Yonatal Tefera

Issue Addressed: Urban greenspaces are widely recognised for their benefits to public health, the environment and climate resilience and are supported by strong policy commitments across federal, state and local governments. However, Australian cities continue to experience net greenspace loss, reflecting a gap between policy commitments and implementation. A key contributor to this gap is the systematic undervaluation of greenspace and urban trees within local government decision‐making, particularly where their health, environmental and social benefits are not adequately reflected in economic assessments. This study aimed to develop a locally relevant economic framework and tools to support local governments' efforts to operationalise their urban greening policy goals. Method: A co‐design methodology was applied over an 18‐month period with the City of Salisbury and the City of Unley local governments in Adelaide, Australia. The process included co‐design workshops and other stakeholder engagement activities, to co‐develop economic scenarios, iteratively refine an economic modelling framework and collaboratively develop a prototype decision‐support tool and associated communication resources. Results: The co‐design process enabled shared problem framing, led to the development of locally relevant economic scenarios, and refined model assumptions to reflect operational realities of the councils. Outputs included: (1) an economic modelling framework to quantify costs and benefits of urban trees; (2) a prototype Urban Greening Decision‐Making Tool and (3) tailored communication resources (including fact sheets, infographics and a policy brief). Conclusion: This case study demonstrates that bridging the policy–implementation gap requires more than producing evidence; it requires researchers to work in genuine, trust‐based partnership with practitioners. This involves approaching collaboration with humility and flexibility, listening to partners' priorities and co‐creating research and outputs.

Introduction: Research training and research collaboration have been identified as a means of improving the standing and impact of occupational health and hygiene (OHH) professionals, especially in rapidly industrializing countries. The 2 key measures of research achievement relate to publication in high-impact (Q1) peer-reviewed journals and awarding of competitive research grants. However, there appears to be little formal research training guidance in the OHH field. In order to address the OHH training need, 2 introductory modules addressing publications and grants were developed by the University of Adelaide and the University of Indonesia and trialled in Indonesia. Methods: The Carpe Diem course design approach, with team-based storyboarding, was used. The training was delivered in hybrid mode to postgraduate and PhD students and early career researchers. The modules provided a focus on the value and context of OHH research and key elements scrutinized by editors, reviewers, and selection panels. Characterization of research “players,” gamification and storytelling were used to enhance interest amongst the relatively young audience. Results: Feedback from participants was positive, including design, interest, and meeting expectations. In an online survey, respondents stated that they would attend a similar training activity, and 96% would recommend this training to others. Discussion and conclusions: This research training activity is the first to focus on OHH research, and was successfully piloted in a country where industry and occupational hygiene are rapidly growing. Young researchers appreciated the novel learning design. Research training in developing countries may assist in making untapped exposure data available, expanding and enriching the OHH literature.

Background Collaboration between researchers and policy actors is essential for effective research translation and evidence-based policymaking. These partnerships are particularly crucial in addressing complex societal challenges such as environmental health, climate change, and public health. Understanding the perspectives and experiences of researchers, policy actors, practitioners and community members in research-policy collaborations can help strengthen partnerships and enhance research translation into policy and practice. Methods A national survey was conducted to explore the experiences and perspectives of members of the HEAL Network, Australia’s largest environment, climate change, and health research coalition involving researchers, policy actors, practitioners and community members. The survey aimed to assess collaboration experiences, barriers, and enablers of successful research-policy partnerships. Results A total of 70 responses were received, predominantly from researchers (71%), with only two policy actors participating. Most respondents (83%) had collaboration experience involving researchers, community members, policy actors, and practitioners, with many describing their experiences as successful. However, 44% reported poor experiences or failed attempts. Researchers cited limited engagement from policy actors as a key challenge, while non-researchers identified issues such as delays, poor timing, and inadequate understanding of policy, practice, and community contexts. Both groups agreed on the importance of initiating collaborations with a shared vision and co-defined goals. Trust was identified as the primary enabler of collaboration particularly for non-researcher participants, while the primary enabler for researchers was knowing who to engage with. There was a statistically significant relationship between being a non-researcher and choosing Trust as a primary enabler (χ² (1) = 10.61, p = .001). Common barriers included limited capacity (time and resources), lack of funding, and structural constraints such as institutional silos. Conclusion The findings highlight the need for early and sustained engagement built on trust and co-design between researchers and policy actors, built on trust and co-design processes. Establishing strong relationships, understanding policy and practice contexts, and involving communities in research development are key to improving research translation and impact.

