Countries have taken different measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, it is unclear how such measures affect the daily lives of people in different cultural contexts. Using a qualitative research method and the framework of gender roles, this study analyzes the potential effects of the Turkish government’s policies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic on married men and women in Turkey. The respondents answered the open-ended questions developed by the researchers on the Google platform. 20 men (aged 27-54) and 20 women (aged 22-55) participated in the study. The respondents’ experiences were grouped into three themes: gender-related problems; adaptation and new habits/hobbies; and balancing between positive and negative effects. While men stressed the economic effects, women focused on social relations or deeper values of life. The findings were discussed within the framework of Gender Schema Theory and Social Role Theory.

Barn och ungdomar behöver träna på sina förmågor för att utvecklas som självständiga individer och bli redo för morgondagens okända utmaningar. Ahmed och Xinga, från Riskful Play organisationen föreläser om hur lärare och pedagoger från förskola, fritidshem, grundskola, gymnasiet, fritidsgård, politiken och andra intressenter kan arbeta för att skapa en pedagogisk verksamhet där förmågor gällande riskbenägenhet kan skapas. Barn och unga ska kunna få klättra i träd, ha tillgång till en klättervägg, springa i en hinderbana och bada i sjöar – eller?

Under föredraget kommer du få kunskap och inspiration kring hur vi i vuxenvärlden kan arbeta för att kunna möjliggöra dessa utmaningar. Hur förebygger vi vuxnas rädslor hos rektorer, lärare och andra intressenter till förmån för barnens långsiktiga utveckling?

Det är skillnad på risk och fara. Ett av dessa ska vi främja, den andra förhindra. Svaret finner vi tillsammans i föredraget. Välkomna!

The relationship between human rights and Islam is important in countries of the Arab world where religion plays a significant role in public debates and daily life. The topic is particularly relevant at a time of sharpening conflicts and polarization, when forms of government in the region, the current world order, and the legitimacy of international organizations are increasingly contested. Much of the scholarly work published in English on this topic draws on sources available in English. This review, therefore, aims to make a contribution to the field through analysis and discussion of academic papers published in Arabic. A search was made in Google Scholar in April 2022 which yielded 12 publications published in 2020 and 2021, after inclusion and exclusion criteria had been applied. These publications were analyzed drawing on the four framing categories. A summary is also given of the definitions, sources, and premises on which the arguments of the publications draw. The reviewed papers contrast the universal and divine foundation of Islamic human rights with the limitations of modern conceptualizations based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The latter is described as emanating from Western hegemonistic aspirations and as detached from moral and spiritual values. The papers consequently argue that human rights would be guaranteed globally by generalizing a system of governance based on Shari'a law and the ideal of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. Little attention is given to human rights abuses observed in Muslim societies, diverse interpretations of Islamic source texts, or concrete measures to improve human rights protections in practice. Importantly, the arguments presented in these papers tend to reinforce a contemporary discourse that frames conflicting visions on human rights as a 'clash of civilisations' between 'Islam' and 'the West'.

This Swedish study investigates how primary school children’s perspectives on a “good schoolyard” can be illuminated through envisioning workshops using model-making. In addition to advocating for the qualities and affordances of the standard schoolyard equipment, children also suggested and constructed new features affording playing with domestic animals, being in peace and quiet in tree houses, picking fruit, and using digital playgrounds.For the children to go beyond reproducing the features, environmental qualities, and affordances of their current schoolyards, they needed plenty of time for communication and hands-on activities, opportunities to relax, imagine, and receive input and inspiration from others’ experiences.

This thesis examines how Boohoo, Shein, and Zara communicate their sustainability efforts on Instagram and how users react. Despite increased global awareness of sustainability, the fast fashion industry's rapid trend turnover, driven by social media and influencers, fuels consumption and environmental harm. Guided by theories of strategic communication, organizational legitimation, CSR communication, and transparency, the research used critical visual methods, including semiotic and qualitative text analysis. The analysis found that these companies use visual content to appear transparent, shift environmental responsibility onto individuals and the industry, make vague sustainability claims, and partner with influencers for legitimacy. User comments reveal concerns about worker treatment, skepticism towards sustainability efforts as greenwashing, and criticism of influencer partnerships. However, some users legitimize these practices, believing all businesses are equally culpable. The study concludes that while fashion companies recognize the risks they pose and attempt to address them, users are unimpressed by superficial efforts. The gap between companies' staged transparency and users' demand for real change highlights the need for genuine commitment to sustainability. Companies must be transparent and accountable to avoid greenwashing accusations and maintain consumer trust. This growing consumer awareness and empowerment suggest that critical examination by users and authentic sustainability efforts by companies are essential for future legitimacy.

