#Importance of Goal 15 for sustainable development

[greenthestral]

Preserving Life on Land: Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15

Goal 15 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is focused on ensuring life on land, recognizing the importance of preserving and restoring ecosystems, promoting sustainable land management, and halting biodiversity loss. With the global population steadily increasing and human activities placing unprecedented pressures on terrestrial ecosystems, achieving Goal 15 is crucial for the well-being of both present and future generations. This article delves into the significance of Goal 15 and highlights key strategies and actions needed to protect and restore life on land.

The Importance of Goal 15 for a Sustainable Future

Goal 15, "Life on Land," holds immense significance as a fundamental pillar for sustainable development. Terrestrial ecosystems encompass a wide array of habitats, including forests, grasslands, wetlands, and deserts, each playing a vital role in supporting life on Earth. These ecosystems provide essential services that are critical for human well-being and the overall health of our planet.

One of the primary services provided by terrestrial ecosystems is the regulation of essential resources such as clean air, water, and soil fertility. Forests, for instance, act as "green lungs" by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, contributing to the purification of the air we breathe. They also act as natural filters, regulating water quality by capturing and filtering rainfall, replenishing groundwater reserves, and preventing soil erosion. Furthermore, healthy soils support agricultural productivity, ensuring food security for communities around the world.

Beyond the provision of essential resources, terrestrial ecosystems also support biodiversity and cultural diversity. They serve as habitats for countless species, many of which are yet to be discovered or understood fully. Biodiversity is crucial for maintaining the resilience and adaptability of ecosystems, as each species plays a unique role in the intricate web of life. Moreover, diverse ecosystems offer valuable opportunities for recreation, tourism, and cultural practices, enriching our lives and connecting us to our natural heritage.

Unfortunately, unsustainable land use practices pose significant threats to terrestrial ecosystems. Deforestation, driven primarily by agricultural expansion, logging, and infrastructure development, leads to habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. As forests are cleared, countless species lose their homes, pushing them closer to extinction. Moreover, the destruction of forests and other ecosystems disrupts the delicate balance of ecological processes, such as nutrient cycling, pollination, and seed dispersal, which are essential for the survival of ecosystems and the species they support.

Climate change further exacerbates the challenges faced by terrestrial ecosystems. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events pose significant risks to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Many species are struggling to adapt to these rapid changes, leading to population declines and local extinctions. The impacts of climate change also contribute to land degradation and desertification, further compromising the productivity and resilience of terrestrial ecosystems.

By achieving Goal 15, we can address these pressing issues and protect the invaluable services provided by terrestrial ecosystems. Safeguarding biodiversity is crucial for maintaining the functionality and resilience of ecosystems. Preserving intact forests, restoring degraded habitats, and establishing protected areas are essential steps towards achieving this goal. These actions not only offer refuge to endangered species but also contribute to the preservation of genetic diversity and the restoration of ecological balance.

Moreover, achieving Goal 15 contributes to poverty eradication and the promotion of sustainable agriculture. Many communities around the world depend on healthy terrestrial ecosystems for their livelihoods, relying on agriculture, forestry, and other natural resources for income and sustenance. Sustainable land management practices, such as agroforestry, organic farming, and regenerative agriculture, can enhance productivity while minimizing the environmental footprint. By prioritizing sustainable agriculture and providing support to local communities, Goal 15 can foster economic resilience and ensure the well-being of both people and the planet.

Furthermore, achieving Goal 15 is crucial for the resilience of communities and economies that rely on healthy terrestrial ecosystems. Ecosystem services, such as water regulation, flood control, and climate regulation, are essential for reducing the vulnerability of communities to natural disasters and climate change impacts. By maintaining intact ecosystems, we enhance the capacity of landscapes to withstand and recover from environmental shocks, ensuring the long-term well-being and stability of communities.

Goal 15: Life on Land is a vital component of the Sustainable Development Goals, addressing the urgent need to protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems. By safeguarding biodiversity, preserving essential ecological functions, and mitigating the impacts of unsustainable land use practices and climate change, we can maintain the delicate interconnectedness between all forms of life on Earth. Achieving Goal 15 not only contributes to the preservation of our planet's natural heritage but also promotes poverty eradication, sustainable agriculture, and the resilience of communities and economies. It is an imperative task that requires collective efforts and the integration of sustainable practices into our daily lives and policy decisions. Only through our commitment to Goal 15 can we secure a sustainable future where life on land thrives for generations to come.

Preserving Biodiversity and Halting Deforestation

Biodiversity is the foundation of life on land, and protecting it is crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems. One key aspect of Goal 15 is halting deforestation and restoring degraded forests. Deforestation not only contributes to greenhouse gas emissions but also disrupts ecosystems, displaces indigenous communities, and threatens the habitat of countless species. Governments, organizations, and individuals must collaborate to implement sustainable land-use practices, promote reforestation initiatives, and strengthen protected areas to conserve and restore forests.

Additionally, preserving biodiversity extends beyond forests. It involves protecting endangered species, conserving habitats such as wetlands and grasslands, and curbing the illegal wildlife trade. Ensuring the effective management of protected areas and promoting sustainable use of natural resources are vital components in achieving this goal.

Promoting Sustainable Land Management and Combating Desertification

Sustainable land management is essential for ensuring the productivity and resilience of terrestrial ecosystems. Degraded lands, soil erosion, and desertification pose significant challenges to achieving Goal 15. Land degradation not only affects agricultural productivity but also exacerbates climate change impacts, water scarcity, and food insecurity.

To combat these issues, sustainable land management practices such as agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and integrated watershed management must be adopted. These practices help restore soil fertility, reduce erosion, and enhance water retention capacity. Furthermore, promoting sustainable land management techniques can create employment opportunities, improve food security, and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Addressing Climate Change and its Impact on Terrestrial Ecosystems

Climate change poses a severe threat to life on land. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events can disrupt ecosystems, exacerbate desertification, and increase the vulnerability of species and communities. To achieve Goal 15, it is crucial to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through renewable energy adoption, transitioning to sustainable agricultural practices, and promoting afforestation and reforestation efforts are vital steps in combating climate change. Additionally, enhancing the resilience of ecosystems and communities through nature-based solutions, such as the restoration of mangroves and wetlands, can provide multiple benefits, including coastal protection, carbon sequestration, and the preservation of biodiversity.

Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

Consumer choices and production practices significantly impact terrestrial ecosystems. Unsustainable consumption, overexploitation of natural resources, and pollution contribute to land degradation and biodiversity loss. Achieving Goal 15 requires transitioning towards sustainable consumption and production patterns.

This can be accomplished through various means, such as promoting circular economy principles, reducing waste generation, adopting sustainable agricultural practices, and embracing eco-friendly technologies. Additionally, raising awareness among individuals and businesses about the environmental impacts of their choices and encouraging sustainable alternatives can drive positive change.

Conclusion

Goal 15: Life on Land is a critical component of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, aiming to preserve and restore terrestrial ecosystems, protect biodiversity, and combat land degradation. By halting deforestation, promoting sustainable land management, addressing climate change impacts, and embracing sustainable consumption and production patterns, we can ensure the long-term viability of life on land. Achieving Goal 15 not only benefits the environment but also enhances human well-being, promotes socio-economic development, and contributes to the overall sustainability of our planet. It is our collective responsibility to work towards a future where life on land thrives, and every individual can play a part in realizing this goal.

[zeldahime]

Zelda Liveblogs a Lancet Paper

Following this post, I am now going to liveblog reading the Lancet paper cited by the Economist article to predict worldwide fertility to drop by 3/4s of its current position if current demographic trends continue. It is an Open Access article, so the entire thing is open for anyone on the internet to read.

Citation:

GBD 2021 Fertility and Forecasting Collaborators (March 20, 2024). Global fertility in 204 countries and territories, 1950–2021, with forecasts to 2100: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet, 403(10440), 2057-2099. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00550-6.

I refuse to use Chicago style. This is mostly because I memorized APA and don't want to learn a new one.

First, my background: I am not a demographer; I am not trained as a demographer; I have studied it auxiliarily to my other academic pursuits. I fall in a sort of educated in-between. I am currently a Master's student in library and information sciences, and my undergraduate degree was in political science, both at USAmerican universities. However, the field of economics is also very close to my heart, and I would have double-majored in it if the opportunity and financial costs had not been too high to justify it. During the five years I was a college drop-out, I studied economics independently, reading broadly within the field and taking non-certificate courses online. I've been taking non-certificate courses in economics through correspondence or online since I was about nine. I'm not an expert! I do, however, think I'm a fairly well-informed amateur.

And a note on language. This paper refers to birthing parents as mothers and to the demographic that gives birth interchangeably as female and women. I acknowledge that this is a cissexist patriarchical viewpoint that erases transmen, nonbinary and intersex people, and probably others I'm not thinking of. For consistency between my reflections and the paper and ease of reading, I will do the same. I'm conscious I'm part of the problem here, but don't see a way around it without making my bits harder to understand than they have to be.

With that out of the way, here we go:

Methodology (Summary)

This is where me not being a demographer is an important thing to know. I neither know nor normally care about the statistical methods used to determine demography, just that the demographers aren't retracting papers over it. However, I do know that in general the CCF50 (total cohort fertility before the age of 50) is a neater and more accurate measurement to build projections on than the TFR (total fertility rate by year) and that's the methodology the paper's authors went with. This is good and promising. TFR for known years and CCF50 projections sounds like a solid method. 👍

We additionally produced forecasts for multiple alternative scenarios in each location: the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for education is achieved by 2030; the contraceptive met need SDG is achieved by 2030; pro-natal policies are enacted to create supportive environments for those who give birth; and the previous three scenarios combined.

I'm very hopeful about these forecasts! They'll show a few different hopeful scenarios.

To evaluate the forecasting performance of our model and others, we computed skill values—a metric assessing gain in forecasting accuracy—by comparing predicted versus observed ASFRs from the past 15 years (2007–21). A positive skill metric indicates that the model being evaluated performs better than the baseline model (here, a simplified model holding 2007 values constant in the future), and a negative metric indicates that the evaluated model performs worse than baseline.

This is a very responsible thing for the authors to have done, and I am interested to see how this is reflected in the models.

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Findings (Summary)

During the period from 1950 to 2021, global TFR more than halved, from 4·84 (95% UI 4·63–5·06) to 2·23 (2·09–2·38). Global annual livebirths peaked in 2016 at 142 million (95% UI 137–147), declining to 129 million (121–138) in 2021. Fertility rates declined in all countries and territories since 1950,

(Emphasis mine. The numbers in parentheses are the confidence interval.) I think this is the most important takeaway from the whole damn paper. Makes sense, since it's the first line of the findings. If you read nothing else, read these three sentences. Global birthrates are barely above replacement (which, if you recall from my other essay, is generally considered to be ~2.1). To me, this implies lot of problems that traditionally have been considered solvable with population redistribution (meaning, mostly, immigration) may not be solvable that way even if fertility were to stop declining today and hold constant for the rest of the century.

Future fertility rates were projected to continue to decline worldwide, reaching a global TFR of 1·83 (1·59–2·08) in 2050 and 1·59 (1·25–1·96) in 2100 under the reference scenario. The number of countries and territories with fertility rates remaining above replacement was forecast to be 49 (24·0%) in 2050 and only six (2·9%) in 2100, with three of these six countries included in the 2021 World Bank-defined low-income group, all located in the GBD super-region of sub-Saharan Africa.

