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Showing 9 of 385 news items in Culture & Community

Culture & CommunityMarch 11, 2026

'The House of the Dragon' will be filmed in Gran Canaria: preparations begin at the Las Niñas dam

Excerpt from canarias7.es Photo credit: Arcadio Suárez via Canarias7.es Spring will arrive in Gran Canaria brimming with fantasy . The production company behind the American blockbuster 'House of the Dragon' , one of the series in the fictional universe created from 'Game of Thrones', has selected the natural setting of the Las Niñas dam as one of the main locations to appear in the fourth season of the acclaimed international series. Several workers are already on site preparing the area to the liking of the fantasy saga's directors. From February 23rd until May 15th, the camping area and the recreational area are reserved for filming, so several restrictions can already be seen in the vicinity, such as fences or security guards , to prevent the most curious from entering the area where the series will be filmed.

Culture & CommunityMarch 2, 2026

How mountain terraces have helped Indigenous peoples live with climate uncertainty

Excerpt from eco-business.com Indigenous communities have lived with changes to the climate for centuries. Their adaptations over those many years are based on their close observation of weather, water, soils and seasonal change, and they have been refined through generations of learning. That knowledge, though developed deep in the past, is increasingly useful in the modern world. As global temperatures rise, climate pressures are intensifying, with longer dry spells, stronger storms and more erratic rainfall. Terrace systems reflect Indigenous peoples’ long experience of living with environmental uncertainty in specific places and historical contexts. They offer ways of thinking about risk and long-term land use based on observation and intergenerational learning.

Culture & CommunityFebruary 18, 2026

On Indonesia’s longest river, a Borneo community passes crucial public health milestone

Excerpt from news.mongabay.com SEKADAU, Indonesia — Children’s laughter skimmed over water the color of mud as mothers wrung laundry over banks where the Sekadau joins the Kapuas, the longest river in Indonesia. Local testimony along the Kapuas River, which flows 1,143 kilometers (710 miles) east to west from Borneo’s Müller Mountains out into the Natuna Sea, suggests this river — like many flowing across the world’s largest archipelagic country — may be losing prominence as a center of community life. “The river is dirtier now and no longer a gathering place like before,” an older resident told researchers from Tanjungpura University downriver in Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province, for a study published in September. But here in Sekadau, the river remains central to daily life — a place to bathe, wash vegetables, and, until recently, to defecate. Research conducted on the Kapuas from 2020-2022 and published in the Journal of Aquaculture and Fish Health last year recorded double the legal limit of lead, a heavy metal pollutant that impairs neurological development — and 24 times the maximum coliform bacteria level for rivers permitted by Indonesia’s government.

Culture & CommunityFebruary 11, 2026

Displacement Capitalism in Barbuda: A Story of Greed, Resistance and Hope

Excerpt from researchinginternaldisplacement.org The reality of people and even whole communities having to move due to adverse conditions has become one of the consequences of the present climate emergency. Although displacement, particularly evacuations intended to save lives, is justified in many situations, there are instances where displacement is used as ‘cover’ for something else. A catastrophic event in Barbuda, triggered by the 2017 Hurricane Irma disaster, provides insight into this other side of displacement. “For the first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda”. These were the words of Ronald Sanders, the ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States. He made this statement in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and proceeded to make the case that the hurricane caused extensive damage, rendering the island, in his words and those of the administration he represents, “uninhabitable”. This conclusion, that an entire island was not fit to support its people, was arrived at even before official assessments were made by the relevant international agencies.

Culture & CommunityJanuary 25, 2026

Building Media Resilience in African SIDS: Case studies from Comoros and São Tomé and Príncipe

Excerpt from unesco.org In Comoros and São Tomé and Príncipe, two African island nations regularly exposed to extreme weather, media outlets are key actors in informing the public during emergencies and fostering a culture of prevention. With support from a UNESCO initiative carried out in partnership with the African Union of Broadcasting, Al-Watwan in Comoros and the national radio of São Tomé and Príncipe are taking concrete steps to institutionalise disaster preparedness, shifting from reactive reporting into proactive resilience-building.

Culture & CommunityJanuary 16, 2026

For Ukrainians in Vardø, the Arctic is a refuge, not a battleground

Excerpt from cryopolitics.com The Arctic is often perceived as a future military theatre. But while war rages to the south, it has become a safe haven for refugees from Ukraine and beyond. To many, Norway is a resolutely northern country. Yet the country whose name means “the north way” in Old Norse is also an eastern country. Norway’s coastline, which looks like a child’s scribblings, stretches all the way around the top of the Scandinavian Peninsula to Russia, where, one could say, east meets east. Teetering on an island off the coastline’s very edge is its easternmost town, Vardø. Famously, it lies east of Istanbul and Saint Petersburg.

Culture & CommunityJanuary 15, 2026

Why Greenland is indispensable to global climate science

Excerpt from theconversation.com A 30-minute stroll across New York’s Central Park separates Trump Tower from the American Museum of Natural History. If the US president ever found himself inside the museum he could see the Cape York meteorite: a 58-tonne mass of iron taken from northwest Greenland and sold in 1897 by the explorer Robert Peary, with the help of local Inuit guides. For centuries before Danish colonisation, the people of Greenland had used fragments of the meteorite to make tools and hunting equipment. Peary removed that resource from local control, ultimately selling the meteorite for an amount equivalent to just US$1.5 million today. It was a transaction as one-sided as anything the president may now be contemplating.

Culture & CommunityJanuary 7, 2026

Samoa faces double-edged labour mobility sword

Excerpt from islandsbusiness.com SAMOA faces a double-edged sword as labour mobility schemes flood the economy with remittances while draining local talent. Monthly remittances soar to $ST70 million (Samoan Tala), accounting for a staggering 35 per cent of GDP, yet the exodus of skilled workers threatens essential public services and local businesses. Amid rising wage disparities and emotional tolls on families, the government grapples with balancing economic benefits against the stark realities of community disruption. “The schemes began in 2007 with New Zealand seasonal work and expanded with Australian programs in 2012 and 2018, merging into PALM to cover multiple industries,” said Dr Masami Tsujita, an Associate Professor of Development Studies at the National University of Samoa.

Culture & CommunityMay 7, 2026

‘We feel forgotten about’: How ferry disruption is impacting island life

Excerpt from news.stv.tv Scotland’s islanders face weeks of disruption and delays as a beleaguered ferry service struggles to cope. Virtually every Scottish island has been cut off in recent weeks as state-owned operator CalMac warns of further disruption to the ageing ferry fleet. The delays, alongside planned maintenance of vessels, have seen ferries dominate the political agenda, becoming a major election issue as voters prepare to head to the polls in the Holyrood elections next month. On the Isle of Arran, one of the west coast’s best‑used ferry routes, the impact is being sharply felt.