Etikett: Theconversation.com

There’s currently no cure for dementia. Although some recently developed drugs show promise in slowing the progress of the disease, these are both costly and may have limited benefit for many patients.

However, a recent Cambridge-led study has found a link between commonly used prescription drugs – including antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines – and a lower risk of dementia.

Given these drugs are already licensed and their safety profiles well established, this could enable faster and more cost-effective clinical trials in the search for a cure.

The study analysed health data from 130 million people, including one million people who had been diagnosed with dementia. Having identified possible links with prescription drugs and dementia risk, the researchers conducted a systematic review of 14 studies to explore these links further and understand which prescription drugs might affect dementia outcomes.

This led them to the conclusion that antibiotics, antivirals and anti-inflammatory drugs were all associated with reduced dementia risk. The researchers also found a link between the hepatitis A, typhoid and diphtheria vaccines and lower dementia risk.

It’s unknown how long participants had been taking any of these prescription drugs or how many times they’d been prescribed them during their lifetime, so it will be important for future studies to investigate these factors.

Immune reponse and brain health

Based on their findings, the researchers suggest that the protective effects that these prescription drugs appear to have may be because they reduce inflammation, control infections and improve overall brain health.

This supports the theory that common types of dementia could be triggered by viral or bacterial infections. We know that infections that last a few days to several weeks, whether bacterial or viral, can cause great damage to the brain. This is because infections cause an enhanced immune response from the body, which can damage brain cells – disrupting brain connections and accelerating memory decline.

Antibiotics and antivirals help to combat infections.

Antivirals and antibiotics help combat infections, which in turn may dampen this excessive immune response. Meanwhile, vaccines can prevent these infections from occurring in the first place. In both cases, this can significantly reduce the risk of prolonged infections and their potentially devastating consequences for brain health.

It’s also worth noting that other studies have also shown an association between the BCG vaccine, which protects against tuberculosis, and a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s (a type of dementia).

Read more:
My work investigating the links between viruses and Alzheimer’s disease was dismissed for years – but now the evidence is building

Inflammation and dementia risk

Regarding the new study’s finding of a link between the use of anti-inflammatory medications and a reduced risk of dementia, notably non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen were identified as potentially protecting against memory decline.

Again, this is another piece of evidence suggesting that inflammation plays a central role in dementia.Inflammation is the body’s natural way of defending itself against injury or infection. But when inflammation lasts too long, it can cause harm – particularly to the brain. Long-lasting inflammation releases chemicals that can damage healthy tissue. These chemicals can damage brain cells and disrupt communication between them, which leads to memory loss.

Anti-inflammatory drugs work by blocking the production of certain molecules that cause inflammation. By doing this, they might help protect brain cells from damage caused by long-term inflammation.

Next steps

The evidence for the benefits of other types of drugs on dementia risk was less consistent. The study found that certain blood-pressure drugs, antidepressants and diabetes drugs were linked to both a lower and higher risk of dementia.

One possible reason is that these prescription drugs affect different biological processes. Even drugs designed to treat the same condition may target different biological mechanisms, which might explain the varying results.

For example, some blood pressure medications – such as ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) – improve brain health by enhancing blood flow and reducing inflammation. On the other hand, beta-blockers primarily lower heart rate and may not provide the same neuroprotective benefits.

Diabetes drugs also had mixed associations with dementia risk. But as people with diabetes are already at a higher risk of developing dementia, this makes it difficult to determine whether this association was due to the effects of the drugs themselves, or if diabetes is the main factor at play.

Overall, more research is needed to confirm this study’s findings and better understand how all these drugs appear to influence dementia risk. Randomised controlled trials will be crucial to see if these prescription drugs really can be repurposed to prevent dementia effectively. At the same time, looking into the biological mechanisms that are potentially affected by these drugs could shed light on the causes of dementia.

This research highlights the importance of addressing inflammation and infections as part of a broader strategy for maintaining brain health. And by finding new uses for existing drugs, scientists could deliver treatments to patients more quickly – offering hope in the fight against dementia. Läs mer…

New Zealand’s housing crisis disproportionately affects Māori in rural areas where healthy homes are in short supply and collective land ownership presents a challenge to banks.

Governments have been grappling with this issue. The previous Labour-led government committed more than NZ$730 million to Māori-led housing solutions, and an announcement this week by the current coalition government saw a $200 million investment into affordable rentals.

But Whare Ora, a community-run housing initiative in Te Tairāwhiti (East Coast), shows that innovative approaches to home ownership can be found within communities.

Since 2020, Whare Ora has developed a social enterprise model, focused on producing healthy, affordable and transportable whare (houses) for local communities. Run by the charitable company Hikurangi Enterprises, Whare Ora has now supplied more than 80 homes for local whānau.

This project is directly addressing regional housing deprivation and the finance barriers for building on Māori land under multiple ownership.

This holds particular potential for Indigenous housing.

Financial barriers

Despite Whare Ora producing high-quality houses at affordable prices, access to finance remains a significant barrier for whānau placing homes on ancestral lands.

This is mainly due to the perceived risk of lending against Māori freehold land, which is inalienable and often collectively owned. This creates issues for mainstream retail lenders that require land to be alienable to a single owner to secure a mortgage.

In exceptional circumstances, such as Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei’s recent agreement with BNZ, this can be mitigated if a trust can provide a guarantee over lending. This usually requires a large asset base or financial holdings.

However, the majority of Māori who want to build homes on ancestral lands are individual or collective whānau who don’t have access to such resources. The perceived risk excludes many who could service a loan but are unable to because the financial services don’t exist or aren’t designed for collectively-owned land.

For a region such as Te Tairāwhiti where about 25% of land is under Māori governance, this creates a lost opportunity for whānau to utilise ancestral lands for housing.

This is a systemic issue, documented by the National Housing Commission in 1983 and the Auditor General’s reports in 2011 and 2014.

