The Bank of Canada Museum is thrilled to announce the nationwide tour of its award-winning travelling exhibition, Money in 10 Questions: Kids Edition, kicking off at the Lloydminster Museum + Archives from January 31 to April 27, 2025.
This engaging, play-based exhibition, designed to inspire young minds and families, recently earned an Award of Excellence from Interpretation Canada.
In developing the exhibition, the Museum asked young Canadians a simple question: What do you want to know about money? More than 800 questions flooded in from across the country. The questions were thoughtful and complex, while some were just plain fun. The exhibition is built around 10 of these questions, such as “Why do you have to work for money?” and “Can money be dinosaur bones?” to help kids build a strong foundation for managing their financial futures.
Highlights of the exhibition experience include:
Can you save a million dollars? Learn about the magic of compound interest.
Discover some surprising forms of money. Touch them; some of them are furry.
Meet a kid entrepreneur and find ways to make your own money.
The Lloydminster Museum + Archives marks the first stop on a three-year journey that will bring Money in 10 Questions: Kids Edition to communities across Canada.
For more information on the exhibition or its tour schedule, visit the Travelling Exhibitions page.
Saskatchewan’s vibrant and diverse history takes center stage during the celebration of Archives Week 2025. This year, Archives Week runs from Sunday, February 2 to Saturday, February 8. This annual event shines a spotlight on the vital work of archives across the province in preserving and sharing the stories that have shaped Saskatchewan’s identity.
“Saskatchewan’s Provincial Archives make a significant contribution to our province by maintaining the historical and cultural richness found in our communities,” Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Alana Ross said. “It is important to recognize the substantial scope and value of heritage conservation, the work undertaken leads to a deeper understanding and appreciation of our provincial identity.”
Organized by the Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists (SCAA), Archives Week 2025 features events and activities that showcase the province’s cultural and historical treasures. We are inviting the public to explore and celebrate their shared heritage.
One highlight of this year’s celebrations is the 80th anniversary of the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan. The Provincial Archives will host an event: The Thrill of Discovery. Taking place on Wednesday, February 5, at 7 p.m. at 2440 Broad Street in Regina, the evening will feature a presentation by renowned historian Frank Korvemaker, displays from local archives, and a new exhibit showcasing unique and fascinating records. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.
“The Provincial Archives has been preserving Saskatchewan’s history for eight decades,” SaskBuilds and Procurement Minister David Marit said. “This event is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our province’s past and recognize the invaluable contributions of archives in keeping our history alive.”
SCAA has also planned a virtual video event, where institutions have submitted short video clips showcasing their successes and achievements of the past year; and also display the hard work and dedication of archivists in preserving the vibrant history of the province. These videos will be featured online each day during Archives Week and then will be made accessible to the public via the SCAA website and social media. They include virtual tours, open houses, photo exhibits, film nights and other celebrations from members such as the Archives de Bellevue, Archives of Humboldt and District Museum & Gallery, City of Saskatoon Archives, Clayton McLean Memorial Museum, Climax Community Museum, Craik Oral History, Friends of the Lloydminster Regional Archives, Grand Coteau Heritage & Cultural Centre, Melfort & District Museum, Moose Jaw Public Library, Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina, Saskatoon Heritage Festival and Whitewood Tourism & Heritage Association.
“We are proud to celebrate Archives Week 2025 and look forward to hosting not only the public but also other archives in our celebration,” Provincial Archivist Carol Radford-Grant said.
Archives Week events will take place across the province, including workshops, film screenings, and exhibits, providing opportunities for people to engage with Saskatchewan’s heritage and learn more about the work of archival institutions.
For a full list of Archives Week 2025 events and activities, see the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan’s News and Events page at https://www.saskarchives.com/news-and-events and visit: scaa.sk.ca.
I am delighted to join you at this fireworks extravaganza. Last night, we welcomed the Year of the Snake with a night parade. Tonight, we cheer it on with a fabulous fireworks show.
Hong Kong, our vibrant city, is shining brighter than ever with its unique blend of Eastern and Western cultures. As we marvel with and over the dazzling pyrotechnics lighting up the skies above Victoria Harbour, let us remember that the display is more than a cheering spectacle – more importantly, every burst of colour celebrates the diversity and soaring promise of our home.
The snake symbolises wisdom, resilience and renewal in Chinese culture. Hong Kong has long thrived on its dynamic spirit and adaptability, endlessly mingling tradition and innovation. In the Year of the Snake, Hong Kong will revitalise its strengths and boundless future.
I invite you all to enjoy what Hong Kong has to offer in the Year of the Snake. Alongside magnificent mega events such as this evening’s, our city never fails to delight in its thriving wine and dine scene, breath-taking natural scenery, East-meets-West arts and cultural bounty, world-class sports and non-stop entertainment.
My thanks to HSBC (The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation) for sponsoring tonight’s fireworks display. HSBC celebrates its 160th anniversary this year. My warmest congratulations on your most meaningful anniversary!
I wish you all a very healthy and successful Year of the Snake. Enjoy the show, as we look forward to an even brighter tomorrow.
Chief Executive John Lee gave these remarks at the 2025 Hong Kong Chinese New Year Fireworks Display on January 30.
“I realized I could effect change as well as be the change,” said Brough, who now works as a driver transporting medical supplies and other goods across the Midwest. “It was fulfilling to know that my testimony played a pivotal role in the commission’s decision to make a rule change retroactive and allow more people like me to be released early and get a second chance at life.”
The Judiciary is making increased use of early release from supervision as a way to allow low-risk former supervisees to get their lives on track earlier than they otherwise could.
With early release, people who satisfy the terms of their probation and prove that they pose no danger to the community are freed from supervision before the date originally established by the court. Judges make the decisions on a case-by-case basis and must be satisfied that “such action is warranted by the supervisee’s conduct and is in the interest of justice,” according to a new report by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO).
The study found that the rate of approved early releases increased to 28 percent of all case closures in 2023, up from 22 percent in 2014. People who were considered low-risk based on scientific methods employed by probation offices were three times more likely to receive early termination than people in the high-risk category.
Early release from supervision can also remedy the excessive terms of supervision given to non-violent drug offenders in recent decades. The study showed that people convicted of drug offenses were about two times more likely to receive early termination – 34 percent – than those convicted of weapons or public order violations.
“Some people on supervision are at a high risk of recidivism and do need help, but that’s not everyone in our system,” said Thomas H. Cohen, an AO researcher who conducted the study. “The majority of them skew low risk. They should be monitored for some time, but if they demonstrate they are unlikely to commit a new crime, why not consider them for early release?”
Robert Gumm was one of those low-risk people on supervision after serving nearly seven years in prison. His eyes welled with tears when his U.S. probation officer called him with the news that he had been approved for early release from supervision. For the first time in over a decade, Gumm was a free man and he was determined to right wrongs and rebuild trust within his community.
“Nick, my probation officer, took a chance on me, and I’ve not let him down and I won’t let him down. But I also won’t let myself or my family down,” said Gumm, who now owns and operates a concrete business in Somerset, Kentucky. “The fact that he trusted in me meant everything to me.”
Gumm had been convicted of the illegal sale of the prescription drug oxycodone and served his time in a federal prison in Kentucky. Today, he is striving to be a positive force in his community. Gumm started a bass fishing team for junior and high school students and organized a fishing tournament for adults, which raised over $50,000 for Kentucky flood victims.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2025 – The 600,000-memeber IAM Union, the largest airline and defense labor union in North America, which represents maintenance and stores members at PSA Airlines, released the following statements:
“As a union with deep ties in the aviation, aerospace and defense industries, as well as a significant presence in Wichita, we are heartbroken by the crash at Reagan Washington National Airport,” said IAM International President Brian Bryant. “We are thinking of those impacted by this tragedy and we are extremely grateful for the first responders who have been heroically working in dangerous conditions. The full resources of the IAM are available to everyone involved, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely as it unfolds.”
“The IAM’s Flight Safety Team is in route to DCA to assist in any way with the investigation into this tragedy,” said IAM Air Transport Territory General Vice President Richie Johnsen. “The IAM’s Employee Assistance Program and Critical Incident Response Team are also fully engaged and ready to assist our membership, as well as our union family at ALPA and AFA-CWA. We continue to send our thoughts and prayers to those affected.”
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries.
At its meeting on Thursday, after discussing a document on international reserve management in 2024, the Bank Board of the Czech National Bank (CNB) approved a proposal to analyse the options for investing in additional asset classes.
The central bank has been increasingly diversifying its investments over the last two years as part of its reserve management strategy. At the proposal of Governor Aleš Michl, the CNB is to assess whether it would be appropriate in terms of diversification and return to include other asset classes in the reserves as well.
Based on the results of the analysis, the Bank Board will then decide how to proceed further. No changes will be implemented in this area until then. Any changes in the reserve portfolios will be disclosed in the quarterly information on the CNB’s international reserves and in the CNB’s annual report.
Plastic waste in Nigeria presents a dual challenge: cleaning up environmental pollution, and tapping into its economic potential.
Many countries worldwide face similar challenges. India, for one, has chosen policies that give producers of plastic the responsibility to manage their waste. Rwanda has banned single-use plastic and promoted recycling initiatives led by communities.
These approaches show it’s possible to address plastic waste issues while fostering economic opportunities.
In Nigeria, informal collectors of plastic bottle waste are central to achieving both of these goals. They turn waste into monetary value.
Previous research has highlighted the environmental and economic benefits of collecting plastic bottle waste. There’s been less attention on what shapes perceptions of waste collection as a business, particularly in Nigeria.
This article explores that gap, looking at the socio-cultural, economic and environmental influences on those perceptions.
I am a researcher in the areas of plastic waste management, environmental governance and sustainable development. My work includes studying homes made from recycled plastic bottles in sustainable community-based housing projects.
Here I’ll be drawing from an exploratory survey conducted in the Ijebu area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Using a questionnaire, we surveyed 86 participants who had at least five years of experience in the plastic waste industry.
The study identified factors like education, family size, religion, gender, age, and economic dynamics as relevant to participation in the business of plastic bottle waste collection.
Understanding these influences might help the government to target policies.
Our study found that participants with higher education levels better understood the economic benefits of plastic waste collection as a systematic form of business. The less educated participants viewed waste collection more as a hand-to-mouth way of earning a living.
Education programmes built into waste management campaigns could improve recognition of waste collection as a structured and profitable business opportunity and develop a business-like culture among the collectors.
Parenthood, family size and financial obligations
Family size was a factor affecting perceptions of plastic bottle waste collection as a business. People with large families saw waste collection as a feasible way to provide food, housing, education and other essentials.
However, the association of waste collection with income instability highlights the need to formalise and stabilise the sector. Waste collection must be made into a sustainable and reliable business model.
Religion and cultural norms
Religion and cultural beliefs emerged as influences from our survey. This was evident in the responses of people who followed African traditional religions and Islam.
These respondents viewed waste collection as financially feasible, aligning with religious teachings that emphasise resource management and stewardship. For example, Islamic teachings on israf (avoiding wastefulness) and zakat (charity) promote efficient resource use and economic activities that benefit communities.
Similarly, African traditional religion often emphasises communal responsibility and the sustainable use of resources. These religious principles underscore the cultural acceptance of waste collection as both a practical and a morally guided economic activity.
Other cultural norms, such as the value placed on communal responsibility and cooperation, also influenced attitudes towards waste collection. In communities with a strong tradition of collective action, where unity and mutual support are highly valued, waste collection is often viewed as a collaborative effort.
These cultural norms reinforce the idea that waste collection is not just an individual task, but a collective duty that benefits the entire community.
Gender plays a role in perception and practice in waste collection. Our survey found that male participants were more likely than female participants to perceive this activity as a business.
As constrained as they are by lack of access to resources, women are involved in separating and marketing reusable items. Measures like microfinance could increase women’s engagement and business opportunities.
This would empower women and make waste collection a more inclusive and sustainable business.