Introduction: Cigarette smoking is a persistent public health problem as it is a risk factor for many diseases. Previous studies on the role of illegal drug use in cigarette smoking have yielded disparate and inconclusive results, hindering the development of effective intervention strategies to address this issue. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of cigarette smoking and its associated factors, with a specific focus on the influence of illegal drug use among students in Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search of international databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, CINAHL, African Journals Online, HINARI, Global Health, and Google and Google Scholar. Grey literature was also identified from various university digital libraries. The study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA) guidelines. Due to the high heterogeneity among the included studies (I² = 98.6%; p-value <0.001), we employed a random-effects model with a 95% confidence interval (CI) to estimate the pooled effect using STATA 14 software. The publication bias was assessed using a statistical Egger regression test. Results: A total of 22 studies involving 18,144 students met the eligibility criteria for this systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of lifetime and current cigarette smoking among students in Ethiopia was 13.8% (95% CI: 9.90–17.82) and 9.61% (95% CI: 7.19–12.03), respectively. Students who used illegal drugs were twenty-three times more likely to smoke cigarettes compared to their counterparts (OR = 23.57, 95% CI: 10.87–51.1). Living in urban settings (OR = 2.9; 95% CI: 1.15–7.28) and the habit of alcohol consumption (OR = 4.79; 95% CI: 1.57–14.64) were also identified as factors associated with cigarette smoking. Conclusions: We found that more than one in eight students in Ethiopia have engaged in lifetime cigarette smoking. Notably, students who used illegal drugs exhibited a significantly higher likelihood of cigarette smoking. In light of these findings, it is imperative to implement comprehensive public health interventions that target illegal drug use, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption, with a particular emphasis on urban residents.

Compelling evidence shows that trees and greenspaces positively impact human well-being and the environment and offer economic benefits. Nevertheless, there exists a knowledge gap regarding the extent to which this evidence is efficiently incorporated into existing urban planning decision-making processes. This scoping review identified the extent to which urban planning decision-making frameworks, models, and tools consider the health, environmental, and economic benefits of trees and greenspace. Out of 28 reviewed studies, 11 (39%) reported on frameworks, models, and tools that take into account the health, environmental, and economic dimensions of trees and greenspace. Additionally, seven studies provided comprehensive coverage of at least one of the three key dimensions. However, none of the decision support frameworks, models, or tools comprehensively integrated all three dimensions, with only two tools (7%) scoring above 50% (five or more out of nine) in terms of comprehensiveness. This review highlights the urgent need to incorporate the true economic and monetary values of the health and environmental benefits of trees and greenspace to inform urban development decision making.

Hands and forearms are the principal sites of dermal exposure to organophosphate insecticides, which makes glove use one of the most important components of an exposure control strategy. However, the selection of suitable gloves depends on issues such as task, type, and concentration of organophosphate as well as cost. In addition, chemical protection performance of gloves may be temperature dependent, which is of increasing concern in a warming climate. Two recommended reusable glove materials (polyvinylchloride and nitrile butadiene rubber) and one single-use glove (nitrile/neoprene) were tested for permeation resistance to actual formulations of organophosphate insecticides with active ingredients dimethoate and malathion. Chemical resistance parameters were measured using American society for testing and materials permeation test cells and compared across glove, organophosphate type, and temperature. The three gloves demonstrated comparable and adequate chemical resistance (less than one µg cm⁻²min⁻¹ for up to 8 hr exposure; 25–60 °C) for dilute forms of dimethoate and malathion, used during spraying activities. However, the single-use nitrile/neoprene glove is not designed to fully cover the elbow which limits its suitability. In permeation tests that reflect “worst case” exposure scenario to concentrated (neat) organophosphate formulations, as in mixing/loading tasks, a significant variation in chemical resistance between gloves was observed. While polyvinylchloride offered the maximum resistance, physical degradation of nitrile butadiene rubber after 3 hr of continuous exposure makes it unsuitable for handling neat dimethoate. The single-use nitrile/neoprene glove material had considerably poorer permeation resistance (up to 155-fold greater permeation and 6-fold shorter breakthrough) against neat formulations. Overall, elevated temperature (>40 °C) was shown to result in significantly greater (P < 0.05) cumulative permeation of neat formulation insecticides. This work demonstrates the variation in glove performance and potential for greater exposure risk particularly when mixing concentrated pesticides at elevated temperature conditions such as an occluded human skin or hot greenhouses. Training and guidance on testing, selection, use, and storage of gloves should consider in-use exposure scenarios and temperature-induced reduction in chemical protective performance.