877 research outputs found

    Characteristics of Better Performing Nepali SMEs and Implications for Policy

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    Northeastern Illinois University, Academic Catalog 2023-2024

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    https://neiudc.neiu.edu/catalogs/1064/thumbnail.jp

    Illuminating Hidden Harvests – The contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development

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    Small-scale fisheries account for at least 40 percent of the global catch from capture fisheries and provide employment across the value chain for an estimated 60.2 million people, about 90 percent of the total number employed in fisheries globally. The economic value of these fisheries, however, is only a part of their importance: for example, nearly 53 million additional people were estimated to be engaged in subsistence activities in 2016. Rightly considered from a holistic and integrated perspective, small-scale fisheries define the livelihoods, nutrition and culture of a substantial and diverse segment of humankind. This study, Illuminating Hidden Harvests: the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development (hereinafter Illuminating Hidden Harvests, or IHH), uncovers the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries through a multidisciplinary approach to data collection and analysis. The study provides information that quantifies and improves understanding of the crucial role of small-scale fisheries in the areas of food security and nutrition, sustainable livelihoods, poverty eradication and healthy ecosystems. It also examines gender equality as well as the nature and scope of governance in small-scale fisheries, and how this differs between different countries and fishery units. The IHH study was carried out in support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines), themselves developed in recognition of the plight of small-scale fishers, fishworkers and associated communities. The SSF Guidelines provide advice and direction for the enhancement of responsible and sustainable small-scale fisheries, through the development and implementation of participatory, ecosystem-friendly policies, strategies and legal frameworks

    L’évolution du droit international de l’environnement en Méditerranée

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    Après des décennies de croissance rapide du droit international de l’environnement, il est aujourd’hui crucial d’assurer l’effectivité et l’efficacité de cette branche du droit. Cela implique, entre autres, de garantir la flexibilité et la réactivité des instruments existants. Cette thèse propose d’explorer les mécanismes et phénomènes permettant aux régimes internationaux environnementaux de s’adapter aux évolutions scientifiques, politiques et juridiques en s’appuyant sur un cas d’étude précis : l’influence de la Plateforme intergouvernementale politique et scientifique pour la biodiversité et les services écosystémiques (IPBES) en Méditerranée. L’IPBES a été récemment établie afin de pallier l’inefficacité des politiques environnementales en matière de biodiversité. En partant du postulat du succès de cette plateforme, cette thèse expose les divers moyens juridiques d’influences dont celle-ci dispose dans la région. Nous verrons ainsi que l’expertise institutionnelle des régimes méditerranéens constitue une modalité d’influence directe tandis que les nombreux phénomènes de diffusion normative lui assurent une influence indirecte. La Méditerranée comporte à une échelle réduite tous les enjeux du droit international de l’environnement. Une telle étude permettra donc de mettre en lumière des aspects rarement étudiés de cette branche du droit

    Reasons to Be Skeptical about Sentience and Pain in Fishes and Aquatic Invertebrates

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    The welfare of fishes and aquatic invertebrates is important, and several jurisdictions have included these taxa under welfare regulation in recent years. Regulation of welfare requires use of scientifically validated welfare criteria. This is why applying Mertonian skepticism toward claims for sentience and pain in fishes and aquatic invertebrates is scientifically sound and prudent, particularly when those claims are used to justify legislation regulating the welfare of these taxa. Enacting welfare legislation for these taxa without strong scientific evidence is a societal and political choice that risks creating scientific and interpretational problems as well as major policy challenges, including the potential to generate significant unintended consequences. In contrast, a more rigorous science-based approach to the welfare of aquatic organisms that is based on verified, validated and measurable endpoints is more likely to result in “win-win” scenarios that minimize the risk of unintended negative impacts for all stakeholders, including fish and aquatic invertebrates. The authors identify as supporters of animal welfare, and emphasize that this issue is not about choosing between welfare and no welfare for fish and aquatic invertebrates, but rather to ensure that important decisions about their welfare are based on scientifically robust evidence. These ten reasons are delivered in the spirit of organized skepticism to orient legislators, decision makers and the scientific community, and alert them to the need to maintain a high scientific evidential bar for any operational welfare indicators used for aquatic animals, particularly those mandated by legislation. Moving forward, maintaining the highest scientific standards is vitally important, in order to protect not only aquatic animal welfare, but also global food security and the welfare of humans

    The role of the institutional environment as a barrier or an enabler to entrepreneurial and innovation activity; the case of the South African green economy industry