This article reports how Swedish teachers' aims and practices were modified by an ecosystem services development project that introduced insect hotels, bird boxes and planting to ten preschool yards. Teachers' understanding of ecosystem services, human-nature relationships and the impact of these on nature connectedness showed that their conceptualisations of human-nature relationships were shifting and complex, reflecting overlapping ideas about what schoolyard ecosystem services might mean to/for young children and how children's connection with nature might best be supported. The findings suggest creating pockets of urban nature in schoolyards is a useful strategy to unpack some of this complexity through direct experience of ecosystems encouraging interest in, concern for and understanding of our mutuality with nature.

This article responds to recent calls for more creative expressions of climate and sustainability transformations. In particular, research literature argues that the formulation of new narratives of sustainable societies may function as a prominent intervention for system changes. Yet, few empirical studies exist on how creative climate and sustainability storytelling elicit varying levels of awareness and engagement. With the intention to advance scholarship in the role of narratives to create engagement with sustainability transformations, this study investigates children’s theater for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as one research site. By analyzing the interactive children’s theater play “Esmeralda and the Dragon—The Global Sustainability Goals,” we show that creative storytelling can offer a meaningful space for engagement with Agenda 2030 and the UN SDGs. In particular, we find that (1) children’s cognitive and emotional associations and experiences shape the meaning of and responses to the SDGs and (2) the play’s fictional elements resonate with children’s emotional frameworks. Based on the results, we argue that new stories are needed for sustainability transformations and that there is transformative power in the creative and performance arts in this respect, and we call for further exploration of various publics engagements with sustainability storytelling.

Medan forskning kring utbildning i relation till FN:s globala mål för hållbar utveckling ökat sedan målen antogs 2015, finns det fortfarande få studier om förskoleutbildningens roll i en stundande samhällstrans-formation i enlighet med Agenda 2030. Den här studien syftar till att utforska utmaningar och möjligheter med utbildning för FN:s globala mål för barn mellan 1-5 år. Genom en analys av fokusgruppssamtal medförskolepersonal visar studien att: 1) trots intention om en ämnesövergripande undervisning, tenderar frågor om hållbar utveckling, och Agenda 2030, att bli fragmenterade, 2) förskolepersonal upplever att förskolan har goda förutsättningar att bedriva undervisning för hållbar utveckling, samt 3) förskoleper-sonal uttrycker att det finns ett dilemma mellan å ena sidan vikten av att se till och ta hänsyn till barnens intresse, och å andra sidan att bibehålla mål och fokus.

At a geological time-scale, seas rise aloft and mountains crumble. We are currently in the middle of a debate on whether—in order to acknowledge the pervasive and geologically significant traces of human action on the planet—our present era should be labelled the “Anthropocene”, and if so, what would be the cut-off date for the commencement of that era. At the same moment, we are already contemplating its possible human-induced end, in our own lifetime or that of our children. Action is both vital and urgent, so it matters that we identify not only which interventions are likely to be feasible, effective or leading to desirable results, but also the appropriate timing. Yet common approaches in systemic design practice, such as identifying potential leverage points through causal loop diagrams, offer limited guidance on this aspect.

This paper uses “timesheds” as a metaphor drawn from hydrology and water catchments to designate “opportune time for action”. The use of this metaphor, accompanied by a discussion of a hypothetical dam burst, will serve to illustrate how both distance and position play a role in the otherwise opaque and implicit coupling of cause and effect often represented in systems mapping. While the original metaphor of “watershed boundaries” suggests a simple and easily identified bifurcation in pathways and events that follow a “watershed moment”, I will here instead attempt to untangle some of the implications of the relative, relational and situated nature of leverage points and distributed agency. The conceptual boundaries through which we value, perceive and situate critical “events” in time, as well as opportunities to act within or across communities, will depend on our position—in time/space and in society. Timesheds are, therefore, always multiple, and awareness of their multiplicity has significance for systemic design practice.

Importantly also, the position of actors and observers matters with respect to where we stand in causal flows: on higher ground, close to the “timeshed” where causal flows are set in motion or can be mitigated, compared to lower grounds where their effects are felt the most. To achieve meaningful concerted interventions that will not lead to unintended negative impacts, it is argued that not only do actors from various positions need to be involved, but that systemic design may benefit particularly from practices of empathetic imagination.

The educational opportunities of refugee learners are shaped by forces of globalization, restrictive mobility regimes and geopolitical agendas, that place them in a position of structural disadvantage. The majority of the world’s refugee learners have fled due to armed conflict and reside in neighboring countries in the global South. In many cases forced displacement is protracted, with limited global commitment to take responsibility for education. Compared to international education which sees mobility as valuable, few efforts are made to provide education oriented toward transnational lives, or that provide the flexibility refugee learners need due to the uncertainties of their futures.