Holy shit. I cannot emphasize enough how low a TFR of 1.59 is. This is approximately the current TFR of the United Kingdom, and they're beginning to freak out even though they have relatively easy sources of additional replacement recruitment through the Commonwealth. Imagine that for the whole Earth. With only six countries as a potential source of surplus population to be redistributed.

Funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Makes sense. This is the kind of thing that foundation funds.

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Introduction

Low levels of fertility have the potential over time to result in inverted population pyramids with growing numbers of older people and declining working-age populations. These changes are likely to place increasing burdens on health care and social systems, transform labour and consumer markets, and alter patterns of resource use.

Oh man, I wish I'd gone through this paper earlier, I could have just quoted this bit and been done instead of trying to explain it from scratch! 😂

The UN Population Division estimates of past fertility are not compliant with the Guidelines on Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting (GATHER) statement in important respects; notably, they do not provide all code for statistical models or explicit details on criteria for exclusion or adjustment of primary data sources. Furthermore, the validity of UN Population Division projections has been questioned due to the assumptions applied in countries experiencing low post-transition fertility dropping below replacement level.

YES GO OFF 👏 The UN Population Division is so much more cagey about their data than the World Bank, it's so annoying, and they keep predicting increases that don't happen. I thought it was so weird as an undergrad but figured it was because of ~bureaucracy~ or privacy laws or whatever. It's nice to be vindicated [redacted] years later.

Our forecasts also suggest that, by 2100, the largest concentrations of livebirths will shift to low-income settings, particularly a subset of countries and territories in sub-Saharan Africa, which are among the most vulnerable to economic and environmental challenges. Extreme shifts in the global distribution of livebirths can be partially ameliorated by improved female education and met need for modern contraception. Outside of this subset of low-income areas, most of the world's countries will experience the repercussions of low fertility, with ageing populations, declining workforces, and inverted population pyramids, which are likely to lead to profound fiscal, economic, and social consequences. National policy makers and the global health community must plan to address these divided sets of demographic challenges emerging worldwide.

This is such an important point for them to make. Demography isn't a vacuum; it has significant real-world effects. By 2100, most babies born will be born in Africa, and we need to plan for that now. By 2100, most countries will not have enough workers, and we need to plan for that now. 2100 is not that far into the future. I, personally, will live to see the beginnings of the effects of this demographic shift, and I'm an adult who pays taxes and has a college degree and shit.

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The Data Sources and Processing section is pretty standard and unremarkable. Good job.

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Fertility Forecasting

We produced forecasts of fertility using an updated modelling framework (appendix 1 section 3) that improved on the methods in the 2020 study by Vollset and colleagues. In our updated methods, we used not only estimates of female educational attainment and contraceptive met need as covariates, but also estimates of under-5 mortality and population density in habitable areas to account for a larger variation in CCF50 across all countries in the sub-models (appendix 1 section 3.1, appendix 2 figure S2). Similar to Vollset and colleagues, we continued to forecast fertility with CCF50 rather than TFR, because modelling in cohort space is more stable than in period space.

Niiiiice. Covariates are things that, well, vary, alongside the thing you're trying to measure. For fertility, the most obvious one might be age of the mother at first birth; if someone is 16 at first birth, she probably will have more kids than someone who is 30 at first birth, for example. This model also includes how much schooling the mother gets, whether she has contraception, the mortality rate (that is, how many of them die) of children under five, and population density! That's a lot of statistical crunching and their model will be more precise for it. Precise isn't the same as accurate, but I think that with the variables they selected, they will travel in the same direction.

What a pretty equation. I don't understand it, but it's got a certain je ne sais quois.

For the education SDG scenario, the forecasts assume that by 2030, all people will have 12 years or more of education by the age of 25 years and then maintains the same rate of change as the reference scenario up to 2100. For the contraceptive met need scenario, to reflect the SDG scenario of universal access, the forecasts assumed a linear increase in contraceptive coverage to reach 100% by 2030 and then stay constant up to 2100.

I love how optimistic these scenarios are 😂 This truly is the best-case scenario for both the education forecast and the contraceptive forecast! I do hope everybody has 12+ years of education and 100% contraceptive coverage by 2030. Make it happen, António!!!!

(Joke explained: António Guterres is the current Secretary-General of the United Nations, and these goals are absolutely not going to be met by 2030.)

In the pro-natal scenario, we assumed a country will introduce pro-natal policies, such as childcare subsidies, extended parental leave, insurance coverage expansion for infertility treatment, 33 and other forms of support for parents to afford high-quality child-care services, once TFR decreases to less than 1·75. We then made three assumptions on the effects of such policies. First, we assumed the full effect of pro-natal policies will be to increase TFR by 0·2. Second, it will take 5 years after the policy is introduced for the full increase in TFR to occur, and TFR will rise linearly over that time span. Last, we assumed that both the policies and the increase in TFR by 0·2 will endure for the remainder of the century.

The pro-natal scenario is also incredibly optimistic. This kind of response simply hasn't happened in any country that's tried pro-natal policies as envisioned by the authors (my reference cases, just off the top of my head: Japan and France).

The optimism makes sense. They represent extreme cases, in order to contrast possible outcomes versus the reference case. This is good practice! It's just also funny.

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Results

The Reference Case

I hate the embedded tables. They have the confidence interval in the same cell as the estimate. How very dare they, that's incredibly inconvenient for me personally.

The chart in Figure 1, however, I think speaks volumes:

It speaks so many volumes that I'm gonna go up and put it above the cut, brb. This chart shows the reference case; that is, it shows the fertility rate if the fertility trends of 1950-2021 continue into the future.

At the national level, estimates of TFR in 2021 ranged from 0·82 (95% UI 0·75–0·89) in South Korea to 6·99 (6·75–7·24) in Chad, with below-replacement levels of fertility (TFR <2·1) in 110 of 204 countries and territories (table 1, figures 2A, 3).

I think this range is neat and goes to show that while the trend is world-wide, it's still not even. Chadian women still give birth to about 7ish kids on average. That's more than 3x replacement, and more than 8.5x the average fertility of South Korea. South Korea is going to have different problems than Chad; Chad probably doesn't have to worry as much about their workforce being unable to sustain a large elderly population. (Don't look so cheerful about it. They've got lots of other stuff to worry about. 😬)

These charts are fascinating to look at to me. I think this really showcases just how dramatic the projected decline is. It's not just the Europe, it's not just wealthy post-industrialized countries, but everywhere. It's in Eswanti, it's in Indonesia, it's in Burkina Faso, it's in China. It really shows just how much Chad is an outlier (adn should still be counted, btw, just because it's an outlier doesn't mean we should discard it; it's dependent on study structure and you can't just throw out entire countries because they have high birth rates on a study of birth rates).

Our estimates indicate that there is approximately a 30-year gap between the time when TFR falls below 2·1 and when the natural rate of population increase turns negative. We forecast that 155 (76·0%) countries and territories will have fertility rates below replacement level in 2050; by 2100, we project this number will increase to 198 (97·1%), with 178 (87·3%) having a negative natural rate of increase (figure 3).

A 30-year gap sounds reasonable. That's about how long it takes for people to have/not have kids, and for their own parents to potentially die, in about equalish numbers (on a global scale, anyway). I do think this gap number is likely to increase as healthcare improves in places that are worse today and as fertility technology increases the age at which people can become pregnant, but 30 is a perfectly respectable number with actual statistical backing.

Alternative scenario fertility forecasts

This is the part I'm really excited about!!!

The first scenario, which assumes meeting the SDG education target by 2030, is estimated to result in global TFRs of 1·65 (95% UI 1·40–1·92) in 2050 and 1·56 (1·26–1·92) in 2100 (table 2). The second scenario, which assumes meeting the SDG contraceptive met need target by 2030, will produce global TFRs of 1·64 (1·39–1·89) in 2050 and 1·52 (1·21–1·87) in 2100. The third scenario, which incorporates pro-natal policy implementation, is forecast to yield global TFRs of 1·93 (1·69–2·19) in 2050 and 1·68 (1·36–2·04) in 2100. The combined scenario, in which all three other alternative scenarios are applied, is projected to result in a global TFR of 1·65 (1·40–1·92) in 2050 and 1·62 (1·35–1·95) in 2100.

So recall the reference scenario projections: 1·83 (1·59–2·08) in 2050 and 1·59 (1·25–1·96) in 2100.

I find it interesting that all cases are so incredibly close to reference, with overlapping confidence intervals. Functionally, there's not a lot of difference between a TFR of 1.68 and 1.52. They're both still well below replacement. It's about the difference between Sweden (1.67) and Russia (1.51). Russia, you may have noticed, is waging war about it.*

*This is not a stated goal of the Russian Federation in the Ukraine War. This is me personally making an assertion that the shifting demographics of the Russian population, including the below-replacement birthrate beginning to put pressure on their lacking social safety networks, has contributed to the many complicated and interconnected reasons why the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine, but please do not take me to be the final authority on the matter or interpret this statement as implying that demography of all things is the sole or primary reason for the war.

Discussion

The aforementioned changes in fertility over the coming century will have profound effects on populations, economies, geopolitics, food security, health, and the environment, with a clear demographic divide between the impacts on many middle-to-high-income locations versus many low-income locations. For nearly all countries and territories outside of sub-Saharan Africa, sustained low fertility will produce a contracting population with fewer young people relative to older people before the end of the 21st century. These changes in age structure are likely to present considerable economic challenges caused by a growing dependency ratio of older to working-age population and a shrinking labour force. 42 Unless governments identify unforeseen innovations or funding sources that address the challenges of population ageing, this demographic shift will put increasing pressure on national health insurance, social security programmes, and health-care infrastructure. These same programmes will receive less funding as working-age, tax-paying populations decline, further exacerbating the problem.

This is why the Economist article talks about birthrates the way it does. It's not about white babies or whatever people in the notes are sarcastically ascribing to an article they haven't read. It's about the whole world. There are 150 countries outside of the Sub-Saharan Africa region, and 44 of the 46 countries within Sub-Saharan Africa are projected to feel the many or all of the same effects as well.

It's about the way social security nets are structured and how they're going to fail. It's about the way that elderly people are going to be treated by our societies. It's about me, and it's about you, and it's about making sure that there are enough humans to take care of the other humans that need taking care of.

If we don't increase global fertility rates above replacement, which it increasingly looks like we won't, we need other solutions. The fertility one is easy fuckin' pickings compared to a complete overhaul of society, and you saw how little difference it actually makes. So did the authors:

To date, one strategy to reverse declining fertility in low-fertility settings has been to implement pro-natal policies, such as child-related cash transfers and tax incentives, childcare subsidies, extended parental leave, re-employment rights, and other forms of support for parents to care and pay for their children.49, 50 Yet there are few data to show that such policies have led to strong, sustained rebounds in fertility, with empirical evidence suggesting an effect size of no more than 0·2 additional livebirths per female. [...] Moreover, although pro-natal policies primarily aim to increase births, they also offer additional benefits to society, including better quality of life, greater household gender equality (ie, more equal division of household labour),53 higher rates of female labour force participation,54 lower child-care costs,55 and better maternal health outcomes,56 depending on policy design and contextual factors. In the future, it will be beneficial to perform an in-depth analysis on varying impacts of pro-natal policies in selected countries that have a meaningful impact on population. [...] Importantly, low fertility rates and the modest effects that pro-natal policies might have on them should not be used to justify more draconian measures that limit reproductive rights, such as restricting access to modern contraceptives or abortions.

