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Gruff Owen

@gruffowen.bsky.social
205 followers 72 following 14 posts

Outdoor Access and Recreation Policy | Wales Polisi Mynediad a Hamdden Awyr Agored | Cymru

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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This week on Origin Story: The life & ideas of John Rawls, the most celebrated liberal philosopher of the post-war period. These are some of the most beautiful arguments in progressive thought. We do it as a one hour crash course. Everything you need to know. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/j...
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Neal Hockley @nealhockley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Good thread. But worth noting that one reason this field got so much attention was the idea that 'one little trick' (nudges) could have outsize impacts - very attractive to cash-strapped decision makers. It's healthy if we are settling into a more realistic view of behaviour change interventions.
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
After almost 2 decades it feels like the tides are slowly changing for nudge theory's (behavioural insights etc.) influence on public policy. Interesting comments below on intervention dose. At what point does a large dose become the "systems change", that nudge was essentially opposed to?
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Can't remember if I blathered about this and Nick Chater's work with you recently?? papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... Was the rise of nudge an innocent response to austerity? Or one of the drivers used to justify it alongside reduced regulation?
papers.ssrn.com
The i-Frame and the s-Frame: How Focusing on Individual-Level Solutions Has Led Behavioral Public Policy Astray
An influential line of thinking in behavioral science, to which the two authors have long subscribed, is that many of society’s most pressing problems can be ad
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
One of the obvious problems with a under-16 social media ban is that it won't work. (60%+ of Australian under-16s are still using these platforms). But it will make people feel like something has been done so they won't tackle the content, which is the real issue.
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Wales Environment Link @waleslink.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Here's a starter pack of everyone we can find so far on Bluesky that's been elected to the Senedd! go.bsky.app/7FP8kpy
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
“To defeat the scourge of populism, the government should do a procession of things that sound suspiciously like the populist’s manifesto, but crucially filtered through the economic priorities of the people paying me to write this”
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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 26/05/2026
Today is now the hottest day in May on record with Heathrow and Kew Gardens provisionally reaching 35°C Until yesterday the highest temperature in May was 32.8 °C, but we've now exceeded that record on consecutive days by a full two degrees Celsius 🌡️
A map of the UK showing the new May record with Heathrow and Kew Gardens provisionally reaching 35.0°C.
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
A lot of neurodiverse people have signatures like this. Not sure if it's the case here, but I'd rather we pay attention to what he has to say than his hand writing ability.
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
A thought provoking story that feels like an important perspective for outdoor recreation practitioners to learn from. "The more loudly people announce their presence on the land, the quieter the voices of the ecology and its caretakers become." www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
America’s hiking culture is built on ego
From peak-bagging to thru-hiking, Americans have turned traversing land into personal milestones. This wilderness ranger and Indigenous writer has witnessed it firsthand
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Royal Economic Society @resmedia.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
🧠 In 'How behavioural public policy lost its way', Nick Chater & George Loewenstein revisit nudge theory, arguing it has helped shift blame for society’s deepest problems onto individuals, while doing little to address major challenges. Read more: bit.ly/4tyoJN2 #EconSky
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🇨🇦JOY 🇨🇦 @joycomes.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Tailor Bird sews leaves together with plant fibre to form its nest!
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Interesting discussion to be had here, and the point of the article I think. Responsibility for health is also on the individual, but many are comfortable with state intervention when systemic drivers defeat the public's capacity to respond effectively as individuals, putting services at risk.
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Jane Hill @janehill.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Dramatic scenes at BBC Breakfast.
The Artemis rocket launches with a chyron below that says: Weather presenter Carol Kirkwood leaves BBC after 28 years.
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
My recently vacated role is now live on @natreswales.bsky.social jobs page: Wales Coast Path Officer (North): swyddi.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/VacancyInfor... Some days I seriously question my sanity for leaving this job. Work with some brilliant folks to take care of 360km of stunning coast path
Photo of Wales Coast Path at Llanbadrig, Ynys Môn
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Emily Price @emilypricejourno.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
New Welsh Government legislation has officially recognised the Eurasian beaver as a native species and granted it protected status
nation.cymru
Welsh Government grants legal protection for Eurasian beavers
Emily Price New Welsh Government legislation has officially recognised the Eurasian beaver as a native species and granted it protected status. It marks a major milestone in restoring beavers to the W...
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Hi Miles, we've not met but some writing of yours about People Need Nature (~10yrs ago) inspired me to think differently about conservation policy. Just as you wrote about nature then; I'm sure your work has had profound effects and value beyond what's easily observed. Thank you 😊
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Makes you think huh? Also interesting to see that cost, health and time are significant barriers to visitation alongside distance. Respondents were 16 and above apparently. The results are split by devolved nations, England's report is available here: oceanconservationtrust.org/wp-content/u...
oceanconservationtrust.org
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
The 2022 Ocean Literacy survey reported the % of respondents who had NEVER visited a Marine Environment: England - 11% Northern Ireland - 3% Scotland - 10% Wales - 8%
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Luke Tryl @luketryl.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
I loved this from @gelliottmorris.com on the benefits of polling “Good polling helps citizens understand their fellow citizens, reveals the complexity of public opinion, and provides accountability mechanisms for elected officials. It's a tool for self-knowledge and democracy.”
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Sad to see this. The Ponds on Netflix was a moving demonstration of how transgender access can be handled with reason and sensitivity.
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Sb @xtasbe.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Good morning
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Ben Jennings @bjennings90.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
This weekend's @theipaper.com cartoon
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Interested in responsible outdoor recreation? Natural Resources Wales and Natural England have launched a stakeholder survey on the Countryside Code. Particularly interested to hear from new audiences who aren't as familiar with the code. ymgynghori.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/recreation-t...
ymgynghori.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru
Countryside Code Stakeholder Survey 2025 - Natural Resources Wales Citizen Space - Citizen Space
Find and participate in consultations run by Natural Resources Wales
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Abandoned in the 1950s after a gas explosion apparently.
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Eben Muse @ebenmyrddin.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
My first ever @theguardian.com Country Diary 🙂 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Country diary: A wildfire has killed off (nearly) everything wild | Eben Muse
Cilgwyn, Gwynedd: It stripped the hill of its heather, bilberry and bog mosses – and with them the inhabitants of so many nests and burrows
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John Self @john-self.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
"Pictures are famous for their humanness, not for their pictureness." Kurt Vonnegut discussion of art in his 1997 novel Timequake offers one explanation why people might find AI creations unsatisfying.
I went on: "People capable of liking some paintings or prints or whatever can rarely do so without knowing something about the artist.

