Activism

Researching ethnicity, racism-related stress at work, and professionals' well-being 28 February 2008 Lancaster, England, United Kingdom Website: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/event/2129/ Contact name: Dr Anu Garg Some confirmed speakers: Prof Aneez Esmail, Associate Vice-President & Professor of General Practice, Manchester University. Prof James Nazroo, Professor of Sociology, Manchester University. Dr A Garg,PDF(ESRC), Lancaster University. Organized by: Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University; and ESRC

Environmental Monitoring & OSPAR Compliance 2008 26 to 28 February 2008 Aberdeen, United Kingdom Website: http://www.iqpc.com/uk/ospar Contact name: Swaantje Buss Attending Energy IQ’s Environmental Monitoring & OSPAR Compliance 2008 will enable you to enhance your oil-in-water monitoring processes and ensure you are complying fully with the latest OSPAR regulations. Organized by: IQPC

INECE is pleased to announce that it will hold its 8th International Conference on 5-11 April 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa. INECE’s triennial international conferences bring together environmental compliance and enforcement practitioners from more than 80 countries and organizations to build partnerships for enforcement cooperation and to share a wide range of skills and experiences that improve compliance with international and domestic environmental laws. The 7th Conference (2005) provided training on INECE's principles of compliance and enforcement course and fostered the development of a new compliance and enforcement network for the Maghreb region. The Conference resulted in the Marrakech Statement and Call to Action on making law work for people, environment, and sustainable development. The 8th Conference will open with two days dedicated to local capacity building and networking events. The subsequent five days will feature action-oriented thematic workshops, distinguished keynote speakers, and networking opportunities for over 150 invited participants, and will include a day for field visits to sites of innovative environmental enforcement initiatives in South Africa. Central themes of the Conference will include "Strategic Management of Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Programs," "Detecting Noncompliance," "Transboundary Compliance," "Biodiversity and Compliance," "Climate Change and Compliance," and "Compliance Promotion and Social Aspects." INECE will be releasing a Call for Papers on these and other environmental compliance and enforcement topics in advance of the Conference. South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, which is supporting the Conference, noted that "[e]nvironmental compliance and enforcement are becoming high profile issues in South Africa in the context of high economic growth and development, ...the ongoing protection of our biodiversity and protected areas, and the required adaptation for climate change. We therefore welcome the attention that the INECE Conference will bring to environmental compliance and enforcement in South and Southern Africa." Additional information on the 8th Conference, including the Call for Papers, will be made available in the coming months. Conference participation is by invitation only; nominations will be made through the regional compliance and enforcement networks.

The aim of the roundtable is to engage with the epistemological and methodological challenges which the field currently faces and to discuss the implications of these. It is hoped that the papers will reflect the interdisciplinary nature of legal semiotics research as well as the challenges of working in the field. In this context, proposals from a wide variety of semiotic perspectives are invited. These might include but are not limited to papers on : The central debates in legal semiotics and the progress/key developments in the last decade How we acquire knowledge in the field including the role of different research ‘approaches' Method, methodology and epistemology in legal semiotics The relevant contribution of different theoretical traditions in legal semiotics New approaches to studying legal texts and legal discourse in different legal cultures The promises and limits of deconstructionism in studying the law, legal cultures The political and/or ideological uses of particular approaches in legal semiotics Young researchers working in related areas are particularly encouraged to participate. In the interest of a cohesive round table, prospective participants are requested to adhere to the theme as outlined in the call for papers.

The National Council for History Education presents its 2008 Conference: April 3 - 6 at the Louisville Marriott Downtown, Louisville, KY. Featured speakers include James McPherson (Pulitzer Prize winner and Civil War scholar) and Mary Beth Norton (Cornell University), as well as Fritz Fischer (University of Northern Colorado) and Phil Nicolosi (New Jersey). Other features include the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Memorial, Churchill Downs, The Frazier International History Museum, The Bourbon Trail, The Louisville Slugger Museum, The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and more! Endorsed by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Conference Location: Louisville, KY Conference Hotel: Louisville Marriott Downtown Conference Dates: April 3 - 6, 2008 Conference Rates: as low as $99 for members Registration: opens September 1 on-line

This conference has a twofold purpose a learning opportunity and an invitation to join a network. It presents an opportunity for top level school leaders from all over the world to meet in Stockholm, Sweden and learn more about global trends and changes in school policy and education worldwide as well as focusing on local experiences and conclusions for school improvement. The conference offers the unique possibility for school leaders to reflect on their role as leaders between political demands and pedagogical practice. Together, we will raise important and urgent questions about changes in education, how to prepare our young for global and local challenges. In keynote speeches and in seminars we will take part of the latest and most important knowledge about the difficult role of leading a process of change in education. This is an opportunity to share experience and learn from colleagues around the world and to create a network for future sharing. The conference 2008 is the first event out of three. The next occasion will be 2010 and the last in 2012. In between there will be networking activities. The conference in 2008 will bring together top level school leaders, scholars, educators to exchange experiences on: national school systems in a global context leadership in a world of change chart for the challenges of globalisation quality assessment as a tool for change cultural encounters We are pleased to invite you to this summit which will be the starting point of a global network of top level school leaders school superintendents, school district leaders. The conference is organised by the City of Stockholm, the Swedish National Agency for School Improvement, The Swedish Association of School Superintendents and the International School Connection. NEWS

In Africa, as you know, “Peace-building” efforts include a range of challenges such as, assisting with elections, setting up a legal system, disarmament of former soldiers, reforming police and military forces and other efforts. The main point is to, through conflict resolution, support the country’s reconstruction and prevent it from falling back into violence. This seems easy enough but, when you take into account the logistical nightmares that these tasks involve it becomes awfully overwhelming. Without the most up-to-date knowledge and information about lessons learned and successes achieved without which this becomes almost impossible. To ensure that you are not caught in the dark – attend the 3rd Annual Peacekeeping Africa – 2008. The event now offers more case studies, international participation, panel discussions and networking opportunities. With more than 200 delegates, Peacekeeping Africa also includes specialised streams – allowing you to select the session with the correct level of maturity for you – building on 2007’s event. This event will enable increased peace building capacity in Africa by bringing together various military experts, think tanks, humanitarians, policymakers and other professionals. At Peacekeeping Africa we have recruited those that are the leaders in peacekeeping, reconstruction and rehabilitation from all over Africa addressing the subjects that you need to know more about. This year’s programme will focus upon: • Evaluating the current state of peacekeeping, security and terrorism in Africa • Maintaining the balance between ordinary policing and conventional warfare when conducting operations of counter insurgency • Lessons learnt during peacekeeping operations in Africa • Establishing the role of non-government organisations in peacekeeping operations in Africa • Implementing successful post conflict rehabilitation strategies • Managing your peacekeeping operations through effective project management and logistics planning • Overcoming challenges of interoperability Last year Peacekeeping Africa delivered essential information to over 120 professionals. Take a look at www.peacekeepingafrica.com to see a summary of the event in 2007 and reports from all of the key-note presentations.

If cinema was instrumental to nation building processes during the twentieth century, it has been equally central to their challenging, interrogation and sometimes reaffirmation in the twenty-first. This is especially true for Asian and Latin American cinemas, as present conditions variously described as ‘globalisation’ or ‘flexible accumulation’ have wrought tremendous social change, both rising standards of living and increasing inequality; allowing for reverse cultural flows and also exposing the mediascapes of countries in these two regions to unprecedented contact with ‘the West’; reducing their film production while also increasing availability of films made there. We invite papers addressing the relationship between these cinemas and (post)national identity, cinema and modernity/postmodernity, exilic cinema, diasporic and border filmmaking, the effects of digital technology on filmmaking and viewing in Asia and Latin America and, more generally, on the impact of globalisation on film industries in these two regions. Additional Information The following topics would be especially welcome: * Contemporary issues of audience reception * The role of co-productions * Cross-fertilisation of genre across Asian/Latin American Cinemas * The role of festivals in the construction and promotion of Asian and Latin American transnational cinemas * Diasporic cinema * Asian and Latin American directors and contemporary auteur theory * The Cultural construction of Stars and Fandom in Internet communities * Alternative versions of modernity in Asian and Latin American cinema

Day One – Wednesday 30th January Workforce Planning for the Future NHS Faced with the entwined challenges of an ageing NHS workforce, increased population demands on services, DH national reform programmes and regulation changes, planning the NHS workforce for now and into the future is no easy task. In a commercial NHS it has never been more important to take a strategic approach to HR. Drawing on pioneering case studies from across the NHS and beyond, day one will focus on the implications of an EU workforce, how to improve recruitment, succession planning and skills development, as well as realising the benefits of Agenda for Change. Day Two – Thursday 31st January People Management & Development for Productivity With the devolvement of power to front-line managers, HR takes a new stance in the NHS. Coupled with the pressure to achieve productivity and efficiency, managing for high-performance is critical. Day two will take a more practical approach to help managers and HR professionals alike embed world-class standards in the development and management of their staff. As well as exploring skill-mix, training and professional regulation, this day will also provide HR best-practice to help manage absenteeism and stress, and to embed appraisals and team working into the very heart of the NHS. For all other information please visit www.hsj-workforce.co.uk

Small animal continuing education: this new veterinary conference brings european specialists to asia to present current therapeutics and diagnostics. The conference will be in Bangkok, Thailand. Congress langauges are english and german