Affordable portable houses provide an opportunity to build on ancestral lands.
Hikurangi Enterprises, CC BY-SA

Community partnerships

Seeking a solution to this finance barrier, Hikurangi Enterprises collaborated with Community Finance, a community-to-community lender, to investigate possible ways to administer lending for housing on collectively-owned land.

Supported by philanthropic organisations, this collaboration has given way to Kaenga Hou, a new trust set up to provide a range of progressive home-ownership options in Te Tairāwhiti.

Significantly, one option facilitates lending on ancestral land through a license-to-occupy agreement, based on an ethical finance model funded by impact investors.

Impact investors provide finance capital at below-market interest rates, while producing a social or environmental benefit (in this case addressing regional housing issues and strengthening Māori wellbeing through connections to ancestral lands).

This allows for more compassionate and innovative forms of investment, where complex issues can be worked through rather than written off as too risky or not profitable enough.

An ethical finance model

In designing a model to attract impact investment, Kaenga Hou and Community Finance sought innovative ways to mitigate investor risk while placing whānau at the centre of decisions, protecting them from exploitative lending and ensuring fair outcomes.

This was achieved through a creative rent-to-buy programme using whānau rental payments to reduce risk and build resilience into the model.

In short, whānau make rental payments to the trust. A portion of these payments repays the trust’s interest payments to investors funding the model. Another part builds a savings account, allowing the whānau to buy the home outright over time.

A final portion will be directed toward a support mechanism for all whānau in the programme. Known as the aroha fund, this aspires to support others if they face unexpected financial difficulty.

Innovation lies in the subtle details that reduce risk for both whānau and the investors. For example, the aroha fund increases the chance of programme completion, setting whānau up to succeed, while ensuring financial and social returns for the ethical investor.

Similarly, in the unlikely event whānau have to exit the programme, a proportion of the money accrued through the savings account can be returned and they would have paid an affordable rent while in the programme.

In this worst-case scenario, the programme aims to leave whānau in a better-off position than when they entered, uplifting whānau and safeguarding the reputation of investors. Collectively, these aspects ensure that positive whānau outcomes are just as important as creating a financial return.

Lessons for Te Tiriti-led futures

At its heart, housing on ancestral lands is a Te Tiriti issue. The Waitangi Tribunal recently concluded the Crown has a duty to provide housing because of the guarantee of tino rangatiratanga over kāinga (homes and settlements).

The government currently provides a loan scheme for housing on whenua Māori, but since its inception in 2010 it has been constantly scrutinised for low uptake and accessibility, with similar pitfalls to retail lending.

This highlights the importance of taking lessons from community-led innovations and their approaches. In this case, more compassionate investment and a whānau-centred finance model created new possibilities for managing risk associated with lending to ancestral Māori lands.

Genuine partnerships, seeking to protect whānau while participating in finance systems, were key. This provides a road map for how Aotearoa might face such pressing issues, now and into the future. Läs mer…

As Spain faces a growing housing affordability crisis, the government has proposed new measures aimed at foreign buyers, though experts suggest these may not effectively address the shortage or reduce housing costs.

On 13 January, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a proposal for a 100% tax on residential properties bought by non-EU citizens who do not reside in Spain, as well as an increase in taxes on short-term rentals. A week later, he suggested an outright ban on property purchases by non-EU nationals who are not residents. The latter would be a ban on non-EU foreigners, when neither they nor their families are residents, from buying houses in Spain. The potential measures would affect, for example, UK or US citizens wishing to purchase a holiday home in Spain.

These proposals come at a time when Spain’s housing market is under intense pressure in certain locations. While the economy is growing and unemployment is falling, demand for housing is increasing, especially in cities like Madrid and Barcelona. However, potential buyers and renters are facing a severe shortage of available homes, and those that are available are often priced out of reach for average salaries. In popular coastal areas, short-term rentals and second homes are also pushing up prices and displacing locals from the market.

The root cause of the housing affordability crisis, however, is not foreign buyers but a shortage of available homes. The key to resolving this issue lies in boosting construction, which has been sluggish since the real estate bubble burst in 2008.

Stagnant construction since 2009

Spain’s housing boom began in the 1960s, with the most significant growth occurring in the 2000s. Today, around 95% of the country’s housing stock was built before 2009, and about 22% of these homes were constructed between 2000 and 2009.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, however, new construction has slowed considerably due to limited land in prime areas, bureaucratic delays, a lack of skilled labor, and restricted access to financing for small and medium-sized developers. Only 5% of Spain’s housing stock has been built in the last 15 years.

A report by the Bank of Spain estimates that by the end of this year, the country will face a housing deficit of around 600,000 units.

The impact of tourism

The housing affordability crisis has also sparked protests over overtourism. Locals in cities and tourist-heavy areas feel pushed out by tourists, with neighbourhoods overtaken by short-term rentals.

However, Spain’s economy relies heavily on tourism and foreign investment, and many second homes are also owned by Spaniards or other Europeans. Non-EU buyers represent a small portion of the overall market, and while they may have an impact in certain areas like Barcelona and Madrid, their influence on national housing affordability is limited.

Demand is outstripping supply

The real solution to Spain’s housing affordability issues lies in increasing supply, not in imposing taxes or bans on foreign buyers. The government would do well to focus on policies that support new construction. This could include streamlining zoning laws, incentivising developers, and improving infrastructure to make more areas suitable for development. Speeding up the permit approval process would have a much more significant effect on affordability than targeting foreign investors.

In any case, it is unclear whether these proposed measures will become law. Proposals like these often make headlines but may fail to materialise, or end up significantly altered before passing into law.

Regardless of the outcome, the focus on taxing foreign buyers may serve as a political strategy to create uncertainty in the market, discouraging foreign investment without addressing the underlying issue of housing supply. Läs mer…

As dementia rates rise globally, families and care partners are seeking ways to maintain meaningful connections with loved ones experiencing memory loss. In many cultures, food is central to cultural identity and family life.

