“I am a musician born and raised in this country with the sound of the seas and landscapes that I carry with me,” says Giannouli of her Greek upbringing stars as a genre-defying jazz piano maestra across Europe at various high-profile festivals including Jazztopad and Trondheim Jazzfest as well as at such impressive venues as Bimhuis in Amstersdam and both Flagey and Ars Musica in Brussels But she’s most at home at the Enjoy Jazz Festival in Heidelberg where she has annually offered new projects to the empathetic crowds fully prepared for her exploratory complex music that is at once lyrical and urgent Giannouli first appeared at Enjoy in 2019 and then in 2022 was granted artist-in-residence status which she shared with Swiss piano master Nik Bärtsch They clicked in their artistic philosophies The following year she and Bärtsch joined for an exhilarating duo Enjoy show In the liner notes to her simply titled Solo album (her fifth recording for Rattle Giannouli thanks Enjoy producer Rainer Kern for “giving me the space encouragement and confidence” in debuting her one-person show at Enjoy in 2020 again at Enjoy Jazz and in the wake of Solo Giannouli intoxicated the anticipatory crowd with her scintillating 90-minute performance at the sold-out Friedenskirche church in Heidelberg With her classical training at Athenaeum Maria Callas Conservatory explorations of prepared piano and an inherent sense of her native Greek folklore she revealed fresh versions of pieces from Solo such as “Spiral,” “Novelette,” “Intone” and “Prelude.” She also rendered a solo version of her original “The Sea,” which was recorded on 2015’s Transcendence album with her five-member ensemble Key to her flights were the prepared piano with such “in-the-box” objects as sheets of paper Two encores championed her profound and personal exercises in stretching the jazz guardrails sitting in an executive suite off the lobby of the hotel Giannouli talked about the previous evening’s triumph “I don’t plan what to play ahead of time,” she says I don’t really think about what I’m playing Last night I did something I’ve never done before in concert — playing a rhythm on the singing bowls inside the piano what I play is a little like being in meditation.” she says that it has come into her repertoire over the last few years of playing solo shows “I do it occasionally with my ensembles,” she says I’ve been involved in free improvisation for many years I joined free improvisation bands with other students Giannouli says the experience gives her great freedom and space to go on her personal journeys of vulnerability In the liner notes for Solo she writes: “Playing solo is … the most liberating thing ever Being alone with the instrument gives me an incredible sense of freedom there is nothing more demanding than a solo recital she and Bärtsch did a duo set at the London Jazz Festival last November at the prestigious Wigmore Hall She recalls the beginning of their artistic connection in 2022 But because of their artist-in-residency work the pair didn’t have time for a spontaneous collaboration “We had respect for each other’s music and the common interest in composed and structured music in a classical sense in combination with improvisation and jazz,” says Bärtsch “We also thought it might make sense to work in advance to learn more about each other’s music and the approach to it I was offered the opportunity to invite someone for a show at Moods jazz club in Zurich I thought this might be a good preparation for the show at Enjoy Jazz.” but the same desire in telling the story.” Bärtsch realized very quickly that Giannouli had excellent time feel that was crucial for him “In combination with her classical training this creates a very refreshing perspective,” he says “We did not waste time with a lot of talking but immediately went into organizing the orchestration of the music with two pianos phrasing and dramaturgy is quite delicate with two pianos.” they decided to fill in the gaps of their busy schedules with a scattering of shows around Europe “Tania’s playing is natural and honest,” he says “It seems to be nourished by her affinity to a floating state between tonal and experimental music It sounds individual although it is influenced by cultural context and universal ingredients from the classical background I experience Tania as one of the hardest working musicians I know joining up with trumpeter Amir ElSaffar’s new quartet and working in other duo excursions (recently with trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer at an invite-only private event during Enjoy) going it alone and journeying into the unknown She is an improvisation genius who expands the piano’s range with that array of prepared piano objects tucked in the box “I composed the music for Solo in just two days,” she says “I could easily complete another in the same time frame.” How does she categorize herself as an artist “I still cannot say that what I play is pure jazz,” she laughs so I guess I am a jazz artist who plays beyond genre I have so many influences from the avant-garde world to contemporary composers like George Crumb I don’t set out to play in the Greek folk tradition I am a musician born and raised in this country with the sound of the seas and landscapes that I carry with me I’m not self-censoring about my influences “This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the lineup for the 14th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York “I’m certainly influenced by Geri Allen,” said Iverson during a live Blindfold Test at the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival Ethan Iverson performed as part of the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival in… we’re left with similarities,” Collier says “Cultural differences are mitigated through 12 notes.” DownBeat has a long association with the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference but it’s still kind of productive in a way because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing… About|Terms of Use|PrivacyCopyright © 2025 Maher Publications DownBeat is an internationally registered trademark of Maher Publications Of all the ‘live’ performance groupings in jazz and improvised music the duo surely presents the biggest challenge once you’re up on stage there’s really nowhere to hide Yet of all the various instrumental matchups the piano duo may also be the hardest to love When pianists go face-to-face across Steinway grands too often it can turn into something resembling a duel rather than a duo a cat-and-mouse game of who can outsmart who or a kind of jokey exchange in which the pianists seem to be having much more fun than the audience Doubling up on the piano’s already rich orchestral-like palette as well can make for dense cluttered textures; trying to figure out who’s playing what exactly tends to distract from the listening experience Thankfully there are a few notable exceptions One of them is arriving at the London Jazz Festival (LJF) this month when the renowned ECM artist and Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch and the rising star Greek pianist-composer Tania Giannouli join grands on the Wigmore Hall recital stage both are in the business of letting the music breathe Sharing a common purpose is also key to a duo’s success “It’s not a problem what you say because we try to make the whole thing sound better and Nik’s language is minimalist and mine is very melodic so it’s more or less we have two roles but of course this doesn’t mean that the roles don’t change during the concert,” Giannouli tells me on a video call from her home in Athens “Certainly it’s not about virtuosity or playing too much to impress Both of us are adding elements to the other person’s music so it’s very interesting because then it becomes something new really exciting what we do because there’s no egos There’s not the idea of who will play more or who the best pianist is It’s what can I do so that the other pianist can sound better and make the music as a whole sound better Yes there is some improvisation too of course As well it’s one set as we do it like a journey.” Giannouli maps out her studio albums in much the same way especially her most recent widely-acclaimed Solo album from 2023 that she’s described as "a very personal journey; a story narrated without filters" The concert at LJF will be just the fourth time she and Bärtsch have played together and she says they’ll be adding in new compositions for the first time The pair originally met at Germany’s Enjoy Festival in 2022 “During this time I had the idea it would be nice to play something together with Nik because I realised that although our music languages are not similar we have a similar approach to the idea of a solo piano concert” “For example Nik and I both play one set that doesn’t stop anywhere and we don’t talk So I asked him if we could try playing together some time and he immediately said yes Some months later we met in Zurich where Nik lives and we had a concert at Moods Jazz club so it was our first try at playing together and it was very good It’s music of mine and music of Nik’s and we have some improvisation inside and around these pieces and some are very recognisable because they’re pieces Nik is playing for many years with Ronin and the same with me as these are tracks I play either with my trio or solo So the next year Enjoy Jazz invited us again for a proper concert this time and it was amazing and then we played in Athens for the third time last January.” In fact the instrumental duo has been a format regularly visited by Giannouli both ‘live’ and in the studio since releasing her eerily avant-minimalist debut in 2012 with Portuguese saxophonist Paulo Chagas; through to her most abstract release Rewa in 2018 with traditional Maori instrumentalist Rob Thorne (taonga puoro) a connection initially prompted by her genre-defying New Zealand indie record label Rattle “Playing with other musicians is always rewarding,” she says “It’s another kind of interaction and you discover a lot of things in your music It’s completely different from playing solo But when it’s only two persons I think this dialogue and this interaction is more intense because you have to be alert all the time It’s not about a band where you can add something here or there Rema for me is my most special project and was totally improvisational I had prepared some ideas in advance but when we were there I realised it doesn’t work because this guy plays stones and shells let’s just play free and see what comes out' in concert and I have actually recorded an album which is not released yet with trumpeter Arve Henriksen So the duo format is extremely interesting for me.” Although it’s clear that cross-cultural collaborations are vital to Giannouli’s music that in itself is a big generalisation Other projects include her work in mixed-media contexts (visual arts cinema and with text) while there has to be very few musicians that can say they’ve improvised for 10 hours inside of an active volcano (as she did in 2016) Giannouli is an artist with a passion for new adventure and sonic experimentation “I consider myself firstly a composer and secondly a pianist,” she says “I have studied both academically: a Classical Composition Diploma which in the Greek system means you have to go through advanced harmony contrapuntal fugue and then you are allowed to study composition composition was what was interesting for me and I still think that composition is first and the performance or the piano is the medium for that Probably my background and studies play also a very big