I just want to highlight that the study authors explicitly argue for certain pro-natal policies that increase quality of life and caution against pro-natal policies that limit rights. These people aren't heartless.

They also discuss at some length the implications of the changing distribution of live births, where by the end of the century most live births will take place in the poorest nations, which are also the ones that will be hardest-hit by climate change. These nations already face famines, military rule, civil wars, terrorism, and climate changed-caused severe heatwaves, droughts, and floods. They advise politicians to take this into account when making policy decisions but don't go into what policy decisions should be made, which is wise since they're demographers and not political scientists, but disappointed me, the political scientist reading the demography paper and hoping to find something to criticize.

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My takeaway:

Incredibly interesting paper. As a non-demographer, I think it's very convincing and hope that it sparks a serious conversation about the paths we need to take forward, in our own countries and as a global community. I especially hope that it inspires us to take bold action to drastically change our systems of elder care, which are already being pushed to the limit and will simply break under pressure if fertility rates continue to fall.

[mariacallous]

Every child has a superpower. Yet, those with disabilities often do not have full access to quality education and other services that would enable them to use their superpower to positively and fully contribute to society. A recent workshop on inclusion in early childhood, held as part of the Center for Universal Education’s symposium on education systems transformation for and through inclusive education, asked whether focusing on the early years of a child’s life might offer a window of opportunity to catch, remedy, and maybe even reverse a child’s development trajectory so all countries can reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It brought together early childhood development (ECD) and inclusion experts and those who wanted to learn more about the topic. Two key messages emerged from participants: every child matters, and early means early. Participants also suggested that the global community needs to develop a global disability-focused ECD strategy and that governments should allocate at least 3% of education budgets for children with disabilities.

Children with disabilities are not a monolith and vary greatly in the challenges they experience and their abilities to fully and positively contribute to society. Some have physical, mental, social, or sensory impairments while others have a combination of multiple challenges. Globally, it is estimated that 15% of the world population, about 1 billion people, live with some type of disability. UNICEF estimates that about 1 in every 10 children has at least one disability, with children from South Asia, East Asia, and West and Central Africa having higher incidences. Moreover, globally, almost 53 million children under the age of 5 have developmental disabilities, and many others live with hidden disabilities that may go unnoticed and, therefore, unrecorded.

The global Convention on the Rights of the Child and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) articulate the rights and equal treatment of children with disabilities. The CRPD provides a comprehensive international legal framework for the education rights of children with disabilities that has been ratified by 181 countries. These legal frameworks and the SDGs are resolute in leaving no one behind. Despite these legal frameworks, agreements, and aspirations, there are numerous challenges and insufficient investment for disabled children to enjoy full rights to education, health, and well-being. In most countries, children with disabilities face stigma and discrimination from their own governments, communities, and families. Their complex needs are often not included in policy and investment discussions. Investment in this cohort of children is usually not high on the policy or financing agenda, yet we know that increased investment and support for children with disabilities can accelerate countries’ paths to achieving the SDGs, particularly SDG 4.2. From 2007 to 2016, disability funding declined by 11.4% worldwide, and only 2% of the estimated $79.1 million invested in early childhood development was spent on young children with disabilities. Tim Shriver, Special Olympics’ Board Chair, maintains that if governments could commit even 3% of their overall education budgets to the inclusion of children with disabilities in existing classrooms, it could impact their abilities to thrive and contribute to our societies. 

2 key messages

Every child matters

All of society benefits when all children are uplifted. For the early childhood sector, that means developing inclusive classrooms that use a twin-track approach and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Instruction. Using this method, rather than having separate classrooms for children, disability-focused support is provided in classrooms that focus on equity for all, but also provide specific support for those with disabilities. Research indicates that this approach benefits all children; children with disabilities have better developmental outcomes (for example, language, social and academic skills, better behaviors), and typically developing children have increased empathy, tolerance, skills in sign language, and more. Establishing inclusive classrooms also requires investment in upskilling classroom teachers so they can support children of all abilities while working with special education teachers. These interventions cost money, yet exclusion has greater negative costs to society in reduced national GDP and higher spending for remedial programs, to name a few. It is estimated that the annual economic cost to society when a disabled child is not able to attend school or get a job can be high—more than 1% of GDP in some cases.

Early means early

The first five years of life are crucial periods of brain growth and development where about 90% of new neural connections (about 1 million neural connections per second) are made. After around 30 months of life, the brain’s ability to change in response to experiences requires greater effort than before this period. Since the brain is very malleable during this phase, evidence suggests that early screening, referrals, and intervention can halt, improve, and completely change the course of a child’s developmental trajectory. As children are mostly with parents and caregivers during the earliest months of life, investing in their ability to support their children can be important. Often support for parents and caregivers to aid their children is unavailable in communities or unaffordable. Research comparing urban and rural children’s access to early childhood education found that those with access to support before age 5 (mostly in urban areas) had higher academic achievement. For children with autism, research indicates that early intervention can greatly ameliorate symptoms, putting children closer to the development trajectory of those without autism.  

The way forward

Supporting children with disabilities is complex as their needs span multiple government and sectoral departments, there are finite resources in all government budgets, and underlying societal discrimination, even subtle, remains strong throughout the world. Yet, workshop participants suggested that supporting every child and doing so early provides the best chance for countries to meet the SDGs. Two suggested actions for supporting every child early that emerged from the workshop and recent literature include:

Establish a global, disability-focused ECD strategy: Global goals and road maps such as the SDGs, Nurturing Care Framework (NCF), and others include young children with disabilities yet provide inadequate strategy and concrete actions for how to ensure full rights and support for young children with disabilities. Thus, a strategy resulting from action by multiple sectors that complements the NCF is one agenda for progress.

Allocate at least 3% of education budgets for children with disabilities: Increasing investment will allow more to be done to support children with disabilities. These could focus on:

Supporting inclusive preschool classrooms that implement a twin-track approach and universal design for learning

Upskilling teachers that lead inclusive classrooms

Parental support so they have increased knowledge and skills to support their children

Strengthening early screening and referral systems

Research focused on young children with disabilities

Workshop participants were ready to join hands and tackle this complex challenge and suggested that commitment from stakeholders, including governments, donors, and families will be critical to light a path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring a thriving society. 

[ahb-writes]

19 Things That Are Wrong With Your Novel (and How to Fix Them)

The original infographic on which this list is based was bulleted with short descriptions (see "All The Things that Are Wrong…" at Hey Writers and FastCompany). It's nifty quantitative data. However, the original article doesn't explore any solutions. So, I spent some time hunting down a few writing resources to fill in the gaps.

The following list of "problems" represents about half of those from the infographic. I tweaked the problem statements, and I drafted the solution text in a feverish rush. No apologies for repeated sources; I have my favorites. Read on:

Problem #01: The Story Begins Too Late in the Novel

Problem #02: The Scenes Are Void of Meaningful Conflict

Problem #03: The Story Has a By-the-Numbers Execution

Problem #04: The Story Is Too Thin

Problem #05: The Villains Are Cartoonish, Evil-for-the-Sake-of-Evil

Problem #06: The Character Logic Is Muddy

Problem #07: The Female Part Is Underwritten

Problem #08: The Narrative Falls Into a Repetitive Pattern

Problem #09: The Conflict Is Inconsequential, Flash-in-the-Pan

Problem #10: The Protagonist Is a Standard-Issue Hero

Problem #11: The Story Favors Style Over Substance

Problem #12: The Ending Is Completely Anti-Climactic

Problem #13: The Characters Are All Stereotypes

Problem #14: The Novel Suffers From Arbitrary Complexity

Problem #15: The Story Goes Off the Rails in the Third Act

Problem #16: The Novel's Questions Are Left Unanswered

Problem #17: The Story Is a String of Unrelated Vignettes

Problem #18: The Plot Unravels Through Convenience/Contrivance

Problem #19: The Story Is Tonally Confused

-------------------------------------------------------

Problem #01: The Story Begins Too Late in the Novel

Solution: Gain traction early; use simplicity, momentum, and a bit of the unknown to carry readers toward the more complex and the improbable. The first chapter is context for what the whole novel is about. Don't wait to pull in readers, don't hesitate to tell readers which characters are the most important, and don't hesitate to expose readers (and the viewpoint character) to the narrative's central conflict. Be upfront about what kind of story you're telling.

Develop a strong sense of who your protagonist is, articulate the protagonist's needs (which may change), and hint at the limits or barriers the protagonist must acknowledge, or defy, to achieve their current or a future goal.

Writing Resources:

8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One (Writer's Digest)

10 Ways to Start Your Story (The Writers Society)

How To Start a Story That Grips Your Readers (Jericho Writers)

7 Steps for Writing Your Novel's Opening Chapter (The Novel Smithy)

4 Key Elements of Scene Openings (September C. Fawkes)

How to Find Your Writing Style (sunnydwrites; ahbwrites)

Writing Riveting Inciting Action: 7 Ideas (Now Novel)

In Media Res: 6 Steps to Start Stories From the Middle (Now Novel)

Writing Great Beginnings and Endings (Writing Questions Answered)

Problem #02: The Scenes Are Void of Meaningful Conflict

Solution: Character growth and story arcs don't occur in isolation. Conflict-guided scenes and conflict-guided storytelling, more broadly, open the narrative to moments in which the characters are continuously tested to validate their knowledge, skills, or relationships.

To drive the story forward with measured purpose, focus on building, developing, and testing a character's desires. If necessary, implement story or relational dynamics to economically assess, judge, and curate a character's failure (and the consequences thereof). Conflict needn't be grandiose; writers must be in tune with the different levels, types, and intensities of conflict that drive their story. Conflict should be multifaceted.

Writing Resources:

A Few Words About Conflict (Glimmer Train Press)

Conflict Thesaurus (One Stop for Writers)

6 Secrets to Creating and Sustaining Suspense (Writer's Digest)

Emotions in Writing: How to Make Your Readers Feel (Jericho Writers)

The Primary Principles of Plot: Goal, Antagonist, Conflict, Consequences (September C. Fawkes)

How to Master Conflict in Young Adult Fiction (Writer's Edit)

Failure, Conflict, and Character Arc (Writers in the Storm)

Problem #03: The Story Has a By-the-Numbers Execution

Solution: Structure must be impeccable. Except for when it shouldn't be. Formulas are essential. Except for when they're not. Outlines are absolute. Except for when they aren't.

Successful storytelling strategies should flex and shift and evolve as the needs and demands of the story flex and shift and evolve. If you plan to wield an effective structure to buffet your storytelling execution, then research and document the structure that best compliments your story, your characters, your characters' conflicts, and the themes reflected in those conflicts.

Writing Resources:

7 Point Story Structure Explained in 5 Minutes (September C. Fawkes)

How to Actually Use a Story Structure (September C. Fawkes)

Description: 5 Times When You Should (and 4 Times When You Shouldn't) Rely on Description (ahbwrites)

Basic Checklist for Your Story (The Right Writing)

Gothic Literature: A Guide To All Things Eerie (Jericho Writers)

Suspense Definition — Literature: Tips for Writing Suspense (Jericho Writers)

How to Create a Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps (How to Write a Book Now)

The Progressive Outline: How I Balance My Plotter and Pantser Tendencies (Michael Bjork Writes; Scrawls and Rambles; ahbwrites)

5 New Ideas for Outlining Stories (1000 Story Ideas; ahbwrites)

Problem #04: The Story Is Too Thin

Solution: Does the story lack balance?

