Serving neglect: Foodways in child protection cases

Abstract

This contribution analyses the problematics underlying how food related matters act as evidence of parental neglect in child protection work in Iceland. Our intention is to cast a critical light upon child protection workers’ judgments about the foodways practices of parents under investigation and what this says about the child protection system. Neglect on the basis of malnutrition is a very real and legitimate concern for child protection. However, the national level child protection guidelines in Iceland are bio-medical in nature and apply to issues such as ‘insufficient diet’ and ‘failure to thrive.’ In contract, some of the information regarding food-related practices of parents under investigation collected by the local level child protection committees appears to be grounded upon judgements informed by the cultural, class and individually-related values and biases. These judgements involve the power to transform trivial or mundane food practices into acts laden with significance. We contend that these value judgements about foodways matters can have significant implications for parents struggling to maintain the custody of their children, especially so in the case of marginalized parents who are already placed under a cloud of suspicion concerning their level of parenting competency. We conclude that there is a need for critical reflection upon how matters of food are constructed as evidence of neglect in these cases, and that a foodways approach can help to inject a needed critical perspective upon this aspect of child protection work.     

Turbulent times: tourists’ attitudes towards wind turbines in the Southern Highlands in Iceland

As a response to the threat of climate change, many nations are increasing their use of renewable energy, including wind energy. Large wind farms often conflict with other land uses, particularly tourism, which is a growing industry worldwide. In Iceland, tourism has recently become the largest export sector, with majority of tourists travelling to the country to experience its nature. This paper examines tourists’ opinions and perceptions of wind power development in the Southern Highlands of Iceland and compares how number, size and proximity of wind turbines, and the landscape in which they are situated, influence tourists’ perceptions. The study is based on an on-site questionnaire survey conducted in 2015. The results indicate that one-third of the travellers would be less likely to visit the Southern Highlands if a proposed wind farm were built, and two-thirds think that wind turbines would decrease the area’s attractiveness.     

Icelandic boom and bust: immigration and the housing market

The housing market boom in Iceland in 2004–2007 was driven by international and domestic developments. A simple demand and supply model is fitted to data through the recent boom–bust period. The price equation (demand) is improved by including net immigration as an explanatory variable showing that demographic factors, in addition to mortgage market restructuring, help in explaining swings in the housing market. Evidence of a house price bubble is no longer detected when accounting for the effects of immigration with 1 per cent net immigration yielding a 4–6 per cent rise in house prices. Accuracy in forecasting house price developments is improved by accounting for housing investment behaviour in a separate (supply) equation. The sharp fall in housing investment in 2009 cannot, however, be modelled without the introduction of a dummy variable, accounting for the sudden stop in financing as the Icelandic banking sector failed in late 2008.     

冰岛Laugaland地热田热储回灌中水化学动态特征

水化学动态观测是地热田动态监测工作中一个重要组成部分。在热储回灌过程中,通过地热田水化学动态观测,能够及时发现和预见不利问题的发生。冰岛Laugaland地热田的示踪试验分析结果表明,开采井与回灌井之间水力联系密切。根据开采井的水化学动态资料,可以发现开采井中呈现明显的回灌水与“亲水”的混合迹象。基于水化学浓度质量平衡的计算结果表明,开采井中回灌水的平均回采率约为88.5%。     

Geothermal systems in Iceland: Structure and conceptual models—II. Low-temperature areas

A review and assessment of data pertaining to the origin and nature of low-temperature geothermal activity in Iceland are presented. This activity is widely distributed in Quaternary and Tertiary formations on the American plate in western Iceland west of the active belts of volcanism and rifting but it is very sparse on the European plate east of these belts. Low-temperature systems occur in a few places within the active volcanic belts. Temperatures range from just above ambient to a little over 150°C. Generally speaking, resevoir temperatures decrease with increasing distance from the active volcanic belts. The distribution of the low-temperature areas can be correlated to a large extent with active tectonism. In Iceland the European plate is tectonically stable but in the American plate the shear stress field is complicated, leading to complex fracturing and faulting of the crust at present. No single generalized conceptual model describes the basic features of all low-temperature areas in Iceland. Low-temperature geothermal activity is considered to develop by one of the following four processes, or any combination of them: (1) deep flow of groundwater from highland to lowland areas through permeable structures driven by the hydraulic gradient; (2) convection in young fractures formed by tectonic movements in old and relatively impermeable bedrock; (3) drift of high-temperature geothermal systems out of the active volcanic belts in conjunction with their cooling and extinction of the magma heat source; and (4) magma intrusion into Quaternary or Tertiary formations adjacent to the active volcanic belts. Formation of permeable fractures by recent earth movements is probably the most common process responsible for the development of low-temperature activity through convection in these fractures. Convection in low-temperature systems with temperatures above some 60°C is probably mostly driven by pressure differences created by a relatively light hot water column within the system and a denser cold water column outside it. In systems of lower temperature the convection is driven by hydrostatic head in the recharge areas. The source of the low-temperature waters is largely meteoric. However, in some coastal areas a significant seawater-groundwater component is present, up to 10%. Waters not containing a seawater component are low in dissolved solids, or in the range 150–500 ppm. The reason is the low content of anions, particularly Cl, in the basaltic rock forming soluble salts with the major aqueous cations. Geothermal waters from the low-temperature areas in Iceland typically possess lower δD-values (more negative) than the local precipitation. This difference is variable; most often it lies in the range of 10–30% δD, but it may be as large as 70‰. This difference has been considered to indicate that the recharge areas to the low-temperature areas lie inland on higher ground, the distance being as much as 150 km. The interpretation favoured here is that at least some of the low-temperature waters contain a component of “ice-age water”, i.e. water that is older than about 10, 000 years. The “ice-age water” is depleted in deuterium relative to today's precipitation. When “ice-age water” is present in the geothermal water, deuterium cannot be used as a tracer to locate the recharge areas to the geothermal areas and in this way to deduce about regional groundwater flow.     