Again, the situation is social rather than scientific. Any work of art is half of a conversation between two human beings, and it helps a lot to
know who is talking at you. Does he or she have a reputation for seriousness, for religiosity, for suffering, for concupiscence, for rebellion, for sincerity, for jokes?

"There are virtually no respected paintings made by persons about whom we know zilch. We can even surmise quite a bit about the lives of whoever did the paintings in the caverns underneath Lascaux, France.

"I dare to suggest that no picture can attract serious attention without a particular sort of human being attached to it in the viewer's mind.
If you are unwilling to claim credit for your pictures, and to say why you hoped others might find them worth examining, there goes the ball game.

"Pictures are famous for their humanness, and not for their pictureness."
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
I hope he doesn't mind being tagged here, but @pannageman.bsky.social from OSS highlighted on IPROW forum that S.56 may not have been commenced here in Wales. See S.103 CRoW (2000), and the following commencement Order: www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2001/141...
legislation.gov.uk
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (Commencement No. 2) (Wales) Order 2001
This Order brings into force on 1 May 2001 certain provisions of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (“the Act”) in relation to Wales, namely:section 57, in relation to paragraphs 18 and 19 of ...
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Gruff Owen @gruffowen.bsky.social · 16/08/2024
Huh, thanks Leighton! Wondered why notifications blew up (well, 20 or so) so suddenly.
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