Age and desire to be an entrepreneur
Perceptions were influenced by age in our study. Younger individuals, up to 14 years old, viewed plastic bottle waste collection as a gateway to employment. Adults aged 33-38 used their experience to get better returns on the business.
This age-based distinction suggests that different stages of life bring unique motivations and approaches to waste collection.
Policy actions that support entrepreneurship at various life stages can promote long-term engagement in the industry. This will help formalise waste collection as a sustainable and profitable business.
Economic and social factors
Income opportunities affected participants’ experiences more than social factors. Oftentimes, this determined how long they stayed in the business. Those earning more were likelier to reinvest and grow, while lower earnings often led to disengagement or exit. This highlights the importance of financial incentives in shaping waste collection practices.
Social connections also play a role in fostering collaboration. It facilitates teamwork and the exchange of ideas, and creates a sense of shared purpose and collective outcomes among participants.
Strengthening these economic and social bonds can formalise plastic bottle waste collection, making it a more efficient and profitable business.
The study has significant application to Nigeria’s waste management industry. Adding education programmes into waste management programmes will improve people’s business skills.
Well-coordinated intervention strategies can remove cultural and gender-specific barriers. For instance, cooperatives and microfinance may make waste collection more financially appealing.
Strategies can also draw on cultural norms to increase community acceptance of waste collection and make it more inclusive.
Samuel Oludare Awobona, a doctoral student at Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria, contributed to this research.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
South Africa has a new law to govern the expropriation (or compulsory acquisition) of private property by government for public purposes or in the public interest.
The act repeals the apartheid-era Expropriation Act 63 of 1975, and aims to align expropriation law with the constitution. It sets out the procedures, rules and regulations for expropriation. Besides setting out in quite a detailed fashion how expropriations are to take place, the act also provides an outline regarding how compensation is to be determined.
In South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past, land distribution was grossly unequal on the basis of race. The country is still suffering the effects of this. So expropriation of property is a potential tool to reduce land inequality. This has become a matter of increasing urgency. South Africans have expressed impatience with the slow pace of land reform.
Property rights and land reform
There is much debate in the country about the provisions of the new act. The debate is mostly about the extent to which it affects existing private property rights. Some argue the act is unconstitutional. Others welcome it as a necessary step in the right direction.
I’m a professor of law with a keen interest in this area of the law, and recently edited a book on land expropriation in South Africa by leading experts. My view is that an expropriation act that is aligned with the constitution should be welcomed, to enable land reform to work effectively.
Land reform also needs a capable and proactive state that implements the legal framework in such a manner that prioritises expropriation as a mechanism to ensure land reform.
So far, expropriation has not been used effectively to redistribute land more equitably, as part of land reform.
I am not convinced that the act, in its current form, is the silver bullet to effect large-scale land reform – at least not the type of radical land reform that South Africa urgently needs.
Understandably, the act will have a severe impact on property rights. But it still substantially protects landowners affected by expropriation. Only in very limited cases would they not be compensated.
Protections for land owners
The act says that property must not be expropriated arbitrarily or for a purpose other than a public purpose or in the public interest.
Public purpose means by or for the benefit of the public. For example, expropriating property to build roads, schools and hospitals. Public interest is broader and includes the nation’s commitment to land reform.
“Arbitrary” would usually mean without reason or justification.
The act further requires that an expropriating authority – an organ of state or person empowered by the act or any other legislation – must first try to reach an agreement with the owner to acquire the property on reasonable terms before considering expropriation.
This gives some power to a landowner, even though expropriation does not normally require consent. The act also says a specific expropriation must always be authorised by a law.
No compensation?
Section 12 of the act deals with compensation for expropriation. It is arguably the most controversial part of the new legislation. Section 12(1) does not appear to be problematic and is largely the same wording as section 25(3) of the constitution. This part of the property clause sets out what must be taken into account when compensation for expropriation is determined.
Section 12(3) of the act refers to “nil compensation” – when nil rand (monetary) compensation may be paid. There is no explicit reference to nil compensation in the current wording of section 25 of the constitution. It’s a new thing in the Expropriation Act.
However, courts have toyed with the idea that section 25 of the constitution already provides room for a reduction in compensation.
The circumstances in which nil compensation could be granted in terms of the new act are in fact very limited. Section 12(3) leaves the discretion to the expropriating authority to determine when it may be just and equitable to pay nil compensation. However, the act lacks guidelines on how such a discretion must be exercised.
The scope of section 12(3) is also limited in some respects. For one, it is restricted to land. Only where land is expropriated would nil compensation be an option. Therefore, not all forms of property can be expropriated without compensation. The notion of property under section 25(1) of the constitution is generally wide and includes various rights and interests, which are broader than just land. For instance, personal rights, mineral rights and licences are included under the section 25(1) notion of property.
This wide understanding of property is not applicable to section 12(3), which refers to “land” being expropriated.
Section 12(3) is also limited to the expropriation of land “in the public interest”. Nil compensation is therefore envisaged only in the context of expropriation of land undertaken in the public interest, and not also for a public purpose.
Three of the four categories listed in section 12(3), where nil compensation is envisaged, are linked to the way in which the property was being used prior to the expropriation. Land used in a productive manner is therefore not evidently envisaged under section 12(3).
Nil compensation is not necessarily limited to the instances listed. Still, the amount of compensation must – in all instances – be just and equitable.
Novel approach
The act forces South Africans to engage with the idea of nil compensation in a much more direct manner.
The presence of a clause dedicated to nil compensation provides new clarity on when this could apply.
It is hard to determine whether this act will pass constitutional muster without seeing how expropriation under it will work in practice. It remains to be seen whether it will have the far-reaching consequences that many fear, or call for.
Zsa-Zsa Temmers Boggenpoel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Air pollution might protect against the most dangerous type of skin cancer, melanoma, a new study finds. However, it’s crucial to approach these results with caution and consider the broader context of air pollution’s effects on human health.
At first glance, the study’s conclusion is surprising. It showed that higher levels of particulate matter (PM), so-called PM10 and PM2.5 with the numbers 10 and 2.5 referring to the size of the actual air pollutant, may have a protective effect against melanoma.
The researchers found that increased exposure to these air pollutants was associated with a decreased risk of developing melanoma. It’s important, though, to understand the limitations of this study and why we shouldn’t rush to embrace air pollution as a potential shield against skin cancer.
One of the main issues with this study is its observational design which can only show associations, not prove causation. This means that while there might be a link between higher particulate matter levels and lower melanoma risk, we can’t say for certain that air pollution is directly causing this effect.
It was also undertaken in one area of Italy, and there weren’t many participants compared to other studies of this type. While it’s possible that higher PM levels might block out exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, the primary environmental risk factor for melanoma, this doesn’t mean that air pollution is good for our health overall.
It’s crucial to emphasise that air pollution is extremely harmful to human health in numerous ways. Particulate matter, especially the fine particles (PM2.5), can penetrate deep into our lungs and even enter our bloodstream. This exposure has been linked to a wide range of serious health problems, including respiratory diseases.
Air pollution can cause or exacerbate conditions like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. Exposure to particulate matter increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems. Additionally, a lot of recent research has shown links between air pollution and cognitive decline, dementia, and other neurologicaldisorders.
The list is very long here and air pollution has even been associated with low birth weight, preterm birth and other adversepregnancyoutcomes. In fact, long-term exposure to air pollution is estimated to cause millions of premature deathsworldwide each year, even at lower amounts of PM.
While this study focused on melanoma, air pollution has been linked to increased risk of other types of skin problems, including premature ageing, hyperpigmentation (a skin condition that causes patches of skin to darken) and exacerbation of dermatological conditions like atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.
It’s also worth noting that the potential reduction in UV exposure due to air pollution doesn’t make it a safe or desirable alternative to proper sun protection. There are much healthier ways to protect ourselves from harmful UV radiation, such as using sunscreen, wearing protective clothing and seeking shade during peak sunlight hours. Prevention is, after all, better than treatment or a cure.
Risks far outweigh the benefits
Although this study provides an interesting perspective on the complex relationship between environmental factors and melanoma risk, it should not be interpreted as evidence that air pollution is beneficial for our health. To the researchers’ credit, they do mention some of the limitations and issues with their own work in the paper.
The potential slight reduction in melanoma risk, if confirmed by further research in larger studies and in other locations, would be far outweighed by the numerous and severe health risks associated with exposure to air.
It’s important that we all continue to advocate for cleaner air and support policies that reduce air pollution. The overall benefits of clean air for our health, the environment and quality of life are immense and well established. At the same time, we should maintain good sun protection habits to reduce our risk of skin cancer, including melanoma.
Future research may help us better understand the complex interactions between environmental factors and cancer risk, but for now, the message is clear: clean air is crucial for our health, and there are no shortcuts when it comes to protecting ourselves from both air pollution and UV radiation.
Justin Stebbing does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The nave of Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire is, until February 26 2025, home to three monumental ambassadors from the sea, sculpted by artist Tessa Campbell Fraser.
In Campbell Fraser’s immersive art installation, three sculpted sperm whales (the largest of the toothed whales), hang from the cathedral ceiling. Toothed whales have teeth instead of the keratinous baleen that blue whales and others use to feed on tiny animals, such as krill. Sperm whales, which feed mainly on squid, are the largest predators alive today.
Their ecology is strange, but impressive. They are socially sophisticated, massive-brained, far-wandering, deep-diving and loud. Sperm whale clicks are the loudest biologically produced sound ever recorded.
Whales use these strange vocalisations to echolocate as they hunt for prey and to communicate to each other. In this installation, Campbell Fraser has creatively employed sperm whale clicks to vibrate paint on the banners that hang alongside the whales in the cathedral, serving as a visual representation of sperm whale “codas”. These repetitive patterns of clicks, lasting a few seconds, have intrigued researchers since they were first recorded off North Carolina, US, in the 1950s.
We now know that groups of sperm whales are organised into “vocal clans” based on unique coda repertoires. These whale call signatures have probably been learned culturally, but scientists are yet to understand what they mean.
The three whale sculptures (which are between three and five metres long) are made, in part, from “ghost gear” – this is abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear, collected at sea by British charity Ghost Fishing UK. Floating ghost gear, which includes fishing nets, can kill or entangle marine life such as whales.
At the opening of the exhibition, Campbell Fraser recounted reports of stranded sperm whales whose stomachs were filled with plastic debris. One sperm whale that was found dead in Pas-de-Calais, France, had 25kg of debris, including nets and rope, in its stomach.
These three sperm whales are on exhibition until 26 February 2025. The University of Southampton., CC BY-NC-ND
Using netting in these sculptures represents, on one level, the increasing effects of humans on the ocean and whales. On another level, it hints at the long entanglement between human history and whales. Our spiritual, cultural and intellectual links with whales are represented through rich intersections of art and science.
One famous literary example is the 1851 novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, which artfully weaved descriptions of whale biology with the human story of pre-industrial whaling. This theme is also explored by our colleague Philip Hoare in his book Leviathan (2009).
Unfortunately, people have negative effects on the oceans. The consequences of pollution, overfishing and climate change are widespread and increasing. Even in the furthest corners of the sea, whales may encounter humans or be affected by our influence, through climate change, noise and plastic pollution.
Our research has shown how whale foraging areas in the remote western Antarctic peninsula overlap with an increasing fishery for Antarctic krill which now requires urgent and careful management to ensure its sustainability for people and whales.
Through an unprecedented compilation of over 1,000 tracks from eight whale species globally, we have produced a world-first map of “whale superhighways” – the blue corridors whales use as they migrate across oceans. This map also highlights how these extensive migrations expose whales to a mosaic of threats at various scales. As a result, protecting whales requires coordinated effort at local and global scales.
The art of acoustics
Of course, scale is a key consideration in the design of cathedrals. Winchester is a particularly fine example – at 170m, it is the longest medieval cathedral in the world.
On February 6, four composer-performers from the University of Southampton’s department of music will perform a specially commissioned, site-specific piece called Echolocations. The music will approach this intersection of art and scientific research from another angle, in part by responding to the expansive acoustics of the cathedral.