Both in the social and natural sciences, methodologies have been developed to deal with relatively stable conditions, where findings can be validated based on past experiences. At a time when both social and natural phenomena are rapidly changing, new approaches are urgently needed to produce knowledge for systemic change, inform high-stakes decisions, and enable sustainability transitions in the face of great uncertainty. To develop methodologies better suited to address the urgent and existential challenges of our times, fundamental assumptions need to be reexamined, while the adequacy of current approaches and scientific practices must be reassessed. This chapter outlines some of the key features required from future-oriented methodologies, including creativity, agility, and collaborative boundary-crossing explorative approaches, as well as conditions that may support or impede methodological development and innovation.

Organic fertilizers can serve as an element of transitions to sustainable low-input agriculture in semi-arid regions of the MENA region. They play a key role in supporting soil biota and soil fertility. Yield improvements, availability and relatively low costs make organic fertilizers an attractive alternative for farmers. In semi-arid regions, important considerations are improved soil quality, which in turn affects soil water retention, while better root development helps crops resist heat and water stress. Organic fertilizers thus support climate adaptation and regional food security. Soil quality is crucial for carbon sequestration, at the same time that increased nutrient retention reduces impacts of agricultural runoff on groundwater and water bodies. Factors that impede the generalised use of organic fertilizers include lack of expertise, subsidy structures, constraints of the wider food and agricultural systems, and difficulties in transitioning from conventional agriculture. Such obstacles are aggravated in countries affected by security issues, financial volatility or restrictions in access to market. Against the background of both general and local constraints, the chapter examines possible pathways to benefit from organic fertilizers, in particular synergies with other sustainable agricultural practices, as well as improved access to expertise.

The study describes findings from a community-based participatory and challenge-driven research programme, that aimed to improve health equity through a health promotion platform in an ethnically diverse low-income neighbourhood of Malmo, Sweden. Local residents, together with lay health promoters living in the area, were actively involved in the planning phase and decided on the structure and content of the programme. Academic, public sector and commercial actors were involved, as well as NGOs. In this study, empowerment was used as a lens to analyse focus group interviews with participants (n=322) in six co-creative health-promoting labs on three occasions in the period 2017-2019. The CBPR interview guide focused on the dimensions of participation, collaboration, and experience of the activities. The CBPR approach driven by community members contributed to empowerment processes within the health promotion labs. Findings indicate that health promotors were able to build trust in social places for integration; participants motivated each other by social support, and that the programme design enabled them to act for community health in a wider circle. To understand the processes of change and empowerment on the community level, the CBPR Health promotion programme should be followed up longitudinally with community participants.

This research examines the identity management strategies among Bosnian religious leaders belonging to the three major religious groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), namely the Islamic Community, the Serbian Orthodox Church, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vrhbosna. The research is based on 31 semi-structured interviews conducted with religious leaders from the aforementioned groups. It specifically focuses on how religious leaders manage negative in-group identities in the context of the country’s EU integration process. Identity management strategies described in the previous literature cannot explain how the respondents in the post-conflict environment of B&H deal with negative in-group perceptions. Instead, this research identifies a new strategy: multiple identification, i.e. identifying not only with the in-group but also with an out-group, thereby paving the way for a novel approach to identity management through multiple group affiliations, emphasizing shared values. With the help of thematic analysis, the article demonstrates how multiple identification with both the in-group and the perceived European society as an out-group evolves in this empirical case. 

This thesis investigates the reception of the updated directive, Energy Performance of Building Directive, from the EU. The focus of the study is to analyse eight referral responses from chosen stakeholders and investigate their perspectives on the updated directive, negative and positive, any specific interests, are there any patterns that emerge in their responses and what are their concerns regarding the possible impact on society. The intention is to map the possible outcomes in society, focusing on social sustainability, including issues such as economic impact, social justice, and community impact. 

The empirical material in this study is eight different referral responses on the updated version of the Energy Performance of Building Directive. The chosen methodical approach for this study is document analysis and thematic analysis. The findings are presented in four themes and later analysed and discussed through the lens of the chosen theoretical framework, which is environmental justice. 

The findings show a large focus on accessibility to housing, resources and cost efficiency, excessive regulation and micromanagement, and the need for financial support and incentives. The stakeholders fear that the number of details in the Energy Performance of Building Directive will sub-optimise Sweden’s production. Even though the directive states that this initiative will protect the most vulnerable groups in society, the stakeholders fear it will aggravate the situation due to increased rents and economic burdens in general for the whole society. 

