Concepts for Environmental Sustainability

plans for Environmental Sustain competencyA Perspective on surroundingsal halt readiness?Environmental Sustain magnateThe Commissioner acts as an indep oddityent voice that advocates, audits and reports on surroundal nutrifyability. The purpose of this paper is to look the pith of environmental retainability. The club demand a comment of environmental sustainability that is easily d suffer the stairsstood, is logical, and is t subject serviceful in facilitating understanding, communication and efficient carry out by from each one make out players (goernment, community, business, innovators, academia, communicators, etc.).The paper also explores the signification of related names and comments eg.sustainability and related row in common rule ecologically sustainable information (as delimitate by the Commissioners enabling legislation)sustainable festering (the Brundt institute definition)triple bottom line.A preferred definition of environmental sustainability Environmental sustainability is the ability to concord social functions or qualities that ar valued in the physiologic environment This is the simplest and some fundamental way to express the concept.But pile using the term environmental sustainability tooshie specify or elaborate the term further to add extra meaning or to apply the concept to more specialised scopes.What is the sensual environment?This is the physiologic surrounds to fewthing.For example, the land, waters and automatic teller machine, physical resources and thebuildings and roadsand antithetical physical elements go to make up the urban environment.Rural environments be make up of the farms and living aras of state andthe land and waters and atmosphere and biological elements (species utilised by agriculture, pest species, and native species, and ecological communities two homophilee induced and natural).Natural environments argon those where the influence of speculative species (indigenous and naturalised) is dominant or in truth besotted.Physical resources, of all sorts, including mineral resources, shadower be determi assume to be resolve of the environment. Physical environments dejection be considered on all scales from the micro to the local, global and so far bigger scales. there is no sharp distinction among the environmental and separate kingdoms (eg. brotherly and stinting) in fact the content of each domain overlaps other domains massively. The key to understanding doesnt lie in trying to set non-overlappingboundaries between the domains but lies in be clear closely the emphasis of different domains.(Link to) Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability work 00 The physical environment includes the natural and biological environments. What makes an switch off a sustainability issue? A sustainability issue arises whenever a valued system, object, change or attribute is under threat.The existence of the valued system, object, process or att ribute could be threatened or its quality could be threatened with proficient decline. In other scripts thither is a sustainability issue whenever on that point is something that is valued that faces the danger of not creation oblige.Whenever in that location is a strong good sense of urgency, there is always a sustainability issue involved.This urgency couldrelate to something thatal involvey existsortoan understood strength.For example biodiversity cogency be threatened with extinction or the chance to realise the potential of a human race organism readiness be threatened, for example, if they remain in poverty or their lives be threatened by violence or disease.(The last mentioned would usually be theme of as organism kindly sustainability issues.) What exactly ar we trying to maintain in the physical environment and who decides?There is no automatic, fixed agenda make into the term environmental sustainability. We reserve to look to the circumstance to see w hat might be sustained.And umteen an(prenominal) nation and organisations already select wellspring essentialideas close to what aspects of the come in environment should be sustained when environmental sustainability is pursued. In a place like Victoria, with our culture, political processes and physical environment, there is strong public pressure to maintain (sustain) things likeecosystem services (eg. nutrient cycling, the water cycle, natural water purification, climate moderation, soil protectionhigh quality urban environmentsareas of natural beautyother species and ecological communitiesthe user value flowing from physical resources (eg. minerals, energy, renewableresources, water)What motivates us to trust to sustain something in the physical environment? We might want to sustain something in the physical environment because it is useful to us e.g. the quality of local urban environments. Or we might want to do it because we divvy up about the wellbeing of other flock or other species for their sake, not ours. That is we tummy be cause by utilitarian concerns and/or altruism. Sometimes we maintain something in the environmental domain in order to make it possible to arrive at another goal in another domain.For example, we might sustain leatherneck habitats in order to tide over the livelihood of coastal townships.Or we might sustain renewable resources so that we crumb support economic information or good win Genuine progress is development that creates new benefits without undermining or destroying old benefits that are chill out valued in the community.In recent years a grant of work has been done on genuine progress indicators as alternatives to GDP measures.) How long should we try to sustain something? This question can lonesome(prenominal) be answered later on deciding special(prenominal)ally what contracts to be sustained and why.For example, ecosystems services for clean air would sine qua non to be sustained as lon g as there are living things (including the great unwashed) that inquire to breatheclean air.For all pragmatic purposes that marrow forever . Living species seem to last on average a few one million million years before start out extinct though some may evolve into new species.So if we maintained a natural extinction rate for species it is so low that for interoperable purposes we would need to manage in the here and without delay as if we wanted all species to survive, effectively forever. Sustaining the recycling of certain materials may solitary(prenominal) need to continue for as long as those material types are needed technologically, and depending on the pace of technical change this could be for centuries or for decades.It is tough to assume that resources are only needed for a short time however as conjunction might find new uses for materials as engine room, lifestyles and environmental awareness develop. When it comes to trying to sustain habitat on a site-spec ific basis, very specific localised habitat or ecological community patches might need to live on for anywhere between thousands of years and still a few years depending on the ecological system involved provided all of the dependent species can access these habitat or ecological community typessomewhere consistently and at adequate scale within their local ranges forever.Is there any connection betweenenvironmental sustainability and friendly or economic sustainability? Since universe depend in countless ways on the physical environment (both natural and human constructed) sustaining craved environmental conditions straightway contributes to the sustaining of tidy sum and human societies, that is, to affectionate sustainability.The viability of thethriftiness clearly depends on environmental resources and service flows so economicsustainability depends on environmental sustainability.More popularly it can be seen that sustainability in one domain can be necessary for sust ainability in another.Sustainability requirements can be mapped to show complex dependencies across domains.We classify sustainability issues into separate domains, not because the sustainabilityissues are unrelated, but for reasons of convenience and tradition, for example, to book specialisations to develop in RD and administration, to break up complex whole into mentally manageable chunks, to reflect historical connections, etc. preserve the idea of environmental sustainability mount commitments to specific exploit? While the idea ofenvironmental sustainability is very broad in its possible scope, concerns for environmental sustainability can be translated in specific applicative goals and these can and should drive proceeding programs.See the section How to use the definition of environmental sustainability to facilitate effective action. on page . Is indemnification part of an environmental sustainability program? In a world where life-support systems and other conditio ns required for sustainability ca-ca been run down,environmental sustainability can only be achieved done a combination of both handicap and restorative actions.So restoration is a key part of what needs to be done to achieve sustainability.In most instances it is better to reduce destroying environmental values in the first place rather than relying on restoration as the primary strategy.However, where damage has been done that could prevent valued elements of the physical environment being sustained, restoration should not be overlooked.If we pursue an environmental sustainability program how much should we try tosustain?The physical environment is powerfully affected by and is made up of evolving systems ecological systems, societies and economies.These evolving systems get out create changes in some aspects of the physical environment and will prevent or resist changes in other aspects.So anenvironmental sustainability program could never send to sustain or maintain abso lutely every component and attribute of the entire physical environment.Anyenvironmental sustainability program must mark out by being clear about what it is hoped will be maintained in the physical environment and what can be waiveed to change or what will be made to change.Precisely what people set out to sustain within the physical environment will depend on their value judgements, needs, skills and technology and available resources to support the action program and the current state and the dynamics of the physical environment.We cannot assume that we automatically know what should be sustained (and what should not) in the physical environment respectable because there is an environmental sustainability program operating.We need to work the answer out explicitly. The origin of the core boy sustain and its main derivatives The say sustain has been in the linguistic process for thousands of years.It comes from the Latin sustenare meaning to hold up ie. to support.From there it evolved long ago to mean to keep something issue or pass its duration, with an overtone of providing the support or necessities that made the extended duration possible eg. a sustaining meal.These days, for commonest non-specialised use of the word the closest synonym is maintain.Sustain and its derivatives (eg. sustainability, sustainable, sustaining) were first utilize in a micro or personal consideration.However several hundreds of years ago the Swiss and Germans invented a form of forestry designed to keep the forest going as productive systems over the very long term and this was called, in the English speaking world, sustainable forestry.The idea was accordingly extended to sustainable fisheries. From there it was not such a big step for the term to be applied, during the 0s and 0s, in the macro stage setting of environmental issues where there was a need to sustain the whole environment and human society.This usage was established by the time of the UN conclave on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. The drifts in meaningHaving reached a macro level of exertion sustainability was most oft talked about in terms of sustainable development.The 0 World Conservation Strategy produced by the worldwide Union for the Conservation of temper and Natural Resources (IUCN or World Conservation Union) put forward the concept of sustainable development meaning development that would allow ecosystem services and biodiversity to be sustained.The Brundtland continue shifted the meaning of sustainable development to mean development that undertakes the needs of the present without compromising the ability of proximo generationsto meet their own needs. Then the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio set in train processes such as order of business and Local Agenda that resulted in many people coming to the view that sustainability equals the integrating or balancing of environmental, neighborly and economic issues or simultane ous progress in the environmental, social and economic domains, often in the context of strong programs of consultation and participation.Many people however felt uneasy with the notion of development as it is often associated with the destruction of environmental and social attributes that they value, so they felt better public lecture about sustainability rather than sustainable development. So, over time sustainability and sustainable development came to be treated by many people as synonyms.This trend was reinforced because some people found the term sustainable development to be a bit of a taste and they apply sustainability as a convenient (if inaccurate) shorthand. As the scale of the taskof achieving a sustainable environment and society has become plain many people wipe out seek to insulate themselves from the enormity of the challenge by retreating into small incremental changes.So some people have started to translate that sustainability is a process of change and n ot an end state, and that its the journey that counts, not the destination. As the terms sustainability and sustainable development have been apply more and more in government and corporate circles, because of change magnitude discussion of environment and development, the business world has started using the terms more and more for its own purposes.Curiouslyin this context sustainable has readily reverted to its earlier simple meaning of able to be maintained.So sustainable profits, or sustainable competitive favor mean profits or competitive advantage that can be maintained for the lifelong term.The straightforward use of sustain and its derivatives within the domain of business is understandable because businesses face competition and hence the risk of decline and extinction every day of the week.This experience of threat leads business people to reproduce meanings of the terms that are the comparable as those in long-term common usage or those in the area of biological co nservation.The benefits of definitional clarity and