Search results for: contemporary issues

Authors: Simon Elias Bibri, Vera Minavere Bardici

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In this article, we investigate framing, discursive and material selectivity as important issues that need to be addressed in the planning of eco–city as a model of sustainable urban form. Focusing on the Stockholm region in Sweden, we discuss issues of the contribution of eco–city model to sustainability and examine key themes associated with the construction of the discourse on eco–city projects, namely the integration of environmental, economic, and social sustainability as well as design and technology as solutions in urban projects documents pertaining specifically to Hammarby Sjöstad and Stockholm Royal Seaport. The article is divided into four sections. First, we elucidate the concept and problem of framing and discursive and material selectivity. Second, we briefly discuss the discourse of sustainability, sustainable urban forms, and eco–city, pointing out some key issues that need to be addressed in sustainable urban planning. In the third and main section of the article, we investigate plans and projects for sustainable urban development, focusing on framing and discursive and material selectivity issues in the construction of the discourse on eco–city projects in Stockholm and discussing the findings in terms of the integration of sustainability dimensions, the economic benefits of and the negative environmental effects of energy efficiency and green technology, the shaping influence of cultural frames, the links of eco–city to macro–processes of regulation, the technological orientation of eco–city projects and the associated selectivity aspects. The article concludes with a call for further research for the possibilities for a more environmentally sound and holistic approach to sustainable urban forms.

Keywords: framing, selectivity, sustainability, eco–city, sustainable urban form, design, energy efficiency, green technology, Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm Royal Seaport

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Authors: Zakia Hammouni

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Healthcare professionals’ well-being is becoming a priority during this Covid-19 pandemic due to stress, fatigue, and workload. Well before this pandemic, contemporary hospitals are endowed with environmental attributes that contribute to achieving well-being within their environment with the emphasis on the patient. The patient-centered care approach has been followed by the patient-centered design approach. Studies that have focused on the physical environment in hospitals have dealt with the patient's recovery process and his well-being. Prior scientific literature has placed less emphasis on the healthcare professionals’ interactions within the physical environment and to guide hospital designers to make evidence-based design choices to meet the needs and expectations of hospital users by considering, in addition to patients, healthcare professionals. This paper examines these issues related to the daily stress of professionals who provide care in a hospital environment. In this exploratory study, the interest was to grasp the issues related to this environment and explores the current realities of newly built hospitals based on design approaches and what attributes of the physical setting support healthcare professional’s well-being. Within a constructivist approach, this study was conducted in two care units in a new hospital in a big city in Canada before the Covid-19 pandemic (august 2nd to November 2nd 2018). A spatial evaluation of these care units allowed us to understand the interaction of health professionals in their work environment, to understand the spatial behavior of these professionals, and the narratives from 44 interviews of various healthcare professionals. The mental images validated the salient components of the hospital environment as perceived by these healthcare professionals. Thematic analysis and triangulation of the data set were conducted. Among the key attributes promoting the healthcare professionals’ well-being as revealed by the healthcare professionals are the overall light-color atmosphere in the hospital and care unit, particularly in the corridors and public areas of the hospital, the maintenance and cleanliness. The presence of the art elements also brings well-being to the health professionals as well as panoramic views from the staff lounge and corridors of the care units or elevator lobbies. Despite the overall positive assessment of this environment, some attributes need to be improved to ensure the well-being of healthcare professionals and to provide them with a restructuring environment. These are the supply of natural light, softer colors, sufficient furniture, comfortable seating in the restroom, and views, which are important in allowing these healthcare professionals to recover from their work stress. Noise is another attribute that needs to be further improved in the hospital work environment, especially in the nursing workstations and consultant's room. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of providing healthcare professionals with work and rest areas that allow them to resist the stress they face, particularly during periods of extreme stress and fatigue such as a Covid-19 pandemic.

Keywords: healthcare facilities, healthcare professionals, physical environment, well-being

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Authors: Christine Ivy A. Nogot

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Under the colony of Spain for more than three centuries, the Philippines has a deep-rooted structure of Western ideologies and colonialism. The late 19th century, the period of Enlightenment, created a significant impact on our history when a group of middle-class Filipino men were sent to Europe to study. They were called Ilustrados, a Spanish word for erudite. They were the enlightened; the well-educated, intellectual scholars. Their writings provide intellectual grounds for the awakening of national consciousness that eventually prompted national movements and revolutions. They helped to establish a postcolonial society. In the modern era, Miguel Syjuco, a Filipino expatriate, wrote a novel and titled it Ilustrado. It is a representation of the liberal mind of the diasporic author in contemporary discourse. It provides a critical examination of the ilustrado in transition through the character of Miguel, who is also an expatriate writer. Using Syjuco’s award-winning novel as the primary text and anchored on Said’s concept of Orientalism, this paper examines how the depiction of features of the Eastern world is presented in the literary discourse. This paper looks into Said’s concept of orientalism as a hegemonic discursive structure and shows how Western superiority influences the Eastern culture in literary discourse. It explores Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony to explore Said’s argument that Western powers conquer the orient through culture and ideology. This paper presents how dominant ideologies and the social context redefine the ilustrado in the contemporary era.