This study concludes that such details should be discussed at the national level and it is important to include an environmental justice approach to avoid increasing the current inequalities and ensure that the needed transition will not be made at the expense of vulnerable segments of the population.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we aim to identify and understand the obstacles and barriers in applying electronic exams successfully in the process of distance education. We followed an exploratory descriptive approach through a questionnaire (one general, open question) with a sample of university teachers and students in four of the largest universities Palestinian in Gaza. A total of 152 were returned from 300 distributed questionnaires. The results indicate that the university teachers and students faced 13 obstacles, of which 9 were shown to be shared between teachers and students, with a significant agreement in the regression analysis. Several of the obstacles perceived by respondents are in line with the literature and can be addressed by improved examination design, training, and preparation, or use of suitable software. Other obstacles related to infrastructure issues, leading to frequent power outages and unreliable internet access. Difficult living conditions in students’ homes and disparities in access to suitable devices or the internet make social equity in connection with high-stakes examinations a major concern. Some recommendations and suggestions are listed at the end of this study, considering local conditions in the Gaza governorates.

Ingress: 

Konflikten mellan Israel och Hizbollah trappas upp och nu planerar Israel att flytta fler trupper till gränsen mot Libanon. Därmed ökar risken för ett fullskaligt krig mellan parterna, enligt Mellanösternexperten Marco Nilsson.

– Det kan leda till mycket förstörelse och ett stort antal dödade på båda sidor.

The COVID-19 pandemic has elicited a shift from campus classrooms to distance education in higher education worldwide, shaping not only students’ experiences, but also those of teachers, especially those who never have taught online. In addition, the pandemic created a meta-context that has positioned distance education as something different from previous efforts. This study aimed to investigate higher education teachers’ experiences during the transition from classroom to online teaching by using a collective auto-ethnography method based on 13 personal stories from Swedish faculty. For the abductive approach in the analysis, a framework that combines lifelong learning theory with the context collapse concept has been applied. The disjuncture that the pandemic has elicited created a situation in which teachers had to make sense of the fact that their previous experiences did not completely fit the new situation. Context collapse, a term used to describe encounters with many audiences in social media, has been introduced to highlight the clash between professional and private contexts in online educational platforms. Based on lifelong learning theories, we suggest that context collapse should be examined in terms of how it can help improve higher education, as it holds the potential to include the entire person – body and mind – in education.

The attempt for objectivity within research often results in the careful extraction of human emotion. This results in an incomplete understanding of the interactions and motivations surrounding human beings and the societies in which they are a part. Emotional geographies provide a cross-disciplinary example of how to attempt to embrace emotions in the conceptual and experiential understanding of the socio-spatial interactions and expression. This article explores how individuals verbally construct authentication of genealogical relevant places, the choices of which elements are included/excluded, and how they use this authentication process to situate themselves as a continuation of the past. This study is significant in challenging the perception of the passivity of individuals and place, by highlighting the multiplicity of individuals’ interactive emotional engagement and performance based on Deleuzian desire.

Participants of this study comprise of 16 Swedish Americans previous contestants of the Swedish reality genealogy television programme Allt för Sverige (in English, Great Swedish Adventure). A programme focused on individuals' family history, contestants are exposed to Swedish historical and cultural places and activities, competing in elimination challenges with the goal to win a family reunion. Drawing upon qualitative data collection of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, participants’ descriptive narratives were examined developing from Dovey’s theoretical framework of “place-as-assemblage” through narrative discourse analysis.

Results of this study revealed that individuals describe not stagnant historical places, but rather performatively construct and/or deconstruct using a variety of components to create an emotional assemblage of place reflective of their own purposes and desires.

History can be described as a story, or narrative reporting on past events to create meaning and explanation for the present/future. Narratives of genetic history are presented in the genetic ancestry testing (GAT) results specifically maps, percentages, and related information to consumers expecting "answers" related to identity and belonging. Engaging in thematic narrative analysis I ask how GAT results' narratives use ethnicity/race/nationality to categorize sameness/difference and what these narratives inform about group boundaries through the comparison of online result materials received from four GAT companies: 23andMe, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FamilyTreeDNA. These results are presented as an in-between space where bio-historic-cultural contents are negotiated with previous knowledge/experiences. This study found results narrate dichotomies of "self" and others, individual and collective, personal and private, and the present and the historical, and serves to highlight problematic perceptions of genetics history as an essential/unchanging product, reducing and ignoring diversity within and moving between groups.

This dissertation examines three family history research experiences as public pedagogical spaces, analysing the narratives presented and participants’ negotiations with these. In the context of enhanced digitalisation and rapidly developing technologies, disturbances in the form of pandemics, hackers, and wars remind us of the instability of the present, raising existential questions and reinforcing the desire to anchor oneself in the past. Despite this growing interest, academic research focusing on family history is sparse. This dissertation project is unique in its focus on a Swedish context, the selection of three specific family history experiences as case studies, and its use of a public pedagogical perspective examining relational learning beyond formal institutions intrinsically woven within the fabric of society.