Purposeful narrative structure. Effective characterization. Meaningful conflict (and meaningful consequences). Immersive description. Authentic character dynamics. A good story needs all of this and more. But it's okay to be stronger, or more experienced, in crafting one area of storytelling than in others. It's okay for one's attention to drift during the initial drafting phase.

If you know your strengths, then you can lean on them to bolster your storytelling where it counts. If you know your weaknesses or limitations, then you can avoid what frustrates you and maneuver toward what excites you. But take the time to identify what facet of your craft needs work and be open to exploring your weaknesses with further experience, research, and insight.

Writing Resources:

100 Character Development Questions to Inspire Deeper Arcs (Now Novel)

How to Write a Sequel That Satisfies: Simple Guide (Now Novel)

Best Story Writing Websites in 2022 (Now Novel)

10 Signs Your Plot is Weak (and How to Fix it) (September C. Fawkes)

Defining and Developing Your Author Voice (September C. Fawkes; ahbwrites)

How to Pace a Story (Writing Questions Answered)

Description: 5 Times When You Should (and 4 Times When You Shouldn't) Rely on Description (ahbwrites)

How to Focus on One Story (Alyssa Hollingsworth)

Problem #05: The Villains Are Cartoonish, Evil-for-the-Sake-of-Evil

Solution: Villains require just as much character development as the novel's heroes, protagonists, and perspective characters. Effective villainy incorporates consequential decision making, relatable character motivations, believable perspectives and experiences, and most important, intention. When a writer diversifies these facets of a so-named villain's free will, humanity, personal interests, and relationship with the story's main conflict, one is better-positioned to craft a more diverse and more engaging villain.

Writing Resources:

How Your Character's Failures Can Map A Route To Self-Growth (Writers Helping Writers)

Good Character Flaws: Create Complex Antagonists (Now Novel)

50 Questions to Ask Your Antagonist (Alyssa Hollingsworth)

Antagonist Starts Good, Becomes Drunk With Power (related, master list) (Writing Questions Answered; ahbwrites)

16 Villain Archetypes (Chosen by the Planet; ahbwrites)

How to Give Your Antagonist a Little Humanity (Fiction Writing Tips; ahbwrites)

How to Write the Perfect Villain (Jericho Writers)

How to Build an Antagonist (How to Fight Write)

Negative Trait Thesaurus (Evil) (One Stop for Writers)

Theme and Symbolism Thesaurus (Evil) (One Stop for Writers)

Problem #06: The Character Logic Is Muddy

Solution: Investing in realistic characterization will give a novel the curious details and sense of familiarity readers will readily absorb. Good character logic means providing original characters with the agency to speak, act, and react with authority. (It also doesn't hurt to have a character or two who are really good at faking it.) But it's not enough to simply imply a character's sense of self through dialogue and action. Writers should aim for a level deeper.

Don't write characters, write character arcs. Don't write character flaws, write character flaws that make characters curious, enticing, or attractive. Craft inimitable dialogue, encourage characters to engage their environment, and remember to hold characters responsible for their actions.

Writing Resources:

3 Redemptive Character Types (September C. Fawkes)

6 Ways to Write Truly Terrifying Villains (The Novel Smithy)

What Is Pathos in Literature? A Complete Guide (Jericho Writers)

Character Motivation Thesaurus (One Stop for Writers)

"I don't think you need all the backstory in the world..." (advice from Brennan Lee Mulligan, TTRPG gamemaster)

How to Improve Your Secondary Characters: 6 Fresh Ideas (Em Dash Press)

Some Quick Character Tips (Coffee Bean Writing)

The Importance of The Unlikable Heroine (Claire Legrand; ahbwrites)

Don't Design a Character, Design a Character Arc (avalera; ahbwrites)

How to Write Character Arcs (Helping Writers Become Authors)

Problem #07: The Female Part Is Underwritten

Solution: Frame and establish female characters who are their own and who can hold their own. Obviously, character-building must be done with care, but the emphasis on writing female characters well is not misplaced. Authors in the majority of those published often get away with female characters that are relegated to the role of the conveniently unprotected, the buddy, the substitute wife/girlfriend, the pawn/sacrifice, the hot chick, and/or the stoic action lady who can do anything because that makes her cool.

Write female characters with their own intelligences, experiences, shortcomings, and successes. These characters must come into their own organically, and they must engage the narrative (and readers) in a way that demonstrates their value without siphoning their agency.

Writing Resources:

Make Them Female (Horrible God)

The Importance of The Unlikable Heroine (Claire Legrand; ahbwrites)

100 Character Development Questions to Inspire Deeper Arcs (Now Novel)

We Need to Talk About Cold Women (HuffPost)

Writing a "Strong Female Character" That Isn't Heartless (Writing Questions Answered)

Strength is Relative: Female Characters, Gender Stereotypes, and Writer Authority (ahbwrites)

The Heroines of YA Dystopias Have All These Traits in Common (Refinery29; ahbwrites)

Female Characters to Avoid in Your Writing: An Illustrated Guide (The Caffeine Book Warrior; ahbwrites)

On Mary Sue (How to Fight Write; ahbwrites)

Core Principles of Crafting Protagonists (September C. Fawkes)

4 Ways to Unlock Your Character's Unique Voice (The Novel Smithy)

Problem #08: The Narrative Falls Into a Repetitive Pattern

Solution: Does the story begin at the right point? Are the characters introduced in scenes where they exert the right influence? Are the novel's emotional beats consistent (or meaningful)? What's the tempo like? Is the pacing balanced and purposeful at the sentence level, scene level, and act level? Is the story's use of description unique and dynamic? What's the difference between the author voice, the narrator voice, and the character voice? Be as flexible or inflexible as needed, but above all, be willing to learn.

Writing Resources:

Never Lie Beyond What You're Capable of Selling (How to Fight Write)

How to Craft Your Protagonist's Inner and Outer Journeys (The Novel Smithy)

5 Ways to Keep Reader's Interest When They Know Something the Character Doesn't (Writing Questions Answered)

Variations on Story Structure: A List (September C. Fawkes)

8 Common Pacing Problems (September C. Fawkes)

How Structure Affects Pacing (September C. Fawkes)

Quick Plotting Tip: Write Your Story Backwards (bucketsiler; ahbwrites)

What Is Pacing in Writing? Mastering Pace (Now Novel)

Problem #09: The Conflict Is Inconsequential, Flash-in-the-Pan

Solution: Many authors struggle to contrive meaningful conflict such that it either shapes or speaks critically to the trajectory of the characters it touches. Conflict is not a consequence or a corollary of scheme or impulse; conflict should develop as the story develops and grow as the character dynamics grow.

Explore character through conflict by reinforcing their goals and their perceptions (of reality), as well as the plausibility of maintaining either. Use conflict to reveal blind spots, biases, or fears. Conflict doesn't narrow the possibility of who characters are, or what the story might convey; conflict opens characters (or readers) to new methodologies, new stakes, and possibly new goals, as a result of enduring or overcoming the fracas in question. Conflict adds depth.

Writing Resources:

Conflict Thesaurus (One Stop for Writers)

Need Compelling Conflict? Choose A Variety of Kinds (Writer's Helping Writers)

How to Draw Readers in Through a Character's Choices (Writers Helping Writers)

Exactly How to Create and Control Tone (September C. Fawkes; ahbwrites)

Are Your Conflicts Significant? (September C. Fawkes)

Tension vs. Conflict (Hint: They Aren't the Same Thing) (September C. Fawkes)

How to Write a Dystopian Story: Our Gide (Jericho Writers)

Plot Conflict: Striking True Adversity in Stories (Now Novel)

How to Use Central Conflict and Drama to Drive Your Novel (Now Novel)

Problem #10: The Protagonist Is a Standard-Issue Hero

Solution: There different types of heroes. There are different types of villains. And the multitude of stories in which these various types of characters might interact require differing levels of focus. Not all heroes must have a tale of overcoming adversity. Not all villains need a tragic backstory. Not all comedy stories require a "meek schlub" to come out on top. Not all suspense or thriller tales require a "world-weary detective" fighting for emotional validation or recompense.

Diverse character types help drive diverse stories. Challenge how archetypes and standard-issue definitions traditionally render a "hero" or a "villain" in a story. Important Note: Don't give in by forcing a character to fit an established mold by the story's end.

Writing Resources:

Guide to Writing an Unlikable Protagonist (Words and Such)

How to Craft the Perfect Antihero (Writer's Digest)

How to Write an Anti-Hero Readers Will Adore (The Novel Smithy)

Types of Heroes: Crafting Your Characters (Jericho Writers)

How to Write Supporting Characters in Fiction (Jericho Writers)

10 Ways to Write a Chosen One That Won't Annoy Readers (The Novel Smithy)

Being the Best at Something (One Stop for Writers)

50 Questions to Ask Your Antagonist (Alyssa Hollingsworth)

How to Build an Antagonist (How to Fight Write)

Male Protagonists to Avoid in Your Writing: An Illustrated Guide (The Caffeine Book Warrior)

Problem #11: The Story Favors Style Over Substance

Solution: Writers commonly risk stumbling into the crevasse of convenience, no matter the genre (e.g., action must be cool or flashy, comedy must be glaringly funny, horror must be unremittingly scary). The primary fault lines for these seemingly innocent errors are twofold: inexperience and immaturity. That is to say, the more one reads and the more one writes, the greater one experiences, learns, and empathizes with a greater array of storytelling styles, techniques, and attitudes. Writing a more dynamic and engaging story that leaps beyond the crevasse of style over substance requires an eagerness to learn, a willingness to experiment, and an openness to difference.

Writing Resources:

8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One (Writer's Digest)

Building a Bold Narrator's Voice: 5 Methods (Now Novel)

How to Avoid Plot Armor (Coffee Bean Writing)

10 Tips for the Middle of Your Story (Coffee Bean Writing; ahbwrites)

Avoiding Plot Armor (How to Fight Write)

How to Absolutely Wreck Your Audience With a Character Death (lunewell)

Writing Description: Make Introspection More Engaging (ahbwrites)

How to Frame Scenes Like a Filmmaker (Kristen Kiefer)

Shakespeare's Genius Is Nonsense (Nautilus)

Problem #12: The Ending Is Completely Anti-Climactic

Solution: Endings can be dramatic. Endings can be a little ambiguous. Endings can be bittersweet. Endings can be simple surprises. Endings can be unique and unresolved. Endings can reverse motives, reverse perspectives, or reverse fortunes. Endings can be complex webs that tie up every single loose end. Whatever the author's preference, endings shouldn't read as if the last 10 pages were cut off.

But knowing how to end a story is not an isolated challenge. To end a story properly and effectively, the author must know how the story begins, how its characters evolve, and how these dynamics transform over the course of narrative's varying points of tension and conflict. Recall, how does the story begin and why? How, specifically, do the characters evolve? And what compels them to do so? Where and how do the story's internal and external conflicts converge? Endings follow a few essential rules: endings require context, endings must be plausible, and endings must connect to the narrative's key elements.