a strong blood to core meanings The important benefit of definitional clarity is that it makes it easier to evacuate logical problems and makes effective action more likely. A search on the web reveals hundreds of definitions of sustainability and sustainable development Although this diversity is a little overwhelmingit is not really. impress given that there are many diverse people involved in the sustainability debate and there are legitimate complexities involved.However, a careful reassessment of these definitions reveals that they fall into four prefatorial categories only one of which (type ) is a normal dictionary-style definition.The other types are referred to in this paper as contextual definitions because they create a greater understanding of the context of a term rather than defining its essence.The four types of definitions are grammatical case definitions found on the essence x is/ path y eg. sustainability is/ promoter the ability to sustain something sustainable development is development that can be maintained sustaining development is development that sustains something Type contextual definitions establish onstrategies for achieving the thing being delimit the exploit of x requires y eg. the achievement of sustainability requires, for example, the integration of environmental, social and economic issues Type contextual definitions based on the outcomes of the thing being defined x results in y eg. sustainable development results inthe meeting of needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations Type contextual definitions based on what amovement with that label tries to achieve or is interested in x is what the X movement strives for eg. sustainability is what the Sustainability movement strives for ie. Sustainability encompasses the protection of the environment and people, peace, and end to poverty, the meeting of human needs, sweetener of human wellbeing, promotion of happiness, etc., etc., etc. Furthermore any of these types of definitions can be framed in a more general or a narrower context eg. applied to whole systems eg. society and the environment or just to specific contexts eg. the environment of a particular species, or to specific human communities or a particular economy.The last three types of definition can be useful as they are carefully expressed so it isclear what sort of context they are creating.But if they are written using wrangling that See Susan Murcotts list of definitions of sustainable development in the Reference section. Where sustaining is utilize as an adjective (not as a verb). suggest that they are type , or dictionary-style, definitions then these types of definitions usually cause significant discombobulation. For example, the type definition the achievement of sustainability requires, for example, the integration of environmental, social and economic issues is usually presented a s if it were a type definition ie. sustainability is the integration of environmental, social and economic issues.This produces the absurd implication that if we simply consider environmental, social and economic issues in concert that this somehow generates a sustainability outcome.Often the opposite is true because the issues are traded discharge against each other and one or more of the objectives are not adequately action leading to a decline (unsustainability) in the domains traded off. So in this case, a lack of clarity in the expression of the definition leads to a substitution of means for ends and the outcome is unsustainability. The much-used Brundtland definition of sustainable development is a type definition, that is, it describes what theoutcome will be of pursuing sustainable development.The wording that is world(a)ly used is sustainable developmentis development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet thei r own needs.But this is in fact a not-careful-enough paraphrasing of the maestro in the Brundtland report which read Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (definition quoted from p. of the Brundtland Report).The Brundtland statement should have been paraphrased along the followinglines sustainable development can under the right circumstances result in the needs of the present being met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This formulation then localisees peoples attention on what is to be sustained, what needs are to be met in different generations and what strategies are to be applied to get the desired outcomes. non only is definitional clarity important but so is maintaining a strong relationship between the core meaning of words and their various derived forms.For example, the terms sust ainability and sustainable development are now used interchangeably by many people.For some, the motivation fordoing this is to find a shorter term to substitute for sustainable development.Others prefer to use the term sustainability as a synonym for sustainable development because they dont like talking about development since in their experience it has negative connotations either for themselves or for others.But the end result is that two terms that originally had distinctly different meanings which served hardheaded communication purposes are now blurred into each other thus losing the distinction of meaning. Or sustainable development.Sustainability is about continuity and development is about change. There are manythings about life that we want to sustain (maintain) and many that we want to change.So it makes sense to create the notion of sustainable development that combinesdesired change and desired continuity -for example we might change exploitation,unhappiness, povert y, destructiveness, etc.and sustain the rest of nature, trust, tolerance, honesty, happiness, health, etc.Treated in this waysustainable development doesnt have to be an oxymoron (a combination of conflicting terms). While theory says that sustainable development does not have to be an oxymoron, it can sometimes take quite a bit of negotiation before a whole society can be well-situated with a shared out definition of what should be maintained and what should be changed.Developing a preferred definition of environmental sustainabilityThe meanings of words gain their legitimacy from shared use, so in the final analysis there are no independently make meanings, just meanings that are well understood by many people But words also help to shape our understandings and then our. actions, so the key question is not what is the correct definition? but what do we want environmental sustainability to mean, what would be most desirable? How we choose to answer this questiondepends critically on our preference for treating environmental sustainability as either a practical goal or a utopian concept. The historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee wrote in A study of history () that The twentieth century will be chiefly remembered by future generations not as an era of political conflicts or technical inventions, but as an age in which human society dared to specify of the wellbeing of the whole human race as a practical objective. Sometimes the meaning of words can evolve into roughly their opposite.For example direful used to mean to cause extreme terror now it most often means extraordinarily good.The linking meaning was probably excite eg. the roller coaster ride was terrific. The quote by English historian Arnold J. Toynbee was used in Lester B. Pearsons Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in . (Pearson win for introducing the concept of peacekeeping through the United Nations.)From http//nobelprize.org/peace/laureates//pearson-lecture.html This could be extended so that w e think of our present era as being distinguished as the age in which human society dared to think of the welfare of both the whole human race and the whole planet as a practical objective. If this is so then we can perhaps put aside the idea of seeingenvironmental sustainability as a utopian concept and, instead, opt for seeing it as a practical objective, that is, something to be both aspired to and achieved. But we should be doubly practical. We want to be able to use a definition of environmental sustainability thatmakes it easier for us to get things done (the first practicality) andwe want the definition to help us focus our minds on acquiring the most important or germane(predicate) things done (the minute of arc practicality).To help in acquire things done a definition of environmental sustainability will need tofacilitate communication between all the people who need to be involved in the issuemake it easier to identify actions that need to be taken in order to achieve e nvironmental sustainabilityBefore exploring how thechoice of definition ofenvironmental sustainabilitycan help us be doubly practical we need to identify some definitional choices that we can apply our choice-criteria to. Some of the basic types of definitions of environmental and sustainability that are used currently are environmental.referring to just the biological environmentreferring to all possible environments(contexts) eg. social, economic, physical,intellectualreferring to the physical environment including thebiological, the geomorphological environment and theconstructed and cultural physical environments sustainability..meaning the integration or balancing of social, environmental and economic issues,or programs or actions based on stakeholder or community consultationmeaning sustainable development or devising people better off in an ethically sound waymeaning the ability to sustain something.How should we select among these options if we want to facilitate communicat ion? There is really no sectorof the economy or group of people in the community that should be uninvolved in efforts to achieveenvironmental sustainability.Soifitis possible to use simple definitions that are in common usage throughout the whole community there is a good chance that most people will be able to understand each0 other.Also definitions that are wide spread in the community are likely to be more stable because drifts in meaning that emerge in small groups are not likely to be taken up by the whole population.The compound-concept ofenvironmental sustainability is not widely used in the community, nor is the word sustainability.But the core concept to sustain is widely used, and the term environmentor environmental is widely used.In common usage to sustain means tokeep something going or maintain something.Environment means, incommon usage, either the context or surroundings of something, or itmeans, more specifically, the physical environment.Clearly the Parliament of Victoria, when it passed the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Act 00, was using the word environment in the sense of the physical environment rather than more universal meaning of the context for anything. How can our choice of definition make it easier to identify actions to take to achieve environmental sustainability? Having an action focus, especially where the aim is actually to achieve desired outcomes, means that it is not helpful touse definitions that are fuzzy or based on logical confusion.So treating sustainability and sustainable development as synonyms (ie. as having the same meaning) is not likely to be a good idea.Adding the word sustainable to development must change the type of development we are talking about otherwise why would we bother talking about sustainable development if we could more conveniently just use the word development?So if we say that sustainability has the same meaning as sustainable development what we saying in logical terms isCon cept A= Concept A + Concept BIn other words it doesnt make any logical sense at all This sort of definitional fuzziness and confusion can only persist where people are not trying to be clear about what they are talking about.And indeed some people argue that sustainability is anunattainable goal so they are not greatly fussed about the details of the definition that they use. (That is, they treat environmental sustainability as a Utopian concept rather than a practical goal.) However, if we want to use a definition ofenvironmental sustainability that makes action easier then we should avoid confusions like defining sustainability as sustainable development. How can our choice of definition help us focus our minds on gettingthe most important or relevant things done? We can only answer this by going back to what motivated societys interest in environmental sustainability in the first place.The historical record makes it clear that people became concerned aboutenvironmental sustainabi lity when they discovered that aspects of the environment that they loved or depended on for survival or quality of life were threatened with extinction or serious degradation.There was an urgent concern about prejudice that made people think about sustainability.Were they originally thinking about integrating environmental, social and economic issues?Not at all.They were worrying about maintaining or keeping going something that they valued.How then did the integration or balance definition emerge?After some years of trying to achieve environmental sustainability people realised that unless they also dealt with the interacting social and economic issues they would simply not succeed in achieving their environmental goals.But did this practical/pragmatic (and perhaps ethical) realisation, change peoples environmental goals? Not really. So why did some people then change the definition of environmental sustainability to mean the integration of environmental, socialand economic issue s? It was most likely because their practical focus of attention had shifted to the integration issue and they inadvertently made a classic mistake of confusing means with ends (ie. methods with goals) There is another issue that bears on thequestion of getting the most important or relevant things done.Andthat is, in what way does environmental qualify the notion of sustainability when they are compounded?Doesenvironmental sustainabilityimply the sustainability of thewhole physical environment?Or just parts of it?From a practical point of view the physical environment is so inclusive that no real-lifeenvironmental sustainabilityprogram would everset out to sustain and maintain every aspect.If we tried to do that we would, for example, freeze in place or maintain the distribution and abundance of pest plants and animals, the reduced distribution and abundance of native species, coal-fired power move and an excessive allocation of land and resourcesto road-based transport, dangerous and resource inefficient buildings, over-built flood plains, etc. Societys are always selective about what they want to sustain even if the agenda for action is still a huge one (eg. maintaining life support systems, maintaining quality of life, keeping native species going, maintaining the resource-base for the economy, etc.). Finally, if we are concerned to get the most important or relevant things done, what definitions should we rule out? Definitions of sustainability such as the integration or balancing of social, environmental and economic issues, or programs or actions based on stakeholder or community consultation no longer seem appropriate and definingenvironmental sustainability as applying to absolutely everything in the physical environment no longer seems useful. Pulling all these issues together, it is now possible to propose a preferred definition for environmental sustainability as followsenvironmental sustainability is the ability to maintain things or qualities th at arevalued in the physical environment . This happens because people have a way of expressing themselves that goes like this environmental sustainability is all about .