Vocalist Liz Gre and pianist Ben Oliver, with live electronics performed by Pablo Galaz and Drew Crawford, will work with this acoustic to evoke the vast aquatic distances across which whales communicate. And inspired by the ghost netting in Fraser Campbell’s sculptures, the music will address the threat that ongoing human activities are having on marine ecosystems via noise pollution.
We are polluting the oceans with plastic and sonic garbage. It sometimes seems we will be incapable of action until whale song ends up a digitally rendered collective memory.
But this performance inspires the same qualities of imagination that enable us to conceive of building the gothic medieval wonder of the cathedral’s nave, conquer oceans to build global trade networks, mine the ocean floor and use machine learning to understand whale song. This level of imagination will be vital in creating a new set of sustainable relations with the rest of the planet.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Ryan Reisinger receives funding from WWF and the UK Government through Darwin Plus.
Drew Crawford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Steve Schifferes, Honorary Research Fellow, City Political Economy Research Centre, City St George’s, University of London
After six months of talking down the economy and warning of tough times ahead, the UK chancellor Rachel Reeves has changed her tune. She is now much more optimistic about Britain’s economic prospects and has announced a raft of measures including major pension reforms designed to unlock cash to boost growth and productivity.
But Labour’s political problem is that none of her plans will have an immediate impact on the UK’s anaemic growth rate – the economy has virtually flatlined for the last six months. From day one Reeves has put growth at the centre of her plans, and a lack of it will mean tough choices in the spring, when she must spell out government spending plans for the next three years.
The government is focusing on a wide range of “supply side” reforms, including unleashing pension funds to invest in Britain, as well as relaxing the planning system and building infrastructure – many of which have an uncanny resemblance to measures once proposed by former prime minister Liz Truss.
At the heart of these plans is a big increase in investment in infrastructure to boost productivity – things like roads, public transport and technology – where Britain lags behind its major rivals.
But there’s a big catch. The independent spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), estimates that it will take years – or even decades – for infrastructure projects to transform the British economy, with only a 0.1% boost in growth in the near term for every additional 1% on public investment.
Without other measures that have a more immediate impact, the political risk to Labour is that its pledge to make everyone better off may feel hollow to voters.
The challenges are particularly acute for big transport projects, as the debacle of HS2 illustrates. Even with changes to the planning system, work on expanding Heathrow airport is unlikely to start before 2030. And major projects like the Lower Thames crossing between Kent and Essex and the Sizewell C nuclear reactor in Suffolk have been in the planning stage for nearly 20 years.
Electricity supply is another crucial area, with the need for more renewable energy and an expansion of the grid. This will now need to be financed largely by private capital as the government has scaled back its “green new deal”.
So how exactly will all these big plans be financed? The government is hoping to unleash additional investment from the UK pension fund industry, by changing the rules to allow defined benefit (sometimes called final salary) schemes with surpluses to invest more widely.
Although there is currently £160 billion available in these schemes, this could change if interest rates fall. It is also not clear how attractive such UK infrastructure investment would even be. Many projects, such as in privatised industries like water and electricity, will at least partly be funded by increased charges to consumers.
The government’s own spending plans to increase public investment are relatively modest. These plans bring government capital spending (which allows for borrowing under the fiscal rules) just slightly above the historic average.
Planning reform could also prove problematic. Although the government is changing some of the rules, especially in relation to housebuilding, planning decisions will be still made by local authorities. In many cases these will face strong local opposition, potentially delaying decisions.
This points to the larger political problem for the government. The changes will not eliminate the tension between the government’s growth and environmental objectives, with the latter potentially a crucial issue in many of the marginal seats won by Labour in the last election.
Heathrow expansion will put the government’s climate targets in serious jeopardy. Dinendra Haria/Shutterstock
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has described the need to pull out the “weeds” of regulation as vital to growth plans. He has already sacked the head of the key regulatory agency, the Competition and Markets Authority. But allowing more consolidation of British industry could create monopolies, which tend to raise prices, increase profits and neglect investment.
There are even greater concerns over possible deregulation of the financial sector, which could abolish many of the safeguards established after the global financial crisis in 2008.
What’s missing?
The government is much less clear on what it is going to do about the supply of skilled labour than the availability of capital. Shortages of skilled workers could limit progress on these big infrastructure projects if workers are also needed to build housing.
Government plans for boosting skills training, and the funding for further and higher education, are still works in progress. Meanwhile, limits on immigration will reduce the number of skilled construction workers. And the details of the government’s plan to boost the labour force by getting more people on disability benefit back to work have yet to be spelled out.
As Labour sets out its long-term growth plan, dark clouds are looming. In particular, in global terms the British economy is one of the most dependent on international trade and investment. But most of its trade is with its two largest trading partners – the EU and the USA.
Growing protectionism in the US, coupled with a lack of access to EU markets caused by Brexit, could have a significant effect on Britain’s growth. The UK economy is projected by the IMF to grow by just 1.6% this year, which is still weak by historic standards.
It may be of little consolation to the public if this is higher than in France and Germany. Reeves may well find that’s simply not enough to satisfy the expectations of voters.
Steve Schifferes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Phil Tomlinson, Professor of Industrial Strategy, Co-Director Centre for Governance, Regulation and Industrial Strategy (CGR&IS), University of Bath
The UK chancellor Rachel Reeves says the Labour government will go “further and faster” to kick-start the British economy. Economic growth – to raise living standards and fund public services – is apparently a core mission of this government.
Yet since the general election last July, this growth has proved elusive.
In fairness, the UK economy been pretty stagnant for a long time. And as Reeves sometimes mentions, she arguably inherited the worst set of economic circumstances since 1974.
So after a difficult first six months in office, the chancellor’s big speech on January 29 was an opportunity for a major economic reset. And there were some signs of encouragement.
She reaffirmed, for example, a commitment to reforming the UK’s antiquated planning laws for residential and commercial building. And there was a big emphasis on public investment, which is to rise to 2.6% of GDP over this parliament, compared to the previous government’s plans of 1.9%.
Airport expansion at Heathrow (and to a lesser extent, Luton and Gatwick) aims to enhance global connectivity and increase trade and investment, especially with emerging economies.
They may also widen the UK’s regional inequalities, drawing more investment and economic activity to the south-east. The same goes for the notion of building Europe’s “Silicon Valley” between Oxford and Cambridge.
That said, some other regions may benefit from announcements which included a £28 million investment in Cornish Metals (for materials for solar panels and wind turbines), and £63 million for advanced fuels which should bring more high-skilled jobs to areas like Teesside. There were also plans for housing and commercial redevelopment around Old Trafford in Manchester.
Some of these projects will form part of the government’s new industrial strategy, which is expected in the spring.
Red tape restrictions
One word to look out for when that strategy is unveiled is “Brexit”, which continues to act as a drag on the UK’s growth. Yet in her speech, while Reeves used the “growth” word more than 50 times, she mentioned Brexit just once.
It deserves much more attention. For investment in the UK has been lacklustre since the 2016 referendum, and research shows that post-Brexit red tape has hampered exports, especially for smaller firms. Overall, the UK’s exports of goods are down by 9% since 2020, while similar economies have seen their exports rise by 1%.
The chancellor has previously suggested a Brexit “reset”, and there may be a future a deal to ease some Brexit agri-food trade barriers. Reeves has also floated the possibility of the UK joining a “Pan-Euro” customs zone.
Other moves which might help UK manufacturing include a bill that would allow the government to keep pace with new EU product safety regulations, and anything else which avoids new administrative costs for businesses.
Yet despite the government perhaps adopting a more conciliatory tone with the EU, there are frustrations with the UK’s “red lines”, such as a refusal to agree to a scheme which would make it easier for young EU citizens to travel, work and study in the UK, and for young UK nationals to do the same in EU member states.
Execution
And while the chancellor’s speech highlighted the government’s long-term ambitions for growth, there was little to address current weaknesses quickly.
For despite a change to Labour’s self-imposed fiscal rules last autumnn, the government still faces significant public borrowing constraints. This will restrict the amount of investment required to fundamentally transform public infrastructure, without major private sector support.
And planning reforms, infrastructure projects, and new trade deals all take time and face political, legal and logistical hurdles. This will also delay growth.
Labour’s ambitions for a more pro-growth, pro-business agenda mark a positive shift, at least in tone. But actual, visible, tangible growth depends on execution. This in turn depends on private sector money, overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, and cutting the Brexit red-tape that continues to hamper trade with the EU.
Without effective action across the board, including immediate fiscal stimulus, the chancellor’s words may begin to sound a little hollow if the mission for growth soon starts to look like mission impossible.
Phil Tomlinson receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for Made Smarter Innovation: Centre for People-Led Digitalisation.
David Bailey receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council’s UK in a Changing Europe Programme.
The start of a new Trump presidency in the US may well signal the introduction of policies that limit the knowledge children can access in schools.
Already, districts in states across the US are able to ban books from schools and libraries, often on topics such as race and LGBTQ+ identities. And during the presidential campaign, Trump said that he would withhold federal funding from schools that “recognise transgender identities”.
But these kinds of limits on education are not only present in the US. Across the world, there are concerted efforts to control who can access education and what children can learn in schools.
“Anti-gender” movements reject the social changes that come from an increase in rights for women and LGBTQI+ people. They promote a social order based on patriarchal gender norms, heterosexual marriage and a binary understanding of gender. They target schools because education has unique potential to influence social norms and attitudes for the long term.
These movements are funded largely by conservative foundations and individuals, largely in the US and Europe. They work together to disrupt children’s educational opportunities and undermine gender equality in the global south, particularly Africa and Latin America.
My report, co-written with colleagues from the thinktank ODI Global, has found that this is an accelerating and well-funded trend. But it can be countered, including through the use of legislation that upholds human rights. Understanding the nature of these movements and how to counter them is vital to protect all children’s rights to a quality education.
Global reach
In the last decade, these movements have become greatly influential. They are global in reach and include politicians, foundations, think-tanks, media ecosystems, religious institutions and grassroots civil society.
One such group, for instance, is the multi-lingual online platform CitizenGO. It mobilises people to sign petitions and engage in letter-writing campaigns to influence policy both at national and global levels.
In 2017 CitizenGo sponsored an orange “anti-trans” bus that travelled through Europe and the Americas. Though the organisation boasts that it is funded by small donations, investigative research indicates it likely received seed funding from religious and far-right sources in Russia and western Europe.
Between 2008 to 2017, the aggregate revenue of US-based organisations linked to the anti-gender movement amounted to US$6.2 billion (£5 billion) according to research from the Global Philanthropy Project, a group of funders aiming to advance LGBTI+ rights. Over this same period, 11 US-based organisations funnelled at least US$1 billion to like-minded organisations abroad.
Comprehensive sex education has been developed to provide young people with age-appropriate and accurate information about sex, relationships, and bodily changes. It has been proven to help reduce teenage pregnancy and encourage safer, more equal sexual relationships. But it has become a lightning rod for the movement to generate fear, backlash and ignite parental protests in places as diverse as South Africa, Peru and Ghana.
Anti-comprehensive sexuality education campaigns frame this educational content as inappropriate. They advocate for sex education based solely on “biological facts” or the promotion of abstinence.
They present the discussion of topics such as consent and bodily autonomy, or information on contraception and safe sex practices, as likely to encourage sexual experimentation and teenage pregnancy. This is despite as decades of evidence showing that the opposite is true.
In Peru, for example, the Con Mis Hijos No Te Metas (Don’t Mess with My Kids) movement started as a parental movement protesting against inclusion of gender equality material in the basic education curriculum. The movement’s campaigns have spread to oppose comprehensive sexuality education in countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.
With long-term flexible funding, the anti-gender movement can respond to emerging policies and situations. It can wage long-term campaigns to shift norms and policies.
In regions such as Africa and Latin America, one of the most successful tactics has been to deploy anti-colonial language. This includes painting comprehensive sexuality education or acceptance of homosexuality as being imposed by “the west”.