Writing Resources:

Figuring Out Where to End a Story (Writing Questions Answered)

Writing Great Beginnings and Endings (Writing Questions Answered)

Feeling Overwhelmed by Plot Points (Writing Questions Answered)

What Is the Dénouement of a Story? Your Guide (With Tips) (Jericho Writers)

How to End a Story Perfectly (Jericho Writers)

Story Climax Examples: Writing Gripping Build-Ups (Now Novel)

How to End a Novel: Writing Strong Story Endings (Now Novel)

Tension vs. Conflict (Hint: They Aren't the Same Thing) (September C. Fawkes)

Utilizing 3 Types of Death (September C. Fawkes)

10 Signs Your Plot is Weak (and How to Fix it) (September C. Fawkes)

Problem #13: The Characters Are All Stereotypes

Solution: To be more than a collection of tropes, characters must be emotionally differentiated, possess myriad insecurities, battle visible and invisible vulnerabilities, willingly blur their own logic to achieve what they perceive as necessary, and debate their own flaws. Solid characters, well-rounded characters, and well-defined characters give readers a reason to stay engaged.

To craft these characters, authors should be conscientious of what internal rules the story's characters follow, what flaws these characters must overcome, and what trajectory each character arc takes in parallel to the overall narrative arc. Not every character needs to know who they are or how they want to influence the story to stick in readers' minds, but the author should have a good grasp how the character grows (or regresses) relative to how they engage the story's central conflict or theme.

Writing Resources:

10 Traits of a Strong Antagonist (Fiction University)

The No-Effort Character Sheet for Lazy Writers (justsomecynic; ahbwrites)

How to Write Deep P.O.V.: 8 Tips and Examples (Now Novel)

Character Flaws: Creating Lovable Imperfections (Now Novel)

How to Use Character Flaws to Enrich Your Writing (Perpetual Stories)

Character Flaws: When Is Too Far Too Far? (The Character Therapist)

20 Powerful Romance Tropes (and How to Make Them Original) (Jericho Writers)

Does Your Character Have a Secret? (Writers Helping Writers)

Creating Villain Motivations: Writing Real Adversaries (Now Novel)

Some Quick Character Tips (Coffee Bean Writing)

Dynamic vs. Round Characters: Who Needs a Character Arc? (The Novel Smithy)

Problem #14: The Novel Suffers From Arbitrary Complexity

Solution: More spectacle isn't always better. Larger and relentlessly diverse casts aren't necessarily more dynamic or more representative. More gore doesn't exactly make the violence more believable. More tears won't always pull readers into a deeper emotional connection.

Balance in everything, whether in drawing lots for which characters live or die, or assembling the combination of goals and threats the cast must surmount to reach the end.

Sometimes, it helps to weave from the simple toward the complex: If you understand what is essential to the story, and the role of each character in the story, then you can expand outward, deliberately, and unfold more detail from a central theme or narrative device. (If the author does it the other way around, and weaves from the complex toward the simple, then plot holes form, characters lose their purpose, and the story's conclusion feels less and less tethered to the inciting incident that supposedly pulled in readers at the outset.)

Writing Resources:

5 Ways to Make Mundane Scene More Interesting (Writing Questions Answered)

Feeling Overwhelmed by Plot Points (Writing Questions Answered)

What Is Prewriting? Preparing to Write With Purpose (Now Novel)

How to Write the Perfect Plot (in Two Easy Steps) (Helping Writers Become Authors)

Writing Description: Encourage Readers to Infer More Than They Realize (ahbwrites)

Reasons to Kill Your Characters (Coffee Bean Writing)

How to Absolutely Wreck Your Audience With a Character Death (lunewell)

Coming Up With a Plot (From Scratch) (September C. Fawkes)

Problem #15: The Story Goes Off the Rails in the Third Act

Solution: Weaving a compelling third act necessitates a guarded understanding of how to view and interpret a story on the micro and macro levels. That is to say, an attention to detail is essential, but equally valuable is the opportunity to take a step back and view the whole narrative as the sum of its parts. Do individual characters achieve their personal goals? Are relationship arcs incomplete? Is the drama, humor, or sense of mystery that drove the story in the first two acts, present or validated by the third act?

If one thinks of the whole of a story as a tapestry of sorts, then one might also view each chapter, arc, or act as a meaningful shape, pattern, or attribute of that greater tapestry. These attributes cue the readers as to what facet of story (or character) to focus on, depending on the moment. These attributes can also expose consequential divergences from established narrative designs.

How should readers interpret and process, or otherwise organize, these complex stimuli? For example, an author who purposefully generates tonal proximity between characters or events will ensure emotional continuity from scene to scene or from act to act.

Writing Resources:

5 Ways to Surprise Your Reader (Without It Feeling Like a Trick) (Writer's Digest)

Writing Great Beginnings and Endings (Writing Questions Answered)

How to Pace a Story (Writing Questions Answered)

How to Write Exceptional Endings (September C. Fawkes)

What Is Pacing in Writing? Mastering Pace (Now Novel)

What Is Rising Action? Building to an Epic Climax (Now Novel)

What Is the Dénouement of a Story? Your Guide (With Tips) (Jericho Writers)

How to End a Story Perfectly (Jericho Writers)

Problem #16: The Novel's Questions Are Left Unanswered

Solution: Conflicts require consequences, character arcs require a destination, and unresolved or unanswered questions have their own purpose. But having too many unanswered questions can make a novel's ending feel too foggy, if not outright incomplete. In short, loose threads can be frustrating.

Handled appropriately, loose threads may encourage the reader to hum and ponder how each character's life may evolve following the novel's events. Some readers adore the beauty of an imperfect story. However, handled poorly, loose threads speak to a poorly planned and disorganized narrative for which the writer was mistakenly more invested in drafting a kitschy or vulgar hook than a purposeful climax or dénouement.

Writing Resources:

Guide to Writing an Unreliable Narrator (Writing and Such)

Story Threads: Fixing Rips in Our Story (Writers Helping Writers)

Loose Threads Can Unravel a Novel (All Things Writing)

How to Pace a Story (Writing Questions Answered)

Figuring Out Where to End a Story (Writing Questions Answered)

Feeling Overwhelmed by Plot Points (Writing Questions Answered)

What Is the Dénouement of a Story? Your Guide (With Tips) (Jericho Writers)

How to End a Story Perfectly (Jericho Writers)

Suspense Definition Literature: Tips for Writing Suspense (Jericho Writers)

Problem #17: The Story Is a String of Unrelated Vignettes

Solution: For authors who struggle to coordinate or connect a single, cohesive story, it can be tempting to lean into episodic incidents that are individually intriguing but neglect to pull readers into a larger, more satisfying narrative. Resources about structuring scenes and structuring stories are numerous, but for writers who need to connect the muscle and sinew of their story with intent, learning the basics is often the best: Action and reaction compel reader engagement.

How does a character react to a new, tense, or changing situation? How do these actions or reactions introduce the story to readers or help them explore it? And on a micro level, how do word choice, rhythm, and tone reinforce these facets of the story?

What are the characters' goals? What are the stakes? What burdens complicate (or which advantages elevate) these characters' motivations? What conflicts skew these characters' perceptions of the stakes? What does failure look like? What are the consequences or costs? To the environment (social, political, relational)? How do characters respond to these heightened stakes, to the responsibility of these fresh consequences, to the shifting balance of power in the surrounding context?

Writing Resources:

How to Start a Story That Grips Your Readers (Jericho Writers)

Plotting Tip: One Simple Step to Ensure Our Story Works (Jami Gold)

Episodic vs. Epic: Go Bigger With Your Writing (Writers Helping Writers)

Guide: Filling in the Story Between Known Events (Writing Questions Answered)

What Is a Plot Point? Find and Plan Clear Story Events (Now Novel)

The Parts of a Story: Creating a Cohesive Whole (Now Novel)

8 Foreshadowing Laws: How to Foreshadow Right (Now Novel)

Structuring Satisfying Scenes (September C. Fawkes)

The 5 Commandments of Storytelling According to The Story Grid (September C. Fawkes)

Problem #18: The Plot Unravels Through Convenience/Contrivance

Solution: Many writing workshops and advice columns have opined on this for a reason: Coincidences that get characters into trouble are good, coincidences that get characters out of problems are bad. Resolving issues of perceived relevance between scenes, or events, often requires resolving issues of causality. Contrivances do not serve the reader. A believable and engaging rhythm requires everything to be connected.

What realizations or insights emerge after certain events occur? Does context require readers consume certain types of information before others? How can the story be revised to ensure a natural movement between these events, the information they provide, and characters' reactions to this information?

The degree or intensity of relatedness will vary, depending on the author's narrative style and the presumptive demands of the genre or audience. However, nothing should come easy; the characters (and readers) should earn whatever details they acquire to see the story through to the end.

Writing Resources:

7 Novel-Opening Mistakes That Make Literary Agents (And Readers) Groan (Jericho Writers)

8 Common Pacing Problems (September C. Fawkes)

Cause and Effect: Telling Your Story in the Right Order (Writer's Digest)

Crafting an Effective Plot for Children's Books (Writer's Digest)

8 Foreshadowing Laws: How to Foreshadow Right (Now Novel)

Episodic vs. Epic: Go Bigger With Your Writing (Writers Helping Writers)

Figuring Out Where to End a Story (Writing Questions Answered)

Problem #19: The Story Is Tonally Confused

Solution: What is the novel's general attitude, particularly given the story's descriptive specificity, the characters' emotional latitude, and the atmospheric dynamic of the feelings a specific scene is written to elicit? Tone is an interrelated mix of narrative forms and attributes. Identifying, organizing, and manipulating tone means establishing and controlling these attributes. But a word of caution is often warranted: Mixing and matching and glibly contrasting tone doesn't always come across as clever, to the reader, as the writer might imagine. Consistency and relevance are important.

Authors must know the difference between recognizing a scene's tone and sustaining it such that its rhythm lends the appropriate heft. Word choice matters. Character mood matters. Point of view matters. Scene structure matters. And in the end, disruptions matter, too.

Writing Resources:

How Do You Build a Novel's Tone? (Now Novel)

Suspense Writing: Examples and Devices for Tenser Stories (Now Novel)

Feeling Overwhelmed by Plot Points (Writing Questions Answered)

How to Fix Characters Who Are Too Similar (Writing Questions Answered)

Working Comedy and Romance Into Drama (Writing Questions Answered)

Selecting the Right Sentence Structure for the Right Emotion (September C. Fawkes)

Exactly How to Create and Control Tone (September C. Fawkes; ahbwrites)

[beardedmrbean]

One of the nation’s largest homebuilders will not be able to build an isolated housing development on 286 acres of farmland in Burlington County, according to a court ruling.

The decision released last month came after more than two years of legal battles between the housing developer D.R. Horton and Springfield Township — a small community in Burlington County that is 75% farmland or preserved open space.

D.R. Horton alleged the township has been in violation of state affordable housing rules for more than seven years because it hasn’t provided its fair share of low- and moderate-income housing.

The company also claimed Springfield officials did not give developers a fair chance to build in the community and provide homes for low- and moderate-income families, the lawsuit said.

But, Springfield Mayor Dave Frank said the town is dedicated to offering affordable housing in a way that aligns with the community’s farmland preservation goals.

“Springfield Township has always been committed to the production of affordable housing — in Springfield and throughout the state,” Frank said.