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    This thesis examines the relationship between the institutional environment and entrepreneurial and innovation activity within SMEs operating in South Africa's green economy, with a focus on the energy, agriculture, water and sanitation, and waste and recycling sectors. The aim is to investigate how entrepreneurs navigate the institutional environment by utilising entrepreneurial orientation and managerial discretion to achieve entrepreneurial output. By examining the implications of South Africa's post-apartheid legacy on present-day entrepreneurship in these sectors, the study yields valuable insights from the entrepreneurs' perspectives. The methodology adopted in this study is phenomenological, which utilises qualitative research methods, cross-validated with some quantitative evidence in the form of statistical analysis and case studies. The study includes 55 participants, comprising 47 entrepreneurs and 8 stakeholders from government departments, government agencies, NGOs, and incubators. The study highlights the regulatory mechanisms in place to promote small business participation in South Africa's economy and transition to a more environmentally conscious one. However, the outcomes suggest that these measures may not be achieving their intended objectives, and the institutional environment and cultural views may pose significant obstacles to entrepreneurship and the adoption of greener practices. The research emphasises the importance of addressing these issues to promote sustainable economic growth in South Africa. The study recommends a more coordinated effort by all stakeholders to target pertinent socio-economic challenges specific to South Africa's context

    The matrix of drivers: 2022 update

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    Enhancing primary sector production and productivity while maintaining and improving our land and water quality for future generations is a key outcome of the National Science Challenge for Our Land and Water. It is therefore important to identify the hierarchy of international and national issues in order to provide an evidence base to guide investment and inform the Challenge Research Strategy. To this end, it was proposed that a small project be conducted, and regularly updated. This project aims to deliver an overview of international and domestic drivers, as well as issues that are of particular relevance to the New Zealand primary sector and land use. This overview is based on a literature search of the most important issues, followed by a survey of key stakeholders as to their opinion of the most important issues affecting New Zealand land use and land use practice from overseas and domestically. In addition, a review of the level of interest and concern of international consumers on various issues is produced relevant to the primary sector. This is the fourth report in this series and provides an updated understanding of the international and national drivers and issues of land use change/practice, and their importance to the primary sector. These drivers will help prioritise where investments in primary sector research based on their relationship to economic growth, social, cultural and environmental interactions. Updates of this research will allow us to understand how drivers and issues change, which will help to assess the impact the Challenge has had as well as future research investment needs. This work also provides a contribution to the Challenge Strategy. This report is structured as follows: Chapter 1 provides an introduction to this report and its wider context; Chapter 2 presents the results of a survey of primary sector stakeholders regarding their views of the importance of key international and domestic drivers of land use change/practice; Chapter 3 examines future trends and challenges related to land use change/practice (particularly within a New Zealand context); and Chapter 4 concludes the report and provides a summary of its findings

    Sounding Chinese: Tracing the Voice of Early 20th Century to Present day Transnational Chinese

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    Accent, that is differences heard in pronunciations, specifically the speech sound that identifies Chineseness is the departure point for this research into the construction of the identity of transnational Chinese. This question also frames pronounce, Meddling English, Oh Canada! and the six volumes of a project The Phrase Book of Migrant Sounds. The genesis of The Phrase Books of Migrant Sounds lies in phrase books written in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for migrants to North America. Of great interest is not only the fact that English phrases were translated into languages spoken in the southern parts of China (for example Toisanese and Cantonese) but that English words and phrases were transcribed using their corresponding pronunciations. These phrase books helped them articulate words of a language they had not heard before, the unfamiliar sounds made familiar, the alien brought closer to home. The research employs knowledge from an array of disciplines—cultural studies, sociolinguistics and anthropology to name a few—as well as archived sound recordings of late-19th century and contemporary transnational Chinese to map a sound history of transnational Chinese. It considers the experiences of those who call multiple places ‘home’ to challenge the singularity of transnational Chinese identity and to suggest that, rather than being monolithic, transnational Chinese identity is pluricentric and multiphonic. The thesis affords a link between one’s sense of identities, however changing though they are, with political, cultural and social experiences. My practice-based research Sounding Chinese: Tracing the Voice of Early 20th to 21st Century Transnational Chinese looks at how transnationals—those who call more than one place home and who modify the way they speak accordingly— conceptualize themselves

    Major Infrastructure Planning and Delivery: Exploring nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) in England and Wales

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    Major Infrastructure Planning and Delivery introduces the system for planning and consenting Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) in England (which has also applied for some schemes in Wales). These are the major projects involving power stations and large renewable energy schemes, motorways, railways and a range of other high profile, high impact and sometimes controversial development schemes, including some closely linked to the UK’s transition to net zero. The book explains where this separate system for governing major infrastructure came from and how it operates in practice, with a particular focus on the relationship between planning, consent and delivery of these infrastructure projects. Detailed case studies of the A14 highway, Thames Tideway super sewer, Galloper offshore windfarm and Progress Power station, drawing on research by the authors, illustrate issues of the often overlooked continuing role of local government, the engagement of local communities and stakeholders, and the modification of schemes between consent and construction. At a time of ongoing government planning reform, increased concern about climate change, and still unresolved consequences of Brexit, as well as timeless debates such as over national need versus local impact, this timely book offers rich detail on the particular approach to major infrastructure planning in England, but also speaks to wider issues around the governance of development and implementation of government policy under late capitalism

    Science Policy Conference on Gender-Responsive Climate-Smart Agriculture for Eastern, Central and Southern Africa

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    The content of this report is a mixed bag of experiences and lessons, from plain field experience and case stories to document reviews and rigorous scientific results, all generating credible evidence to inform policy. In each breakout room, participants had a very vibrant engagement with the presenters, eliciting very valuable lessons
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