Automatic Fungi Recognition: Deep Learning Meets Mycology

The article presents an AI-based fungi species recognition system for a citizen-science community. The system’s real-time identification too — FungiVision — with a mobile application front-end, led to increased public interest in fungi, quadrupling the number of citizens collecting data. FungiVision, deployed with a human-in-the-loop, reaches nearly 93% accuracy. Using the collected data, we developed a novel fine-grained classification dataset — Danish Fungi 2020 (DF20) — with several unique characteristics: species-level labels, a small number of errors, and rich observation metadata. The dataset enables the testing of the ability to improve classification using metadata, e.g., time, location, habitat and substrate, facilitates classifier calibration testing and finally allows the study of the impact of the device settings on the classification performance. The continual flow of labelled data supports improvements of the online recognition system. Finally, we present a novel method for the fungi recognition service, based on a Vision Transformer architecture. Trained on DF20 and exploiting available metadata, it achieves a recognition error that is 46.75% lower than the current system. By providing a stream of labeled data in one direction, and an accuracy increase in the other, the collaboration creates a virtuous cycle helping both communities.

Sustainable Development as Freedom: Trends and Opportunities for the Circular Economy in the Human Development Literature

This paper identifies, through a literature review, how 53 circular economy (CE) practices are related to the capability approach (CA) proposed by Sen. The main goal was to identify how a virtuous cycle between CE and CA can be developed. Five instrumental freedoms (IF) were analysed: economic facilities, social opportunities, protective security, political freedoms, and transparency guarantees. These relationships were analysed in three flows: CE practices positively impacting IF, CE practices negatively impacting IF, and the feedback influence of IF on CE practices. The results show that 32 of the 53 practices previously mentioned have not yet been studied from the CA context, which indicates that there are several research opportunities. From the practices considered, 72 articles were analysed in the final sample. The results suggest that several CE practices are aligned with the CA, considering that all five IF were identified as positive outcomes of CE practices. However, in some contexts, certain practices can have negative outcomes, which indicates that CE, at least in some cases, may not be considered as sustainable, as it decreases IF and, therefore, the social aspect of sustainability. The results also highlight that there is a feedback from IF to CE, in such a way that investing in the expansion of IF can facilitate the development of CE practices. Therefore, this study concludes that CE is indeed a way to fully operationalize sustainable development.

Development, Innovation, and Circular Stimulation for a Knowledge-Based City: Key Thoughts

Practitioners of economic geography recognize innovation as the key factor in sustainable economic development and urging a city to evolve. Urban development evolves from manufacturing-based development to knowledge-based development. Identifying the future benefits of urban development is a research issue. This work analyzes development performance based on quantitative indices of critical knowledge and innovation that enhance economic growth and influence society and competitiveness. The research further identifies the possibility of knowledge dissemination and innovation. This work investigates the key factors encouraging the development of a knowledge-based city for Helsinki, Melbourne, and Hsinchu in terms of economy, society, environment, and management, and observes that the progressive and positive circular stimulation for a city requires not only the cultivation of human capital, but also the construction of social environment and internal relations to form a high-density knowledge network. This work demonstrates that Hsinchu Science Park acts as a highly stimulated and highly interactive knowledge engine by building a dynamic innovation model based on circular stimulation of knowledge feedback to construct an urban environment and series of talent networks. The city, ultimately, reaches a virtuous cycle for innovation and achieves critical factors for the evolution of a knowledge-based city.

Beyond IQ: The Importance of Metacognition for the Promotion of Global Wellbeing

Global policy makers increasingly adopt subjective wellbeing as a framework within which to measure and address human development challenges, including policies to mitigate consequential societal problems. In this review, we take a systems-level perspective to assemble evidence from studies of wellbeing, of collective intelligence, and of metacognition and argue for a virtuous cycle for health promotion in which the increased collective intelligence of groups: (1) enhances the ability of such groups to address consequential societal problems; (2) promotes the wellbeing of societies and the individual wellbeing of people within groups; and, finally, (3) enables prosocial actions that further promote collective problem-solving and global wellbeing. Notably, evidence demonstrates that effective collaboration and teamwork largely depend on social skills for metacognitive awareness—the capacity to evaluate and control our own mental processes in the service of social problem-solving. Yet, despite their importance, metacognitive skills may not be well-captured by measures of general intelligence. These skills have instead been the focus of decades of research in the psychology of human judgment and decision-making. This literature provides well-validated tests of metacognitive awareness and demonstrates that the capacity to use analysis and deliberation to evaluate intuitive responses is an important source of individual differences in decision-making. Research in network neuroscience further elucidates the topology and dynamics of brain networks that enable metacognitive awareness, providing key targets for intervention. As such, we further discuss emerging scientific interventions to enhance metacognitive skills (e.g., based on mindfulness meditation, and physical activity and aerobic fitness), and how such interventions may catalyze the virtuous cycle to improve collective intelligence, societal problem-solving, and global wellbeing.