Cooking traditional recipes can also a unique way to evoke memories and foster social connections. Familiar flavours, scents and cooking techniques can provide support and comfort to those living with dementia.

In South Asian cultures, food is deeply intertwined with identity, memory and relationships. From the aroma of freshly ground spices to the rhythmic sounds of a mortar and pestle, food evokes strong sensory memories, making it a powerful tool in dementia care.

When it comes to supporting people with dementia, food and cooking can be culturally relevant ways to enhance well-being, strengthen inter-generational bonds and preserve identity — making them an increasingly important tools in dementia care.

My research focuses on understanding the experiences of people living with dementia and their care partners in South Asian communities, and the importance of culturally inclusive care for dementia.

Food and memory

The connection between food and memory is well-documented. For individuals living with dementia who often experience memory loss and disorientation, familiar foods can trigger memories of specific events, places or people. For example, the scent of ghee-laden parathas or the sight of turmeric-coloured curries may evoke memories of childhood kitchens, family celebrations or community gatherings.

In South Asian communities, food is a cornerstone of cultural identity. Dishes are often tied to regional traditions, religious practices, and family legacies. For individuals living with dementia, preparing or consuming familiar foods can provide a sense of stability and continuity.

A person with dementia may find comfort in the ritual of making chai, even if they forget other aspects of their daily routine. Similarly, they might find joy in tasting the traditional foods of their region.

A woman serves bread to people at a home for the elderly in Jammu, Indian-administered Kashmir.
(AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Dementia care often involves strategies that engage the senses to improve quality of life. Food offers a multi-sensory experience — taste, smell, touch, sight and even sound. For South Asian older adults, the act of rolling dough for rotis, smelling fragrant basmati rice or hearing the crackle of mustard seeds in hot oil can stimulate the senses and provide therapeutic benefits.

Engaging individuals in food preparation can also help maintain fine motor skills and foster a sense of purpose. Even simple tasks like peeling garlic, mixing spices or stirring a pot can provide opportunities for engagement and connection. Importantly, these activities do not need to be perfect — the process itself is valuable.

In cultures around the world, meals are rarely solitary. Food is inherently social, often prepared and shared among family members. For individuals living with dementia, mealtime can be an opportunity to strengthen familial bonds and reduce feelings of isolation. Sharing a meal allows care partners and family members to engage in meaningful interactions, even if verbal communication is limited.

Inter-generational cooking can be particularly engaging. Grandparents living with dementia can pass on recipes to their grandchildren, creating moments of joy and preserving cultural heritage. These interactions help younger generations understand dementia while fostering empathy and appreciation for their elders.

Adapting for dementia care

While traditional South Asian dishes can be comforting, they may need to be adapted for individuals living with dementia. For example, finger foods like pakoras or stuffed parathas can be easier to handle than dishes requiring utensils. Similarly, simplifying recipes with fewer ingredients or steps can make the cooking process more manageable for individuals living with dementia.

Nutritional considerations are also crucial. Many South Asian dishes are rich in fats, carbohydrates and spices, which may not align with the dietary needs of older adults. Modifying recipes to include more vegetables, lean proteins and lower salt levels can ensure that meals are both nutritious and culturally familiar.

Despite its benefits, using food as a tool for dementia care is not without challenges. Care partners often face time constraints, lack of resources or their own emotional burdens, which may limit their ability to engage in food-based activities. Additionally, some families may struggle to adapt traditional recipes, especially if they lack culinary skills or are unfamiliar with healthy substitutions.

Community support organizations can play a pivotal role in overcoming these barriers. Cooking workshops, memory cafés with food themes or culturally tailored resources can empower families to incorporate food into dementia care. For instance, community centres can organize events where older adults and care partners come together to prepare traditional meals, share recipes and build support networks.

Inter-generational cooking can be particularly engaging. Grandparents living with dementia can pass on recipes to their grandchildren, creating moments of joy and preserving cultural heritage.
(Shutterstock)

Culturally tailored dementia care

Integrating food into dementia care underscores the importance of culturally tailored approaches. Incorporating cultural elements like food acknowledges the holistic needs of individuals and their families. Health-care providers and community organizations must prioritize cultural humility, recognizing the unique role that food plays in the lives of South Asian families living with dementia.

In the journey of dementia care, food is more than a tool for nourishment. For South Asian communities, it is a source of connection, identity and healing. By integrating food into care practices, families and care partners can unlock its potential to evoke memories, strengthen relationships and improve the well-being of individuals living with dementia.

With culturally sensitive support and resources, food can become a powerful ally in navigating the complexities of dementia care, one bite, one memory and one story at a time. Läs mer…

Is the threatened trade war between Canada and the United States igniting a new form of Canadian nationalism? Polls suggest Canadians are overwhelmingly opposed to any notion of becoming the 51st American state as the U.S. anthem is being roundly booed at sporting events in Canada.

If a new Canadian nationalism is emerging, what will it look like in a country that declared itself in 2015 the first post-national state, stoking envy around the world over Canada’s inclusive nationalism?

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to launch 25 per cent tariffs on most Canadian exports in a month’s time after weeks of persistently provoking both Canadian leaders and citizens with his repeated calls to make Canada the 51st state.

Read more:
Canada, the 51st state? Eliminating interprovincial trade barriers could ward off Donald Trump

Such calls have led to significant outrage, prompting Canadian leaders that include Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland and Doug Ford to respond that Canada is not for sale and that Canada is a country by choice.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, wearing a ‘Canada Is Not For Sale’ hat, speaks as he arrives for a first ministers meeting in Ottawa on Jan. 15, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Opposed to joining the U.S.

If there was any suggestion that being a “post-national” state would lead to an openness to join the U.S., recent polls show the opposite: 90 per cent of Canadians reject that scenario.

