Search results for: policies and regulations

Authors: Fernanda Conforto de Oliveira

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has a central role in global financial governance as the world’s leading crisis lender. Its practice of conditional lending – conditioning loans on the implementation of economic policy adjustments – is the primary lever by which the institution interacts with and influences the policy choices of member countries and has been a key topic of interest to scholars and public opinion. However, empirical evidence about the economic and (geo)political determinants of IMF lending behavior remains inconclusive, and no model that explains IMF policies has been identified. This research moves beyond panel analysis to focus on financial negotiations for the first IMF programs in Argentina and Brazil in the early post-war period. It seeks to understand why negotiations achieved distinct objectives: Argentinean officials cooperated and complied with IMF policies, whereas their Brazilian counterparts hesitated. Using qualitative and automated text analysis, this paper analyses the hypothesis about whether a differential IMF treatment could help to explain these distinct outcomes. This paper contributes to historical studies on IMF-Latin America relations and the broader literature in international policy economy about IMF policies.

Keywords: international monetary fund, international history, financial history, Latin American economic history, natural language processing, sentiment analysis

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Authors: María Dolores Caro, Eugenio M. Fedriani, Ángel F. Tenorio

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When lorries transport dangerous goods, there exist some legal stipulations in the European Union for assuring the security of the rest of road users as well as of those goods being transported. At this respect, lorry drivers cannot park in usual parking areas, because they must use parking areas with special conditions, including permanent supervision of security personnel. Moreover, drivers are compelled to satisfy additional regulations about resting and driving times, which involve in the practical possibility of reaching the suitable parking areas under these time parameters. The “European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road” (ADR) is the basic regulation on transportation of dangerous goods imposed under the recommendations of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Indeed, nowadays there are no enough parking areas adapted for dangerous goods and no complete study have suggested the best locations to build new areas or to adapt others already existing to provide the areas being necessary so that lorry drivers can follow all the regulations. The goal of this paper is to show how many additional parking areas should be built in the Iberian Peninsula to allow that lorry drivers may park in such areas under their restrictions in resting and driving time. To do so, we have modeled the problem via graph theory and we have applied a new efficient algorithm which determines an optimal solution for the problem of locating new parking areas to complement those already existing in the ADR for the Iberian Peninsula. The solution can be considered minimal since the number of additional parking areas returned by the algorithm is minimal in quantity. Obviously, graph theory is a natural way to model and solve the problem here proposed because we have considered as nodes: the already-existing parking areas, the loading-and-unloading locations and the bifurcations of roads; while each edge between two nodes represents the existence of a road between both nodes (the distance between nodes is the edge's weight). Except for bifurcations, all the nodes correspond to parking areas already existing and, hence, the problem corresponds to determining the additional nodes in the graph such that there are less up to 100 km between two nodes representing parking areas. (maximal distance allowed by the European regulations).

Keywords: dangerous goods, parking areas, Iberian peninsula, graph-based modeling

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Authors: Mais Qandeel

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Within the Jewish and democratic Israeli state, as dually characterized, the treatment of citizens differs according to their religious groups and nationalities. The laws and policies against Arab citizens concerning ownership and use of land are the main focus of this article. As the Jewish character has led to Jewish based legal provisions which give the privilege to Jews, first, this article examines the legal bases which distinguish between citizens in Israel based on their religion. It examines the major Israeli laws which are used to confiscate, manage, and lease properties. Second, the article demonstrates the de facto practices against Arab citizens in using lands. Most of the Palestinian land was confiscated and turned over to Jewish owners or to state land, Palestinian citizens are distinguished in using the state administered lands. They are also restricted in using full ownership rights and denied using plots of lands and housing units. Such policies have created, within the same state, a class of secondary citizens who are categorized as non-Jews. Last, within the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom which has served as the constitutional bill of rights for Israelis and also the International law, particularly the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, it will be concluded whether these restricted policies against Arab citizens in using land constitute a religion-based-discrimination among Israeli citizens and create a situation of separation and inequality between two groups of people in Israel.

Keywords: Israel, citizens, discrimination, equality

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Authors: Nasser Y. Mahamoud, Pierre Dehombreux, Hassan E. Robleh

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Industrial companies may be confronted with questions about their choice of maintenance policy. This choice must be guided by several numbers of decision criteria or objectives related to their production or service activities but also to their level of development and their investment prospects. A decision-support methodology to choose a maintenance policy (corrective, systematic or conditional preventive, predictive, opportunistic or not) is proposed to facilitate this choice using the main categories of the most important decision criteria. The different steps of this methodology are illustrated using theoretical case: identification of the different maintenance alternatives, determining the structure of the most important categories of the decision criteria, assessing the different maintenance policies on to the criteria by using an ordinal preference relation, and finally ranking the different maintenance policies.

Keywords: maintenance policy, decision criteria, decision-making process, AHP

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Authors: Ibrahim Arslan

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Since 1984, Turkey has experienced a significant transformation in legal and economic matters. The most consequential examples of this transformation in recent years are the renewal of the Commercial Code and the Check Act. Nowadays, the commercial activity is not limited within the boundaries of the country; on the contrary, as required by the global economy, it has an international dimension. For this reason, unlike some other legal principles, the rules regulating the commercial life should be compatible with the international standards as much as possible. Otherwise the development possibility in the global markets will be limited. The Check Act has been adopted in 2009 and the Commercial Code has been adopted in 2011. The Commercial Code has been entered into force on 1 July 2012. The international dimension of check is in-disputable for it is based on the Geneva Convention. However, the Turkish business life has created a unique application of this legal tool. This application is called “post-date” checks. Indeed the majority of the checks being used in the market are post-dated checks. The holders of these checks have waited the date written on the check for presentation and collection. Thus, the actual situation has occurred. This actual situation has been legitimized via Check Act No. 5941 and post dated checks have gained a legal status. In the preparation of the new the Turkish Commercial Code one of the goals is "to ensure that the Turkish commercial law becomes a part of the international market". To achieve this goal, significant changes have been made especially concerning the independent external audition of the corporations, the board structure and public disclosure regulations. These changes aim to facilitate the internationalization of Turkish corporations as well as intensification of foreign direct investments through foreign capital. Although the target has been determined this way, after the adoption but five days before the entry into force of the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, a law made backward going alterations concerning independent external audition and public disclosure regulations. Turkish Commercial Code has been currently in force with its altered status. Both the regulations in the Check Act as well as the changes in the Commercial Code are not compatible with the goals introduced by rationale “to ensure Turkish commercial law to be a part of the international market” as such.

Keywords: Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, Turkish Check Act, “post-date” checks, legal changes

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Authors: Ana Campina, Maria Manuela Magalhaes, Eusebio André Machado, Cristina Costa-Lobo

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Inclusive school advocates respect for differences, for equal opportunities and for a quality education for all, including for students with special educational needs. In the pursuit of educational equity, guaranteeing equality in access and results, it becomes the responsibility of the school to recognize students' needs, adapting to the various styles and rhythms of learning, ensuring the adequacy of curricula, strategies and resources, materials and humans. This paper presents a set of theoretical reflections in the disciplinary interface between legal and education sciences, school administration and management, with the aim of understand the real inclusion characteristics in a balance with the inclusion policies and the need(s) of an education for Human Rights, especially for diversity. Considering the actual social complexity but the important education instruments and strategies, mostly patented in the policies, this paper aims expose the existing contexts opposed to the laws, policies and inclusion educational needs. More than a single study, this research aims to develop a map of the reality and the guidelines to implement the action. The results point to the usefulness and pertinence of a school in which educational managers, teachers, parents, and students, are involved in the creation, implementation and monitoring of flexible curricula and adapted to the educational needs of students, promoting a collaborative work among teachers. We are then faced with a scenario that points to the need to reflect on the legislation and curricular management of inclusive classes and to operationalize the processes of elaboration of curricular adaptations and differentiation in the classroom. The transdisciplinary is a pedagogic and social education perfect approach using the Human Rights binomio – teaching and learning – supported by the inclusion laws according to the realistic needs for an effective successful society construction.

Keywords: rights, transdisciplinary, inclusion policies, education for diversity

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Authors: Cletus Agbowo

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Standard principles, rules, regulations, norms and guides are necessities in practice especially in the Economics and management information system Institute of management of and technology (IMT) Enugu a case sturdy as presented by the presenter. Without mincing words, the fundamental bottle neck of management is economics, how to select to engage merger productivity resources to achieve uncountable objectives without tears. Management information system inevitably become bound up in organizational politics because the influence access to a key resource – namely information. Economics and management information can effect who does what to whom, when, where and how in an organization. In great institutions like the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu a case study many new information systems require changes in personnel, individual routines that can be painful for those involved and require retraining and additional effort may or may not be compensated. In a nut shell, because management information system potentially change an organization’s structure, culture, business processes, and strategy, there is often considerable resistance to them when they are introduced. The case study have many schools, departments, divisions and units which needs research on economics and management information systems. A system can be defined as a set of interrelated components and / or elements, which reacts with input to produce output. A department in an organization is a system. The researcher is faced to itemize the practical challenges encountered and solution adopted by the Institute Management and Enugu state government.

Keywords: economics, information, management, productivity, regulations

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Authors: Babatunde Joel Todowede

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The challenges of nation building and sustainable development have continued to feature prominently in the general reckoning of problems of underdevelopment in the developing countries of the world. Thus, since the attainment of political independence from the British colonial administration in 1960, one of the critical thrusts of central governance in Nigeria has been the particular policy attention of the educational sector. Of course, education is perceived as the logical bridge between the two contrasting worlds of underdevelopment and development, hence, its fundamental importance. The various public policies and practices associated with the Nigerian educational sector are specifically elaborated and critically assessed in this paper. In the final analysis, it is concluded that the educational sector should be better configured and managed in ways that the wider challenges of nation-building and sustainable development are effectively tractable.

