Norwich once again

While I do not spend all of my time in Norwich, it continues to be my favourite English city...and it's fantastic to get back for various things.

This trip focused on the University of East Anglia's Water Security Research Centre, where I am a Visiting Fellow. I attended a seminar by Jamie Linton, a great mind in human-water interactions. He presented on the politics and social relations surrounding a dam in the Eastern Pyrenes of France. Fun stuff - and very different than what I usually do!

This afternoon, I got to know this year's cohort of postgraduate students a bit better through a three-hour seminar exploring the hydro spiral and how we understand models. I do believe a good time was had by all.


The Hydrosocial Spiral: Exploring Human-Water Interactions through Participatory Modelling
Abstract: “All models are wrong, but some are useful” (George E. P. Box). In 1934, the National Resources Board of the United States of America published the first visually descriptive hydrologic cycle diagram. Like water itself, this simple graphic has evolved in some ways and remained stagnant in others throughout the past eighty years. Multiple edits have been made, graphics have become more realistic, and many agencies and organisations have developed their own diagrams. Yet the majority of hydro cycle diagrams continue to ignore or understate the role of humans in the hydrologic system and the vast diversity of watersheds. For some time now, social scientists of water have been offering critiques of the ‘classic’ hydro cycle, with scholarship emerging around the ‘hydrosocial cycle’ and increased consideration of water’s interplay with other systems through the food-water-energy nexus, the planetary boundaries framework, and others. Building from these critiques and advances in our thinking on the teaching and modelling of water’s movement in the anthropocene, a Working Group at the University of East Anglia has created a participatory tool for exploring the historical, political, economic, cultural, and natural processes of water. The “hydrosocial spiral” is a dynamic visual graphic for use by researchers, teachers, managers, and activists allowing for a variety of conceptions of and communications around water. This seminar will review the extant literature on hydrosocial interactions, describe the creation and implementation of the hydrosocial spiral, and engage participants in creating their own version of a hydrosocial model.

"Cous Cous the Elephant": An Intrepid Explorers Talk

I gave a rather irreverent (fun, joke-filled, completely informal) talk at King's College London last week about research methods and experiences for the Intrepid Explorers Seminar Series. Title and abstract are below.

"Cous Cous the Elephant: Espionage, Diplomacy, and Cultural (Mis)Understanding in the Middle East"

Becca is a doctoral researcher at King’s College London investigating environmental peacebuilding in the Middle East and North Africa. She partners with local activists in the region to explore how nature can be used to bring conflicting communities together. Over the course of her research, she has spent a year in countries like Morocco, Lebanon, and Kuwait engaging with fog-harvesting, conservation scuba diving, and war journalism. This talk will reflect on how the presence of a researcher creates moments of cultural learning, miscommunication, and change for everyone involved in a project. Come along for stories of mistaken identities, farcical shop vendors, and lifelong friendships.

A number of folks asked if the talk might be recorded - so here's a quick, entirely home-shot/unedited version!

A disclaimer: I talk about my wonderful research partners in this presentation. I do so openly and informally - and very much as a reflection of my time and experiences with them, not as an authoritative statement from the organisations. It’s an uncensored look at my thinking and research logic - please take it in the spirit intended!

The photos don't come through all that well in the recording. The presentation can be downloaded from: http://tinyurl.com/hzq5fuc

Enjoy if you like James Bond-puns and my rambling. ;) 

Home sweet Edinburgh

After far, far too long a time, I spent this weekend back in Edinburgh. Heather, one of my best mates from Law School days, flew in from Canada for a holiday. She stayed with me in London for a couple nights and then we trained up to Scotland Saturday morning. 

There really is nothing like the daily view of that beautiful hill with a castle on top...

Happily, a bunch of the 2016 Marshall Scholars independently decided to also head up for the weekend - so I got to push a bunch of new friends toward my favourite haunts! I say "push" because I didn't quite make it to everything with them...the aforementioned hill and its siblings are fabulous to look at but less delightful to climb on crutches. (Heather was not impressed with my timing on this injury, I can tell you.)

Saturday night we had a group dinner at The Elephant House - the birthplace of "Harry Potter" that also happens to have amazing salsa and hot chocolate. (Really, I was just eating my way through nostalgia...)

Sunday morning, I went to church...only to arrive just early enough to get roped into singing with the choir! Once more for kicks, I suppose. It was lovely to catch up with everyone. 

And now I'm back on the Tube headed home, ready for another "normal" week of baby duty, geography seminar, and giving a talk at King's. In between exhaustedly crashing in bed. Because as I said - hills on crutches are exhausting. ;) (Those of you following the progress of the foot - I am making definite progress and should be off crutches in 2-3 weeks.)