(insert the practical action or implication of their choice).Then people forget that this is not a definitional statement and they go on to treat it as one. A compatible suite of sustainability terms This suite of words has been developed to distinguish between what is doing the sustaining and what it is being sustained ie. between means and ends the scope of what is being sustained Word (form) Meaning Suggested usage Incompatible usage sustain (verb) means to maintain something through time to keep it going to extend its duration eg. communities are working to sustain ecosystem services, or quality of life or other species sustainability (noun) means the ability or capability to sustain (maintain) something eg. will this community achieve sustainability for the things that it wants to persist through time (adjecti ve) means related to or having to do with sustainability eg. a sustainability action plan is an action plan about sustainability not an action plan that can be kept in operation over an extended completion sustainable (adjective) means able to be sustained, durable or able to be maintained (note in this meaning the noun that the word is attached to is the thing that is sustained) eg. a sustainable policy is a policy that is kept in force over an extended period not a policy about sustainability sustaining (adjective) means having the propensity or tendConcepts for Environmental SustainabilityConcepts for Environmental SustainabilityA Perspective on environmental sustainability?Environmental SustainabilityThe Commissioner acts as an independent voice that advocates, audits and reports on environmental sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of environmental sustainability. The community needs a definition of environmental sustainability that is easily und erstood, is logical, and is helpful in facilitating understanding, communication and effective action by all key players (government, community, business, innovators, academia, communicators, etc.).The paper also explores the meaning of related terms and definitions eg.sustainability and related words in common usageecologically sustainable development (as defined by the Commissioners enabling legislation)sustainable development (the Brundtland definition)triple bottom line.A preferred definition of environmental sustainabilityEnvironmental sustainability is the ability to maintain things or qualities that are valued in the physical environment This is the simplest and most fundamental way to express the concept.But people using the term environmental sustainability can specify or elaborate the term further to add extra meaning or to apply the concept to more specialised contexts.What is the physical environment?This is the physical surrounds to something.For example, the land, wate rs and atmosphere, physical resources and thebuildings and roadsand other physical elements go to make up the urban environment.Rural environments are made up of the farms and living areas of people andthe land and waters and atmosphere and biological elements (species utilised by agriculture, pest species, and native species, and ecological communities both human induced and natural).Natural environments are those where the influence of wild species (indigenous and naturalised) is dominant or very strong.Physical resources, of all sorts, including mineral resources, can be considered to be part of the environment. Physical environments can be considered on all scales from the micro to the local, global and even larger scales. There is no sharp distinction between the environmental and other domains (eg. social and economic) in fact the content of each domain overlaps other domains massively. The key to understanding doesnt lie in trying to set non-overlappingboundaries between the domains but lies in being clear about the focus of different domains.(Link to) Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Act 00 The physical environment includes the natural and biological environments. What makes an issue a sustainability issue? A sustainability issue arises whenever a valued system, object, process or attribute is under threat.The existence of the valued system, object, process or attribute could be threatened or its quality could be threatened with serious decline. In other words there is a sustainability issue whenever there is something that is valued that faces the risk of not being maintained.Whenever there is a strong sense of urgency, there is always a sustainability issue involved.This urgency couldrelate to something thatalready existsortoan understood potential.For example biodiversity might be threatened with extinction or the chance to realise the potential of a human being might be threatened, for example, if they remain in poverty or their lives are threatened by violence or disease.(The latter would usually be thought of as being social sustainability issues.) What exactly are we trying to maintain in the physical environment and who decides?There is no automatic, fixed agenda built into the term environmental sustainability. We have to look to the context to see what might be sustained.And many people and organisations already have well developedideas about what aspects of the total environment should be sustained when environmental sustainability is pursued. In a place like Victoria, with our culture, political processes and physical environment, there is strong public pressure to maintain (sustain) things likeecosystem services (eg. nutrient cycling, the water cycle, natural water purification, climate moderation, soil protectionhigh quality urban environmentsareas of natural beautyother species and ecological communitiesthe user value flowing from physical resources (eg. minerals, energy, renewableresources, water)Wha t motivates us to want to sustain something in the physical environment? We might want to sustain something in the physical environment because it is useful to us e.g. the quality of local urban environments. Or we might want to do it because we care about the wellbeing of other people or other species for their sake, not ours. That is we can be motivated by utilitarian concerns and/or altruism. Sometimes we maintain something in the environmental domain in order to make it possible to achieve another goal in another domain.For example, we might sustain marine habitats in order to support the livelihood of coastal townships.Or we might sustain renewable resources so that we can support economic development or genuine progress Genuine progress is development that creates new benefits without undermining or destroying old benefits that are still valued in the community.In recent years a lot of work has been done on genuine progress indicators as alternatives to GDP measures.) How lon g should we try to sustain something? This question can only be answered after deciding specifically what needs to be sustained and why.For example, ecosystems services for clean air would need to be sustained as long as there are living things (including people) that need to breatheclean air.For all practical purposes that means forever . Living species seem to last on average a few million years before becoming extinct though some may evolve into new species.So if we maintained a natural extinction rate for species it is so low that for practical purposes we would need to manage in the here and now as if we wanted all species to survive, effectively forever. Sustaining the recycling of certain materials may only need to continue for as long as those material types are needed technologically, and depending on the pace of technical change this could be for centuries or for decades.It is risky to assume that resources are only needed for a short time however as society might find new uses for materials as technology, lifestyles and environmental awareness develop. When it comes to trying to sustain habitat on a site-specific basis, very specific localised habitat or ecological community patches might need to persist for anywhere between thousands of years and just a few years depending on the ecological system involved provided all of the dependent species can access these habitat or ecological community typessomewhere consistently and at adequate scale within their local ranges forever.Is there any connection betweenenvironmental sustainability and social or economic sustainability? Since humans depend in countless ways on the physical environment (both natural and human constructed) sustaining desired environmental conditions directly contributes to the sustaining of people and human societies, that is, to social sustainability.The viability of theeconomy clearly depends on environmental resources and service flows so economicsustainability depends on envir onmental sustainability.More generally it can be seen that sustainability in one domain can be necessary for sustainability in another.Sustainability requirements can be mapped to show complex dependencies across domains.We classify sustainability issues into separate domains, not because the sustainabilityissues are unrelated, but for reasons of convenience and tradition, for example, to allow specialisations to develop in RD and administration, to break up complex whole into mentally manageable chunks, to reflect historical connections, etc. Can the idea of environmental sustainability drive commitments to specific action? While the idea ofenvironmental sustainability is very broad in its possible scope, concerns for environmental sustainability can be translated in specific practical goals and these can and should drive action programs.See the section How to use the definition of environmental sustainability to facilitate effective action. on page . Is restoration part of an env ironmental sustainability program? In a world where life-support systems and other conditions required for sustainability have been run down,environmental sustainability can only be achieved through a combination of both preventive and restorative actions.So restoration is a key part of what needs to be done to achieve sustainability.In most instances it is better to avoid destroying environmental values in the first place rather than relying on restoration as the primary strategy.However, where damage has been done that could prevent valued elements of the physical environment being sustained, restoration should not be overlooked.If we pursue an environmental sustainability program how much should we try tosustain?The physical environment is powerfully affected by and is made up of evolving systems ecological systems, societies and economies.These evolving systems will create changes in some aspects of the physical environment and will prevent or resist changes in other aspects.So anenvironmental sustainability program could never aim to sustain or maintain absolutely every component and attribute of the entire physical environment.Anyenvironmental sustainability program must start out by being clear about what it is hoped will be maintained in the physical environment and what can be allowed to change or what will be made to change.Precisely what people set out to sustain within the physical environment will depend on their value judgements, needs, skills and technology and available resources to support the action program and the current state and the dynamics of the physical environment.We cannot assume that we automatically know what should be sustained (and what should not) in the physical environment just because there is an environmental sustainability program operating.We need to work the answer out explicitly. The origin of the core word sustain and its main derivatives The word sustain has been in the language for thousands of years.It comes from t he Latin sustenare meaning to hold up ie. to support.From there it evolved long ago to mean to keep something going or extend its duration, with an overtone of providing the support or necessities that made the extended duration possible eg. a sustaining meal.These days, for commonest non-specialised use of the word the closest synonym is maintain.Sustain and its derivatives (eg. sustainability, sustainable, sustaining) were first used in a micro or personal context.However several hundreds of years ago the Swiss and Germans invented a form of forestry designed to keep the forest going as productive systems over the very long term and this was called, in the English speaking world, sustainable forestry.The idea was then extended to sustainable fisheries. From there it was not such a big step for the term to be applied, during the 0s and 0s, in the macro context of environmental issues where there was a need to sustain the whole environment and human society.This usage was establishe d by the time of the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. The drifts in meaningHaving reached a macro level of application sustainability was most often talked about in terms of sustainable development.The 0 World Conservation Strategy produced by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN or World Conservation Union) put forward the concept of sustainable development meaning development that would allow ecosystem services and biodiversity to be sustained.The Brundtland Report shifted the meaning of sustainable development to mean development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generationsto meet their own needs. Then the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio set in train processes such as Agenda and Local Agenda that resulted in many people coming to the view that sustainability equals the integration or balancing of environmental, social and economic issues or simultaneous progress in the environmental, social and economic domains, often in the context of strong programs of consultation and participation.Many people however felt uneasy with the notion