Social innovations for social cohesion in Western Europe: success dimensions for lifelong learning and education

YesIn addressing the EU2020 goals, skills shortage combined with increasing unemployment rates is to be primarily tackled in Western Europe; the common factor here is education. Education and lifelong learning (LL) are the key strands governing employability in the European labour market. Overarching concepts capable of addressing social challenges within education and LL that contribute towards better practices are seen as social innovations (SI). While SI in education is well founded in the developing countries, Europe is still in the process of gaining progressive momentum in this direction. In addressing various societal challenges, this study looks at observable trends in SI for education across Western Europe. About 30 innovations have been recorded across 11 countries that are essentially focussed on: social integration, alternative/new forms of education, digital learning, new learning arrangements, new LL strategies, early career planning, youth employment, quality improvements and new education standards, transition management, and entrepreneurial education.European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration [grant number 612870]

Value chain opportunities for women and young people in livestock production in Ethiopia: Lessons learned

Both young people and women contribute significantly to agricultural production in the African continent, although these contributions are not usually explicitly recognized in official statistics and documents. In Ethiopia, women traditionally have been subject to sociocultural and economic discrimination that resulted in fewer economic, educational and social opportunities than men. The traditional development approaches that view the household as a unitary decision-making entity and the assumption that interventions targeted at the household head would trickle down to household members is the foundation of the exclusion of women and young people. In particular, women in married households are usually excluded from development interventions. Many governments in Africa have now started to take policy measures to recognize and enhance the contributions of young people and women in economic growth on the continent. Similarly, there seems to be strong political commitment in Ethiopia to ensure inclusive economic growth that will result in better gender equality and benefit young people. This working paper summarizes the lessons from the experiences of the Improving productivity and market success for Ethiopian smallholders and Livestock and irrigation value chains for Ethiopian smallholders projects in inclusive value chain development aimed at benefiting women and young people. It mainly focuses on the trajectories of the two projects in reaching out to women and young people in order to increase their access to resources, innovation, technologies and knowledge which could consequently improve their inclusion in and benefits from value chain development and governance. Experiences from innovative extension methods for inclusion are discussed. The paper makes recommendations for policy and development practice to improve benefits to women and young people from development interventions

The Influence of Transformational Leadership on Organization Performance

Purpose:  The objectives of this study were 1) to determine the direct effect of Transformational Leadership Competency (TLC) and Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) affecting Balanced Scorecard (BSC), 2) to determine the indirect effect of TLC affecting BSC, and 3) to confirm the developed model of transformational of food industrial organization with public concern by confirming with P-value, RMSEA, GFI, AGFI, and Critical Number.   Theoretical framework:  This study focuses on the relationship between TLC and ESG to BSC that affects the efficiency and success of an organization.   Design/methodology/approach:  The quantitative approach with survey research was conducted to collect data from 150 Executive Officers (CEOs) of food business organizations in Thailand.   Findings:  The finding showed that TCL has a direct effect on ESG (p-value=0.001). TLC has a direct effect on BSC (p-value=0.001). ESG has a direct effect on BSC (p-value=0.001). TLC has an indirect effect on BSC (p-value=0.001).   Research, Practical & Social implications: The recommendation, TLC affected BSC with direct and indirect effects with 64.0 percent.  It implied that public concern is the essential intermediate variable that should be paid attention to introduce in the organization management in the current situation when TLC was integrated into modern management. However, to accomplish effective company management, ESG should be integrated into the transformation of organization management to meet the sustainable food industry.   Originality/value: The value of the study shows that TLC and ESG directly and indirectly influence BSC management and contribute to the organization performanc

A critical evaluation of the prospects for a transition towards ocean based renewable energy development in Nigeria.

The move towards addressing two pertinent energy challenges that is access to electricity and climate change has seen the transition towards sustainable forms of energy including Ocean Based Renewable Energy (OBRE). However, much work remains to be done in understanding the critical success factors that could enable such potential transition, especially in the area of OBRE electricity generation. This research addresses this concern by drawing on transition theory and frameworks to critically evaluate the prospects towards OBRE development in Nigeria. The rationale for the study stems from issues around the inadequate supply of electricity, which has become a profound concern and, where its absence is mostly observed in rural and remote areas including coastal communities. Based on an interpretative philosophical stance, the study adopted a qualitative approach for conducting the research. In-depth semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from twenty-seven research participants. The research findings revealed that there is scope for transitioning towards OBRE electricity generation. However, this potential may be hindered by key features of the incumbent socio-technical regime: inconsistency of statements in formal policy documents; unclear institutional arrangements to foster renewable energy development; and lack of regulatory and market support mechanisms, which keep renewable energy development at the margins. Nevertheless, the study found certain perceived critical success factors that when considered could aid in facilitating OBRE development in Nigeria. These included, in particular, meaningful stakeholder engagement that aimed to harmonise the diverse interests of key actors and the role of adequate political governance to facilitate OBRE design and implementation. The research concludes by developing a conceptual intervention model called the OBRE Transition Model. This model argues that through more meaningful engagement with pertinent stakeholders and stronger political commitment, the prospect for a transition towards OBRE development in Nigeria could be accomplished. This thesis is the first of its kind to study the prospects for a transition towards OBRE innovation in West Africa. Additionally, the model that has been developed is now going to be corroborated in an OBRE project in Nigeria, thus, forming the evidence on the models potential applicability for future study

