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PROKALO AGM – Lets get planning!

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5:15pm
Board Room, 5th Floor, Evolution House

Tuesday 21st February

As it’s ‘Flexible Learning Week’ next week we thought it would be a good idea to have a change from the usual set-up and to convene an AGM instead where we can discuss Prokalo’s past, present, and future and you can have your say in how the seminar series develops. It may also be of interest to those of you who would like to see what goes on behind the scenes of organising a seminar series.
 
There will also be the usual drinks and snacks so come along for a chat about the seminar series, see you how you can get involved, as well as the usual socialising with fellow researchers.
 
Hope to see you all there!
 
The Prokalo Team
 

Pecha Kucha at Prokalo!

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5pm for 5:15pm start 

Tuesday the 7th of February

The Boardroom, Evolution House, ECA 

January is over and the long spring days are almost here, lets shake off the January blues and get creative with our research at Prokalo’s Pecha Kucha event or the “Prokalometer”  if you like (sorry Laura I couldn’t resist!)

We are calling for presenters to send us a short (100 word) bio and brief explanation for your presentation by Friday the 3rd February.

[email Laura.bowie@ed.ac.uk and cc’ Pablo at s1474531@sms.ed.ac.uk]

ALL WELCOME TO ATTEND

As always drinks and nibbles provided –

As the founder of Pecha Kucha may say ‘thinking and drinking’ is the best way!

for more info on what exactly a “pecha kucha” event is, click here 

See you there!

Becky, Laura and PABLO!

Poster design: Pablo Jiminez Moreno

Poster design: Pablo Jiminez Moreno

Juan Hevia, San Pablo CEA University Madrid – Shrinkage Vs Growth…

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2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR PROKALO-ERS!! 

Here’s to an innovative, daring, imaginative and productive new year at ESALA and ECA! 

Our first Prokalo of the semester welcomes Juan Hevia visiting teacher from San Pablo CEU University Madrid. In keeping with Prokalo’s Rough and Ready, collaborative and open ethos Juan will be delivering an interactive presentation, discussion and workshop…

Juan’s visit promises to be a stimulating discussion of urban development.

juan-pic

‘Shrinkage Vs Growth’

… 4 hours from Madrid

s=v.t?

 Tuesday 24th January

Board Room, 5th Floor, Evolution House

5:15pm

Complimentary Drinks and Snacks

All welcome!

Juan has has considerable teaching and professional practice, having worked with Rafael Moneo for 10+ years before setting up his independent practice. Professional competitions include the extension to the Prado Museum, the Congress Centre of Cordoba, and constructions of the Hyatt Hotel in Berlin, the Souks in Beirut and the Aragonia Centre in Zaragoza, and contribution to the urbanisation of the Real Madrid Sports City. Juan is also very active in the academic field and teaches “Projects” at the CEU-San Pablo University.

We hope to see you all there!

Becky and Laura

Multiple presenters and a participatory workshop – Global forces, Environment and Wellbeing with Athina Georgiou Shippi

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WORKSHOP TITLE:
Impact of Global Forces on Local Environments, Behaviour and Wellbeing.

Image by Alan Mackenzie: www.alanmackenziephotography.com

Image by Alan Mackenzie: www.alanmackenziephotography.com


Hello all!

Our next Prokalo session will be a themed workshop looking at global forces, landscape, wellbeing and Environmental Attitudes. We are looking for additional contribution to our speaker, Athina Georgiou Shippi, (1st year PhD in Landscape Architecture) who will be presenting her research and leading a workshop exploring these themes.


ATHINA’s RESEARCH TITLE –  Child mental wellbeing, Child environmental attitudes and Biodiversity.

Athina’s research focusses on the potential links between biodiversity, mental health and environmental attitudes in children.

From Athina: Green infrastructure offers a unique opportunity for enhancing health and wellbeing, but also positive environmental attitudes. We now acknowledge that contact with nature improves human health and especially mental wellbeing. However, how does biodiversity influence such benefits? Additionally, one’s attitudes towards environmental degradation are influenced by his/her experience with nature as a child. Low contact with nature, can lead to the “extinction of experience” which has important implications for halting biodiversity loss. How does contact with different levels of biodiversity influence such experiences?

My proposed research adopts an interdisciplinary approach to decouple wellbeing, environmental attitudes and biodiversity. I aim to investigate the implications of different levels of biodiversity in urban green spaces, for child mental wellbeing, but also child environmental attitudes, from different cultural backgrounds by comparing Scotland and Cyprus.
 
