Rethinking Prison Training in Colombia Froma Philosophical Perspective

In Colombia, overcrowding has historically been one of the main problems in prisons and penitentiaries, a fact that became more evident during the health crisis unleashed by COVID-19, as well as the way in which it violates the fundamental human rights of individuals deprived of their liberty. On the other hand, and from an educational perspective, another of the problems faced by the penitentiary system of the country is the reduced offer of training projects that have an impact on the development of the moral dimension of people in prison conditions, a shortcoming that, added to many others, hinders resocialization and explains the high recidivism in crimes.In this article, and supported by a reading of some of Dewey's works dedicated to thinking about human nature, its moral character and the characteristics of an authentic moral education, we advocate for an ethical education for people in prison conditions where the interest in transforming the conditions in which they develop and the creation of scenarios that favor the development of their capacity to reflexively examine experience through philosophy converge.Now, the conceptualizations presented here were precursors of a research process that began at the Universidad Nacional Abierta y A Distancia in the year 2021 under the guidance and accompaniment of Ph.D. Jose Barrientos-Rastrojo, professor at the University of Seville and director of the International Boecio Project, and in the framework of which stoicism workshops are developed in prisons oriented by students from different programs of the School of Education and the School of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities. This research project led to the adaptation of the workshops to virtual and distance modalities for the work with different vulnerable groups and its impact is currently being evaluated by different degree works associated with this research.

Childhoodnature: Applying a Sympoietic Approach to Child-Outdoor-Nature Encounters

Childhoodnature encounters can flourish in the Anthropocene. Assembled theories supporting childhoodnature can produce sparks when knocked together. The chemical composition of all living things is composed of the shared building blocks of all life: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulphur. Indeed, even beyond our own planet, recent research has demonstrated that humans and our galaxy share 97% of the same atoms. Indeed, we are all merely matter circulating with and through bodies, places, and time. This entanglement of matter can be known as sympoiesis. Making together or making with, sympoiesis is a philosophical, ontological, and epistemological concept that rejects notions of human exceptionalism. Rather it supports an entangled and relational view;beings forever adapting, changing, and evolving in relation with one another. Boundaries are blurred between bodies, what is being human and what is being nonhuman is no longer clear. Applying a sympoietic approach to outdoor encounters this chapter explores the doing of childhoodnature and its relationship with outdoor environment education (OEE). Childhoodnature as a concept explicitly recognises children as ecologically congruent to all entities who are currently manifesting liveability on a dying planet. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Social and Material Foundations of Wellbeing: Beyond the Neoliberal Model of Development

By unleashing capitalist social relations on a planet-wide scale, the "neoliberal model of development” is destroying the possibility of what the young Marx (Economic and philosophical manuscripts. In K. Marx. Early writings. Penguin in association with New Left Review, 1975) called humanity's "species [well]being” defined as material security, inclusive solidarity and creative autonomy. The first part of the chapter, in opposition to Althusser's anti-humanist dismissal of the early work, builds on young Marx's alienation-based account of how capitalist production relations undermine humanity's wellbeing. The second part demonstrates how capitalism's contemporary neoliberal form further undermines the foundations of human wellbeing. Building critically beyond Marx's nineteenth-century critique, this chapter argues that the competitive, exclusive, precarious, individualistic, ecologically unsustainable, and Sociology, COVID-19 -ridden contemporary neoliberal-led capitalist world is under­mining the social and material foundations of humanity's wellbeing con­sidered as "planetary wellbeing” (Antó et al., Sustainability 13:3372, 2021). The concluding discussion sketches elements of a democratic socialist alternative to both the neoliberal model of development and to authoritarian socialism that can deliver planetary wellbeing. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022, corrected publication 2022

Determination of COVID-19 Transmission Status in East Java Using the Fuzzy Inference System

The COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet. The Coronavirus Disease 19 Pandemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus is spreading very quickly in almost every country in the world because of its human-to-human nature. The first COVID-19 case in Indonesia was detected in Depok, West Java, on March 2, 2020. To deal with this, the government must decide on an efficient policy by observing the atmosphere and situation in each region. In this research, we aim to determine the risk status of COVID-19 transmission in the East Java region using Tsukamoto Fuzzy Inference System. The data used are 38 district data groups consisting of four variables. The input variables are COVID-19 positive cases, suspect cases, and probable cases. The output variable is the risk status of COVID-19 transmission data. The results of this study, the Fuzzy Inference System Tsukamoto method, can be used to determine the risk status of COVID-19 transmission in all areas in East Java with an accuracy value of 95.51%. We implement the model of this research in Banten. The results of model calculations in Banten Province show that the model can be used to determine the zone status of each region in Banten with an accuracy rate above 97%. Therefore, the parameter values for each input and output variable in this study can be used in decision-making in areas that have the same zoning policy. © 2022 IEEE.