Keywords: cultural hegemony, ilustrado, orientalism, postcolonial

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Authors: Rukhsar Ahmed, Jawed Aziz Masudi

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In the present study, an attempt has been made about the right to an education in Pakistan. The research is the focus in respect of International Law Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The main motivation behind getting great training is, as a rule, decent resident and afterward being effective in close to home and expert life. We are fragmented without decent instruction since training makes us the right mastermind and right chief. In such a focused world, instruction has turned into a need for people after sustenance, dress and haven. It can give answers for all issues; it advances great propensities and mindfulness about defilement, fear-mongering, and other social issues among us.

Keywords: education, right to education, human right, universal declaration, law

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Authors: Judge Paul Smith

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Abstract—This paper addresses the use and admissibility of psychiatric/psychological evidence in Australia Courts. There have been different approaches in the Courts to the acceptance of such expert evidence. It details how such expert evidence is admissible at trial and sentence. The methodology used is an examination of the decided cases and relevant legislative provisions which relate to the admission of such evidence. The major findings are that the evidence can be admissible if it is relevant to issues in a trial or sentence. It concludes that psychiatric/psychological evidence can be very useful and indeed may be essential at sentence or trial.

Keywords: criminal, law, psychological, evidence

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Authors: Atousa Khodadadyan, Ali Rostami

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The objective of off-site construction manufacturing is to utilise the workforce and machinery in a controlled environment without external interference for higher productivity and quality. The usage of prefabricated components can save up to 14% of the total energy consumption in comparison with the equivalent number of cast-in-place ones. Despite the benefits of prefabrication construction, its current project practices encompass technical and managerial issues. Building design, precast components’ production, logistics, and prefabrication installation processes are still mostly discontinued and fragmented. Furthermore, collaboration among prefabrication manufacturers, transportation parties, and on-site assemblers rely on real-time information such as the status of precast components, delivery progress, and the location of components. From the technical point of view, in this industry, geometric variability is still prevalent, which can be caused during the transportation or production of components. These issues indicate that there are still many aspects of prefabricated construction that can be developed using disruptive technologies. Practical real-time risk analysis can be used to address these issues as well as the management of safety, quality, and construction environment issues. On the other hand, the lack of research about risk assessment and the absence of standards and tools hinder risk management modeling in prefabricated construction. It is essential to note that no risk management standard has been established explicitly for prefabricated construction projects, and most software packages do not provide tailor-made functions for this type of projects.

Keywords: project risk management, risk analysis, risk modelling, prefabricated construction projects

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Authors: Ratnawati Mohd Asraf, Sabreena Ahmed

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This paper describes how the method of focused freewriting can be used to help teachers to foster critical thinking through writing. In this study, we used focused freewriting during the pre-writing stage of our writing course to help our English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students to generate ideas and to think critically about the issues they were to write on. In each of the four classes where we applied this technique, we used pictures or videos to stimulate their thinking during the prewriting stage of writing and then asked them to write non-stop for ten minutes about whatever that came to their minds as a result of being presented with these prompts. We then asked them to focus on the themes that emerged from their brief writing. Using observations, in-depth interviews, and an analysis of their brief essays, our study found that focused freewriting helped our students to generate ideas and think critically about the issues they were writing on. We postulate that by using focused freewriting and discussions during the prewriting stage of writing, instructors can help their students to think critically about various issues and facilitate their efforts at organising their arguments for critical, academic essays.

Keywords: academic writing, critical writing, critical thinking, focused free-writing, pre-writing

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Authors: Mongezi Nene, Emma Ayesu-Koranteng, Christopher Amoah, Ayo Adeniran

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Although its use has been criticized over the years as being unencouraging, the green building concept is quickly overtaking other concepts, particularly in the construction of commercial properties. The goal of the study is to identify the variables influencing the use of green building practices when developing residential structures. A qualitative methodology, using interviews with semi-structured open-ended questions to 35 property practitioners operating residential apartments in Bloemfontein, South Africa, was used to collect primary data which was analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings show that while respondents have a good understanding of green building principles, they are not being used in the construction of residential buildings in South Africa due to issues with green building approval procedures, the potential for tenant rent increases, the cost of materials, technical issues, contractual issues, and a lack of awareness, among others. This paper recommends among others an urgent need to implement measures by stakeholders towards enhancing the adoption of green building concepts in the construction of residential buildings as well as incentivising its construction through lowered property rates.