We would like to invite speakers and attendees who would like to explore these themes.
The workshop will take place on Tuesday the 22nd of November, 5:15pm, Board Room – Evolution House and will be the penultimate Prokalo this year. Our final Prokalo will be a drinks and networking event to say Happy Holidays to students and staff.
We are calling for 5/10 minute presentations that must engage with one of or several of the following themes to allow for a fruitful workshop and discussion:

– Global Forces – the internet, terrorism, or climate change

– Landscape and Wellbeing
– Biodiversity
– Mental Health
– Environmental Attitudes
 

We are continuing with the Rough and Ready Research ethos – this will be an informal session and we encourage little preparation, we merely ask that you bring ideas, openness and a desire to explore and discuss.

If you would like to contribute…
PLEASE RESPOND GET IN TOUCH BY FRIDAY THE 18th OF NOVEMBER and include a brief outline of your research. We will require power points by Monday.

BE BRAVE! Come and share your research!

All the best,
The Prokalo Team

Email: Laura.Bowie@ed.ac.uk

Two PhD Candidates: Two Institutions

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TUESDAY 8TH OF NOVEMBER
6PM – Please note this later start time 
5th floor boardroom, Evolution House, ECA
Our Next Prokalo ‘Rough and Ready Research Share’ will bring two universities together with two PhD candidates approaching similar areas: The overlap between these two researcher’s work should foster discussion on engagement with public spaces, mapping as methodology and participatory design. It will also allow us to take a look at the PhD research experience across different institutions north and south of the border.
On Tuesday the 8th of November we will hear from:
Xi Chen 
(PhD in Architecture, Newcastle University)
 ‘The In-between role as Spatial Agency: toward the participatory design in Wenzhou, China: Self-positioning throughout the projects’
(Key Words: Colonial Style Architecture, Mapping, Public Space, Participatory Design, Wenzhou, China.)
AND
Justin Chung
(PhD in Architecture, The University of Edinburgh)
‘Disparity and defiance: introducing a night-time urban design framework from a Taipei night market’
(Key words: differential space, insurgent public space, night-time city, night markets, Taipei, Taiwan)
As always there will be lots of discussion and sharing throughout at our informal seminar series and plenty of juice, wine and nibbles!
**PLEASE ALSO NOTE WE WILL BE DISCUSSING POSSIBLE THEMES FOR THE ARCHITECTURAL HUMANITIES RESEARCH ASSOCIATION AND PROKALO SYMPOSIUM IN APRIL 2017 – So if you want to contribute to this discussion please be there!**
 We look forward to seeing you!
All the best,
Becky, Laura, and Roxana 
For a wee look at what we were up to at our last session with Roxana Karam, Vrej Haroutounian, Matluba Khan and Professor Billie Giles-Corti check out our twitter feed @prokalo_eca 

Tuesday the 25th: Three speakers and a special visitor

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TOMORROW AT PROKALO’S ROUGH AND READY RESEARCH SHARE 

5pm , Evolution House, 5th floor boardroom. 

Drinks and nibbles throughout. 

We are very happy to announce that tomorrow we will have three speakers:

Vrej Haroutounian, 1st year PhD Candidate in Landscape Architecture.

Matluba Khan, 4th year PhD Candidate in Landscape Architecture

Roxana Bakhshayesh Karam, 3rd year PhD Candidate in Architecture.

Each presenter will share their research for 15 minutes and we will discuss any issues that they are having and open the floor to conversation…

and we are delighted to announce that joining us for our discussion throughout will be Professor Billie Giles-Corti!*

Really looking forward to seeing everybody!

all the best,

The Prokalo Team X

*Professor Billie Giles-Corti is a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Principal Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and directs the McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit in the Centre for Health Equity. For two decades, she and a multi-disciplinary research team have been studying the impact of the built environment on health and wellbeing. She currently leads an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) in Healthy Liveable Communities, which was established in 2014. Professor Giles-Corti has published over 300 articles, book chapters and reports, and by citations is ranked in the top 1% of researchers in her field globally. She is an Honorary Fellow of both the Planning Institute of Australia and the Public Health Association, a Fulbright Scholar, and an NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Fellow for being the top ranked female in public health in 2015.   

Next up at Prokalo’s Rough and Ready Research Share…

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Last week we had a wonderful session with a vibrant and animated conversation about the stresses and strains of research at our first ‘Researcher’s Anonymous’ meeting, We discussed looking out for your well-being throughout research and how we might form supportive and collaborative interdisciplinary networks, all over a well earned glass of wine – We’d like to thank everyone for a fun and convivial evening! We will have future ‘Researcher’s Anonymous’ meetings alongside the Rough and Ready series which will explore many themes pertinent to early career researchers and the world of academia – if you have an idea for a workshop get in touch!

fullsizerender-11

NEXT UP! We return to our Rough and Ready Research Share format. We are always looking for contributors to get in touch so please give us a shout if you would like to present. It’s not too late if you would like to go for it this coming Tuesday! Be brave! [Contact: Laura.Bowie@ed.ac.uk]

We are currently getting ready for the next session which will be on the 25th OCTOBER – pop it in your diaries! We will announce our speakers on Friday. so watch this space!