Keywords: Nigeria education, educational need, educational plans and policies, educational challenges, corrective measures, emerging economy

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Authors: Philipp Galkin

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Government policy is a critical factor in the understanding of energy markets. Regardless, it is rarely approached systematically from a research perspective. Gaining a precise understanding of what policies exist, their intended outcomes, geographical extent, duration, evolution, etc. would enable the research community to answer a variety of questions that, for now, are either oversimplified or ignored. Policy, on its surface, also seems a rather unstructured and qualitative undertaking. There may be quantitative components, but incorporating the concept of policy analysis into quantitative analysis remains a challenge. The KAPSARC Energy Policy Database (KEPD) is intended to address these two energy policy research limitations. Our approach is to represent policies within a quantitative library of the specific policy measures contained within a set of legal documents. Each of these measures is recorded into the database as a single entry characterized by a set of qualitative and quantitative attributes. Initially, we have focused on the major laws at the national level that regulate coal in China. However, KAPSARC is engaged in various efforts to apply this methodology to other energy policy domains. To ensure scalability and sustainability of our project, we are exploring semantic processing using automated computer algorithms. Automated coding can provide a more convenient input data for human coders and serve as a quality control option. Our initial findings suggest that the methodology utilized in KEPD could be applied to any set of energy policies. It also provides a convenient tool to facilitate understanding in the energy policy realm enabling the researcher to quickly identify, summarize, and digest policy documents and specific policy measures. The KEPD captures a wide range of information about each individual policy contained within a single policy document. This enables a variety of analyses, such as structural comparison of policy documents, tracing policy evolution, stakeholder analysis, and exploring interdependencies of policies and their attributes with exogenous datasets using statistical tools. The usability and broad range of research implications suggest a need for the continued expansion of the KEPD to encompass a larger scope of policy documents across geographies and energy sectors.

Keywords: China, energy policy, policy analysis, policy database

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Authors: S. Damapong, C. Kingkeow, W. Kongnoo, P. Pattapokin, S. Pruenglamphu

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As the presence of Thai children double burden malnutrition, we conducted a project to promote holistic age-appropriate nutrition for Thai children. Researchers developed P1-P7 computer software for managing and analyzing diverse types of collected data. The study objectives were: i) to use software to manage and analyze the collected data, ii) to evaluate the children nutritional status and their caretakers’ nutrition practice to create regulations for improving nutrition. Data were collected by means of questionnaires, called P1-P7. P1, P2 and P5 were for children and caretakers, and others were for institutions. The children nutritional status, height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height standards were calculated using Thai child z-score references. Institution evaluations consisted of various standard regulations including the use of our software. The results showed that the software was used in 44 out of 118 communities (37.3%), 57 out of 240 child development centers and nurseries (23.8%), and 105 out of 152 schools (69.1%). No major problems have been reported with the software, although user efficiency can be increased further through additional training. As the result, the P1-P7 software was used to manage and analyze nutritional status, nutrition behavior, and environmental conditions, in order to conduct Thai Child Evaluation (TCE). The software was most widely used in schools. Some aspects of P1-P7’s questionnaires could be modified to increase ease of use and efficiency.

Keywords: P1-P7 software, Thai child evaluation, nutritional status, malnutrition

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Authors: Bronwyn S. Mthimunye, Athena S. Pedro, Nicolette V. Roman

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Inclusive education is a global concern, in the context of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. These countries are all striving for inclusive education, as there are many children excluded from formal schooling. The need for inclusive education is imperative, given the increase in special needs diagnoses. Many children confronted with special needs are still not able to exercise their basic right to education. The aim of conducting this scoping review was to explore the policies and procedures addressing the implementation of inclusive education in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The studies included were published between 2006-2016 and located in Academic Search Complete, ERIC, Medline, PsycARTICLES, JSTOR, and SAGE Journals. Seven articles were included in which all of the articles reported on inclusive education and the status of implementation. The findings identified many challenges faced by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa that affect the implementation of policies and programmes. Challenges such as poor planning, resource-constrained communities, lack of professionals in schools, and the need for adequate teacher training were identified. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are faced with many social and economic challenges, which serves as a barrier to the implementation of inclusive education.

Keywords: special needs, inclusion, education, scoping review

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Authors: Marcela Davalos Lopez

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The history of the circulation of hygienic knowledge and the consolidation of public health in Latin American cities towards the end of the 19th century is well known. Among them, Mexico City was inserted in international politics, strengthened institutions, medical knowledge, applied parameters of modernity and built sanitary engineering works. Despite the power that this hygienist system achieved, its scope was relative: it cannot be generalized to all cities. From a comparative and contextual analysis, it will be shown that conclusions derived from modern urban historiography present, from our contemporary observations, fractures. Between 1890 and 1930, the small cities and areas surrounding the Mexican capital adapted in their own way the international and federal public health regulations. This will be shown for neighborhoods located around Mexico City and in a medium city, close to the Mexican capital (about 80 km), called Cuernavaca. While the inhabitants of the neighborhoods kept awaiting the evolutionary process and the forms that public hygiene policies were taking (because they were witnesses and affected in their territories), in Cuernavaca, the dictates came as an echo. While the capital was drained, large roads were opened, roundabouts were erected, residents were expelled, and drains, sewers, drinking water pipes, etc., were built; Cuernavaca was sheltered in other times and practices. What was this due to? Undoubtedly, the time and energy that it took politicians and the group of "scientists" to carry out these enormous works in the Mexican capital took them away from addressing the issue in remote villages. It was not until the 20th century that the federal hygiene policy began to be strengthened. Despite this, there are other factors that emphasize the particularities of each site. I would like to draw attention here to the different receptions that each town prepared on public hygiene. We will see that Cuernavaca responded to its own semi-rural culture, history, orography and functions, prolonging for much longer, for example, the use of its deep ravines as sewers. For their part, the neighborhoods surrounding the capital, although affected and excluded from hygienist policies, chose to move away from them and solve the deficiencies with their own resources (they resorted to the waste that was left from the dried lake of Mexico to continue their lake practices). All of this points to a paradox that shapes our contemporary concerns: on the one hand, the benefits derived from medical knowledge and its technological applications (in this work referring particularly to the urban health system) and, on the other, the alteration it caused in environmental settings. Places like Cuernavaca (classified by the nineteenth-century and hygienists of the first decades of the twentieth century as backward), as well as landscapes such as neighborhoods, affected by advances in sanitary engineering, keep in their memory buried practices that we observe today as possible ways to reestablish environmental balances: alternative uses of water; recycling of organic materials; local uses of fauna; various systems for breaking down excreta, and so on. In sum, what the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries graduated as levels of backwardness or progress, turn out to be key information to rethink the routes of environmental conservation. When we return to the observations of the scientists, politicians and lawyers of that period, we find historically rejected cultural alterity. Populations such as Cuernavaca that, due to their history, orography and/or insufficiency of federal policies, kept different relationships with the environment, today give us clues to reorient basic elements of cities: alternative uses of water, waste of raw materials, organic or consumption of local products, among others. It is, therefore, a matter of unearthing the rejected that cries out to emerge to the surface.

Keywords: sanitary hygiene, Mexico city, cultural alterity, environmental conservation, environmental history

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Authors: J. Racedo, J. Torres

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Globalization has led to a worldwide competition for participation in markets of goods and productive factors, with significant effects on transports requirements. The port industry has not been an exception to this event, in fact, it has received increasing attention in recent years due to its crucial role on international trade. Because of this, the measurement of port performance has become an important issue in transport policy. Port performance and port efficiency has been widely studied in the last decades, resulting in noteworthy contributions to improving the industry competitiveness. In this paper, we aim to present a review of the literature on port performance and the relation between this concept and transport policies. This study has the objective to describe the approaches that have been developed in recent years, and especially those that include the modeling of public policies. Finally, we highlight existing gaps in this field, as well as possible directions for future research.

Keywords: port performance, port efficiency, transport, policy

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Authors: Luxi Chen

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The land finance in China in recent years has propelled urban renewals in the name of historical conservation and led to massive gentrification and compulsory relocation. Such inequalities cause insurgence. Drawing on public planning information, ethnographic field notes, and online interview data about Guangzhou's Enninglu Area, this paper aims to present how such insurgence has been contained and put down gradually through depoliticization narratives represented by "improving living conditions," "conserving historical culture," and "public participation”. This paper's findings include that 1) Besides economic growth, maintaining social stability in alignment with the central government are equally important to local government, reveals the latter efforts to mediate the growth coalition, residents, media, and academics so as to reconstruct the interface between state and society; 2) To empower the insurgence, the media and academics use public interests for propaganda, that diverts attention away from its political dimension; 3) In response, the government introduces improved regulations and planning, turning social inequalities into technical inadequacy so as to become the defender of public interests, which justifies the incoming renewal and prevents public questioning. By comparing regime changes among governments, developers, residents, media, and academics caused by renewal policies, this paper presents the depoliticized narrative as a counter-insurgence strategy to contain social conflicts and to boost inner-city renewal.

Keywords: inner city renewal, depoliticization, historical conservation, public participation

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Authors: Ahmed Usman, Kaduna State University

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This paper explores the intricate relationship between multiculturalism, religion, and ethnic relations, aiming to understand how these elements interact within diverse societies. Multiculturalism, as a societal framework, advocates for the coexistence of diverse cultures, encouraging respect and recognition of different cultural identities. Religion often plays a significant role in shaping cultural identity and influencing values, behaviors, and social norms. Ethnic relations, the dynamics between different ethnic groups, are deeply affected by both multicultural policies and religious practices. The researchers investigate how multicultural policies can either foster harmonious ethnic relations or exacerbate tensions, depending on their implementation and societal reception. It also delves into the role of religion in either bridging or widening ethnic divides. Few studies have focused on the phenomenon. This study highlights the conditions under which multiculturalism and religious diversity contribute to social cohesion through qualitative research methodology in Nigeria. The study findings underscore the importance of inclusive policies, interfaith dialogue, and education in promoting positive ethnic relations in multicultural settings. This research contributes to the broader understanding of how multiculturalism and religion intersect to influence ethnic dynamics, offering insights for policymakers and community leaders aiming to cultivate harmonious, inclusive societies.

Keywords: multiculturalism, religion, ethnic relations, Nigeria

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Authors: Aishath Shakeela

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At a global level, water stewardship, water stress and water security are crucial factors in tourism planning and development considerations. Challenges associated with water is of particular concern to the Maldives as there is limited availability of freshwater, high dependency on desalinated water, and high unit cost associated with desalinating water. While the Maldives is promoted as an example of sustainable tourism, a key sustainability challenge facing tourism dependent communities is the efficient use and management of available water resources. A water crisis event in the capital island of Maldives highlighted how precarious water related issues are in this tourism dependent destination. Applying netnography, the focus of this working paper is to present community perceptions of how government policies addressed Malé Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) water crisis event.

Keywords: crisis management, government policies, Maldives, tourism, water

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Authors: Auwal Nata'ala

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The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has had impacts in almost every area human endeavor. From business, industries, banks to none profit organizations. ICT has simplified business process such as sorting, summarizing, coding, updating and generating a report in a real-time processing mode. However, the use of these ICT facilities such as computer and internet has also brought unintended consequences of criminal activities such as spamming, credit card frauds, ATM frauds, phishing, identity theft, denial of services and other related cyber crimes. This study sought to examined cyber-crime and its impact on the banking institution in Nigeria. It also examined the existing policy framework and assessed the success of the institutional countermeasures in combating cyber crime in the banking industry. This paper X-ray’s cyber crimes, policies issues and provides insight from a Nigeria perspective.

Keywords: cyber crimes, e-banking, policies, ICT

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Authors: Walid Moudani

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The Crew Reserve Assignment Problem (CRAP) considers the assignment of the crew members to a set of reserve activities covering all the scheduled flights in order to ensure a continuous plan so that operations costs are minimized while its solution must meet hard constraints resulting from the safety regulations of Civil Aviation as well as from the airlines internal agreements. The problem considered in this study is of highest interest for airlines and may have important consequences on the service quality and on the economic return of the operations. In this communication, a new mathematical formulation for the CRAP is proposed which takes into account the regulations and the internal agreements. While current solutions make use of Artificial Intelligence techniques run on main frame computers, a low cost approach is proposed to provide on-line efficient solutions to face perturbed operating conditions. The proposed solution method uses a dynamic programming approach for the duties scheduling problem and when applied to the case of a medium airline while providing efficient solutions, shows good potential acceptability by the operations staff. This optimization scheme can then be considered as the core of an on-line Decision Support System for crew reserve assignment operations management.

Keywords: airlines operations management, combinatorial optimization, dynamic programming, crew scheduling

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Authors: Robert Grzeszczak

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The article deals with one of the most significant issues concerning the functioning of the public sector in the European Union. The objectives of good governance were formulated by the EU itself and also the Scholars in reaction to the discussion that started a decade ago and concerned the role of the government in 21st century, the future of integration processes and globalization challenges in Europe. Currently, the concept of good governance is mainly associated with the improvement of management of public policies in the European Union, concerning both domestic and EU policies. However, it goes beyond the issues of state capacity and effectiveness of management. Good governance relates also to societal participation in the public administration and verification of decisions made in public authorities’ (including public administration). Indirectly, the concept and practice of good governance are connected to societal legitimisation of public bodies in the European Union.

Keywords: good governance, government, European law, European Union

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Authors: Aparna Sengupta

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The paper seeks to find answers to the question as to why India’s disaster management policies have been unable to deliver the desired results. Are the shortcomings in policy formulation, effective policy implementation or timely prevention mechanisms? Or is there a fundamental issue of policy formulation which sparsely takes into account the cultural specificities and uniqueness, technological know-how, educational, religious and attitudinal capacities of the target population into consideration? India was slow in legislating disaster policies but more than that the reason for lesser success of disaster polices seems to be the gap between policy and the people. We not only keep hearing about the failure of governmental efforts but also how the local communities deal far more efficaciously with disasters utilizing their traditional knowledge. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which killed 250,000 people (approx.) could not kill the tribal communities who saved themselves due to their age-old traditional knowledge. This large scale disaster, considered as a landmark event in history of disasters in the twenty-first century, can be attributed in bringing and confirming the importance of Traditional Environmental Knowledge in managing disasters. This brings forth the importance of cultural and traditional know-how in dealing with natural disasters and one is forced to question as to why shouldn’t traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) be taken into consideration while formulating India’s disaster resilience policies? Though at the international level, many scholars have explored the connectedness of disaster to cultural dimensions and several research examined how culture acts as a stimuli in perceiving disasters and their management (Clifford, 1956; Mcluckie, 1970; Koentjaraningrat, 1985; Peacock, 1997; Elliot et.al, 2006; Aruntoi, 2008; Kulatunga, 2010). But in the Indian context, this field of inquiry i.e. linking disaster policies with tradition and generational understanding has seldom received attention of the government, decision- making authorities, disaster managers and even in the academia. The present study attempts to fill this gap in research and scholarship by presenting an historical analysis of disaster and its cognition by cultural communities in India. The paper seeks to interlink the cultural comprehension of Indian tribal communities with scientific-technology towards more constructive disaster policies in India.