COP22 - less than a month to go!

So what the heck is COP22, anyway? I'm headed back to Morocco in a few weeks to join research partner Dar Si Hmad in Marrakech for a giant climate change convention. Check out the blog post, copied below, about the UNFCCC to learn more about what's going on.


Today marks twenty-five days until the twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In other words: in just under a month, Morocco will be kicking off the world's biggest meeting about climate change!

The UN Climate Change Convention is an international plan for action against climate change. The treaty was launched at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. 196 countries have signed the agreement and pledged their support. Each year, representatives of these countries meet at a Conference of the Parties to review progress and decide on next steps. These annual meetings have been held since 1995, when the first Conference of the Parties was held in Berlin. Last December, COP21 was held in Paris.

November 7-18, the city of Marrakech will host foreign heads of state, international diplomats, scientists, lawyers, researchers, journalists, and activists for COP22. In addition to the legal and policy meetings, environmental groups and activists will gather to share ideas and programs that help combat climate change and its impacts.

Dar Si Hmad for Development, Culture and Education is proud to be taking part of COP22 as a civil society partner. We will have a booth in the Green Zone and will be presenting our award-winning fog-harvesting project at a sponsored side event on November 7.

As part of our lead-up to Marrakech, Dar Si Hmad will be running a social media campaign focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGs are a UN-led call to action for countries, corporations, groups, and individuals. The goals focus on ending poverty, protecting the planet, and creating peace and prosperity for everyone.

 

The goals are:

1. No Poverty - End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. Zero Hunger - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Good Health and Well-Being - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Gender Equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Clean Water and Sanitation - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Affordable and Clean Energy - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10. Reduced Inequalities - Reduce income inequality within and among countries
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Responsible Consumption and Production - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Climate Action - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting develoments in renewable energy
14. Life Below Water - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Life on Land - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Partnerships for the Goals - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

While COP22 is generally focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, climate change affects all parts of life. Successfully working against negative environmental damage requires integrating action and tackling poverty, hunger, inequality, and injustice to ensure sustainability for humans and ecosystems.

The UNFCCC acknolwedges that certain areas are more vulnerable to climate change. This includes arid or semi-arid zones and developing countries with fragile mountainous ecosystems. Aït Baamrane, where Dar Si Hmad works, is one such place, subject to extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, desertification, and other negative environmental impacts. We are proud to be hosting COP22 in a country that knows the risks and problems of climate change, and we are proud to be actively working to ensure that our most vulnerable populations - rural communities, indigenous peoples, women, and children - do not face the costs of climate change alone. As we journey to Marrakech for COP22, we invite you to join us. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals, COP22, and our work to combat climate change in Morocco and around the world.

Return of The Brilliant Club

What better way to spend a Sunday than in teacher training?!

A new university teaching term means another term working with The Brilliant Club delivering uni-style tutorials in schools. This term is especially fun: I'm working with Key Stage 2 students, i.e. ten-year-olds. 

The Brilliant Club has us create our own courses based on our PhD work for older students, but for younger ones, we work from a pre-designed curriculum we can adapt a bit to suit our interests and expertise. 

I get to have fun with "The Deep, Dark Woods", an exploration of nature and literature. We will be looking at excerpts from things like "The Gruffalo" and "Harry Potter". I'm quite tickled, all in all. 

Yesterday I also went along to an elective exploring a new course created by the Engineering Outreach programme at University College London. The course is "How Many Engineers Does It Take to Make an Ice Cream?" and examines the various processes in mass production. The final assignment requires students to design a new ice cream - and the winning flavour is going to be made by Unilever for their class to try! I'm not sure whether I'll deliver that course this term (though I may, as it looks like they're short a tutor), but it was fun and gave me some teaching ideas for the Bright Futures programme at Holt Hall either way. 

This will be my first term working long-haul in the classroom with students this young - usually with the kiddos I either am outside at a camp or do one-time events! It will be interesting to see how I fit into this new style. 

Norwich Day

I said to heck with my broken foot today and had an expedition to Norwich. The primary purpose was meeting the new Water Security students - as a Visiting Fellow at UEA, I'll be doing a few seminars and supporting them in various projects. I went for a full day of meetings with the Holt Hall crew, though, and was happily able to gorge on various Norwich-based restaurants and goodies. 
Friends with cars are helpful things - I managed to get rides from and to the rail station from folks I was meeting with, making my total walking for the day perhaps less than if I'd stayed at home getting up and down the stairs for meals!
All in all, a very lovely day - though I am definitely exhausted.
Happy Wednesday to all!