of development as it is often associated with the destruction of environmental and social attributes that they value, so they felt better talking about sustainability rather than sustainable development. So, over time sustainability and sustainable development came to be treated by many people as synonyms.This trend was reinforced because some people found the term sustainable development to be a bit of a mouthful and they used sustainability as a convenient (if inaccurate) shorthand. As the scale of the taskof achieving a sustainable environment and society has become apparent many people have tried to insulate themselves from the enormity of the challenge by retreating into small incremental changes.So some people have started to say that sustainability is a process of change and not a n end state, and that its the journey that counts, not the destination. As the terms sustainability and sustainable development have been used more and more in government and corporate circles, because of increasing discussion of environment and development, the business world has started using the terms more and more for its own purposes.Curiouslyin this context sustainable has quickly reverted to its earlier simple meaning of able to be maintained.So sustainable profits, or sustainable competitive advantage mean profits or competitive advantage that can be maintained for the longer term.The straightforward use of sustain and its derivatives within the domain of business is understandable because businesses face competition and hence the risk of decline and extinction every day of the week.This experience of threat leads business people to reproduce meanings of the terms that are the same as those in long-term common usage or those in the area of biological conservation.The benefit s of definitional clarity and a strong relationship to core meanings The important benefit of definitional clarity is that it makes it easier to avoid logical problems and makes effective action more likely. A search on the web reveals hundreds of definitions of sustainability and sustainable development Although this diversity is a little overwhelmingit is not really. surprising given that there are many diverse people involved in the sustainability debate and there are legitimate complexities involved.However, a careful review of these definitions reveals that they fall into four basic categories only one of which (type ) is a normal dictionary-style definition.The other types are referred to in this paper as contextual definitions because they create a greater understanding of the context of a term rather than defining its essence.The four types of definitions are Type definitions based on the essence x is/means y eg. sustainability is/means the ability to sustain something sus tainable development is development that can be maintained sustaining development is development that sustains something Type contextual definitions based onstrategies for achieving the thing being defined the achievement of x requires y eg. the achievement of sustainability requires, for example, the integration of environmental, social and economic issues Type contextual definitions based on the outcomes of the thing being defined x results in y eg. sustainable development results inthe meeting of needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations Type contextual definitions based on what amovement with that label tries to achieve or is interested in x is what the X movement strives for eg. sustainability is what the Sustainability movement strives for ie. Sustainability encompasses the protection of the environment and people, peace, and end to poverty, the meeting of human needs, enhancement of human wellbeing, promotion of happiness, etc., e tc., etc. Furthermore any of these types of definitions can be framed in a more general or a narrower context eg. applied to whole systems eg. society and the environment or just to specific contexts eg. the environment of a particular species, or to specific human communities or a particular economy.The last three types of definition can be useful as they are carefully expressed so it isclear what sort of context they are creating.But if they are written using words that See Susan Murcotts list of definitions of sustainable development in the Reference section. Where sustaining is used as an adjective (not as a verb). suggest that they are type , or dictionary-style, definitions then these types of definitions usually cause significant confusion. For example, the type definition the achievement of sustainability requires, for example, the integration of environmental, social and economic issues is usually presented as if it were a type definition ie. sustainability is the integrati on of environmental, social and economic issues.This produces the absurd implication that if we simply consider environmental, social and economic issues together that this somehow generates a sustainability outcome.Often the opposite is true because the issues are traded off against each other and one or more of the objectives are not adequately fulfilled leading to a decline (unsustainability) in the domains traded off. So in this case, a lack of clarity in the expression of the definition leads to a substitution of means for ends and the outcome is unsustainability. The much-used Brundtland definition of sustainable development is a type definition, that is, it describes what theoutcome will be of pursuing sustainable development.The wording that is universally used is sustainable developmentis development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.But this is in fact a not-careful-enough paraphrasing of the original in the Brundtland report which read Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (definition quoted from p. of the Brundtland Report).The Brundtland statement should have been paraphrased along the followinglines sustainable development can under the right circumstances result in the needs of the present being met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This formulation then focuses peoples attention on what is to be sustained, what needs are to be met in different generations and what strategies are to be applied to get the desired outcomes.Not only is definitional clarity important but so is maintaining a strong relationship between the core meaning of words and their various derived forms.For example, the terms sustainability and sustainable development are now used interchangeably by many pe ople.For some, the motivation fordoing this is to find a shorter term to substitute for sustainable development.Others prefer to use the term sustainability as a synonym for sustainable development because they dont like talking about development since in their experience it has negative connotations either for themselves or for others.But the end result is that two terms that originally had distinctly different meanings which served practical communication purposes are now blurred into each other thus losing the distinction of meaning. Or sustainable development.Sustainability is about continuity and development is about change. There are manythings about life that we want to sustain (maintain) and many that we want to change.So it makes sense to create the notion of sustainable development that combinesdesired change and desired continuity -for example we might change exploitation,unhappiness, poverty, destructiveness, etc.and sustain the rest of nature, trust, tolerance, honesty , happiness, health, etc.Treated in this waysustainable development doesnt have to be an oxymoron (a combination of conflicting terms). While theory says that sustainable development does not have to be an oxymoron, it can sometimes take quite a bit of negotiation before a whole society can be comfortable with a shared definition of what should be maintained and what should be changed.Developing a preferred definition of environmental sustainabilityThe meanings of words gain their legitimacy from shared use, so in the final analysis there are no independently correct meanings, just meanings that are well understood by many people But words also help to shape our understandings and then our. actions, so the key question is not what is the correct definition? but what do we want environmental sustainability to mean, what would be most desirable? How we choose to answer this questiondepends critically on our preference for treating environmental sustainability as either a practical goa l or a utopian concept. The historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee wrote in A study of history () that The twentieth century will be chiefly remembered by future generations not as an era of political conflicts or technical inventions, but as an age in which human society dared to think of the welfare of the whole human race as a practical objective. Sometimes the meaning of words can evolve into almost their opposite.For example terrific used to mean to cause extreme terror now it most often means extraordinarily good.The linking meaning was probably exciting eg. the roller coaster ride was terrific. The quote by English historian Arnold J. Toynbee was used in Lester B. Pearsons Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in . (Pearson won for introducing the concept of peacekeeping through the United Nations.)From http//nobelprize.org/peace/laureates//pearson-lecture.html This could be extended so that we think of our present era as being distinguished as the age in which human society dared to think of the welfare of both the whole human race and the whole planet as a practical objective. If this is so then we can perhaps put aside the idea of seeingenvironmental sustainability as a utopian concept and, instead, opt for seeing it as a practical objective, that is, something to be both aspired to and achieved. But we should be doubly practical. We want to be able to use a definition of environmental sustainability thatmakes it easier for us to get things done (the first practicality) andwe want the definition to help us focus our minds on getting the most important or relevant things done (the second practicality).To help in getting things done a definition of environmental sustainability will need tofacilitate communication between all the people who need to be involved in the issuemake it easier to identify actions that need to be taken in order to achieve environmental sustainabilityBefore exploring how thechoice of definition ofenvironmental sustainabilitycan help us b e doubly practical we need to identify some definitional choices that we can apply our choice-criteria to. Some of the basic types of definitions of environmental and sustainability that are used currently are environmental.referring to just the biological environmentreferring to all possible environments(contexts) eg. social, economic, physical,intellectualreferring to the physical environment including thebiological, the geomorphological environment and theconstructed and cultural physical environments sustainability..meaning the integration or balancing of social, environmental and economic issues,or programs or actions based on stakeholder or community consultationmeaning sustainable development or making people better off in an ethically sound waymeaning the ability to sustain something.How should we select among these options if we want to facilitate communication? There is really no sectorof the economy or group of people in the community that should be uninvolved in efforts to achieveenvironmental sustainability.Soifitis possible to use simple definitions that are in common usage throughout the whole community there is a good chance that most people will be able to understand each0 other.Also definitions that are widely spread in the community are likely to be more stable because drifts in meaning that emerge in small groups are not likely to be taken up by the whole population.The compound-concept ofenvironmental sustainability is not widely used in the community, nor is the word sustainability.But the core concept to sustain is widely used, and the term environmentor environmental is widely used.In common usage to sustain means tokeep something going or maintain something.Environment means, incommon usage, either the context or surroundings of something, or itmeans, more specifically, the physical environment.Clearly the Parliament of Victoria, when it passed the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Act 00, was using the word environment in the sense of the physical environment rather than more universal meaning of the context for anything. How can our choice of definition make it easier to identify actions to take to achieve environmental sustainability? Having an action focus, especially where the aim is actually to achieve desired outcomes, means that it is not helpful touse definitions that are fuzzy or based on logical confusion.So treating sustainability and sustainable development as synonyms (ie. as having the same meaning) is not likely to be a good idea.Adding the word sustainable to development must change the type of development we are talking about otherwise why would we bother talking about sustainable development if we could more conveniently just use the word development?So if we say that sustainability has the same meaning as sustainable development what we saying in logical terms isConcept A= Concept A + Concept BIn other words it doesnt make any logical sense at all This sort of definitional fuzzine ss and confusion can only persist where people are not trying to be clear about what they are talking about.And indeed some people argue that sustainability is anunattainable goal so they are not greatly fussed about the details of the definition that they use. (That is, they treat environmental sustainability as a Utopian concept rather than a practical goal.) However, if we want to use a definition ofenvironmental sustainability that makes action easier then we should avoid confusions like defining sustainability as sustainable development. How can our choice of definition help us focus our minds on gettingthe most important or relevant things done? We can only answer this by going back to what motivated societys interest in environmental sustainability in the first place.The historical record makes it clear that people became concerned aboutenvironmental sustainability when they discovered that aspects of the environment that they loved or depended on for survival or quality of l ife were threatened with extinction or serious degradation.There was an urgent concern about loss that made people think about sustainability.Were they originally thinking about integrating environmental, social and economic issues?Not at all.They were worrying about maintaining or keeping going something that they valued.How