Two thirds of Canadians polled in 2021 felt that Canada is faring better than the U.S. on most counts, including quality of life, protection of rights, standards of living and opportunities to get ahead.

This percentage had significantly grown compared to the 1980s or 1990s.

So how does a feeling of being an inclusive, post-national state reconcile with a firm sentiment of patriotism that is growing stronger by the day? And what are the contradictory currents in Canadian identity today?

Teenagers ride in a vintage truck in a parade during rainy Canada Day celebrations in Cremona, Alta., on July 1, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Contemporary Canadian identity

I have been studying nationalism for 30 years, with a special focus on how immigration, migration and national identity interact. My work suggests there are a few elements that buttress and support Canada’s identity today.

National identity is not a closed container of cultural elements. It develops interactively. As we’re seeing today, amid uncertainty, geopolitical competition as well as close socio-economic interdependence, national identity can emerge with a renewed force.

Diversity can lead either to a plural national identity that is open to change or a neo-tribal identity that is reactionary. Plural nationalism acknowledges the changing demographic or political circumstances of the nation, and through a process of tension, conflict and change, it creates something new.

This nationalism is plural not because it acknowledges diversity as a fact, but because it makes a commitment to engage with diversity.

But dealing with new challenges and increasing diversity may also lead to rejecting “the other.” I use the term tribal to emphasize that this type of nationalism, regardless of whether the in-group is defined in territorial-civic or blood-and-belonging terms, is predicated on an organic, homogenous conception of the nation.

In this situation, the nation is represented as a compact unit that does not allow for variation or change. The only way to deal with challenges of mobility and diversity is to close rank, resist and reject it.

Social media creates echo chambers.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Neo-tribal nationalism is not static. It is dynamic and interactive too — although its reaction to new challenges and to diversity, from within or from outside, involves closure and rejection.

It is neo-tribal because it develops and thrives in a world that is ever more interconnected. Social media platforms play an important role here as their algorithms create neo-tribal digital ecochambers where everyone is closed within their digital bubble of like-minded people.

COVID-19 experiences

Challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, Canada faced important dilemmas. For instance, should temporary residents be encouraged to return home or or stay when the pandemic broke out and borders closed around the world? Canada opted for the latter.

Unlike Australia — where temporary workers and international students were encouraged to go home — the Canadian government stated that temporary migrants whose “effective residence” was in the country would be supported to stay.

The term “effective residence” defined membership on the basis of habitual residence; where people lived, worked, sent their kids to school and paid taxes. Living together formed a sense of common fate, reinforcing an expansive and inclusive view of who is a Canadian.

In addition, recognizing the essential work performed by many temporary residents, such as asylum-seekers employed in senior care homes, Canada introduced special measures to facilitate their transition to permanent status.

Read more:
Working more and making less: Canada needs to protect immigrant women care workers as they age

Marco Mendicino announces a program to help asylum seekers who worked in the health-care system during the COVID-19 pandemic to gain permanent residence status at a news conference in Montréal in August 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

In August 2020, Marco Mendicino, Canada’s immigration minister at the time, announced a special path to permanent residency (now known as the Guardian Angels program), noting that “they demonstrated a uniquely Canadian quality …in that they were looking out for others, and so that is why today is so special.”

Mendicino emphasized that the behaviour of these workers qualified them as Canadians; their important contribution in “caring for the other” was defined as a very special element in the national identity.

National unity bolstered by diversity

The Canadian patriotism that is emerging today in the face of Trump’s actions — and in the words of almost all Liberal, Conservative and NDP leaders — builds on solid ground.

Canadian nationalism has not just been about being polite, but rather builds on decades of positive confrontation with challenges.

A July 2024 Environics poll suggested Canadians do not feel they need to choose among their multiple identities or to exclude others in order to revitalize their sense of identity and belonging.

National unity is strengthened by internal diversity. The looming trade war and threats of annexation by Trump may be having a beneficial impact in reminding Canadians of the values that unite them and that Canada is indeed “a country by choice.” Läs mer…

Lubumbashi is a city in the mineral-rich Katanga region in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Many people might not have heard of it, but Lubumbashi and its surrounding region have been at the centre of global geopolitics since the start of the 20th century. The area provided immense sources of copper, a metal that helped electrify the planet in the 1900s. It was also the source of all the uranium for the atom bombs used in the second world war.

The global demand for these minerals came at a great price. Lubumbashi grew as a divided city where housing and labour were spatially and racially segregated. Congolese workers were exploited, abused and taxed as urban and mining strategies were used to reshape society.

History is repeating itself. Neocolonialism now shapes the extraction of DRC resources.

Read more:
DRC is the world’s largest producer of cobalt – how control by local elites can shape the global battery industry

Today, the southern DRC produces over 70% of the world’s cobalt. Cobalt is a mineral essential to decarbonisation – a strategy to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions. Cobalt is present in batteries in electric vehicles, mobile phones, laptop computers and renewable energy storage systems.

Like copper and uranium before it, cobalt mining has been linked to widescale exploitation and child labour. Corruption and elite capture remain defining features of mining in the DRC.

We are academics who research urbanisation, mining and sustainability as well as urban planning and environmental management. Our recent paper addresses the fact that African cities like Lubumbashi are at the heart of events that have shaped the modern world, yet they are woefully neglected in global urban theory (thinking about how cities form and develop) and urban geography.

Focusing on the global north and neglecting the south leads to major data gaps and contributes to mismatched and outdated urban policy.

Rock containing cobalt.
© Brandon Marc Finn

We also argue that the human rights abuses and perils of today’s cobalt mining are new forms of old colonial practices. They strip the land and people of resources without proper pay. They offer green minerals to the global north at the cost of lives in the global south.

Sustainable cities and global decarbonisation are essential if we are to reduce cities’ carbon footprints and decarbonise economies in the face of the climate crisis.