role in that because music is not only the melody the harmony and the rhythm but it’s also about sounds about what you can create there even when you don’t play the keys I think in mostly a compositional way than like a pianist Maybe this is why I have a tendency to explore things Giannouli also leads a couple of trios – Hemera with Michele Rabbia (drums electronics) and Daniele Roccato (double bass); and on In Fading Light an album released in 2020 with Andreas Polyzogopoulos on trumpet and Kyriakos Tapakis on oud - which come from a contemporary jazz lineage deriving inspiration from global folk music (including her native Greece) avant-electronica and Baroque to Romantic through to more ambient/minimalist European concert music idioms “I have been listening to jazz since I was a teenager when I discovered Keith Jarrett,” she says “We were studying in the conservatory at the time and I was always showing the class my compositions and someone made the comment 'this sounds so much like ECM' and at the time I had no idea what that meant I play mostly in jazz festivals because of the improvisation but in a wider way as well what I do is maybe not mainstream jazz but it is jazz.” Speaking about her visit to London for the Festival this month she’s sorry that “unfortunately it will be a very short visit The previous day I have a concert with my trio in Rome and the next day I play with Nik in Poland so it will be really an express trip But I’m looking forward to this concert that’s the highlight of the whole tour… if not the year!” It’s not at all unlikely we could soon be adding the London Jazz Festival to that highlights list Tania Giannouli and Nik Bärtsch play Wigmore Hall on 22 November as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival: efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of Jazzwise. Never miss an issue – subscribe today This Collection welcomes original research on the association between physical activity and healthy aging, from epidemiology and intervention studies to cell biology. Objective: The aim of this pilot randomized clinical trial was to test the feasibility and efficacy of an exergame-based cognitive-motor training program in geriatric inpatients. Results: Thirty-nine persons were included in the study. Average adherence rate was 99%, there were no intervention-related dropouts and no adverse events. The mean System Usability Scale (SUS) score was 83.6 and the mean NASA-TLX score 45.5. Significant time-group interaction effects were found for the dual task walking speed, the Go/No-Go test and Step Reaction Time test (SRTT). Conclusion: Exergaming is a feasible, safe and effective cognitive-motor training approach in inpatient rehabilitation of geriatric patients. Incorporating exergaming in the rehabilitation program of geriatric patients offers potential to reduce fall risk factors and to increase patients’ exercise motivation and rehabilitation success. Volume 13 - 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2021.739948 Objective: The aim of this pilot randomized clinical trial was to test the feasibility and efficacy of an exergame-based cognitive-motor training program in geriatric inpatients Methods: The study participants were randomly allocated to either the exergame intervention group or the control group The control group received the standard rehabilitation treatment offered in the clinic In addition to the standard rehabilitation program the intervention group conducted supervised exergame training on 5 days per week using the Dividat Senso an exergame system specifically designed for older adults System Usability Scale (SUS) and NASA-TLX score Secondary outcomes included measures of physical and cognitive functioning such as comfortable walking speed Go/No-Go test and Step Reaction Time test (SRTT) All secondary outcome measures were assessed pre- and post-intervention Results: Thirty-nine persons were included in the study there were no intervention-related dropouts and no adverse events The mean System Usability Scale (SUS) score was 83.6 and the mean NASA-TLX score 45.5 Significant time-group interaction effects were found for the dual task walking speed the Go/No-Go test and Step Reaction Time test (SRTT) safe and effective cognitive-motor training approach in inpatient rehabilitation of geriatric patients Incorporating exergaming in the rehabilitation program of geriatric patients offers potential to reduce fall risk factors and to increase patients’ exercise motivation and rehabilitation success this is the first study to examine the feasibility and effects of a motor-cognitive training in form of purpose-developed exergames in a geriatric inpatient rehabilitation setting Aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and effects of such training in a geriatric inpatient rehabilitation clinic We first hypothesized that the exergame intervention integrated in the inpatient rehabilitation program routines is feasible and safe we hypothesized that the effects on cognitive and physical functions will be more meaningful in the group receiving the exergame intervention compared to the group receiving the conventional rehabilitation therapy only This is a pilot feasibility randomized clinical trial (RCT) with two arms (one intervention and one control group) adhering to the CONSORT extension for pilot and feasibility trials (Eldridge et al., 2016) The study was conducted at the geriatric and orthopedic rehabilitation clinic Dussnang during a period of 3 months (January to March 2021) Participants were randomly allocated to one of the two groups using a permuted block randomization approach The intervention group conducted exergame-training using the Dividat Senso in addition to the conventional rehabilitation treatment while the control group received the conventional treatment only The duration of the intervention period was adjusted to the duration of each participant’s stay at the rehabilitation clinic lasting between 2 and 3 weeks Before beginning and after finishing the intervention or control period a baseline (T1-meaurement) and a post measurement (T2-measurement) was conducted with each participant of both groups The exergame intervention was almost identical to the present study the intervention period was more than twice as long Because of the much shorter intervention period in this study the sample size was aimed to be 40 allowing the detection of smaller effect sizes with sufficient power while also allowing some dropouts a small effect size (F = 0.3) can be detected with a 91% chance of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis The patients of the control group followed the standard rehabilitation plan offered by the clinic For each week this usually included: 3× 30 min physiotherapy 5× 30 min group therapy (knee- / hip- or back-specific group / otago-group therapy for upper extremities) 3× 30 min walking groups (only in patients admitted for issues in the lower extremities) 3× 45 min group therapy (mindfulness therapy The primary outcome of this study was the feasibility of the Dividat Senso integrated in the rehabilitation context and the number of adverse events were assessed four questionnaires were used to assess usability and safety and filled in by the participants of the intervention group after each training (NASA-TLX self-made questionnaire including several usability and user experience questions) Average adherence rate was calculated as the number of completed training sessions as a percentage of the maximal possible training sessions Reasons for non-adherence were recorded in the attendance protocol attrition in the intervention and control group was recorded The attrition rate was calculated as the number of participants that dropped out during the trial as a percentage of the initial sample size Adverse events occurring during the training sessions and measurements were noted in detail by the treating therapist participants were asked to rate their perceived enjoyment level on a 5-point Likert scale A questionnaire was used to assess user experience and safety aspects The questionnaire included a total of 19 items to assess each participants’ subjective perception of the exergame training sessions Thirteen items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5 and assessed fun excitement and diversification of the games perceived improvements of motor coordination perceived improvements of cognitive performance intention to recommend this type of training to everyone as well as specifically to people with coordinative impairments In six further open questions the participants were asked for their favorite game what kind of positive effects resulting from the training were perceived The effects of the exergame intervention on physical and cognitive functions were examined as secondary outcome to receive first indications whether a full RCT of the intervention will be worthwhile and to determine whether there is a need for further development of the intervention (Abbott, 2014) several physical and cognitive tests were executed before and after the intervention or control period (T1- and T2-measurement) The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) developed by the National Institute on Aging (Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), 2021) is a tool (Mijnarends et al., 2013) for assessing motor functioning of the lower extremities The test battery includes three physical tasks: Maintaining balance in different positions standing up and sitting down five times as fast as possible and walking at comfortable speed The total points achieved in all tests together as well as the completion time for the five times sit-to-stand subtask were used for further analyses The Step Reaction Time test (SRTT) was performed on the Dividat Senso It measures psychomotor speed in terms of reaction to a visual stimulus using the lower extremities As soon as one of these triangles turns black participants have to react by stepping as quickly as possible in one of the six possible directions in which the stimulus appeared (right Average reaction time was used for further analyses The Go/No-Go Test was also performed on the Dividat Senso and measures selective attention and inhibition Participants have to focus on a small gray dot in the middle of the screen crosses (+) and Xs (x) appear on the right and left side of the gray dot Participants are asked to ignore the crosses and only react to the Xs by stepping as quickly as possible in the right direction the sheet presented to the participant contains the words “red,” “green” and “blue” printed incongruently in red The participant is asked to name the color of each word as quickly as possible while inhibiting reading the words the sheet looks the same as in the inhibition trial but additionally half of the words are enclosed within boxes The task is the same as in the inhibition trial expect for the enclosed words: The participant has to name the color of the non-enclosed words but read the word of the enclosed words The time required to perform each trial was measured in each trial and errors counted in the third and fourth trial “per protocol analysis” was used which means that only participants with a sufficient adherence rate (≥70%) were included in the analysis of the effects The demographic data are depicted in Table 1. There was no statistically significant difference in age, MMSE score, BMI, time between pre- and post-measurement, years of education or physical activity between the two groups. A total of 39 patients were included in the final analysis (Figure 1) The intervention period lasted