then did the integration or balance definition emerge?After some years of trying to achieve environmental sustainability people realised that unless they also dealt with the interacting social and economic issues they would simply not succeed in achieving their environmental goals.But did this practical/pragmatic (and perhaps ethical) realisation, change peoples environmental goals? Not really. So why did some people then change the definition of environmental sustainability to mean the integration of environmental, socialand economic issues? It was most likely because their practical focus of attention had shifted to the integration issue and they inadvertentl y made a classic mistake of confusing means with ends (ie. methods with goals) There is another issue that bears on thequestion of getting the most important or relevant things done.Andthat is, in what way does environmental qualify the notion of sustainability when they are compounded?Doesenvironmental sustainabilityimply the sustainability of thewhole physical environment?Or just parts of it?From a practical point of view the physical environment is so inclusive that no real-lifeenvironmental sustainabilityprogram would everset out to sustain and maintain every aspect.If we tried to do that we would, for example, freeze in place or maintain the distribution and abundance of pest plants and animals, the reduced distribution and abundance of native species, coal-fired power stations and an excessive allocation of land and resourcesto road-based transport, dangerous and resource inefficient buildings, over-built flood plains, etc. Societys are always selective about what they want to sustain even if the agenda for action is still a huge one (eg. maintaining life support systems, maintaining quality of life, keeping native species going, maintaining the resource-base for the economy, etc.). Finally, if we are concerned to get the most important or relevant things done, what definitions should we rule out? Definitions of sustainability such as the integration or balancing of social, environmental and economic issues, or programs or actions based on stakeholder or community consultation no longer seem appropriate and definingenvironmental sustainability as applying to absolutely everything in the physical environment no longer seems useful. Pulling all these issues together, it is now possible to propose a preferred definition for environmental sustainability as followsenvironmental sustainability is the ability to maintain things or qualities that arevalued in the physical environment . This happens because people have a way of expressing themselves that goes lik e this environmental sustainability is all about .(insert the practical action or implication of their choice).Then people forget that this is not a definitional statement and they go on to treat it as one. A compatible suite of sustainability terms This suite of words has been developed to distinguish between what is doing the sustaining and what it is being sustained ie. between means and ends the scope of what is being sustained Word (form) Meaning Suggested usage Incompatible usage sustain (verb) means to maintain something through time to keep it going to extend its duration eg. communities are working to sustain ecosystem services, or quality of life or other species sustainability (noun) means the ability or capability to sustain (maintain) something eg. will this community achieve sustainability for the things that it wants to persist through time (adjective) means related to or having to do with sustainability eg. a sustainability action plan is an action plan about sustai nability not an action plan that can be kept in operation over an extended period sustainable (adjective) means able to be sustained, durable or able to be maintained (note in this meaning the noun that the word is attached to is the thing that is sustained) eg. a sustainable policy is a policy that is kept in force over an extended period not a policy about sustainability sustaining (adjective) means having the propensity or tend

ANALYSIS OF AGAMEMNON BY AESCHYLUS

ANALYSIS OF AGAMEMNON BY AESCHYLUSThe themes in this drama atomic number 18 centered on the arguwork forcet which stipulates human minds in rattling dotty and problematic aspects due the following the lust for causation and the violent acts associated with it, the chauvinistic clash male against female dominance, crime and its penalty, sensation versus motive tribal alienation versus democratic idealism contamination and purification. These ache been emphasized beca white plague of their prevalence in the family set-up.The center point is Apollo puts a expletive on prophetess Cassandra for refusing to give her a hand in marriage, she volitionally accepts the responsibility for the outcomes of Apollos curse (Fagles, 2010). Prophetess Cassandra had entered into an agreement that required him to give her gift to prophesize in return for her however after getting the power to prophesize she did fulfill her promise which prompts Apollo to punish her. This is enough evidence of arr ogance defiance to a god by women.Historically, there are governmental issues that involve leaders, wars, and guardianship of law and order. The Furies plays the judicial role by punishing those involved in terrible crimes through tormenting them by irreversible curses. In this case a individual is not punished by human laws, the gods do the task. Through the Chorus the Greek s agediers are warned of the possible punishment for being too much violent on Troy because that shows lawless(prenominal)ness.Apollo with his powers buns not save the prophetess Cassandra from the eminent murder threat from Clytaemnestra, therefore she is precise upset. She was cursed to see future events barely she can not have control over them. The power of the gods is diaphanous when Agamemnon and prophetess Cassandra are pronounced to death but no human powers are able to change.Clytaemnestra torments Agamemnon by cleverly convincing him to walk across the red carpet an act which is signifies his d emand for recognition of the role she contend in the Greek victory. This is an offence to the gods. As with Cassandra, Clytaemnestra believes in the ideas that goodice is best achieved through revenge An eye for an eye, she believes that much murder can be a possible cleansing for the sins caused by the preferably murders (Wilson, 2010).PoliticallyThe play fits into its time politically by carefully a portraying a pattern in change where that it is still possible for the less powerful class of the society to continue to play their normal roles in the society. This play is an avenue through which the Athenians to are able to understand recent political changes and be able to understand them (Aeschylus Et al. 2004). This pattern of change shows the drastic changes that are left behind by various that the people leave after them. This is evident when Athena persuades Furies to give up their violent pursuit of Orestes for revenge of killing his mother.Furies are therefore helping ma intain the cosmic order by enforcing laws that the contract of gods and men administer hence they are not viewed as being anarchic and primitive spirits of violence. They are therefore feared and honored just as Artemis because they are c one timerned with justice in the society.The play also fits into its time politically as it was written a time when tragedy was an order of the twenty-four hours in ancient Greeks politics especially when it was under tyrant Pisistratus hence playwright had to restructure their contents to portray the state of the politics of the time. In Oresteia romp therefore was used to magnify political issues of the time by embedding to the tradition of the Athenians.The habit of arrogance is termed as a crime that has the consequences of a heavy punishment. The old men had a tough warning that being excessive and full of pride. Paris didnt hit to this advice and therefore became guilty because he arrogantly caused violence to Menelaus trust, more worse he proceeded to kidnap Helen, Menalaus wife. This act led to terrible suffering though his own death and the subsequent destruction of his city and lineage.SociologicallyThe play fits it its time in that it describes an era when women could be seen to take leadership role sin the society and the seed portrays women as being strong and powerful just as men are, for example Clytaemestra rules Argos while his husband is away in try and also manages to connive him to walk on the red carpet condescension the fact that is only meant for gods.Clytaemnestra is a cleaning lady who exhibits the behaviour of a man despite the fact that she is of a weaker gender, this caused the Chorus of Elders to be upset. She performs different tasks that women were not supposed to do, for instance she is a murderer and his mannerisms were weird because he could talk back them, she even goes to the extent of admiring to be the ruler of Argos (Slayford-Wei, 2010). However she did e really thing what was not supposed to be through with(p) by other women, she was a murder, she was talking back to men and she wanted to rule Argos which all this were meant only to be done by men. From the Mens Chorus Helen and Clytaemnestra are depicted as creatures that are extremely evil because they bring destruction and wreck to the ways of men.The belief by Cassandra is that women should have respect for their husbands and always try being good wives. She doesnt believe that Clytaemnestra has the right to brutally murder her husband, although Clytaemnestra is angry because of the death of Iphigenia. Cassandra is so disgusted that she compares Clytaemnestra to a very hideous animal. The Chorus of old men clearly ignores her warnings but she is confident of what will happen she therefore chooses to remain calm with a passive acceptance of her death.The Chorus of men is in disbelief of the fact that a woman like Clytaemnestra could actually dare to perform such an act of murder because of her woman woo d. Clytaemnestra dares them by proving her animosity as she proudly explains to them how she performed this violent act with her own bloody hands. In their response, they say that she will be crushed to death by the bitter feeling of men, this is partly due to the fact that the deadly crime was committed by a mere creature which is a woman.SpirituallyThe author argues that there is a thin line between humans and beast and thus allows human to transform to beasts to try and show that the people that leaved at that time were as in human as beast would be fro instance the wife of the king who eagerly anticipate to the return of his husband so that he would murder him and continue ruling (Wilson, 2010). This is further clarified when she finally hideously murders his husband upon his return from Troy.Athenians at the time of Agamemnon showed little or no loyalty to their women and mostly never involved them in the making of family decisions. For stance when Agamemnon is given a chance t o make a decision between boastful wind to his men and saving his daughters life ,he respects his men more and even goes ahead to sacrifice his own daughter without consulting his wife, Clytaemnestra.The elders in the chorus are fast to blames Helen for what has befall Argos had termed her to a typical woman who causes trouble and the one who caused the Trojan war. They are not ready to pass the blame to the man who kidnapped her just now because he is a man and she has to take the blame because she is a woman.More so the king Agamemnon blames Helen for all the deaths that resulted from the etojan war. The Chorus shows high respect for the gods by fearing beings such as the goddess Artemis. The gods as are very powerful, Goddess Artemis at one point demands for Agamemnon to make his daughter a sacrifice in order for the Greek ships to embroil to Troy. The old men make their appeal for help from Zeus (gods king) and Artemis brother Apollo.Apollo with his powers can not save the pr ophetess Cassandra from the eminent murder threat from Clytaemnestra, therefore she is very upset. She was cursed to see future events but she can not have control over them. The power of the gods is evident when Agamemnon and prophetess Cassandra are pronounced to death but no human powers are able to change.Clytaemnestra torments Agamemnon by cleverly convincing him to walk across the red carpet, an act which is signifies his demand for recognition of the role she played in the Greek victory. This is an offence to the gods.PhilosophicallyThe play indicates that Athenians respected their older gods even after they have been overthrown by the younger gods. This is shown by the appearance of the Cronos in the Oresteia despite the fact that it was no longer worshiped. This play therefore insist that when there is change there is bound to be losers and winners but the losers are confine for the good of the greater society (Slayford-Wei, 2010).The play shows that Athenians believed in existence and inheritance of curses. This is evident in the adage sins of the father are visited upon the son. Aegusthus father evokes a curse to Atreus his Son, when he was fed on the butchered children.Also Athenians had the thinking of violence begets violence meaning that revenge was seen as the only normal and right way of avenging against once defaulter. An eye for an eye was the way to societal justice.Agamemnon avoids being perceived as unmanly due to the excessive obedience to womanly wishes. He therefore distrusts her because of her attempts to use womanly ways in convincing him. He tries to imply that women are typically manipulative creatures however Clytaemnestra shows her prevalence over this man when he willingly to walks on a red carpet. She holds really power over men, her husband also included.Towards the end of the story, there is role reversing between men and women, Clytaemnestra, remains as the only woman in charge she bosses to Aegisthus and the Chorus as the only male characters around her, these two characters acts like women despite the fact that they represent men (Slayford-Wei, (2010). The chorus of men was initially disrespective to her Clytaemnestra can now belittle all male characters. Therefore, the Greek society questions the reversal of roles and its effects to the mens position.Clytaemnestra behavior is typically that of a man, this upsets the Chorus of Elders. By doing everything in a manly manner she believes that she has finally delivered justice to Argos, she manages to end the curse of bloodshed that had been in force for several years. In the chorus I swept from these halls/the murder, it is enough evidence for her belief, According to her, the murders of Agamemnon and Cassandra marks the erasure of previous generations bloodshed.

