Health Inequalities in Europe: Setting the Stage for Progressive Policy Action

While the health of Europeans has improved over recent years, differences by gender, birthplace, and/or socioeconomic background persist. This report maps the extent of such health inequalities, its determinants, and costs to society. The findings indicate that differences in health between and within countries are attributable not only to social and health policies, but also depend on economic policy and the social determinants of health. Thus, holistic policy interventions are required to tackle health inequalities

Educational Disadvantage in Ireland

This report discusses various ways to measure educational disadvantage. The precise way in which educational disadvantage is measured also influences the type of targets set to address it. The National Anti-Poverty Strategy has set three key targets in the area of educational disadvantage: Educational disadvantage is a significant problem at all levels of the education system and is influenced by the characteristics of families, schools, neighbourhoods and by broader public policies. There is a substantial amount of activity which is endeavouring to address educational disadvantage in Ireland. However, relatively little is known about what works, and this suggests that projects with the potential to produce lessons about effectiveness would be particularly worth considering. Outlined are a selection of project ideas which address educational disadvantage from which lessons may be learned about effective ways of doing this work

The “New Spirit of Academic Capitalism”: Can Scientists Create Generative Critique From Within?

The 21st-century university is a contested site of neoliberal transformation. Its role is moving away from that of a hub of culture, knowledge and critique to that of a provider of skills and employability for the market. The move towards a lean business model in the management of knowledge production is not an isolated phenomenon, but integral to the shifting economic, political and moral landscapes of global capitalism and the knowledge society. The literature discussing the changes in higher education, which could be collectively termed "critical studies of academia", remains fragmented and is yet to yield tangible resistance or envision viable alternative models of academic governance. This article discusses the possibility of generating constructive critique of "the new spirit of academic capitalism" from within. French Convention Theory is employed as a conceptual toolbox for unpacking the worlds of worth, conventions and justifications which operate beneath the surface of the marketisation, acceleration and casualisation of scientific labour - and suggested as a potential tool for building a generative sociology of critique

Keystones to foster inclusive knowledge societies: access to information and knowledge, freedom of expression, privacy, and ethics on a global internet

The transnational and multi-dimensional nature of Cyberspace and its growing importance presents new frontiers with unparalleled opportunities and challenges for access to information and knowledge, freedom of expression, privacy and ethics. The Internet Study being undertaken by UNESCO is seeking to provide the necessary clarity to support holistic approaches to addressing this broad range of interrelated issues as well as their short and long-term effects. The study was built on a year-long multistakeholder consultation process, which involved several rounds of consultation with member states and other actors, as well as almost 200 major responses to an online questionnaire. The Study includes the Options for future actions of UNESCO in the Internet related issues, which has served as a basis for the Outcome Document as adopted by the CONNECTing the Dots Conference on 3 and 4 March 2015. The Study also affirmed that the same rights that people have offline must be protected online, and good practices are shared between Member States and other stakeholders, in order to address security and privacy concerns on the Internet and in accordance with international human rights obligations. The Study also supports the Internet Universality principles (R.O.A.M) that promote a human rights-based approach, including freedom of expression, privacy, open Internet, accessible to all and characterized by multistakeholder participation

Are research data a common resource?

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Delivering on Every Child’s Right to Basic Skills, Summative Report

This report synthesises Young Lives research into the role of education in the lives of children growing up in diverse contexts and draws on evidence about the effectiveness of school systems in delivering positive outcomes for all children and combatting the effects of child poverty; but also, the respects in which school systems may fail to ensure quality learning for all and may be reinforcing poverty-linked inequalities. Our starting point for this report is the key challenge for 21st century education systems, which we summarise as ‘delivering on every child’s right to basic skills’