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This paper seeks to offer a commentary on Psychologically Informed Services: A Good Practice Guide, a recently published operational guidance document on developing psychologically informed environments (PiEs) in services for homeless people.

The paper is an invited opinion piece and comment based on the specialist experience and viewpoint of the author, as Chief Executive of SITRA, a membership‐based organisation representing approximately 1000 organisations in the housing care and support sector in the UK.

The new operational guidance is welcomed, with some provisos. The author notes the extent to which the guidance is compatible with current philosophies of service development, especially those commended and endorsed by government; but is concerned over how far it will be practicable to extend best practice, as recommended in the guidance, at a time when many services are being forced to cut their costs, and some are for example employing less experienced staff at lower rates.

The guidance is welcome in recognising best practice; but increasing expectations of the sector may be frustrated and undermined by the drive for savings in an era of austerity.

This article reports on a recent study carried out by Sitra on behalf of the Yorkshire & Humber Housing Related Support Group, which resulted in the publication of Prevention and Personalisation ‐ the case for Housing Related Support (Sitra, 2010). The study demonstrated that a wide range of relatively inexpensive housing‐related support services across the region were cost‐effective and worked in accordance with choice and control, showing that the principles of prevention and personalisation can complement one another.

Over the past decades the devastating issue of workplace bullying and its “cancerous” impact on workplace emotions has seen “today's costliest secret” become exposed (Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf & Cooper, 2003, p. 32; Glendinning, 2001, p. 296; Needham, 2003, p. 12). Bullying at work has become so prevalent within today's workplace that 1 of the 4 of us are estimated to suffer the crippling abuse of the workplace bully, costing Australian organizations between $17 billion and $36 billion each year (Clarke, J. (2005). Working with monsters: How to identify and protect yourself from the workplace psychopath. Sydney: Random House Australia; Rayner, C. (2000). Building a business case for tackling bullying in the workplace: Beyond a cost-benefit analysis. In: Sheehan, M., Ramsey, C., & Patrick, J. (Eds), Transcending boundaries. Proceedings of the 2000 Conference, September, Brisbane). The impending doom faced by the target of the bully demeans the individual to such an extent that bullying has been associated with suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder, and even increased risk of coronary heart disease and has been demonstrated to sever “at home” relationships, with grave implications on work-life balance (Archer, 1999; Geffner, Braverman, Galasso & Marsh, 2004; Lewis, 2006). Yet despite the significant lose–lose outcomes of workplace bullying for both the individual and the well-documented consequences of decreased productivity for the organization, there seems to be little progress toward meaningfully addressing the issues that actually create, promote, and sustain workplace bullying (Bolton, 2007; Dutton & Ragins, 2007; Heames & Harvey, 2006; Peyton, 2003). Rather than narrowly concentrating on bullying and its drivers which limits workplace bullying to an occupational health and safety issue, this chapter demonstrates the practical implementation across five Victorian public sector organizations of a tool developed using the principles of positive psychology. This approach places bullying in the wider context of positive workplace emotions, allowing for consideration of the broader organizational characteristics and the subtle negative behaviors which are suggested to underlie the deep seated and pervasive nature of workplace bullying. The preliminary findings suggests that the tool was seen as valuable in creating a bully-free culture and resonates practically by offering insights into some of the issues organizations should consider to ensure such initiatives provide a genuine source of competitive advantage.

Using a multi‐method approach, this paper presents both a qualitative and quantitative examination of workplace conflict, the emotional reactions to bullying and counterproductive behaviors. Three studies were undertaken for the present research. Data for Study 1 emerged from semi‐structured interviews conducted with 50 group leaders and members from six workgroups in two large organizations. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using systematic interpretative techniques. Findings from Study 1 showed that conflict induced a variety of emotional and behavioral responses. Data from Study 2 were collected from 660 employees from 7 public sector organizations using a structured open‐ended survey. Results from Study 2 revealed that the majority of respondents perceived their managers as bullies. Study 3 surveyed 510 staff in 122 workgroups from five organizations. Regression analysis revealed that differing conflict events were associated with bullying, emotional reactions and counterproductive behaviors. In particular, prolonged conflict increased incidents of bullying. Higher levels of bullying were predictive of workplace counterproductive behaviors such as purposely wasting company material and supplies, purposely doing one's work incorrectly and purposely damaging a valuable piece of property belonging to the employer.

Ecotourism is a burgeoning sector of the tourism industry offering a relatively guilt-free environment in which to satisfy the desire for travel and adventure. The discourse is firmly entrenched within the dominant conception of sustainability where nature is seen as a privileged ‘other’, untouched by humans. This ideology is also prevalent in the design of ecotourism facilities, which are generally predicated on a model of minimal intervention. This low-impact approach is not problematic in itself, but it misses the opportunity to engage in a more productive and ‘regenerative’ relationship with place. Conversely, Philip Cox Richardson Taylor's design for the resort town of Yulara in central Australia sought a more constructive relationship with place and questioned the conventional notion of ‘resort’. Although this resort, constructed in 1984, predates the current ecotourism industry and certification programs, it remains an early exemplar of innovations in this area and offers the benefits of hindsight. Through an exploration of the ideals and realities of the design and subsequent occupation of Yulara, this paper questions the potential challenges and opportunities of the design of ecotourism facilities to engage in a more ‘regenerative’ agenda. In particular, it identifies the social context and consideration of spatial practice as a key area of opportunity for the built environment to contribute to the ecotourism goal of interpretation and education through a more reflexive form of environmental awareness.

To examine how reading in electronic formats differs from traditional reading of print.

Concepts about digital print are discussed alongside research studies in fields related to multisensory technologies and electronic means of communication. A model of online reading is proposed integrating aspects of information foraging theory. Pedagogical applications are needed to integrate e-reading theory within classrooms.

With the varied text structures, directionality concerns, and interactive text features, our attention must turn to the theoretical foundations that underpin digital literacy learning today. Online foraging schemes can explain how information is sought and retrieved when reading new information from digital mediums.

Teachers must address the current, digital literacy needs of their students, thus preparing them for challenges in the 21st century. Varying text structures within digital formats as well as providing as-needed facilitation are the scaffolds that students need today. Using technologies such as digital games, tools, and contexts advances the mission of resource-based teaching and learning.

There was no mention of ‘environmental rights’ in the Council of Europe, European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) of 1950, comprised of civil and political rights. ‘In the 1950s, the universal need for environmental protection was not yet apparent.’ Environmental values have since evolved in response to societal change and increased public awareness. The turning point was the Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment of 1972, which associated environ mental quality and well being with fundamental rights, and which declares that: ‘Man has a fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well being ...’