Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST) is organizing a Zoological Nomenclature training course targeted at MSc students, PhD students, early career researchers,  professional systematists/taxonomists and anyone who is interested in the philosophy of Biological Systematics. The course has a duration of one 5 days and will take place between 22-26 September 2014 at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.

Deadline for registration: 16 June 2014, extended until Friday 20 June 2014. To register and to learn more about the course visit the official webpage: http://www.taxonomytraining.eu/content/zoological-nomenclature-3

Course description:
Taxonomists need a common language worldwide. This is provided by the international codes of nomenclature. Although several codes exist, according to the organisms at stake, they all follow a similar mode of allocation of names to taxa (through "types") and of establishment of the valid name for a taxon (priority, first-reviser, usage). As biological nomenclature is rarely taught in academic formations, many taxonomists have difficulties mastering it. This training will provide an overview of the history and epistemology of biological nomenclature, and a discussion of the relationships between phylogeny, taxonomy and nomenclature. The zoological code will be presented in detail, the other codes (including the botanical one) more briefly. The recent problems and projects of nomenclature, including alternative systems, will be discussed.

Lecture topics:

• What is taxonomy? What is nomenclature? Name, taxon, nomenclatural rank, taxonomic category. Species and supraspecific taxa. The relationships between phylogeny, taxonomy and nomenclature
• History and epistemology of the international codes of nomenclature
• The international code of zoological nomenclature
• The other international codes (plants and fungi, bacteria, viruses, cultivated plants)
• The alternative nomenclatural systems

Seminar topics:

• Nomenclature of higher taxa in zoology
• The Phylocode and other phylogenetic nomenclatural systems
• Zoobank and electronic publications

Practical experiences will include: exercises in zoological nomenclature and transforming phylogenetic data into a taxonomy and a nomenclature.

The aim of the event is to inform and guide prospective applicants preparing project proposals, to facilitate sharing of ideas and experiences. It will give participants the chance to network and to find partners for their projects.

ICT-16 is part of Horizon 2020's ICT work programme 2014-2015

The activities supported under this topic contribute to the Big Data challenge by addressing the fundamental research problems related to the scalability and responsiveness of analytics capabilities (such as privacy-aware machine learning, language understanding, data mining and visualization). Special focus is on industry-validated, user-defined challenges like predictions, and rigorous processes for monitoring and measurement.

The current outline of the draft agenda can be found HERE

Registration

The registration to the event is now open and is on the first-come-first-serve basis. Click HERE to register. The closing date is 8 January 2015.

After the registration you will have the possibility to upload a presentation for the ICT-16 networking and partner finding session which will take place in the afternoon (max 3 slides for 3 minutes presentation).

In parallel to the ICT-16 networking session a workshop on multilingual data value chains will be organised. Therefore, you should pay attention to which part of the event you enrol.

Please note that bilateral meetings with EC Project Officers to discuss proposal ideas (proposal clinics) will *not* be possible, in compliance with H2020 regulations.

More information available here.

An GEO BON - EU BON workshop iis scheduled for 20-24 July in Manaus, Brasil for a targeted group of representatives of the different EU BON WPs or task forces.

The workshop will specifically target the following:

– Issues of designing and running biodiversity monitoring observatories (i.e. optimization and guidelines for planning biodiversity monitoring)

– Analyses of biodiversity data to be addressed for assessing changes and patterns

– Linkage of (meta-) data to EU BON portal

Being hosted in Manaus, this workshop will facilitate the integration of Brazilian and European expertise, for instance by updating about the progress made by Brazil in starting participatory resource monitoring in Brazilian National parks and the development of databases to integrate this information. The workshop will be held at the Federal University of Amazonas Experimental Site.

Workshop on beta versions of data mobilization systems at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm.

