Do the benefits of international policy commitments outweigh the burdens for small island states? : a case study of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Federated States of Micronesia

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is a small island developing state (SIDS) comprising four semi-autonomous states. The country faces a number of environmental challenges, not least of which is the loss of biodiversity upon which it relies for subsistence and economic development. The FSM is a signatory to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and must develop and deliver a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan as a way of implementing the convention and protecting its biodiversity. For a SIDS like the FSM, being a party to the CBD presents a notable burden: fielding personnel to global meetings, crafting necessary policies and legislation and implementing such policies. This article explores the perceptions of what being a signatory to the CBD brings to those in countries such as the FSM who are responsible for, or involved in, developing and implementing biodiversity conservation policy and actions. It highlights specific perceived benefits and challenges, and considers these in relation to the status of biodiversity in the FSM today.peer-reviewe

Agriculture, Rural Development and Potential for a ‘Middle Agriculture’ in Ireland

Working PaperThis paper gives a brief overview of current farm viability in Ireland and summarises some of the main ‘barriers’ to farm families’ engagement in contemporary rural development programmes. Against this backdrop, the paper discusses the potential of a middle agriculture model for rural development. The capacity of such a model to address some of the economic, social and cultural predicaments of Irish family farms is outlined. The potential of the model is also discussed in terms of how it may respond to contemporary EC rural development policy priority objectives

Leadership of more than one school : an evaluation of the impact of federated schools

"This survey evaluates the impact on provision and outcomes for pupils where leadership responsibility is shared between federated schools. It looks in particular at a sample of schools that are in federations which have one governing body and in the majority of cases, share a headteacher or an executive headteacher. It also considers the path taken by schools that make the decision to federate and to share leadership in this way" -- front cover

Blockchain-Based Federated Learning: Incentivizing Data Sharing and Penalizing Dishonest Behavior

With the increasing importance of data sharing for collaboration and innovation, it is becoming more important to ensure that data is managed and shared in a secure and trustworthy manner. Data governance is a common approach to managing data, but it faces many challenges such as data silos, data consistency, privacy, security, and access control. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a comprehensive framework that integrates data trust in federated learning with InterPlanetary File System, blockchain, and smart contracts to facilitate secure and mutually beneficial data sharing while providing incentives, access control mechanisms, and penalizing any dishonest behavior. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model is effective in improving the accuracy of federated learning models while ensuring the security and fairness of the data-sharing process. The research paper also presents a decentralized federated learning platform that successfully trained a CNN model on the MNIST dataset using blockchain technology. The platform enables multiple workers to train the model simultaneously while maintaining data privacy and security. The decentralized architecture and use of blockchain technology allow for efficient communication and coordination between workers. This platform has the potential to facilitate decentralized machine learning and support privacy-preserving collaboration in various domains.Comment: To appear in the 5th International Congress on Blockchain and Applications (BLOCKCHAIN'23). Publish by the Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems series of Springer Verla

Cyprus as the Lighthouse of the East Mediterranean: Shaping EU Accession and Reunification Together. CEPS Paperback. April 2002

For over a quarter of a century, Cyprus has been a divided island, with Europe’s last remaining ‘Berlin Wall’ separating its Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. This stalemate between the regions, however, is finally beginning to dissolve. Negotiations are currently underway to resolve the Cyprus conflict, re-unify the island and secure the accession of the whole of Cyprus to the EU in the near future. This CEPS report explores the ways in which these developments might come about. The authors argue that simultaneous action could transform the political structures and interests that have up until now made it impossible to resolve the division of the island

The changing federated relationship between local and regional cooperatives

The evolution of the federated relationship between local and regional cooperatives is examined from the perspective of local cooperatives’ need for commodity-based farm supplies and regional cooperatives’ identity as food companies. Because locals want many competing bids for the supplies they purchase, they resist a strong and close affiliation with regional cooperatives, which then find themselves with excess capacity. Regionals have responded by instituting tighter bonds with selected local cooperatives operating as "internal supply networks," in exchange for certain benefits. This adaptation reduces the impact of divergent goals among regionals and locals within the federated system.Cooperatives, federation, networks, competition, regionalization., Agribusiness,