Alternative Communication Intervention In Children Health And Social Care Essay

Alternative Communication Intervention In Children Health And cordial C atomic number 18 EssayChildren and young person who sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and/or spinal cord injury (SCI) may have temporary or permanent disabilities that arrogate their mother tongue, expression and conversation abilities. Having a way to channelise croup attend reduce a childs confusion and anxiety, as comfortably as enable them to go in more active agently in the renewal process and thus, recoer from their injuries. In addition, effective communicating with family, c be staff, peers, teachers and friends is substantive to long-term recovery and positive outcomes as children with TBI and SCI are integrated back into their communities. This article describes how rehabilitation groups potty usance augmentative and choice chat (AAC) and assistive technologies (AT) to support the communication of children recovering from TBI and SCI over time.1. IntroductionChildren and youth who sustain a voiceless traumatic brain injury (TBI) and/or a spinal cord injury (SCI) often examine sequealae that corporation affect their expertness to eliminate effectively. In early phases of recovery, many children with TBI and SCI are unable to mapping their dialect or gestures for a variety of aesculapian reasons related to their injuries. As a outcome, they can benefit from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions that specifically address their competency to communicate basic ineluctably and feelings to aesculapian personnel and family members and ask and respond to questions. AAC approaches may include having access to a nurses call signal strategies to establish a consistent yes no response techniques that help a child fondness point to simple messages low-tech boards and books that encourage interaction with family members and staff communication boards with pictures or spoken language and speech generating devices (SGDs) with pre ar chitectural planmed messages, such as I hurt Come here, Help me please Whens mom coming?As children with TBI and SCI recover from their injuries, many no longer will need AAC. However, nearly children face residual ram, speech, language and cognitive impairments that affect their ability to communicate face-to-face, write or use mainstream communication technologies (e.g., data processors, email, phones, etc.). A few may lease AAC and assistive applied science (AT) passim their lives. Having access to communication through AAC and AT enables these children to participate actively in the rehabilitation process and ultimately, in their families and communities. Without an ability to communicate effectively, children with TBI and SCI will face insurmountable barriers to rearing, employment, as well as establishing and maintaining relationships and taking on preferred social roles as adults.All AAC interventions aim to support a childs current communication ask while planning f or the future (Beukelman and Mirenda, 2005). However, the course of AAC treatment for children who sustain TBIs and SCIs is dissentent because of the nature of their injuries is different. In addition, the focus of AAC interventions will differ for very young children (e.g., shaken baby syndrome) who are just fathering speech and language and for those who were literate and have some knowledge of the world introductory to their injuries (e.g., 16 year-old involved injured in a motor vehicle adventure). For young children, the AAC team will focus on developing their language, literacy, academic, emotional, and social skills, as well as ensuring that they have a way to communicate with family members and rehabilitation staff. For older children, AAC interventions build on residual skills and abilities to help remediate speech, language and communication impairments as well as add compensatory strategies that support face-to-face interactions and ultimately communication across dis tances (phone, email) with team members, family and friends. AAC intervention goals seek to promote a childs active participation in family, education, club and leisure activities and aim to support the establishment and maintenance of robust social ne devilrks (Blackstone, Williams, and Wilkins, 2007 Light and Drager, 2007 Smith, 2005).While a variety of AAC tools, strategies and techniques are available that offer communication access, successful AAC interventions for children with TBI and SCI as well as require that medical staff, family members and ultimately community personnel know how to support the use of AAC strategies and technologies because the needs of these children diverge over time. Speech-language pathologists, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, physiatrists, pediatricians, and rehabilitation engineers work collaboratively with the childs family and community-based professionals to establish, maintain and update effective communication systems. Ultimately, the goal is for children to take on desired adult roles AAC can help them realize these goals.2. Pediatric TBI and AACAAC intervention for pediatric patients with TBI and severe communication challenges is an essential, complex, ongoing and dynamic process. AAC is essential to support the unique communication needs of children who are unable to communicate effectively. It is complex because of the residual cognitive deficits that often persist and because many children with TBI have co-existing speech, language, visual, and motor tame deficits (Fager and Karantounis, 2010 Fager and Beukelman, 2005). AAC interventions are ongoing and dynamic (Fager, Doyle, and Karantounis, 2007) because children with TBI throw many changes over time and permit multiple transitions. Light et al. (1988) described the ongoing, trio-year AAC intervention of an adolescent who progressed through several AAC systems and ultimately regained functional speech. DeRuyter and Donoghue (1989) des cribed an respective(prenominal) who used many simple devices and a sophisticated AAC system over a seven month period. Additional reports describe the recovery of natural speech up to 13 years post onset (Jordan, 1994 Workinger and Netsell, 1992).2.1. AAC Assessment and InterventionAssessment tools can help identify and describe the cognitive, language and motor deficits of patients with TBI and provide a framework for AAC interventions. The Pediatric Rancho eggshell of Cognitive Functioning (adapted by staff at Denver Childrens Hospital in 1989) is based on the Ranchos Los Amigos shell of Cognitive Functioning (Hagan, 1982). Table 1 describes general take aims of recovery, based on the Pediatric Rancho Lost Amigos Scale, and gives examples of AAC intervention strategies that rehabilitation teams can employ across the levels as described below.Levels IV and V. AAC Goal Shaping responses into communicationIn the early phase of recovery, pediatric patients at Levels IV and V on t he Pediatric Rancho Scale are often in the PICU, the ICU, incisive hospital or acute rehabilitation environment. At Level V (no response to stimuli) or Level IV (generalized response to stimuli) AAC interventions focus on identifying modalities that children can use to provide consistent and reliable responses. For example, staff can use simple switches (e.g., Jelly Bean, tumid Red and Buddy Button from AbleNet), latch-timers (e.g., PowerLink from AbleNet) and single message devices (e.g. BIGmack and Step Communicator from AbleNet) to support early communication (see Table 1 for some examples). Because childrens early responses may be reflexive rather than intentional, the family and medical/rehabilitation team can also use AAC technologies to encourage more consistent responses. Families provide valuable input virtually the kinds of music, games and favorite toys a child finds motivating. The team can then use these items to evoke physical responses from the child. For example, if the family identified the battery-operated toy Elmo from Sesame Street, the rehabilitation team office present Elmo singing a Sesame Street song and then observe to see if the childs responds. If the child start ups to turn her head when Elmo sings, the team might attach a switch with a battery interrupter to the toy and ask the child to hit the button and play the Elmo song. In doing so, the team can hear several things. For example, the team may note that a child is able to follow commands, indicating cognitive recovery. The team may also begin to consider alternative access methods for children with severe physical impairments, i.e., head movement may become a reliable way to operate an AAC device or figurer in the future. It is attendy to predict whether a child will recover natural speech during early stages of recovery.2.2. Middle Levels II and III AAC Goals Increase ability to communicate with staff, family and friends and support active participation in treatmentPedi atric patients at Levels III (localized response to sensory stimuli) and II (responsive to environment) become more engaged in their rehabilitation programs as they recover some cognitive, language and physical abilities. During this phase, long-term deficits that affect communication become apparent (e.g., dysarthria, apraxia, aphasia, attention, initiation, depot, vision, spasticity). Dongilli, Hakel, and Beukelman (1992) and Ladtkow and Culp (1992) also report natural speech recovery in adults after TBI at the middle stages of recovery. Continued reliance on AAC strategies and technologies is typically due to persistent motor speech and/or severe cognitive-language deficits resulting from the injury (Fager, Doyle, and Karantounis, 2007).AAC interventions at these levels focus on using a childs to the highest degree consistent and reliable response to communicate messages, encourage active participation in the rehabilitation process and increase interactions with family and sta ff. AAC interventions always take into account the childs developmental level and interests. Table 1 gives some examples of AAC technologies employed during these Levels III and II. For example, Jessica was admitted to the hospital at 18-months with shaken baby syndrome. At Level II, she began responding to her parents by smiling and laughing and also began to manipulate toys with her non-paralyzed hand when staff placed a toy in spite of appearance her intact subject of vision. However, she did not exhibit any speech or imitative vocal behaviors and her speech-language pathologist noted a severe verbal apraxia. breast feeding staff and family members noted that Jessica seemed frustrated by her inability to express herself. Prior to her injury, she could name over 30 objects (toys, pets, favorite machinetoon characters) and was beginning to put two word sentences together (Momma bye-bye, Daddy home).AAC interventions included the introduction of a BIGmack, a single-message speech generating device (SGD) that enabled the staff and family members to record a message that Jessica could then emit during her daily activities(e.g., more, bye-bye, turn page). Because the BIGmack is a colorful, large and easy to access SGD, Jessica was able to press the button despite her swiftness outgrowth spasticity and substantial visual field cut. Within a month, Jessica had progressed to using a MACAW by Zygo, an SGD with eight-location overlay that staff programmed with words she had used prior to her injury (e.g., mommy, daddy, more, bottle, book, bye-bye). Staff also designed extra overlays to encourage her language development by providing vocabulary that enabled her to construct two-word combinations (e.g., more crackers). Jessica began to express herself at a developmentally appropriate level, but she had residual memory deficits that required cuing and support from her communication partners. For example, initially, she did not recall how to use her AAC system from session to session so staff needed to reintroduce it each time. However, after several months, Jessica began to search for her SGD to communicate. Jessica, like many children with TBI at this level, was able to learn procedures and strategies with repetition and support (Ylvisaker and Feeney, 1998).2.3. Level II and Level