Keywords: culture, disasters, local communities, traditional knowledge

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Authors: I. P. Singh, Ajesh Kumar Kapoor

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Rapid globalization have led to a change towards massive uncontrolled urbanization. Whereas during initial years negligence was there in the name of development, growth and vision toward healthier and better tomorrow. Considering the scenario of developing nations (India) where 70% of their population is living on 30% (urban areas) of their total land available. The need of an hour is to consider the ethical values of each and every person living in urban fringes, whereby the sustainable urban development is promoted which encompasses the move toward low carbon developments. It would help reviving a city lung space and reducing carbon credits as per Kyoto Protocol 1991. This paper would provide an overview about Indian scenario of current urban areas, ongoing developments, series of regulatory policy measures, materials innovative use and policies framed and opted for low carbon development.

Keywords: urban sustainability, indicators for sustainable development, low carbon development, Indian Policies toward low carbon development

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Authors: Qiang Ren

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A growing number of states are improving domestic law to better protect and promote foreign investment by changing/upgrading the existing law. However, inconsistency occurs because the new law is different from the ‘old’ law. For example, China has issued an unprecedented Foreign Investment Law and several regulations allowing comprehensive market access for foreign investment in most energy sectors since 2020. However, some laws, rules, regulations, etc. enacted previously remain valid, and the provisions regulating foreign investment do not grant full market access to foreign investment as such. The inconsistency above makes it necessary to investigatehow the international investment treaty law and dispute settlement practice respond to the ‘inconsistency and conflict’ in municipal law andwhat remedy foreign investors can seek under international law if the investment is denied due to inconsistency. Ultimately, it aims to examine how international tribunals should balance the gradually developing legal system of host states and the protection of foreign investors and investments if the host states cannot provide consistency during such a transition period of law development. The research seeks to answer these questions by making a comparative analysis of domestic law on market access to foreign investment, international investment treaties, and dispute arbitral practice. The objective is to examine how international investment treaty law and international investment dispute settlement practice evaluate the conflicts in the municipal law of host states in the admission of foreign investment. It also explores the possibility of harmonisation among them.

Keywords: municipal law, protect and promote foreign investment, international law, host states

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Authors: Natasha Hazarika, Xiaoling Zhang

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Eco- innovations, unlike regular innovations, are not self-enforcing and are associated with the double externality problem. Therefore, it is emphasized that eco-innovations need government. intervention in the form of supportive policies on priority. Off late, factors like consumer demand, technological advancement as well as the competitiveness of the firms have been considered as equally important. However, the interaction among these driving forces has not been fully traced out. Also, the theory on eco-innovation is found to be at a nascent stage which does not resonate with its dynamics as it is traditionally studied under the neo- classical economics theory. Therefore, to begin with, insights for this research have been derived from the merits of ‘neo- classical economics’, ‘evolutionary approach’, and the ‘resource based view’ which revealed the issues pertaining to technological system lock- ins and firm- based capacities which usually remained undefined by the neo classical approach; it would be followed by determining how the policies (in the national level) and their instruments are designed in order to motivate firms to eco-innovate, by analyzing the innovation ‘friendliness’ of the policy style and the policy instruments as per the indicators provided in innovation literature by means of document review (content analysis) of the relevant policies introduced by the Chinese government. The significance of theoretical analysis lies in its ability to show why certain practices become dominant irrespective of gains or losses, and that of the policy analysis lies in its ability to demonstrate the credibility of govt.’s sticks, carrots and sermons for eco-innovation.

Keywords: firm competency, eco-innovation, policy, theory

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Authors: Joseph Falzon, Margaret Nelson

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Background: Regeneration and re-use of abandoned historic buildings present a continuous challenge for policy makers and stakeholders in the tourism and leisure industry. Obsolete historic buildings provide great potential for tourism and leisure accommodation, presenting unique heritage experiences to travellers and host communities. Contemporary demands in the hospitality industry continuously require higher standards, some of which are in conflict with heritage conservation principles. Objective: The aim of this research paper is to critically discuss regeneration policies with stakeholders of the tourism and leisure industry and to examine current practices in policy development and the resultant impact of policies on the Maltese tourism and leisure industry. Research Design: Six semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in the tourism and leisure industry participated in the research. A number of measures were taken to reduce bias and thus improve trustworthiness. Clear statements of the purpose of the research study were provided at the start of each interview to reduce expectancy bias. The interviews were semi-structured to minimise interviewer bias. Interviewees were allowed to expand and elaborate as necessary, with only necessary probing questions, to allow free expression of opinion and practices. Interview guide was submitted to participants at least two weeks before the interview to allow participants to prepare for the interview and prevent recall bias during the interview as much as possible. Interview questions and probes contained both positive and negative aspects to prevent interviewer bias. Policy documents were available during the interview to prevent recall bias. Interview recordings were transcribed ‘intelligent’ verbatim. Analysis was carried out using thematic analysis with the coding frame developed independently by two researchers. All phases of the study were governed by research ethics. Findings: Findings were grouped in main themes: financing of regeneration, governance, legislation and policies. Other key issues included value of historic buildings and approaches for regeneration. Whist regeneration of historic buildings was noted, participants discussed a number of barriers that hindered regeneration. Stakeholders identified gaps in policies and gaps at policy implementation stages. European Union funding policies facilitated regeneration initiatives but funding criteria based on economic deliverables presented the intangible heritage gap. Stakeholders identified niche markets for heritage tourism accommodation. Lack of research-based policies was also identified. Conclusion: Potential of regeneration is hindered by inadequate legal framework that supports contemporary needs of the tourism industry. Policies should be developed by active stakeholder participation. Adequate funding schemes have to support the tangible and intangible components of the built heritage.

