related to nutrition within the economic and agricultural sectors was to contribute to food security in terms of food quantity. Nutrition was an objective in itself only in the health sector, with a focus on food quality. Our policy space analysis reveals an opportunity to promote a new integrated vision with the recent creation of an intersectoral group working on the public agenda for a food system transformation. This newer integrative narrative on food systems presents an opportunity to shift the existing food security narrative from quantity towards considerations of diet quality. Conclusion: The political context and public agenda are favorable to pursue a food system transformation to deliver sustainable healthy diets. Mexico can provide a case study for other low- and middle-income countries for putting nutrition at the center of food policy, despite the ongoing constraints on achieving this.

The Localisation of Vulnerabilities: The construction of risks and hazards in the coverage of earthquakes in the Seattle Times and the Vancouver Sun

<p>Despite an increasing willingness among academics politicians, policymakers, non-governmental organisations [NGOs], businesses, practitioners and citizens to confront the risks posed by disasters, many attempts at implementing measures of disaster risk reduction [DRR] have been unsuccessful. Much has been written about disaster risk reduction, but none of the literature has effectively analysed the necessary conditions for disaster risk reduction to be successful in an at-risk community. Van Belle argues that the localisation of distant disasters – the practice where a news outlet covers an external event from their own locality’s point of view and interprets that event in terms of how it relates to them – is essential for DRR to become on the public agenda and create the opportunity for DRR policy to be successfully pursued (2012). This thesis adds to the understanding of the news coverage of non-local disaster events by analysing how disasters are localised by the news media to relate to the hazards faced by their communities. It was found that overseas disaster events must not only be localised, but also communalised through direct comparisons between communities in the news coverage for DRR to become on the public agenda in at-risk communities. 229 newspaper articles were analysed through a structured qualitative content analysis. Localisation occurred in the Seattle Times and the Vancouver Sun following six overseas earthquakes. It was found that the nature of the coverage changed according to the stricken country’s level of development, where more direct comparisons were made between communities after the earthquakes in Japan, Chile and in Turkey in some instances. However, the coverage of the earthquakes in Turkey, Pakistan and Haiti led to the establishment of a paternalistic victim-saviour type relationship between communities in the newspapers. These findings have significant implications for the implementation of disaster risk reduction in at-risk communities and for the understanding of the production of news. Additionally, the theoretical practice of localisation was developed and operationalised. This led to the formulation of five typologies of localisation that illustrated the nature of the coverage of the earthquakes in the two leading broadsheet newspapers in the Pacific Northwest. Significantly, the thesis suggests that the nature of the localisation may depend on their level of identification with the stricken community.</p>

The Localisation of Vulnerabilities: The construction of risks and hazards in the coverage of earthquakes in the Seattle Times and the Vancouver Sun

<p>Despite an increasing willingness among academics politicians, policymakers, non-governmental organisations [NGOs], businesses, practitioners and citizens to confront the risks posed by disasters, many attempts at implementing measures of disaster risk reduction [DRR] have been unsuccessful. Much has been written about disaster risk reduction, but none of the literature has effectively analysed the necessary conditions for disaster risk reduction to be successful in an at-risk community. Van Belle argues that the localisation of distant disasters – the practice where a news outlet covers an external event from their own locality’s point of view and interprets that event in terms of how it relates to them – is essential for DRR to become on the public agenda and create the opportunity for DRR policy to be successfully pursued (2012). This thesis adds to the understanding of the news coverage of non-local disaster events by analysing how disasters are localised by the news media to relate to the hazards faced by their communities. It was found that overseas disaster events must not only be localised, but also communalised through direct comparisons between communities in the news coverage for DRR to become on the public agenda in at-risk communities. 229 newspaper articles were analysed through a structured qualitative content analysis. Localisation occurred in the Seattle Times and the Vancouver Sun following six overseas earthquakes. It was found that the nature of the coverage changed according to the stricken country’s level of development, where more direct comparisons were made between communities after the earthquakes in Japan, Chile and in Turkey in some instances. However, the coverage of the earthquakes in Turkey, Pakistan and Haiti led to the establishment of a paternalistic victim-saviour type relationship between communities in the newspapers. These findings have significant implications for the implementation of disaster risk reduction in at-risk communities and for the understanding of the production of news. Additionally, the theoretical practice of localisation was developed and operationalised. This led to the formulation of five typologies of localisation that illustrated the nature of the coverage of the earthquakes in the two leading broadsheet newspapers in the Pacific Northwest. Significantly, the thesis suggests that the nature of the localisation may depend on their level of identification with the stricken community.</p>

Public-Private Arbitration in Romanian Law

The article endeavors to introduce the constitutional and statutory framework for arbitration in Romania, whilst discussing the dilemmatic legislative provisions allowing for public entities to become parties in an arbitration dispute. It includes a discussion of the concept of administrative contracts in Romania and a chronological analysis of the evolution of public-private arbitration under administrative contracts. Some of the landmark Romanian public-private arbitrations under international investment treaties have held the public agenda in recent years and they shape the public debate on arbitration as fit for purpose when it comes to public contracts.

Struggling of women’s equality: the study from local Province in Indonesia

This research aims to find out about the API (Aksi Perempuan Indonesia/ Indonesian Women's Action) movement in fighting for the issue of women's equality in Pandeglang Regency, Banten Province. This study uses a phenomenological approach to understand the issues of the women's movement carried out by the Indonesian Women's Action (API/ Aksi Perempuan Indonesia). The issue of women's equality is an important issue considering that currently women still experience discrimination in the social, political, cultural and economic fields. The API movement, which is concerned with women's issues, is a new hope for the creation of a new public sphere for women to get the same equality as men. In addition to looking at the role of the API movement in fighting for women's issues in Pandeglang Regency, this research conclusion pattern of the API movement in fighting for women as a public agenda in Pandeglang Regency.

Ecology Projects and Participatory Budgeting: Enhancing Citizens’ Support

In contemporary times, a large number of ecology projects are put on the public agenda through participatory budgeting. There is variation in the support they receive from citizens, but until now we have not known what drives this support. This article aims to identify the factors that could determine the support for ecology projects in participatory budgeting. It includes all 36 projects on ecology, which passed the technical eligibility check, submitted to the participatory budgeting in Cluj-Napoca (Romania) between 2017 and 2019. We use quantitative analysis to test the extent to which five project characteristics have an effect on the public support for the ecology projects: the requested budget, the type of project, the number of arguments, the use of jargon, and images and videos in addition to text descriptions. The results show that citizens take the environmental matters seriously and do not vote for schematic projects that are limited in scope and which have limited contribution to the general welfare.