Latest news with #Kere
TimesLIVE
16-07-2025
- General
- TimesLIVE
How schools are being built for extreme heat — without aircon
When prize-winning architect Francis Kere was growing up in Burkina Faso he spent his schooldays in a gloomy classroom that was so stifling he says it would have been better suited to making bread than educating children. Years later, while studying abroad, Kere returned to his home village to build a light and airy school where children could learn in comfort despite temperatures that can hit 45°C. But the Berlin-based architect did not use air conditioning. Instead he incorporated a host of cooling features into Gando Primary School that he has since applied to projects around Africa. Kere, who won architecture's highest honour, the Pritzker Prize in 2022, is among architects pioneering sustainable school designs for a warming planet. 'My own school was so hot it was hard to concentrate,' he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 'So I wanted to build a school that would be comfortable and inspiring for children.' Studies from Brazil to Vietnam show heat significantly affects learning. In a report last year, the World Bank warned climate change was threatening educational attainment, creating an 'economic time bomb'. Experts say classrooms should be no hotter than 26°C. In Gando, villagers were initially shocked when Kere announced he would build the school from clay, but the material is a natural temperature regulator, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Concrete and plate glass may look contemporary, but Kere said they make buildings hot, necessitating air conditioners. This creates a vicious circle. Energy-intensive air conditioners, which expel hot air outdoors, contribute to global warming, which then fuels demand for more air conditioning. Instead, Kere uses passive cooling techniques.
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- General
- Indian Express
How schools are being built for extreme heat
When prize-winning architect Francis Kere was growing up in Burkina Faso he spent his schooldays in a gloomy classroom that was so stifling he says it would have been better suited to making bread than educating children. Years later, while studying abroad, Kere returned to his home village to build a light and airy school where children could learn in comfort despite temperatures that can hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 F). But the Berlin-based architect did not use aircon. Instead he incorporated a host of cooling features into Gando Primary School that he has since applied to projects across Africa. Kere, who won architecture's highest honour of the Pritzker Prize in 2022, is among architects pioneering sustainable school designs for a warming planet. 'My own school was so hot it was hard to concentrate,' he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 'So I wanted to build a school that would be comfortable and inspiring for children.' Studies from Brazil to Vietnam show heat significantly impacts learning. In a report last year, the World Bank warned that climate change was threatening educational attainment, creating an 'economic time-bomb'. Experts say classrooms should be no hotter than 26 C. In Gando, villagers were initially shocked when Kere announced he would build the school from clay, but the material is a natural temperature regulator, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Concrete and plate-glass may look contemporary, but Kere said they make buildings hot, necessitating air conditioners. This creates a vicious circle. Energy-intensive air conditioners, which expel hot air outdoors, contribute to global warming, which then fuels demand for more aircon. Instead, Kere uses passive cooling techniques. Gando's classrooms have openings at both ends, generating cross-ventilation. An overhanging roof elevated above a perforated lower roof improves air circulation and shades the facade. In Kenya, Kere's design for a college campus was inspired by termite mounds, which use natural ventilation to regulate interior temperatures. Low openings on the buildings suck in fresh air while terracotta-coloured towers let hot air escape. Some 8,000 km (5,000 miles) away in northwest India's Thar desert, temperatures reached 48 C this year. Vegetation is sparse, and sandstorms are common. The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School, a large oval sandstone edifice rising from the Rajasthan desert, was designed by New York architect Diana Kellogg. The building's orientation and shape allow prevailing winds to flow around the school, while lime plaster on the interior walls has an additional cooling effect. Lattice walls, inspired by traditional Indian jali screens, accelerate airflow due to a phenomenon called the Venturi effect. The school also runs off solar power and harvests enough rainwater for its needs. Temperatures inside are up to 10 C cooler than outside, contributing to high attendance, Kellogg said. Like Kere, she believes good architecture can encourage social change. Rajasthan has the lowest female literacy rate in India, but Kellogg said the school's monumental scale sends a strong message about the value of girls. 'It has enhanced their standing in the community,' she said. 