Burning beds and political stasis: Bernard Stiegler and the entropic nature of Australian anti-reflexivity

The entropic state that engulfed the East Coast of Australia in the first eight months of 2020 followed thirty years of uninterrupted economic growth and 10 years of tenuous federal governments divided on the question of climate change. The twin geophysical crises of catastrophic bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a public reckoning around our guardianship of the environment, as well as our relationship with science and indigenous knowledge. Congruent with this was the rapid transformation of both schools and universities to online learning, causing the most significant rupture to the traditional ‘grammar of schooling' for decades. This unprecedented conflation of crises has resulted in the unusual situation where education can be radically transformed, as the material conditions that usually remain latent (thus negating the possibility for change) suddenly exist. As a result, there has been an increased openness to pedagogies of potentiality, as schools and universities resist the urge to ‘return to normal'. Amongst these pedagogies, the philosophy of Bernard Stiegler is unique in its direct response to the entropic state with a counter-impulse, negantropy, which seeks to harness our technological capacity under an ethos of care and unite it with our existential purpose to flourish and thrive. This paper will consider the possibilities of Stiegler's utopian call for action in relation to the Australian context, as schools and universities reconceptualise the sharing of knowledge and the purpose of education that seeks to rectify the gaps of the past.

Whose Knowledge Makes a City Smart? Exploring Conceptions of the Role of Knowledge in Urban Policy in Indore, India

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the need for greater participation of urban informal settlement dwellers in urban development. How this participation is envisioned, however, is influenced by how policy paradigms view such populations in relation to knowledge. How valuable is what they know? How relevant is their perspective to shaping policies? To explore these questions, this chapter analyses the limitations of the ways in which smart urbanism views the knowledge of the masses, using historical institutionalism as a perspective to trace the evolution of urban policy and its assumptions about knowledge in the context of Indore. It draws on a study undertaken by the Bahá'í Chair for Studies in Development to make visible how people resolve development issues through applying their own spiritual convictions and conceptions of wellbeing. It then discusses the implications this has for the way people's knowledge is viewed in policy. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Pandemic Makers: How Citizen Groups Mobilized Resources to Meet Local Needs in a Global Health Crisis: ET&P

The enormous scale of suffering, breadth of societal impact, and ongoing uncertainty wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic introduced dynamics seldom examined in the crisis entrepreneurship literature. Previous research indicates that when a crisis causes a failure of public goods, spontaneous citizen ventures often emerge to leverage unique local knowledge to rapidly customize abundant external resources to meet immediate needs. However, as outsiders, emergent citizen groups responding to the dire shortage of personal protective equipment at the onset of COVID-19 lacked local knowledge and legitimacy. In this study, we examine how entrepreneurial citizens mobilized collective resources in attempts to gain acceptance and meet local needs amid the urgency of the pandemic. Through longitudinal case studies of citizen groups connected to makerspaces in four U.S. cities, we study how they adapted to address the resource and legitimacy limitations they encountered. We identify three mechanisms—augmenting, circumventing, and attenuating—that helped transient citizen groups calibrate their resource mobilization based on what they learned over time. We highlight how extreme temporality imposes limits on resourcefulness and legitimation, making it critical for collective entrepreneurs to learn when to work within their limitations rather than try to overcome them.

the disease of expertise

The Disease of Expertise, is a poem composed by poet, playwright, musician and researcherTawona Sitholé. Within the poem,Sitholé challenges the contemporary constructs of modernity, knowledge, and knowledge production in the scope of globalized economies. Utilizing Covid-19 and the corresponding global pandemic as a backdrop into the inquiry of knowledge, and economic development Sitholé incorporates his own lived experience and local knowledge to highlight contemporary issues relating to globalization, structural inequities, and questions of knowledge within the Global South.

