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Learning language that matters

Background: Courses for migrants in Europe are mostly aimed at literacy in western languages as a means for participation in society. These curricula are not suitable for migrants without previous basic education, which leaves groups of migrants vulnerable to alienation and without support for social integration.Method: The IDEAL-programme (Integrating Disadvantaged Ethnicities through Adult Learning), which takes a participatory didactic approach and in which daily personal and family life is the starting point for learning, was provided and evaluated in the Netherlands and Sweden in 2011–2013. The participants (N = 16) were migrant mothers of Berber and Arabic origin without formal educational experience. The teachers shared the same back-ground and served as role model facilitators and social brokers.Results: Through exploring their personal narratives, the participants showed new insights,skills, and attitudes on the topics of communication, health and parenting. All participants showed progress in language acquisition and participation in society. The Dutch group of migrant mothers reported to use less physical punishment and threats to their children,and to practise more positive parenting skills instead.Discussion: Literacy oriented programmes for social integration are not suitable for all migrants and do not encourage acculturation. The proposed method offers a feasible alter-native, so that migrants may be more adequately supported in their efforts for social integration in receiving societies. In order to advance the future development of participatory programmes for civic education, several key intervention design principles and political conditions are discussed.

Rationalising irrationality: examining barriers and excuses for sustainable behaviour

There is mounting evidence that efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of human activity on climate and biodiversity have so far been unsuccessful. Explanations for this failure point to a number of factors discussed in this article. While acknowledging cognitive dissonance as a significant contributing factor to continuing unsustainable practices, this article seeks to explore hegemonic rationality of industrial expansion and economic growth and resulting politics of denial. These politics promote the economic rationale for exploitation of the environment, with pursuit of material wealth seen as the most rational goal. Framed this way, this rationality is presented by political and corporate decision-makers as common sense and continuous environmentally destructive behavior is justified under the guise of consumer choices, hampering meaningful action for sustainable change. This article underlines forms of alternative rationality, namely, non-utilitarian and non-hierarchical worldview of environmental and human flourishing, that can advance sustainability. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/

Opt-Sim approach for the gate allocation problem in covid-19 times

This study tackles the gate allocation problem (GAP) at the airport terminal, considering the current covid-19 pandemic restrictions. The GAP has been extensively studied by the research community in the last decades, as it represents a critical factor that determines an airport's capacity. Currently, the airport passenger terminal operations have been redesigned to be aligned and respect the covid-19 regulation worldwide. This provides operators with new challenges on how to handle the passengers inside the terminal. The purpose of this study is to come up with an efficient gate allocator that considers potential issues derived by the current pandemic, i.e., avoid overcrowded areas. A sim-opt approach has been developed where an evolutionary algorithm (EA) is used in combination with a dynamic passenger flow simulation model to find a feasible solution. The EA aims to find a (sub)optimal solution for the GAP, while the simulation model evaluates its efficiency and feasibility in a real-life scenario. To evaluate the potential of the Opt-Sim approach, it has been applied to a real airport case study.

The Non-human Borderlands

Indigenous rights’ relationship to ecological justice in Amazonia has not been explicitly explored in the literature. As social scientists rarely talk about violence against non-humans, this case study of conservation in Amazonia will explore this new area of concern. Ethical inquiries in conservation also engage with the manifold ways through which human and nonhuman lives are entangled and emplaced within wider ecological relationships, converging in the notion of environmental justice, which often fails to account for overt violence or exploitation of non-humans. Reflecting on this omission, this chapter discusses the applicability of engaged social science and conservation to habitat destruction in Amazonia, and broader contexts involving violence against non-humans. The questions addressed in this chapter are: is the idea of ecological justice sufficiently supported in conservation debate, and more practical Amazonian contexts? Can advocacy of inherent rights be applied to the case of non-humans? Can indigenous communities still be considered 'traditional' considering population growth and increased consumptive practices? Concluding that the existing forms of justice are inadequate in dealing with the massive scale of non-human abuse, this chapter provides directions for conservation that engage with deep ecology and ecological justice in the Amazonian context. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-29153-2 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/

Expert statement on banning tourism fossil fuel advertisements from public spaces.

Post-Precarity Zine

The Institute of Network Cultures and the Learning Community Critical Making are proud to present the Post-Precarity Zine, a toolbox for beginning artists.Times have changed. The art world and the creative economy are no longer the ones we used to know. The digital economy, the pandemic, and the cuts within the cultural field are some of the many factors that influence our practices and the way artists live nowadays. While some claim that the golden eras are gone, and maybe they are, a community of young artists and thinkers meets to discuss the ways in which the narrative around art and its practices has changed and can be geared towards the future.What does it mean to be an artist today? How to survive as a cultural worker while making what you want to make? How can we use contemporary platforms to turn our anger into transformative power? What are the many strategies of organization and obstacles artists have to face nowadays for their practice to remain? By better understanding the structures of the art world and its economies, how can we counteract them and use them to our benefit and create sustainable and collective actions?It is with such questions in mind that the first Post-Precarity Precarity Autumn Camp was organized by the Institute of Network Cultures, Platform BK and Hotel Maria Kapel from September 27th until October 1st, 2021. This zine collects extracts of texts, testimonials, precious reports, summaries of our daily programs, quotes, drawings and notes from the many participants, references to relevant sources, an open letter to Dutch art academies with four demands for change, an essay on principles for post-precarity, and exercises you can do at home to recalibrate your ‘artistic biotope’. With this mumble jumble, we give you a window to our inspiring week, a toolkit, and a fragmented manifesto. We hope to inspire you with our critical reflections, optimism, and the actions taken during the Post-Precarity Autumn Camp!