Conservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage in Kenya

In Kenya, cultural and natural heritage has a particular value. This book brings together essays by heritage experts from different backgrounds, including conservation, heritage management, museum studies, archaeology, environment and social sciences, architecture and landscape, geography, philosophy and economics to explore three key themes: the underlying ethics, practices and legal issues of heritage conservation; the exploration of architectural and urban heritage of Nairobi; and the natural heritage, landscapes and sacred sites in relation to local Kenyan communities and tourism. It thus provides an overview of conservation practices in Kenya from 2000 to 2015 and highlights the role of natural and cultural heritage as a key factor of social-economic development, and as a potential instrument for conflict resolution

The efficacy of government incentives in creating sustainable entrepreneurial growth in the agribusiness SMMEs entrepreneurial ecosystem in Botswana

This study investigates the efficacy of government incentives in creating sustainable entrepreneurial growth in the agribusiness SMMEs entrepreneurial ecosystem in Botswana. The study uses a conceptual framework to organize divergent variables that influence growth into numerous coherent themes linked to SMMEs. As a cross- sectional and primarily empirical study, it draws data from a nationally representative sample of 600 owner/managers of agribusiness SMMEs who benefited from government incentives. Multivariate analysis techniques, namely SEM using SPSS and AMOS, analysed the relationships of variables relating to the statistical significance, causal and direct effects of various factors on sustainable entrepreneurial growth of agribusiness SMMEs. Empirical evidence of this research, among many others, revealed that the majority of owner/managers (219) belonged to micro-companies, 129 belonged to small companies, 135 were from medium companies and lastly, 48 owner/managers were from large companies. Most of the agribusiness SMMEs surveyed had moved past that stage of start-up formalisation and had been operating for more than 2 years with a median firm age of 5 years. Despite a high youth unemployment rate in Botswana, in this empirical study the age category of 18 to 24 years was the smallest group of represented owner/managers of SMMEs in agribusiness value chains. The majority owner/managers of SMMEs were involved in rain-fed agriculture; and followed by owner/managers of SMMEs in cattle breeding. In addition, they were followed by those involved in agribusiness inputs, agribusiness services and others. Results from the inferential analysis suggest that SMME owner/managers of larger agribusinesses had a statistically significant, causal and direct effect on higher opinion on policy environment capital and infrastructural capital. The effect was more on the owner/manager’s counterparts who owned and managed smaller SMMEs. Size of company and type of business activity in the agribusiness value chain were dependent, such that certain types of agribusiness attracted more entrepreneurs due to their higher growth prospects. Agribusiness SMMEs that sought to exploit existing opportunities based on existing market knowledge showed more chances of attaining growth than those which sought to exploit opportunities based on new market knowledge. Regarding entrepreneurial orientation, owner/managers from larger agribusiness SMMEs were at variance with other agribusiness SMME owners over the statement that past entrepreneurial orientation helped to overcome barriers (roadblocks) in establishing their agribusiness SMMEs. Conversely, respondents from smaller agribusiness SMMEs were more likely to agree, as shown by the negative correlations. These empirical results confirm that increasing the degree of interdependency, interaction and interrelations among four key principal components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and government incentives facilitates organisational birth and death cycles. Considering these results, certain policy implications are deduced. On this basis, the study recommends that academics, practitioners and policymakers converge their focus on four principal components, namely financial capital, social capital, policy environment and historical capital. These components would serve as indicators of government support for sustainable entrepreneurial growth of agribusiness SMMEs in a healthy ecosystem. An integrative entrepreneurial ecosystem model framework was developed to strengthen the contribution of new knowledge. The framework also proposed what needs to be done in order to create a healthy ecosystem. It thus increases the success rate of entrepreneurial ventures in an emerging market and enhancing implementation of long-term outcomes in sequence.Colleges of Economic and Management SciencesPhD. (Entrepreneurial ecosystem and Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises

Social work promoting community and environmental sustainability: A workbook for global social workers and educators (Volume 2)

Incredible work is being done all over the world by social workers addressing issues at the nexus of community and environmental sustainability. We hope this book will inspire you, whether you have been involved with these issues for decades, or you are new to and curious about the topic. This volume of the workbook series focuses primarily on Indigenous voices and knowledge, ecotherapeutic practices, and the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability in social work. As allies with Indigenous peoples, we aim for this workbook resource to make space for those working to decolonize, especially within the social work profession in education, research, and practice. This book is formatted as a workbook, with short lessons accompanied by exercises that help you apply the lessons theoretically and in your own practice. It is intended as a tool for international social work practitioners, students, and educators to help advance the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development theme of working toward environmental sustainability. We hope that by making this workbook available, we are enabling climate justice issues to be acknowledged as urgent and repositioned as central to social work in particular, and to life in general