An overdue catalyst: Limitations imposed by COVID-19 improved capacity building in community-led environmental education in Madagascar.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus brought many primatology research programs and conservation efforts to a halt. After Madagascar closed its borders during March 2020, many on-site international project leaders and researchers returned to their home countries when their programs were delayed or canceled. Madagascar remained closed to travelers until November 2021, when it reopened to international flights. The 20-month absence of international researchers allowed many local Malagasy program staff, wildlife professionals, and community leaders to step into new leadership roles and responsibilities. Many programs that already had strong Malagasy leadership and meaningful collaborations with local communities flourished, while others either swiftly strengthened these attributes or faced challenges from pandemic-related travel restrictions. Here, we describe how the coronavirus pandemic events of 2020-2021 initiated long-overdue shifts in outdated models of internationally led primate research and education projects in communities living alongside primates at risk of extinction. We discuss the benefits and challenges of pandemic-induced changes within five primatological outreach projects, as well as how we can use these experiences to improve community-led environmental education and conservation awareness in the future.

Everyday information behavior during the "new normal” of the Covid-19 pandemic: approaching the notions of experiential and local knowledge

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to understand everyday information behavior (IB) during the Covid-19 pandemic at the "new normal” stage, focusing on the notions of experiential knowledge (EK), i.e. knowledge acquired by first-hand experience or in personal interactions, and local knowledge (LK) as perception of local environment. Design/methodology/approach: Seventeen interviews were carried out in February–May 2021, in a district of the city of Madrid (Spain). Interview transcripts were analyzed according to grounded theory, to identify major and complementary themes of EK and LK. Findings: Participants' stories show that EK cooperated with information originating from government, scientific authorities and mainstream media, in patterns of convergence and divergence. While convergence produces "thick knowledge” (knowledge perceived as solid, real and multidimensional), divergence leads to uncertainty and collaboration, but it also supports a critical stance on authorities' information. In addition, participants' perceptions of LK emphasize its human component. LK and EK are exchanged both explicitly and tacitly. Originality/value: The paper presents the first approach to understanding EK and LK and their function during the health crisis, characterizing them as alternative information systems and as topics deserving major attention in research on IB and crisis management. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Women, Bodies, and Medicine: The Tradition of Drinking Jamu (Herbal Medicine) among Indonesian Transmigrant Women

Jamu (traditional herbal medicine of Indonesia) emerges from Javanese culture that is passed down through generations. The tradition was brought by Javanese transmigrants in Lampung, Indonesia. Social interaction between transmigrants and locals led to the cultural assimilation of Javanese culture within local culture. The combination of two cultures brings a different meaning to Jamu consumption among the transmigrants. This study aims to explore the significance of traditional medical practices in transmigrant communities. This research uses a descriptive, qualitative method with an ethnographic approach. Participants were three first-generation transmigrant, elderly women, who consume herbal medicine and live in Dwi Mulyo Village, Penawartama District, Tulang Bawang Regency, Lampung. Although the participants were few, in-depth interviews and participatory observation were done to collect data. The results show that the Javanese tradition of drinking herbal medicine is a manifestation of the interaction between culture and women. Javanese women use herbal medicine in their daily lives, such as during menstruation and childbirth. Javanese women also use Jamu to maintain their family's health and to boost their immunity during COVID-19. The ability to produce herbal medicine is inherited by daughters from their mothers or traditional birth attendants during pregnancy. However, in Lampung, women face obstacles to using herbal medicine as their main choice due to the lack of availability of some herbal ingredients. These changes indicate that the local knowledge transfer process is a dynamic process. Furthermore, this continuing process can create a sustainable local knowledge. © 2022, Journal of International Women''s Studies. All Rights Reserved.

LEARNING LAB METHODOLOGY FOR EXPANSIVE LEARNING AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN BRAZIL

The global policies of inclusive education often ignored local knowledge and cultural-historical ecologies. As a result, the top-down policies become either irrelevant or oppressive. This study presents a formative intervention study, Learning Lab, conducted in Brazil to design a new system at specialized school for blind and visually impaired students. Fourteen practitioners engaged in nine meetings with the final goal of producing a new system of inclusive education for students with multiple disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic. We will present the expansive learning actions, which educators took as a conduit for critical dialogue, collective agency and expansive learning for designing the future of their school. © ISLS.