Lubumbashi’s history, therefore, can offer a fuller understanding of the human and historical costs of minerals that shape cities – and the world.

A brief history of Lubumbashi

Lubumbashi was originally called Elisabethville. It was established by colonial Belgium in 1910 precisely to extract copper for global markets. This was done through a company named Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK).

Concessionary companies made enormous profits in the Congo Free State between 1885 and 1908. The entire country stood under the private ownership of King Leopold II of Belgium. These companies were given the right to extract minerals and rubber through taxes imposed on local people.

A road being built in the Belgian Free State in 1890.
PHAS/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

The Belgian Compagnie du Katanga (which later founded UMHK) had the task of establishing the physical and economic infrastructure of the region. In exchange for laying the groundwork for the extractive industries, soon to be headquartered in Elisabethville, the company was given a third of all unoccupied land in Katanga. The Belgians established a copper smelter and constructed roads. Temporary headquarters were established to supervise Elisabethville’s expansion.

One initial method of controlling the local rural people was a “hut tax” that had to be paid to live in Lubumbashi. Later, a “head tax” was introduced to raise funds for colonial management. It forced people into labour as the only means to pay off their newly acquired debt to the colonial state.

Elisabethville served as the device to assert effective occupation. It also staved off the possibility of British occupation of the territory. The Belgians planned Elisabethville by reproducing the urban forms and racial segregation of Bulawayo’s grid in Southern Rhodesia (part of today’s Zimbabwe) and Johannesburg in South Africa.

Elisabethville’s early plan.
F Grevisse/Institut Royal Colonial Belge

UMHK dominated the colonial economy as demand for copper increased worldwide. UMHK also stipulated which seeds would be planted where for agriculture. It dissolved local markets and whipped labourers.

Copper was in such high demand because it is a non-corrosive material that conducts electricity well. It lined telegraph and electrical transmission cables across the globe.

Copper mining acted as a springboard from which UMHK could spread its influence. It developed railways, cities, labour camps and mining sites throughout Katanga.

Spatial segregation in Elisabethville.
P Vandenbak

This allowed UMHK access to the extraction of another resource that would shape the global geopolitical landscape: uranium – extracted from the Shinkolobwe mine in Katanga.

It was the Belgian colonial presence that allowed the US to have access to uranium deposits as they sought to beat Germany in the race to build atomic weapons. All the uranium used in the two nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from Katanga.

This highlights the global significance of, but a neglected focus on, the impacts of mineral supply chains in the global south. Control over Lubumbashi’s minerals cannot be underplayed in this global historical event.

Katanga seceded from the Congo for three years, 11 days after the country gained independence from Belgium in 1960. The fight to gain control over Katanga’s resources led to the US and Belgian-backed assassination of the first independence leader, Patrice Lumumba. He was intent on reunifying Congo.

Mobutu Sese Seko became president of Zaire (today’s DRC) after a coup in 1965. He nationalised UMHK a year later. Mobutu served as president for almost 32 years, and his regime was characterised by autocratic corruption and economic exploitation.

Cobalt and global decarbonisation

The growth of modern technology relies, at least in part, on the extraction of cobalt in the DRC before it is shipped, mainly to China.

Cobalt is extracted as a byproduct of copper mining. Artisanal and small-scale mining and child labour remain a salient feature of cobalt extraction in the DRC. These miners receive little to no support and reflect the historical structural marginalisation created in the region.

Europeans settled in the city centre and locals in camps and informal areas.
Junior Kannah/AFP/Getty Images

Lubumbashi serves as the mining headquarters of the southern DRC, and other cities, like Kolwezi, have grown rapidly in response to the surge in cobalt demand. Spatial and labour-related inequalities from the past are being replicated and expanded on in the present.

The DRC’s impoverishment continues apace as South African, Kazakh, Swiss and, with increasing influence, Chinese mining companies maintain their practice of exclusionary extraction, social displacement and political corruption.

Why this matters

Our research shows the importance of understanding the history of extraction and urban settlement in the region to shed light on new forms of old practices associated with decarbonisation. We see this as a continuing form of colonial power – as neocolonialism.

Contemporary debates around global inequalities associated with decarbonisation highlight how African populations must endure poor living conditions while the global north transitions to low-carbon technologies. We must find ways to move away from carbon-based economies that do not reproduce colonial inequalities.

Read more:
Patrice Lumumba’s tooth represents plunder, resilience and reparation

Lubumbashi demonstrates the importance of African cities and resources in understanding critical global developmental and geopolitical issues.

For decarbonisation to be socially and environmentally just, it must contend with the people, places, and environments on which the future of low-carbon technology is based. Lubumbashi’s history shows how challenging this task will be. Läs mer…

In contemporary digital society, remembering is automated. Social media platforms and smartphones often offer features like iPhone’s and Facebook’s “Memories” that resurface users’ past posts and photographs.

For many people, these reminders of the past are a source of joyful reminiscence. For others — like survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) — they can be harmful.

These nostalgia-driven Memories features enact what I call “platform violence:” unintended but harmful consequences, caused by automated features, designed to profit tech companies without adequately considering users’ well-being.

Algorithmic recall

Algorithms select and retrieve images from users’ digital archives, with the supposed goal of reminding users of happy moments. Introduced in 2018, Memories was promoted by Facebook’s product manager, Oren Hod, as a tool for improving mood and connection with others.

Yet these algorithms can get it wrong by bringing up painful, or even traumatic, memories instead. Writing about the feature in Forbes Magazine, Amit Chowdhry acknowledges that “memories … are not all positive.”

While Facebook’s algorithm attempts to filter out negative memories using keywords and feedback from users’ reactions, these safeguards are often inadequate. As my research has found, resurfaced photos of abusers can trigger emotional, psychological and even physiological distress for survivors of GBV.