Doing and feeling together in older age: self-worth and belonging through social creative activities

The potential for art activities to help in alleviating loneliness is explored through a focus on older women's regular attendance at creative social activities. We apply the concept of perceived emotional synchrony to understand how weekly craft group sessions enable feelings of belonging and self-worth to develop in older women. Using a multi-site six-month study of 62 women aged 70+ attending social creative activities, our multi-stage research design captures the experiences of these women through observation and narrative group discussions held weekly. Our findings show that feelings of belonging and self-worth developed over a relatively short time. In particular, social integration and identity fusion were found to occur as a result of the emotional synchrony engendered via a regular shared activity, out of the home, and requiring some challenge and creativity. We propose a virtuous cycle model to explain the value in such activities and discuss the wider implications for wellbeing in older age. Perceived emotional synchrony has not been used before to explore the mechanisms through which social creative activities form lasting benefits for older women. Our research highlights the importance of feeling at one with others in improving feelings of belonging and self-worth and indicates how a variety of social creative experiences could be designed to enable this.

Fostering a Research Integrity Culture: Actionable Advice for Institutions

The research culture of research institutions is increasingly recognized as an central driver of research integrity and institutions are urged to develop research integrity promotion plans to foster a culture of research integrity. A host of guidelines and associated initiatives have been issued, but what is generally lacking is specific, actionable recommendations for institutions. Based on a broad literature review, in the current paper some practical advice for institutions is suggested, grouped into 1) policies, procedures and processes, 2) dealing with breaches of research integrity, and 3) education and training. From the review, it is clear that more research is necessary to gather additional knowledge on what works and what doesn’t work, knowledge that is ideally shared openly. This will allow institutions to learn from one another, facilitate harmonization of policies, and may possibly create a virtuous cycle that empowers the shift towards a culture of collective openness in science.

Book review: C. Popan (2019). Bicycle Utopias Imagining Fast and Slow Cycling Futures. Routledge.

Cosmin’s book ‘Bicycle Utopias:Imagining Fast and Slow Cycling Futures’ invites us to imagine a different world wherepredominantly bikes are used (at least) for short-distance travel within citiesand claims that the domination of cars is unsustainable and certainly notinevitable.  It also discusses the meritsof slow cycling and warns that the needs for speed and eternal economic growth arenot sustainable. He uses utopia as one of the methods to examine our commonlyheld beliefs and practices, along with auto-ethnography and other methods. Thisbook will certainly make the reader think, question their practices andpriorities, realize that today’s actions can shape the future, and that acar-centric world is not sustainable. A city dominated by slow cycling couldencourage the development of the local economy and small coops for cyclerepairs, deliveries, and generally helps create a virtuous cycle ofsustainable, sociable and healthy living.  

Sustainable development and the aspirational male consumer: Tengri, making the case for sustainable luxury

Luxury is an industry that defines its value through the quality of its raw materials, which fosters creativity, elevates artisanship and relies on brand heritage and local production to underpin the provenance of its products and justify its pricing strategy and, as such, can be considered as embodying many of the practices of sustainability. Yet, despite public commitments and pledges for better business, both financial and cultural factors have contributed to a lack of progress in implementing the necessary system changes implied by slow fashion, sustainable development and the circular economy. Social enterprises use business to address social and environmental issues. In Tengri’s case, founder Nancy Johnston was inspired by her experiences travelling with Mongolia’s yak herders where she was confronted with the harshness of the nomadic way of life and threats to its continuing existence. She was driven to action when she juxtaposed these conditions with the promoted glamour of the luxury fashion industry, which relies on supplies of ingredients from just such workers. This article explores how Tengri combines social and environmental awareness with luxury product development incorporating the UN SDGs into a sustainable luxury menswear brand in a virtuous cycle of ethical fashion consumption and production.