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In previous issues writers from the Institute of Manpower Studies have described the manpower survey which they undertook in 1972/73 for the DITB, and which provided much material for the DITB in planning its training policy. In this article they move on from the question of employment and manpower and look at the overall picture of training in distribution — what kinds of training are being provided? Which groups of people in which firms are being trained? What is the relationship between the use of different training methods and the size of the firms studied?

This chapter is based on the work of Professor Charles Engel who, sadly, passed away early in 2019. Some 20 years ago, Professor Engel was advocating that higher education should take a lead in remediating global challenges, particularly those of sustainability. He took a broad view of the concept of “sustainability,” based largely on the Brundtland (1987) view of global challenges. Engel proposed that successful approaches to address the complex problems of sustainability should be explored across disciplinary boundaries. The University of Manchester developed a series of course modules focusing on these major challenges, largely run on interdisciplinary lines. Initially the concept was explored across science and engineering, with the support of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Charles Engel, a leading authority on its use, advised using Problem-Based Learning as a means of addressing the wicked problems in interdisciplinary groups. The pilot modules were extensively evaluated and reported. Since then the course units have developed and diversified, with extension to other schools, universities, countries, and to postgraduate courses. This transformative concept has also been explored in hybrid online format. The current chapter will re-introduce some of the original ideas and bring together the many threads that have emerged.

Far too much weight seems to have been given to the Local Government Board circular which mentioned public libraries as institutions whose expenditure should be examined with a view to effecting economies. This, to the ordinary person, would seem to call on library committees to exercise special care to prevent unnecessary expenditure, and more particularly to see that capital expenditure on new buildings and extensions is not made. The first of these requirements has been common for years; had there been wasteful expenditure, and if librarians had not carefully financed their resources, half the libraries in England would have been bankrupt long ago. The second requirement is just, and would be accepted even by the most unbridled library enthusiast. But local bodies have not been content so to read the circular. They have frequently interpreted it to mean that “libraries must mark time,” are “of small value in peace and less in war,” and the war is being made an excuse by old‐standing opponents of public culture to do as much damage as possible to the library movement.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate online problem‐based learning (PBL) as a route to achieving sustainability education using sponsored projects.

The Royal Academy of Engineering sponsored project at Manchester; to foster education in sustainability through inter‐disciplinary problem‐based approaches, has since been extended to other groups and to a broader array of issues. One of the limiting factors is the ease with which this approach can be taken in the case of large numbers of students and a commensurate requirement for large numbers of facilitators. The University of Keele, together with partners from the universities of Manchester and Staffordshire, was awarded National Teaching Fellowship Scheme funding to explore further the use of blended or online approaches, in order to overcome these limitations. The pilot unit already has a certain amount of support using the BlackBoard virtual learning environment (VLE) but this scenario is supposed to rely entirely on online working. At the time of writing, the evaluation of the pilot has not been completed but an online questionnaire was devised to monitor students’ reactions to the online working and to ascertain whether they did in fact work entirely online or whether they chose to meet informally face‐to‐face. Difficulties encountered were both organizational (mostly relating to enrolment) and technical (this was a new version of BlackBoard and had a few teething troubles).

This pilot project has demonstrated that a blended approach to PBL is feasible. There are some forms of resistance from students. The assessment was outcomes‐driven rather than process‐driven. This meant that it was not necessary for the academic staff to have access to all the discussions, thus acting as facilitators. There is a general theme that while learners found it possible to work effectively as a group online, they also found it more difficult. It is possible that the students were having to dedicate more time and effort to the use of the online system, which had an impact on their creativity and productivity.

In the case of the University of Manchester, the developments are being applied to a Masters‐level course unit in Managing Humanitarian Aid Projects. This unit proceeds on the basis of five scenarios that students try to resolve in small groups and in the first pilot year one of these scenarios is being delivered on‐line.

The results of this pilot could be fed in to different stages of programme deployment to examine impact and explore possibilities with distance learning modules.

This paper has looked at the effectiveness of nationally run, problem‐based learning projects that are aimed at improving understanding, engagement and deployment on diverse learning environments to include VLEs.

Research has shown that Indigenous people suffer significant health inequalities in comparison to dominant colonising cultures. Evidence shows that these inequalities can be addressed by gaining a deeper understanding of the social and cultural determinants of health, applying Indigenous views of health and developing better definitions of the term wellbeing. The following chapter draws on research exploring the relationship between Indigenous culture, the landscape and the connection with health and wellbeing. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, consideration of Indigenous Māori is a national imperative, enshrined in the Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) which establishes it as a bicultural country. Exploring three Māori health models, the chapter examines the factors that play a significant role in shaping Māori people's health. It relates how landscape is a foundational therapeutic aspect of Māori wellbeing using the models to express the forces that impact both positively and negatively on this relationship. The chapter concludes that all three concepts, culture, health and landscape, are interconnected and must be balanced to reduce Māori health inequalities and to provide a more sustainable model for health and wellbeing for all New Zealanders.

Not many weeks back, according to newspaper reports, three members of the library staff of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London were dismissed. All had refused to carry out issue desk duty. All, according to the newspaper account, were members of ASTMS. None, according to the Library Association yearbook, was a member of the appropriate professional organisation for librarians in Great Britain.