Registration link: http://goo.gl/forms/pCvjglXpcN

From 7 to 9 June 2016 the city of Venice will host an International Conference titled: "Citizen Observatories for Water Management". The Conference will focus on the potential of Citizen Science in the European water innovation landscape, and in particular in the fields of flood risk management, environmental monitoring and meeting the challenges of the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

The Conference will be an opportunity for actors in the field of science and innovation to exchange experiences on the development, implementation and use of new technologies to bring water-related issues closer to citizens.

Introduction

Citizen observatories are emerging as a virtual and physical place where citizens and decision makers cooperate to gather and share information to promote innovative and shared solutions. Strategic decisions and policies that impact society and the environment require intensive data collection and interpretation. Such information provides an important basis for long term planning as well as short term response (e.g. to flooding, drought,  pollution events, cyanobacterial blooms).

The COWM 2016 conference will explore the role and opportunities for active citizen participation in environmental monitoring and policy making. The event will provide opportunities to engage with researchers, policy makers and practitioners actively involved in improving our understanding of citizen science initiatives. Participants will discuss the growing potential of Citizens’ Observatories in empowering the society and improving the resilience at the community scale.

The meeting will bring together social scientists, surveyors, engineers, scientists, and other professionals from many countries involved in research and development activities in a wide range of technical and management topics related to citizen observatories and their impacts on society and how to maximize the benefit of data emerging from citizen observatories.

More information available here: http://www.conwater2016.eu/index.php/en/

The ConnectinGEO Workshop on Gap Analysis and Prioritization will will take place on 10 & 11 October 2106 in Asutia to address key issues associated with the societal benefits of Earth observations and the exploitation of Earth observation for societal policy and decision making.

The Gap Analysis workshop will discuss the outcomes of the gap analysis and prioritization performed in the ConnectinGEO project. This gap analysis was guided by the information and knowledge needs resulting from humanity's "Road to Dignity" detailed in the Agenda 2030 and specified in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed upon by the United Nations. Both the monitoring and implementation of actions to achieve these goals require extensive support from Earth observation and science communities. Several directives and crosscuting issues in Europe provided further guidance for the gap analysis.

The workshop will provide a forum to review the methodology for gap analysis and prioritization, discuss the relevant gaps and priorities in the European Earth observation networks and develop a strategy to address those gaps that have a high priority assigned.

The objectives of the gap analysis and prioritization workshop are to:

• Assess the ConnectinGEO methodology for gap analysis and prioritization;
• Review the list of gaps identified and the prioritization achieved;
• Produce a final list of gaps with high priority;
• Discuss a strategy to address these gaps and provide recommendations for the European Network of Earth Observation Networks (ENEON) and the European Commission concerning high-priority gaps.

More on the event's website.

Back on February 10, less than three weeks before his death, David blogged about the positive reception that Perplexing Plots had had including a nomination for an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He didn’t live to learn the result, but it didn’t win. Now, however, comes news that the International Crime Fiction […]

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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, was the first to point the finger at Russia.

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Hernández, who hit 33 homers to earn an All-Star nod, helped the Dodgers win the World Series in 2024.

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With about 87 percent of precincts reporting, 57 percent of residents voted against the measure, according to the Associated Press.

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Kristin Juszczyk designed Taylor Swift's custom Chiefs jacket for Saturday's wild-card game. And the internet loved it.

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At her first Met Gala, Ayo Edebiri showed out in a youthful white look fading into a garden full of colorful flowers at the bottom by Loewe.

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"What a heartwarming full circle moment."

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Ortiz takes "pride" in what his father accomplished in Boston. But as he begins his career with the Red Sox' organization, the younger Ortiz is hoping to build a name for himself.

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"I gotta tell you, man, I’m a Celtic. I cheer. I scream. I cry."

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"To me, that championship meant the most. Because all of us won."

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Betts said the two have grown even closer in recent years.

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"Theeeee Yankees lose!"

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"Come on, man, show some love to Papi."

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"I don't know if I've ever quite seen anything like this, especially in a World Series or postseason game."

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Their impact went far beyond the field.

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“Go out there, represent the Red Sox, and become a challenge to the Yankees.”

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Test your knowledge of cider doughnut secrets, Pink House problems, and Jaylen Brown’s brainstorm in this week’s news quiz.

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Closed for nearly a decade, the famed restaurant with ties to Pier 4 in Boston burned to the ground.

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Wegen fragwürdiger Anklagen, Urteile und Ernennungen gerät die spanische Justiz zunehmend ins Zwielicht. Die politischen Parteien haben zu grossen Einfluss auf die Ernennung der Richter.


«Gerechtigkeit!» Spaniens Justiz gerät ins Zwielicht, etwa durch die Kehrtwende des obersten Gerichts im Fall der Grundbuchgebühren. (Bild: Susana Vera / Reuters)

Un manifesto per chiedere la libertà dei prigionieri politici catalani e il ritorno alla normalità democratica in Spagna sta raccogliendo centinaia di adesioni. Promosso da una quarantina di intellettuali e politici italiani, è stato pubblicato dal sito internet Left.it

A Madrid, nel cuore dell’Europa occidentale, dodici esponenti della politica e della società civile catalana sono in questi giorni sotto processo. Nove di essi si trovano in regime di detenzione preventiva, in molti casi da ben oltre un anno. I capi di imputazione sono gravissimi, con richieste di pena da parte della pubblica accusa che arrivano sino a 25 anni.

Tra i reati contestati vi è la “ribellione”: si tratta della figura criminosa utilizzata per chi, nel 1981, entrò con le armi in parlamento e portò in strada i carri armati. Il codice penale spagnolo, in effetti, richiede, nella tipizzazione del reato, l'elemento della "rivolta violenta". L’unica violenza finora certa, per le innumerevoli immagini che la mostrano e che hanno fatto il giro del mondo, è però quella messa in atto dalle forze dell'ordine spagnole: che partono da ogni angolo del Paese per la Catalogna al grido minaccioso di "a por ellos!" (“a prenderli!”; “dategli addosso!”); che picchiano votanti e manifestanti – anche non indipendentisti – intenti a resistere pacificamente, con le braccia alzate, in difesa dei seggi; che sparano proiettili di gomma sui cittadini, nonostante il loro utilizzo sia vietato in Catalogna.

Ma la vicenda giudiziaria non si esaurisce a Madrid, innanzi al Tribunal Supremo. Altri imputati verranno giudicati (per disobbedienza e ulteriori reati) da Tribunali in Catalogna; centinaia i sindaci, gli attivisti sociali, gli artisti indagati (e in alcuni casi condannati) per aver contribuito in qualche modo alla preparazione del referendum o per aver semplicemente manifestato le loro idee (eloquente, in tal senso, l’Amnesty International Report 2017/18, pp. 339-341). Vi sono, poi, i sette politici, sia parlamentari che componenti del precedente governo catalano rifugiatisi in Belgio, Scozia e Svizzera per sfuggire all’arresto e continuare a condurre la propria azione politica dall’estero. Sono liberi cittadini in tutta Europa, visto che, anche a seguito della decisione del tribunale tedesco nel caso Puigdemont, l’autorità giudiziaria spagnola ha ritirato tutti gli ordini d’arresto europeo a loro carico. Al di là delle anomalie tecniche dei procedimenti giudiziari (evidenziate da diversi osservatori internazionali), è evidente ciò che sta accadendo: si discute, nelle aule dei tribunali, di una questione eminentemente politica, che dal campo della politica non sarebbe mai dovuta uscire. Si criminalizza un’intera classe politica, la cui responsabilità è quella di aver cercato di smuovere le istituzioni spagnole da posizioni di radicale chiusura al dialogo. Si dimentica che oltre due milioni di cittadini catalani chiedono da anni, in maniera civile e pacifica, di potersi esprimere liberamente e democraticamente sull’assetto della relazione tra la Spagna e la Catalogna.

Solo da una posizione di intransigente nazionalismo si può continuare a ritenere la questione dell’indipendenza catalana un tema su cui non può neanche essere aperta una discussione democratica; solo da una posizione illiberale si può ritenere preferibile a quella prospettiva la compressione di fondamentali diritti civili e politici.