Go-Along Interviews as a Method for Social-Ecological Research on Urban Nature

The application of go-along interviews allows an integrated mix of methods, combining qualitative interviews with participant observation. This facilitates linking discourses and practices. The method's particular sensitivity to the spatial embeddedness and reflection of social processes has been evaluated and described in various research contexts. In our article, we highlight the added value of go-along interviews for social-ecological and transdisciplinary research. The COVID-19 lockdowns and their effects on everyday practices of urban residents served as a lens to trace interactions with nature that have been habitualized into everyday walks. Discussing specific episodes from our interviews, we reflect on methodological features of go-along interviews, such as generating narratives, considering material environments and non-human actors, opening up memories and experiences, reconstructing evaluations, and enabling self-reflection. We contrast these potentials with specific challenges in the application of go-along interviews, especially with regard to the accessibility of the interview space, the methodical requirements of the dynamic interview situation, and the altered relationship between interviewer and interviewee. Considering these challenges, conducting go-along interviews can significantly enrich both, the scientific descriptions of urban ecology and the methodological spectrum of research on urban nature. Furthermore, go-along interviews provide a conceptual proximity to transdisciplinary, participatory, and transformative research. © 2023, Institut für Qualitative Forschung,Internationale Akademie Berlin gGmbH. All rights reserved.

Exploring the impact of the pandemic on the relationship between individual types and the natural environment: the role of mortality concerns.

COVID-19 is a global event that has impacted every individual on earth in some way and can be viewed as a mortality salience trigger. Although there were reports of increased nature exposure across the world, research is needed to understand whether the pandemic event impacted the underlying psychology of the human-nature nexus. Given the likelihood of pandemics and environmental challenges increasing in frequency in the future, there is a need for a deeper understanding of how pandemics impact individuals' relationship with the natural environment in South Africa. To achieve this, the study applied psychological types (grouping individuals based on homogeneity) to explore potential shifts as human nature is neither fixed, nor universal. The study asked: Given the multiple significant impacts of COVID-19 on the African continent, how have perceptions and attitudes towards the natural environment changed within and between types of individuals from 2016 (pre COVID) to 2021 (COVID) in South Africa? In a longitudinal, quantitative study, separate samples 721 in 2016 and 665 in 2021 were obtained. Participants in 2021 were grouped into the same six types using the same criteria, for comparison with the 2016 data. The results showed limited potential for pandemics to act as catalysts for long-term individual change towards increased pro-environmentalism. The study confirmed the main tenets of Terror Management Theory that individuals tend to be driven to uphold worldviews when confronted with mortality. Furthermore, there was a reduced experience of personal control over outcomes that increased reliance on sources of control outside the self as an attempt to buffer against mortality concerns. The study contributes towards Terror Management Theory's application during pandemics, and how that relates to individual environmental attitudes and perceptions.

Covid-19 Pandemic and Its Effects on Social Life and Reflections on Spatial Preferences

The Covid-19 pandemic, which emerged in Wuhan city of China's Hubei province in December 2019, affected the whole world in a short period of 3 months. The Covid-19 outbreak, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization as of March 12, 2020;was imposed significant restrictions on the use of open spaces, which adversely affected the daily life of individuals physically, mentally and socially. Apart from the health problems experienced by people, it has also created many spatial choices and changes. New preferences, where social distance is at the forefront, have started new venue organizations along with new requests. Although the changes experienced with the Covid-19 pandemic may seem negative, they contain opportunities that allow change and development. Making people's living environments more functional, remembering the importance of nature and reviewing social relations can be evaluated in this context. Looking from history to the present, the Covid-19 pandemic is not the first and will not be the last. For this reason, the study aims to investigate the change in the spatial preferences in the society with the pandemic and to create an idea for the next pandemics. In this context, 289 people were reached by using the online survey method and various questions were asked. Various results were obtained and interpreted by performing variance analysis, factor analysis, correlation analysis, crosstabs test and frequency analysis (P<0.01) on the obtained data. As a result of the study, from the statistical data, it has been observed that 'people are more oriented to nature' due to the Covid-19 pandemic and that open green spaces suitable for social distance are sought in spatial preferences. These findings shed new light on the value of urban nature as resilience infrastructure during a time of crisis.