between 8 and 23 days and the average amount of training sessions was 9.6 Figure 1. Flow diagram of screening and group allocation (based on Eldridge et al., 2016) Clinicians were willing to recruit patients and patients were willing to be randomized in either treatment arm Within the clinical setting of orthopedic rehabilitation the exergame intervention could be delivered as intended (A) Mean ratings ± standard deviation of each item of the NASA-TLX to assess training workload (B) median and interquartile range of the ratings of each SUS item Self-tailored Questionnaire regarding usability and safety Results of each outcome measure across groups and timepoints Boxplots of physical outcomes of each group at pre- and post-measurements (C) velocity for walking 10 m while dual tasking (E) Total Score achieved in the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) (F) Time required for the Timed Up and Go (TUG) Boxplots of cognitive outcomes of each group at pre- and post-measurements (A) Reaction Time in the Go/No-Go Test on the Dividat Senso (B) Reaction Time in the 6-Step Reaction Time test (SRTT) on the Dividat Senso (C) Time required for the first Stroop task (Color Naming) (D) time required for the second Stroop task (Word Reading) (E) time required for the third Stroop task (Inhibition) (F) time required for the fourth Stroop task (Inhibition/Switching) (G) time required for the Trail Making Test (TMT) part A (H) time required for the Trail Making Test (TMT) part B the item-specific SUS ratings suggest that technical support is required for a successful use of the exergame system Since the Dividat Senso was created for clinical purposes mostly under supervision the supervisor is indirectly part of the training system the training supervisor should be familiar with the Dividat Senso to ensure fast problem-solving of potential technical problems the participants were very satisfied with the exergame intervention Almost all participants subjectively noticed positive effects on physical or psychological aspects during the intervention period and would recommend the exergame training to other people twice as many participants of the intervention group were willing to prolong the stay at the rehabilitation clinic compared to the control group This might be because some of the participants saw the benefits of the additional exergame training and wanted to profit more from this opportunity it was shown for the first time that exergaming on the Dividat Senso in geriatric patients is feasible in terms of usability exergaming can be successfully incorporated in the rehabilitation program of geriatric patients in inpatient rehabilitation clinics exergaming on the Dividat Senso could be a beneficial supplement to conventional rehabilitation therapies to reduce fall risk of geriatric patients Effect sizes representing change over time in each group A further limitation is that the dual task performance was only assessed by walking speed while information about the cognitive performance was not assessed no statement can be made if the improvements in the exergame group is a result of the task prioritization or improved task switching ability despite the strategies for individual training adaptations described in the “Materials and Methods” section it is possible that the training intensity was not sufficiently high to provide the optimal stimulus to each participant The quantitative assessment of the patients’ subjective perception of game difficulty would be a further option to individually adapt training load if the intervention period could be prolonged also on single cognitive and physical functions the continuation of the exergame training within the scope of outpatient rehabilitation or as a home-based approach after the end of the inpatient rehabilitation is warranted The development of home-based exergame systems seems to offer potential for future fall-prevention strategies Future studies using longer time frames should place a focus on adjusting the training load to each participants’ level and also assess dose-response effects while progressing through a rehabilitation program The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors This study’s design was reviewed and approved by the Cantonal Ethics Committee of Zurich All participants provided their written informed consent and MA supervised the data collection process PA collected and analyzed the data and drafted the first manuscript All authors critically revised the manuscript and approved the final submitted version the spin-off company that developed the video step platform used for the training of the seniors and is associated to the company as an external advisor No revenue was paid (or promised to be paid) directly to EB or his institution over the 36 months prior to submission of the work The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed 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All Rights Reserved.made by VSSL Agency Volume 6 - 2019 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2019.00318 The ability to effectively execute compensatory steps is critical for preventing accidental falls and consequently stepping training is an essential ingredient of fall prevention programs we propose a concept for stepping training that aims to maximize training effects by taking into account recent research evidence and a precise dosing of training ingredients The concept addresses motor as well as cognitive falls-related aspects it is suitable for individual as well as group based training Theory and evidence behind all of the training principles is reviewed and an example of an exercise protocol is described in detail Participants are presented with stepping patterns which they have to memorize and implement on a mat In order to enable investigation of dose-response effects the difficulty level systematically and gradually increases session by session based on four principles: execution speed pattern length and execution in dual-/multi-tasking conditions The presented concept can be used as a framework for the development of further prevention and/or rehabilitation stepping exercise programs Further studies using this exercise regimen or modified versions of it are encouraged The most important component of falls prevention exercise programs is balance training (11) since good balance is crucial for maintaining postural equilibrium and thus for the avoidance of falls Balance exercise programs often focus on standing balance tasks where the center of mass has to be statically controlled over the base of support these lack in ecological validity and are not specific enough to cause neuromuscular adaptations that are actually required in balance-threatening situations maintaining balance to avoid a trip or a slip requires fast (rather than static/slow) stepping movements as well as high foot placement accuracy in order to initiate a correct step or inhibit a wrong one to quickly avoid an obstacle or an unexpected perturbation effective falls prevention and rehabilitation exercise programs should focus on performing precise In addition to this, physical activity in general and even more so structured physical exercise has shown to improve cognitive fall risk factors (16). In fact, combined physical and cognitive training (such as a stepping training containing additional cognitive tasks), may lead to larger improvements in cognitive and physical outcomes compared to physical or cognitive training alone (17) possibly with greater impacts on daily functioning targeting deficits in both mobility and cognition through dual- and/or multi-tasking exercise programs is likely to represent the most effective strategy to minimize cognitive and physical declines in healthy older adults and therefore reduce the risk of falls and cognitive impairment Finally, regardless of type of training (strength/balance/stepping training), difficulty level (i.e., including increasingly challenging exercises e.g., either by adding a cognitive element, having additional movements, or increasing speed) is crucial for the success of falls prevention programs. This has been shown by systematic reviews (17, 18) as well as by a recent study monitoring movement characteristics of stepping exergames (19) In this paper we propose a concept for stepping training (StepIt) that aims to maximize training effects in stepping capacity by taking into account recent research evidence and a precise dosing of training ingredients we first review the theory and evidence behind Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) used as an overall tool for stepping interventions aiming to prevent falls we elaborate on all defined key elements of the proposed training by explaining their (neural) mechanisms an exemplary protocol of the StepIt exercise program which includes all the aforementioned principles is described in detail and based on that recommendations are presented on how this exercise program can be adjusted to fit needs of different purposes and populations Principles for increasing difficulty level In order to improve the ability to step quickly, the tempo given by the metronome on which participants have to execute the presented stepping patterns is increased across the training sessions. The ability to step quickly is a critical factor in avoiding a fall (42) many community-dwelling older adults walk slower than the optimal speed for functioning optimally in the everyday life (e.g. and amplitude of the compensatory step is also crucial complexity is manipulated by starting with patterns including only shorter forward/lateral steps and progressing to wider Like during any motor learning task, multidirectional stepping causes structural and functional changes at the central nervous system. In order to achieve greater motor learning (in our case safer, smoother and more efficient multidirectional stepping performance) it is important to increase complexity and variability (63), which results in a flexible and adaptable motor system (63) In the StepIt exercise program this is achieved through the execution of steps in all directions and with different amplitudes something which increases motor exploration and requires high inter- and intra-limb coordination both of which are fundamental to human motor control especially for foot trajectory and foot placement accuracy Finally, considering the limited generalization to other locomotor tasks (64) (stepping in different directions than the trained ones), falls prevention stepping training programs even for high-functioning older adults should incorporate multidirectional steps and also focus on the adaptation of step length (65) in order to be effective participants are presented with stepping patterns that they have to memorize and then execute on a grid-like mat The number of steps inside the stepping patterns is progressively increased throughout the course of the intervention this is an n-back (1-back) visuospatial working memory task Although the exact procedures of how the neural systems that support working memory are altered through intensive training are not fully elucidated a recent neuroimaging study found that intensive working memory training produces functional changes in large-scale front parietal networks (69) Besides increasing the amount of step positions to be memorized another way to increase cognitive load is to step while conducting additional motor or cognitive tasks an exemplary protocol for 9 weeks of the group-based version of the StepIt exercise program aiming to improve physical cognitive and psychological fall risk factors will be presented The difficulty