This dissertation uses three case studies as reflections of more extensive experiences of the phenomenon of interest in family history and the past. These include the Swedish family history television series Allt för Sverige’s previous contestants’ narratives, the results from four genetic ancestry testing companies, and participants’ narratives from two Swedish non-formal family history research courses. Analysing these further within this compilation dissertation engages a conceptual framework consisting of Rüsen’s historical narrative typology, Hall’s decoding/encoding model, and Ellsworth’s use of Public Pedagogy as relational and facilitating transitional spaces for knowledge in the making. An emphasis on the process of pedagogy, rather than the product of knowledge, is prominent in this hermeneutic phenomenological study and reflects the concept of Bildung as the cultivation of the whole person.

The findings reveal a more complex picture of family historians, history, and family history research experiences than what is often portrayed. Participants deem not only the effervescent or exceptional findings and activities valuable, but the everyday banal is perceived as significant and contributes to the development of understanding and meaning. Moreover, regardless of the physical site of the experience, the infused pedagogical intent is illustrated through participants’ interactions and negotiations. In a field surrounded by rock walls their ancestor built, discovering a relative had only five spoons in a testament, or examining a deep map to trace the movements of ancestors all provide opportunities to juxtapose, confirm, and/or challenge previous knowledge with new information and experiences, reiterating the extensive reach of public pedagogy.

Despite narratives presenting conflicting depictions of the past, participants of this study demonstrate agency in their negotiations, resulting in enhanced empathy and enriched historical consciousness. By exploring these family history research experiences as pedagogical spaces, this dissertation provides a more nuanced understanding of the broader field of public pedagogy and contributes new insights from Swedish and participants’ perspectives to the growing body of research on family history. It highlights the potential and benefits of examining the small, seemingly insignificant, everyday items and events. Moreover, it contributes a more comprehensive illustration of the seepage/pervasiveness of public pedagogy as complex and relational.

Is family history research always life-changing and sensational? Or is there something significant in the banal that the participants in this study reported? This study aims to explore the spectrum of experiences of family history research, focusing specifically on the banal. I argue that it is in examining the banal everyday motivations, experiences, and findings that a greater understanding of how the average individual negotiates and builds meaning through their use of cultural heritage, family history, and the past. The everyday banal is what is reproduced and remains after the effervescence fades away and the normal redundancy in traditional society continues. The banal withstands the sands of time and effectively (re)produces narratives and binary tropes of identity and the past. This study examines the narratives collected from semi-structured interviews with seven participants from two Swedish non-formal courses in family history research. These narratives are important as they reveal participants’ engagement with historical consciousness and the relationship between the past, present and future. Moreover, the stories they tell are significant in revealing that participants learn family history research for numerous reasons, including “something to do” alongside those who wish to have a deeper historical understanding. Family history research is a collective and collaborative activity despite the individualised nature of focusing on one’s ancestors. Participants’ research led to discoveries that were not always revolutionary, reinforcing, for example, banal traits seen in themselves and banal activities they carry out today. This study found that while the reasons for participation, the act of attending class, and participants’ research may not necessarily result in the extraordinary–thieves or kings–for these individuals participating in family history research, the banal reasoning and banal results are significant.

While the interest and search for identity through genealogy or family history is not new, the increased mediatization, access, and range of vehicles through which one can engage and learn are. What are the effects of this mediatization of identity and genealogy? How do individuals understand and interact with these mediatized representations? Since the expanded availability and marketing of genetic/DNA testing in the 1990s, and media programmes that trace the “roots” of famous people such as “Who do you think you are?” interest in genealogy has exponentially grown. In relation, ancestry tourism has grown in popularity before the Covid-19 pandemic and is projected by many researchers, culture, and government organisations post-pandemic to be instrumental in rebuilding tourism for many affected places and countries. The Swedish reality television programme, “Allt för Sverige” acts as a bridge between the mediatization of genealogy and this ancestry tourism interest. American contestants are introduced to a frame of Swedish identity as produced through the institutional structures of a television show, reflecting larger historical and socio-cultural assumptions, ideologies, and knowledge. This identity encoded by the programme of “Allt för Sverige” is engaged with/decoded and reacted to by the contestant. Utilising the concept of frame and framing, from Goffman and media studies, the presentation of Swedish Identity in “Allt för Sverige’s” is explored in the narratives from semi-structured interviews with 16 previous contestants. This data is analysed through Hall’s theoretical encoding/decoding model. This study contributes with new knowledge to the ongoing research examining the interest and mediatization of genealogy by focusing on the effect on participants in front of the camera instead of the targeted audience. 