‘Creatures in our bed': Pandemics, posthumanism and predatory nature in World War Z (2013)

This article provided a literary analysis of the film text World War Z (2013, dir. Marc Forster) with a specific focus on the pandemic depicted in the film and its relationship to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This discussion foregrounded the figure of the ‘zombie' and the cultural anxieties that this literary figure represents. The pandemic in the film is brought about through an environmental crisis that mimics our own. Mother Earth and nature, personified as female, feature significantly in the film and evoke a discussion on survival, human nature versus animal nature and the figure of the posthuman. This article also employed a cultural studies approach to analyse how the pandemic depicted in the film evokes a Christian religious dimension through a particular scene that takes place in the Holy Land, Jerusalem. The film's depiction of pandemics, religion and the environmental crisis makes it worthy of discussion, especially in light of the current pandemic that the world is facing, with particular focus on humanity's response to it. The dystopian warnings that the film projects have echoes of the current social and ecological challenges that we are grappling with. The conclusion of the film deviates from the ‘happy endings' indicative of Hollywood;rather, it engages with a situation where a temporary, substandard solution is found to an ongoing world-wide catastrophe. The ending of the film draws intriguing parallels to our own experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic and the absence of a cure. Contribution: This article provided a literary analysis of a film text. The discussion drew on cultural studies, popular culture and religion through the lens of Christianity, with a particular focus on the social and cultural anxieties that the figure of the ‘zombie' holds as well as cultural interpretations of Mother Earth and nature as female.

Informing Future Land Systems Using Self-Reported Pathways and Barriers to Connections to Nature: A Case Study in Auckland, New Zealand

Empirical research exploring what increases an individual's connection to nature is growing, however research seeking respondents to self-report what they feel acts as a barrier or pathway to their connection to nature is scarce. Previous empirical literature suggests a link between connections to nature and pro-nature actions. Therefore, understanding what acts as a barrier or pathway to people's connection to nature can provide insight as to what may promote, or hinder, pro-nature actions. From a land systems perspective, the research is crucial, given that human disconnection from nature is argued to be the reason behind large scale ecological crises and species extinction which threaten the land systems in which we live. Consequently, a cross-sectional qualitative study was undertaken in 2019 with 976 respondents from Auckland, New Zealand to explore self-reported perceptions of what acts as a barrier or pathway towards their connections to nature. The findings suggest that respondents perceive modern society modalities such as 'life takes over', 'urban life', etc., as being barriers to their connections to nature. Being exposed to nature, was perceived as a pathway to prompting, and/or sustaining their connections to nature. These learnings highlight the benefit of exploring the perceived influences on connections to nature and the findings can be applied to improve the human-nature connection and therefore potentially increase pro-nature actions. We also use the findings to provide practical actions for environmental managers in the Auckland region by advising as to how the human-nature connection can be supported through future urban planning and better designed urban land systems.

Assuming the Good and the Bad in Human Nature during Disaster Management

The issue of human nature has not been limited in discussing disaster management during these days. This research aims to examine how human nature has been applied to the field to mitigate the various impacts of disasters. Qualitative content analysis, including inference and thematic layers, is used as the main method in comparing the arbitrariness-based with the duality-based aspect of human nature in terms of international organizations, developed nations, and developing nations. The key finding is that these stakeholders need to shift from the arbitrariness-based to the duality-based aspect. Such transition may lead to embracing effective disaster management, multiple emergency plans, self- and public awareness, psychological support, behavior change, diversity, and education. As a multidisciplinary study, this research comprehensively analyzes the contents of human nature within disaster management.