level described here is appropriate for older adults without major mobility or cognitive impairments thus it can be used as a prevention (rather than rehabilitation) tool Further recommendations regarding possible adjustments of this protocol to fit other populations purposes and settings are presented in the “Design Recommendations” section While participants are walking across the room the instructor calls random numbers (from 1 to 9) and participants have to find the closest square on one of the mats with the number called by the instructor and step on it For the session's main phase (45 min) each participant stands behind their mat and starts performing the instructed stepping patterns All sessions should be supervised by preferably two instructors The main instructor (MI) leads the sessions and the assistant instructor (AI) stands at the back and offers help/correction when needed The MI demonstrates and explains the patterns first on a flipchart which ensures good visibility also for participants standing at the back and if needed also performs the pattern on his/her mat Participants are then given time to practice the pattern until they can memorize and reproduce it without looking at the MI/flipchart During this time both instructors walk around and provide help in case some participants need it After a couple of rounds of practicing in their self-selected speed a metronome is switched on and participants have to execute the stepping patterns in the given pace Each session includes stepping patterns executed with one leg (left leg remained in the predefined start square and right leg stepped on the given numbered squares mirrored) pattern was executed with the right leg remaining at the start square and the left stepped on the given numbered squares) as well as patterns with both legs moving in turns (to avoid confusion execution should always with the same leg) 80% of the participants master the current pattern In case some participants manage to learn the sequence much earlier than others in order to avoid longer periods of inactivity and boredom they can be approached from either the MI or the AI and asked to recall and repeat the patterns that have been taught so far in the session or to learn new patterns (with the same difficulty level) which the instructors come up with spontaneously Around 306 patterns should be developed for 18 training sessions. The number of patterns decreases every 2 weeks (because the number of steps within each pattern increases every 2 weeks) in order to have enough time to practice the patterns within the 45 min stepping phase. For a detailed description of the number of patterns for each condition and week, please see Table 1 Number of patterns to be practiced for each condition In case this concept is used as an intervention with fixed duration, the exact content of each session (including the exact stepping patterns, the pace as well as the starting point/square for each of the 18 sessions) should be predefined and put together in a manual (see Supplementary Material for some exemplary training plans of week 1 The last 5 min of each session is a cool-down phase where various stretching exercises in a standing position are performed The difficulty level is gradually increased within each session (by using first one leg and then both for the execution of the stepping patterns) as well as between sessions Between sessions, the difficulty level is increased based on four principles (P); two of them addressing the increase of motor (M) load and two of them addressing the increase of cognitive (C) load (Table 2): (I) Execution speed (PM1): starting from 92 beats per minute (BPM) for the single-leg and 64 BPM for both leg patterns to 118 and 104 BPM (II) Direction and amplitude of the steps (pattern complexity) (PM2): starting from small forward and lateral steps to larger backward and oblique steps (III) Number of steps for each pattern (pattern length) (PC1): starting from 3-step up to 8-step patterns (IV) Additional motor/cognitive tasks (Dual-/Multi-tasking) (PC2): starting with execution in Single-task condition (ST) to Dual- (DT) and then Multi-task (MT) condition Difficulty level increase between sessions for the first 3 weeks the patterns require forward In week 4–6 the patterns include much longer steps which require to skip the middle line of the squares (for example stepping from 7 to 2 etc.) and finally the last 3 weeks of the intervention the patterns also require steps with crossings of the legs (for example from 6 to 5 or from 6 to 2) Pacing of the steps is increased by 2 BPM at almost every session both for the RF/LF as well as the BF patterns the patterns include 3 steps and every 1 or 2 weeks the number of steps included in each pattern increases by 1 step resulting in week 8–9 when patterns consist of 8 steps Detailed overview of the content of all 18 training sessions the presented concept can be used as a framework for the development of further prevention and/or rehabilitation stepping exercise programs we present recommendations on how this exercise program can be adjusted to fit different purposes Being a form of highly specific balance training this stepping training program can be applied to either healthy older adults aiming to improve their overall balance ability as well as to neurological patients aiming to improve their stepping capacity and/or to any other fall-prone target group aiming to prevent falling It can be delivered either as a group-based training program using mats and at least one instructor (possibly also two depending on size and homogeneity of the group) or as a home-based training program using an ICT-based solution (e.g. which would not necessarily require the presence of an instructor physiotherapy practices or nursing home facilities) it is also possible to offer this mat-based but still in 1:1 training Depending on the participants' preferences All of them have proven to be equally effective There are several ways to make training more variable or more challenging for example by altering material Using a very thin mat (or even “drawing” the 9-square grid on the floor) is suitable for beginners or fall-prone older adults At later stages or for relatively healthy older adults thicker/softer mats can be used or the thin mats can be placed on unstable surfaces (e.g. which will increase proprioception and neuromuscular demands In order to also train step length, the size of the mat can easily be personalized using the Pythagoras theorem by measuring maximum step length (MSL) with the maximum step length test (75) (or alternatively leg length or height) Beginners or fall-prone older adults can then start by training with mats sized to fit ca 60% of their MSL and then progress up until 80% of their MSL it is possible to have three standard sizes (Small: 85 × 85 cm Normal: 90 × 90 cm and Big: 95 × 95 cm) and use them based on participant's height and/or training level Regarding tempo and dosage, a recent meta-analysis on the effects of RAS in Parkinson's patients (24) found that training using this method should include tempo variations ±10% with respect to the preferred cadence for a minimal period of 20–45 min per day Although these recommendations cannot be used as is for a stepping training because they are based on gait studies they can be used as a basis and adjusted to fit needs and fitness levels of other kinds of neurological patients (stroke content/focus of training can also be adjusted to fit needs of different target groups Participants with memory complaints or mild cognitive impairment can focus on the cognitive load (pattern length and dual-/multi-tasking) whereas stroke/Parkinson's patients can focus on the motor load (execution speed and pattern complexity) To reduce the burden of falls in older adults falls prevention exercise programs that apply new research evidence into practice need to be developed. The ability to execute movements varying in speed, amplitude, complexity and additional cognitive load is critical for preventing falls (76) and thus stepping training programs that incorporate such aspects have resulted in substantial reductions of falls (15) We have proposed a framework for a stepping training program reviewed the theory and evidence underlying it and described in detail the implementation of an exemplary 9 week group-based stepping exercise program applying the suggested concept The exemplary training plan does not require costly equipment and has potential for high adherence levels taking into account the social aspect of physical activity However, being a group-based, it also has certain limitations such as that, the use of relevant secondary cognitive tasks (e.g., visual search tasks) is not possible. Moreover, adjustments of the difficulty level cannot happen according to each participant's current personal level. However, recent evidence suggests that even just exposure to varying levels of task difficulty is sufficient for inducing training gains (77) making individually-tailored training not always necessary The elements as well as progression rate of the exemplary training program can be easily modified to fit the needs of different samples (e.g. which makes it a useful tool for the development of further stepping exercise programs Pilot feasibility studies are needed to test its feasibility (safety/adverse outcomes and enjoyment/adherence) its effectiveness to improve fall risk factors is then to be tested via randomized controlled trials besides the improvement of stepping capacity further expected outcomes include the improvement of further physical further studies using this exercise regimen or modified versions of it are encouraged All data for this study have been provided in the article/Supplementary Material and was the major contributor in writing this manuscript TM and WZ contributed significant components to the study design All authors critically revised and approved the manuscript This research was part of the project MyAHA: my Active & Healthy Aging which was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement Nr 689582 The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest We would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Jessica Coenen in generation of the stepping patterns and overall study preparation The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2019.00318/full#supplementary-material Evidence for a link between changes to gaze behaviour and risk of falling in older adults during adaptive locomotion Impaired response selection during stepping predicts falls in older people—a cohort study Do voluntary step 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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Eleftheria Giannouli, ZWxlZnRoZXJpYS5naWFubm91bGlAdW5pYmFzLmNo This work, Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement Enhances U.S. Army and Greek Partnership, by MAJ Matthew St Clair, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright Recording for New Zealand’s Rattle Music for over a decade now Greek pianist Tania Giannouli has rightly been compared to the great pianists associated with ECM Records Her music traverses the boundaries between jazz and her current projects include Hemera with Daniele Roccato and Michele Rabbia the brilliant one of a kind trio heard on 2020’s In Fading Light duo projects with Nik Bärtsch and Arve Henriksen and a quartet The Book Of Lost Songs with Maria Pia De Vito For her fifth Rattle release Giannouli perhaps faces the ultimate challenge Having limbered up with a series of unaccompanied concerts that began in Mannheim in 2020 Giannouli acknowledges the magnitude of the task in her album notes: “Alone on a stage and to allow yourself to be vulnerable.”   