I. AAC Goals Support transitions, recommend AAC strategies and technologies for use at home and in the communityAs pediatric patients transition from Level II (responsive to environment) to Level I (oriented to self and surroundings), they often move from an acute rehabilitation facility to an outpatient setting, home or a bid facility. Thus, before discharge, AAC teams will conduct a formal AAC assessment and provide long-term recommendations for AAC strategies and technologies that can enable children to be integrated successfully back into community environments. Table 1 illustrates the types of AAC technologies and strategies employed at Levels II and I, as d escribed below.For children who continue to use AAC and AT when they return to their communities, the rehabilitation team identifies a long-term communication advocate. This person, often a family member, becomes actively involved in AAC training and collaborates with rehabilitation staff to prepare the childs educational staff, extended family and other caregivers (Fager, 2003). Having a link between the rehabilitation team and community professionals is essential because most teachers and community-based clinicians have limited have sex working with children with TBI and may need support to manage the cognitive and physical deficits often associated with TBI. For example, McKenzie, a 12 year-old with a severe TBI secondary to a car accident, was quadriplegic with severe spasticity and no upper extremity control. She also had cortical blindness and significant communication and cognitive impairments. As she recovered, McKenzie used a variety of AAC systems (e.g., thumbs up/down fo r yes no, two BIGmacks to communicate choices, and a scanning Cheap Talk by Enabling Devices with four messages to participate in structured activities). Prior to discharge, the rehabilitation team conducted a formal SGD evaluation and recommended the Vmax by DynaVox Mayer-Johnson, a voice output device. McKenzie was able to access the device via a head switch mount to the side of the head rest on her wheelchair. Using auditory scanning, she could create and retrieve messages. Because she was literate prior to her injury and could still spell, the staff set up her device to include an rudiment page as well as several pages with pre-programmed messages containing basic/urgent care needs, jokes and social comments. Family and friends participated in her rehabilitation and in condition(p) to use tactile and verbal prompts to help her participate in conversational exchanges. Due to her residual cognitive deficits, however, McKenzie had difficulty initiating conversations and rememberi ng where pre-stored messages were in her device. When prompted, she would respond and get questions and could engage in conversations over multiple turns. Over time, she began to participate in meaningful, social interactions, often spelling out two-three word novel phrases using her alphabet pageWhile her parents were renovating their home to handle her wheelchair, McKenzie transitioned to a regional care facility that specialized in working with young people with TBI. The acute rehabilitation team identified McKenzies aunt as her AAC advocate because she had participated actively in earlier phases of McKenzies recovery, was proficient with the maintenance (charging, set-up and basic trouble-shooting) of the Vmax and could customize and program new messages into the system. The care facility staff met with McKenzies aunt weekly so they could learn how to support McKenzies use of the SGD. Specific training objectives included maintenance and basic trouble-shooting, set up, switch-p lacement and how to program new messages to use in specific and motivating activities. Staff learned how to modify the placement of her switch when McKenzie became fatigued or her spasticity increased. Additionally, McKenzies school staff (special education coordinator, speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, and one of her regular classroom teachers) visited McKenzie at the rehabilitation and the care facilities to help prepare for her return home and learned how to support her in school, presumption her physical and cognitive limitations.2.4. AAC themes in TBIWhen working with pediatric patients with TBI, three AAC themes emerge.1. Recovery from TBI is dynamic and takes place over time. In early stages of recovery, most children with TBI have physical, speech, language and cognitive deficits that affect their communication skills. Depending on the nature and severity of their injuries, however, most recover functional speech, although some will have life-long residua l speech, language and communication deficits. Acute rehabilitation teams can employ AAC interventions to support communication, as well as monitor the childs changing communication abilities and needs over time.2. The cognitive-linguistic challenges associated with TBI make AAC interventions oddly challenging for rehabilitation staff, as well as for families, friends and school personnel. Because of the complex nature of the residual disabilities caused by TBI, collaborations among rehabilitation specialists, family members and community-based professionals are essential. Some children with TBI require AAC supports throughout their lives. Family members, friends and school personnel ra imprecate know how to manage their severe memory, attention and/or initiation deficits that can affect long-term communication outcomes.3. There is a need to plan carefully for transitions. Children with TBI will undergo many transitions. While research describing these transitions in children is no t available, reports of the experiences of adults with TBI describe multiple transitions over time. Penna et al. (2010) noted that adults with TBI undergo a significant number of residence transitions particularly in the first year following injury and Fager (2003) described the different transitions (acute care hospital, outpatient rehabilitation, skilled treat facility, home with adult daycare services, and eventually assisted living) for an adult with severe TBI experienced over a decade, documenting significant changes in his cognitive abilities, as well as his communication partners and support staff. Children with TBI are likely to experience even more transitions over their lifetimes.3. Pediatric SCI and AACPediatric patients with SCI often have intact cognitive skills and severe physical disabilities that can interfere with their ability to speak. In addition, they often have significant medical complications and may be left with severe motor impairments that make it diffic ult, if not impossible, for them to write, access a computer or participate in the gaming, online and remote social networking activities embraced by todays youth (e.g., texting, email). A subgroup may also present with a concomitant TBI sustained as a result of the fall, car accident or other traumatic event that has changed their lives. For them, AAC treatment must reflect guidelines that take into account some(prenominal) SCI and TBI.As with TBI, the growth and development inherent in childhood and adolescence and the unique manifestations and complications associated with SCI require that management be both developmentally based and directed to the individuals special needs (Vogel, 1997). Initially, AAC interventions typically focus on ensuring face-to-face communication when speech is unavailable or very difficult over the long term, however, enabling children to write and engage in educational, recreational and pre-vocational activities using computers and other mainstream t echnologies becomes the focus.3.1. AAC Assessment and InterventionThe ASIA standard neurological classification of SCI from the American Spinal Injury Association and International Medical Society of Paraplegia (2000) is a tool that rehabilitation teams frequently use to assess patients with SCI because it identifies the level of injury and associated deficits at each level. This can help guide the rehabilitation teams clinical decision-making process for AAC interventions. As shown in Table 2, children with high tetraplegia (C1-C4 SCI) have limited head control and are often ventilator dependent. They often require eye, head, and/or voice control of AAC devices and mainstream technologies to communicate. While switch scanning is an option for some, it requires higher-level cognitive abilities, endurance, and vigilance and may be inappropriate for very young children and those who are medically fragile (Wagner and Jackson, 2006 McCarthy et al., 2006 Peterson, Reichle, and Johnston, 2000 Horn and Jones, 1996). Children with low tetraplegia (C5-T1 SCI) demonstrate limited proximal and distal upper extremity control. If fitted with splints that support their arm and hand, some are able to use specially adapted mouse options (e.g., joystick mouse, switch-adapted mouse, trackball mouse), large button or light touch keyboards and switches to control technology. These children are also candidates for head tracking and voice control of AAC devices due to the fatigue and physical effort involved in using their upper extremities. For example, a multi-modal access method to AAC technology and computers may include voice control to dictate text, hand control of the cursor with an adaptive mouse to coiffure other computer functions (e.g., open programs), and an adaptive keyboard to correct errors that are generated while dictating text. This multi-modal approach can be more efficient and less frustrating than using voice control alone for these children. Table 2 provides examples of appropriate access options to AAC and mainstream technologies.3.2. Supporting face-to-face communicationFor children with high tetraplegia, being dependent on machinelike ventilation is frightening especially when they are unable to tolerate a talking valve (Padman, Alexander, Thorogood, and Porth, 2003). Thus, providing these children with a way to communicate is essential to their recovery and sense of well-being. As children with lower levels of injury are weaned from a ventilator, they may experience reduced respiratory control and be unable to speak (Britton and Baarslag-Benson, 2007). Medical specialists can provide access to AAC strategies and technologies, which enable these children to communicate their wants, needs and feelings throughout the day. This allows them to interact with direct care staff, participate in their rehabilitation process, and maintain relationships with family and friends.Pediatric rehabilitation teams may use a range of AAC strategies an d technologies to support face-to-face communication in children with SCI. Some examples include low tech communication boards used with eye gaze or eye pointing, partner-dependent scanning, an electro larynx with intra-oral adaptor, or laser light pointing to a target message or letter on a communication board (Britton and Baarslag-Benson, 2007 Beukelman and Mirenda, 2005). Introducing AAC and AT technologies early in the recovery process, particularly for children who demonstrate high tetraplegia, will also begin to familiarize them with approaches they may need to rely on extensively throughout their lives, even after speech returns.For example, Jared, a 17-year-old high school senior, sustained a SCI in a skiing accident at the C2 level. In addition to his injuries, he developed pneumonia and a severe coccyx wound during his hospitalization, which lengthened his hospital stay. He was unable to tolerate a one-way speaking valve due to the severity of his pneumonia and decreased o xygenation during valve trials. Although Jared had minimal head movement, he was able to control an AccuPoint head tracker to access his home laptop computer and spell out messages he could then speak aloud using speech synthesis software. He used his AAC system to indicate his medical needs to caregivers and later reported that having the ability to communicate helped alleviate some of the anxiety he experienced due to his condition and extended hospitalization. After Jared recovered the ability to use a talking valve, his work with the AccuPoint focused on computer access to meet written and social communication needs. Once his wound had healed, he was