Writing-Living with Local Knowledge: Reflexions from a Black Female-Researcher-Educator during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The thoughts and propositions presented in this article are related to studies and practices I carried out in the academia as well as in basic education institutions within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, more specifically in the first semester of the year 2021. This investigation aims to bring readings, empirical and subjective practices based on local knowledge that were systematized by the Black Brazilian Movement, according to the educator Nilma Lino Gomes. The theoretical emphasis is based on decolonial thought and methodological technique is derived from the concept of "escrevivencias" (writing-livings), from the female author Conceicao Evaristo, who, as the anthropologist Arturo Escobar and the educator Paulo Freire, rejects the distinction between knowing and doing. Besides, my writing radically questions the binary and asymmetric relations between nature and culture, local and global, theory and practice. As a result, this article presents a critique of (developmentalist) globalizing thought, which makes invisible bodies and cosmoperceptions of groups that were oppressed by the (modern) capitalist world-system. The conclusion is that the dimension of a locus of enunciation through a "body-territory" can contribute to the production of "glocalities", as I suspect happens through the mediation of a network of Black geographers, which was initially in my doctorate investigation. Networks that, as the Black feminist geographers, are not exclusive to Brazil, but find echoes in actions that pursue the fight for political, social and economic emancipation. A task that regards itself as decolonial in theory and practice.

Virtually Engineering Community Engagement: Training for Undergraduate Engineers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Flood mitigation and adaptation measures, among other tools to improve resiliency, will be necessary to sustain coastal communities in the face of climate change. Key to successful adaptation will be engineering projects, and critical to the success of those projects will be community engagement and support. Despite the recognized importance of community engagement when addressing complex issues like coastal flooding on which engineers work, most undergraduate engineering programs offer little to no training in community engagement. In this paper, we describe our experiences working with undergraduate engineering students to develop community-driven designs to address flooding and water quality issues in the Lake Mattamuskeet watershed in eastern North Carolina. Through an interdisciplinary approach, student teams learned to engage with local stakeholders to better integrate local knowledge and address issues identified by community members in their designs. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all community engagement aspects of the project moved to virtual forums, and we discuss the impact this shift had on the engineering designs as well as student learning outcomes and community connections.

Management of local knowledge to develop silverware products into a contemporary identity of the Mien Ethnic Group in Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand

This study was conducted with the aim of exploring local knowledge of silverware, management of local silverware knowledge and to develop silverware products into a contemporary identity of the Mien ethnic group in Kamphaeng Phet. This qualitative research adheres to interpretation view processes and had 30 key informants consisting of members of hill tribe silverware groups. Data were collected using interviews, focus groups and participatory observations. Data analysis and presentation using ethnographic research principles found the Mien ethnic group in Kamphaeng Phet to be the largest production site for silverware in Thailand with conservation of ancient patterns and designs in silver handicraft centers, use of modern technology for processing silver handicraft products and items, human and natural dimensions, pattern designs that imitate nature, human dimensions and sacred items in silverware during New Year’s Day events, and human dimension in weddings with expressions of family status. Management of local hill tribe silverware knowledge involved the following four steps;(1) Build inherited local knowledge by observing, memorizing and experimenting through trial and error;(2) Store knowledge by memorizing and storing knowledge in documents, photograph albums and video clips;(3) Disseminate knowledge in families, exchange knowledge in the community and kpru.ac.th;and (4) Use knowledge by processing it into processes for improving hill tribe silverware products into a contemporary identity and produce hill tribe silverware brands consistent with the Mien ethnic group’s identity, develop packages, design and develop new product brands and improve products along with increasing competitive capacity during the COVID-19 era. © 2022 Kasetsart University.