Keywords: governance, historic buildings, policy, tourism

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Authors: Rosario Carmona

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This article aims to discuss the importance of indigenous people participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Specifically, it analyses different understandings of climate vulnerability among diverse actors involved in climate change policies in Chile: indigenous people, state officials, and academics. These data were collected through participant observation and interviews conducted during October 2017 and January 2019 in Chile. Following Karen O’Brien, there are two types of vulnerability, outcome vulnerability and contextual vulnerability. How vulnerability to climate change is understood determines the approach, which actors are involved and which knowledge is considered to address it. Because climate change is a very complex phenomenon, it is necessary to transform the institutions and their responses. To do so, it is fundamental to consider these two perspectives and different types of knowledge, particularly those of the most vulnerable, such as indigenous people. For centuries and thanks to a long coexistence with the environment, indigenous societies have elaborated coping strategies, and some of them are already adapting to climate change. Indigenous people from Chile are not an exception. But, indigenous people tend to be excluded from decision-making processes. And indigenous knowledge is frequently seen as subjective and arbitrary in relation to science. Nevertheless, last years indigenous knowledge has gained particular relevance in the academic world, and indigenous actors are getting prominence in international negotiations. There are some mechanisms that promote their participation (e.g., Cancun safeguards, World Bank operational policies, REDD+), which are not absent from difficulties. And since 2016 parties are working on a Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. This paper also explores the incidence of this process in Chile. Although there is progress in the participation of indigenous people, this participation responds to the operational policies of the funding agencies and not to a real commitment of the state with this sector. The State of Chile omits a review of the structure that promotes inequality and the exclusion of indigenous people. In this way, climate change policies could be configured as a new mechanism of coloniality that validates a single type of knowledge and leads to new territorial control strategies, which increases vulnerability.

Keywords: indigenous knowledge, climate change, vulnerability, Chile

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Authors: Timothy Wale Olaosebikan

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The most active resource in any organization is the manpower. Every other resource remains inactive unless there is competent manpower to handle them. Manpower training is needed to enhance productivity and overall performance of the organizations. This is due to the recognition of the important role of manpower training in attainment of organizational goals. Corporate Compliance conjures visions of an incomprehensible matrix of laws and regulations that defy logic and control by even the most seasoned manpower training professionals. Similarly, corporate compliance can be viewed as one of the most significant problems faced in manpower training process for any organization, therefore, commands relevant attention and comprehension. Consequently, this study investigated the nexus between manpower training and corporate compliance. Collection of data for the study was effected through the use of questionnaire with a sample size of 265 drawn by stratified random sampling. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study show that about 75% of the respondents agree that there is a strong relationship between manpower training and corporate compliance, which brings out the organizational attainment from any training process. The findings further show that most organisation do not totally comply with the rules guiding manpower training process thereby making the process less effective on organizational performance, which may affect overall profitability. The study concludes that formulation and compliance of adequate rules and guidelines for manpower trainings will produce effective results for both employees and the organization at large. The study recommends that leaders of organizations, industries, and institutions must ensure total compliance on the part of both the employees and the organization to manpower training rules. Organizations and stakeholders should also ensure that strict policies on corporate compliance to manpower trainings form the heart of their cardinal mission.

Keywords: corporate compliance, manpower training, nexus, rules and guidelines

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Authors: Rahmat Hajimineh, Ebrahim Rezaei Rad

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The war between Russia and Ukraine is considered a very important event in international relations, especially after the end of the Cold War, a war that has had wide dimensions since its beginning. Dimensions that, in addition to political issues, have especially affected the world economy and especially the two countries. The most important issue in the field of the economy that was affected by the war between Russia and Ukraine was the issue of energy. Russia is one of the largest producers and suppliers of natural gas for European countries, and 40% of European gas is supplied by Russia. For this reason, it is natural that European countries have problems in this regard. On the other hand, Ukraine is considered the gateway to Europe for Russia regarding the export of natural gas. The war in Ukraine has had severe effects on gas and energy in Europe. From this point of view, European countries are looking to diversify their energy path by switching to renewable energies, and they are also looking at other energy-producing countries like Qatar to meet their energy needs. In this article, we are trying to investigate the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine on Qatar's policies in the field of fossil and renewable energy. The descriptive-analytical method and the theoretical framework of energy security have been used to review this article. Based on this, the article examines the situation of fossil and renewable energies in Qatar and, on the other hand, the effects of the war in Ukraine on both energies in Qatar. The findings of this article also indicate that Qatar has made changes in its energy policies after the war in Ukraine, which seems to be possible due to its high potential, especially in the field of renewable and fossil energy. There is an export of surplus production of this country to other countries, especially European countries.