but over the course of 72 gripping minutes she leaves no corner of her instrument unexplored Recorded in glorious detail at Athens Concert Hall by George Kariotis and Alex Aretaios the album’s 24 jewel-like pieces together form an intoxicating mosaic The material includes fully-worked compositions open-textured improvisations and short mood pieces exploring extended techniques and with a few notable exceptions Giannouli’s focus is largely inward and contemplative the dark interior dramas of “Transportal” and the momentary bliss of “Light Sleeper” are close to perfection “Novelette” shares a certain sepia-tinged romanticism with Paul Bley’s classic “Ida Lupino” and I was particularly taken by the shorter and more experimental pieces such as “The Call” which punctuate the music’s flow with a fleeting sense of disquiet that Giannouli is an essential artist to watch Solo is a privileged window into a restlessly creative mind.  Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id" "a10b9ab3910a230ae0277fed9d51be81" );document.getElementById("c08a1a06c7").setAttribute( "id" and website in this browser for the next time I comment Please check your inbox (and also your spam or junk folder We kindly request to oblige by fair use rules when quoting or sharing our content All original content is copyrighted unless credited otherwise but does take on work as a paid publicist and/or sell advertising packages Where a piece published after 26th October 2012 appears which is linked to this activity the content will be clearly sign-posted with the PP symbol Receive our weekly email newsletter with Jazz updates from London and beyond If you’ve been on our list all along By Peter Margasak  |   Published March 2021 introspective Greek pianist Tania Giannouli regularly has experimented with different instrumental settings radically changing the timbre and tone of her music without altering its charged air of mystery she played intimate duos with Portuguese reedist Paulo Chagas while another was a trio with New Zealand taonga pūoro—a traditional Maori wind instrument—player Rob Thorne She continues the practice on In Fading Light with a trio formed to play at Jazzfest Berlin in 2018 Giannouli and oudist Kyriakos Tapakis carve out moody ostinato patterns—delicately embroidered with pretty melodies—that clear space for the drifty explorations of trumpeter Andreas Polyzogopoulos On “Labyrinth,” a measured piano line cycles meditatively as the oud freely casts about before falling into shadowing accents giving a wide berth to the trumpeter’s smears “When Then” reframes the plot with an aggressive as a hammering left-handed piano line intertwines with a twangy oud lick propelling Polyzogopoulos toward a sharper tone and phrases that slash The folkish “Hinemoa’s Lament” lies somewhere in between But there are pieces that depart from that form: the elliptical “Fallen,” when all of the musicians impart silence magnificently; the more abstract improvisational gambits of “Disquiet”; or the high-speed The players reveal a strong collective rapport across the album and every gesture and phrase seems generous and empathic But the pervasive moodiness can feel like a damper on what might have been accomplished with a more varied emotional palette Bergamo Jazz — situated in a medieval city of 120,000 souls an hour northeast from Milan in Italy’s Lombardy region — has developed a reputation for presenting programs that juxtapose A-list American improvisers with European counterparts of greater or lesser repute Curated for the second year by vocalist Maria Pia De Vito running March 17–20 through a variety of local venues The proceedings begin with a solo recital by Greek pianist Tania Giannouli recently renovated space with pristine acoustics pianist Vijay Iyer presents a recently configured trio with bass virtuoso Matt Brewer and young drummer Jeremy Dutton whose credits include a long association with Joel Ross Performing opposite is well-known Roman drummer Roberto Gatto’s all-Italian quartet pianist Alessandro Lanzoni and bassist Matteo Bortone woodwind artist Guido Bombardieri and guitarist Marco Pasinetti play a duo program of music by Charles Mingus celebrating the bassist-composer’s centennial at the Circolino of Città Alta is a set at Auditorium di Piazza della Libertà by Danish guitarist Jakob Bro’s nuanced trio with trumpeter Arve Henriksen and Catalan drummer Jorge Rossy (now a resident of Basel) who convened for the stimulating 2021 ECM album Uma Elmo Rossy’s successor in the Brad Mehldau Trio leads an all-star American-expat quartet with alto saxophonist Logan Richardson guitarist Charles Altura and bassist Joe Sanders at Teatro Donizetti an opera house built in 1800 and later named for the composer Gaetano Donizetti a Bergamo native who composed 70 operas during his half-century on the planet reuniting with past partners Drew Gress on bass and Joey Baron on drums with Italian icon Enrico Rava on flugelhorn (Rava was Bergamo’s artistic director after Uri Caine and Paolo Fresu held the position and right before Dave Douglas — De Vito’s immediate predecessor — assumed it.) After the festivities bassist and Bergamo native Marco Rottoli helms a quartet with tenor saxophonist Michele Polga (Dee Dee Bridgewater) at Dieci a local jazz club with a kitchen that stays open late the ambiance turns speculative on a late-morning recital by New York-based guitarist Ava Mendoza distortion and harmonics into her well-wrought flow Sustaining that mood is French violinist Régis Huby leading his sonically expansive veteran plugged-in quintet with English trumpeter Tom Arthurs French bassist Claude Tchamitchian and Italian drum adventurer Michele Rabbia The evening’s climax is a solo piano concert by Brad Mehldau who had been scheduled to play in Bergamo with his trio in March 2020 precisely when Bergamo was at the peak of its devastating widely reported experience as the global epicenter of COVID-19 resulting in the cancellation of that year’s festival March 20 comes from the rampantly creative brass-and-electronics Star Splitter Duo as Chicago outcat stalwart Rob Mazurek and 30-something Gabriele Mitelli (Brescia speculative improvisation remains the watchword with the reunion of Giornale di Bordo (Ship’s Log) consisting of veteran Chicago drum hero Hamid Drake and like-minded Sardinian luminaries Antonello Salis on piano and harmonica Paolo Angeli on prepared guitar and Gavino Murgia on saxophone Sunday’s three other concerts feature voices framed in contrasting contexts Jobim-centric Trio Correnteza — Perugian clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi Brazilian guitarist Roberto Taufic and Abruzzese vocalist Cristina Renzetti — performs at the Sala Piatti an intimate 1903 Art Nouveau space well-suited for chamber performance Rising-star New York-based vocalist Michael Mayo brings his quartet (with keyboardist Andrew Freedman drummer Robin Baytas) to Teatro Donizetti for a concert opposite “Viento Y Tiempo,” piano maestro Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s project with singer Aymée Nuviola who delivers Yoruban sensibility and vocal power the way Celia Cruz did it in her prime By Amerissa Giannouli and trips to Mars are often seen as central solutions to the climate crisis leading to diverse socio-ecological and economic implications Despide their inconsistencies and conflicted outcomes their influence is so strong that our present approaches and vision for the future seem constrained by them This short essay aims to explore opportunities and entry points that could mobilise personal and collective transformations in how we think and act with the goal of fostering a more ecological and socially just response to the climate crisis The question that arises is how we can move beyond Sustainable Development and Education for Sustainable Development How can we identify and inspire new perspectives and solutions that redefine our relationships with both human and beyond-human worlds how can these new ideas be expressed through various educational and learning processes which are inherently interconnected with human existence Rather than viewing the environment as separate from humanity this approach highlights the interactions and interconnections between the self and the broader world Similarly, Anna Kliampa in her PhD thesis refers to education in an era of climate change as open and ecologically adapted to the ever-changing social and physical realities, aiming to challenge the separation between society and nature. She also draws on Félix Guattari’s concept of ecology which emphasises the transformation of mentality and subjectivity is highlighted as a medium for expressing this transformation and the relationship between nature and society extends beyond environmental policies and environmental science focusing on the interaction and cooperation of and in between nature and society Such a relational approach seems to align with indigenous knowledge systems, which emphasise diversity and recognise the interconnectedness of the material and spiritual worlds. These knowledge systems are often marginalised by the dominant model of Sustainable Development providing further reason to critically examine this top-down model Thus, in Degrowth, the goal is not to merely reduce production and consumption as an end in itself. Instead, the reduction of specific ecologically harmful forms of production and consumption is a desired outcome within a broader transformation for justice and democracy This representation of Degrowth distinguishes it from business models such as the Circular Economy although it has an important role in processes of reducing ecological burdens may focus more on microeconomic levels and individual choices Nadine Kaufmann, Christoph Sanders, and Julian Wortmann advocate for experiential workshops and long term educational experiences that promote Degrowth values and encourage experimentation with alternative visions and practices, particularly those experiences that make environmental justice struggles visible they also acknowledge that these processes can still reproduce power relations and exclude those who are unable to participate in such they suggest involving participants in the co-creation of educational programs and recognising the inherently political nature of education Their proposals focus on non-formal education settings which are typically facilitated by organisations and collectives For formal education contexts like schools and universities, Anna Kliampa in her PhD thesis advocates for integrating climate change education into the curriculum alongside the implementation of daily practices aligned with degrowth values within educational settings she emphasises the importance of building relationships and networks with other educational institutions that share similar interests Education for Degrowth could involve both formal and non-formal actors and institutions that adopt practices and values that support there remains a gap in realising the full transformative potential of Education for Degrowth beyond formal and informal educational contexts particularly in the case of non-voluntary participation in these educational opportunities Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash Building on this logic, I suggest that various collective initiatives, like urban commons, by promoting connection between society and nature, can be considered informal educational institutions and spaces of experimentation that support Education