Everyday information behavior during the “new normal” of the Covid-19 pandemic: approaching the notions of experiential and local knowledge

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to understand everyday information behavior (IB) during the Covid-19 pandemic at the “new normal” stage, focusing on the notions of experiential knowledge (EK), i.e. knowledge acquired by first-hand experience or in personal interactions, and local knowledge (LK) as perception of local environment. Design/methodology/approach: Seventeen interviews were carried out in February–May 2021, in a district of the city of Madrid (Spain). Interview transcripts were analyzed according to grounded theory, to identify major and complementary themes of EK and LK. Findings: Participants’ stories show that EK cooperated with information originating from government, scientific authorities and mainstream media, in patterns of convergence and divergence. While convergence produces “thick knowledge” (knowledge perceived as solid, real and multidimensional), divergence leads to uncertainty and collaboration, but it also supports a critical stance on authorities’ information. In addition, participants’ perceptions of LK emphasize its human component. LK and EK are exchanged both explicitly and tacitly. Originality/value: The paper presents the first approach to understanding EK and LK and their function during the health crisis, characterizing them as alternative information systems and as topics deserving major attention in research on IB and crisis management. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Local perspectives on landslide prevention and management in Kalimpong district, West Bengal, India

Purpose>This paper is joint reflection on the role of research assistants (RAs) in fieldwork for disaster risk research, particularly at the doctoral level. The paper has been co-authored by Gurung, who worked as a RA with the other author McGowran during his doctoral field research in Kalimpong from May 2019 to January 2020. The piece allows Gurung to voice his ideas on the research in a published research output and allows both authors to reflect on how the collaborative approach taken helped to make the research more responsive to, and reflective of, the problems people affected by landslides in Kalimpong face. The paper aims to highlight the benefits of working with RAs on landslide prevention and management in areas that may be unfamiliar and to provide a space for the RAs to voice their opinion on the research.Design/methodology/approach>The paper is split into sections written by and in the voice of the authors. This reflects a compromise between wanting Gurung's voice to be clearly heard in the piece and the challenges of non-academically trained RAs contributing to academic outputs that require specific training. Brief outlines of Kalimpong district disaster research in the region are set out by McGowran initially. Gurung then outlines how he became involved in the research and how this affected the research methodology. He reflects on how the research played out and presents some brief reflections on the findings. McGowran then concludes the piece.Findings>The authors discuss how landslides in Kalimpong are related to locally specific political, economic, cultural and physical processes. It is only through discussing these processes with the people who live with and are affected by these landslides that this more holistic understanding can be gained, even though complete explanations are never usually found. Ideas for further research into landslides in Kalimpong and elsewhere are presented, centering on the involvement of people affected by disasters in this research.Originality/value>The authors hope the publication of the paper might set more of a precedent for the voice of RAs – and those who are affected by disasters – to be more clearly heard in disaster risk research and practice in future. More of this type of research could help to address some of the issues this special issue raises.

Public Health and Public Safety: Converging Upstream

Though aspirational, such framing sends a clear message: although medical care can blunt or reverse an individual's physical and mental illness, only by adelree·sing core upstream determinants of health- from fundamental (racism, poverty) to social and envirermKmtal (peer education and housing, air pollution) causes-is progress toward im;1 1 lth at the population fevel achievable. .erthe United States temini ies to spend more on health care, and prepertionally less on addressing 1 inderlying causes of ill health, than any other wealthy country. [...]guided by local data and knowledge, resources must be allocated to catalyze measurable gains in public safety, broadly construed. The Healthcare Anchor Network is working with health care systems across the country to lend the economic power ofthe hospital sector to strengthening community health through purposeful investment in social determinants of health.

Independence: an introduction to the #AoIR2021 special issue

This paper introduces the ‘Independence’ themed special issue which includes research presented at the 22nd annual Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) conference (2021). ‘Independence’ as a special issue theme could hardly be timelier, both in geopolitical and internet research terms. The call for the 2021 AoIR annual conference asked us to reflect on the ambivalence of the term, to look back on historical struggles for independence, the long waves of history, and prompted us to ask who benefits from independence (and who does not). Hosted online for a second year, this time by universities in Philadelphia (USA), the conference was bounded by the Black Lives Matter movement, the insurrectionist storming of Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill, and global struggles to control the COVID-19 pandemic. This special issue includes nine papers that showcase new research exploring the affordances offered by digital media platforms to people, users, and workers, while also identifying tendencies towards new forms of control and surveillance facilitated by platforms. Topics include geopolitical and biopolitical digital sovereignty, facial recognition technologies, data divides, new methods approaches and innovative data sourcing, mobile and social media, examinations of embodied local knowledge as well as patriarchal, racist, and gendered social structures, and a broad range of field sites from Asia, Africa, and South America.