Family history research, in its many forms, remains one of the most popular pastimes for individuals across the globe. Technological advancements and increased digitalisation have made the past more accessible than ever. It is not uncommon for individuals to travel virtually and physically across temporalities and spaces. With greater accessibility, there is a broader range of cultures, social categories, identities, and narratives, triggering questions of belonging, identity, and purpose. How do individuals negotiate the increasingly varied representations of the past and identity, and how does family history research contribute to this process of knowledge and understanding?

Family history research places the internal self and external impetus in juxtaposition through pedagogical hinges, constructing opportunities for participants to engage in knowledge-in-the-making. This study explicitly emphasises the process of knowledge rather than its product, reflecting the concept of Bildung and engaging a hermeneutic phenomenological perspective. Focusing on Swedish and participant perspectives, I investigate three cases: Swedish family history television series, Allt för Sverige’s previous contestants, results from four genetic ancestry testing companies, and two non-formal family history courses’ participants. Methods include semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, participant observation, and reflexive thematic analysis. The thesis synthesises the results to investigate how experiences depict narratives of the past and identity, how participants engage with these representations and identify pedagogical hinges enabling transitional spaces for knowledge construction.

This presentation focuses on the third study. Results reveal that course participants engage actively with family history research, enriching historical consciousness, empathy, and construction of historical significance. Participants are not a homogenous group and cite various motivations and reactions to their research experiences, from something to do while their husband plays golf or when it is cold outside to searching for an adoptee’s biological family. Assessment of the participants’ negotiations with narratives reveals multiple pedagogical hinges and exposes the permeable and dynamic edges of traditional boundaries and binaries such as self/other and private/public. Moreover, the results emphasise that the significance of family history research for participants is found equally in the everyday banal and effervescent.

Förord:

Lärande och kommunikations doktorandsymposium 2023 organiserades av HLKs Doktorandpodd. Symposiets syfte var att kommunicera och synliggöra specifikt HLK´s doktoranders pågående forskning i sitt lokala sammanhang.

Villkoret för att få medverka vid symposiet var att doktoranderna skulle vara inskrivna vid någon av Högskolan förLärande och Kommunikations (HLK) forskarutbildningar samt ett på förhand inskickat abstract. Instruktionerna för de abstract vi frågade efter innehöll endast en begränsning av ord (150–300). Sedan var det upp till varje doktorand att utforma sitt abstract efter eget tycke och smak. Det är också dessa abstract som presenteras i den här boken.

Symposiet gick av stapeln torsdagen 14 december 2023 och genomfördes i hybrid form. Charlotta Mellander, professor vid Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), var keynote speaker och berättade utifrån sina erfarenheter om alternativa möjligheter för forskare att nå ut med sin forskning till en bredare publik. Därefter presenterade tio doktorander sina forskningsprojekt. Efter varje presentation fick symposiets åhörare tillfälle till att ställa frågor. I vårt poddavsnitt 19 pratar vi mer om symposiet.

Symposiet sponsrades med fika av HLKs doktorandorganisation men organiserades alltså av HLKs Doktorandpoddsmedlemmar Karen Ann Blom, Josefin Rostedt och Jens Alvén Sjöberg.

Abstrakt boken ges ut av HLKs doktorandpodd vid Jönköping University och har designats av Jens Alvén Sjöberg.

Introductory paragraph: Erdoğan’s election victory promises renewed authoritarianism, but resistance remains, say Klas Borrell and Marco Nilsson.

Ingress: Barn behöver få möjligheter att pröva och utmana sitt risktagande, så att de gradvis lär sig att bedöma de olika situationer de kan möta i livet, skriver debattörerna.

This explorative literature review aims to examine the content and methodologies of recent empirical studies on the aspirations of youth in situations of migration in Europe. The search yielded 30 peer-reviewed social science publications in English for the period 2010-2022, including both intra-European migrants ages 10-24 and youth with backgrounds from outside Europe. Contextual analysis was used to analyse the content of the reviewed studies, while a typology developed by Beckert and Suckert was used to examine features of the future appearing in the studies' research aims, methodology and findings. The analysis broadly situated the studies within constructivist traditions, occupying a mid-position between deterministic and agency-oriented epistemologies. All the features of the future listed by Beckert and Suckert were found in the material, but the categories 'Temporal configurations of the future' and 'Space of the future' showed greater complexities. Participants in the studies lived in different European countries and the study samples comprised a wide range of ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and status of residence. Nevertheless, barriers linked to participants' position as migrants were tangible, while the ability these young people had to envisage the future was strongly affected by uncertainties linked to migration policy and administrative decisions on their status. A mismatch could notably be observed between youth aspirations and the opportunities offered by their life situation, which led to delays in life projects and the inability to plan ahead.