for Degrowth. These initiatives can contribute to creating a diversified education system within a diversified economy Education for Degrowth encompasses different interconnected aspects It is about sharing and co-creating content that critically examines economic growth and development and different roles between educators and learners that can be inspired by critical pedagogies But it is also about practicing the alternatives within and outside a typical (formal and non-formal) educational environment The various collective initiatives are part of an ongoing and fluid informal educational process they should not be seen only as representations of Degrowth or post-capitalist alternative economic solutions This is important because it introduces another entry point to mobilise personal and collective transformations from an educational perspective Education for Degrowth promotes socio-economic and ecological transformation for the perceptions about education itself Education for Degrowth involves the co-creation of educational processes and systems that harmonise and interact with the ever-changing socio-economic and ecological context which is in line with an eco-social philosophical approach to education Its aim is to nurture caring and sustainable ecological relationships rather than to reinforce the current model of economic growth Education for Degrowth can challenge dominant solutions to the climate crisis and free our imaginations for the future opening up new possibilities and alternatives in the present Amerissa Giannouli holds a B.Sc in Economics a M.Sc in International and European Economic Studies organising participatory educational and spatial planning activities aimed at socio-ecological transformations By Rupert Read, Ed Jarvis The recent Climate Change Committee report on the UK government’s lack of preparedness for climate breakdown reveals negligence at a historic scale By Kurt Cobb, Resource Insights Our political discourse is actually far narrower than our total public discourse which makes addressing big problems such as climate change very difficult By Helena Norberg-Hodge, Henry Coleman, Local Futures we need to condemn globalization loud and clear And we need a cohesive strategy that moves us sensibly and sanely in the opposite direction Resilience is a program of Post Carbon Institute a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the world transition away from fossil fuels and build sustainable Reposting Policy | Privacy Policy Volume 2 - 2015 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2015.00094 Oceans and seas represent over 70% of the earth's surface living aquaticresources can provide a significant contribution to food marine ecosystems are subject to increasing pressures and competing usages resulting from resources over-exploitation and pollution In order to produce efficient marine management plans it is essential to consider the total economic value provided by the marine ecosystems we are focusing on the Marine Framework Strategy Directive and the European Marine Spatial Planning that are established for the protection and efficient use of the marine area We present the ecosystem services approach with regards to the marine ecosystem and propose economic methods that capture the marine ecosystem's total economic value in relation to the opportunity cost of marine space Values should be used to guide policy makers following the European directives and initiatives the “blue” economy represents roughly 5.4 million jobs and generates a gross added value of almost €500 billion per year Nevertheless, marine ecosystems are subject to increasing pressures and competing usages, resulting from recourses overexploitation and pollution. Scientists (for example Kamanlioglu, 2011; Visbeck et al., 2014) note that while all these years human development and economic growth have continued with stable or fast rate seas and sea services has exerted major pressures on marine resources ranging from overfishing and increasing resource extraction to various sources of pollution and alterations to coastal zones that often cause the degradation of marine ecosystems and habitats Recognizing that human activities constitute a threat to the marine ecosystem global initiatives continue to be implemented for its protection and sustainable use Understanding the importance of marine resources and considering their potential contribution to economic growth and development the European Union (EU) launched a long-term strategy plan in 2012 to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors This strategy focuses in developing important sectors that have high potential for job creation and sustainable growth (aquaculture legal certainty and security in the blue economy such as maritime spatial planning and integrated maritime surveillance Before Blue Growth, in 2008, the European Union (EU) adopted the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), which aims at achieving and maintaining good environmental status of the European seas by 2020 in relation to marine economic and social activities (European Commission, 2008) • Marine water current environmental status initial assessment considering the environmental impacts of human activities • Definition of the good marine environmental status including the environmental targets and relevant indicators with regards to biodiversity conservation hydrographical conditions that do not adversely affect the ecosystem • Proposing of a monitoring program for the assessment of progress and regulation of the defined targets • Program of measures designed to achieve the good environmental status MSFD requires the application of an ecosystem-based approach which considers the marine ecosystem services that are linked to the human welfare It highlights the need to protect the marine environment by introducing the complex connection between the ecosystem and human activities this approach recognizes the marine ecosystem benefits for the society promoting sustainable management solutions with regards to the program of measures defined under the MSFD This approach will be introduced in further detail in the next section In order to choose the most appropriate strategy to achieve good environmental status it is required to compare the proposed strategies according to their different effects on the marine ecosystem the effects should be expressed in monetary values In this article we are presenting the Total Economic Value (TEV) framework which assists in capturing the total economic value of ecosystem services and informs the policy-makers through the application of economic tools with regards to efficient and sustainable marine management plans we are presenting a new area in maritime spatial planning solutions which is about marine constructions that incorporate different uses of marine recourses and human activities Human activities negatively affect the marine ecosystems and oceans by polluting and overexploiting its resources which all impact on the marine food web and could lead to largely unknown consequences for the biodiversity and survival of marine life forms “For centuries people have regarded them as an inexhaustible supply of food and a convenient dumping ground—simply too vast to be affected by anything we do.” We simply present major pressures and threats to the marine environment and its ecosystem services: • Unsustainable Fishing and Aquaculture The overfishing might represent the largest threat to ocean life and habitats Apart from the major declining in fish stocks aquaculture activities are related to polluting farm discharges Intense human activities put pressure to marine life and other human made products pollute the marine ecosystem The drilling poses major threat to sensitive marine habitats and species and ship groundings are a few examples of negative effects that endanger marine habitats around the world • Climate Change and Inadequate Protection Hence, human-based effects put major pressure on the marine environment and threat its provision of ecosystem services. Based on Defra (2007) ecosystem services are separated in (a) provisioning which include products obtained from the ecosystem which are benefits obtained from regulation processes of the ecosystem which are services necessary for the production of all the other ecosystem services and raw materials are included in the provisioning services Climate regulation and water purification are included in regulating services aesthetic and educational services are cultural services nutrient cycling is a supporting service for the marine ecosystem According to ecosystem services approach, the marine ecosystem's structure and processes produce services that benefit humans. This means that changes in ecosystem services are translated to changes in human welfare and could be expressed in monetary terms (see also Price, 2007) Applying the ecosystem services approach in decision-making is essential for the economic analysis of a project or policy This approach assists on considering the generated environmental and socio-economic benefits (positive or negative) economists try to elicit these values and express them in monetary terms to use them for the evaluation of policies and marine management plans suggest that the ocean provides humanity with both animate and inanimate services Despite the use-value derived from animate ecosystem-services ocean provides a number of non-tangible ecosystem services that include aesthetic and cultural values as long as these services are not traded in the market it is difficult to value the social and environmental externalities that society industries and any human activity produce to the ecosystem services The Total Economic Value (TEV) framework consists of valuation methods that express the values of non-market resources in monetary terms The valuation methods are based on either consumer preferences elicitation (see Hedonic price method and Travel Cost method) or use stated preferences techniques (see Contingent valuation method and Choice Experiment) An overview of the values and methods used to derive the Total Economic Value of marine resources is presented in the Figure 1 below Figure 1. Total economic value framework (Bertram and Rehdanz, 2013) Direct use value corresponds to value that affect utility directly and are reflected in the market resources have indirect use value and option value altruistic value and bequest value reflect the need to protect the resource for others and future generations existence value derives from the knowledge of the existence of a resource We are also giving brief definition for each of the above presented techniques based on Pearce (2002): • Market Valuation Techniques: These techniques are market based which means that the good is already traded in the market Hence the estimation of the good's value is based on market data and prices that are easy to be found • Revealed Preferences Techniques: These techniques are based on observed people's behavior which follows a utility maximization process How much people value an environmental attribute or good is reflected by another good which is traded in the market Hedonic price method and travel cost method are revealed preferences techniques and can be used for standard market good valuation as well as non-market good valuation • Stated Preference Techniques: These techniques in contrast to the revealed preferences techniques elicit people's willingness to pay or accept a good or attribute of a good There are survey based techniques and include contingent valuation and choice modeling Contingent valuation method is