LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE CENTRAL CANADIAN ROCKIES DURING THE 20TH CENTURY

This paper reviews selected evidence of environmental changes in the central Canadian Rockies during the 20th century. The instrumental climate record shows that mean annual temperatures have risen ca. 1.4°C over the last 100 years but seasonal patterns of change are complex. The greatest increases have been in winter temperatures (3.2°C / century). Precipitation data, though limited, show variable patterns of change on decadal scales with generally higher levels of precipitation in the mid-20th century. The longest streamflow record also shows considerable variability, with highest flows in the 1950s. A tree-ring-based temperature reconstruction indicates summer and spring temperatures in the last half of the 20th century are higher than any equivalent period over the last 900 years. Although no accurate regional estimates exist, glaciers have probably lost ca. 25% of their area in the last 100 years and may be smaller now than they have been at any time in the last 3000 years. These two lines of evidence suggest that the climate of the late 20th century is exceptional in the context of the last 1000 to 3000 years. Small but significant vegetation changes are taking place at the upper treeline ecotone in response to climate changes over the 20th century (e.g., seedling establishment). However, the most significant landscape change in the last 100 years is the transformation of the character of the montane forest due to a reduction in forest fire frequency, largely due to an active policy of fire suppression. Dans cet article, on révise certaines manifestations des changements environnementaux qui se sont produits dans les Rocheuses canadiennes au cours du 20^ème siècle. Ce registre instrumental climatologique indique que les moyennes annuelles de température ont augmenté d'environ 1,4°C en 100 ans, mais les modèles de changements saisonniers sont complexes. Les plus fortes augmentations ont été notées dans les températures hivernales (3,2°C/siècle). Les données concernant les précipitations - bien que limitées - indiquent des tendances variables de changement selon les décennies et en général des niveaux plus élevés de précipitation au milieu du 20^éme siècle. Le plus long enregistrement des débits d'un cours d'eau indique aussi d'importantes variations, les débits les plus forts se situant dans les années 1950. La reconstruction des relevés des températures faite à partir des cernes montre que les températures estivales et printanières de la deuxième moitié du 20^ème siècle sont plus élevées qu'elles ne l'étaient durant les périodes correspondantes des 900 dernières annés. Même s'il n'existe aucune donnée règionale exacte, les glaciers ont probablement perdu à peu près 25% de leur superficie au cours du dernier siècle et ils ont atteint leur plus petite taille des 3000 dernières années. Ces deux preuves suggèrent que le climat de la fin du 20^ème siècle est exceptionnel dans le contexte des 1000 à 3000 dernières années. Des changements mineurs mais significatifs s'effectuent actuellement dans l'écotone supérieur de la limite des arbres à cause des changements climatiques du 20^ème siècle (ex. l'implantation de nouvelles pousses). Pourtant, pendant le dernier siècle, la transformation la plus significative s'est effectuée dans les forêts de montagne. Grâce à une politique active de suppression des incendies de forêt, ceux-ci sont beaucoup moins fréquents.     

'Hired Hands' or 'Local Voice': Understandings and Experience of Local Participation in Conservation

In recent years, the notion of local participation has emerged as a major force in both policy-making and political philosophy. This paper explores the role that participation is playing in mediating relations between local people, conservation organizations and the ideas and practices of nature conservation in England. Drawing upon empirical research in the county of Kent, the paper argues that there are systematic discrepancies between the motives, experiences and understandings of the various policy actors towards the theory and practice of a participatory conservation. It argues that these apparent discrepancies have serious implications for both the credibility and the effectiveness of present initiatives, whereby participatory practice serves to reshape existing conceptions of conservation and rural space.     

Die erste Entlassungswelle von Hochschullehrern deutscher Hochschulen aufgrund des Gesetzes zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums vom 7.4.1933

On 7 April 1933 the statute ?Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums”? authorized German universities to dismiss staff because of race and/or politics. At the end of 1934 the Ministry of Science, Arts and National Education demanded lists of university teachers, who had to leave the universities as a consequence of the above law. The present lists fully compile the universities in Germany in 1934.     

Supporting food security for Indigenous families through the restoration of Indigenous foodways

Indigenous families are overrepresented among those within Canada who experience food insecurity. Studies have largely focused on northern populations, with less attention paid to southern and urban communities, including the social, cultural, and geographic processes that challenge food security. In this study, we present findings from a decade‐long community‐based study with the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre (London, Ontario) to examine family perspectives related to the social determinants of food security. These topics were explored through qualitative interviews (n = 25) and focus groups (n = 2) with First Nation mothers with young children from the city of London, and a nearby reserve community. Interviewees from both geographies identified a number of socio‐economic challenges including household income and transportation. However, some interviewees also shed light on barriers to healthy eating unique to these Indigenous contexts including access issues such as a lack of grocery stores on‐reserve; loss of knowledge related to the utilization of traditional foods; and the erosion of community, familial, and social supports. Resolving these unique determinants of food security for urban and reserve‐based First Nation families will require a range of economic and culturally specific interventions, particularly those that support development and uptake of Indigenous foodways.     