Keywords: green building, residential apartments, construction, South Africa

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Authors: Mahdieh Dehghan Nayeri, Hani Arbabi, Seid Pooyan Ghafoori

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Civic crowdfunding- crowdfunding public projects- which goes beyond people management- as a significant part of public projects stakeholders- and requires the active engagement of the public in both the financing and decision-making processes of public projects, is expanding. However, in most countries of the world, no specific legal framework has been approved for governing and managing the implementation of projects through this method. Through a systematic literature review, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA), this article has studied and discussed the legal issues of civic crowdfunded projects in the countries leading the use of this method, in four themes; one related to the legal environment and three related to three leading players in civic crowdfunded projects include the investor, the platform, and the investee. The review showed that despite the increasing attention to people's engagement in public projects -financial and non-financial- not much scientific research has been done to formulate fully structured legal structures. Finally, neglected areas in research have been discussed as a guide for future research.

Keywords: civic crowdfunding, equity crowdfunding, public projects, legal issues, crowdsourcing

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Authors: Karen V. Lee

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The significance of this study involves autoethnographic research about a music teacher learning about the socialization of gender issues in teaching. Mentorship involving intervention helps with the consequences influencing a transgendered music teacher. Basic storytelling methodology involves the qualitative method of research as a theoretical framework where the author provides a storied reflection about political issues surrounding teachers and the sociology of gender. Sub-themes involve counseling, adult education to ensure students and teachers receive social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and educational resources that evoke visceral, emotional responses from the audience. Major findings share how stories are helpful resources for others who struggle with the socialization of gender. It is hoped the research dramatizes an episodic yet incomplete story that highlights the circumstances surrounding the protagonist having his sex reassignment surgery during his undergraduate education degree. In conclusion, the research is a reflexive storied framework that embraces a positive outlook about a transgendered teacher during his masectomy. The sensory experience seeks verisimilitude by evoking lifelike and believable feelings from others. Thus, the scholarly importance of the sociology of gender and society provides transformative aspects that contributes to social change. Overall, the surgery surrounding the story about transgendered issues are not uncommon in society. Thus, continued education supports the moral mission to help teachers overcome and understand issues of gender that can socially impacts their professional lives as teachers.

Keywords: sociology of gender, transgender, music teachers, story, autoethnography as research, ideology

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Authors: Partha Saha, Uttam Kumar Banerjee

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Maternal and Child Healthcare (MCH) has always been regarded as one of the important issues globally. Reduction of maternal and child mortality rates and increase of healthcare service coverage were declared as one of the targets in Millennium Development Goals till 2015 and thereafter as an important component of the Sustainable Development Goals. Over the last decade, worldwide MCH indicators have improved but could not match the expected levels. Progress of both maternal and child mortality rates have been monitored by several researchers. Each of the studies has stated that only less than 26% of low-income and middle income countries (LMICs) were on track to achieve targets as prescribed by MDG4. Average worldwide annual rate of reduction of under-five mortality rate and maternal mortality rate were 2.2% and 1.9% as on 2011 respectively whereas rates should be minimum 4.4% and 5.5% annually to achieve targets. In spite of having proven healthcare interventions for both mothers and children, those could not be scaled up to the required volume due to fragmented health systems, especially in the developing and under-developed countries. In this research, a knowledge discovery based interactive Decision Support System (DSS) has been developed on web platform which would assist healthcare policy makers to develop evidence-based policies. To achieve desirable results in MCH, efficient resource planning is very much required. In maximum LMICs, resources are big constraint. Knowledge, generated through this system, would help healthcare managers to develop strategic resource planning for combatting with issues like huge inequity and less coverage in MCH. This system would help healthcare managers to accomplish following four tasks. Those are a) comprehending region wise conditions of variables related with MCH, b) identifying relationships within variables, c) segmenting regions based on variables status, and d) finding out segment wise key influential variables which have major impact on healthcare indicators. Whole system development process has been divided into three phases. Those were i) identifying contemporary issues related with MCH services and policy making; ii) development of the system; and iii) verification and validation of the system. More than 90 variables under three categories, such as a) educational, social, and economic parameters; b) MCH interventions; and c) health system building blocks have been included into this web-based DSS and five separate modules have been developed under the system. First module has been designed for analysing current healthcare scenario. Second module would help healthcare managers to understand correlations among variables. Third module would reveal frequently-occurring incidents along with different MCH interventions. Fourth module would segment regions based on previously mentioned three categories and in fifth module, segment-wise key influential interventions will be identified. India has been considered as case study area in this research. Data of 601 districts of India has been used for inspecting effectiveness of those developed modules. This system has been developed by importing different statistical and data mining techniques on Web platform. Policy makers would be able to generate different scenarios from the system before drawing any inference, aided by its interactive capability.