Il silenzio dell’Europa, che liquida la vicenda come affare interno alla Spagna, è deprecabile e pericoloso. Si tratta di un segno di debolezza delle istituzioni europee, non di forza, e contribuisce alla radicalizzazione del conflitto anziché alla sua risoluzione. Se la UE accetta la criminalizzazione della protesta pacifica e della disobbedienza civile in un Paese membro della rilevanza della Spagna, ad essere minacciati sono i diritti democratici non solo dei catalani, ma degli spagnoli e degli europei tutti. E quel silenzio diviene imbarazzante allorquando il Parlamento europeo vieta ai politici catalani rifugiati all’estero di partecipare ad una conferenza organizzata nei suoi locali mentre consente, quasi contestualmente, un dibattito anti-catalanista promosso dal partito spagnolo di estrema destra Vox, dichiaratamente e programmaticamente omofobo, maschilista, xenofobo.

Preoccupa anche la scarsa attenzione di parte della stampa, dell’opinione e degli intellettuali del nostro Paese. Nello scenario descritto, crediamo invece siano necessari l’impegno e il controllo vigile di tutti coloro che hanno a cuore la protezione dei diritti, dei valori democratici e dei principi sanciti dagli stessi Trattati UE.

Chiediamo, come cittadini europei, la scarcerazione dei prigionieri catalani, il ritorno ad una situazione di normalità democratica e l’apertura di un dialogo politico sulla questione, unica strada che possa condurre ad una risoluzione della stessa coerente con i valori della democrazia.

Il destino della Catalogna è anche il nostro destino, e il destino dell’Europa intera.

PRIMI FIRMATARI
 

Maurizio Acerbo, segretario nazionale PRC-Sinistra Europea, Roma

Luigi Agostini, saggista, Roma

Matteo Angioli, Partito Radicale, Roma

Vando Borghi, Università di Bologna

Bojan Brezigar, giornalista, Trieste

Luca Cassiani, Consigliere PD Regione Piemonte, Torino

Luciano Caveri, giornalista e politico, Aosta

Lluís Cabasés, giornalista, Alba

Massimo Cacciari, filosofo, Venezia

Duccio Campagnoli, ex Assessore Emilia-Romagna, Bologna

Elisa Castellano, Fondazione Di Vittorio, Roma

Pietro Cataldi, Rettore dell’Università per stranieri di Siena

Nancy de Benedetto, Presidente Associazione italiana di studi catalani, Università di Bari

Luigi de Magistris, sindaco di Napoli

Piero Di Siena, giornalista, Roma

Fausto Durante, Resp. politiche internazionali ed europee Cgil, Roma

Paolo Ferrero, vice presidente del Partito della Sinistra Europea, Torino

Gennaro Ferraiuolo, Università di Napoli Federico II

Luigi Foffani, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Eleonora Forenza, Parlamentare europea GUE/Ngl, Rifondazione comunista, Bari

Laura Harth, Rappresentante alle Nazioni Unite del Partito Radicale, Roma

Rafael Hidalgo, insegnante, Ràdio Catalunya Itàlia, Roma

Andrea Maestri, Avvocato per i diritti umani, Ravenna

Fabio Marcelli, ISGI CNR, Associazione giuristi democratici, Roma

Maria Grazia Meriggi, Università di Bergamo

Sandro Mezzadra, Università di Bologna

Cesare Minghini, sindacalista CGIL, Bologna

Tomaso Montanari, Università di Siena, Firenze

Simone Oggionni, Responsabile Forum Europa MDP-Articolo 1, Roma

Fiorella Prodi, segreteria regionale Cgil Emilia-Romagna, Modena

Roberto Rampi, senatore PD, Vimercate (MB)

Patrizio Rigobon, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia

Simonetta Rubinato, avvocato, ex senatrice e deputata, Treviso

Emilio Santoro, Università di Firenze, Centro di documentazione “L’altro diritto”