However, funding from conservative US and European foundations designed to entrench certain gender norms and forms of sexual morality in Latin America and Africa can equally be considered as a form of neo-colonialism. Between 2007 and 2020, over US$54 million was spent on the African continent by US-based Christian groups, supporting campaigns against LGBTQ+ rights and comprehensive sexuality education.
Another key tactic is the dissemination of misinformation, exploiting parental anxieties and fears. These include exaggerated claims that often bear little relation to the actual content of curricula and learning materials.
However, our research has found that in countries where legal frameworks and systems uphold human rights, legal action can protect access to a full and effective education.
For example, strategic litigation has overturned state laws in Mexico and Brazil that restricted sexuality education. Legal approaches have also ended policies that banned adolescent mothers from returning to school in Sierra Leone.
Countering misinformation about what is taught in schools is vital. This can involve sharing accurate information about topics such as sexuality education with parents, and usually works best as part of a face-to-face dialogue.
CitizenGO have not responded to a request for comment.
This research was funded by a grant to ODI Global from Global Affairs Canada.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Susan Appe, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York
The U.S. Agency for International Development distributes a lot of foreign aid through local partners in other countries.J. David Ake/Getty Images
President Donald Trump suspended most U.S. foreign aid on Jan. 20, 2025, the day he took office for the second time. The next day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop-work order that for 90 days halted foreign aid funding disbursements by agencies like USAID.
A week later, dozens of senior USAID officials were put on leave after the Trump administration reportedly accused them of trying to “circumvent” the aid freeze. The Office of Management and Budget is now pausing and evaluating all foreign aid to see whether it adheres to the Trump administration’s policies and priorities.
I’m a scholar of foreign aid who researches what happens to the U.S. government’s local partners in the countries receiving this assistance when funding flows are interrupted. Most of these partners are local nonprofits that build schools, vaccinate children, respond to emergencies and provide other key goods and services. These organizations often rely on foreign funding.
Nearly all of the other aid programs remained on hold as of Jan. 29, 2025.
Many development professionals criticized the freeze, highlighting the disruption it will cause in many countries. A senior USAID official issued an anonymous statement calling it “reckless.”
Of the $35 billion to $40 billion in aid that USAID distributes annually, $22 billion is delivered through grants and contracts with international organizations to implement programs. These can be further subcontracted to local partners in recipient countries.
When this aid is frozen, scaled back or cut off altogether, these local partners scramble to fill in the gaps.
The start of Marco Rubio’s tenure as U.S. secretary of state was marked by chaos and confusion regarding foreign aid flows. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
How local nonprofits respond and adapt
While sudden disruptions to foreign aid are always destabilizing, research shows that aid flows have fluctuated since 1960, growing more volatile over the years. My research partners and I have found that these disruptions harm local service providers, although many of them manage to carry on their work.
Over the years, I have conducted hundreds of interviews with international nongovernmental organizations and these nonprofits’ local partners across Latin America, Africa and Asia about their services and funding sources. I study the strategies those development and humanitarian assistance groups follow when aid gets halted. These four are the most common.
1. Shift to national or local government funding
In many cases, national and local governments end up supporting groups that previously relied on foreign aid, filling the void.
An educational program spearheaded by a local Ecuadorian nonprofit, Desarrollo y Autogestión, called Accelerated Basic Cycle is one example. This program targets young people who have been out of school for more than three years. It allows them to finish elementary school – known as the “basic cycle” in Ecuador – in one year to then enter high school. First supported in part by funding from foreign governments, it transitioned to being fully funded by Ecuador’s government and then became an official government program run by the country’s ministry of education.
2. Earn income
Local nonprofits can also earn income by charging fees for their services or selling goods, which allows them to fulfill their missions while generating some much-needed cash.
For example, SEND Ghana is a development organization that has promoted good governance and equality in Ghana since its founding in 1998. In 2009, SEND Ghana created a for-profit subsidiary called SENDFiNGO that administers microfinance programs and credit unions. That subsidiary now helps fund SEND Ghana’s work.
Still, complex tax systems and the lack of incentives for giving in many countries that receive foreign aid are persistent challenges. Some governments have stepped in. India’s corporate social responsibility law, enacted in 2014, boosted charitable incentives. For example, it requires 2% of corporate profits to go to social initiatives in India.
4. Obtain support from diaspora communities
Diasporas are people who live outside of their countries of origin, or where their families came from, but maintain strong ties to places they consider to be their homeland.
Local nonprofits around the globe are leveraging diaspora communities’ desire to contribute to economic development in their countries of origin. In Colombia, for example, Fundación Carla Cristina, a nongovernmental organization, runs nursery schools and provides meals to low-income children.
Trump’s stop-work order coincided with a resurgence of a localization push that’s currently influencing foreign aid from many countries.
With localization, nations providing foreign aid seek to increase the role of local authorities and organizations in development and humanitarian assistance. USAID has been a leading proponent of localization.
I believe that the abruptness of the stop-work order is likely to disrupt many development projects. These projects include support to Ukrainian aid groups that provide emergency humanitarian assistance and projects serving meals to children who don’t get enough to eat.
To be sure, sometimes there are good reasons for aid to be halted. But when that happens, sound and responsible donor exit strategies are essential to avoid the loss of important local services.
Susan Appe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A blog by Keith Fraser, YJB Chair and Board Champion for Over-Represented Children.
Keith Fraser
Every year, we reach a pivotal moment in the youth justice calendar: the publication of our annual statistics.
These figures are not just numbers on a page—they are essential tools that help us understand the landscape of youth justice in England and Wales. They inform our priorities, support our advice to government ministers, and shape the support provided to children in the system.
Looking at this year’s data, there are several positives worth celebrating, as well as persistent and emerging challenges we must continue to address.
Fewer first time entrants and reduced knife offences
One of the most encouraging trends is the continued fall in the number of children entering the youth justice system for the first time—a 3% drop to a record low. This is particularly welcome given the slight rise last year, which raised concerns that we might be witnessing a new upward trend.
Early intervention remains key. All agencies hold a responsibility to prevent children from offending and the evidence says that the earlier we can support vulnerable children, the more likely they are to lead positive, constructive lives and contribute to our communities.
The number of stop and searches has also fallen by 4%, though it remains a concern that over three-quarters result in No Further Action. This does little to build trust in policing and broader public services for children and young people, particularly among Black and other minority communities. We must ensure police and youth justice responses are both proportionate and appropriate.
While we are pleased that many forces are adopting child-centred policing or a Child First approach to ensure better outcomes for children, victims and the wider community, there is clearly still work to be done.
We are in conversation with our partners, such as the National Police Chiefs’ Council, to advocate for evidence-based practice, share advice and to ensure scrutiny is in place to ensure that children from ethnic minorities are not disproportionately represented. We will also offer advice to Ministers on what our oversight tells us is needed to create the necessary improvements.
It is reassuring to see a 6% drop in proven knife or offensive weapon offences committed by children, marking the sixth consecutive year of decline. While knife crime is often associated with children in the media, it is important to note that adults commit most of these offences.
Addressing the root causes—such as poverty, trauma, exploitation, and fear—remains critical. The majority of children who carry knives often do so out of a legitimate sense of fear or victimisation. We must address and reduce these societal pressures and help children develop better ways to manage risk and think through consequences.
Another record low in the data was the average number of children in custody falling 3% against the previous year (to 430). While this is welcome, we advocate for a complete rethink of the approach to custody that is more in line with the new secure school. The secure school, which opened last year, places education and healthcare at the heart of its approach to support children and steer them away from reoffending.
Emerging challenges
Despite, or because of the reduced number of children in custody, we are concerned by the growing number of young adults aged 18 that remain there. These establishments are meant for children and yet the number of 18-year-olds has more than doubled from around 60 in the previous year to 150 in the latest year. This was due to pressures on capacity in the adult estate, and heightens the need for reform in the adult criminal justice system.
Another area that presents a significant challenge is the time it takes to process cases in the court system. On average, it now takes 225 days from offence to completion. This is four days longer than during the pandemic, when there were court closures, for cases to be resolved.
Delays place a huge strain on children, their families, and victims alike. Prolonged uncertainty affects children psychologically and practically, leaving them unable to plan or move forward and potentially delaying them from accessing the right support at the right time.
We are advocating for both short-term and long-term solutions. In the short term, youth courts should be given greater powers, as they are better suited to meet the needs of children than Crown Courts. Technological advancements, like the Common Platform, could also improve case progression. In the long term, we need systemic reform of courts t o streamline processes and reduce delays.
Persistent issues
Alarmingly, nearly three-quarters of children on custodial remand do not go on to receive custodial sentences.
This means that hundreds of children and their families experience the negative effects of custody and then go on to receive a community sentence, or no sentence at all. Having children in custody that do not need to be there not only creates additional trauma and exposure to criminality for the children, but also leads to unnecessary risk and costs for the general public. The evidence is clear that contact with the criminal justice system, and custody, heightens the likelihood of reoffending.
The proven reoffending rate for children has increased as has the number of children and the number of children who reoffended. This along with the reductions in first time entrants suggests that the children in the system now require a higher level of support to break free from an offending cycle. We will be looking at this very closely in the coming weeks.
I have to say that I am greatly encouraged by the reduced over-representation of Black children across a range of areas. Compared to other ethnicities, Black children saw the biggest decrease in stop and search and first time entrants.
While still massively over-represented compared to the general population, Black children in custody are at their lowest proportion since 2017. There is also a significant decrease (21%) in the numbers of Black children on remand, with Black children being the only ethnicity this year to see a reoffending rate decrease. We must be clear: any level of over-representation is unacceptable, but something is clearly working towards achieving change , and we remain determined to continue collaborating with our partners to address the contributors to racial disparity.
I am particularly concerned by the fact that the proportion of children with Mixed ethnicity in custody has doubled over the past decade. We must understand why this is happening and, more importantly, work together to prevent it.
Community-based solutions are essential. The London Accommodation Pathfinder is a promising example, providing targeted support to boys of Black or Mixed heritage who might otherwise be remanded to custody. By offering appropriate community settings, we can achieve better outcomes and reduce unnecessary detention.
Let’s build on this momentum
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone in the youth justice sector for their dedication and hard work. These statistics show that positive change is possible when we collaborate and adopt evidence-based approaches.
But there is still much to do. Let’s continue to push for a youth justice system that recognises the potential in every child and supports them on their journey toward a brighter future.
By working together, we can build on this momentum to ensure better outcomes for all children, and victims with less crime, and safer communities.
The Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee will next week be asked for approval to begin early engagement on the possibility of a Perth and Kinross Visitor Levy Scheme, with a view to allowing elected members to make a decision informed by local feedback at the end of this year.
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 grants local authorities the power to introduce a levy on overnight accommodation, with the funds raised reinvested locally to enhance the visitor experience.
While a scheme like this could create significant opportunities for local investment, Councillor Eric Drysdale, Convener of Economy and Infrastructure, explained the importance of first listening to residents and leaders in the tourism industry locally.
Councillor Drysdale said: “It’s really important to be clear that the question to committee next week is not about whether or not to introduce a Visitor Levy Scheme, it’s about getting the support to start speaking to those most affected about what would need to be taken into consideration. The feedback from this early engagement is essential to make sure that we are able to make an informed decision before committing to the approach in Perth and Kinross.”
Tourism is a significant part of the Perth and Kinross economy, but with high visitor numbers there is also an impact on our local communities.
Councillor Drysdale added: “While visitors bring significant benefits to our local economy, there are also associated costs. The Council introduced the Visitor Rangers service because we recognised that investment was needed to support responsible tourism, and minimise the impact of visitors on our year-round residents.
“With growing demands for critical services to protect health and social care, support pupils with additional support needs, and tackle poverty, we have a duty to explore any opportunities for additional sources of income which can be invested to support growing our visitor economy. That would then allow core funding to be focused on the services which are needed by the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
If approved by committee the early engagement process will last between 6 and 10 months. A full report from the feedback received, along with a draft Visitor Levy Scheme developed during the engagement, would then be presented to councillors in December 2025 to consider whether or not to proceed with introducing a scheme. If approved in December, a statutory consultation period of 12 weeks and then an 18-month implementation would follow. As a result, the earliest possible date for a scheme being introduced would be Summer 2027.