“We are trying to do it in a way that is appropriate to the size of our community, and the other planning concerns that are important in our community and state like sustaining agriculture as a viable industry, and preserving farmland and environmentally sensitive lands,” he said.

D.R. Horton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2022, D.R. Horton proposed to develop a community of nearly 1,400 homes, with a mix of apartments, townhouses and single-family homes, on a site known as the Van Wagoner farm. The land is located along Arney’s Mount Park and Birmingham Road in Springfield.

Prior to the trial, D.R. Horton cut down its plan to 389 homes, with about 15% saved for affordable housing, according to court documents.

In an opinion submitted March 7, a state Superior Court judge sided with Springfield, denying D.R. Horton’s request to build on the farmland.

According to the court, the lawsuit was struck down because the site was “unsuitable for affordable housing development.”

However, the judge also added that despite Springfield’s efforts to preserve farms and open space, the township is still required by law to contribute its fair share of affordable housing.

According to Fair Share Housing Center, Springfield should have added 227 affordable housing units since 2015. D.R. Horton argued that by not doing so, Springfield is violating the Mount Laurel Doctrine — a legal framework that came out of a series of landmark state civil rights cases.

The doctrine legally prevents New Jersey municipalities from using local land-use laws to discriminate based on income. It also requires all towns in to provide a fair share of affordable housing options.

Housing advocates say the doctrine is pushing the state to develop more affordable homes.

Springfield Township officials say the doctrine can “promote sprawl” if it is applied without sensitivity to other planning concerns, Frank said.

Township officials argued in court they are complying with fair share housing laws and should not be required to approve the building of more homes to meet the regional need for affordable housing, court documents say.

Springfield also argued the Van Wagoner farm site chosen by D.R. Horton for its proposed housing development is unsuitable for high-density residential development under local and state planning regulations for environmentally sensitive areas.

The Van Wagoner farm is part of what local officials called a “carefully planned farm belt” in Burlington County that has remained intact due to countywide efforts of acquiring farm easements. Those efforts helped preserve nearly 6,000 acres, they said.

The site is also a “priority farm” under Burlington County’s farmland and open space preservation plan because of its soil resources and location near other preserved land, Springfield officials said.

The type of large scale development D.R. Horton proposed would’ve transformed the area’s rural farm character into a suburban setting, the township’s attorney argued in court.

The township currently has a population of about 3,200 people and has not grown in the last two decades. The number of employed residents has also steadily declined, according to court documents.

If D.R. Horton developed its proposed housing complex, about 1,000 new residents — a quarter of the town’s population — would have been isolated to that area of town, officials said in court.

There are several reasons why the Van Wagoner farm site was not a good choice for development, Burlington County Superior Court Judge Jeanne Covert said in her written decision.

Residents of the proposed community would rely on local farm roads as their primary access and there are no public water, sewer or public transportation facilities nearby, officials said.

The property is also environmentally unsuitable for development, with steep slopes and wetlands and its proximity to a county park. And, the only nearby businesses are a drug store, a gas station and a Dollar Tree miles away in another township, according to the lawsuit.

The company’s decision not to include business development in their plans would leave the affordable housing residents without resources — opposite of what state affordable housing rules push for, the judge wrote.

“This project takes sound planning and turns it on its head, along with a demonstrated and overt lack of concern for the would-be residents of this community,” Covert wrote in her opinion.

“An approval of this plan would be the epitome of ‘unsound planning’ and contrary to the constitutional mandate of (the Mount Laurel Doctrine),” she said.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

[ink-flavored]

Slow-Down Announcement

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your patience during my break, my move, and through the holidays. It means a lot that you’d all be so generous as to keep paying me while you wait. In general, your continued support is incredibly important to me. And as much as I appreciate it, I will have to ask you for a bit more patience.

Ko-Fi was an experiment I started to see if it was practical for me. I was excited about the response my AUgust 2022 prompts had gotten, and I wanted to see how my audience would respond to access to more of my writing and more of my process. I was also curious to see if I could use Ko-Fi to grow my audience, or supplement my writing career. Building a brand online is difficult, but I couldn’t let an opportunity like this slip by me.

After about 15 months, I can say I’ve had a lot of fun on Ko-Fi. I love Magnet Mondays, I like sharing what happens behind-the-scenes, and giving you all sneak peaks of what’s to come. Like I said, I’m forever grateful you thought my art to be worth paying monthly for in the first place, it’s not something I ever dreamed people would do for me. Unfortunately, posting on Ko-Fi as regularly as I wanted has become impractical for my schedule and mental health.

Keeping up with the rate of posting I promised—weekly, biweekly, and monthly, over my various categories—isn’t sustainable in my current environment. If I had the opportunity to do nothing but write for 8-hours a day, 5-days a week, it would be easy! I would have plenty of time to share my writing with you, continue my personal projects, and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Sadly, my writing schedule is not so generous. My full-time office job cuts into my creative time a lot, and stacking the self-imposed obligations of my Ko-Fi schedule on top of that means that I’m “at work” a lot more than I otherwise would be.

Long story short, I’m getting fatigued trying to keep pace with Ko-Fi updates. I’m going to be slowing down my activity here, and prioritize what I can do without burning myself out. I have a flexible plan that I’ve been developing, so you know where you can find me outside of Ko-Fi if you’d still like to follow my work elsewhere.

Keep Reading below here or on Ko-Fi

First, Magnet Mondays are sticking around, but this time for free. Polls are easier than counting comments, so I’ll be hosting the weekly vote and the poems on my ink-flavored Tumblr account. I really don’t want to give up doing Magnet Mondays, since it was a lot of fun for me (and for you all too, I hope). The first poll will go up this Sunday (January 7th) and the first poem will go up the next Monday (January 15th), so I hope I’ll see you all on Tumblr! I’ll still post the final poems here on Ko-Fi for organization's sake.

Second, one of my goals for 2024 is to be more active on my new Neocities website. The freedom of having my own writing website where I can post whatever I want without the need to be overly professional like a portfolio, and no risk of getting my content reported like on social media, means that I can share a lot more of what I write. Please do check it out, and feel free to sign the guestbook while you’re there!

More generally, I want to migrate some of the Typewriter-tier behind-the-scenes posts to Tumblr and Neocities, so more people can see what goes on under the hood when I write. I don’t have imminent plans to share the exclusive content on Saturdays anywhere else—save for things like AUgust, which are already all free—but I won’t write it off.

Finally, as for the fate of this Ko-Fi account, I’ll be reworking the tiers a bit. Magnet Mondays will be free, so it can’t be a perk, and my plan is to post behind-the-scenes or exclusives sporadically, whenever I feel like I have something to share. I’ll keep the BTS to Wednesdays and the exclusives to Saturdays, but that will be the only consistency in scheduling. Nothing from the Manuscript tier needs to change, since I don’t plan on halting commissions.

Thank you all for being so understanding, and for being so generous this past year and a bit. I’m happy I even had the opportunity to try this out, and it would have been over before it started if I didn’t have people like you.

[darkmaga-retard]

Bear with me; I am trying to identify the most effective way of conveying this important material. Please share. Consensus on this document will be sought at the UN in 8 days!

Meryl Nass

Sep 15, 2024

In 10 points, what does the Pact for the Future tell us?

Meryl Nass, MD. September 15, 2024

1.  Global governance is to be transformed and strengthened

"We will transform global governance" which will lead "to a brighter future for all of humanity."  But this will require greater international cooperation and compliance with international law. [paragraphs 3-5, and Action 41]

"We will strengthen the UN system" [Action 48]

2.  Assuring compliance

"Where mandated intergovernmental processes exist, we will use them to advance this agenda." [paragraph 17]

"We will strengthen international cooperation for the environment and the implementation of and compliance with our multilateral environmental agreements to deliver on our ambition to protect our planet." [Action 58] 

"Deepen United Nations’ engagement with national parliaments in United Nations intergovernmental bodies and processes, in accordance with national legislation, including through building on the efforts of the United Nations and Inter-Parliamentary Union to engage parliamentarians to maintain support for the implementation of relevant UN agreements and resolutions." [Action 59] 

3.  Dictatorial authority sought for the UN Secretary-General, echoing the plan for the WHO's Director-General in the Pandemic Treaty and proposed IHR amendments

Echoing the WHO's pandemic aspirations, the Pact seeks to give the UN Secretary-General the sole authority to operationalize an "Emergency Platform," for any type of emergency he designates, to decide which emergencies warrant this declaration, to decide when to trigger this authority, and to determine how to manage the emergency. [Action 57]

4.  Sustainable Development to be at the center of multilateralism (i.e., global governance) and at the center of a new global financial architecture

While "development" was one of the original 3 pillars of the UN, sometimes listed as 4 pillars, the Pact now claims that "Sustainable Development" is one of the essential 3 pillars of the UN. [paragraph 9] This is a gross misrepresentation, because the term "sustainable development" is used interchangeably with the Agenda for Sustainable Development, Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, none of which existed when the UN was founded, and they have an entirely different meaning than the general term "development."

The Pact claims that sustainable development is "a central objective of multilateralism" [paragraph 10] and furthermore, "we will accelerate reform of the international financial architecture to address the challenges of today and tomorrow... the reform of the international financial architecture should place the 2030 agenda at its center" [Action 50].  But the world's citizens never voted to make Agenda 2030 the centerpiece of multilateralism, nor have they asked for the creation of a wholly new financial architecture, for which the UN lacks expertise and probably also lacks authority.

[chinmayeesahu]

Enhancing CSR Impact through Collaboration with Marpu Foundation

The importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is higher than ever in the quickly changing business environment of today. Working together with like-minded organizations is crucial as companies look to improve society and the environment. The Marpu Foundation is one such collaboration that has a great deal of potential to increase the impact of CSR.

At the forefront of social change and sustainable development, the Marpu Foundation | NGO has established itself as a beacon of hope for communities worldwide. With a diverse portfolio of initiatives spanning education, healthcare, environmental conservation, and more, the foundation embodies a commitment to creating a better future for all.

"Marpu" - a synonym for transformation - was established by the respected National Youth Awardee, Mr. Kadiri Raghu Vamsi. Marpu Foundation | NGO focuses on harnessing the potential of individuals to bring about positive change in the world. With a team committed to effecting change and providing a supportive space for all, the Marpu Foundation earned the title of "The Best NGO in India" in 2020.

Emphasizing employee involvement and volunteering is one of the main features of the Marpu Foundation's CSR approach. It has over 80,261 volunteers and over 10,245,120 beneficiaries operating from 39 locations in 15 states. The themes of their work center on environmental sustainability, economic development, social development, and partnership for the goals.

Partnering with the Marpu Foundation not only enhances corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts but also significantly contributes to advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Marpu Foundation's projects are exemplary models of sustainable development, promoting social, economic, and environmental well-being. Here's how partnering with Marpu can boost CSR efforts and support SDGs, illustrated through some of their impactful projects:

1. Education Initiatives (SDG 4 - Quality Education): Marpu Foundation's education initiatives focus on providing quality education to underserved communities. Partnering with Marpu in these initiatives allows corporations to support SDG 4 by investing in programs that enhance access to education, improve literacy rates, and empower marginalized groups. For example, a partnership could fund the establishment of schools in rural areas, provide scholarships for underprivileged students, or support vocational training programs.

2. Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation): Marpu Foundation undertakes projects aimed at ensuring access to clean water and sanitation facilities, particularly in areas facing water scarcity and poor sanitation. Collaborating with Marpu in such projects enables companies to address SDG 6 by funding the construction of water infrastructure, implementing water purification systems, or promoting hygiene awareness campaigns in communities lacking access to clean water and sanitation.

3. Women's Empowerment (SDG 5 - Gender Equality): Marpu Foundation is committed to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment through various initiatives such as skill development programs, entrepreneurship training, and advocacy for women's rights. Partnering with Marpu in these endeavors allows corporations to support SDG 5 by investing in projects that foster economic independence and social empowerment among women, thereby contributing to creating more inclusive and equitable societies.

4. Environmental Conservation (SDG 13 - Climate Action): Marpu Foundation actively engages in environmental conservation efforts aimed at mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity. Corporations can enhance their CSR initiatives by partnering with Marpu in projects such as afforestation campaigns, sustainable agriculture practices, or renewable energy projects. By supporting these initiatives, companies can align with SDG 13 goals and demonstrate their commitment to environmental stewardship.

5. Healthcare Access (SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being): Marpu Foundation works towards improving healthcare access and promoting health awareness in underserved communities. Collaborating with Marpu in healthcare projects allows corporations to contribute to SDG 3 by funding medical camps, establishing healthcare centers, or supporting vaccination drives. By investing in healthcare initiatives, companies can help reduce healthcare disparities and improve the overall well-being of communities.

In conclusion, partnering with the Marpu Foundation offers corporations a unique opportunity to bolster their CSR efforts while making meaningful contributions towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Through strategic collaborations with Marpu, companies can address pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges, driving positive change and creating a more sustainable future for all.

[jjungkooksthighs]

Has it really been a year since Chapter 15? I thought I remember reading it in November or sometime towards the end of last year. There are so many parts of it that I remember vividly, like it wasn't that long ago that I read it.

Chapter 16 was well worth the wait. While I admit that I am one of those that are eagerly awaiting the mating chapter, the way you wrote this chapter was necessary. It would have been different if he only sustained a scratch in the duel, but that did not happen. It was brutal and he was badly injured. So it wouldn't have been possible to go right to a mating chapter. He needed to heal first, and she needed to tend to him. He was literally bleeding out in front of her, so how could they possibly mate? Even though this chapter was the fallout to the huge battle, it was still very tense. I was definitely worried about him, especially when the vision spots started happening. I was very nervous, and I think I held my breath throughout most of that chapter.

I really liked how you had her blood heal him. Like you mentioned in your chapter notes, you wanted to show that their bond isn't based solely on desire, and that's what this part of the chapter did. It built their bond on something more substantial than just desire and sex. It solidified their bond in a different way. A deeper way.

Now a most important question. Is the next chapter the long awaited mating chapter? I hope the rest of the story comes a bit easier for you now, since we've gotten away from the doom and gloom. It should all be happy from here on out right?

Did I post in November? Feels like it has been since summer of last year. Honestly, time is such a blur to me these days that I often forget how far apart posts have really been. Though, I’m glad that the chapter preceding this one was memorable in the details of it that you mentioned.

I’m glad that you liked the trajectory of the most recent chapter. I had to do a lot of research, incidentally, for this one to be possible. The extensive treatments that reader gives to the alpha are ones I actually had to study and learn about myself. Though this is a fantasy romance story, it was important to me to capture a sense of realism that could be connected to and understood beyond your basic “true love’s kiss” saves the day. As you mentioned, I wanted to build depth not only in their bond, but in their relationship and characterization as well. Quite ambitious, I know, but that is partly why this chapter took so long to be produced. As you said, it simply did not make sense to me to write one of the most anticipated parts of this story when the alpha had been hurt the way he had. Even for him, the pain would have been unbearable. I couldn’t bring myself to write something like that when the prior chapter had been developed the way it had. I had been aiming to get you to feel worry, fear and even doubt with the reader as she tended to him, so I am pleased to hear that you were right there in her shoes while it all went down.

After all, it is rather hard to love a story where you cannot invest yourself within its words.

Anyhow, I appreciate your kind words. They are very sweet and it makes me feel like I’ve done a good job with this chapter! I had so many goals and ambitions for this chapter, and it looks like I was able to hit the biggest ones based on your feedback. While this story is built on the a/b/o dynamic, I had wanted to make certain that it wasn’t just another alpha/omega story that could easily be forgotten or buried under the mountain of other alpha/omega fics.

So easy is it to write something like this and make it purely out of animalistic urges like desire and breeding, and a lot of this story does contain elements of that. But, as you said, I wanted to ensure that the alpha and reader’s relationship is not one founded only on attraction. There is so much more to a relationship, to a significant other, than that. And that’s what I was hoping to establish.

As far as your question, I think that the next chapter will indeed be what you seek. Or… perhaps there’s another twist that you just simply didn’t see coming….

[jordanianroyals]

15 June 2023: Crown Prince Hussein inaugurated JOIN Fincubator, which aims to enable fintech innovations, facilitate digital financial services, and contribute to the development of a sustainable digital economy in Jordan.

JOIN Fincubator was established in line with the Economic Modernisation Vision, which identified financial services and the empowerment of fintech among key enablers for the national economy.

He stressed the importance of youth-led innovations in developing the fintech sector in Jordan, noting that the private sector stands to benefit greatly from investing in the potential of young Jordanians. (Source: Petra)

JOIN Fincubator is a unit of the Jordan Payments and Clearing Company (JoPACC), which manages and operates several Jordanian payment systems and develops innovative digital financial solutions, and is owned by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) and all the other banks operating in the Kingdom.

The Crown Prince listened to a briefing by JoPACC CEO Maha Baho on the goals of JOIN, which provides entrepreneurs with access to digital financial infrastructure and resources to test, validate, and develop their fintech ideas.

Baho added that JOIN promotes a digital culture that encourages launching innovative fintech projects that enrich the digital financial ecosystem and create new job opportunities, contributing to enhancing Jordan’s reputation as an attractive investment destination.

JOIN’s reach extends to innovators from Jordan and beyond, provided that their ideas and projects are applied within the Kingdom, ultimately driving growth in the digital economy, she continued.

His Royal Highness also viewed entrepreneurial solutions developed by youth who participated in JOIN Fincubator’s first hackathon, which was organised by JOIN several weeks before its official opening and presented a challenge in the financial sector that required participants to work collaboratively in teams to develop fintech solutions.

Of the 23 teams that participated, three won the hackathon and will participate in JOIN’s incubation programme, which begins in early July and is expected to include more than 30 entrepreneurial teams.

JoPACC Chairman and CBJ Governor Adel Al Sharkas, Deputy CBJ Governor Khaldoun Wishah, and representatives of banks supporting JOIN attended the inauguration ceremony.

[gamesindustrynormal]

I'm at the tail end of Trails into Reverie and while it's a perfectly fine Trails game it is disconcerting to see it courting with games-as-a-service (GAAS) models of driving engagement, so called “lifestyle games”. It’s not egregious, but the gacha mechanics and deliberate timewasting elements are more pronounced than before.

There’s an analogue to the delusion of infinite economic growth in the games industry that’s evolved from being mostly about MMORPGs to being about free-to-play to being about GAAS models.  From the development side it has definitely been a shift over the last 10-15 years, sales figures are not even a point of discussion anymore – it’s all about engagement. How much can we make people play and for how long.

Thing is, Mark is right about the lifestyle games – there is only so much time in the day for most people and if you have engaged with video games in any capacity you understand that an increasing number of games demanding an increasing amount of the players’ time is unsustainable. It also leads to content that is demonstrably worse at providing distraction or relieving stress – not that all games must do one of them, but they have traditionally been important goals. Not to mention the ethically questionable practice of getting people to spend more of their time just so you keep their attention.

“Predatory business practices are bad” isn’t the freshest of takes but in a saturated market it gets harder and harder to avoid if you are trying to have a sustainable living. And working in the games industry kind of sucks in this way, because as developers there is little we can do to right the ship - it’s more about how much we’re willing to adapt and compromise.

[magdasabs]

Love it: "Jeg tror kun, at det er en skade, som kan stoppe hende fra også at være med i VM i 2027. Hun er så klog en spiller, at hun sandsynligvis ender i en lidt mere defensiv rolle på et tidspunkt. Det har jeg også drillet hende lidt med." - Lars

Pernille Harder, who turns 30 on Tuesday 15 November, is facing her first World Cup final round. The national coach does not expect it to be her last.

There is hard work behind mixing with the world's elite.

Pernille Harder, who turns 30 on 15 November, may not have the world's greatest football talent, but she is among the most dedicated and serious players.

It is the key to the fact that she is diligently in the field when awards are handed out to the world's best female soccer player, or when recognized media make an annual ranking of them.That's what national coach Lars Søndergaard says.

- She turns over every stone to see if there is anything that can develop her as a person and as a footballer. She was probably one of the first female footballers to invest in a sports psychologist and mental coach. It shows that she will do everything to become a better soccer player.

- And then she is extremely humble. She constantly works hard.She doesn't just have a talent and sleepwalked to success. She pays attention to details and takes an interest in small tactical things in the game. She lives for and from football, says the national coach.

Her career has taken her past Swedish, German and English football. She has played 139 A-national matches and is the Danish national team's all-time top scorer with 70 goals.

Still, at a relatively advanced football age, she will soon have to try something new in the national team uniform. This summer, she faces her first World Cup final round.

But if Lars Søndergaard is to be believed, it will not be the national team captain's last.

- I only think that it is an injury that can stop her from also being in the WC in 2027. She is such a smart player that she will probably end up in a slightly more defensive role at some point. I also teased her a bit about that.

- She is still fast and dangerous as a striker, but you can already see that she falls further back on the field and participates in the build-up of the game. So I see her as a player who is sustainable in the long term, says Søndergaard.

The otherwise sane central Jutland has taken advantage of his status as one of the world's best players to become an important voice in the public eye. Not to profile themselves and score sponsorship contracts, but to, among other things, influence the debate on diversity, homosexual relations and women's rights.

Pernille Harder forms a pair with the Swedish national team player Magdalena Eriksson. They played together in Swedish Linköping and now also do so in the English big club Chelsea.

[johannarhyins]

Captain Paul Watson Foundation

Just weeks before Paul Watson’s arrest in Greenland by Interpol, I spent a month volunteering with the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, helping to prepare the former Coast Guard ship, the John Paul DeJoria III (JPD), for its anti-whaling mission. Watson, known for founding Sea Shepherd and co-founding Greenpeace, had been pursued by Interpol for nearly 15 years due to charges related to his anti-whaling activities in Japan. His radical approach to conservation has always sparked debate, leading to numerous reinventions of his non-profit work. Despite the noble goal of protecting whales, I still wonder if direct confrontation with whalers effectively generates enough pressure on Japan, Norway, and Iceland—the last remaining whaling nations—to abandon the practice.

Through my time aboard the JPD, I developed a deep respect for the dedication and hard work of the volunteers, who poured tremendous energy into keeping the vessel operational and advancing the mission. Their commitment to whale conservation was inspiring, and it was a privilege to participate in such an important cause. Regardless of the controversy surrounding Watson’s leadership, the conversation should shift from focusing on his methods to addressing the real issue: why are we still killing whales in 2024? The demand for whale products has dwindled, and the traditions cited by Japan, Norway, and Iceland no longer hold relevance in today’s global economy. Just as Iceland moved away from coal to embrace geothermal energy, harmful practices rooted in tradition should be reevaluated and replaced with more sustainable alternatives.

