European funding of culture: Promoting common culture or regional growth?

Since the late 1970s, European funding of the arts has been a feature of the mixed‐funding regime and support of a range of community arts, training, heritage and regeneration programmes in Member States. In the late 1980s, following widened membership and more direct policy engagement by the European Commission, regional development began to support increasing levels of investment in culture, notably heritage, cultural tourism and city regeneration through arts venues. Meanwhile the Commission's own culture programmes have focused on Cities of Culture, language and heritage projects.

However, the funding of culture through the various Structural Funds (although not categorised as such at either European, national and regional levels) has dwarfed that of the Culture Unit. No cultural policy or plan for this significant amount of investment in cultural facilities has been evident, and such programmes have largely bypassed national arts policy, being directed through regional and local authority economic development, tourism and regeneration departments.

Promotion of European ‘Common Culture’ was expounded in the Maastricht Treaty and, it is argued, these objectives have driven increased city‐regional autonomy. Notwithstanding difficulties in categorising grant data in cultural terms, this chapter measures the impact and distribution of such regional funding across beneficiary countries and within the eligible regions. A UK survey provides a regional breakdown of projects receiving support in the 1990s and European funding used as part of partnership funding (lottery, regeneration programmes). The chapter concludes that, while the funding of these cultural projects has been under‐estimated and ‘hidden’, its concentration in city arts and heritage venues raises questions for both European and national cultural policy: whether cultural investment has been of the right type, in the right place; or whether European common culture aspirations have ignored local and more culturally diverse opportunities. In short, whether form has followed funding.     

Biomechanical analyses of synchronised swimming standard and contra-standard sculling

Synchronised swimming involves a variety of sculling movements essential for body support and propulsion but its study is scarce. We aimed to biomechanically compare standard and contra-standard sculling techniques, and to observe the relationship between measures. Six synchronised swimmers performed two, 30 s maximal intensity, fully tethered standard and contra-standard sculling motions. Kinetic and kinematic data were obtained using a load-cell and underwater cameras, respectively. Force decreased along both techniques’ bouts, but no differences in-between techniques were noted for any kinetic variables. Standard sculling presented a higher cycle rate and a lower elbow mean angle than the contra-standard sculling (2.4 ± 0.3 vs. 2.0 ± 0.2 cycles/s and 134.1 ± 5.8 and 141.5 ± 4.7°, p < 0.05). In the standard sculling, by removing and maintaining the variation between participants (r _w and r, respectively), the absolute mean force was directly related with cycle rate (r _w  = 0.60) and wrist angular velocity during flexion (r = 0.82), while in the contra-standard condition the force was inversely associated with wrist mean angle (r = ?0.95) and directly with hand speed (r _w  = 0.76), and elbow angular velocity (r _w  ≈ 0.60). Therefore, technique learning and training require different attention by coaches and swimmers.     

Primary Teachers' thinking about the English National Curriculum for science: Autobiographies,warrants, and autonomy

Primary teachers, whether or not they have a specialized background in science, hold the key to understanding how science is presently working in primary schools. This paper examines their confidence and identity as science teachers in tandem with their views on the English National Curriculum and the warrants they give for those views. Data for this study were collected by in‐depth interviews of a small sample of primary teachers, setting their views in the context of their science‐related life histories. These are presented in three ways—by biographical sketches illuminating their self‐image as science teachers; by analysis of their views on the curriculum; and by analysis of the types of knowledge they used as warrants for their views. Analysis showed that their professional self‐image and their ‘science autobiographies’ were mutually validating. Where science teaching had become embedded into their perception of themselves as teachers, their critiques of the science curriculum and their desire for autonomy in its teaching could be shown to be consistent with their values © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 1043–1056, 2000     

Information-governing dynamics of attacker-defender interactions in youth rugby union

Previous work on dynamics of interpersonal interactions in 1 vs. 1 sub-phases of basketball has identified changes in interpersonal distance between an attacker and defender as a potential control parameter for influencing organizational states of attacker-defender dyads. Other studies have reported the constraining effect of relative velocity between an attacker and defender in 1 vs. 1 dyads. To evaluate the relationship between these candidate control parameters, we compared the impact of both interpersonal distance and relative velocity on the pattern-forming dynamics of attacker-defender dyads in the sport of rugby union. Results revealed that when interpersonal distance achieved a critical value of less than 4 m, and relative velocity values increased or were maintained above 1 m x s(-1), a successful outcome (i.e. clean attempt) for an attacker was predicted. Alternatively, when values of relative velocity suddenly decreased below this threshold, at the same critical value of interpersonal distance, a successful outcome for the defender was predicted. Data demonstrated how the coupling of these two potential, nested control parameters moved the dyadic system to phase transitions, characterized as a try or a tackle. Observations suggested that relative velocity increased its influence on the organization of attacker-defender dyads in rugby union over time as spatial proximity to the try line increased.     

Are parental concerns about children's inactivity warranted, and are they associated with a supportive home environment?

This paper explores parental concern about children's activity levels and whether parents who are concerned about their child's activity provide a supportive environment. A sample of 615 parents of 5-6-year-old children and 947 parents of 10-12-year-old children completed a questionnaire. Just over 50% of parents reported they were concerned their child was not getting enough activity. Children of concerned parents were less active than those whose parents were not concerned. These findings suggest that parents who are concerned about their child's physical activity levels provided a less supportive environment for physical activity than parents who are not concerned. The challenge for public health will be to harness parental concerns and translate them into action.     

Dog ownership, dog walking, and children's and parents' physical activity

This study aimed to determine cross-sectional associations of dog ownership, dog walking, and physical activity (PA) among children and their parents. Objective measures of PA were obtained for children ages 5-6 and 10-12 years from 19 primary schools across Melbourne, Australia. Parents self-reported their PA, dog ownership, and frequency of dog walking: 53% of families owned a dog, 41% of children who owned a dog did not walk their dog at all, and 32% reported never or rarely walking their dog as a family. Dog ownership was associated with an additional 29 min/day in PA among younger girls, and 70 and 59 min/week more in PA among mothers of younger boys and older girls, respectively. Among mothers of older girls, dog owners were 1.6 times as likely to meet PA guidelines. Mothers with older boys and girls, and fathers with younger boys, who reported walking the dog regularly as a family, spent more time in PA (105, 90, and 158 more min/week, respectively). Promoting dog ownership and dog walking among children and as a family are potential strategies for increasing PA participation in some families.