Juhtimisalaste ja kontekstitegurite mõju innovatsioonile infotehnoloogiapõhistes avalikes teenustes: otsinguline uurimus neljas euroopa riigis

Käesolev doktoritöö keskendub innovatsioonile avalikus sektoris. Püsiv majanduslik ebastabiilsus, riikide võlakoorem, ühiskondade vananemine, arenenud maailma paigaltammuv majanduskasv ning püsivalt kõrge töö- ja tööjõupuudus, muudavad jätkuva kulude kokkuhoiu avalikus sektoris vältimatuks. Samal ajal suureneb vajadus avalike teenuste kvaliteedi säilitamiseks ja kasvatamiseks, veelgi enam aga radikaalsete lahenduste leidmiseks üha komplekssematele probleemidele. Vaja on uusi arenguideid, liidreid, tõhusaid juhtimismudeleid ja võimekaid organisatsioone, et neile väljakutsetele vastata. Seepärast on muutunud innovatsioonivõimekus avalikus sektoris keskseks teemaks, riikide ning tervete piirkondade konkurentsivõime küsimuseks. Vaatamata väljakutsetele on innovatsioon avalikus sektoris pigem erand kui reegel. Erasektoris on uute või oluliselt parendatud toodete ja teenuste väljaarendamine äritegevuse strateegiline osa – seda tõukavad tagant nii konkurents turul kui ka soov kasvatada käivet, kasumit ja turuosa. Kuivõrd sellised konkurentsi ja ellujäämise väljakutsed avalikus sektoris enamasti puuduvad, on innovatsioon riigijuhtimise või kohaliku omavalitsuse tasandil paremal juhul vabatahtlik tegevus. Seda seepärast, et uute algatuste, tehnoloogia ja eksperimenteerimisega kaasnevad erinevad riskid, mille suhtes on juhtkondade tolerantsust piiratud. Näiteks poliitilistel kaalutlustel. Üksikisiku tasandil pärsib innovatsiooniga tegelemist lisaks riskidele ka rahalise motivatsiooni puudumine, eeskujude vähesus, bürokraatlikus mõttes jäigad organisatsioonid ja rutiinist kõrvalekaldumist vältivad regulatsioonid. Avaliku sektori innovatiivsus, innovatsioonid ja innovatsiooniprotsess on empiirilises mõttes väheuuritud valdkonnad. Samas ühiskonna väljakutseid ja nende komplekssust silmas pidades on tegemist äärmiselt olulise teemaderingiga, mida lähimal kümnendil kindlasti enam lahti püütakse mõtestada. Suure tõenäosusega on globaalses konkurentsis tulevikus edukamad just need riigid, kes innovatsioonijuhtimise võimekuses ja tulemuslikkuses teisi edestavad – seda nii era-, avalikus- ja kolmandas sektoris kui ka nende üleses koostöös. Käesoleva väitekirja eesmärk on tuua välja, milline on erinevate innovatsiooniprotsessi mõjutavate juhtimisalaste ja kontekstitegurite vastastikune olulisus infotehnoloogiapõhiste avalike teenuste väljaarendamisele ning kuidas see mõjutab avalike teenuste innovatsioonisüsteemi olemust. Uurimustöö empiiriline osa põhineb nelja valitud riigi – Suurbritannia, Taani, Soome ja Eesti võrdlusuuringul. Tegemist on ühega esimestest kvantitatiivsetest uuringutest (läbiviidud 2005. aastal), mis keskendub tehnoloogiliselt innovatiivsete avalike teenuste arendamist mõjutavate tegurite ja nende vastastikuse olulisuse hindamisele. Uurimustöö tulemused publitseeriti osaliselt esmakordselt 2007. aastal (Pärna ja von Tunzelmann, 2007). Doktoritöö näol on tegemist otsingulise (ingl. k. exploratory) uurimustööga, mis põhineb originaalsel ja mahukal teoreetiliste lähenemiste sünteesil, unikaalsel metodoloogilisel lahenduskäigul ja töö raames läbi viidud riikideülesel empiirilisel uuringul. Eesmärgi saavutamisel keskendub doktoritöö nii teoreetilises kui ka empiirilises osas neljale innovatsiooniteooriast lähtuvalt olulisele vaatele, milleks on juhtimise, õppimise, tehnoloogia- ja süsteemivaade. Sellele raamistikule tuginevalt on üles ehitatud nii doktoritöö ala-uurimisküsimused (ingl. k. sub-research questions) kui ka töös tõestatavad/ümberlükatavad väited (ingl. k. propositions). Töös otsitakse vastust neljale järgnevale ala-uurimisküsimusele. Esmalt juhtimisalane perspektiiv – millised võtmetegurid ja millisel määral mõjutavad, soodustavad või takistavad, tehnoloogiliselt innovatiivsete avalike teenuste arendamist ning kasutuselevõttu? Teiseks õppimise perspektiiv – millised juhtimisalased ja organisatoorsed teadmised ning oskused on vajalikud edukaks tehnoloogiliseks innovatsiooniks avalikes teenustes? Kolmandaks tehnoloogia perspektiiv – milline on tehnoloogilise teadmise olulisus avalikke teenuseid puudutavas innovatsiooniprotsessis ning kus ja kuidas need teadmised on välja arendatud? Neljandaks süsteemi perspektiiv – milline on avalike teenuste väljaarendamist mõjutava innovatsioonisüsteemi tegurite kompositsioon ja nende omavaheline dünaamika erinevates riikides?This research is about innovation in the public sector. In a time of on-going economic instability (which started with the 2007-2008 global financial crises), sovereign debt crises in Europe (but also elsewhere), aging societies, and almost non-growing developed economies together with unemployment, make continued cost cutting in the public sector inevitable. On the other hand, there is a growing need for maintaining service standards, to find radical solutions for complex challenges and effective ideas for development and growth. Therefore, public sector innovation becomes more crucial than ever before. The research question of the thesis asks what is the relative importance of different managerial and contextual factors influencing the innovation process in information technology-based public sector services and how do they determine the nature of public service innovation system? The research is based on a combination of theoretical foundations and an exploratory cross-country survey on technologically innovative public sector services in four European countries – the UK, Denmark, Finland and Estonia. The current research is one of the early case-based empirical and quantitative exercises (the survey originated from 2005) to study innovation in the public sector. The results of the survey were partly first published by Pärna and von Tunzelmann in 2007. In addition to existing theoretical and empirical knowledge about innovation in the public sector, the research has four perspectives through which the sub-research questions and propositions are set up and the public sector innovation process is analysed. These are managerial, learning, technological and systems perspective. The research answers to the following sub-research questions: what are the key features influencing, supporting and hampering, the development and implementation of successful, technologically innovative public sector services (managerial perspective); which managerial and organisational improvements are necessary to innovate in public sector services (learning perspective); what is the importance of technological knowledge in the public service innovation process, where and how is it developed (technological perspective); and what does the composition and dynamics of public sector (service) innovation system look like across countries (systems perspective). The main contribution of new knowledge of this thesis is four-fold. Firstly, the purposely developed theoretical framework that gives a structured approach how to understand and manage innovation in public sector services. Secondly, the new conceptual-methodological approach of how to study and analyse the innovation process in public service organisations. Thirdly, the hand-made list of public service innovations from four countries and the database of the survey results. Fourthly, the quantitative analysis and synthesis of the survey results which characterises the innovation process of public service organisations in the survey countries. As an important contribution, this thesis shows empirically how different internal and external forces and factors within the public service innovation system influence the innovation process and how they differ across countries. Research results contribute to the literature of public sector innovation and management as well as enrich academic and professional debates around these increasingly important topics. Additionally, contributions can also be drawn for economic theory, organisational theory, public administration and political science. The results might be also useful for policy-makers and public service managers to successfully encourage and manage innovation in the public sector. Knowing the key features influencing the development and implementation of successful technologically innovative public sector services is a prerequisite in this process. The research also explores to what extent the innovation process differs between the public and private sectors and which managerial and organisational improvements are necessary to innovate in public sector services. Innovation-related learning in the public sector is also analysed in this research