Communicating nature during lockdown – How conservation and outdoor organisations use social media to facilitate local nature experiences

Social media impact not only our communication and social interactions but also our relationships to the natural environment. Social media can increase understanding of our environment by offering information and sharing calls to action, while at the same time, they might present a glamourised, standardised picture of nature and distract from actual outdoor interactions. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to study the spaces created for interactions between the online and offline natural world, especially in countries where movement and thus outdoor activities were restricted during lockdowns. To understand these interactions, we investigated the social media communication of nature conservation and outdoor organisations by analysing Twitter posts of four prominent NGOs in Scotland. We found that during the first COVID-19-induced UK lockdown in spring 2020, Scottish nature conservation and outdoor organisations made distinctive efforts in supporting followers to connect with nature in the face of restrictions. Organisations showed signs of moving towards community-building through sharing experiences often related to nearby nature, while calls for environmental action, more prominent in the previous year, receded in relative importance. Emphasis was put on sensory engagement with, and finding solace in the rhythm of, nature. References to taking action to protect nature now became linked to a green recovery from the pandemic. We conclude that NGOs used social media not as a space separate from the outdoors, but as an augmented space where online and offline interactions were interwoven and a space in which during the COVID-19 pandemic, new avenues for engagement were being explored. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. © 2022 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

Philosophical Anthropology as a Space for the Evolution of Biopolitical Knowledge: From Ancient Natural Philosophy to Modern Microbiopolitics

Purpose. The study aims to substantiate philosophical anthropology as a space for the development of biopolitics, which is a relatively new synthetic scientific knowledge of the political in the biological and the biological in the political, which, however, has its roots in the era of antiquity. The analysis of biopolitics in the context of contemporary global challenges, in particular the COVID-19 pandemic, is carried out, which allows to actualize a new direction of biopolitics - microbiopolitics. Theoretical basis. The study is based on an understanding of the initial, in relation to biopolitics, the nature of philosophical anthropology. While philosophical anthropology seeks an answer to the question - who is Homo sapiens, given the biosocial nature of man, biopolitics specifies the question in the form - who is homo politicus in modern socio-political space with a focus on the imperative of a human-centred approach in the social sciences. The study is based on scientific works by specialists in philosophical anthropology and biopolitics. Originality. The authors substantiate the expediency and relevance of considering philosophical anthropology as a contextual space for the evolution of biopolitical knowledge from the natural philosophy of Antiquity to modern microbiopolitics. Conclusions. Philosophical anthropology is seen as a specific epistemological landscape in which fields of scientific knowledge are formed and developed that are in one way or another involved in the philosophical problems of man: philosophical psychology, social anthropology, philosophy of medicine, humanology, philosophy of education, ethics, as well as biophilosophy, bioethics, and, in particular, biopolitics.

Flesh, Vital Energy and Illness: A Comparative Phenomenological Study of Human-Nature Relations Inspired by the Contexts of Later Merleau-Ponty and the Zhuangzi

The main aim of this paper is to illustrate human-nature relations from a comparative study of the contexts of later Merleau-Ponty and the Zhuangzi. I argue that the Zhuangzi has its own phenomenology of the natural world, which is worth comparing to Merleau-Pontian later phenomenology. To compare the arguments on human-nature relations in the contexts of later Merleau-Ponty and the Zhuangzi in detail, first, I briefly compare the cultural philosophies of nature in ancient Greece and China and their possible influences on our contemporary understanding of nature. Second, I compare the concept of "flesh" of Merleau-Ponty with the concept of "vital energy" in the Zhuangzi and point out the main roles of these concepts in their respective theories of the natural world. Third, I use the "reversibility thesis" created by Merleau-Ponty to analyze the ontological significance of illness in the arguments of Merleau-Ponty and the Zhuangzi. Fourth, inspired by Merleau-Pontian and Zhuangzian ideas about language and expression, I expound on a view of illness as a primordial language of nature and its possible role in mediating human-nature relations. Ultimately, I conclude that the comparative study of thoughts on human-nature relations in the literatures of later Merleau-Ponty and the Zhuangzi can help us reconsider and readjust our main attitudes toward nature, illness and nonhuman beings in the contemporary postpandemic era.

Investigating the First Robotic Nurses: Humanoid Robot Nightingale and Partners for COVID-19 Preventive Design

Responding to these global COVID-19 changes for daily healthcare services clinic, while maintaining safe social distancing, the paper reports the human-centred iterative design with real-fields feasibility inquiries to investigate the first robotic nurse and her partners in Wales. The research adapted the ancient Eastern human nature of seven emotions and six biological wills for the selection criteria and novel design principles for the care robots. We report the preliminary work for integrating, customising, implementing and evaluating three novel robotic nurses: Robot Nightingale, Robot Almeida and Robot Eureka in a care home and a hospital. Bionic Scenarios Definition with 5 merging principles are extracted from the Feasibility Inquiries 1–3. Limitations are discussed from the stakeholders’ experiences. Our research has no intension to replace human nurses, but a thoughtful feasibility and interdisciplinary study for bionic robotic nurses for conventional engineers’ and practitioners’ references. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Biophilic Experience-Based Residential Hybrid Framework.