Rossella Selmini, Università del Minnesota, Minneapolis-Bologna

Barbara Spinelli, giornalista e Parlamentare europea GUE/Ngl, Roma

Massimo Torelli, coordinatore nazionale di Altra Europa Con Tsipras, Firenze

Gianni Vernetti, ex senatore e sottosegretario agli Affari esteri, Torino

Walter Vitali, Direttore esecutivo Urban@it – Centro nazionale studi politiche urbane, Bologna
 

SOTTOSCRIVONO:

Cristina Accardi, studentessa, Salemi (TP)

Carla Acocella, Università Suor Orsola Benincasa di Napoli

Ivana Aiello, avvocato, Avellino

Rosalba Altopiedi, Università del Piemonte Orientale

Anna Amat, CNR Perugia

Umberto Amato, IMM CNR Napoli

Luciana Ambrosino, copywriter, Napoli

Giso Amendola, Università di Salerno

Virginia Amorosi, avvocato, Lecce.

Daniele Amoroso, Università di Cagliari

Giorgio Andreoli, psicologo, Milano

Simona Anichini, traduttrice, Firenze

Sara Antoniazzi, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia

Francesco Ardolino, Universitat de Barcelona

Gennaro Avallone, Università di Salerno

Edoardo Balletta, Università di Bologna.

Danilo Barbi, sindacalista Cgil, Bologna

Giuliano Barbolini, ex senatore PD, Modena

Albert Barreda, pittore, Savona

Ursula Bedogni, traduttrice, Barcelona

Marzia Bertazzoni, impiegata, Parma

Gabriele Bettelli, responsabile MDP, Modena

Imma Boixadós, agente immobiliare, Bra (CN)

Mirka Bonomi, pensionata, Ostia (Roma)

Enric Bou, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia

Mario Bravi, presidente IRES Umbria, Terni

Stefania Buosi Moncunill, insegnante, Trieste

Rosa Maria Caballé, dipendente pubblico, Bologna

Marco Calaresu, Università di Sassari

Domenico Caminiti, ingegnere, Torino

Stefano Campus, funzionario amministrativo, Presidente Òmnium Cultural de L'Alguer

Fulvio Capitanio, economista, Aiguafreda (Barcellona)

Flora Cappelluti, giornalista, Milano

Lìdia Carol, Università di Verona

Maria Carreras Goicochea, Università di Catania

Imma Caruso, Napoli, ISSM-CNR

Sergio Caserta, attivista e blogger, Bologna

Giovanni Castagno, insegnante, Roma

Giovanni C. Cattini, Università di Barcellona

Ivan Cecchini, dirigente pubblico, Bellaria-Igea Marina

Giulio Ceci, libero professionista, Roma

Giovanni Cherubini, ingegnere, Gilching (Germania)

Federico Chicchi, Università di Bologna

Claudia Ciavatta, dipendente pubblico, Roma

Adriano Cirulli, Università La Sapienza di Roma

Elena Coccia, Napoli, consigliere comunale Napoli, Sinistra in comune

Maria Teresa Colarossi, insegnante, Tivoli (Roma)

Gemma Teresa Colesanti, ISEM CNR Napoli

Maria Cristina Coliva, pensionata, Bologna

Mauro Colombarini, sindacalista Spi-CGIL, Bologna

Anna Maria Compagna, Università di Napoli Federico II

Michele Conia, Sindaco di Cinquefrondi (RC)

Roberto Cornelli, Università di Milano Bicocca

Giacomo Comincini, studente, Pavia

Enrico Curti, imprenditore, Riomaggiore (SP)

Salvatore D'Acunto, Seconda Università di Napoli.

Ettore D’Agostino, insegnante, Torino

Francesco D’Agresta, coordinatore provinciale MDP Pescara

Patrizia D'Antonio, insegnante, Roma

Elisa D’Ugo, studentessa, Roma

Pasquale D'Ugo, agente di commercio, Roma

Gaspare Dalia, Università di Salerno

Gaetano

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