Issues in improving geography and earth science teacher education: results of the #IPGESTE 2016 conference

Earth Science and Geography teacher preparation has developed to some degree along different lines, despite sharing many of the same issues, especially with regard to challenges in teacher education. The conference “International Perspectives on Geography and Earth Science Teacher Education 2016” wanted to bring together educators from both sciences from around the world together to move the debate about these challenges forward. From the research presentations and the discussion during and after the conference, several issues emerged: (1) the importance of the two subjects not losing sight of each other; (2) the need to overcome language barriers; (3) the question of standards/objectives for geography teacher education (e.g. with regard to teachers’ (P)CK); (4) media used in teacher education (including ways to improve them); (5) ways to improve learners’ geography and earth science content knowledge; and (6) strategies to increase teachers’ professionalism. We already suggest some specific steps teacher educators in the two fields can take to improve teacher education. Yet, it also became clear that more research and strengthening international collaborations are needed, as well as better communication of the results of these efforts to practitioners.     

A Global Journey – Ancel Keys,the FAO,and the Rise of Transnational Heart Disease Epidemiology, 1949–1958

Few people have influenced western eating patterns in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries as much as physiologist and epidemiologist Ancel Keys (1904–2004). Keys not only developed the K Ration for the United States military, but also advocated for diets that lowered blood cholesterol and famously discovered the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet in the 1950s and 1960s. Keys’ interest in the Mediterranean diet arose from his service on the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-World Health Organization (WHO) Joint Expert Committee on Nutrition, which allowed him to explore nutritional status, dietary habits, and regional eating patterns across the globe. This paper examines how Keys’ service as chair of the UN FAO Committee on Caloric Requirements and the UN FAO Expert Committee on Nutrition led him to think globally about the relationship between diet and cardiovascular health, and to launch the first international comparative epidemiological study of diet and heart disease, the Seven Countries Study.     

Policy Entrepreneurs,Legislators, and Agenda Setting: Information and Influence

Policy entrepreneurs are thought to be instrumental in agenda change, yet we lack knowledge of how legislators perceive their role in the agenda formation process. Using data from a national survey of state legislators, we examine whether entrepreneurs shape the legislative agenda on disaster preparedness and relief, which types of entrepreneurs are most influential, and what strategies they use in their interactions with legislators. The results indicate that legislators who report contact with policy entrepreneurs are more likely to have introduced related legislation, evidence of the important link between entrepreneurs and policy change. While entrepreneurs utilize a variety of different strategies, the analysis reveals policymakers are particularly receptive to entrepreneurs who provide new and reliable information. This finding suggests the influence of entrepreneurs lies not only in their ability to define problems and build coalitions, but also in their distinctive ability to provide information to elected officials, an important role that has largely been overlooked by existing literature.     

An integrated assessment of China's South—North Water Transfer Project

China's South–North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) is a vast and still expanding network of infrastructure and institutions that moves water from the Yangtze River and its tributaries to cities in North China. This article aims to assess the SNWTP's impacts by beginning to answer seven questions about the project: How is the management of the SNWTP evolving? What are the problems to be resolved when managing SNWTP water within jurisdictions? What are the status and management of water quality in the SNWTP? What are the consequences of resettlements caused by the SNWTP? How is increased water supply affecting regional development? Is the SNWTP achieving its stated environmental goals? What are the sustainability credentials of the SNWTP? Drawing on primary and secondary data, the article demonstrates both that the opportunities and burdens characterising the project are highly uneven and that management systems are evolving rapidly in an attempt to enforce strict water quality targets. Furthermore, while the SNWTP may be helping to resolve groundwater overexploitation in Beijing, it is highly energy intensive, raising questions about its sustainability. Our analysis highlights the need to continue to interrogate the socio‐economic, environmental, and political implications of such schemes long after they are officially completed.     

Participation in the reuse of industrial heritage sites: the case of Oberschöneweide,Berlin

In recent years, the significance of the debate concerning the participation of local communities in the reuse and management of industrial heritage sites has grown considerably. However, the question of how participation takes place in practice has received little attention. This article shows how participation in the reuse of industrial heritage sites has functioned in the planning process in Berlin-Oberschöneweide. The article is theoretically grounded on debates on labour and community heritage. The field of planning, which is closely interwoven with that of heritage management, provides another important theoretical horizon. The qualitative investigation consisted of interviews with different actors. The findings show that Oberschöneweide’s industrial heritage site is important to the local community. Thus far, the community has been able to participate in the reuse and development process in a number of ways. In addition to the provisions made for community participation by the relevant authorities, and local initiatives have exerted an influence on the development of the area. Nevertheless, this participation has been limited and is in some respects problematic. Furthermore, the participation process referred not only to the industrial zone itself, but to the development of the district as a whole.     

The sound of music heritage: curating popular music in music museums and exhibitions

A significant amount of previous academic research into popular music museums centres on critiques of the content, design and layout of predominantly authorised institutions. Throughout much of this research, authors consistently criticise the use, or rather, the perceived misuse, of music played within music museums, arguing that the music itself, rather than artefacts, constitutes the most significant part of popular music exhibition. This article seeks to counter this trend by exploring the challenges of incorporating recorded sound into popular music exhibits as understood by curators and exhibit designers. Utilising interviews conducted within 14 authorised and DIY museums devoted to popular music, the researchers demonstrate a distinct contrast between current academic critiques of music use in these museums and the attitudes of the people who create them. The result is a varied discussion surrounding sound in the museal space, including issues of sound bleed, technology and the creation of balance between artefacts and sound. This account draws attention to curators’ intentions of telling the story of popular music history by engaging with both the visual and aural memories of museum patrons, and suggests a new understanding of the purpose underpinning popular music museums in modern contexts.