Organochlorine residues in two seal species from Western Iceland

Harbour seals and grey seals from Faxaflói (Western Iceland) were analyzed for contamination with organochlorines (HCB, PCBs, p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE, chlordanes and the enantiomers of α-HCH). Although the values strongly varied, both harbour seals and grey seals on average showed comparable levels of PCBs, p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE and α-HCH, as well as chlordanes (ΣCD). Differences were measured in the HCB content of the seal species. The HCB/α-HCH ratio in harbour seals was <1 and in grey seals >1. The results from seals on Iceland were compared with data derived from seal samples of the Antarctic, the Arctic (Spitzbergen) and the North Sea (Germany) in order to give an insight into the global distribution of pollution with chlorinated organics.     

Joint 1D inversion of TEM and MT data and 3D inversion of MT data in the Hengill area,SW Iceland

An extensive study of the resistivity structure of the Hengill area in SW Iceland was carried out by the combined use of TEM and MT soundings. Joint inversion of the collected data can correct for static shifts in the MT data, which can be severe due to large near-surface resistivity contrasts. Joint 1D inversion of 148 TEM/MT sounding pairs and a 3D inversion of a 60 sounding subset of the MT data were performed. The 3D inversion was based on full MT impedance tensors previously corrected for static shift. Both inversion approaches gave qualitatively similar results, and revealed a shallow resistivity layer reflecting conductive alteration minerals at temperatures of 100–240 °C. They also delineated a deep conductor at 3–10 km depth. The reason for this deep-seated high conductivity is not fully understood. The distribution of the deep conductors correlates with a positive residual Bouguer gravity anomaly, and with transform tectonics inferred from seismicity. One model of the Hengill that is consistent with the well temperature data and the deep conductor that does not attenuate S-waves, is a group of hot, solidified, but still ductile magmatic intrusions that are closely associated with the heat source for the geothermal system.     

Analysis of tracer test data, and injection-induced cooling, in the Laugaland geothermal field, N-Iceland

The Laugaland geothermal system in N-Iceland is hosted by low-permeability fractured basalt and its productivity is limited by insufficient recharge, even though substantial thermal energy is in-place in the 90–100 °C hot rocks of the system. The purpose of a 2-year reinjection experiment, completed in late 1999, was to demonstrate that some of this energy could be extracted economically through long-term reinjection. A comprehensive monitoring program was implemented as part of the project, including three detailed tracer tests. More than 1400 tracer samples were collected during the tests. Tracer return data indicate that the injected water travels through the area bedrock by two modes: first, along direct, small volume flow-paths, such as fractures or interbeds; second, by dispersion and mixing throughout a large volume of the reservoir. Based on the tracer test results, and assuming 15 l/s average future reinjection, the temperature of water produced is predicted to decline by 1–3 °C in 10 years. It can be asserted, in spite of measurement uncertainties, that the 2-year reinjection experiment did not cause a temperature decline greater than about 0.5 °C, conforming to predictions. It is estimated that future reinjection at 15 l/s will enable an increase in energy production amounting to about 24 GWh_th/year, which equals roughly of the average yearly energy production at Laugaland during the last decade. Reinjection has continued after the experiment and is already an important part of the management of the Laugaland geothermal system.     

Projectification in Western economies: A comparative study of Germany,Norway and Iceland

Projectification has become a buzzword. Although repeated claims of an increasing projectification were often supported by illustrative, case-based evidence, a systematic and complete measurement of projectification of an entire economy - including all sectors and project types - is still missing. A more precise and reliable measurement of the degree of projectification can be helpful for underlying the importance of project management both for research and practice. This paper presents the results of a comparative study in three Western economies: Germany, Norway, and Iceland. Projectification was measured as the share of project work on total work. This allows for a systematic comparison between countries and sectors. We show that although differences exist among the countries regarding their size and industry structure, the share of project work in advanced economies seems to be about one third. However, comparing the different countries demonstrates that important differences exist for individual sectors.