There has been increasing academic interest in biophilic design in response to recent environmental and climate change issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic. However, discussions of the utilization of digital technology in providing universal access to nature, and opportunities to experience more diverse nature, are lacking. This study aimed to compare and analyze major theoretical systems for biophilic experiences in a residential environment, and to propose a hybrid framework that combines physical and digital design techniques for comparison and analysis. This paper discusses framework application strategies in line with scales of residential environments. Based on a systematic literature review, this study integrated and derived key elements of biophilic experience for a better quality of life in a modern residential environment and proposed a hybrid framework and strategy based on this. As a result, a hybrid framework of 15 integrated factors for three biophilic experiences was derived, and various strengths and potential opportunities were identified in terms of application depending on the scales. At the unit scale, it was found that the well-being and health of residents improved; at the building scale, the potential for sustainability was highlighted; at the complex scale, there was a contribution to higher residential competitiveness in multi-dimensional aspects. In particular, the biophilic experience-based hybrid framework in this study provided insights into addressing the weaknesses and threats discussed in the existing biophilic design.

From the President

Gleddie argues that there are pedagogical principles that we should know and follow--and there is also an art as to when to use those principles, with whom and when to toss them out the door and go with your heart. As we move into the last few months of the school year, understanding the scientific impact of COVID-19 on our students is important. Analyzing the impact of the last two years on their educational outcomes and wellbeing is critical. Taking time to assess the pedagogical principles that fit your class, the school community and it's diverse context is necessary.

The Relationships among Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Subjective Well-Being: The Case of Employees in an International Business

This study aimed to investigate the relationships among mindfulness, self-compassion, and subjective well-being among employees. The questionnaire research method was used to collect data in this study, and the subjects included employees of Carrefour, an international business in Taiwan. A total of 629 valid questionnaires were used to evaluate the overall structure and analyze the mediating effect with the SPSS 21.0 statistical software. The results showed that mindfulness was positively related to subjective well-being, mindfulness was positively related to self-compassion, and self-compassion was positively related to subjective well-being. It was also found that self-compassion partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and subjective well-being.

Changes in Green Space Use During a COVID-19 Lockdown Are Associated With Both Individual and Green Space Characteristics

Mobility restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic present a useful study system for understanding the temporal and spatial patterns of green space use. Here, we examine green space characteristics and sociodemographic factors associated with change in frequency of green space use before and during a COVID-19 lockdown in Brisbane, Australia drawing on a survey of 372 individuals. Applying regression analysis, we found that individuals who visited a different green space during lockdown than before tended to decrease their frequency of visits. In contrast, individuals who continued visiting their usual green space during lockdown were more inclined to increase their number of visits. Changes in frequency of green space use were also associated with particular characteristics of their usually visited green space. The presence of blue spaces and accessibility (carparks/public transport) were associated with increased frequency of use while foliage height diversity was associated with reduced frequency of use. We found that females were more likely to change their green space visitation frequency during COVID-19 compared to men and they also reported greater importance of green spaces for social and family interactions and spiritual reasons during COVID-19 compared to before. Males showed greater increases than females in the importance of green space for nature interactions and mental health benefits during the COVID-19 lockdown compared to before. Our results provide key insights for future resilient urban planning and policy that can fulfil a wide range of physical and psychological needs during a time of crisis and beyond. Copyright © 2022 Berdejo-Espinola, Zahnow, Suárez-Castro, Rhodes and Fuller.

A Biophilic Design Approach for Improved Energy Performance in Retrofitting Residential Projects

The existing building stock is recognised as a major contributor to total energy consumption and related carbon emissions around the globe. There is increased attention on the retrofit of existing building stock, especially residential buildings, as a way of curbing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Within this context, human nature connectedness (HNC) has the potential of further amplifying the benefits of sustainable buildings both from an energy conservation practice and tangible improvements to users’ satisfaction, health, and wellbeing. This study attempts to show a case study of the potential of using HNC through the adoption of biophilic design principles to improve a residential building performance. A terrace house located in Sydney, NSW, was used as a case study and proposed retrofit scenarios were simulated with DesignBuilder® and Rhinoceros/Grasshopper with a view of improved daylighting, thermal comfort, and energy consumption. The building performance is improved in terms of daylighting, thermal comfort, and reduced energy consumption, additionally enhancing HNC.