Nature Experiences in Science Education in School: Review Featuring Learning Gains, Investments, and Costs in View of Embodied Cognition

This review examines the didactic use of nature experiences in science education, in primary and secondary school (7–16 years) globally. From the perspective of embodied cognition the review explores the types of nature experiences used in science teaching. Focus is on returns when we invest in nature-based science learning, such as specific academic achievements in the form of long-term effects on learning and memory and how we maximize those returns. The review also addresses challenges and barriers, such as costs and labour involved when using nature experiences in science teaching. Initially, 3,659 articles were selected, with the initial screening leading to the inclusion of 159 studies. Of these articles, 34 studies forming the corpus in this review investigated the effect of using nature experiences as an intervention. These studies are divided into four themes: content understanding, environmental education, teaching scientific methods, and costs and challenges to teaching science outdoors. Informed by the perspective of embodied cognition, the review addresses the returns in terms of learning and academic achievements, the mode of action of the intervention, the investment, costs in the form of labour, challenges, and gaps in the theoretical underpinning of the field. Based on the review, using nature experiences in science education seems promising regarding increasing content knowledge, insight into science methodologies and pro-environmental behaviours. Interventions exploiting the schoolyard, school gardens, or nearby park areas are particularly promising due to the simultaneous strengthening of local engagement at low costs. However, using nature experiences as an alternative to traditional in-class teaching depends on profound didactic deliberations and preparations, which are difficult for the individual teacher to address single-handedly. The review also reveals an urgent need for research that thoroughly explores the connections between teaching practices and theoretical foundations to consolidate the field. To that end, it is noteworthy that a few studies also reported on prior pilot studies demonstrating the need for testing the entire design before conducting the actual research. Teachers seldom experience the opportunity to preview their teaching strategies before performing in front of their students.

COVID-19 vaccine uptake among older people in relation to sociodemographic factors: cohort results from southern Sweden

The aim of this cohort study was to investigate sociodemographic determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the 70+ age group in Skane county, Sweden (n = 216 243 at baseline). Uptake of the first dose was high (91.9%) overall, but markedly lower (75.3%) among persons born outside the Nordic countries. Vaccine uptake was generally satisfactory among native Swedes also in areas with lower socioeconomic status, but dropped substantially among non-Nordic born in those areas. The identified clusters of unvaccinated older people, mainly representing ethnic minorities in disadvantaged areas, warrants intensified efforts regarding tailored communication, easier vaccine access and local engagement.

Indigenous and local communities can boost seed supply in the UN decade on ecosystem restoration

The UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration is poised to trigger the recovery of ecosystem services and transform structural injustices across the world in a way unparalleled in human history. The inclusion of diverse Indigenous and local communities to co-create robust native seed supply systems is the backbone to achieve the goals for the Decade. Here we show how community-based organizations have co-developed native seed supply strategies for landscape restoration from the bottom-up. We draw on the interconnections over two decades of seed networks in Brazil and the emerging Indigenous participation in native seed production in Australia. From an environmental justice perspective, we provide a participatory seed supply approach for local engagement, noting local geographical, social and cultural contexts. Meeting large-scale restoration goals requires the connection between local seed production and collaborative platforms to negotiate roles, rights and responsibilities between stakeholders. An enduring native seed supply must include a diversity of voices and autonomy of community groups that builds equitable participation in social, economic, and environmental benefits.

COVID-19 controlled human infection studies: worries about local community impact and demands for local engagement

In spring, summer and autumn 2020, one abiding argument against controlled human infection (CHI) studies of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines has been their impact on local communities. Leading scientists and bioethicists expressed concern about undue usage of local residents’ direly needed scarce resources at a time of great need and even about their unintended infection. They recommended either avoiding CHI trials or engaging local communities before conducting any CHIs. Similar recommendations were not made for the alternative—standard phase III field trials of these same vaccines. We argue that the health effects of CHI studies on local residents not participating in the study tend to be smaller and more positive than those of field trials. That is all the more so now that tested vaccines are being rolled out. Whether or not local community engagement is necessary for urgent vaccine studies in the pandemic, the case for its engagement is stronger prior to field trials than prior to CHI studies.

Калмыцко-казахское противостояние в Северном Прикаспии в 1723–1724 гг.

Introduction. The paper examines an understudied period in the history of the Kalmyk Khanate — beginnings of a military confrontation between joint Kazakh-Karakalpak forces and Kalmyk units in 1723–1724. Goals. The article aims at introducing newly discovered archival data about the reign of Khan Tseren-Donduk (1724–1735). Materials and Methods. The source materials are related records stored at the National Archive of Kalmykia (Coll. И-36). The Register of Kalmyk Affairs contains dispatches and reports by the Governor of Astrakhan, A. Volynsky, clustered under the title ‘About Actual Disagreements and Feuds of Kalmyk Landlords’. The employed historical comparative method makes it possible to specify a chronicle of events on the basis of coinciding events described by all or most of the investigated sources. Results. The 1723 feuds between young Kalmyk princely heirs, Khan Ayuka’s death in 1724, and the unsettled order of succession paved the path for Kazakh and Karakalpak invasions of eastern Kalmyk-inhabited territories between the Volga and the Yaik (Ural) Rivers. Conclusions. Despite the actual political factionalism across the Kalmyk Khanate, eastern landlords headed by Dorji Nazarov were able to repel the aggression of hostile groups. The 1724 battle of the Uzen which ended in a defeat of a small Kazakh-Karakalpak unit had important military and political consequences conveying the message that even amidst the lack of solidarity between Kalmyk noblemen any invasion of their lands should turn an essentially arduous task. However, the successful local engagement of the Volga Kalmyks could not stop the subsequent eastward expansion of Kazakhs.

Does Client Cyber-Breach Have Reputational Consequences for the Local Audit Office?

We examine whether the public disclosure of a client cyber-breach hurts the reputation of the local engagement office of the incumbent auditor. Prior research suggests that alleged client misconduct (even if unrelated to accounting) can hurt the auditor’s reputation and bargaining position vis-à-vis other clients. By contrast, in a client cyber-breach the client is the victim of misconduct rather than perpetrator of the misconduct (SEC 2018). Consistent with a loss in the perceived value of the audit and a decline in the bargaining position of the incumbent auditor’s local audit office, during 2005-2018 following a client cyber-breach we find a decline in the stock price as well as audit fees for non -breach clients of the local audit office. We contribute to the literature by documenting that the negative effects of a cyber-breach are not limited to the breached client but spillover to the local audit office.