The Making(s) of an Alternative Urban Policy: What Happens When Free Fares Come to Town?

While many urban policies and practices claim to offer an “alternative” to the “mainstream” of urban entrepreneurialism, they remain under-theorised and prone to alignment with entrepreneurial agendas. In this paper I examine fare-free public transport (FFPT) as a salient example of an alternative urban policy. Looking at Aubagne (France) and Tallinn (Estonia), I explore what happens when an alternative policy “comes to town”. I detect how FFPT enters local urban regimes, and study the (non-)participation of public transport passengers and workers in the decision-making process about whether and how to abolish public transport fares. My analysis reveals that albeit alternative policies such as FFPT seem to oppose entrepreneurialism, they may hinge on urban regimes that span across institutions, leave the local configurations of power unchallenged, and strenghten local elites. The adaptability of alternatives to diverse political and intellectual positions explains their resilience. Consequently, their radical character cannot be taken for granted and remains an object of political struggle.     

Snowbirds and snowflakes: Mobility and aging across the Canada-United States border

Changes brought about by globalization such as the growth of the travel industry and increasing interconnectivity between places have opened up new lifestyle options for Canadian retirees. Commonly called “snowbirds,” thousands of Canadian retirees choose to spend their winters in warm destinations outside Canada, with most going to localities in the southern United States. Most snowbirds visit the same place every year and spend many years going back and forth between Canada and their chosen winter destination. Drawing on insights from both life-course theory and the new mobilities paradigm, this paper considers how the cross-border snowbird phenomenon links to wider processes related to aging. Qualitative interviews were conducted with retirees wintering in various communities in southern Florida. The findings of the study highlight the importance of understanding both aging and mobility as processes that intersect in variable ways over time to influence new geographies of aging.     

Do more,with less: The realities of local government in rural Ontario

Over the past 30 years, the responsibilities, mandates, and activities of local governments in Ontario have undergone substantial transformations. Influenced by New Public Management, policy changes are characterized by marketization and managerialism resulting in downloading of responsibilities to local governments. This research examines the ebbs and flows of policy changes among different provincial governments since 1990 and the impacts of these policies on rural local governments in Ontario. Interviews were conducted with elected officials and senior staff in eight local governments to understand their realities. The findings demonstrate the continual policy changes led to the “do more, with less” approach currently faced by rural local governments—increased regulatory requirements, limited human and financial capacities, and small tax bases to support their activities. This experience, combined with limited fiscal levers, hinders the ability of rural local governments to address both new demands for infrastructure and existing infrastructure deficits, housing stock and affordability, and economic and workforce development strategies. The reality has necessitated local governments to seek alternative strategies to deliver programs and services through partnerships and collaboration.     

Universalism within: The tension between universalism and community in progressive ideology

Social-democratic parties face a dilemma between the universalist ethos of their socialist tradition and the nationalism that they share with the other political actors of the state where they act. In this paper, we examine comparatively the position of the Spanish party Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) and the Catalan party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) on three political debates that pertains to the link between welfare and identity in Spain. We show how these parties experience opposite tensions between nationalism and the universalism of their left-wing ideology. Whereas ERC calls for a withdrawal from the Spanish system of social security, the PSOE advocates imposing on Catalonia a symmetric form of solidarity with the rest of Spain, despite recognising the region's different identity. Above all, both parties take identity for granted as a pre-political factor that ‘naturally’ justifies differential treatment, according to ERC, or equalising federalism, in the case of the PSOE.     

中国对联合国维持和平行动的认知和参与

中国参与联合国维和行动经过了一个复杂的历史演进过程,大致可分为新中国成立后至改革开放前的原则否定、概不参与,改革开放后至冷战结束前的区另I对待、有限参与,冷战结束至今的积极支持、扩大参与三个阶段。中国对联合国维和行动政策的调整与国际环境和中国国内政治的变化是相对应的,它从一个方面反映了中国国际地位的提高、中国世界观念的变革和中国外交行为方式的转型。中国参与联合国维和行动的历史演进过程表明,中国维护世界和平的大国责任意识日益彰显。     

L'Édit de Nantes et l'indifférence hollandaise

Did the promulgation of the Edict of Nantes find, in the Netherlands, an echo comparable to the one caused by the revocation of this same Edict, a century later? A first inquiry through documents directly related to events of that period (letters of politicians, pamphlets, synod acts, etc.) do not provide any revealing account of a Dutch interest in the French biconfessionalism settlement. The hypothesis put forward in this paper in order to explain this silence from the Dutch side are based on the stake shifting between France and the Netherlands, at that time, concerning tolerance.