When iPhone Memories draws images from a user’s Photos cache to create slideshows, smartphone users can be similarly triggered. The fact that these slideshows are set to cheerful music is something survivors find particularly “creepy,” as images of abusive exes scroll by.

Unexpectedly being presented with photographs from a phone archive can re-traumatize survivors.
(Shutterstock)

Familiar faces

GBV encompasses a spectrum of abusive behaviours, ranging from catcalling and rape jokes to sexual assault and femicide. In Canada, a woman dies every other day due to GBV, with intimate partner violence claiming a life every sixth day. One in four women reports GBV in their lifetime, although the actual number is higher due to fears of not being believed or stigmatization.

Particularly relevant to my research, in at least 80 per cent of cases, the perpetrator is someone the survivor knows, such as a partner, friend or family member. This makes it likely that survivors once shared social media connections or posted images with their abuser, increasing the risk these photos will resurface as a memory.

For survivors, encountering a photo of their abuser can be as traumatic as seeing them in person. In interviews with 15 survivors, all reported intense emotional reactions including panic, upset and physical symptoms like nausea and a racing heart. Those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were particularly vulnerable to being triggered.

For instance, one participant, Nyla (names have been changed), described experiencing “full panic mode” and emotional shutdown for days after seeing a photo of her abusive ex-partner. Kelly, another participant, felt her “heart race” and avoided her smartphone and social media altogether. Other participants’ responses included feelings of social disconnection, fearfulness when out in public and mistrust of their own judgment of others. This presented barriers to forming new, healthy relationships.

Nancy, a survivor of an abusive relationship, recalled photos from the period when she was planning her escape.

“I look into my eyes in those photos and know I was secretly planning on leaving my partner,” she said. The resurfaced images were a “surreal” reminder of the facade she maintained during the final years of her marriage.

Mobile phones and social media are essential to daily life, and limiting their use can have a negative impact.
(Angelo Moleele/Unsplash), CC BY

Inclusive, safe design

Survivors often lack the familiarity with platforms’ settings to pre-emptively block or delete potentially triggering content. Even when settings exist, they are often buried in menus, hard to navigate or require survivors to manually confront and delete painful memories or photographs.

Once the survivor has been triggered, they often no longer have the emotional capacity to take the steps needed to delete or remove the upsetting memory at the time.

Recommendations like telling survivors to leave their device at home or deactivate their social media accounts place responsibility for addressing abuse on survivors, rather than perpetrators. Mobile phones and social media are essential to daily life, including for work, social interaction and access to safety-related services. Advising survivors to simply log off or avoid their devices shifts responsibility onto survivors and distracts from the underlying issues: society’s high rates of GBV and the need for safer, more inclusive design.

And inclusive design is needed: nostalgia-producing algorithms, as they currently function, disproportionately harm communities exposed to higher rates of violence, including women and LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals.

Opt-in rather than out

Interview subjects suggested that platforms require users to opt in if they wish to have their past resurfaced, rather than being forced to opt out, often after being triggered.

Tech developers, often from privileged backgrounds, fail to account for marginalized users’ experiences when designing features.

Platforms must prioritize user safety by making it easier to control and customize the memories that resurface. Settings for managing features like Memories should be accessible, easy to use and sensitive to the needs of those who have experienced trauma.

By recognizing the unintended consequences of algorithmically driven nostalgia, tech companies can take steps toward creating platforms that empower all users. Läs mer…

Nature-based solutions use nature to solve environmental problems caused by humans, such as global climate change. But not every ecological project counts as a nature-based solution. Some projects only bring about a slight improvement to the environment, while others even cover up environmental damage. Cornelius Okello and Timothy A. Downing research climate change adaptation and development. They discussed their latest research into nature-based solutions with The Conversation Africa.

What are nature-based solutions?

Nature-based solutions are inspired by nature or use nature to address problems in society. These problems include food and water shortages, poor health, and environmental degradation. Nature-based solutions bring about benefits to biodiversity (the wellbeing of the environment) and human wellbeing.

Their intention is to acknowledge nature’s role in the economy and society, and include nature as a participant in finding ways to repair environmental damage.

They’ve been embraced by international policymakers and funders as the model approach for addressing biodiversity loss.

Read more:
Urban greening in Africa will help to build climate resilience — planners and governments need to work with nature

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has created a global standard that projects must meet in order to qualify.

A nature-based solution must show that it has led to an increase in the number of plant or animal species in an area. This enhances the natural balance among organisms and their environment. It also has to show that it is based on local conditions (rather than a one size fits all blueprint). Nature-based solutions must involve local communities, include Indigenous knowledge and make sure that the most disadvantaged people in the area benefit from the solution.

Read more:
Planting trees can help the climate, but only if we also stop burning fossil fuels

Where benefits to the environment may lead to unintended harms to people, a nature-based solution must monitor and address these harms as soon as they occur and include safeguards to protect local communities.

It must also promote adaptive management based on rigorous science. This means that scientists and environmentalists must continually learn from mistakes and use these lessons to improve the nature-based solution.

Why are they considered to be a solution?

Nature-based solutions use the power of ecosystems to solve problems that are intertwined with nature. For example, food security, water security, human health, economic and social development, environmental degradation, climate change, and natural disasters are problems which cannot be solved without involving nature.

This re-framing of how problems should be solved is empowering. The nature-based solutions concept suggests that environmental problems caused by humans can be solved – and that the solutions exist in nature.

Nature-based approaches are also often more cost-effective because they use locally available materials. They’re less likely to create additional environmental problems. For example, urban greening projects are not expensive to implement. They bring tangible benefits to cities without negative repercussions.

What are their shortcomings?

Few projects meet the global standard set by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. For example, our research looked into projects in savanna ecosystems in Africa that addressed land degradation, food and water security, and resource scarcity. But we found that there is not yet enough evidence to show that these projects comprehensively restore the continent’s savanna grasslands.