Keywords: Ukraine War, fossil fuels, renewable energy, energy security, Qatar

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Authors: Arkinzhan Mametov, Alexey Abilov

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Strong earthquakes are dangerous natural phenomena that lead to the destruction of entire cities and the death of a large number of people. The recent strong earthquakes in Turkey and in a number of other states have shown that as a result of them, there are significant human casualties and huge destruction. The city of Almaty is located in the foothill basin of the Trans-Ili Alatau of the Tien Shan Mountain system, in a zone with 9–10-point seismicity. Almaty (formerly Verniy) was founded in 1856 and, since that period, has experienced two catastrophic earthquakes - in 1887 and 1911, which led almost to the complete destruction of the city. Since that time, according to seismologists, the city has been annually exposed to small seismic impacts of 2-3 points. This forced the subsequent search for ways to protect buildings and the public through the use of earthquake-resistant structures and materials, limiting the number of stores of buildings and increasing gaps between them, which was carried out quite consistently and since 1957. However, at present, it is necessary to state a number of violations, primarily of the urban development plan – the placement of high-density multi-stores commercial housing in the urban environment, bypassing the existing regulations and standards in the city. Their appearance contributes to a greater concentration of residents transport in a limited area, which can lead to harmful consequences during powerful earthquakes. The experience of eliminating the consequences of catastrophic earthquakes shows that an important factor in reducing human losses is timely technical and medical assistance to victims of earthquakes, the elimination of blockages, provision of temporary housing and evacuation of the population, especially in winter. In cities located in areas with high seismicity, it is necessary to ensure strict compliance with the requirements of urban development regulations, taking into account the entire complex of planning and organizational measures to minimize the destruction of buildings and human casualties.

Keywords: high seismic zones, urban planning regulations, special standards for planing, minimizing the human casualties

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Authors: Raluca Cosmina Budian

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The homeless population in Spain, particularly among immigrants, has been a persistent and multifaceted issue. The government has implemented various housing public policies over the years to address homelessness, ranging from shelter programs to initiatives promoting permanent housing solutions. However, understanding the effectiveness of these policies requires insight from the very individuals and professionals directly impacted by or involved in their execution. This research sheds light on national strategies (The 2015-2020 Comprehensive National Strategy for the Homeless and National Strategy to Combat Homelessness in Spain 2023-2030) aimed at tackling homelessness in Spain, with a focus on the evolving landscape of housing public policies and their relationship with the homeless population. We investigate how these strategies have transformed over time and their impact on the inclusion of this vulnerable group. Furthermore, we explore the perspectives of homeless immigrants, distinguishing between those with an extended residency in Spain and those who have more recently arrived (less than 2 years); and distinguishing between women and men. Additionally, we incorporate insights from 13 interviews with professionals dedicated to serving the homeless population. These insights offer a deeper understanding of the intricacies of current homelessness service provision. Our findings reveal the complex dynamics of providing services to homeless individuals, and the importance of aligning these efforts with the broader national strategies for tackling homelessness. Drawing on a comprehensive dataset, we offer a nuanced view of the challenges and successes in implementing inclusive housing policies in the Spanish context. Our research highlights the importance of collaboration between policy makers, service providers and advocates to create a cohesive and effective approach. By fostering such collaboration, we aim to create a more inclusive and comprehensive strategy to address homelessness in Spain and possible affordable housing proposals for this vulnerable group. It´s only underscores the importance of tailored approaches but also contributes to the broader discourse on housing public policies' ability to address homelessness and foster integration. We suggest that a more comprehensive approach, considering the unique needs of immigrants and working in collaboration with professionals in the field, is essential for the development of effective strategies to combat homelessness and ensure the right to adequate housing for all.

Keywords: housing, homeless, public policy, Spain

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Authors: Ntokozo C. Mthembu

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The notion of sustainable chemistry has become significant in the discourse for a global post-colonial era, including South Africa, especially when it comes to access to the general health system and related policies in relation to disease or ease of human life. In view of the stubborn vestiges of coloniality in the daily lives of indigenous African people in general, the fundamentals of present Western medical and traditional medicine systems and related policies in the democratic era were examined in this study. The situation of traditional healers in relation to current policy was also reviewed. The advent of democracy in South Africa brought about a variety of development opportunities and limitations, particularly with respect to indigenous African knowledge systems such as traditional medicine. There were high hopes that the limitations of previous narrow cultural perspectives would be rectified in the democratic era through development interventions, but some sections of society, such as traditional healers, remain marginalised. The Afrocentric perspective was explored in dissecting government interventions related to traditional medicine. This article highlights that multiple medical systems should be adopted and that health policies should be aligned in order to guarantee mutual respect and to address the remnants of colonialism in South Africa, Africa and the broader global community.

Keywords: traditional healing system, healers, pluralist healthcare system, post-colonial era

Procedia PDF Downloads 149