'The girls take pride in attending and call it 'The College'. When I visit, the boys say, 'Build one for us'.' Even temperate countries are looking at how to cool schools as climate change brings more frequent heatwaves. Britain has said new school buildings should be future-proofed for a 4 C temperature rise. Its draughty Victorian-era schools with big windows and high ceilings are better suited to heatwaves than newer schools designed to keep heat in. But education does not just happen indoors. Playgrounds are also important for children's development, and many cities are trying to make them greener. Urban areas can be 4 C to 6 C warmer than rural areas, but planting trees reduces temperatures through shading and the release of water vapour. Paris aims to convert all asphalted schoolyards to green oases by 2050. Another solution involves cool paint. While countries like Greece have long painted building roofs white, scientists are now working on high-tech coatings that could potentially outperform air conditioners. From geothermal cooling technology to smart glass, engineers are developing increasingly sophisticated systems and products to control temperatures. But German architect Anna Heringer said sustainable architecture means working with local materials. Heringer, who has designed schools from Bangladesh to Ghana, is known for building with mud – 'a low-tech material with high-tech performance. 'If you ask farmers, they will tell you a mud house is cool in summer,' Heringer said, adding that clay balances humidity, which exacerbates physical discomfort in extreme heat and cold. 'Architects often try to be way too technical, but sometimes the solutions are in front of us.' In Tanzania, villagers told her they built concrete homes for status, but went to mud huts to sleep at night. Contrary to popular perception, clay walls do not dissolve in the rain, Heringer said. There are simple techniques to prevent erosion, and a natural crystallization process strengthens the walls over time. 'Clay has been branded as a weak material, but in every culture and climate we have mud buildings that are hundreds of years old,' Heringer said, adding that schools she built 20 years ago have required little maintenance. Some classrooms in her schools have solar-powered fans, but there is no aircon. Not only does it consume energy, but constantly switching between heat and cold can harm children's health, she said. Kere – whose international commissions include Benin's new parliament building and the upcoming Las Vegas Museum of Art – said his studio gets many inquiries about building with clay and passive cooling. 'There's a big shift,' he said. 'This would never have happened just a few years ago.' (Reporting by Emma Batha;
USA Today
05-07-2025
- Health
- USA Today
Injured bald eagle, healed with fish skin, released back into the wild
Veterinarians saved the raptor from a devastating leg injury using a pioneering fish skin treatment. They released her back to freedom days before Independence Day. A badly injured bald eagle saved by a pioneering fish skin treatment is back in the wild, just in time for the Fourth of July. The bird, named Kere, was on the verge of death when volunteers brought her to the Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital in northern Wisconsin last August. Her leg was ripped open from knee to ankle, and maggots and bacteria had begun to fill the dried-out wound. 'It was horrendous,' said Veterinarian Kim Ammann. But the doctor saw a flicker of hope: the eagle was somehow standing on the bandaged-up leg, and its talons still worked. 'That's when I started to figure I was going to need something to close the wound,' said Ammann A few Google searches later, Ammann stumbled on the Icelandic company Kerecis, which transplants the skin of North Atlantic cod to help heal human wounds and support tissue regeneration. The treatment had never been used on a species of raptor before, but Ammann took a leap and sent them an email. Almost 'immediately,' she said the company reached back out and offered the descaled, medical fish skin free of charge to the all-volunteer veterinary hospital. Within weeks, Ammann gave Kere, who is named in honor of the company, the first of two successful surgical skin grafts. The rest of her recovery included about 10 months of grueling wound care, bandage changes, and a mini vacation in the hospital's Eagle flyway rehabilitation enclosure. 'There was something very special about the fact that she was an eagle and that she was allowing me to do this,' Ammann said of the bird. 'That tolerance was part of what made it possible.' By June 22, the wild bald eagle was ready to soar free again. The date was more about ensuring Kere had 'the majority of the summer months' to reacclimate with being wild again. But the symbolism of releasing a bald eagle so close to the Fourth of July wasn't lost on Ammann A group of about a hundred viewers gathered to watch Kere take flight above the forests and fields. Amann described the day as 'magical.' 'She could decide whether she wanted to go east or west. She could decide what lake she wanted to go to,' Ammann said. 'I was so happy for her to have her independence back.' A conservation success story Bald eagles, an iconic symbol of the United States, are among the most protected species in the country. But they haven't always been. The bird's population began plummeting in the late 1800s as American industrialization began changing the landscape, destroying their habitats and introducing lead into the environment. In 1940, the federal government enacted The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibiting people from hunting, selling or possessing an eagle ‒ in effort to prevent further population decline. But decades later, pesticides, including DDT, seeped into waterways and further endangered the species. The chemicals were believed to thin bald eagle eggs, decreasing the bird's reproductive success. The bald eagle population hit an all-time low in the 1960s, with just 417 nesting pairs in the continental U.S, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. The United States banned DDT in 1972 and passed The Endangered Species Act in 1973, to protect quickly disappearing species like the bald eagle. The raptor was taken off the endangered species list in 2007 as conservation efforts led to a population surge. Today, there are an estimated 316,000 bald eagles in the lower 48 states. And in 2024, they became the country's national bird .