Making a Case for Indigenous Education Systems in South Africa

South Africa's government was obliged to change the country's education system because of the Covid-19 outbreak. With the announcement of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures in March 2020, all schools and institutions of higher learning at all levels were closed, requiring the Department of Basic and Higher Education to make strategies to keep the academic calendar running. Despite all these plans, rural learners in Basic education suffered academic setbacks due to some challenges, including distance/remote learning, which they were unfamiliar with, and the curriculum taught in schools, which was alien to them as indigenous people with rich indigenous cultural backgrounds. This study looked into the obstacles that learners may experience during the Covid-19 period in 2020. Secondary sources, such as news stories, media remarks, and written articles, were used to gather data. According to the findings, most students in 2020 will be unable to cope with distance learning and study independently without face-to-face assistance from their lecturers. As a result, children required frequent physical interactions with their teachers to grasp foreign course material. Given the "new normal" fallout from Covid-19, which may lead to distant learning, the Department of Basic Education should establish a program that embraces and respects indigenous knowledge as part of teaching and learning, according to the report. Such a culture-responsive curriculum will enable learners to work from home and get assistance from local knowledge holders.

An Assessment of Environmental Knowledge in a Highly Biodiverse Mountainous Region of Mexico

The environmental knowledge of inhabitants residing in a highly biodiverse mountainous region of western Mexico with an important economic forestry sector was investigated. Indices of environmental knowledge, by average and through a factor analysis, were developed and characterized using survey data collected in 2018 and 2021. These indices showed high levels of correlation, and followed similar patterns of distributions. Ordinary least squares and quantile regressions were used to examine social, economic, demographic, and perceptions as determinant factors of the generated indices. Age and education were repeatedly found as important factors influencing environmental knowledge, while income and gender were consistently not significant factors. Furthermore, environmental knowledge was related to quality of life. The index developed by factor analysis generated more significantly stable parameter results across percentiles of environmental knowledge. The indices were recommended for monitoring environmental knowledge in long term studies.

Digital Curation of Local Historical Research Data: Use “Two Ancient Forts of Keelung and Tamsui” as an Example

Taiwan has been developing local historical studies for more than 30 years, and there have been problems such as the research data cannot be effectively preserved, added value, reused, transformed, and promoted. Based on the concept of digital curation, this paper proposes a digital curation model of local historical research data, and uses the two ancient forts of Keelung and Tamsui left over from the Spanish-Dutch period in northern Taiwan in the 17th century as examples. We start with the relevant historical material, collecting, screening, and compiling literature data, carry out field surveys and digitize the collected materials for processing and preservation. Furthermore, consider the subsequent access, presentation and reuse of digital content in order to transform it into popular science content suitable for public viewing. Finally, through the development and presentation of 3D models, the actual experience of VR virtual curation, plus the production and broadcasting of videos, the integration of virtual and real is carried out. In addition, this research also promotes online curation in response to the Covid-19 epidemic. The benefits can be learned from the analysis of online viewing data that digital curation does have the effect of not being restricted by time and space. © 2021. Journal of Educational Media and Library Sciences. All Rights Reserved.

A call for the library community to deploy best practices toward a database for biocultural knowledge relating to climate change

Purpose: In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented Design/methodology/approach: Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive—rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate. Findings: COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. With wildfires, drought, flooding and other extreme or slow-onset weather events presenting dangers, it is imperative that libraries take joint action toward facilitating sustainable and open access to relevant information. Practical implications: An initiative could create an easily-accessible, open, linked, curated, secure and stakeholder-respectful database for global biocultural heritage—documenting traditional knowledge, local knowledge and climate adaptation traditions. Social implications: Ongoing stakeholder involvement from the outset should acknowledge preferences regarding whether or how much to share information. Ethical elements must be embedded from concept to granular access and metadata elements. Originality/value: Rooted in the best practices and service orientation of library science, the proposal envisions a sustained response to a common global challenge. Stewardship would also broadly assist the global community by preserving and providing streamlined access to information of instrumental value to addressing climate change. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.