In another research project, we investigated whether nature-based solutions could help conserve water supplies for the 200 million people who live in Africa’s arid and semi-arid lands. These water scarce areas cover 66% of the continent.

Agroforestry, Rwanda.
Pool/Getty Images

In these areas, initiatives have been set up to improve soil quality, harvest water, and start agroforestry (where food crops are planted with trees, saving water needed for irrigation). Our research found that these kinds of interventions are successful, or not, largely depending on their design and how they are implemented.

We think a clear understanding of nature-based solutions is important. Otherwise, policymakers and project funders may support any project that claims to be a nature-based solution.

Nature-based solutions may even become oversimplified approaches to complex issues.

For example, a small tree-planting project that a corporation may implement to improve its image. This opens the door for potential “greenwashing” – when a wide variety of projects can claim to be solving environmental problems with natural solutions, even when this is not true.

Where have nature-based solutions worked?

Innovative activities have been implemented in Africa with some success. For example, sustainable biofuel projects and attempts to make agriculture resilient to changing climate. Paying communities incentives to conserve natural land is another example.

These projects have been successful on a small scale throughout Africa but do not meet all the criteria of a nature-based solution.

Zaï pits in the Sahel.
Alina Bossuet/Flickr

For example, zaï pits are meant to be a nature-based solution that restores damaged grassland and improves soil for farming. They conserve water and create habitats for termites. The termites improve the soil by breaking down plant matter and digging holes that allow rainwater to seep into the ground.

Zaï pits have a basis in nature and they use Indigenous knowledge and locally available material. However, researchers do not yet know if they will be able to support grassland restoration over the long term, or if they might negatively affect other species. They are labour-intensive to set up, and therefore it is unlikely that they’ll be established on a large enough scale to reduce global climate change.

This raises the question: can a nature-based solution be small enough to suit the local context but large enough to address global problems sustainably?

We concluded that perhaps nature-based solutions are a contradiction in terms. However, they force a discussion that would otherwise be lacking about who benefits from environmental “solutions” projects and who loses, at what social and ecological cost, and with what implications for the future.

The authors would like to thank Yvonne Wambui Githiora, who co-wrote this article and the original research, and Professors Daniel Olago and Margaret Owuor for their reviews. Läs mer…

When apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa underwent significant social and political transformation. A key aspect of this shift was the push for greater inclusion and representation of Black South Africans across all sectors – including psychology.

Dr Liezille Jacobs was part of a pioneering generation of Black psychologists who started their training in 1995. Now she has written a book, Rocklands: On becoming the first generation of Black psychologists in post-apartheid South Africa. In it she explores the barriers she and her colleagues faced and unpacks misconceptions around what psychology is and does. She also argues that critical (and African) psychology can both “address the legacies of apartheid and heal the relational traumas caused by systemic oppression”. The Conversation Africa asked her about the book and her work.

What is the book about?

I wrote Rocklands to address the widespread misconceptions that both first-year psychology students and the general public often hold about what it truly means to be a psychologist. It’s common for people to oversimplify the profession. They view it merely as talking to people or offering quick-fix solutions to problems. The reality is far more complex.

I wanted to challenge these superficial ideas and provide a more layered and accurate representation of the field. The process of becoming a psychologist is not just about acquiring theoretical knowledge. It’s also about developing emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and a strong ethical foundation. Psychologists must balance empathy with objectivity, personal insight with professional boundaries, all while navigating the vast complexities of human emotions, relationships, and societal influences.

The goal of the book is to make psychological knowledge and expertise more accessible to the public.

Rocklands is also an account of resilience and personal growth in the face of adversity. The first chapter reflects on my early experiences growing up in Rocklands, Mitchell’s Plain. Rocklands was established during apartheid as part of a government plan to segregate communities. Non-white South Africans were moved to areas like Mitchell’s Plain under the Group Areas Act. Over time, Rocklands grew into a working-class neighborhood, shaped by its apartheid-era history.

The ensuing chapters provide a detailed account of my unique and often difficult journey. I’ve traversed a path less travelled but it’s ultimately led to personal and professional fulfilment.

Why did you decide to study psychology?

I initially dreamed of becoming a journalist. However, my parents encouraged me to explore other career options. The results of a career assessment suggested I should consider social work, occupational therapy or psychology.

Psychology truly caught my attention. As someone with an introverted personality I was drawn to the idea of understanding human behaviour and thought processes on a deeper level. At the time, I envisioned myself working as a clinical psychologist, helping individuals one-on-one.

Everything shifted when I began my formal studies in 1995. I quickly realised that the field of psychology in South Africa – especially in the context of its history – had much more work to do. I saw the gaps in the system and became acutely aware of how psychology had, in many ways, been complicit in perpetuating social injustices. In 1995, as a first year psychology student, I was made aware of the field’s struggle with its apartheid legacy and psychology’s unfinished business.

Hendrik Verwoerd was the architect of the racist policies and segregation system that became known worldwide as “grand apartheid”. He was also a psychologist by training.

Psychology in South Africa has made efforts to adapt to a diverse society. But there are still challenges. These include a disconnect between academic training and professional practice, and the lingering effects of apartheid-era inequalities.

Read more:
Being black in the world: a tribute to pioneering South African psychologist Chabani Manganyi

South Africa desperately needed (and still does today) Critical Psychologists. Critical psychology challenges traditional psychological theories by examining the social, political, and historical contexts that shape psychological issues. It critiques mainstream psychology for overlooking power structures. And it aims to use psychology as a tool for social change and addressing inequalities.

Critical psychologists challenge the dominant narratives of the past, address the legacies of apartheid, and have access to the tools to heal the relational traumas caused by systemic oppression. I knew I wanted to contribute to the transformation of the profession – to make it more inclusive, socially responsible, and oriented towards healing the wounds left by historical injustices. This shift in perspective has shaped my entire career. It’s guided my studies, research and teaching practice.