The national award-winning Derby City Lab will soon have a new home in the redeveloped Derby Market Hall, following an announcement made at Marketing Derby’s Annual Business Event.
The new move will see the City Lab continue its role as a hub for community engagement and innovation from the Market Hall which is due to open in spring this year after undergoing a major transformation.
Derby City Lab was created in 2022 and was based in St James’s St at the heart of the city’s regeneration frontline and in 2024, it moved to a new location in the Derbion shopping centre.
The Lab is a hub for engaging the community in better understanding the evolution of the city. Visitors can find out about how the city centre is changing, explore the City Living Room which showcases Derby’s 300-year history of innovation, and view a range of exhibitions focused on ideas to regenerate Derby, including the University of Derby’s futuristic Derby Urban Sustainable Transition (DUST) vision.
Nadine Peatfield, Leader of Derby City Council, said:
Derby City Lab has been integral in helping citizens and stakeholders to understand and shape the city centre’s transformation. I’m delighted to see that it will be moving into Derby Market Hall. It is central to our regeneration plans – reimagining our city centre with culture at its heart and making a better-connected, sustainable city for the future.
Derby City Lab will continue to provide a space where residents and visitors can learn more about the city centre’s ongoing regeneration and share their views on future plans. We are committed to engaging with residents in innovative ways and the Lab plays a big part in that. I am so excited for the opening of Derby Market Hall and am thrilled to welcome Derby City Lab to their new home.
John Forkin, Managing Director of Marketing Derby said:
The Derby City Lab is a unique innovation in the UK – a genuine attempt to engage local people in the shaping of their city. Last week, we welcomed our 15,000th visitor and are excited to become part of the rediscovery of the wonderful Derby Market Hall.
Derby Market Hall redevelopment is a £31.5m project part funded with £9.43m from the Government’s Future High Street Fund (FHSF). It is in the second phase of the transformation, focusing on refurbishing the interior and developing the public space outside at Osnabruck Square.
Located at the heart of the city centre, linking Derbion and St Peter’s Quarter with the Cathedral Quarter and Becketwell, the new Market Hall will play a key role in widening the diversity of the city centre and will generate £3.64m for the local economy every year.
Based on concepts in Shanghai and Amsterdam, the Derby City Lab is an initiative of Marketing Derby, the Queen’s Award-winning inward investment agency for Derby together with partners including Clowes Developments, the Derbion, Lathams, the University of Derby and Derby City Council. The Lab won the Estates Gazette award as the Best Public-Private Partnership in the UK.
The Government is proposing to donate m/86 (AT4) anti-tank weapons to Moldova within the framework of the additional amending budget that contains the 18th military support package to Ukraine.
In light of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moldova finds itself in a very vulnerable position, due to its geographical proximity to Ukraine and Russia’s repeated influence campaigns against the country. Moldova is in great need of assistance, including military support. It is in Sweden’s foreign and security policy interests to assist Moldova as a matter of urgency.
Supporting Ukraine further and increasing engagement with other countries in the EU’s Eastern partnership, such as Moldova, are important parts of Sweden’s policy to constrain Russia’s influence, freedom of action and ability to do harm.
The Government is therefore proposing to donate anti-tank weapons worth a maximum of SEK 13 000 000 to Moldova, within the framework of the additional amending budget that contains the 18th military support package to Ukraine.
The Swedish Government is presenting its largest military support package to Ukraine to date, valued at SEK 13.5 billion. This package will also strengthen Ukraine’s long-range capability. Sweden aims to donate about 1 billion SEK towards making Ukraine able to produce long-distance missiles and drones. It also includes a doubling of the previous 16 donated Combat Boat 90s (CB 90) and anti-tank weapons, as well as investments to support Ukraine’s defence industry.
With this eighteenth support package, Sweden has provided a total of SEK 61.9 billion in military support to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began nearly three years ago.
The package is divided into eight components, the largest of which consists of various procurements of new materiel – primarily from the Swedish and other European defence industries – for the purpose of donation to Ukraine.
The package, worth SEK 13.5 billion in total, contains the following components:
Procurement for donations worth approximately SEK 5.9 billion. – This means that the Defence Materiel Administration, tasked by the Government, procures equipment from the Swedish and foreign defence industries to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Financial donations worth approximately SEK 2.8 billion. – This means that Sweden is supporting Ukraine through donations to various funds for procurement of military equipment and ammunition, e.g. through capability coalitions. Another example is procurement cooperation between Sweden and Denmark. Sweden aims to donate 1 billion SEK towards Ukrainian production of long-range missiles and long-distance drones.
Donations of materiel from the Swedish Armed Forces, with corresponding replacement purchases, valued at approximately SEK 3.3 billion. This includes: – 146 trucks; – 16 Combat Boat 90s; (A doubling from the previous 16 donated CB 90s) – 23 weapon stations for marine use; – 1 million units of 12.7 mm ammunition; – 1 500 TOW anti-tank missiles; – 200 anti-tank weapons, including training materiel; – infantry equipment for individual soldiers and unit equipment; and – chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) personal protective equipment.
Services via the Swedish Defence Research Agency and Swedish Defence University, valued at approximately SEK 180 million. – The Defence Research Agency will continue its efforts to develop a corresponding agency in Ukraine. – The Defence University is tasked with implementing an education programme for Ukrainian pupils in Ukraine.
Training valued at SEK 650 million. – Funding to the Swedish Armed Forces’ support to a number of training initiatives throughout 2025, such as Interflex, which conducts basic training for Ukrainian soldiers.
Supply solutions valued at SEK 400 million. – This includes various types of maintenance measures for the Swedish materiel that has been donated.
More about the eighteenth support package
Sweden’s military support to Ukraine is always based on Ukraine’s needs and priorities. Ongoing bilateral communication and multilateral collaboration in the capability coalitions provide this knowledge.
The ability to support Ukraine with newly produced materiel that can be delivered quickly is a significant tool to supplement donations of materiel from the Swedish Armed Forces war organisation. At the same time as Ukrainian units receive the materiel that they need, Ukrainian, Swedish and European supply security is also strengthened.
WINNEBAGO, Ill., Jan. 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Foresight Financial Group, Inc. (OTCQX:FGFH) reported net income $12.66 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, a $1.89 million decrease compared to the $14.55 million reported for 2023. Diluted Earnings per Share (EPS) decreased 12% to $3.59 compared to $4.08 the prior year. The results for 2024 produced a Return on Average Equity of 8.66% and Return on Average Assets (ROAA) of 0.79%. The net income in comparison to the prior year was largely the result of an increase in operating expenses.
Net income for the fourth quarter of 2024 equaled $2.49 million, a $4.24 million decrease from the $6.73 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2023. The decrease was primarily due to a $4.04 million increase in the provision for loans losses, reflecting a $3.37 million negative provision in the fourth quarter of 2023. Diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $0.69 compared to $1.83 for the fourth quarter of 2023.
Net interest income for the full year 2024 decreased by $283 thousand to $48.99 million as compared to $49.27 million the year before. The net interest margin on a fully taxable equivalent basis decreased nine basis points to 3.25% compared to 3.34% in 2023. The inverted yield curve, which persisted throughout 2024, continued to drive up deposit costs, with limited opportunities to increase yields on earning assets, which are typically priced off of longer-term points of the yield curve.
The provision for loan losses for 2024 of $1.05 million was $54 thousand less than the prior year provision of $1.10 million. Foresight’s asset quality remains strong. Non-performing assets of the Company as of December 31, 2024, was $28.41 million compared to $24.33 million the previous quarter and $16.05 million at the end of 2023.
Noninterest income for the full year 2024 was $7.25 million, a $393 thousand decrease from $7.64 million the year before. The decrease from 2023 was primarily the result of a $438 thousand negative fair value adjustment to the Company’s Originated Mortgage Servicing Rights, which are carried at fair value.
Operating expenses for 2024 totaled $38.96 million, a $2.27 million, or 6.2%, increase over $36.69 million in 2023. The increase in operating expenses was largely driven by an increase in salary and employee benefits related to the addition of the Rockford based banking team as announced earlier in 2024, additional staffing to support our expanded treasury management services initiative, data processing fees related to our digital platform conversion, as well as legal and consulting fees related to our charter consolidation project which is expected to be fully implemented by Q4 2025.
Foresight’s balance sheet experienced modest growth during 2024. Total loans grew by $31.57 million, or 3%, to $1.12 billion at December 31, 2024 compared to $1.08 billion at the end of the previous year. Total deposits increased by $43.15 million, or 3.2%, to $1.40 billion at the end of 2024 compared to $1.36 billion at the end of 2023.
Foresight CEO Peter Q. Morrison stated “2024 was a year of exciting changes for the organization including the addition of the Rockford banking team as well as the announcement of the charter consolidation initiative. We anticipate the legal consolidation to occur in the second quarter of 2025 followed by the conversions to a single data processing platform to be layered in between August and October of 2025. When fully implemented, the consolidation will provide significant savings via the reduction of duplicative operational expenses and well as efficiencies gained by operating under one functional banking platform rather than six, all of which are expected to be accretive to shareholder return.”
The closing price for the Company’s stock was $32.92, as of close of business January 27, 2025. Book value per share of the Company’s common stock increased by $2.51 to $42.59 as of December 31, 2024 compared to $40.08 as of December 31, 2023. The book value per share of common stock, excluding Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income was $51.83 at December 31, 2024 compared to $49.38 at the end of 2023.
About Foresight Financial
Foresight Financial is a multi-bank holding company located in Northern Illinois, its subsidiary community banks include Northwest Bank of Rockford, State Bank in Freeport, State Bank of Davis, Foresight Bank in Pecatonica (fka German American State Bank), Lena State Bank, and the State Bank of Herscher. Foresight’s common stock is listed on the “OTCQX” market under the trading symbol FGFH.
Forward-Looking Statements
When used in this communication, the words “believes,” “expects,” “likely”, “would”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company’s actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause such a variance to occur include, but are not limited to: heightened competition; adverse state and federal regulation; failure to obtain new or retain existing customers; ability to attract and retain key executives and personnel; changes in interest rates; unanticipated changes in industry trends; unanticipated changes in credit quality and risk factors, including general economic conditions particularly in the Company’s markets; potential deterioration in real estate values, success in gaining regulatory approvals when required; changes in the Federal Reserve Board monetary policies; unexpected outcomes of new and existing litigation in which the Company, or its subsidiaries, officers, directors or employees is named defendants; technological changes; changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States; changes in assumptions or conditions affecting the application of “critical accounting policies”; inability to recover previously recorded losses as anticipated, and the inability of third party vendors to perform critical services for the Company or its customers. The inclusion of forward-looking information should not be construed as a representation by the Company or any person that future events or plans contemplated by the Company will be achieved. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information or otherwise.
BOSTON, Jan. 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Risk Strategies, a leading national specialty insurance brokerage and risk management firm, today announced the acquisition of Comprehensive Benefits, Inc. and Gabrielson Insurance & Financial Services, both located in the Greater Detroit area. The joint acquisition preserves an established working relationship between the two partner companies, providing increased capabilities for the clients of two established specialists. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 1989 and based in Southfield, Michigan, Comprehensive Benefits offers a full range of employee benefits services for both fully insured and self-funded programs for organizations. Its offerings and capabilities include medical coverage, large group benefit planning, personal life insurance, and long-term care solutions.
“This acquisition represents a unique opportunity to bring in an existing business partnership and add real specialty talent to our practice,” said John Greenbaum, National Employee Benefits Practice Leader, Risk Strategies. “These are organizations that have built success based on deep, specialized expertise. I’m excited to welcome them to the team at Risk Strategies.”
Gabrielson Insurance & Financial Services has a complementary focus, offering services in its employee benefits work similar in scope to Comprehensive Benefits. Gabrielson Insurance client organizations are also similar in size, scope and industry to those of Comprehensive Benefits, and there are synergies among the players.
“Joining Risk Strategies is the right move for our organizations, our people, and our clients,” said Mike Embry, President, Comprehensive Benefits, Inc.
Embry is an industry veteran with over 35 years of specialty experience helping clients develop and manage employee benefits programs. He has held several industry leadership positions in Michigan, including President of the Michigan Association of Health Underwriters (AHU) and President of Metro Detroit AHU. In 2018, Embry also served as President of the National Association of Health Underwriters Board of Trustees.
“We saw this as a great opportunity to formally bring our organizations together under the umbrella of a specialty organization with the capabilities to open new possibilities for our clients and people,” added Phil Gabrielson, Founder, Gabrielson Insurance & Financial Services.
“It’s great to have Mike and Phil and their teams aboard as we build out our footprint and benefits expertise in Michigan and the upper Midwest,” said Steve Giannone, Central Region Leader, Risk Strategies. “In today’s employee benefits world, clients are demanding deep expertise to help them make effective choices that deliver for employees and business goals.”
In February of 2024, Risk Strategies grew its presence in Michigan with the purchase of the Ralph C. Wilson Agency Inc. With the addition of Comprehensive Benefits and Gabrielson, Risk Strategies creates new opportunities for clients of both acquired organizations to leverage 30 specialty practices, and broad expertise and capabilities, while preserving the personalized service on which they’ve come to rely.
Risk Strategies, part of Accession Risk Management Group, is a North American specialty brokerage firm offering comprehensive risk management services, property and casualty insurance and reinsurance placement, employee benefits, private client services, consulting services, and financial & wealth solutions. The 9th largest U.S. privately held broker, we advise businesses and personal clients, have access to all major insurance markets, and 30+ specialty industry and product line practices and experts in 200+ offices – Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Grand Cayman, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Toronto, and Washington, DC. RiskStrategies.com.
OMA SAVINGS BANK PLC, STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 30 JANUARY 2025 AT 16.30 P.M. EET, OTHER INFORMATION DISCLOSED TO THE RULES OF THE EXCHANGE
The Board of Directors of Oma Savings Bank Plc has reorganised
On 30 January 2025, the Board of Directors of Oma Savings Bank Plc (OmaSp or the Company) has reorganised in terms of the Vice Chairperson and the Committees.
The Board of Directors has elected Carl Pettersson as Vice Chairman of the Board.
In addition to the Audit and Remuneration Committees, the Board of Directors decided to establish a Risk Committee. In appointing the members of the Committees, the Board has taken into account the expertise and experience required for the duties. The Board of Directors has elected the following members from among its members to the Committees:
Remuneration Committee Jaakko Ossa, Chairman Carl Pettersson Juhana Brotherus Aki Jaskari
Risk Committee Irma Gillberg-Hjelt, Chairman Aki Jaskari Juha Volotinen
Audit Committee Carl Pettersson, Chairman Kati Riikonen Jaana Sandström
Oma Savings Bank Plc
Additional information: Minna Sillanpää, CCO, tel. +358 50 66592, minna.sillanpaa@omasp.fi
DISTRIBUTION Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd Major media www.omasp.fi
OmaSp is a solvent and profitable Finnish bank. About 500 professionals provide nationwide services through OmaSp’s 48 branch offices and digital service channels to over 200,000 private and corporate customers. OmaSp focuses primarily on retail banking operations and provides its clients with a broad range of banking services both through its own balance sheet as well as by acting as an intermediary for its partners’ products. The intermediated products include credit, investment and loan insurance products. OmaSp is also engaged in mortgage banking operations.
OmaSp core idea is to provide personal service and to be local and close to its customers, both in digital and traditional channels. OmaSp strives to offer premium level customer experience through personal service and easy accessibility. In addition, the development of the operations and services is customer-oriented. The personnel is committed and OmaSp seeks to support their career development with versatile tasks and continuous development. A substantial part of the personnel also own shares in OmaSp.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
The Environment Agency, Norfolk Rivers Trust and Water Resources East joined forces on a project along a section of the River Yare.
Credit: Josh Jaggard
The £282,000 project creates a healthier, more dynamic and resilient river and floodplain habitat along the River Yare. The River Yare is one of only 210 chalk streams worldwide: making it an incredibly rare and precious habitat.
Most chalk streams are in southern England—including 58 in East Anglia alone.
The Environment Agency provided a third of the funding, with additional funding support from the Norfolk Water Strategy Programme (NWSP) along with in-kind donations.
NWSP is hosted by Water Resources East in partnership with Norfolk County Council, Anglian Water and The Nature Conservancy with support from WWF and Finish partnership.
The project involved creating a 651-metre meandering river channel and reconnecting the River Yare to its lowland floodplain meadow.
This reconnection will restore natural processes, enhance river habitats; resilience by slowing water flow, and promote sediment deposition on the floodplain during floods; improving water quality.
Furthermore, a mosaic of new wetland habitats, including 6 scrapes and 2 ponds covering an area of 10,696 m2, has been created.
Boost for habitat quality
These features will enhance water storage during high flows, thus providing natural flood management and increased groundwater infiltration.
These changes to the river flows will boost habitat quality and complexity, benefitting species like water voles, insects, breeding wader birds, reptiles and marginal plants.
Amy Prendergast, Catchment Delivery Manager for the Environment Agency, said:
Restoring biodiversity in partnership projects like this is incredibly important to protecting the South Norfolk landscape.
The team worked hard to bring this high-quality design, which was bespoke to the site, to life with climate change adaptations in mind. We look forward to working closely with partners again in future.
Donna Dean, NRT’s River Restoration Team Leader, said:
We faced several challenges completing this project, including two very wet periods. Despite this, it’s been incredibly rewarding to see the wetlands come to life as they fill with water.
Restoring meandering rivers and re-wetting landscapes is a major win for both wildlife and river health. After the recent rainfall, the floodplain is functioning naturally, storing water and reducing peak flows downstream.
Already, the site is being visited by a variety of bird species, including snipe, little egrets, oyster catchers and sandpipers.
Hannah Gray, Water Resources East’s (WRE) Programme Manager for Nature-Based Solutions, said:
WRE were thrilled to bring additional funding partners together to deliver water security and biodiversity improvements in the Yare catchment.
As one of the first pilot projects in our Norfolk Water Strategy Programme, the River Yare restoration scheme has provided valuable insights for our growing portfolio of nature-based solutions investments.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Over a third of women giving birth got the new RSV vaccine in September, protecting newborns from severe illness.
The new maternal Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine rolled out in September saw more than 1 in 3 women giving birth take up the offer during the first month, giving vital protection to newborns from the first day of life against what can be a severe and life-threatening illness.
With women delivering in September having a relatively short window to take up the offer, the data shows the new maternal RSV programme got off to a positive start in its first month of introduction. Further coverage data for October births, with pregnant women having had a longer window in which to get vaccinated, will be published in a month’s time.
The most recent week-to-week data from the NHS in England shows that over 140,000 pregnant women have now been vaccinated since the programme launched in September.
Pregnant women should be offered their RSV vaccine around the time of the 28-week antenatal appointment. Anyone who hasn’t heard by this stage should contact their maternity service or GP practice to make an appointment to ensure they don’t leave their newborn vulnerable to the virus.
The data shows considerable variability in uptake by ethnic group ranging from 11% in women of mixed white and black Caribbean ethnicity to over 50% in white Irish and Chinese ethnic groups.
RSV accounts for around 30,000 hospitalisations of children under 5 in the UK every year, and tragically causes 20 to 30 infant deaths.
Despite infecting around 90% of children within the first 2 years of life, RSV is not something that many people are aware of. It typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms. However, it can lead to severe lung infections like pneumonia and infant bronchiolitis and is a leading cause of infant mortality globally.
Having the vaccine during every pregnancy is the best way to protect your baby against RSV, as the vaccine boosts your immune system to produce more antibodies against the virus, and these then pass through the placenta to help protect your baby from the day they are born.
To highlight the important protection provided by the RSV vaccine offered in pregnancy, UKHSA has produced new materials for pregnant women. These resources help to explain the impact of RSV infection and how by getting the RSV vaccine in pregnancy, women help protect their babies in the first few months of life when they are most at risk. The resources also act as a visual reminder to get vaccinated.
Dr Conall Watson, Consultant Epidemiologist, UKHSA, said:
The RSV vaccine offers a vital opportunity for any mums-to-be to protect their babies from severe RSV lung infection and it’s encouraging to see the RSV programme getting off to such a positive start with over a third of women who gave birth in September having had the vaccine.
Every year in the UK around 30,000 under 5s are hospitalised, and tragically RSV causes 20 to 30 infant deaths. That is why every pregnant woman is eligible to get vaccinated as soon as they reach 28 weeks – providing protection for their newborn against RSV in the vulnerable early months of life.
Steve Russell, NHS England National Director for Vaccinations and Screening, said:
Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, 140,000 pregnant women have had the RSV vaccine since we began offering it in September, with vaccination and maternity teams across the country raising awareness and making it as easy as possible for those eligible to get the life-saving jab.
With higher numbers of RSV cases circulating this winter is it vital you get protected if eligible – so please come forward and speak with your GP about getting your jab today.
Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Konstantin Kolodin
On February 3, candidate of architecture, artist, sculptor, associate professor of the department of architectural environment design at SPbGASU, head of the architectural workshop Konstantin Kolodin will open his personal exhibition at our university.
The exhibition is only a small part of his works. It is impossible to display all the results of almost half a century of creativity within the framework of one exhibition. But what is presented will allow visitors to get acquainted with the unique style of the author, the various facets of his talent, to feel his worldview and, at the same time, to look at familiar things with different eyes.
We talk with the master about his works, about creativity, which has long since crossed the borders of Russia and found recognition in the USA, Israel, and England.
– Konstantin Ivanovich, how did it all begin?
– I was born in Buryatia. My creative biography began in childhood. In the fifth grade I organized a puppet theater, wrote scripts myself, made puppet characters with my friends, glued decorations, involved classmates in productions. We went on tour with performances to neighboring villages. We hired a man with a horse…
A year later, we won the regional amateur art competition with “Koshkin Dom”. The second place went to the choir of the Kamensk Asbestos-Cement Plant! And this was a strong team under the leadership of qualified specialists, and the plant did not skimp on costumes and musical instruments. We were awarded a two-week excursion to Moscow.
In the seventh grade, when we were already living with our parents in Biysk, I completed my first concept: I made an architectural model for the reconstruction of the city block where our school was located. It all started when a chemistry teacher who often held theme nights approached me. For them, I drew huge posters with various chemical reactions on the school stage. She asked if I could come up with an idea for the reconstruction of our block. I answered: “I can!”, and I already saw what it could be like. Soon the project was presented at an exhibition of the best school works in the city community center, attracted attention and caused surprise among visitors.
– Did this determine your choice of profession?
– I don’t think so. I wanted to go to VGIK and become a director-animator. In my senior year, I sent a letter there, inquiring about the admission rules. They told me that I needed at least a year of experience as an assistant director. There was only one theater in our city. I went there and with youthful maximalism asked: “Can you hire me as an assistant director?” They told me that I first needed to graduate from the institute and get a diploma…
I have always drawn and made sculptures, so I decided to enroll in the architecture department of the Novosibirsk Civil Engineering Institute. I arrived with a backpack full of sculptures. It turned out that the application period had ended. They still asked me to show my works to a commission of specialists from all departments. When I took them out of my backpack, they asked me to leave the office. I heard a heated discussion outside the door. Then the deputy dean came out and told me something. Then he gave me a sharpened pencil, paper and allowed me to join the applicants who were preparing for exams in the drawing room…
– Time to think about future work?
– My studies coincided with the years of stagnation. It turned out that studying wasn’t very interesting: the emphasis was on the architecture of typical buildings. And if you imagine that you’ll have to do this all your life, it even became scary.
Shortly before the diploma defense, a delegation from the Tomsk Civil Engineering Institute came to us to select specialists for the architectural design department from among the graduates.
I was offered to go to work as a teacher. I had to answer that I had no desire to work in typical architecture. But if they help me open a sculpture studio at the institute, then I will go!
I arrived at the appointed time. I was told that there was a lecture tomorrow. How so? A lecture on sculpture? It turned out that no: it was a lecture on the subject “Introduction to the Specialty”.
Now I can’t even remember what I was telling, I just remember how I drew the Colosseum in section and perspective on the board. The students later said that they liked this lecture with explanations in the drawings…
The sculpture department was never opened. Architectural activity began.
At 22, I became the head of the workshop. In 1982, the first graduation took place, almost all of my graduates entered graduate school. Many teach, now even their children come to me.
– Can this time be called a period of new creative successes?
– Quite. Even during my architectural pre-graduation practice, I met artists and showed them my sculpture works. And I was quite surprised when I was invited to participate in an art exhibition. The exhibition committee recommended taking all my works and organizing a personal exhibition in the hall of the State Art Gallery of Novosibirsk. My hall was next to the halls that contained works by Roerich, Kuindzhi, and Repin.
It made a strong impression on me. It was scary, but also nice that my works were honored with such high attention from the organizers and appreciation of the visitors.
– Tell us about your first memorable projects.
– The first project was a Komsomol assignment. I was asked to design a ski base. And, strangely enough, it was built.
The next project also found me. It was the “Project of a village for three thousand residents for the Anzhersky chemical and pharmaceutical plant” in the Kemerovo region.
Many of my conceptual projects were initially perceived ambiguously. For example, “Reconstruction of the central part of the city of Tomsk with the construction of an inhabited bridge along both banks of the Tom River” raised the question: are there really bridges along rivers?
But it is a wonderful idea to harmoniously integrate new buildings into the urban development, which will allow to develop empty spaces, to create new symbols of the old city. In these bridges-buildings, according to the concept, there are offices, shops, restaurants, concert halls, museums, hotels. In the structure of the bridges we have integrated eco-friendly transport with free travel for passengers.
– Do you propose this idea in St. Petersburg?
– It really suits St. Petersburg. In 1990, I won a competition and was invited to the design institute “Lengrazhdanproekt” to the position of chief architect of projects in Leningrad.
Later he became deputy head of the administration for architecture and urban development of Zelenogorsk, and headed the program “Resort zone “Karelian Isthmus”” – now this is the Resort District of St. Petersburg.
An idea came to mind to develop St. Petersburg in the north-west direction with the creation of a ring road around the city. With a concept drawn on a regular sheet of paper, I came to the Committee on Urban Development and Architecture and heard: “This is not Moscow, no one will build a ring road!”
Then, regarding the development of the concept, I turned to Valery Nefedov, who was the dean of the architecture faculty at the time. He suggested bringing the issue up for discussion at the department of urban development. The department unanimously voted against the concept.
Soon I received a call from MArchI, saying that the department where I studied was being closed because it had not passed certification, and they asked me to help “pull it up” to the required level.
I agreed to transfer to the position of associate professor. The rector of MARCHI asked me: “Will you help?” I answered that I would help. “What do you want in return?” I said: “An architectural studio for students, where I would teach according to my program.” “Why do you need that?” “I want to carry out a city reconstruction project.” “Which one?” “St. Petersburg!” “Design Paris, just don’t touch Moscow!”
The department became the best after two years. I was promoted to professor. We were invited to the international exhibition “300 Years of St. Petersburg: Russia Open to the World” with the works we had done on St. Petersburg. We called the project “St. Petersburg 300 – St. Petersburg 400”. Our exhibits were appreciated by Patriarch Alexy, deputies who came to the exhibition, the city’s chief architect and Governor Vladimir Yakovlev, who was in charge of the city at the time. We visited Moscow and Berlin with the concept. The project traveled to various exhibitions for six months.
Time shows that initially misunderstood ideas are later realized. For example, the Lakhta Center was built not far from the place indicated in my concept, and the ring road is almost the same as in our concept. The Western High-Speed Diameter was also present in our model.
Our conceptual project “Street of Peace” seemed like a strange fantasy to everyone, but today a similar concept is being implemented in Saudi Arabia.
– How do you manage to stay ahead of your time?
– People often ask me: why do I do such projects? I don’t know. I just do it, and I like it. I explain it as a gift sent from above and accept it as a mission that must be fulfilled.
The list of awards, exhibitions and prizes can go on and on, but every project is dear to me.
There are still a lot of ideas, as before, but I understand that there is less and less time left.
I would be glad to open a studio if such an opportunity were provided. I am often asked, where do you store the exhibits? The question is absolutely correct. It is not always possible to preserve something valuable. It would be good if our university museum would deal with these issues.
Imagine: decades will pass, other generations will be here, and what we once did will be visible, studied, learned from, ideas picked up or improved. This is important for the common history.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Seven Queensland local governments will receive funding under the latest round of Queensland’s Flying-Fox Roost Management—Local Government Grant Program.
The councils will receive a total of $250,000 for nine separate flying-fox roost management projects.
Originally a four-year $2 million initiative ending in 2024, the grant program has been allocated an additional $1.5 million to extend it for a further three years.
Local communities are the winners with Queensland councils continuing to receive funding to reduce nuisance from flying-fox roosts and for projects helping residents and businesses co-exist with flying-foxes.
Originally a four-year $2 million initiative, ending in 2024, the Flying-Fox Roost Management – Local Government Grant Program has received an extra $1.5 million to extend it for a further three years.
The latest round of the program will see seven Queensland councils receive a total of $250,000, for nine flying-fox roost management projects.
Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) Deputy Director-General Mr Ben Klaassen said councils will use the funding for projects to prepare roost management plans, undertake roost management activities and for programs to make it easier for residents to live near flying-fox roosts.
“Flying-foxes are essential for the survival of native forests but they can also pose significant challenges for councils that have roosts in parks and reserves in urban areas,” Mr Klaassen said.
“The new funding will help councils address these challenges and reduce the nuisance impacts of flying-fox roosts on nearby communities”
DETSI is working closely with the Local Government Association of Queensland to ensure funds are targeted to the areas of greatest need.
Scenic Rim Regional Council Mayor Tom Sharp said earlier funding received through this program helped develop Council’s “Scenic Rim Flying-Fox Management Strategy 2023–2028” to reduce negative interaction between flying-foxes and residents, while acknowledging their status as protected species.
“We are delighted to receive further funding through this latest grant round which will support ‘on ground’ management action under the strategy,” Cr Sharp said.
Logan City Council: $16,120 to develop management plans for two flying-fox roosts
City of Gold Coast: $29,826 for vegetation management at two roosts and $6,540 to update Council’s ‘Statement of Management Intent’ for flying-fox roosts
Mount Isa Regional Council: $38,500 to develop a region-wide roost management plan
Sunshine Coast Regional Council: $34,397 to develop a region-wide roost management plan
Scenic Rim Council: $45,500 for roost management actions at Rathdowney and $25,550 for roost management actions at Canungra
Ipswich City Council: $16,500 to enhance a flying-fox roost at Woodend through weed management and understorey planting which will increase the heat stress resilience of the roost
Whitsunday Regional Council: $42,000 for a residents’ grant program.
The next round of the grant program will open for applications in early 2025.
Navigating grad school can feel daunting and challenging at times but having someone who can guide you and who knows how you feel is a key element to ensuring success.
The Graduate School at UConn is committed to providing this support, and to help meet these goals, they created the Network for Enriched Mentorship, or NEM. Now in its second year of operation, the current cohort includes more than 70 faculty and staff members paired with over 85 students, says Associate Dean of the Graduate School and Department of Sociology Professor Mary Bernstein. NEM is aimed at providing support to students, but a key element is that it is also aimed at training mentors.
“We are trying to create mechanisms, techniques, skills, and tools to have our faculty be as excellent as they can be, as far as their mentoring and advising with an eye to our minoritized populations, knowing that if we can make things better for this population, then it will make things better for everybody,” says Bernstein.
NEM pairs mentors with experience in navigating the obstacles of graduate school with mentees in need of support. As part of The Graduate School’s commitment to graduate student success, Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science Mary Anne Amalaradjou and Neag School of Education Assistant Professor Chen Chen joined The Graduate School team serving as the program’s first two faculty affiliates for inclusive excellence. They have been instrumental in improving mentorship across campus, which included the creation of a mentor guide, a forthcoming mentee guide, and learning from other programs to help tailor the NEM program. In the new cycle, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community, and Urban Studies (GSCU) Peter Chen is a new NEM program director, taking over from C. Chen.
“We look for faculty and staff from across all colleges and units to serve as mentors. We had students from different units and the other campuses who wanted to have that mentoring experience,” says Amalaradjou.
Potential mentees and mentors submit applications, and if chosen, they are paired based on various aspects, like interests, background, or other similarities,
“We purposefully match students with mentors outside of their program because this is not meant to be career advice, it is meant to be another way to provide students with support or help navigating obstacles that they encounter in their departments,” says Bernstein.
The program provides guidance on how to get the conversation started between newly matched mentors and mentees to help establish the enduring relationships that are so beneficial for graduate student success.
“Particularly for a Ph.D. student, their advisor is one of the most important and influential relationships for that student, and it’s even more significant for a student that is perhaps first-gen in graduate school, or who comes from some other type of minoritized background,” says Assistant Dean of The Graduate School Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Karen Bresciano. “We want to do our best to help faculty have the skills needed to be the best advisors and help students be the best mentees possible.”
Bresciano says a third goal of the program is to help address what is called the “hidden curriculum,” which is the knowledge about higher education that a student with family members who have already navigated the process can impart, but if you are a first-generation student, you have to learn firsthand.
Amalaradjou says that one of the NEM events they planned included support services from around campus, including Student Health and Wellness, the Ombuds Office, and the Center for International Students and Scholars, to ensure that mentees and mentors are aware of what is available.
“UConn is a big place, and we wanted to create a safe space where everyone had the opportunity to ask questions in person,” says Amalaradjou.
Evidence of NEM’s success is seen in the program’s exit survey for the first cohort, says Amalaradjou, where mentees spoke highly of the program, and mentors expressed gratitude at being able to support students. Peter Chen recalls a story he heard from one of the mentees during the most recent event in December. The mentee was struggling and his NEM mentor invited him to their family’s Thanksgiving celebration.
“That student was going through a very difficult time, academically and financially, and he really enjoyed this experience and appreciated the program.”
The program provides a space to create a sense of community. In December, all students were invited to the “NEM Happy Hour,” where they had the opportunity to meet other mentees, enjoy food, chat, and play trivia games. The event was well attended despite the cold evening after a snowy day.
“They were sharing their experiences about using the resources on campus and sharing conversations. It was a good downtime for the students before the semester ended. They were asking when the next event will be. We hope to have another one towards the end of the spring semester,” says Chen.
Beyond the physical gathering, a Slack group has been established to keep the NEM students connected across distances.
The NEM program is also a great way to hone mentoring skills since mentor training is now mandatory for new faculty at UConn.
“Mentorship is not taught, and it is very much like parenting,” says Bernstein. “You’re not really taught what works and what doesn’t, and what works for you may not work for somebody else. There are fundamental skills and ways you can align expectations to improve the mentoring experience, both for faculty and for graduate students.”
To recognize this important work, at the end of the program, the grad school sends out a letter to all mentors that is also shared with their department head and the Dean as a way of recording the commitment of time outside of other responsibilities.
“It’s important to support mentorship, which must be a university-wide commitment. It has to be acknowledged because much of faculty service isn’t rewarded or acknowledged,” says Bernstein. “There is a personal reward, but people are struggling to balance their research and their teaching and their other service obligations. We need to figure out how to improve that as a university, and we believe that this is a really important first step.”
NEM is a valuable resource in addition to others offered by The Graduate School, including a series called Grad Chat to bring together members of the graduate community to support one another with a focus on identity-based groups, says Bresciano, who spoke about a recent Grad Chat event:
“It was a feel-good event. I left feeling very encouraged that this is meeting the needs of our students. They want to be supported, to support one another, to learn from one another, and they want to meet each other and people outside of their departments. They like the idea of these conversations being open to the graduate population, focusing on different topics.”
Director of Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Support, Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Kimberly Curry mentions another new resource that was created to respond to student feedback.
“I’m a newer member of The Graduate School, and I’m learning about what we offer through The Graduate School,” Curry says. “One of those resources is the Timely Topics series for graduate students, which started last fall, and the feedback has been outstanding. We’ve talked about issues like managing or working with your advisor, how to have difficult conversations, and other topics that are pertinent to the graduate population. That’s a resource that students are plugging into and really feeling supported and heard.”
Simply knowing that such resources are available can be helpful for students, says Bernstein:
“Fostering these connections and relationships helps everyone be successful. It’s clear that our graduate students are looking for ways to connect with each other, with other faculty, and anybody who can be a point of connection for them at the university. Even just knowing that such a program exists can make someone feel not quite so alone. As a queer person who’s also first gen, I would have benefited tremendously from such a program. It would have been really nice to have someone along the give me some guidance.”
NEM is always in search of new mentors. If you want to become a mentor, please visit theNetwork for Enriched Mentorshipwebsite to learn more.
Editor’s Note:Julia Oas prepared the followingresearch brief (unabridged version)with the Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation (CEPARE). The full brief examines public school staffing trends in Connecticut schoolsfor administrators, general education teachers, and special education teachers between 2010-11 and 2022-23. Below is an executive summary.
Connecticut public school districts devote considerable effort to staffing their schools. This requires meeting the needs of changing student populations, adjusting to district- and school-level requirements, and adapting to widespread socially and economically impactful events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Districts must weigh complex factors in staffing decisions, considering skills and qualifications of each administrator, teacher, and staff member. At a more basic level, the number of personnel filling staff positions can greatly impact school districts’ quality and capabilities.
The number of personnel filling staff positions can greatly impact school districts’ quality and capabilities. — Julia Oas
This brief identifies Connecticut statewide trends between 2010-11 and 2022-23 in three educator categories: administrators, general education teachers, and special education teachers. The analysis demonstrates how many educators in each staffing category are being lost or added to overall state levels in the past 13 school years. This brief does not examine the specific certification categories of educators and their associated trends; for this information see a recent PDF report published on the state of Connecticut’s website.
Findings indicate administrator levels have risen in Connecticut public school districts, with the number of central district administrators increasing more than school administrators in the 13 years examined. General education teacher levels have dropped, though in recent years some districts seem to have devoted efforts to hiring more general education teachers. Districts in the state have increased the number of special education teachers employed, while in recent years, Connecticut Alliance school districts (33 of Connecticut’s lowest-performing school districts with at least 1,000 students) demonstrate relatively higher increases in special education teachers employed than other districts in the state. Overall, Alliance districts seem to experience notable staffing differences from all other public school districts in the state, which may significantly affect the needs of their schools and students, though these staffing decisions and funding allocations should be examined alongside these overall staffing trends.
While further analysis is needed to fully understand why staffing levels have shifted in Connecticut school districts, and how these changes affect school districts and their students, low student enrollment offers one explanation. Student enrollment has been decreasing throughout the state over the 13 years examined, with only slight increases in students enrolled following a major loss of students after the onset of the COVID-19. Shifting student enrollment trends raise questions about the relative needs of Connecticut school districts, and in particular, the implications of teacher and administrator staffing levels within the state’s current context. Reasons behind Connecticut school districts’ average growth, decline, or stagnant staffing levels remain to be fully uncovered.
CEPARE produces high-quality research, evaluation, and policy analysis that informs leaders and policymakers on a range of pressing issues, with a particular focus on enhancing social justice and equity across p-20 educational settings in Connecticut and beyond. Learn more about CEPARE, or access the PDF version of this rapid research brief (including all references and appendices), at cepare.uconn.edu.
Julia Oas
is a doctoral student in the Research Methods, Measurement and Evaluation program at UConn’s Neag School of Education. She works to bridge gaps between research, school practice, and education policy, emphasizing the reformative change required to achieve equitable and empowering school experiences for all children. Her research interests include research methods attuned to the needs of under-resourced school settings and causal inference within the field of education. In particular, she is motivated to study education policies and practices that improve the capacity of teachers to employ anti-racist, inclusive, and emotionally supportive pedagogies. Prior to her time at UConn, Oas taught for over five years in K-8 public schools as a classroom teacher and a math interventionist. She holds a BA in elementary education and sociology from the College of William and Mary, and an MS Ed. in education policy from the University of Pennsylvania.
There are a lot of factors to consider when you’re trying to build a personal brand.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
How will you market your brand and engage with your potential audience or customers?
How can you best position yourself for success?
For students who are just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey, connecting with mentors who have built their own personal brands – experiencing the ups and downs, the highs and lows – and who are excited to share what they’ve learned along the way can make all the difference.
But finding the right mentor isn’t always easy, and students often don’t quite know how to get started.
How do you initiate these kinds of conversations?
And what are the questions that you should ask?
‘Students Are Trying to Imagine Themselves After They Graduate’
Learning how to network is a skill, according to Julie Gehring, director of mentorship and student development at UConn’s Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and that skill is part of what she teaches students who sign up for NetWerx – a signature program at the Werth Institute that pairs students with alumni mentors to help cultivate those essential networking and entrepreneurial skills.
“If you learn how to network first, then you can learn how to build a relationship with somebody that leads to mentorship,” says Gehring.
Since its inception more than five years ago, NetWerx has operated with the goal of helping interested students build an entrepreneurial mindset through skills like communication, self-reliance, and adaptability. The program has worked by recruiting both current undergraduate students – typically those in their first and second years – who apply to take part and then matching them with alumni volunteers who are less than 15 years out from their own time at UConn.
For the students who are motivated, they can really get a tremendous amount out of this, because when you get out in the work world, and you’re sending your resume out into the universe without having any connection with anybody, it’s really, really hard — Heidi Bailey
“NetWerx welcomes any student interested in expanding their network and exploring ideas, even if they aren’t directly focused on starting a business,” Gehring explains. “We help students develop valuable entrepreneurial skills—like problem-solving, collaboration, and communication—that are essential for success in any field. Many of our alumni mentors, in fact, apply these skills within their organizations as ‘intrapreneurs.’”
“Students are trying to imagine themselves after they graduate,” says Heidi Bailey, an instructor-in-residence with the UConn School of Business who teaches courses on marketing and personal brand management. “NetWerx provides students with an incredible opportunity to build a relationship with a UConn alumnus who can share career tips, such as how they got started in their career, what success looks like in their field of interest, and who else they can work with in their industry.”
A Strategic Plan for Making an Impact
Alumni mentors come from a variety of backgrounds – everything from fintech to fashion, project management to health care, marketing to engineering – and commit to meet virtually with their mentees a least two to three times. They’re given orientation and training on how to be effective mentors before they’re paired with students an matching process that’s now bolstered by the use of PeopleGrove, a platform that helps students and alumni engage with each other.
It’s been an undeniable success. NetWerx has matched hundreds of UConn student mentees with alumni mentors who have engaged with its ecosystem, with many of those connections leading to lasting relationships and some even producing employment opportunities post-graduation.
Last year alone, more than 450 students took part in NetWerx, connecting with about 200 alumni mentors.
But with that success has come a need for the program itself to continue to innovate.
“The question for us was: How can we create even more of an impact?” Gehring explains. “So, we worked on a strategic plan.”
(Adobe Stock)
And part of that plan led to NetWerx’s latest initiative: Bringing mentorship directly to students in the classroom by partnering with faculty, like Bailey, who embrace an entrepreneurial mindset.
“Julie reached out to me, and told me about NetWerx, and I thought it would be a good program for this personal brand management class,” Bailey says. “Spring 2024 was the first time we taught it in Storrs. I made NetWerx part of the participation grade –the students just had to connect two times with their mentor once they got matched, and then write a reflection about what they got out of the experience.”
Bailey utilized NetWerx for the first time that spring, and then again this past fall. About 80 students – half business majors and half from a variety of other disciplines – took part over the two semesters.
Gehring and her team visited the classes twice each semester to help guide the students through developing questions for their mentoring sessions, teaching them how to make the most of their time before meeting their alumni mentors.
“NetWerx’s initial strategy focused on integrating with courses and learning communities that had a connection to entrepreneurship, either through direct curriculum ties or by emphasizing entrepreneurial skill development,” say Gehring. “This included courses, like Heidi’s personal branding class, and learning communities, like EcoHouse with Thomas Hayes, as well as first-year experience (FYE) courses, such as Next Gen with Heather Parker. By aligning with these programs, NetWerx is able to tap into existing student interest in related topics and seamlessly introduce the benefits of mentorship within a familiar academic context.”
Open Conversations About Hard Topics
The NetWerx PeopleGrove platform then enabled the students in the class to connect with a mentor who had similar interests, and allowed Gehring and Bailey to see how those connections were going.
The response from her students was largely positive, Bailey says.
Some reported having open conversations about sometimes difficult topics, like salaries and promotions. Some were encouraged by their mentors to streamline their personal goals, to build new creative content that they hadn’t considered before – or to change gears completely.
By collaborating with us, faculty can seamlessly incorporate mentorship into their courses or learning communities. — Julie Gehring
For example, one student who’d been interested in a career in the U.S. Foreign Service learned it might actually not be the right path for them after meeting with an alumni mentor who had taken the same path.
Gaining that real-world perspective is what mentoring in general, and what NetWerx specifically, is all about, says Gehring.
“If you’re a finance major, you can talk to somebody that’s in a finance background,” she says. “And maybe that student says, you know what? I’ve gotten some perspective, and that’s not where I want to be. And so, when they figure out what they don’t want, they can continue to use our platform to find out what they do want. Let’s go talk to somebody that’s in psychology, let’s go talk to somebody in engineering, because we’ve got so many mentors who are willing to help and to take those calls.”
Opportunities That Can Change Lives
NetWerx continues to also operate as a program open to any student of any discipline, regardless of their course selections, who is interested in expanding their network or exploring an idea. The Werth Institute is holding open office hours three days a week this spring where undergraduates can drop in, learn more, and sign up.
But the program is hoping to partner with more faculty to help reach students who might otherwise not know about or consider taking part in a program like NetWerx.
From a faculty perspective, Bailey notes, successfully incorporating NetWerx into a course means building it in as a core component of the class that the faculty themselves are invested in.
“NetWerx is actively seeking partnerships with faculty who embed entrepreneurial skills into their courses to connect first and second-year students with alumni mentors,” adds Gehring. “From a co-curricular standpoint, we understand the significant time commitment involved in curriculum planning and instruction, which is why NetWerx aims to simplify the integration of mentorship into the classroom. By collaborating with us, faculty can seamlessly incorporate mentorship into their courses or learning communities. This partnership eliminates the burden of managing the screening of mentors, the matching process, and ongoing support of the mentor-mentee relationship, allowing instructors to focus on teaching while providing students with valuable mentorship experiences and expanded networks.”
And making that successful integration into the classroom, Bailey says, can be “life-changing” for the students who take full advantage of the opportunity.
“For the students who are motivated, they can really get a tremendous amount out of this, because when you get out in the work world, and you’re sending your resume out into the universe without having any connection with anybody, it’s really, really hard,” Bailey says. “You have to have people inside who can then connect you with others.
“For just about any class, there are enough alumni who are engaged in that discipline, who would be willing to connect either one-on-one or even come into the class and speak – I think it’s extremely valuable to get that inside perspective and to have the potential to stay in touch.”
January is National Mentoring Month – for more information, visitmentoring.org.
NetWerx is always recruiting – both student mentees and alumni mentors – and individuals interested in getting involved, as well as faculty interested in learning how NetWerx might fit in with their course design, are encouraged to contact Julie Gehring atjulie.gehring@uconn.eduor Ian Bender atian.bender@uconn.edu.
For more information about all of the entrepreneurial opportunities available through the Werth Institute, visitwerth.institute.uconn.edu.