Critical relevance statement: By an analysis of social studies research on aspirations of youth in situations of migration in various European countries, this review highlights the need to consider implications for youth aspirations and life trajectories in both policy and practice.

Key points:

• Young people in situations of migration have high aspirations but confront substantial barrier
• Uncertainties prevent youth from long-term planning and realising life projects 
• Current policies create conditions that are not consistent with European values and ambitions

The study analyzed the performance of Doho Rice Irrigation Scheme (DRIS), the largest public irrigation scheme in Uganda, using (1) water supply indicators comprising relative water supply (RWS), relative irrigation supply (RIS), and water delivery capacity (WDC) related to water supply from the system in relation to scheme crop water demand for the 2018-2019 growing season; and (2) water balance ratios of conveyance, distribution, application, and storage related to water utilization efficiency during the same period. Primary field data were collected in 2021 through measurements of canal water flows at different system levels, and measurement of field level soil properties and moisture contents. Climate data from Uganda National Meteorological Authority, Tororo station, were analyzed using commercially available software to compute the crop water and irrigation requirements of paddy rice. From the analyses of the water supply indicators, the result of the ratios of RWS, RIS, and WDC were, respectively, 2.82, 9.04, and 2.28, whereas conveyance, distribution, field application, and storage efficiencies were, respectively, 80.7%, 78.4%, 71.6%, and 87.5%, with an overall scheme efficiency of 57.8%. RWS and RIS values higher than one mean DRIS has plenteous water supply, sufficient to meet crop water demand. In particular, a RWS value of 2.82 shows adequate supply relative to demand. The RIS value of 9.04, significantly higher than the ideal value of one, suggests notable inefficiencies in water usage within the DRIS. Also, the WDC value of 2.28 shows that the canal capacity was not a limiting factor to meeting the peak consumptive requirement. Despite this plenteous supply, analysis of efficiency shows that the water was not particularly efficiently distributed nor efficiently applied, even though the storage efficiency was high. Methodological lessons from the study emphasize more data collection intensity and more adequate data treatment to gain more comprehensive insights into irrigation system performance.

In 2015, the United Nations member states agreed upon a universal agenda for sustainable development with seventeen belonging goals that are to be achieved by 2030. This agenda, which is generally known as Agenda 2030, is said to provide a shared blueprint for prosperity and peace for all human beings and the planet. It stresses that humans should get the opportunity to enjoy economic, social, and technological progress that occurs in harmony with nature (Desa, U.N, 2015). In other words, the human and the non-human world are enclosed in the agenda, but until now, no studies have focused on how they and the relationship between them are represented within Agenda 2030. This needs to be broadened since such a focus would make it possible to provide insightful reflections on the ontological and epistemological standpoints upon which human understandings of the human, the non-human, and their relationship are grounded (see Maraud & Guyot, 2016; Fletcher, 2016; Fälton, 2021). This study contributes to such broadening by focusing on narratives of the non-human world and its relationship to the human world enabled in Agenda 2030. Through a narrative analysis (e.g., Bruner, 2003; Haraway, 2016) of the text in the agenda, we unravel, make visible, and problematize what stories that occur and how those are told. As part of that analysis, we also discuss the possibilities and limitations of using the concepts of "nature", "the other than human world", "the non-human world", and "the more-than-human world" (see Escobar, 1996; Demeritt, 2002; Soper, 2012) when problematizing global sustainability transformations agreements. Our initial analysis shows that Agenda 2030 is permeated by anthropocentric values (see Lövbrand et al., 2015). This become visible in examples such as portrayals of the non-human world as a product that should be consumed by humans, and representations of the planet as a place that needs to be preserved for the need of present as well as future human generations rather than for its own sake. Another example is the agenda stating that all human beings of the world should be included in and supported by its actions, while only the most endangered species are integrated. Consequently, the separation between the human and the non-human world, creates hierarchies, where some species are presented as more valuable than others, who are being made invisible.

This review of research publications in the period 1989–2021 examines both advantages and limitations of walking methodologies used as a research method, aiming to serve education researchers contemplating using the approach with children. Walking methodologies combine walking with verbal and non-verbal communication, such as body language or photography, and are particularly useful to study how children and young people relate to their environment, as well as for research on experiential and outdoor education. Advantages mentioned in the reviewed studies included improved communication, enhanced memory and reducing power imbalances. Challenges included group dynamics, possible exclusion based on disability or language, practical issues such as distractions, and power imbalances or limited relationship capital. Child-led walks, distractions, effects of the weather, and influence of place or the children’s interest on conversation topics reduced the researcher’s control over the research process, while at the same time offering greater agency for the children.