Newsweek
28-06-2025
- Health
- Newsweek
Doctor Discusses Fishy Surgery That Saved Bald Eagle's Life
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Thanks to an innovative surgery using fish skin grafts, Kere, a rescued bald eagle, returned to flight over Wisconsin on June 22 after surviving a life-threatening leg injury. Why It Matters Bald eagles, the national symbol of the United States, have faced near extinction in the past, with each rescue effort highlighting conservation progress and ongoing challenges. In Kere's case, the pioneering use of fish skin grafts to heal traumatic wounds in wildlife opens a potential new chapter in animal medical care. The bald eagle's release came days ahead of July Fourth celebrations, restoring an emblem of American freedom to the wild. What To Know Kere's 10-month recovery was led by Dr. Kim Ammann, a raptor specialist and founder at the Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital, a press release provided to Newsweek said. The treatment represented the first time a bald eagle received this type of skin graft that was provided by Icelandic firm Kerecis. Kere was discovered in Hayward, Wisconsin, in September 2024 with a 360-degree wound running from her knee to her ankle. The injury left no healthy skin for traditional treatments and infection threatened her survival. Ammann then stepped in to provide care. "With no traditional options left, she turned to innovative alternatives and discovered an Icelandic company called Kerecis that uses intact fish skin from sustainably sourced North Atlantic Cod to support tissue regeneration," the press release said. Kerecis, known for developing fish skin grafts for humans, had only recently begun offering veterinary products. Over 10 months, the cod skin grafts supported tissue regeneration and helped combat infection, which improved Kere's prospects. "The trust she put in me made it possible to accomplish what we did. She tolerated bandage changes every few days for months," Ammann said. Ammann, who treated over 200 birds in the past year, including 75 bald eagles, noted that Kere's case demonstrates the importance of innovative veterinary efforts. The successful use of fish skin grafts may open doors for wildlife rescue centers and veterinarians nationwide. Stock photo. A bald eagle flies over the Massapequa Preserve on March 25 in Massapequa, New York. Stock photo. A bald eagle flies over the Massapequa Preserve on March 25 in Massapequa, New York. Photo byWhat People Are Saying Dr. Kim Ammann, founder of Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital, said about Kere: "She left the wraps and dressings alone as they were healing her wound. She was eating well and taking necessary medications the whole time." Marta Hines, veterinary business development manager at Kerecis, said in the press release: "Our fish skin grafts are used in a variety of different wounds, whether those are traumatic wounds or some that have been out there for a while, and they have not closed in a while, like chronic wounds." What Happens Next The Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital continues to seek support for its conservation and rehabilitation activities. Kerecis, meanwhile, has indicated continued research and development of its veterinary products.
Miami Herald
27-06-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
‘Majestic' eagle had ‘slim' chance of survival after injury. Now she's healed
A bald eagle found with 'her leg torn open from knee to ankle' had a 'slim' chance of survival — until a Wisconsin animal hospital tried a unique technique. Now, Kere has been released and is getting a second chance at life in the wild less than a year after she was taken to Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital for treatment, the hospital said in a June 27 news release. She was found in a park in Hayward in September with a 'devastating 360-degree wound' and no healthy skin to help repair it, the hospital said. So, the hospital's founder, Kim Ammann, looked to the 'majestic' bald eagle's prey — fish — for help. 'With no traditional options left, she turned to innovative alternatives and discovered an Icelandic company called Kerecis that uses intact fish skin from sustainably sourced North Atlantic Cod to support tissue regeneration,' officials said. The practice was originally created for human medical use and had never been attempted on a bald eagle, officials said. However, the experiment with Kere was a success. 'The cod skin grafts did what no other treatment could. Over the course of 10 months, they helped regenerate Kere's tissue and fight off infection, offering a remarkable new lifeline to a bird who represents resilience and liberty,' the hospital said. In addition to the innovative treatment, Kere cooperated with her caregivers, which allowed her to heal quickly. 'The trust she put in me made it possible to accomplish what we did,' Ammann said in a statement. 'She tolerated bandage changes every few days for months. Those were done with her awake and watching me. She left the wraps and dressings alone as they were healing her wound. She was eating well and taking necessary medications the whole time.' Video from her June 22 release shows Kere soar from a cage as her rehabilitators watch her confidently go back into the wild. Hayward is about a 350-mile drive northwest from Milwaukee.