Promoting research-user collaboration: an assessment of funding schemes: Fifth NCCR North-South Report on Effectiveness

Donors increasingly require that the research they fund be of benefit for society and the environment. To this end, researchers addressing complex and uncertain problems should work together with research users. This is not always easy: researchers are expected to collaborate with non-academic partners, but are not funded for the additional work. Collaborative research projects often cannot tap the full potential of user engagement. Therefore, specific institutional and organisational conditions are necessary that foresee or even foster research–user engagement; funding schemes are one possible solution. Right from the start, the NCCR North-South programme introduced Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes of Global Change (PAMS). This evaluation assesses the types of collaboration supported by PAMS, as well as the value of PAMS as a funding scheme for collaboration. It compares PAMS with similar funding schemes of other universities, research programmes, or projects, and contains recommendations

How do local gender norms interact with local conceptualisations of empowerment to shape women’s engagement in local dairy value chains in Tanzania?

IntroductionWomen play important roles in the dairy sector in Tanzania yet many women face local gender norms which inhibit them from benefitting from their enterprises. This affects women’s empowerment and the development of effective livestock businesses.MethodsThis study addresses the question: How do women’s empowerment and gender norms affect women’s engagement in livestock business? To respond, this study explores how women attempt to negotiate gender norms in order to create a niche for their agribusiness, and thereby to empower themselves. Since gender norms are diverse, research was undertaken in 2021 with agripreneurs running dairy-related businesses in two regions of Tanzania. Gender-disaggregated focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and individual interviews were carried out in Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions which had been target sites for the bigger Maziwa Zaidi Phase II project in Tanzania. In total, 24 women dairy farmers, 25 men dairy farmers, 20 women agripreneurs and 22 men agripreneurs involved in selling feeds, milk collection and agro-veterinary goods and services such as artificial insemination and livestock extension participated in the FGDs. Twelve women and 16 men were interviewed as KIIs while 12 women and 15 men were interviewed individually.Results and DiscussionThe findings show that women agripreneurs are active in selling milk and earning an income, and a few women provide AI services. However, local gender norms significantly reduce potential gains. Normative sanctions are applied to women who are perceived to be moving beyond acceptable gender norms in their efforts to establish their dairy related livelihoods. Yet this picture is not uniform. The presence of traditionally more favorable local gender norms towards engagement in smallholder dairy related businesses allows women in the Kilimanjaro Region to openly exercise more decision-making power and secure more benefits compared to women in Tanga Region where local norms largely limited women’s engagement because dairying is a rather novel concept and was introduced in the 1990s as a men’s income generation enterprise.Our own findings indicate that local patriarchal contexts remain powerful in both study sites. However with sustained empowerment efforts, women and men fairly express an understanding of empowerment as a process, involving building capacity, supporting, creating an enabling environment for achieving of one’s goals. Women note that an empowered woman faces more barriers than an empowered man because if married, she has to consult with her husband prior to making big investments. Empowered men are however free to do as they like with their resources. Patriarchal norms guiding social ordering in Tanzania therefore place a cap on achievement as well as expression of empowerment by women. Moreover, through gender norms gatekeeping, significant relations such as husbands and community members can also act as empowerment gatekeepers reining in women’s expression and experience of empowerment, especially if her husband is economically disempowered while she is

Bowdoin Orient v.137, no.1-25 (2007-2008)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-2000s/1008/thumbnail.jp

Innovation in Asian Philanthropy: Entrepreneurial Social Finance in Asia

This publication is the second in a series of ACSEP working papers concerned with what is termed 'entrepreneurial social finance' in Asia, which explores how philanthropy is responding to the financial and nonfinancial needs of the region's social entrepreneurs. The term philanthropy is most commonly associated with straightforward grant making, most usually making donations where all capital is lost and no return expected. In modern practice, philanthropy is more sophisticated and diverse than this, wanting to utilise as many tools as possible with the goal of creating sustained social change. Recognising this, philanthropy is defined in this study, as the deployment of financial and human capital for primarily social impact. For this reason, this paper investigates the growing interest in 'impact investing,' which seeks to use non-grant finance to maximise the social and financial outcomes by investing in social businesses. This study employs an essentially qualitative methodology. The researchers conducted 40 face-to-face and telephone interviews in Singapore, India, China, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand between March and November 2012. In-depth interviews were chosen as the central component of the study to gain insight into the personal motivations of lead individuals who had founded or who are managing philanthropy organisations