Under workshopspasset kommer du aktivt få pröva på olika undervisningsupplägg för att förebygga eventuell ”platsblindhet”. Oavsett om du enbart har tillgång till en asfalterad yta eller en naturmiljö kan du genomföra utomhusundervisning i din pedagogiska verksamhet. Undervisningsuppläggen är enkla, så du kan använda dem direkt till din barngrupp eller skolklass. Det kan ibland uppstå pedagogiska barriärer för att bedriva utomhusundervisning i utomhusmiljön, men efter workshopspasset har du fått uppleva hur en plats kan användas för pedagogisk markanvändning. 

Måndagen den 27 februari hölls ett författarbesök på HLK inför ett 120-tal deltagare från hela Sverige.

Det var årets första seminarium i fritidspedagogik. Emma AdBåge talade bland annat om sin Augustprisade bilderbok, ”Gropen”, där hon berättar hur det gick när gropen som barnen lekte i tas bort av vuxenvärlden. Genom sin fantasi lyckas barnen då hitta nya miljöer som de kallar Kanten och Högen.

Maria Hammarsten, universitetsadjunkt i pedagogik på HLK, var kvällens moderator. Hon fick navigera mellan deltagarnas frågor via zoom och på plats på HLK om Emmas författar- och konstnärskap. Yrkesverksamma lärare, lärarstudenter och andra intressenter skapade en dynamik av infallsvinklar som Emma på ett sakligt och lättsamt sätt fick besvara. Alla deltagare lämnade evenemanget lite rikare och med nya idéer, efter att ha fått öva sig i att se platser med barns ögon.

Ingress: Idag deltar 85 procent av alla svenska barn mellan sex och nio år i fritidshem. Fritidshemmets miljöer, så väl fysiska, som sociala och psykosociala, har betydelse för barns utveckling och lärande samt deras möjligheter till en meningsfull fritid. Fritidshemmets miljöer har även betydelse för barns uppväxtvillkor när det gäller utvecklingen av livsstil, beteenden och hälsa.

Ingress: I den senaste statliga utredningen om fritidshemmen (SOU 2022:61) föreslås det att införa ett allmänt fritidshem. Det rekommenderas att alla barn borde få tillgång till fritidshemspedagogisk verksamhet, oavsett föräldrarnas situation. Det beskrivs i utredningen att ett väl fungerande fritidshem, med meningsfull fritid, kan skapa en positiv inverkan både för det enskilda barnets liv och för hela samhället.

Tipin, grillplatsen, Högkvarteret och läskiga bron. Ja, det är bara några platser i en skogsträdgård som studiens barn nämner, men vilka platser är egentligen de mest betydelsefulla, minnesvärda och speciella? Barn skapar kopplingar till platsers erbjudanden utifrån upplevelser och erfarenheter. Tag möjligheten att få en inblick i hur en relativt ny utomhus- och lärmiljö för barn levandegöras ur barns perspektiv. 

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Just nu pågår Nätverkskonferens i fritids(hems)pedagogik i Jönköping - ”Estetik och bildning - innovativa perspektiv på framtidens fritidshem” på HLK.

Nätverkskonferensen är en årligt återkommande konferens (sedan 2004) för alla landets lärosäten som har examensrätt i Grundlärarutbildning mot Fritidshem. Det är tredje gången HLK står som värd för konferensen som pågår i tre dagar.

Maria Hammarsten, Universitetsadjunkt i pedagogik, som är med och håller ihop konferensen, menar att nätverkandet med andra lärosäten är viktig.

– Dessa nätverkskonferenser ger energi, synergieffekter kring pedagogik, didaktik, metodik och olika lärosätens upplägg, kurslitteratur och undervisningsformer, säger hon.

This research is based on children’s visits to a Holma forest garden in southern Sweden. In my ongoing study, I have published two articles about children´s perspectives on this outdoor place for learning and hands-on activity, summarised below.

Nature can be seen as an (underutilized) resource for children's health and well-being in a high-tech age. The forest garden in my study gave the children a variety of experiences. They experienced the color, shape and taste of plants, the sound of the wind chime and the chirping of birds. They could listen to the crackling fire, while it also offered the opportunity to get warm. The physicality of balancing on unstable rocks in the pond stimulated emotional responses through challenges, excitement, and risk-taking. The visceral experience of getting wet and gooey could also bring about emotions. Such experiences, Wooltorton (2006) emphasizes, are not accessible to children spending time in front of screens.

The present study shows that the forest garden with committed forest garden educators gives the children a wealth of experiences and experiential learning, becoming a kind of outdoor laboratory that complements the primary school. Forest garden visits are particularly important at a time when humans have lost their understanding of our dependence on a functioning ecosystem as forest garden visits can develop and increase children's ecological literacy, as they are given the conditions to learn about plants and animals, something that is difficult to develop in a concrete urban suburb.