Here in Liverpool we are about to start our 2008 Year as European Capital of Culture. But apparently the connection between this year-long Capital of Culture event and hard European cash has yet to dawn on some local businesses. This is serious. Who's failed to get the message over? And will things improve? ...
Recent figures confirm that girls are doing better at school (and university) than boys. Single-sex classes within co-ed schools are not however generally seen as a way to resolve this inequality. But how much do we know about the longer-term impact on men and women of single-sex or mixed gender teaching? ...
![MondayWomen{small].jpg](http://www.hilaryburrage.com/MondayWomen%7Bsmall%5D.jpg)
Monday Women is a no-cost group, open to all, which meets and has an e-group. With affliliation of hundreds, it welcomes discussion and activities around topics of interest to women from all walks of life. After four years, the meetings are re-locating. ...
Christmas is a time for giving. But what, and to whom? Many would like Christmas to be less commercial, whilst helping those not as fortunate as themselves. Doing this in a way which shows fondness for family, friends and colleagues but also benefits others can sometimes be a difficult balance to achieve. ...
The benefits of modern democracy which we in the U.K. enjoy are diminished by the media when they invite us to confuse the real thing with synthetic 'political entertainment' concocted by those who then 'report' it. At a time when cyncism about politics is rife, people need to know about the realities of political involvement, so they can make informed judgements about whom they wish to support. ...
Motives for dialogue between people of hugely different perspectives may be complex, but the need maintain communication is reiterated across at least modern history. Politicians as disparate as Winston Churchill, Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton have all maintained this view at various times. ...
Critics of Sure Start, the U.K. government's early years programme, have been vocal of late. Yes, there is evidence that benefit has not always as yet reached those small children and families who need it most. But this is work in progress, and it must be continued. ...
Cities like Liverpool still seem to have a problem about 'strong women'. On-going changes of civic leadership in the city offer an opportunity for the chaps to disprove suspicions that they continue to hold this antiquated attitude across all spheres of influence. Institutional sexism has no place in an adult and forward-looking city. ...
Liverpool's physical location and economic situation make it difficult for some local people to know much about what's happening elsewhere. This is turn results in difficulties in determining locally which new ideas for the city are good, and which less so. The proposed 'How Do They Do It?' programme could help here... but only if those who are able to do so actively support the idea. ...
Human geographers have offered many insights into equality and the effects of socio-economic policy in recent years, but social processes require a different research perspective to understand fully what is happening. In the 1950s and 60s sociologists such as Willmott and Young told us about the dynamics of communities, for instance, in the East End of London; and this perspective is now beginning once more to illuminate these changes and their challenges. There is nonetheless still little general understanding of how difficult it is to 'get things right' in such complex settings. ...
There is a nostalgia in the cultural calendar at present. Memories of the 50s and 60s are to be found in both drama (The Liverpool Playhouse) and museums (the national Theatre Museum). Interesting to look at, without doubt. But perhaps much less fun to have had to live in. ...
School trips to look at local ecology seem to be very successful in encouraging children to appreciate their environment. If this works for local eco-issues, surely it can work also for wider social ones? The 'How Do They Do It?' scheme has been very slow to get off the ground, but perhaps its time has some. Who will help to make it happen? ...
The strongly held views on Liverpool's World Heritage Site and the Museum of Liverpool proposals have something to tell us about how we sometimes need to look beyond our own patch, to see what could or should be done. Perhaps 'cultural exchange' programmes within our own shores might be a start, so helping citizens to know each other's towns and cities across the nation? ...
Perhaps I'm being hopelessly optimistic in my reading of the scientific facts, but here's a New Year Resolution I'm sure we'd all actually enjoy sticking to.. ...if only we had the time... ...
Kids' play is in one way serious stuff, but that's no reason why fun shouldn't also be far less than serious for them and for the grown-ups too. Here are some ideas to try which came from a survey of children earlier in the year, plus a few suggestions for the adults as well... Go for it, and enjoy! ...
Christmas round robin letters evoke strong views; but they're an excellent way to keep in touch, even if they often do 'accentuate the positive'. We're no longer in communities where we can just pop down the road to share our news. ...
Is 'high culture' in reality only for 'tourists' in a city like Liverpool? Have civic leaders confused seeking excellence with its occasional and much less desirable adjunct, exculsivity? If the city is serious about opportunities to support the personal development of its citizens and the economic health of its communities, 'high' arts and culture surely have to integral to the experience of the many, not just of the few. ...
There is, despite modern technology and communications, a huge divide in understandings between rural and urban communities. Those in isolated locations are in some ways particularly vulnerable, as their young people leave and they resist change. Perhaps in this they have more in common with inner-city living than they appreciate, but the real risk is that these isolated communities may simply disappear. ...
The idea of 'joined up' services and support for babies and young children and their carers is excellent. The delivery is of course more complex. Sure Start may not as yet be a complete or fully accessed programme, but it is already showing us ways forward which hold promise for the future. ...
Choosing if and when to have a baby has never been an easy decision, especially if both partners want to continue in employment. But the debate has shifted quite a lot in the past few years, and perhaps now a deeper understanding is emerging of what 'work-life balance' is really about. ...
Tony Blair has been unwavering in his determination to tackle low horizons head on. This challenge lies at the bottom of all his thinking on schools and how to improve them. But maybe the voluntary, faith and business groups the Prime Minister so wants to see become involved in schools should ask themselves first what they could do to raise ambition and opportunities for the wider families of the children who most need support. ...
The English language is surprisingly unhelpful when we consider the different ways in which enterprising people take on social and private businesses. Why is there no noun, other than 'entrepreneur', which reflects the variations between different ways of going about one's 'business'? And does this indefinite mode of 'naming' influence the way that some folk approach the business world? ...
Merseyside's economy is often criticised for being too public-sector driven. And now the critque has extended to some sharp observations about the type of businesses which are here, as well as just how few of them there are. Maybe a bit of 'experience swap' would help us to get a wider picture? ...
Young professionals have always wanted spread their wings. But why are some workers outside London more willing to up roots to Australia, than they are even to try life in their own U.K. metropolis - or, come to that, in Cornwall if they want surfing and sun or in the Higlands if they want space? The distant unknown, it seems, is a more attractive dream for the future than the anything closer to home. ...
Hedges are protective, productive and permeable. They offer haven but also permit the flow of light and air. They respond to change by organic adjustment and they can sustain themselves. They are a metaphor for healthy boundaries, rural or urban, able to adjust and yet still retain integrity. ...
There are housing estates designed in such a way that it's almost to find a route in and out of them without a car. Many people on the edge of urban areas live in such places, cut off from others, in their own constrained 'comfort' zones. Whatever were the planners thinking of? And what can be done now to raise horizons and expectations? ...
Different communities and groups frequently have different understandings of why 'change' occurs and how 'progress' is achieved. Leadership and initiatives in such circumstances can be very challenging. Nobody's interested in Policy Pilots. They want Results. ...
People 'in the community' often seem to have a problem with proposals for iconic cultural buildings. Could this be because they only become involved ('consulted') after, rather than before, ideas of this sort have been floated? Would things be different if Artists in Residence were truly just that? And would this help 'capacity building' for the arts, as well as physical regeneration? ...
When and how does a Big Town become a City? And, just as importantly, how does a Great City ensure it will never seem to be just a Very Big Town? What part does cultural leadership and vision play in this transition? We take a look at Liverpool... ...
Everyone has Comfort Zones. But when do they help us and when do they hold us back? ...
What are the relationships between science, technology and 'modern society'? How are these interactions determined? And what is 'progress'?...
Website designed, built and hosted by