able to return home 11 months later. At that time, all of his classmates had graduated. Using the AccuPoint, Jared was able to complete his GED at home and enrolled in online classes at the local community college.3.3. Supporting written communication and educationAt the time of their injury, some pediatric patients with SCI are pr e-literate, others are developing literacy skills, and others have highly developed literacy skills. However, most children with tetraplegia will require the use of assistive technologies to support written communication because their injuries preclude them from using a pencil and/or typing on a traditional computer keyboard. In a report describing the educational participation of children with spinal cord injury, 89% of the children with tetraplegia relied on AAC to support written communication needs (Dudgeon, Massagli, and Ross, 1996).For example, Max, a 6 year-old boy who suffered a C6 SCI after an All Terrain Vehicle accident, was reading age-appropriate sight words and developing his ability to write single words prior to his injury. After the initial recovery period, formal testing revealed that Max had no residual cognitive or language impairments. However, he faced significant barriers not only to his continued development of age-appropriate reading and writing skills, but also to his ability to learn and do math, social studies, science, play games, use a cell phone, etc. Due to his tetraplegia, he needed ways to access text and write, calculate, draw and so on. Max learned to access a computer using a large button keyboard, joystick mouse, and adaptive hand-typers (cuffs with an attached stylus that fit on the ulnar side of the hand and allow the user to press the keys of a keyboard) to support writing activities and computer access. During rehabilitation, he was able to continue with his schoolwork by developing the skills to use the technology and keep up with his classmates. He returned home during the summer and participated in an intense home tutoring program. By the fall, he was able to join his classmates and was able to perform at grade level in all classes. Essential to Maxs future educational success and development, as well as his future employment, may well depend on his ability to write, calculate and perhaps even draw using a variety of assistive technologies that support communication.3.4. Support social participation and pre-vocational activitiesAccess to assistive and mainstream technologies not only facilitates participation in education, but also has implications for future employment as these children transition into adulthood. Assistive and mainstream technologies are now available at petty(a) cost that can help individuals with SCI to compensate for functional limitations, overcome barriers to employability, enhance technical capacities and computer utilization, and improve ability to compete for gainful employment In addition, these technologies also provide access to life-long learning, recreational activities and social networking activities. Specifically, computers are described as great equalizers for individuals with SCI to engage in employment opportunities and distant communication (McKinley, TewksBury, Sitter, Reed, and Floyd, 2004).Social participation in the current technological age includes more than face-to-face communication. Social participation has expanded with the popularity of social networking sites (e.g., Facebook and MySpace), video web-based communication (e.g., Skype) and instant communication and messaging (e.g., Twitter). Advances in the field of AAC have allowed individuals with the most severe injuries access computer technologies to engage in these social communication activities. For example, Crystal was a 10-year-old who sustained a C1 SCI due to a fall. Crystals injury left her with no head/neck control and her only consistent access method to computerized technology was through eye tracking. With an ERICA eye gaze system from DynaVox Mayer-Johnson, Crystal quickly became independent with computer access. She emailed and texted her friends and family daily, communicated via her Facebook account, and engaged in online gaming programs with her friends and siblings. This technology allowed her to begin to communicate again with her school friends whil e she was still undergoing acute rehabilitation. Maintaining these social networks is an essential component to emotional adjustment children with SCI go through after sustaining a severe injury (Dudgeon, Massagli, and Ross, 1997). Additionally, Crystals friends began to understand that while her impairments were severe, she was essentially the same person with the same interests, humor, goals, and expectations as before her injury.3.5. AT/AAC themes in SCIWhen working with pediatric patients with SCI, three AAC themes emerge.1. For those with high tetraplegia, AAC may facilitate face-to-face as well as distant and written communication needs, depending on the developmental level of the child. Introducing AAC technology early, when face-to-face communication support is needed, helps the child become familiar with the technology they will need to rely on after natural speech has recovered.2. Return to an educational environment is a primary goal with many children with tetraplegia re turning to school within an average of 62 days post discharge (Sandford, Falk-Palec, and Spears, 1999). Development of written communication skills is an essential component to successful educational completion and future vocational opportunities (McKinley, Tewksbury, Sitter, Reed, and Floyd, 2004).3. Introduction to methods of written and electronic communication provides an opportunity for patients with SCI to engage in social networks through email, texting, and social networking sites. As these children with severe physical disabilities face a life time of potential medical complications (Capoor and Stein, 2005), the ability to maintain and develop new social connections via electronic media allow them to stay connected during times when their medical conditions require them to be house or hospital-bound.4. ConclusionCommunication is essential for continued development of cognitive, language, social, and emotional skills. Children with TBI and SCI have physical and/or cognitive- language deficits that interfere with typical communication abilities. Their communication needs are supported through AAC strategies and technologies. A myriad of technology options are available that not only support face-to-face interactions, but equally important distant social networking and educational activities. AAC interventions in the medical setting that not only support communication of basic medical needs, but also facilitate engagement in social, educational, and pre-vocational activities will result in successful transition to home, school and community environments for these children.

Fly Away Peter :: essays research papers

The characters of Imogen, Ashley and Jim counter the despair created by war. Discuss.This idea of a countenance between the peaceful world of the sanctuary and the the chaotic world of war is 1 adapted by many, and with good reason. Through his novel, Malouf seeks to convey to the reader various themes. This is cleverly done in a number of ways, just one of which is this juxtaposition of the relationship between Imogen, Ashley and Jim and how it represents a peaceful world, and the despair created by war, its destructive nature and the effect it has on the world.The bond between Imogen, Ashley and Jim is founded on their passionate interest and lie with of the birds, and the individual gifts that each brings to that interest Jims special knowledge, Imogens photography and Ashleys sense of the land and nature. The relationship between the three reflects the calm, balanced and tranquil order of the natural world. Their savvy of the primitive power of the bush represents a harmony, it goes beyond mere convention or the law. Malouf, in creating such a powerful representation of the natural world, has prepared us well for the impact of war.The relationship established between Imogen, Ashley and Jim in the first half of the novel is skilfully juxtaposed with the trauma and upheaval of war in the second half. It is thusly a stark contrast to the tranquility of the sanctuary. The catastrophe and madness of the war hearlds Jims fall from innocence. This provides a dramatic contrast in mood, setting and action from the harmonious peace of the sanctuary section. The natural round of golf of things that Jim has been so in tune to has disappeared with the disturbance and destructive nature of war. Throughout the latter half of the novel, during which Jim is caught like a fly in the web of war, the layers of discontent are evident - disharmony is a constant theme. This is made far more apparent through the way in which Malouf uses Jim as a wing to the old world, whe n everything was ordered and followed a pattern. Jim was there because of the unnatural act of war, but as a kind of private reassurance for himself alone, there is the presence of the birds. This allows him to find his way pricker at times to a natural cycle of things that the birds still followed undisturbed.

Reflexivity in Ethnographic Research and Writing :: Ethnography Anthropology Essays

Reflexivity in Ethnographic Research and WritingThe role of reflexivity in ethnographic research and writing has certain advantages and limits, as it gives the discipline of anthropology another form of interpreting ethnographies. Reflexivity, in terms of work of anthropology, is to insist that anthropologists systematically and rigorously reveal their methodology and themselves as the instrument of info generation. It is the self-consciousness or the works ability to see itself as a work. There are various styles of reflexivity in ethnographic writing and Dorinne Kondo, Renato Rosaldo, and George Marcus are three anthropologists that influenced the role of reflexivity through their ethnographies.George Marcus describes reflexivity as the self-critique, the personal quest, playing on the subjective, the experiential, and the humor of empathy (Marcus 193). In Ethnography through thick and thin, Marcus writes that the emergence of the divergent styles of reflexivity in ethnogra phic writing has come to stand for the influence of postmodernism. In brief, according to the Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology (1996), post-modernism is defined as an eclectic movement, originating in aesthetics- architecture and philosophy. Postmodernism espouses a systematic skepticism of grounded theoretical posture. It concentrates on the tensions of difference and similarity erupting from the globalization processes circulation via people, cross-cultural interaction, interaction of local and global knowledge. Postmodernism manifests historical perspective of modernism and modernity.Reflexivity emphasizes the point of theoretical and practical questioning, changing the ethnographers view of themselves and their work. There is an increased awareness of the collection of data and the limitation of methodological systems. This idea becomes inherent in the postmodernists study of the culture of the anthropologist/ethnographer. In much of his essay, Marcus shows that refl exivity is an immense area of comment and interest by questioning Is reflexivity a license or a method? Furthermore, he writes that reflexivity opens up the possibility for the so-called polyphonic text or the completely collaborative project, still more often than not, it merely reinforces the perspective and voice of the l cardinal, introspective fieldworker without challenging the paradigm of ethnographic research at all (Marcus 193).Marcus categorizes reflexivity into three move feminist, sociological, and anthropological. Although all are important in understanding Marcus work, I will discuss the anthropological reflexivity. Marcus believes that the most interesting form of self-critical reflexivity in anthropology is one that emphasizes the intertextual or diverse fields of representation that any contemporary project of ethnography enters and crosses in order to establish its accept subject and to define its own voice (Marcus 196).