Keywords: maternal and child heathcare, decision support systems, data mining techniques, low and middle income countries

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Authors: Felix Ehimare Enegho

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The issue of the Christian mission among various people in our world has become a subject of discussion for quite a while now considering the many challenges faced by people of different religions. The understanding of who we are and how we choose to live our life as a people is quite imperative in many societies. The Christian Church down through the ages attempted to define itself so as to become relevant in human society. In Africa, the question of identity and self-realization is quite imperative if Africans are to define themselves and place themselves in the proper perspective as Christians. With the high level of insecurity bedevilling the world and especially Nigerian society, there is the need for Christians in Nigeria to see themselves as one body belonging to the same family. It is however disheartening that for several years now, there is a high level of disunity, lack of trust, disharmony, and vices of all kinds even among Christians who are often too quick to segment themselves into denominations thereby making themselves weak, segmented ad powerless in the midst of great oppositions, as if the Christian church in Nigeria is a divided house. The significance of this paper is to explore the areas of conflict among Christians in Nigeria with a view to finding possible solutions that would lead to the integral formation and in the long run a common identity and invariably self-realization. This paper utilized the socio-historical method of research. Among the major findings in the work is the fact that it is only people that can truly be responsible and held accountable for how they define their identity and self-realization. This entails that Christianity’s identity and self-realization in Nigeria will not only lead to a better and more defined form of Christianity but would ultimately assist in the integral development of Christian mission in Nigeria, a kind of development that would lead to a better Nigerian society.

Keywords: contemporary, Christian, mission, Nigeria, identity, self-realization

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Authors: Miguel Costa

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Despite the "time" element being an intrinsic characteristic of the work with the landscape, its execution and completion are also often dependent on external factors, i.e., the slow bureaucratic procedures required for the implementation of a project. In the urban areas of the city, these conditions are even more present — some landscape projects are articulated with the architectural/urban design, transporting itself long, expensive and inflexible processes related with the constant transformations of contemporary urban culture, where the needs and expectations could change before the project is finished. However, despite the renewed interest and growing concern for issues related to the landscapes (particularly since the European Landscape Convention, its scope and fields of action, extended to all the landscapes and not just the selected ones), still lacks the need for a greater inclusion of citizens in its protection and construction processes as well as a greater transparency and clarity of the consequences and results of their active participation. This article aims to reflect on the production processes of urban landscapes, on its completion runtime and its relationship with the citizens by introducing temporary projects as a fieldwork methodology, as well as using the contribution of different professional practices and knowledge for its monitoring, execution, and implementation. These strategies address a more interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and performative approach, not only from the ephemeral experience of objects and actions but also from the processes and the dynamic events that are organized from these objects and actions over the landscape. The goal is to discuss the results of these approaches on its different dimensions: critical dimension; experimental and strategic dimension; pedagogical dimension; political dimension; cultural.

Keywords: landscape fieldwork, interdisciplinarity, public inclusion, public participation, temporary projects, transdisciplinarity

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Authors: Cathy T. Mpanga Kowet, Aghaegbuna Obinna U. Ozumba

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This study examined and identified the inconsistencies, relationships, gaps and recurring themes in literature regarding the relationship between procurement strategies employed in the construction projects for sustainable buildings and realization of sustainability goals. A systematic literature review of studies on the relationship between various procurement strategies and attainment of sustainability outcomes was conducted. Using specific terms, papers published between 2002 and 2018 were identified and screened according to an inclusion and exclusion criteria. Current findings reveal that, although the attainment of sustainability goals is achievable with both traditional and contemporary procurement strategies, only projects delivered using modern procurement strategies are capable of meeting and exceeding targeted sustainability objectives. However, traditional procurement strategy remains the preferred method for most green building construction projects. The results suggest implications for decision makers in considering the impact of selected procurement strategies on targeted sustainability goals, in the early stages of sustainable building construction projects. The study shows that there is a gap between the reported appropriate procurement strategies and what is being practiced currently. Theoretically, the study expands on the literature on adoption and diffusion of contemporary procurement strategies, by consolidating existing studies to highlight the current gaps. While the study is at the literature review stage, deductions will serve as basis for field work involving empirical data.

Keywords: green buildings construction, procurement method, procurement strategy, sustainability objectives, sustainability outcomes

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Authors: David Ssekamate

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The study which is work in progress examines the opportunities and challenges for universities in Africa in addressing climate change issues in their programmes. Specifically, the study attempts to examine the current academic, research and community engagement programmes on climate change implemented by the Universities; the key challenges faced by the implementing units in carrying out these programmes and; the success factors that would support universities to adequately address climate change issues in their programmes. The researcher adopted a qualitative comparative case study design with Makerere University (Uganda) and University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) as comparative cases. Data will be collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FDGs) and Document review. A total of 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews and 4 Focus Group Discussions will be undertaken, collecting data from 36 respondents in both Uganda and Tanzania. The data will be analyzed using content and thematic analysis methods with the help of Nvivo software. The findings are envisaged to make a significant contribution to scholarly literature on climate change education and the role of higher education in addressing climate change issues, inform policy making in the sector and development planning to strengthen the academic, research and community engagement programmes on climate change by universities in Africa. The implications of the findings may go beyond the focus on climate change but also other related sustainable development issues incorporated in academic and research programmes of universities in Africa. The results may enable universities to re-think their approaches and practices and also deal with challenges effectively in addressing climate change related issues in their programmes.

Keywords: climate change, climate change education, African universities, challenges

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Authors: Afri Ananda Nugroho

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Privatization is one of the public policies closely related to the role of government in the economy due to the failure of the centralized system in the communist countries. This paper will discuss the basic issues of privatization as a global trend, the purpose of privatization, implementation, and impact on the success of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) in Indonesia. The analysis is done by looking at some important issues about the privatization problem, and some public policies are being applied such as why and how privatization is necessary and what impact it has. This paper also discusses the implications for top leaders of State-Owned Enterprises.

Keywords: privatization, state-owned enterprises, Indonesia, public policy

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Authors: Rubaiyat Jahan

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This paper reports some findings of a study on the issues related to teacher autonomy in the Bangladeshi school contexts, and data of this research was collected from fourteen practicing English teachers of Bangladesh through semi structured interviews. The theoretical underpinning of teacher autonomy, on an apparent note, focuses on the behavioral aspects of teacher autonomy hence emphasizing mostly on the teachers’ capacity for self-directed acts of teaching and self-directed acts of professional development. Yet, a contemporary literature survey of teacher autonomy seems to be concerned more on the political interpretations of teacher autonomy. Thus, autonomous teachers are expected to generate their personal theories of teaching from their practices. The idea of personal theories of practice upholds the view that along with the teaching, teachers need to engage themselves in various classroom based research with a view to theorising from their practices. The findings of this research indicate enormous evidence of behavioral aspects of teacher autonomy. As the data of this research suggests, the participant teachers’ understanding of classroom situations, their reflections on the situational realities and opting for classroom decisions on the basis of those realizations are some good examples of teacher autonomy. Also, a few teachers’ stated teaching practices seem to reflect, though in a subtle way, their effort of outlining context embedded personal theories of teaching. This paper has got one significant pedagogical implication for the teacher education. Any teacher education must promote the conditions and capabilities for the present and prospective teachers for the role of theorisers in addition to develop their professional, procedural, and personal knowledge base.

Keywords: personal theories of practice, self-directed acts of professional development, self-directed acts of teaching, teacher autonomy

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Authors: Taknaz Banihashemi, Jiangang Fei, Peggy Shu-Ling Chen

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Reverse logistics (RL) is a part of the logistics of companies and its aim is to reclaim value from the returned products in an environmentally friendly manner. In recent years, RL has attracted significant attention among both practitioners and academics due to environmental directives and governmental legislation, consumer concerns and social responsibilities for environment, awareness of the limits of natural resources and economic potential. Sustainability development is considered as a critical goal for organisations due to its impact on competitive advantage. With growing environmental concerns and legal regulations related to green and sustainability issues, product disposition through RL can be considered as an environmental, economic and social sound way to achieve sustainable development. When employed properly, RL can help firms to improve their sustainability performance. The aim of this paper is to investigate the sustainability issues in the context of RL in the perspective of the triple-bottom-line approach. Content analysis was used to collect the information. The findings show that there is a research gap to investigate the relationship between RL and sustainability performance. Most of the studies have focused on performance evaluation of RL by considering the factors related to economic and environmental performance. RL can have significant effects on social issues along with economic and environmental issues. The inclusion of the social aspect in the sustainability performance will provide a complete and holistic picture of how RL may impact on the sustainability performance of firms. Generally, there is a lack of research on investigating the relationship between RL and sustainability by integrating the three pillars of triple-bottom-line sustainability performance. This paper provides academics and researchers a broad view of the correlations between RL and sustainability performance.

Keywords: verse Logistics, review, sustainability, sustainability performance

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Authors: Lucile Richard

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Contemporary thinkers studying biopolitics and its lethal logic find little interest in Foucault's "vague sketch of the pastorate.” Despite pastoral power being depicted as the matrix of governmentality in the genealogy of biopower, most post-Foucauldian theorists disregard its study. Sovereign power takes precedence in the examination of the governmental connection between care, violence, and death. Questioning this recurring motif, this article advocates for a feminist exploration of pastoral power. It argues that giving attention to the genealogy of the pastorate is essential to account for the carelessness that runs today's politics. Examining Foucault's understanding of this "power to care" uncovers the link between care work and politics, a facet of governmentality often overlooked in sovereignty-centered perspectives. His description of “pastoral insurrections”, in so far as it highlights that caring, far from being excluded from politics, is the object of competing problematizations, also calls for a more nuanced and complex comprehension of the politicization of care and care work than the ones developed by feminist theorists. As such, it provides an opportunity to delve into under-theorized dimensions of the "care crisis" in feminist accounts. On one hand, it reveals how populations are disciplined and controlled, not only through caregiving obligations, but also through being assigned or excluded from receiving care. On the other, it stresses that the organization of the public sphere is just as important as the organization of the private sphere, which is the main focus for most feminists, in preventing marginalized perspectives on caring from gaining political momentum.

Keywords: Foucault, feminist theory, resistance, pastoral power, crisis of care, biopolitics

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Authors: Paola Molteni, Luigi d’Alonzo

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Background: Sensory issues are now considered one of the key aspects in defining and diagnosing autism, changing the perspectives on behavioural analysis and intervention in mainstream educational services. However, Italian teachers’ training is yet not specific on the topic of autism and its sensory-related effects and this research investigates the teacher’s capability in understanding the student’s needs and his/her challenging behaviours considering sensory perceptions. Objectives: The research aims to analyse mainstream schools teachers’ awareness on students’ sensory perceptions and how this affects classroom inclusion and learning process. The research questions are: i) Are teachers able to identify student’s sensory issues?; ii) Are trained teachers more able to identify sensory problems then untrained ones?; iii) What is the impact of sensory issues on inclusion in mainstream classrooms?; iv) What should teachers know about autistic sensory dimensions? Methods: This research was designed as a pilot study that involves a multi-methods approach, including action and collaborative research methodology. The designed research allows the researcher to catch the complexity of a province school district (from kindergarten to high school) through a deep detailed analysis of selected aspects. The researcher explored the questions described above through 133 questionnaires and 6 focus groups. The qualitative and quantitative data collected during the research were analysed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: Mainstream schools teachers are not able to confidently recognise sensory issues of children included in the classroom. The research underlines: how professionals with no specific training on autism are not able to recognise sensory problems in students on the spectrum; how hearing and sight issues have higher impact on classroom inclusion and student’s learning process; how a lack of understanding is often followed by misinterpretations of the impact of sensory issues and challenging behaviours. Conclusions: As this research has shown, promoting and enhancing the importance of understanding sensory issues related to autism is fundamental to enable mainstream schools teachers to define educational and life-long plans able to properly answer the student’s needs and support his/her real inclusion in the classroom. This study is a good example of how the educational research can meet and help the daily practice in working with people on the autism spectrum and support the training design for mainstream school teachers: the emerging need of designed preparation on sensory issues is fundamental to be considered when planning school district in-service training programmes, specifically declined for inclusive services.

Keywords: autism spectrum condition, scholastic inclusion, sensory overload, teacher's training

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Authors: Turki Alotaibi

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Student counseling programs can provide many benefits to students in schools all around the world. In theory, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia) has committed itself to school counseling programs in educational institutions throughout the country. Student counselors face a number of burdens and obstacles that impact student counseling programs. It is also widely known that Saudi Arabia has extremely high prevalence rates for overweight and obesity, anxiety and depression, and diabetes in children. It has also been demonstrated that teachers and staff are inadequately prepared when dealing with health issues relating to diabetes in schools in Saudi Arabia. This study will clearly demonstrate how student counselors in Saudi Arabia could become 'New Educators' in Saudi schools in relation to these health issues. This would allow them to leverage their position as student counselor to improve the management of these health issues in Saudi schools, to improve the quality of care provided to school children, and to overcome burdens and obstacles that are currently negatively affecting student counseling in Saudi schools.

Keywords: anxiety and depression, diabetes, overweight and obesity, policy recommendations, student counseling, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Harry Mccallum

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In the last decade, there has been an upsurge in documentary theatre projects that seek to address issues arising from ‘the Troubles’ by theatre and community organisations such as The Playhouse, Kabosh, and The Verbal Arts Centre. This movement has been supported by a variety of funding agencies who have identified the importance of the instrumental use of theatre for generating societal development. However, with this upsurge in interest comes complications surrounding the subjectivity of evaluations and an understanding of their empirical impact on society. This largely theoretical led-discussion promotes the engagement of Jill Dolan’s ‘utopian performatives’ (2005) within the remit of documentary theatre for peacebuilding practices in Northern Ireland.‘Utopian Performatives’ are described as being profound moments in a theatre production that transforms audience members into a state of ‘hopeful feeling’.As a concept, they are situated within the discourse surrounding audience reception and the ‘affective turn’ (Brennan, 2004; Clough and Halley, 2007; Ahmed, 2014), which indicates its persistence on a short-term ephemeral outlook. It is therefore important to understand how this short-term ‘affect’ can expand into a longer-term ‘effect.’ Through this interdisciplinary study between ‘peace’ and ‘theatre’ studies, I am proposinga theoretical framework that examines how these individual ‘utopian performatives’ at the personal level can lead to a change at the societal level. The framework understands that ‘utopian performatives’ have the capacity to generate discussion and empower audience members to actively strive for a ‘positive peace’; something which is evidently absent in a contemporary Northern Ireland.

Keywords: theatre, peacebuilding, conflict transformation, northern Ireland

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Authors: Amreth Chandrasehar

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Machine Learning (ML) Models are developed and run in production to solve various use cases that help organizations to be more efficient and help drive the business. But this comes at a massive development cost and lost business opportunities. According to the Gartner report, 85% of data science projects fail, and one of the factors impacting this is not paying attention to Model Observability. Model Observability helps the developers and operators to pinpoint the model performance issues data drift and help identify root cause of issues. This paper focuses on providing insights into incorporating model observability in model development and operationalizing it in production.

Keywords: model observability, monitoring, drift detection, ML observability platform

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Authors: Yuanjun Chen, Yongjiang Shi

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Rising energy prices have drawn a focus to global energy issues, and the severe pollution that has resulted from energy-intensive industrial sectors has yet to be addressed. By combining Energy Efficiency with Industrial Symbiosis, the practices of efficient energy utilization and improvement can be not only enriched at the factory level but also upgraded into “within and/or between firm level”. The academic contribution of this paper provides a conceptual framework of energy management through IS. The management of waste energy within/between firms can contribute to the reduction of energy consumption and provides a solution to the environmental issues.

Keywords: energy efficiency, energy management, industrial symbiosis, energy-intensive industry

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Authors: V. Linfante

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Catwalks are one of the key moments in fashion: the first and most relevant display where brands stage their collections, products, ideas, and style. The garment is 'the star' of the catwalk and must show itself not just as a product but as a result of a design process endured for several months. All contents developed within this process become ingredients for connecting scenography, music, lights, and direction into a unique fashion narrative. According to the spirit of different ages, fashion shows have been transformed and shaped into peculiar formats: from Pandoras to presentations organized by Parisian couturiers, across the 'marathons' typical of the beginning of modern fashion system, coming up to the present structure of fashion weeks, with their complex organization and related creative and technical businesses. The paper intends to introduce the evolution of the fashion system through its unique process of seasonally staging and showing its production. The paper intends to analyse the evolution of the fashion shows from the intimacy of ballrooms at the beginning of the 20th century, passing through the enthusiasm attitude typical from the '70s and the '80s, to finally depict our present. In this last scenario, catwalks are not anymore a standard collections presentation but become one of the most exciting expression of contemporary culture (and sub-cultures), going from sophisticated performances (as Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel shows) to real artistic happenings (as the events of Victor&Rolf, Alexander McQueen, OFF_WHITE, Vetements, and Martin Margiela), often involving contemporary architecture, digital world, technology, social media, performing art and artists.

Keywords: branding, communication, fashion, new media, performing art

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Authors: Seyyed Hossein Alavi, Soudabeh Mehri Talarposhti

Abstract:

Quick development of urban population need for housing on the one hand and prevention of irregular urban extension for optimum usage of urban land, resolving problems of urban physiognomy, land using, and environmental issues and urban transport, on the other hand, proposed tall building as urban area extension requirement in developing and advanced countries. Beside the tall building, protection, and creation of green architecture is one the most important issues of today's architecture world. This research is about attending tall building with green architecture in Babolsar city 2015. For this, the issues that can make favorite conditions for green architecture has been discussed. The purpose of this discussion is skeleton extension and accessing interactions between architecture and related technologies. This discussion with using of qualitative research methods (Analytical Description) tried to studying designed performance models and also studying and analyzing the inside and foreign articles and books. Hope this research is useful in solving the existing problems in this issue.

Keywords: tall building, green architecture, skeleton extension, Babolsar city

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Authors: G. T. Aigarinova

Abstract:

This article considers the legal issues of food security as a major component of national security of the republic. The problem of food security is the top priority of the economic policy strategy of any state, the effectiveness of this solution influences social, political, and ethnic stability in society. Food security and nutrition is everyone’s business. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. By analyzing the existing legislation in the area of food security, the author identifies weaknesses and gaps, suggesting ways to improve it.

Keywords: food security, national security, agriculture, public resources, economic security

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Authors: Tracey Bone

Abstract:

Deaf inmates, whose first or preferred language is a Signed Language, experience barriers to accessing the necessary two-way communication with correctional staff, and the educational and social programs that will enhance their eligibility for conditional release from the federal prison system in Canada. The development of visual content to enhance the knowledge and skill development of correctional staff is a contemporary strategy intended to significantly improve the correctional experience for deaf inmates. This presentation reports on the development of two distinct training videos created to enhance staff’s understanding of the needs of deaf inmates; one a two-part simulation of an interaction with a deaf inmate, the second an interview with a deaf academic. Part one of video one demonstrates the challenges and misunderstandings inherent in communicating across languages without a qualified sign language interpreter; the second part demonstrates the ease of communication when communication needs are met. Video two incorporates the experiences of a deaf academic to provide the cultural grounding necessary to educate staff in the unique experiences associated with being a visual language user. Lack of staff understanding or awareness of deaf culture and language must not be acceptable reasons for the inadequate treatment of deaf visual language users in federal prisons. This paper demonstrates a contemporary approach to meeting the human rights and needs of this unique and often ignored inmate subpopulation. The deaf community supports this visual approach to enhancing staff understanding of the unique needs of this population. A study of its effectiveness is currently underway.

Keywords: accommodations, American Sign Language (ASL), deaf inmates, sensory deprivation

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Authors: Abdulmumin Isah

Abstract:

Over the years, researchers have employed different approaches in the study of usage of library services in the traditional library system, such approaches have provided explanations on the users’ perception, attitude, and usage of library services. Findings of such studies which often employed survey research approach have guided librarians and library stakeholders in their drive to improve library services to patrons. However, with the advent of digital library services, librarians and information science researchers have been experiencing methodological issues in the study of digital library services. While some quantitative approaches have been employed to understand adoption and usage of digital library services, conflicting results from such studies have increased the need to employ qualitative approaches. The appropriateness of the qualitative approaches has also been questioned. This study intends to review methodological approaches in the studies of digital libraries and provides a framework for the selection of appropriate research approach for the study of digital libraries using Nigerian university systems as case study.

Keywords: digital library, university library, methodological issues, research approaches, quantitative, qualitative, Nigeria

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Authors: Marine Kobalava, Eter Narimanishvili, Nino Grigolaia

Abstract:

The paper analyzes the contemporary problems of public relations in Georgia. The approaches to public attitudes towards the relationship with the population of the country are studied on a global scale, the importance of forming the concept of public relations in Georgia in terms of globalization is justified. The basic components of public relations are characterized by the RACE system, namely analyzing research, action, communication, evaluation. The main challenges of public relations are identified in the research process; taking into consideration the scope of globalization, the influence of social, economic, and political changes in Georgia on PR development are identified. The article discusses the public relations as the strategic management function that facilitates communication with the society, recognition of public interests, and their prediction. In addition, the feminization of the sector is considered to be the most important achievement of public relations in the modern world. The conclusion is that the feminization indicator of the field is an unconditional increase in the employment rates of women. In the paper, the problems of globalization and public relations in the industrial countries are studied, the directions of improvement of public relations with the background of peculiarities of different countries and globalization process are proposed. Public relations under globalization are assessed in accordance with the theory of benefits and requirements, and the requirements are classified according to informational, self-identification, integration, social interaction, and other types of signs. In the article, conclusions on the current challenges of public relations in Georgia are made, and the recommendations for their solution, taking into consideration globalization processes in the world, are proposed.

Keywords: public relations, globalization, RACE system, public relationship concept, feminization

Procedia PDF Downloads 146