used when we want to value a non-market good while choice modeling is used when we want to value attributes of a non-market good • Benefit Transfer: Apart from primary research techniques we can apply a benefit transfer which transfers adjusted values derived from other studies that have conducted primary research Although the valuation techniques presented could be imperfect or controversial, they provide useful information to policy makers (Ledoux and Turner, 2002) Identifying the TEV of the ecosystem is important for the MSFD and for every each policy-making that involves a change in the ecosystem services in order to be able to internalize externalities produced by human activities applying economic public and private policy instruments Assessing the available options and management plans can be done by using economic tools CBA compares discounted flows of costs and revenues (financial and environmental) and identifies if a project or proposed plan can be sustainable in time and space As it is already mentioned the multiple marine-human activities constitute great pressure to the marine ecosystem Effective maritime spatial planning aims to alleviate this problematic situation proposing alternatives for mitigation of the negative effects and to restore the affected marine ecosystem Maritime spatial planning is about the place and time marine human activities exist It reduces conflicts between sectors and creates synergies between different activities It secures coordination between countries and enhances cross-border cooperation while protecting the environment by identifying the impact and opportunities for multiple use of space According to OECD's project “The Future of the Ocean Economy”2 apart from the establishment of ocean sectors such as shipping traditional ocean and coastal tourism and ports the emerging ocean-based sectors of offshore wind The emerging sectors represent sources of economic growth and employment creation resulting in future implications for ocean eco-systems and sustainability as well as implications for managing the ocean activities In line with future development and the goals of efficient spatial marine planning, Europe has already funded European projects (The Ocean of Tomorrow3: MERMAID Project H2OCEAN Project) related to construction and implementation of multi-use offshore platforms that combine energy extraction technologies aquaculture and recreational activities in the sea these platforms—apart from reducing financial costs—have the potential to support economic and social development these platforms are able to decrease the negative environmental effects derived from human activities that are allocated in different places in the sea The different functions incorporated in a multi-use platform host opportunities mitigation since one function could potentially mitigate for the negative effect produced by the other We can elicit the option value by estimating people's willingness to pay today in order to reduce the potential loss of an ecosystem service in the future the average values for beach recreation and non-consumptive recreation in estuarine waters are $178.9 and $ 83.5 per person per year The average values for recreational fishing and recreation in coral reef ecosystems are $408.7 and $700.4 per person per year providing more space for recreational activities results in positive economic benefits as well summarize monetary values for most of the marine ecosystem services which can be affected by technological synergies such as multi-use platforms we can implement a multi-use platform that incorporates energy production and aquaculture instead of implementing separately an aquaculture system and an offshore wind farm Assuming that this could save about 1000 hectares of space only considering the genetic diversity that could be protected results in $5000 (5 × 1000) economic benefits each year (2007) Table 1. Summary of monetary values for each service per biome (values in Int.$/ha/year, 2007 price levels; de Groot et al., 2012) In this paper we are focusing on the Marine Framework Strategy Directive and the European Marine Spatial Planning that are established for the protection and efficient use of the marine area We have presented the ecosystem services approach with regards to the marine ecosystem and we have given an overview of the Total Economic Value framework Ecosystem services values should be used to guide policy makers following the European directives and initiatives as part of sustainable use of marine environment we recommend for marine projects assessment to focus on estimating the option value due to efficient use of ocean space This is a holistic approach that enables relevant drivers and players 1. ^http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/policy/blue_growth/ 2. ^http://www.oecd.org/futures/oceaneconomy.htm 3. ^http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/ocean-of-tomorrow-2014_en.pdf 4. ^http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/documentation/studies/documents/economic_effects_maritime_spatial_planning_en.pdf “The valuation of ecosystem services Chapter 18,” in Biodiversity and Human Wellbeing: An Ecological and Economic Perspective Perrings (Oxford: Oxford University Press) On the environmental effectiveness of the EU Marine strategy framework directive CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Forest conservation in Costa Rica when nonuse benefits are uncertain but rising CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Defra (2007). An Introductory Guide to Valuing Ecosystems. PB12852, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (London). Available online at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/policy/atural-environ/documents/eco-valuing.pdf Global estimates of the value of ecosystems and their services in monetary units The importance of marine spatial planning in advancing ecosystem-based sea use management CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Ecosystem-based marine spatial management: an evolving paradigm for the management of coastal and marine places CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar European Commission (2008) Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy European Commission (2014) Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar “Ecological sustainability of marine resources,” in ESEE 2011 the 9th Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics (Istanbul) Valuing ocean and coastal resources: a review of practical examples and issues for further action CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Nunes, P. A., Ghermandi, A., Portela, R., Rao, N., and Teelucksingh, S. S. (2010) “Recreational, cultural aesthetic services from estuarine coastal ecosystems,” in Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei Working Papers. Paper 385. Available online at: http://services.bepress.com/feem/paper385 An intellectual history of environmental economics doi: 10.1146/annurev.energy.27.122001.083429 CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Access to marine parks: a comparative study in willingness to pay CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar An Introductory Guide to Valuing Ecosystem Services A New Analysis of Marine-Related Activities in the UK Economy with Supporting Science and Technology London: Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology Google Scholar Securing blue wealth: The need for a special sustainable development goal for the ocean and coasts Citation: Koundouri P and Giannouli A (2015) Blue growth and economics Received: 18 August 2015; Accepted: 22 October 2015; Published: 06 November 2015 Copyright © 2015 Koundouri and Giannouli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited *Correspondence: Phoebe Koundouri, cGtvdW5kb3VyaUBhdWViLmdy Do the observed sex differences in self-estimated intelligence among younger adults extend to older adults as well? And what are some psychological correlates of self-estimated intelligence among older adults? These are the research questions pursued by a new paper published in Brain and Behavior “I am interested in neuropsychological assessment in older people. For many years I was wondering if there is a correlation between actual cognitive performance/intellectual abilities and self-estimated performance in cognitive tasks – including intelligence tests – not only in older adults, but also in young adults,” said Dr. Vaitsa Giannouli, a scientific collaborator at the European University Cyprus inspired by the research done by Professor Furnham I wanted to examine for the first time these variables along with some neglected ones including self-estimated emotional intelligence A total of 311 Greek younger and older adults (128 men) participated in this research while the mean age of older adults was 77.9 Individuals with a history of various psychiatric and medical issues that could affect neuropsychological performance Participants provided an estimate of their overall intelligence on a scale of 0 to 100 as well as ratings of their physical health and physical attractiveness on a 9-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 9 (very) They also indicated how optimistic and religious they were Participants completed a working memory cognitive test which is a strong predictor of intelligence they responded to a questionnaire assessing for positive and negative affect which have previously been excluded as a variable that could potentially influence self-estimated (emotional) intelligence “Young males in Greece rate their intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional quotient (EQ) higher than young females This finding was not confirmed for older adults for which surprisingly the reverse pattern was found,” Giannouli told PsyPost “This is a novel finding; so far researchers haven’t observed gender differences in self-estimated intelligence for older adults and religiousness were positively associated with participants’ self-estimated IQ and EQ there were no links between objective measures of working memory and self-estimated IQ suggesting this variable of interest is often overestimated “I do hope that this study prompts other researchers to examine and compare different age groups in their future studies and to include more psychological variables in their research designs.” What are some future research questions worth pursuing “Are these findings in Greece culture-specific or is there a more general cross-cultural phenomenon that researchers previously missed by focusing only on samples of young adults The study, “Are sex differences in self-estimated intelligence an elusive phenomenon? Exploring the role of working memory, creativity, and other psychological correlates in young and older adults”, was authored by Vaitsa Giannouli. Feeling unexpectedly grossed out by a romantic partner? A new study sheds light on “the ick,” revealing that individual traits—like how easily disgusted someone is or how high their standards are—can shape these reactions. Women reported it more often, but both genders experience it for surprisingly minor reasons. A new study finds that older adults engage in less self-reflection about their personality traits than younger adults. People with lower emotional stability or extraversion tend to reflect more, especially through comparisons with others or their past selves. Researchers have uncovered a link between politicians' dark personality traits and affective polarization, suggesting that voters who support these leaders experience greater dislike for political opponents—especially when they feel ideologically aligned with the candidate. A new study finds that people with avoidant attachment styles toward their parents are more likely to be childfree, offering insight into how early emotional bonds may shape decisions about parenthood. A large-scale study has found that conservatives in the United States trust scientists less than liberals across nearly all scientific fields. Attempts to boost trust through brief, targeted messages failed, suggesting these attitudes may be deeply rooted. A massive global study finds that people living in democratic nations are less likely to score high on the “dark triad” of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—and more likely to be empathetic and satisfied with life. Are wealthier people more generous? A new meta-analysis suggests they might be—at least slightly. Drawing on data from over 2.3 million participants across 60 societies, researchers found that individuals from higher social classes are modestly more likely to act generously or cooperatively. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region is on high alert as the level of the Pinios River rose 10 meters in places overnight Severe flooding has been reported in some of the city’s suburbs while the city center remains unaffected The Workers’ Housing district and Ippokrati have risen between two and a half to three meters Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said The effort to prevent the city from flooding are focused at the entrance to Larissa where diversions have been opened at points where the Pinios bends Overnight dozens of volunteers and municipal workers filled sandbags to bolster embankments wherever necessary to protect homes helicopters winched people from rooftops and military personnel used rubber boats to rescue families from floodwaters up to 3 metres deep in the region after a devastating rainstorm killed at least 10 people which meteorologists said was the worst to hit the country since records began in 1930 leaving a trail of ruin after a record summer heatwave that had touched off huge wildfires power lines fell and crops in the fertile Thessaly plain were wiped out Civil protection authorities confirmed a death toll of 10 It said 1,700 people had been rescued in total among them 296 airlifted away from their homes Residents said the water was 3 metres deep in places Dozens of villages in the region were submerged People who called in to TV stations said hundreds of people were still stranded were despondent at the work of a lifetime disappearing in hours “The damage we have all suffered to our homes is irreparable A lifetime’s worth of work [was lost] within two hours,” said Haralampos Tsergas sitting on a trailer with other locals and their pets after being rescued so we closed it again and left through the windows,” he said the storm will deal an economic blow to the country which emerged from a decade-long debilitating debt crisis in 2018 but Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said it could withstand the disaster “Greece’s economy is now strong enough to tough out such a catastrophe I will also mobilise every European resource so that we can get additional help to cover necessary compensation for households,” he said during a visit to the region Thessaly Governor Kostas Agorastos said he estimated the storm had caused around three times the 700 million euros of damage inflicted by extensive floods in 2020 Thessaly accounts for about 15 percent of the country’s annual agricultural output and is a major cotton-producing area Torrential rains left more than a metre of silt dumped on once-fertile soils “The agricultural production isn’t destroyed just for this year The thick coat of silt means it is no longer fertile,” Lekkas said Extreme weather events have struck across the globe in recent weeks India had its driest August since records began more than a century ago one region received more rain in 24 hours than London does in an average year – followed a huge wildfire in the north and the country’s hottest summer on record Scientists say Greece is on the front line of climate change with freak weather incidents increasingly common “It’s just one event after the other,” said Christos Zerefos head at the Athens Academy Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology Authorities issued evacuation orders for three areas around the central city of Larissa on Friday over concerns of additional flooding from the Pinios hunger … I’ve never seen such a thing in my life,” survivor Stavroulla Brazioti Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox Pianist and composer Tania Giannouli describes the experience of free improvisation with New Zealand ‘singing treasures’ expert Rob Thorne Taonga püoro means ‘singing treasures’ The term describes something more than just a set of musical instruments – the flutes wood and shell trumpets and bull roarers that Maori people make out of things found in nature It describes something more than a musical genre; it is an approach to music and to musicianship it is the ethos of turning yourself into a vessel becoming the intermediary through which music passes and reaches people coming from a realm beyond the musicians’ grasp Tania Giannouli had a first-hand experience of that whose work is released through New Zealand-based Rattle Records she is one of the most notable young contemporary music artists to emerge from Greece in at least a decade her cinematic soundscapes gaining recognition around the world Having one foot firmly set into structured ‘classical’ composition and the other in free improvisation she is always eager to delve into new ventures and step into uncharted territory But when she invited her Rattle Records stablemate Rob Thorne into the studio when the pair first set foot in the studio he only got to demonstrate the instruments and tried to play together because I had some ideas to try which didn’t work out Tania soon realised that she had to let go and go with the flow “It’s the nature of these instruments,” she admits “You can’t make them do what you want But it is also the way Rob thinks about music it’s the Maori voice coming through the instruments so that they speak through the instruments.” leaving all their ideas and preconceptions outside we just sat in and started improvising,” she says Giannouli and Thorne looked at each other and spent some time in silence trying to fathom what exactly had happened They had embarked on a journey of improvisation “The best word to describe it is ‘journey’ I can’t think of another,” she says “It is one of the most powerful and important things I’ve ever done in music in general but Rob also said that he had never played like that before We had obviously influenced each other’s playing and this is something beautiful and magical when it happens.” “You just have to make the decision and accept that you’re going to play without a safety net “You get into the music and lose touch with reality The most interesting thing to me was to experience how easy it was for two musicians playing one instrument each at the time can create such a rich and complicated world when I listened to it; all this world was created by just a piano and a shell?” The recorded material was sent to Steve Garden “This is a very personal project for all three of us,” says Giannouli was a chance to let out things that are hidden deep into my subconscious.” what Rewa demonstrates is two worldviews coming together music reviewer Phontas Troussas describes the album as one-of-a-kind “Rewa has a distinct style relating to the transcendence of ancient sounds to now,” he wrote describing the collaboration between Giannouli and Thorne as the “fusion of centuries” carrying “vibes from the natural landscape” of New Zealand The track list features some titles in English “I don’t know,” Giannouli admits “I guess it’s as Greek as I am.” ‘Rewa’ is available to purchase in CD form or as a digital download from Rattle Records, rattle.co.nz WinnipegNewsMan with severe sleep apnea warns of treatment challenges in ManitobaBy Michelle GerwingPublished: May 03, 2023 at 10:05PM EDT Twitter feed ©2025 BellMedia All Rights Reserved Join the news democracyWhere your votes decide the Top 100 Reasons for you to sign up to our newsletter here no womb and (until fairly recently) no upper vagina after a family doctor referred her to the hospital when she still hadn’t menstruated When I was at the hospital for further examination she said that I was never going to have children Her manner was so sharp and blunt it almost cut me One major reconstructive surgery when I was 18 when the doctors create a new vagina tunnel in order to have normal sexual intercourse I had another operation a couple of years later on my perineum Joanna doesn't need any more operations - at least for now - and she hopes to keep it this way if I wanted to have a biological baby there is one solution But it’s an extremely risky operation to begin with People from all over the world are sending me messages to congratulate me the love that I receive from people around the world I have spoken to numerous women who have this condition so honoured that they decided to take the first step and talk about it It is like I have 'sisters' from all over the world Joanna will begin her studies in forensic psychology in September and her determination to raise awareness has lit a fire So many women have it and most of them feel so ashamed I want to tell them that they are not alone we have each other and they should not be afraid anymore about themselves We owe it to ourselves and to the people who love us the most More: These wonderful illustrations show what women do when no one is watching More: When this woman came out as trans at her workplace, her co-workers had a truly wonderful response Joanna Giannouli (27) revealed that she was diagnosed with Rokitansky syndrome when she was 16 A Greek woman who was born with a rare condition which means she has no womb cervix or upper vagina has opened up about the impact it has had upon her life In a blog posted on BBC.com when her mother became concerned that she was not menstruating Doctors discovered that Joanna did not have a vaginal tunnel and revealed that she would never have children naturally as she was born without a womb Joanna underwent major surgery to construct a vagina in order for the teen to have sex in the future like something that you cannot get rid of it,” she told BBC “I had partners who emotionally abused me about this condition I couldn't have a stable relationship for many years because of that your chances of having a good and stable relationship It leaves you with a huge void that cannot be filled One of the hardest aspects of the syndrome is that Joanna will never be able to carry a child because she does not have a womb which she says was tough to come to terms with A mother is not the one who gives birth but is the woman who cares for a child I'm not thinking about it but maybe in the future I will have children Joanna revealed that it has taken more than a decade to come to terms with her Rokitansky diagnosis but she is no longer ashamed “I'm still feeling bad about it but I'm not ashamed any more “I want to support every woman that has this condition because I have been through hell and I know what problems this can cause Many women have committed suicide because of this “I found the strength and courage because I want to help other women in the same position because if we don't help each other then who will It gives me strength when I talk about it,” said Joanna Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel