Three-day Event Research Articles

Co-producing Knowledge about the Pacific Walrus and Climate Change

Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens, Illiger 1815) have long been vital to Indigenous communities along Alaska’s west coast. Although current harvest rates are sustainable, climate change and increased industrial activity in the range of this species pose threats to the population and to hunting safety and success. To gather information relevant to addressing these concerns, the Eskimo Walrus Commission and the US Fish and Wildlife Service held a workshop in August 2023 in Nome, Alaska, with experienced Yupik walrus hunters from the communities of Gambell and Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska and Federal walrus biologists. The three-day event documented extensive information about walrus biology and behavior, which was used to improve a walrus population model. Workshop discussions also addressed concepts of sustainability and the future of walrus hunting. The workshop benefitted from prior collaboration between the biologists and some of the hunters on a walrus research cruise in the Chukchi Sea earlier the same summer, creating a foundation of common experience and interpersonal relationships. In the longer term, the workshop helped demonstrate the value of equitable collaboration towards shared goals, in part by allowing for open conversations rather than, for example, an extended question-and-answer session regarding model parameters.

AI-assisted digital video analysis reveals changes in gait among three-day event horses during competition.

The value and welfare of performance horses is closely tied to locomotor behaviors, but we lack objective and quantitative measures for these characteristics, and qualitative approaches for assessing gait do not provide measures suitable for large-scale biomechanical research studies. Digital video analysis utilizing artificial intelligence-based strategies holds promise to meet the need for an economical, accurate, repeatable and objective technique for field quantification of equine locomotion. Here we describe pilot work using a consumer-level digital video camera to capture high-resolution and high-speed videos of horses moving at the trot during mandatory inspections for international-level eventing competitions. We assessed 194 horses from five different competition venues, recorded at pre-competition (first) and post-cross-country (second) inspections as a model of gait change following exertion. We labeled twenty-six keypoints on each frame with DeepLabCut and processed the resulting tracking data using MatLab to derive quantitative gait parameters. Once trained, the DeepLabCut model labeled the 388 videos in just minutes, a task that would have otherwise taken months of human effort to complete. A Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) examining seven gait parameters identified significant changes in duty factor, speed, and forelimb swing range following the completion of the cross-country phase (P ≤ 0.05). Despite some limitations, video analysis through artificial intelligence proved capable of quantifying several gait parameters quickly, efficiently, and without the need for specialized equipment, making this tool a promising option for future biomechanical research in the athletic horse.

International Congress on Education, Technology and Science (CIETYC 2024) Quindio Colombia

The International Congress on Education, Technology and Science (CIETYC 2024), held at the Universidad del Quindío, brought together more than 60 speakers from eight countries, highlighting research and reflections on science, education and technology in the fourth industrial revolution. The three-day event addressed topics such as artificial intelligence in education, university internationalization, social innovation and knowledge economy, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration networks. This event reaffirmed the commitment of the participating institutions to the transformation of educational ecosystems and regional development, inspiring new proposals and innovative projects.

Supporting teachers to lead invention education with high school students

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine ways high school educators new to invention education (IvE) pedagogy can develop confidence in their ability to facilitate high school students’ work as part of this transdisciplinary (STEM+) problem-based approach to teaching. Design/methodology/approach This focused ethnographic study traced participants’ interactions across a three-day event that included professional development for 36 educators. The authors documented the discourse, actions and broader social context in which the interactions took place between the educators and others. Ethnographic fieldnotes, interview transcripts and pre- post-experience surveys were analyzed to determine ways the professional development opportunities shaped the educators’ perspectives on their confidence to facilitate IvE with their students. Findings Many different types of learning opportunities were afforded across the three days, including lectures by professor-inventors, seminars, talks with experienced educators, hands-on activities and engagement with high school students. The 36 educators indicated they were more confident in their ability to lead invention projects (55% more confident, 41% much more confident) due to participation. Originality/value IvE is an emerging form of problem-based learning in which educators engage learners in the identification of problems and the design and development of new, novel, useful and unique technological solutions (i.e. inventions) that help people. The study responds to the need for research on ways educators learn how to take-up IvE pedagogy.

Nourishing Connections: Fostering Collaboration on Food Ethics Through Art

This paper explores collaborative workshops conducted at the International Socially Engaged Art Symposium (ISEAS), concentrating on the convergence of art and science in the realm of food values and ethics. With 20 artists and scientists participating, ISEAS employed arts-based methods to investigate food-related themes within diverse communities. One team, comprising three artists and a food ethics researcher, collaborated with 17 secondary school students in Seinäjoki (Finland). Their three-day event utilised various arts-based methods to address food ethics issues, such as availability, equity, sustainability, norms, and food justice. Integrating scientific and artistic knowledge, the study showcases the effectiveness of conversational art-making, revealing the role of art and science in fostering awareness of ethical dimensions in food production and consumption. The study highlights the potential of conversational art as a potent tool in community projects, as it facilitates dialogue on challenging topics beyond verbal communication. The paper underscores how art and science can collectively engage communities by encouraging transformative thinking and action.

Digital video analysis reveals gait parameters that predict performance in the jumping test phase of three-day eventing

In international equestrian sport, visual inspections assess gait and lameness to protect the welfare of performance horses during competition. Horses competing internationally in three-day eventing must pass two mandatory inspections (pre-competition and post-cross country) before attempting the final phase: the jumping test (JT). We hypothesized that digitally quantifying objective gait parameters captured during the two mandatory inspections will identify locomotor characteristics that predict success during the jumping test. Utilizing the DeepLabCut (DLC) software package for labeling of anatomical landmarks and a custom analysis pipeline we calculated gait parameters for 194 competition horses at the trot. During the pre-competition inspection, relative trot speed was significantly associated (P = 0.0060, GLMM), and the forelimb travel trended towards significance (P =0.0800, GLMM), with achieving a clear round in the later jumping test. Post-cross country, the forelimb travel significantly predicted JT results (P = 0.0188, GLMM). As our parameters are scaled for body size, these parameters may indicate conformational characteristics for superior jumping ability and overall athletic fitness. Within each competitive effort, comparisons of the post-cross country and pre-competition observations revealed that the change in speed and duty factor were significantly different in the group that accrued jumping faults (P = 0.00376 and P = 0.02430, GLMM), perhaps capturing locomotor signs of exercise fatigue. Further work employing these approaches to better understand competition performance will encourage the use of objective measures to protect sport horse welfare, as well as provide an advantageous tool for gait evaluation in the horse.

Hazardous wildfire smoke events can alter dawn soundscapes in dry forests of central and eastern Washington, United States

As global wildfire activity increases, wildlife are facing greater exposure to hazardous smoke pollution – with unknown consequences for biodiversity. Research on the effects of smoke on wild animals is extremely limited, in part due to the inherent logistical challenges of observing how animals respond to smoke in real time. Passive acoustic monitoring may be a powerful tool to safely and effectively monitor biodiversity before, during, and after major smoke events. In this study, we used data collected from a large-scale network of bioacoustic recorders at 92 sites in central and eastern Washington state during August–September, 2019–2020 to investigate the effect of wildfire smoke on dawn soundscapes and, by extension, acoustically active wildlife. We used acoustic indices to document and characterize changes in soundscapes related to smoke exposure, including the Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI), Bioacoustic Index (BI), and Normalized Difference Soundscape Index (NDSI). Higher values of these indices likely indicate higher levels of biodiversity in our study area. We hypothesized that wildfire smoke would reduce bird vocalizations, leading to declines in ACI, BI, and NDSI at dawn, when birds are most active. We used linear and quantile regression models to test for an effect of daily exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a marker of wildfire smoke, on the mean daily values and the upper 90th percentile of each index at dawn. We also conducted a before-during-after analysis of a particularly hazardous smoke event that impacted our study area on September 12–14, 2020. We did not observe linear effects of daily PM2.5 on average or peak daily values of acoustic indices; however, we did observe a significant reduction in ACI and BI during the three-day smoke event in 2020 and in the two weeks following this air pollution episode. Our results indicate that, on average, ACI and BI were reduced by 2.7 % and 15.9 % during and 1.5 % and 11.0 % afterward, respectively. These findings add further evidence that wildfire smoke alters soundscapes, likely due to changes in the presence, abundance, or behavior of acoustically active animals. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that wildfire smoke may have delayed and/or cumulative effects on acoustically active wildlife. Our study highlights the potential for passive acoustic monitoring to document wildlife responses to smoke pollution and identify potentially relevant exposure periods.

The Use of Technology-Based Simulation among Medical Students as a Global Innovative Solution for Training.

Technological advancements have been rapidly integrated within the neurosurgical education track since it is a high-risk specialty with little margin for error. Indeed, simulation and virtual reality during training can improve surgical performance and technical skills. Our study aims to investigate the impact of neurosurgical technology-based simulation activities on medical students. The "Suturing Mission-The Symposium" was a three-day event held at Humanitas University. Participants had access to live-streamed conferences held by worldwide experts in several fields of neurosurgery and practical simulations of dura mater sutures, microvascular anastomosis, and augmented reality neurosurgical approaches. An anonymous survey was conducted at the beginning and end of the event. 141 medical students with a mean age of 21 participated. After the course, 110 participants (77.5%) showed interest in pursuing a surgical path, with a great prevalence in those who had planned to have a surgical career before the event (88.7% vs. 41.4%, p < 0.001). Participants were also asked about their comfort levels while handling surgical instruments, and a good outcome was reached in 72.7% of participants, with a significant difference between those who had previously attended a suture course (87.8% vs. 66.3%, p = 0.012). Training sessions on surgical simulators were effective in increasing participants' interest in pursuing a surgical path, improving their understanding of postgraduate orientation, and boosting their confidence with surgical instruments.

Determination of Equine Behaviour in Subjectively Non-Lame Ridden Sports Horses and Comparison with Lame Sports Horses Evaluated at Competitions.

The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) was developed to facilitate the identification of musculoskeletal pain. The aim of the current study was to collate behavioural data using the RHpE from horses at competitions assumed by their owners and/or riders to be fit for competition. The objectives were to quantify the frequency of occurrence of behaviours in pain-free horses and those with lameness or abnormalities of canter and to determine any differences between disciplines and levels of competition. The RHpE was applied to 1358 horses competing in Grand Prix (GP) dressage (n = 211), 5* three-day events (TDE) (n = 137), or low-level one-day events (ODE) (n = 1010). The median RHpE score for all horses was 4 (interquartile range [IQR] 2, 5; range 0, 12) and the median lameness grade was 0 (IQR 0, 1; range 0, 4). The Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by Dunn's test for pairwise comparisons, found a difference in median RHpE scores between low-level ODE and GP dressage (p = 0.001), but not between 5* TDE and low-level ODE (p = 0.09) or between GP dressage and 5* TDE (p = 1.00). The median RHpE score was highest for low-level ODE. The Chi-square/Fisher's exact test identified a significant difference in prevalence of most of the 24 behaviours of the RHpE in non-lame compared with lame horses. Recognition of the behaviours of non-lame horses may improve equine welfare and performance, and rider comfort, confidence, and safety.

From Paper Fibers to Practical Conservation Experiences: The International Paper Conservation Seminars in Latin America

ABSTRACT The International Paper Conservation Seminar has now been held as four face-to-face events and four online events. It is a three-day international event delivered in Spanish and Portugese with keynote talks from national and international conservation professionals from Mexico to Chile presenting projects covering works on paper in diverse formats including documents, photographs historic books, and artworks. Countries such as Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia, Brazil, Spain and Costa Rica have sent delegates to discuss both the social and cultural aspects of conservation work. The seminar is a completely free event for its attendees. It is intended to be suitable for all, with high-level talks addressing issues of management, preservation, conservation, restoration and disaster recovery among many others. From the third event onwards, training workshops for basic treatments have been developed, with the participation of recognized conservation professionals from universities and international institutes, allowing the number of attendees to remain constant since the Covid-19 pandemic. It creates networks and fosters collaboration for professional and institutional projects. The seminars have generated a connected and active community of paper conservators in the region, aware of our limitations, and capable of solving problems collaboratively and according to local resources.

A long-term study of sport event volunteers: Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon Weekend in 2012 and 2022

PurposeThis study examined the characteristics, motivations and satisfaction of volunteers for the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon Weekend across a 10-year period. The purpose was to enhance our understanding of sport event volunteers, especially in the long term. This information and insight may be useful in light of ongoing challenges with volunteer recruitment and retention, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors developed and implemented an online survey, based primarily on the Special Event Volunteer Motivation Scale (SEVMS) and the Volunteer Motivations Scale for International Sporting Events (VMS-ISE). The sample included a total of 2,038 respondents – 1,086 in 2012 and 952 in 2022. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests; qualitative data provided additional insight.FindingsAbout two-thirds of 2022 survey respondents were “repeat volunteers.” Volunteer characteristics, motivations and satisfaction remained relatively consistent across the 10-year period. These volunteers were motivated by a set of multiple, interrelated factors which the authors call “community-based altruism” – that is, the desire to help others driven by a sense of community involvement and pride. In both years, more than 90% were satisfied with their volunteer experience. Satisfaction was higher for individuals with certain characteristics such as being a repeat volunteer and volunteering with a group.Originality/valueThis may be the first scholarly article to assess volunteer characteristics, motivations and satisfaction for a major sport event in the same location across multiple years. While it focused on a three-day running event in a midwestern city in the United States, the approach and findings may be applicable to sport event volunteers in other contexts.

Rapid attribution of the record-breaking heatwave event in North China in June 2023 and future risks

A record-breaking heatwave event occurred in North China from 22 to 24 June 2023, with temperatures >40 °C at many meteorological stations. This marked the first time that Beijing had reached or exceeded 40 °C for three consecutive days. However, the extent to which such exceptional heatwave events are related to anthropogenic climate change remains unclear. It is also unclear how frequent and intense such strong heatwave events will be in the future. We carried out a rapid attribution analysis to address these questions. Our findings show that the return period of this three-day heatwave event in North China is about 111 years (24.3, +∞) at the 2023 climate state. Both the empirical and coupled model approaches consistently showed that the intensity of 2023-like three-day heatwave events has significantly increased by at least 1.0 °C (range 0.8 °C–1.3 °C) due to anthropogenic climate change. Future projections indicate that 2023-like events in North China are likely to occur at least 1.6 (range 1.3–2.1) times throughout the remainder of this century and be 0.5 °C (range 0.2 °C–0.8 °C) more intense than those under the 2023 climate even if carbon neutrality is achieved based on the very low CO2 emissions scenario simulations. For the intermediate emissions scenario, the occurrence probability of 2023-like events in the North China region by the end of this century will be 5.5 (range 4.9–6.3) times those under the 2023 climate, with an intensity 2.9 °C (range 2.4 °C–3.1 °C) higher than those under the 2023 climate. These findings highlight the need for adaptation measures to address the occurrence of 2023-like three-day heatwaves in North China in June even if carbon neutrality is achieved.

Government Ownership and Managers’ Role: Effect to Acquisition Return Among High-Technology Companies

This study investigates the effect of high-technology (high-tech) company acquisitions and GLIC ownership on shareholders’ value creation. Study samples for empirical analyses were carried out using the market-model event-study and multivariate analysis on studies published between 2011 and 2018. The findings indicate that; (i) The CAR for high-tech acquiring firms for the three-day event window (–1,1), five-day event window (–2, +2) and 11-day event window led to significant positive returns, with at least at 10% level, signifying that investors have a favourable reaction towards short-term high-tech acquisitions; (ii) The relationship between the GLICs’ Institutional Blockholders (BPSVGLIC) and executive director (FRACEXEC) was found to affect the abnormal returns significantly negatively at a minimum 5% significance level. These results provide two practical implications; firstly, investors gain abnormal returns from their investment in high-tech acquiring companies, and secondly, firms with greater ownership stakes in GLICs could experience value destruction.

Report of the 13th Annual Conference of the Worldwide Airports Lawyers Association (WALA), in Paris, France, on 28-30 June 2023

The 13th Worldwide Airports Lawyers Association (WALA) Annual Conference (WALA is a global association that unites airport lawyers, aviation industry professionals, and stakeholders to collaborate, share knowledge, and address legal issues in the field of airport law. See further, https://abiaxair.com/wala2023/links.php), splendidly hosted by Groupe Aéroports de Paris (ADP), https://www.parisaeroport.fr/en/homepage-group convened on 28–30 June 2023 in the enchanting city of Paris. The three-day event featured a diverse agenda including the Pre-conference Seminar dedicated to airport commercialization, the Airport Law Conference replete with fourteen different sessions, and a momentous addition – the First Urban Air Mobility Legal Forum. Through intellectually stimulating exchanges, WALA XIII paved the way for a future of airport law in support of a sustainable, innovative, and robust civil aviation sector. Conference report, WALA, Worldwide Airport, Lawyers Association

Editorial: Special Issue on Experimental Investigations from Very Small Strains to Beyond Failure

Abstract This Geotechnical Testing Journal Special Issue on Experimental Investigations from Very Small Strains to Beyond Failure presents selected papers originally submitted to the Eighth International Symposium on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials held in Porto, Portugal, from September 3–6, 2023 (IS-Porto 2023). This Symposium aimed at exploring and sharing ideas about the complex stress–strain response of geomaterials, including laboratory methods from very small to large strains; anisotropy and localization; time-dependent response of soils; characteristics of treated, unsaturated, and natural geomaterials; applications in field methods; evaluation of field performance in geotechnical structures; and physical and numerical modeling in geomechanics. The Symposium was a three-day event organized by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, under the auspices of the Technical Committee TC101 Laboratory Stress Strain Strength Testing of Geomaterials of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). This symposium was endorsed by the Portuguese Geotechnical Society (SPG), the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), under the activities of the Research Unit Institute of R&amp;D in Structures and Construction (CONSTRUCT) of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). Building on the tradition of previous Symposia from Sapporo in 1994 to IS-Glasgow 2019, IS-Porto 2023 brought together more than 240 researchers and practitioners from 37 countries to share their experiences and explore new directions in testing, and in constitutive and numerical modelling of geomaterials. This Special Issue of ASTM International’s Geotechnical Testing Journal assembles eleven papers that illustrate some most recent, innovative, and significant advancements in laboratory equipment and experimental methodologies and procedures for the experimental investigations of soils from very small strains to beyond failure. Although most soil research laboratories are now equipped with the latest technology, in terms of transducers or testing apparatus, the inherent complex nature of soils makes studying them an ongoing challenge. This issue reflects the variety of topics that are still being considered, from difficult terrestrial soils, such as high plasticity stiff sedimentary clays (Sorensen et al. 2023), pumice soils (Hashimoto et al. 2023), gravelly (Nikoonejad and Mohsen Haeri 2023) and residual soils (Cheng and Leong 2023), and mine tailings (Narainsamy et al. 2023), to sampling and testing soils from Mars (Chaparro-López et al. 2023). Characterizing liquefiable soils, particularly partially saturated or gassy soils, and its post-liquefaction behavior continues to remain a subject of investigation, particularly in seismic regions, and is discussed in four papers, with emphasis on the applicability of partial saturation for liquefaction mitigation (Ahmad et al. 2023; Kaminski and Grabe 2023; Mele et al. 2023; Molina-Gómez et al. 2023). Greener methods of soil improvement are also explored, for example, biocementation under chemical damage (Ribeiro et al. 2023). The guest editors of this special issue would like to gratefully acknowledge the dedication and effort of all the authors and peer-reviewers of these papers, and the collaboration of the ASTM Editorial Team in the production of this special issue.

“I like the way I’m dressed and besides that’s what Prince likes”: Dressing for Paisley Park, Fandom, and Clothing

Abstract Since Prince’s passing in 2016, fans from across the world have traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to celebrate the musician’s legacy and visit Paisley Park, his studio and creative home. So, what do you wear to visit Prince’s house? The implied relationship and connections between Prince, clothing, fans, and place will be examined within this article, utilizing a multimodal approach integrating autoethnography, semi-structured interviews, and online questionnaires. Using fan recollections of visits to Paisley Park, the article focuses on the motivations behind clothing choices worn during visits and how these connect to fans’ admiration of the musician. Critical reflection of the author’s outfit preparations for attendance at Celebration, a three-day event hosted at Paisley Park, will introduce reoccurring themes of respect, self-expression, comfort, and connection. The author argues that all can gain a greater understanding of fannish behaviors and emotive connections to the musician by studying the clothing choices of the Prince fandom.

33 Assessing the effect of fatigue on stadium jumping penalty scores in elite three-day event horses utilizing artificial intelligence

Mandatory veterinary inspections assess lameness and fatigue to help predict the success of performance horses during competition. Horses competing at the international level in 3-d eventing must pass both mandatory inspections (pre-competition and post-cross country) to attempt the final phase: stadium jumping. With this in mind we hypothesize that quantifying the gait quality of horses for fatigue during the inspections will help predict if they will have faults in stadium jumping. However, these pass/fail exams are based on subjective and non-repeatable guidelines referencing the locomotor function of the horse, and do not have the ability to detect small gait changes over time. The development of artificial intelligence-based video analysis approaches allows for the objective production of quantitative scores which can be used to accurately assess the physical capability of the equine athlete. We quantified our custom gait parameter pipeline using the software package DeepLabCut (DLC) of horses at the trot during the veterinary inspections and analyzed 197 horses across 3 levels (CCI-2*, CCI-3*, and CCI-4*) and 5 venues. We used a Quadratic Discriminant Analysis to assign a standardized coefficient score, which we noted as a fatigue score, to all horses. Utilizing 3 common fatigueparameters in a multivariate model using the row-wise method we found stride length (P < 0.001) and speed (P < 0.001) had significant negative correlation probabilities, and stance time (P < 0.001) had a significant positive correlation probability with the fatigue scores. The significance supports the idea that a higher fatigue score is indicative of greater fatigue in the horse. We then applied a qualitative label to each horse, faults or no faults, where a horse with no faults had zero time and zero jump faults, and a horse with faults had any combination of the 2. Then we compared the horse's fatigue score to the qualitative label and found that horses with faults had a significantly higher (P = 0.0149, standard t-test) fatigue score suggesting that fatigue may impact stadium jumping performance more than previously appreciated. Further work investigating the impact of locomotor phenotypes and fatigue on competition performance will encourage the use of objective measures to protect sport horse welfare and improve training strategies, as well as providing the opportunity to add an objective tool to the procedures for mandatory veterinary inspections.

Editorial

Abstract: 25th Annual National Convention of Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI) was organized by JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysuru from 2nd September to 4th September 2022 at JSS Medical Institutions Campus, Mysuru. The theme of the conference was “Empowering Academia for Advancing Pharmacy Education”. About two thousand pharmacy professionals, students, industrialists, scientists, and leaders from different states of the country took part in this three-day event. Among the participants, we received more than 60 full text manuscript from multiple streams to be considered for publication in APTICON 2022: Special Issue of Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (IJPER), which is an official journal of Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI). Read more...

Article: Report on the CELIS Forum on Investment Screening

On 1–3 June 2022, the Common European Law on Investment Screening (CELIS) Institute organized its fourth annual conference ‘2022 CELIS Forum on Investment Screening’ (CFIS22). The Conference was held in Sweden, at Uppsala University. The CELIS Institute is an independent non-profit, non-partisan research enterprise dedicated to promoting better regulation of foreign investments in the context of security, public order, and competitiveness. It was set up in 2020 by Steffen Hindelang and J. Hillebrand Pohl, the convenors of this year’s conference, as a permanent successor to the ‘International Conference on a Common European Law on Investment Screening (CELIS)’, convened by Professor Hindelang and Andreas Moberg in 2019. The aim of CFIS 22 was to debate European investment screening on national security grounds from a strategic perspective on the theme ‘The Emerging Law of Investment Control in Europe: Screening, Sanctions and Subsidies’. CFIS was a major event which brought together, not just leading academic scholars, EU officials, national experts, diplomats, and policymakers, but also business leaders, think tankers, and representatives of the investment community and civil society, as well as the media from across Europe and beyond. The three-day event was generously funded by Riksbankens jubileumsfond, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the Swedish Institute of International Law, Datenna, Blomstein, and the Institute for Democracy Societas investment screening, foreign investments, CELIS, FDI, ESG, national security, public order, sovereign-driven investment.

Dances in the Name of the Dead: Syarga and Ghyapri/Klepri Rituals Among Gurungs

Within the diversified and multicultural country like Nepal, there are many death rituals depending on the basis of their caste, religion, geographical area and their economic status. The Gurungs have their own kind of death rituals termed as Arghu (pae), in principle, appears to have similar purpose with the annual Shraddha as practices by the Brahmin-Chhetri and other people. The entitled research topic explores about the death rituals syarga and klepri dances to be performed differently during the pae. The ritual of Arghum among the Gurungs is a three-day event which includes the dancing rituals of Syarga and Klepri together with prayers and rituals that aim to send the deceased person’s soul to heaven. Main purpose of this study is to findout how the Gurungs believe their death ritual by dancing and its soul connection to the deceased. The paper follows the interpretative approach to present the story of the special dances and rituals performed in the name of the dead by her/his relatives, friends and fellow villagers. This study was conducted among the gurungs of Gorkha district. Seven death rituals were carried out for the field study where five klepri gurus and 5syarga dancer was taken as respondent. My own participation in and observations of the ritual performances, and activities supplemented by my interview with elderly and knowledgeable people including ritual specialists has yielded the essential data needed to learn about how Gurung people understand human life and the relations between themselves and their deceased ancestors. Main finding of this study is dance in the name of deceased which believes that dance is one of the important part for human life and it’s fluctuations. As same like gurung people believe that we can dance in the name of the dead which reminiscences the previous life where she/he belong to.