Til’ Friday, take care!

Becky, Laura and Roxana.

x

Researchers Anonymous at Prokalo’s Rough and Ready Research Share

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‘RESEARCHERS ANONYMOUS’ 

image: inside-the-brain.com

image: inside-the-brain.com

Tuesday 11th October

Board Room, 5th Floor, Evolution House

5:15pm

Come along to Researchers Anonymous! and break the isolation of the research experience.

 After the overwhelming success of last week’s ‘Rough and Ready PhD share’ we are continuing the series with our new format: ‘The Rough and Ready Research Share’ with the aim of encouraging informal discussions, support and fostering research connections within the school.

This time (Tuesday 11th October, 5:15pm) we’re planning a ‘Researchers Anonymous’ session – the aim is to make connections (social and research-based) with other students and to share the many trials and tribulations of being a researcher. Come along willing to discuss your research and the highs and lows of your research experience.

Wine, nibbles, and friendly and informal atmosphere provided

 Look forward to seeing you all there!

 

 

All the best,

Becky and Laura

 

 

PROKALO HAS A NEW FORMAT AND PEOPLE LOVE IT!

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CALL FOR PRESENTERS

For the 11th October

5pm Evolution House Board Room

Prokalo’s Rough and Ready Research Share

Last week Prokalo had its first seminar in the new series with an entirely new format and it was a roaring success! We had seven presenters, who we would love to thank for such a diverse range of topics and our attendees for such a lovely evening of debate, discussion and open minds.

BUT DON’T WORRY IF YOU MISSED OUT…

After the overwhelming success of last week’s ‘Rough and Ready PhD share’ we are continuing the series with our new format with the aim of encouraging informal discussions, feedback and ideas centered on the research taking place in the school.

This time (Tuesday 11th October, 5:15pm) we are looking for speakers to share their research in a little more depth – with 2-3 15-20 minute slots to share new ideas, elements you might be struggling with or even a practice run for an upcoming conference presentation. We suggest as little preparation as possible to foster this idea of informality, discussion, and mutual support! So if it’s not quite ready don’t panic- be brave!

If you’re interested drop us an email – we’d like to publicise the event with names so if you could send a title to us by Friday that would be grand. You can send us your power point on Tuesday. [email: laura.bowie@ed.ac.uk]

Remember this is open to staff and students alike.

Look forward to seeing you all there 

Tuesday 11th October

Board Room, 5th Floor, Evolution House

5:15pm

Additionally, please don’t forget that we are still looking for suggested external speakers for our symposium next term. So if you have any ideas, let us know!

All the best,

Becky, Laura and Roxana

Prokalo is Back!

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Prokalo is back and going to be better than ever! We hope you will join us for our new and improved seminar series. See below…

x The Prokalo Team

NEXT WEEK

Rough & Ready PhD Research Share

3 slides, 5 minutes to talk and 5 minutes to chat

Multiple speakers

5pm 27th September

ECA Boardroom, 5th floor, Evolution House

Drinks and nibbles throughout

We are looking for PhD students to share their research. We are suggesting minimal preparation and a willingness to share work in progress, an openness to discuss problems, uncertainties and new ideas.  If you are up for it drop us an email before Tuesday the 27th or just come along with three slides on a USB. The idea is spontaneity and informality – a chance to catch up and meet new students and to find out what’s going on in the ESALA PhD community.

This will be an informal evening to share what you’ve been up to or what you are working on with your peers over drinks and nibbles. Whether you are writing up or just beginning come along to this casual open event.

Open to speakers a well as those who want to support, listen and discuss.

We will also be discussing Prokalo’s exciting new format. If you have any ideas for speakers for our symposium (see below) we will discuss this here.

Please arrive ten minutes early if you are keen to present or send us your slides on Tuesday morning.

THIS TERM

Prokalo is taking a slightly new format this year in that we are focussing more on our community of researchers; on progressive ideas, pushing boundaries, interdisciplinarity and collaboration. We are hoping that Prokalo can become a space for support and opportunity.

We want to help in fostering our research community but also to forge links and opportunities across further institutions.

We will have two speakers bi-weekly and an opportunity to question both speakers and open up an informal conversation. If you would like to present in our upcoming series please get in touch.

The series will be open to PhD students and staff with new and progressive research and work to share.

PROKALO SYMPOSIUM

We intend to use the funding that Prokalo has to organise a symposium with invited guest speakers and our own researchers at the end of the academic year. Details to follow.