Have South Africa’s universities changed how they teach psychology?

The academic transformation project continues and universities are striving to adapt to a more diverse student body. But the pace and extent of this change can vary between institutions.

There has been a growing recognition globally that psychology, as a discipline, needs to move beyond its traditional western-centric, individualistic frameworks. It must engage more deeply with local contexts and diverse ways of knowing and experiencing the world.

I was the head of the Psychology Department at Rhodes University in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province from 2022 to 2024. The department has incorporated indigenous knowledge systems such as African philosophical perspectives and non-western psychological practices into our teaching.

For example, community-based service-learning strategies are emphasised in the undergraduate courses I teach. Community-based service-learning combines community service with academic learning. This gives students the opportunity to engage in real-world problems and contribute to the community while applying psychological theories, concepts and methods. Students learn how to become engaged citizens.

We also use a variety of teaching materials – case studies, texts by African scholars, multimedia – that resonate with students’ lived experiences.

Read more:
Decolonising psychology creates possibilities for social change

In a society as culturally and racially diverse as South Africa it is crucial for people to see themselves reflected in the professionals they turn to for help. This can play a role in lowering barriers to mental health services.

South Africa has a legacy of collective struggle and community resilience. Psychology stands to gain from a greater understanding of collective identities, community dynamics and social justice. Psychologists from diverse backgrounds can offer more nuanced, holistic interventions that address systemic issues rather than focusing solely on individual pathology. Läs mer…

United States President Donald Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products in a month’s time. This will lead to retaliatory tariffs by Canada against the U.S.

In an economic context where trade relations are interdependent and highly integrated, this tariff war will likely trigger a complex series of cascading effects, affecting governments, businesses and citizens alike.

President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on deregulation in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

As a doctor in the psychology of decision-making, I strive to understand why we find it so difficult to manage the major complex challenges of our time like this looming trade war, whether it’s climate change and its ensuing hazards, pandemics and health crises, social inequalities, economic crises or the unpredictable behaviour of financial markets.

My aim is to uncover possible solutions to help decision-makers — particularly elected politicians — make choices that will improve the situation rather than aggravate it or create new problems.

Politics is a good example of a complex environment, marked by many interacting factors. Unforeseen events and trajectories further accentuate this complexity, especially as the desired objectives can sometimes conflict.

On the other hand, access to information relevant to decision-making is often restricted. The quality of content varies considerably due to misinformation shared by various sources actively disseminating misinformation influenced by partisan motivations and ideological perspectives, alongside disinformation, which is deliberately biased — two phenomena that have proliferated in recent years.

The limits of cognition

Faced with the complexity of the real world, human beings — politicians and ordinary citizens alike — are limited in terms of decision-making, and the solutions they propose are often influenced by bias.

This includes the propensity to filter information and retain only what corresponds to our personal ideology, and to judge a problem in terms of reference values. This is common in politics.

An example is the $7 million subsidy granted by the Québec government last year to finance two pre-season games for the Los Angeles Kings.

Despite a barrage of criticism, the government defended the expense, arguing it was within the usual order of magnitude of the budget dollars allocated to these kinds of sporting event. Its defence was basically: “That’s what we’ve always done.”

Such flawed thinking leads to an excessive focus on immediate symptoms rather than causes, while encouraging the implementation of superficial solutions. This type of behaviour is essentially aimed at reducing complexity to an intelligible level. Indeed, research shows that beyond four or five related variables, human cognition has enormous difficulty predicting how a situation will evolve.

System thinking

There are no ready-made answers to complexity. However, certain avenues are emerging, one of which has been attracting the attention of researchers for a number of years: it’s called system thinking.

The scientific community is continuing its empirical assessments of whether system thinking is a genuine cognitive skill and how to develop it in a sustainable way — for example, through training (a bit like working out at the gym, but in a lab). But it could potentially enable us to better manage complex socio-political problems.

System thinking is essentially about looking at problems holistically; thinking about the consequences of consequences. In this case, it’s about anticipating the cascading effects that a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian products exported to the U.S. could have on Canada’s economy.

Economists say the direct consequence of these tariffs will be an immediate drop in sales and revenues for Canadian companies, primarily those dependent on exports to the United States.

Read more:
U.S. tariff threat: How it will impact different products and industries

Companies will make bold attempts to enter new markets, but this will entail additional development and logistics costs, at least in the short term.

Some may have to lay off employees and reduce work shifts, which will boost unemployment and compensation claims, because retraining workers takes time. This will put pressure on public finances.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the media following the imposition of a raft of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump against Canada, Mexico and China.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

The impact on suppliers

For other companies, it will mean adjusting production downwards, which will affect suppliers. Reduced order books — whether for raw materials, components or services — will amplify the impact of the tariffs on all stakeholders in the supply chain.

In turn, these companies could be forced to reduce their workforces, leading to a further rise in unemployment.

This will put further pressure on public finances.

Once the government has reached its threshold of tolerance to criticism — the point at which the political costs become too high electorally — it may choose to intervene by supporting certain sectors having difficulties, for example through subsidies or loans designed to temporarily maintain competitiveness and preserve jobs in sectors deemed strategic.

This will put considerable pressure on public finances.

Higher taxes ahead?

In any case, a tariff hike will damage trade relations, leading to an escalation of tensions and a new round of barriers, both tariff and non-tariff. A form of trade war, if you will.

You guessed it: this will put increased pressure on public finances.

Although simplistic in the face of the complexity of the real world, this brief thought exercise is useful, as it allows to practice anticipation: what will happen if the government is forced to increase spending? By using system thinking, you’ll be able to guess that taxes are about to rise.

Perhaps Trump would have made different choices if he had used system thinking and looked at the consequences of his actions. Considering the potential for inflationary pressures that threaten the American economy if he proceeds with tariffs against Canada in a month, any reasonable person would hesitate to impose them. Läs mer…