[valueweaver]

How Procurement Consulting Can Transform Your Business Strategy

In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies are constantly searching for ways to optimize their operations and enhance their bottom line. One powerful but often overlooked solution lies in Procurement Consulting Services. Many businesses may not fully grasp how these specialized services can reshape their strategies, streamline processes, and ultimately drive growth. Imagine having a team of experts at your disposal who can identify inefficiencies within your supply chain or negotiate better deals with suppliers on your behalf. This is precisely what procurement consulting brings to the table. Whether you're a small startup or an established enterprise, understanding the value of strategic procurement can be a game-changer. Let’s dive into how procurement consulting can transform various aspects of your business strategy and explore real-life examples that illustrate its impact.

Understanding Procurement Consulting

Procurement consulting is a specialized service focused on optimizing an organization’s purchasing processes. It involves analyzing procurement strategies, supplier relationships, and cost management practices to enhance overall efficiency. Experts in this field offer insights tailored to your unique needs. They help organizations identify areas for improvement and develop actionable plans to achieve better results. The process often begins with a comprehensive assessment of current procurement activities. Consultants then leverage data analytics and market research to uncover opportunities for savings and innovation. Moreover, these professionals foster collaboration between departments, ensuring that everyone works towards common goals while maintaining budgetary constraints. By aligning procurement with broader business objectives, companies can drive significant value across the board. In essence, procurement consulting serves as a bridge between operational needs and strategic direction, providing businesses with the tools they need to thrive in competitive markets.

Areas of Business Strategy that Can be Transformed by Procurement Consulting

Procurement consulting services can significantly enhance various aspects of business strategy. One major area is cost management. By optimizing procurement processes, businesses often see a reduction in expenses without sacrificing quality. Another key area is supplier relationships. Effective procurement consulting fosters stronger partnerships with suppliers, which can lead to better negotiations and improved terms that benefit the company long-term. Innovation also plays a vital role. Procurement consultants help organizations identify new technologies and materials that can drive product enhancements or operational efficiencies. Risk management is another critical focus. Consultants assess supply chain vulnerabilities, enabling companies to mitigate risks effectively before they escalate into costly issues. Sustainability initiatives are increasingly important for modern businesses. Procurement strategies aligned with sustainable practices not only improve brand reputation but also attract environmentally conscious consumers.

Case Studies: Real-life Examples of Successful Procurement Consulting Strategies

Real-life examples illustrate the impact of procurement consulting services on businesses. One notable case involves a global manufacturing company struggling with rising costs and inefficiencies in its supply chain. By engaging procurement consultants, they re-evaluated their supplier contracts and negotiated better terms. This led to a 15% reduction in overall material costs within six months. Another example is a retail firm that faced challenges managing supplier relationships. Through tailored consulting strategies, they improved communication channels and introduced performance metrics for suppliers. These changes enhanced collaboration and resulted in quicker delivery times, boosting customer satisfaction. A third case highlights an organization in the tech sector seeking to expand while controlling spending. Procurement consultants helped them identify alternative sourcing options across multiple regions, optimizing their inventory levels. This shift not only saved money but also provided greater flexibility during market fluctuations. These success stories showcase how procurement consulting services can play a crucial role in reshaping business strategy and achieving sustainable growth. Whether it’s cost-saving measures or enhancing supplier relations, the potential benefits are significant for companies ready to embrace change.

For More Information:

Affordable Procurement Suites for Businesses

SAP Business One Setup Services

Professional SAP Business One Setup

[awsomebloggersblog]

Job Opening For Market Director of Care Coordination - Texas Intuitive Health Services Job title: Market Director of Care Coordination - Texas Job description: Overview:CommonSpirit Health was formed by the alignment of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health. With more than 700 care sites across the U.S. from clinics and hospitals to home-based care and virtual care services CommonSpirit is accessible to nearly one out of every four U.S. residents. Our world needs compassion like never before. Our communities need caring and our families need protection. With our combined resources CommonSpirit is committed to building healthy communities advocating for those who are poor and vulnerable and innovating how and where healing can happen both inside our hospitals and out in the community.While you're busy impacting the healthcare industry, we'll take care of you with benefits that include: Medical/Dental/Vision, FSA, Dependent Care Spending Account, Life Insurance, Short and Long-term Disability, 401k match, Paid Time Off, Wellness Program, Tuition Reimbursement, Accidental Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, Identity Theft Protection, Employee Assistance Program, and more! Responsibilities:This position supports CommonSpirit facilities in the Texas markets.The Market Director of Acute Care Coordination is at the forefront of spearheading the Care Coordination initiatives across multiple markets within the assigned region. This pivotal role ensures the seamless implementation and effectiveness of care coordination processes and standards at multiple facilities within a region. As a key figure in achieving sustainable outcomes the Market Director focuses on aligning models, enhancing processes, and providing targeted education.The Market Director develops comprehensive plans and drives the implementation to deliver tangible results both at the region and market level and at the facility levels. Collaborating closely with leadership at the region, market, and facilities from CommonSpirit and other critical stakeholders across the regions, markets, and hospitals, the Market Director formulates strategies that are crucial for meeting the organization’s objectives.Essential qualities for this role include a strategic vision, exceptional communication skills, proven motivational abilities, a strong executive presence, and a track record of achieving results and meeting goals.Essential Key Job Responsibilities Strategic Leadership and Operational Oversight Collaborative Strategic Partnerships Strategic Development and Implementation Education and Training Leadership Comprehensive Management of Corporate Case Management Functions Regulatory Compliance and Accountability Execution of Strategic Care Coordination Plans Human Resources and Staffing Collaboration Talent Management Data-Driven Decision Making Cultural and Performance Excellence Effective Communication Ethical Practices Additional Responsibilities #LI-CSH#carecoordination#leaders Qualifications:Required Education and Experience Master's degree or equivalent education / experience in nursing or healthcare/business related field. 5+ years experience in Care Coordination Leadership, within a large multi-hospital system 10+ years overall care coordination experience Current TX Registered Nurse (R.N.) license Demonstrated success in developing and implementing care coordination programs. Apply for the job Market Director of Care Coordination - Texas At Intuitive Health Services, our goal is to make healthcare better for everyone. We help hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare places find the right doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers. For over 15 years, we have been doing this important job. We work with places like state hospitals and correctional facilities to make sure they have the best people to take care of patients.

We don’t just connect people with jobs; we also support them throughout their journey. We help with things like improving resumes, preparing for interviews, and finding the job that fits best. We work in over 50 different locations and have over 900 professionals who trust us to help them. If you are looking for a job in healthcare, we are here to guide you. If you are a healthcare facility needing to hire someone, we can find the best person for you. Our team is always ready to help, and we believe that by working together, we can make healthcare stronger and better for everyone. If you need to contact us, you can find us at: Address: 520 West Lacey Blvd, Hanford, CA 93230 Email: jobs@intuitivehealthservices.com Phone:+1 (805) 703-3729 We’re here to help you with all your healthcare staffing needs! https://intuitivehealthservices.com/register

[pragatileadershipindia]

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence Training on Leadership Effectiveness

Can great leaders be made? Yes, leaders can become great, but this requires acumen, expertise, and soft skills. Known as emotional intelligence (E), these soft skills are beneficial in motivating people, navigate through challenging situations, and deliver their best performance.

Companies lose money due to poor communication, lack of trust, and low employee engagement. Only 21% of employees are engaged and approximately 60% feel emotionally detached at their workplaces. This results in a loss of productivity exceeding $7.5 trillion, which is roughly 11% of the world’s GDP. So how can companies overcome the massive cost of low engagement and emotional intelligence?

What is Emotional Intelligence?

EI is the ability to manage, recognize, and understand other people’s and your feelings. This is important as effective leaders must manage not only their emotions but empathize with their people’s feelings too. First introduced in the 1990s by Peter Salovey and John Mayer, the concept of EI has since become an essential leadership trait.

The behaviors shown by emotionally intelligent leaders include:

Self-awareness This ability allows you to recognize and comprehend your drivers, emotions, strengths, and limitations. Self-awareness helps leaders to sustain a positive outlook even in difficult situations. While 95% of people think they are self-aware, in reality only 10% – 15% show real self-awareness.

Self-management It showcases how leaders manage their behaviors and emotions practicing restraint and focus. Self-management comprises four competencies, which include self-control, achievement orientation, adaptability, and positive outlook.

Social Awareness Empathy and organizational awareness are two competencies under this leadership trait. The former enables you to recognize other people’s emotions, display an active interest in their concerns, and recognize cues about their feelings and thoughts. The latter is the ability to comprehend group feelings, identify influencers, and understand its dynamics.

Relationship Management The competencies that motivate others to deliver their best performance include coaching and mentoring, conflict resolution, influencing, inspirational leadership training, and teamwork. These traits positively impact team members and encourage them to work towards achieving the organizational goals.

Importance of EI on Leadership Effectiveness

Great leaders develop robust relationships, foster a collaborative work environment, and promote a positive organizational culture. Emotional intelligence is important for:

Conflict Management Conflicts happen and effective leaders should manage these constructively and positively. Leaders with higher EI remain calm and composed in conflicts and empathize with others thereby de-escalating the situations. Additionally, they use their soft skills to find a win-win solution to develop stronger relationships and teamwork.

To help understand, here is an example. Assume that there is a conflict between two of your team members Sudha and Radha. Radha thinks that Sudha is not doing her share of the work and Sudha feels that she is not receiving necessary guidance from Radha. After hearing from both, you will derive a solution that is beneficial to both and suggests a structured plan or clear division of roles and responsibilities thereby eliminating the conflict and developing a positive work environment.

Develop Robust Relationships Robust relationships are crucial for organizational success. Leaders having higher EI build rapport and trust by being empathetic to their team members’ emotions. Additionally, their team members feel appreciated and valued thereby increasing engagement, job satisfaction, and motivation. According to a study, employee engagement and creativity when teams are led by empathetic leaders increase by 76% and 61%, respectively.

Efficient Decision-Making Emotionally intelligent leaders use their soft skills to recognize and understand their feelings to make rational and informed decisions. Additionally, they consider the feelings and perspectives of their team members to make inclusive decisions, which are aligned with the overall organizational goals and visions. Companies that prioritize EI are likely to perform higher than others by almost 22x.

Inspiring and Motivating Teams Effective leaders use their empathy and EI to foster a positive and supportive organizational culture. Using their communication skills, they can bring clarity, inspire, and motivate their team members to deliver their best performance.

To understand, consider that you are leading a software development team that is demotivated and overwhelmed amid a highly complex project. As an emotionally intelligent leader, you would recognize the challenging situation while providing encouragement and support to your team members. Throughout the project, you would be empathetic and understanding while appreciating, recognizing, and valuing their efforts. Using EI skills, you will boost their morale and increase their productivity to successfully deliver the project.

Unfortunately, only 36% of people are emotionally intelligent. In 2021, the EI market was valued at $868 million, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 25% until 2030. The demand for EQ is expected to grow by 6x in the next five years and emotional intelligence training programs will play an important role in creating great leaders.

Elevate your leadership skills and drive success with Pragati Leadership‘s Emotional Intelligence Training. Discover how enhanced emotional intelligence can transform your effectiveness as a leader. Join us today and lead with empathy and impact!