Chapter Highlights

 1. The rapid urbanization associated with the Anthropocene provides an imperative for humans to think differently about the future.

 2. The “seeds” approach describes how niche experiments can, over time, coalesce to shift the dominant regime onto a more sustainable trajectory.

 3. To achieve positive urban futures, it is vital to ensure that more positive narratives inform our lived experience so that, as humans, we are able to act differently in the face of seemingly overwhelming challenges.

 4. Novel scenarios can be developed by imagining futures in which seemingly disparate ideas must coexist; fostering this creativity is important if we are to create positive visions of futures that we would like to achieve.

 5. Urban transformations are complex phenomena; the seeds approach is a tool that can help us understand how transformations occur and how to nudge them towards more sustainable trajectories.

/pdf/seeds-of-the-future-in-the-present-exploring-pathways-for-344bp3hjdn.pdf

Seeds of the Future in the Present: Exploring Pathways for Navigating Towards “Good” Anthropocenes

Global Urbanization: Perspectives and Trends

Parnell, S., Elmqvist, T., McPhearson, T., Nagendra, H., Sörlin, S. (2018) Introduction: Situating knowledge and action for an urban planet In: Thomas Elmqvist, Xuemei Bai, Niki Frantzeskaki, Corrie Griffith, David Maddox, Timon McPhearson, Susan Parnell, Debra Roberts, Patricia Romero-Lankao, David Simon, and Mark Watkins (ed.), Urban Planet : Knowledge Towards Sustainable Cities (pp. 1-16). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316647554.002

/pdf/situating-knowledge-and-action-for-an-urban-planet-55cmcxu0fg.pdf

Situating Knowledge and Action for an Urban Planet

Informal settlements or slums dominate the urban landscape and in 2016 were the home to almost 900 million people Global health is now slum health The determinants of health for slum dwellers are multi-factorial and can vary from country to country and even within the same city This chapter reviews the definitions of informal settlements or slums and highlights the key drivers of health, disease and well-being in urban informal settlements, including: spatial segregation, insecure residential status, poverty and employment, housing structural quality, water and sanitation, energy, transport, violence, climate change and services We highlight the evidence supporting the links between these key factors and infectious and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) The chapter also links the health issues facing informal settlements with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The chapter concludes with a discussion of how slum upgrading—a community-based process that aims to improve built and social environments, as well as economic and social conditions in slums—can be a key approach for improving the health of those living in informal settlements We suggest that multiple features of the upgrading process, including community engagement, women’s empowerment, shelter and infrastructure improvements, tenure security, political recognition, and enhanced social and health care services, can combine to reduce the disease burden and premature mortality so frequently experienced by those living in informal settlements

Informal Settlements and Human Health

The UN, the Urban Sustainable Development Goal, and the New Urban Agenda

Leading up to the Kenyan presidential elections of 2013, observers around the world were preoccupied by the potential for mass violence similar to that which erupted following the 2007 presidential election. Yet, the 2013 elections were largely unmarred by violence. A notable characteristic of the Kenyan 2013 elections was the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in various public and private efforts to address the threat of violence related to the elections. In our exploration of how ICT contributed to the mitigation of election-related violence in the 2013 Kenyan elections, we find useful the models of violence as contagion and collective efficacy as essential for violence prevention.

The Role of Information and Communication Technology in Preventing Election-Related Violence in Kenya, 2013

OBJECTIVES
This systematic literature review aimed to critically appraise empirical evidence investigating palliative care (PC) nurses' experiences of stress, anxiety, and burnout.


METHODS
Six databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, PubMed, and Web of Science) covering literature within psychology, medicine and healthcare, and social sciences were searched from inception until December 2020. Studies were eligible if they included qualitative literature reporting on experiences of nurses working in a PC setting of stress, anxiety, or burnout, and were published in English. Eighteen studies satisfied the review's inclusion criteria and were considered relevant to the review aims. Critical appraisal was undertaken using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Qualitative Checklist.


RESULTS
Thematic synthesis identified three main themes: When work becomes personal, The burden on mind and body, and Finding meaning and connection. The findings suggested that stress, anxiety, and burnout are deeply personal feelings experienced by nurses both on an emotional and physical level. Additionally, PC nurses' experiences can differ in meaning and strength depending on their relationships with patients, patients' families, and colleagues.


SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESULTS
The synthesis highlighted that PC nurses' experiences are complex, encompassing clinical and organizational challenges, and the personal impact their work has on them. Having a greater understanding of the factors that contribute to PC nurses' experiences may help in PC nurses' core training and continuing professional education, as well as the provision of effective supervision and staff support.

Palliative care nurses' experiences of stress, anxiety, and burnout: A thematic synthesis.

The character of large-scale deadly violence around the world is changing. Since World War II, wars between nation states have declined in both number and deadliness. And while it is commonly perceived that wars within states have risen in place of wars among them, intrastate wars have also declined since the end of the Cold War. Nevertheless, as interstate and intrastate wars decline, large-scale violence is increasing in a different form—endemic and oftentimes warlike civic violence or reactive and recurrent violent expressions of grievances among citizens, individuals, and groups that can range from spontaneous protests to gang warfare to even intentional mass violence by the state against its citizenry. Importantly, such violence is largely particular to rapidly growing cities in the developing world, leading to observations that “urban zones are fast-becoming new territories of conflict and violence.” In addition, the development of military and humanitarian doctrine is beginning to reflect a more primary concern with the violent city. With this type of endemic and increasingly large-scale urban civic violence representing one of the growing threats to human security around the world, it is critical to outline a research agenda for identifying effective approaches for addressing this threat.

Malcolm Clayton

Papers

The Role of Information and Communication Technology in Preventing Election-Related Violence in Kenya, 2013

Palliative care nurses' experiences of stress, anxiety, and burnout: A thematic synthesis.

Securing Cities: Innovations for the Prevention of Civic Violence