New fish product ideas generated by European consumers

Food lifestyles are changing; people have less time to spend on food purchase and preparation, therefore leading to increasing demand for new food products. However, around 76% of new food products launched in the market fail within the first year (Nielsen, 2014). One of the most effective ways to enhance new products’ success in the market is by incorporating consumers’ opinions and needs during the New Product Development (NPD) process (Moon et al., 2018). This study aimed to explore the usefulness of a qualitative technique, focus groups, to generate new aquaculture fish product ideas as well as to identify the most relevant product dimensions affecting consumers’ potential acceptance.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Conservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage in Kenya

In Kenya, cultural and natural heritage has a particular value.This book brings together essays by heritage experts from different backgrounds, including conservation, heritage management, museum studies, archaeology, environment and social sciences, architecture and landscape, geography, philosophy and economics to explore three key themes: the underlying ethics, practices and legal issues of heritage conservation; the exploration of architectural and urban heritage of Nairobi; and the natural heritage, landscapes and sacred sites in relation to local Kenyan communities and tourism. It thus provides an overview of conservation practices in Kenya from 2000 to 2015 and highlights the role of natural and cultural heritage as a key factor of social-economic development, and as a potential instrument for conflict resolution

St Peter-On-The-Wall: Landscape and heritage on the Essex coast

The Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, built on the ruins of a Roman fort, dates from the mid-seventh century and is one of the oldest largely intact churches in England. It stands in splendid isolation on the shoreline at the mouth of the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, where the land meets and interpenetrates with the sea and the sky. This book brings together contributors from across the arts, humanities and social sciences to uncover the pre-modern contexts and modern resonances of this medieval building and its landscape setting. The impetus for this collection was the recently published designs for a new nuclear power station at Bradwell on Sea, which, if built, would have a significant impact on the chapel and its landscape setting. St Peter-on-the-Wall highlights the multiple ways in which the chapel and landscape are historically and archaeologically significant, while also drawing attention to the modern importance of Bradwell as a place of Christian worship, of sanctuary and of cultural production. In analysing the significance of the chapel and surrounding landscape over more than a thousand years, this collection additionally contributes to wider debates about the relationship between space and place, and particularly the interfaces between both medieval and modern cultures and also heritage and the natural environment

Safety Assurance in Interlocking Design

This thesis takes a pedagogical stance in demonstrating how results from theoretical computer science may be applied to yield significant insight into the behaviour of the devices computer systems engineering practice seeks to put in place, and that this is immediately attainable with the present state of the art. The focus for this detailed study is provided by the type of solid state signalling systems currently being deployed throughout mainline British railways. Safety and system reliability concerns dominate in this domain. With such motivation, two issues are tackled: the special problem of software quality assurance in these data-driven control systems, and the broader problem of design dependability. In the former case, the analysis is directed towards proving safety properties of the geographic data which encode the control logic for the railway interlocking; the latter examines the fidelity of the communication protocols upon which the distributed control system depends. The starting point for both avenues of attack is a mathematical model of the interlocking logic that is derived by interpreting the geographic data in process algebra. Thus, the emphasis is on the semantics of the programming language in question, and the kinds of safety properties which can be expressed as invariants of the system's ongoing behaviour. Although the model so derived turns out to be too concrete to be effectual in program verification in general, a careful analysis of the safety proof reveals a simple co-induction argument that leads to a highly efficient proof methodology. From this understanding it is straightforward to mechanise the safety arguments, and a prototype verification system is realised in higher-order logic which uses the proof tactics of the theorem prover to achieve full automation. The other line of inquiry considers whether the integrity of the overall design that coordinates the activities of many concurrent control elements can be compromised. Therefore, the formal model is developed to specifically answer safety-related concerns about the protocol employed to achieve distributed control in the management of larger railway networks. The exercise reveals that moderately serious design flaws do exist, but the real value of the mathematical model is twofold: it makes explicit one's assumptions about the conditions under which the faults can and cannot be activated, and it provides a framework in which to prove a simple modification to the design recovers complete security at negligible cost to performance

Maltese society : a sociological inquiry

It seems to be the destiny of a people to reflect upon itself, to look at itself critically, comparing itself, in space and time, with the fortunes and misfortunes of others. This it does in a myriad of ways and for different reasons. Occasionally narratives about the identity of a nation are woven popularly, with 'folk sociology' - encapsulated in sayings and proverbs - providing images reflecting fears, hopes, knowledge about how the system works, or about how to work the system. At other times, narratives are developed more formally, on command even, to celebrate particular events, to highlight landmarks of historical development, or to applaud or decry the ruler or the ruled, the rebellious or the domesticated.peer-reviewe