From margin to mainstream - inclusive design making waves

This paper reports on the development of the two sides of the design education equation – student and tutor. The student perspective is viewed primarily through the lens of the RSA’s Europe-wide design competition Inclusive Worlds (part of the RSA’s Design Directions programme – www.rsadesigndirections.org), which has encouraged students to produce a range of products, services and environments to enhance everyday living. The tutor’s perspective is viewed primarily through the lens of the Inclusive Design Curriculum Network, a Thematic Network funded by the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission (IDCnet at www.idcnet.info). From both perspectives – tutor and student – specific outcomes have emerged: new teaching materials, modules, and courses on inclusive design or which advocate the principles and methodologies of inclusive design; new products coming to market which have embedded within them the principles of inclusive design; and a new generation of professionals, now in practice and influencing mainstream design. Recommendations are made for successful educational practice which leads to successful professional practice

Teaching to Develop Perspective, Skills, Confidence, and Identity as Problem-Solving Engineers

The “core” of an engineering degree program typically comprises the concepts, equations, and technical skills needed, as well as their practical application to common problems of the profession. This core is then divided into the “content” that must be covered in each course. It is widely recognized, however, that successful individuals do not thrive as professionals on content alone. Thus, there is significant and increasing emphasis across higher education to “educate the whole person.” These efforts aim to develop “deep” qualities like grit, critical thinking, perseverance, learning from failure, valuing diversity, teamwork, leadership, curiosity, recognizing opportunity, creating value, and acting ethically and sustainably. Assessment is crucial as educators seeking to continuously improve our pedagogical practices and as researchers motivated to generate evidence of efficacy. In this manuscript, I describe specific efforts, tools, and modules aimed at developing an inclusive and entrepreneurial mindset in engineering students, as well as practices for fostering an inclusive learning environment. Finally, I reflect on the value of qualitative and quantitative approaches in assessing the development of “deep” qualities in students

From Community Governance to Customer Service and Back Again: Re-Examining Pre-Web Models of Online Governance to Address Platforms’ Crisis of Legitimacy

As online platforms grow, they find themselves increasingly trying to balance two competing priorities: individual rights and public health. This has coincided with the professionalization of platforms’ trust and safety operations—what we call the “customer service” model of online governance. As professional trust and safety teams attempt to balance individual rights and public health, platforms face a crisis of legitimacy, with decisions in the name of individual rights or public health scrutinized and criticized as corrupt, arbitrary, and irresponsible by stakeholders of all stripes. We review early accounts of online governance to consider whether the customer service model has obscured a promising earlier model where members of the affected community were significant, if not always primary, decision-makers. This community governance approach has deep roots in the academic computing community and has re-emerged in spaces like Reddit and special purpose social networks and in novel platform initiatives such as the Oversight Board and Community Notes. We argue that community governance could address persistent challenges of online governance, particularly online platforms’ crisis of legitimacy. In addition, we think community governance may offer valuable training in democratic participation for users

Towards regional interdisciplinary green infrastructure in Metro Vancouver

Green infrastructure (GI) and nature-based solutions (NbS) have been identified as an important strategy to assist in delivering key infrastructure services in Metro Vancouver, particularly when considering predicted and observed climate change impacts such as increased extreme weather, flooding, sea level rise, and urban heat for the region. Municipalities within Metro Vancouver are increasingly planning and deploying GI, though efforts are largely disjointed and are primarily planned and executed at the local government scale. Recent global initiatives to address biodiversity loss and climate change are recommending more integrated governance that incorporate planning between jurisdictions and disciplines highlighting the potential to achieve greater collective benefits including ecosystem services, biodiversity protection, and human health and wellbeing. However, a transformation to more integrated work is challenged by a variety of complex structural, cultural, and conceptual barriers common of wicked social-ecological problems. This research deployed social innovation techniques to engage professionals and stakeholders within the Metro Vancouver area to identify these barriers and reflect on potential solutions to deploy GI more intentionally and effectively at a regional scale. The results of the research demonstrate a strong preference towards greater integration between professions as well as between municipalities and governmental jurisdictions

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

The Goose that Lays the Golden Egg ?: The Bio-Med Industries of New Orleans

This thesis addresses New Orleans\u27 Bio-Med sector, a broad category that includes biosciences research, health care, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing. Biotechnology, in particular, has emerged as an attractive target for economic development in New Orleans, in Louisiana, and in the nation as a whole. Informed by economic geography and development literature, this research presents a narrative of efforts to foster the Bio-Med industries in New Orleans as a source of economic diversification and employment. Structural economic conditions, as well as a complex and unsettled array of political agendas shaping Bio-Med institutions, underscore a pessimistic view of the potential for biotechnology to generate significant economic impacts. Since Katrina exacerbated these conditions, Bio-Med strategies should direct more attention to the health care industry and specifically to addressing workforce gaps to meet the twin goals of expanding health coverage and providing realistic employment opportunities for underserved populations

The Goose that Lays the Golden Egg ?: The Bio-Med Industries of New Orleans

This thesis addresses New Orleans\u27 Bio-Med sector, a broad category that includes biosciences research, health care, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing. Biotechnology, in particular, has emerged as an attractive target for economic development in New Orleans, in Louisiana, and in the nation as a whole. Informed by economic geography and development literature, this research presents a narrative of efforts to foster the Bio-Med industries in New Orleans as a source of economic diversification and employment. Structural economic conditions, as well as a complex and unsettled array of political agendas shaping Bio-Med institutions, underscore a pessimistic view of the potential for biotechnology to generate significant economic impacts. Since Katrina exacerbated these conditions, Bio-Med strategies should direct more attention to the health care industry and specifically to addressing workforce gaps to meet the twin goals of expanding health coverage and providing realistic employment opportunities for underserved populations

Property enforcement or retrogressive measure? Copyright reform in Canada and the human right of access to knowledge

Is it true that, before the recent cases that are said to have redefined its path, Canadian copyright law was missing a purpose? This article presents an alternative view, based on domestic and international human rights law. It argues that the recent “upbringing” of users’ rights in Canada in reality reflects the implicit entrenchment of the so-called human right of access to knowledge in the domestic legal system. The article starts with a critical analysis of Canadian copyright case law, presenting some unsuspected problems in what the scholarly literature calls “the trilogy” – the group of cases that is believed to have unveiled the principle of balance in Canadian copyright law. It calls for an integral approach to users’ rights, which does not ignore the complex fabric of decisions that provides for the internalization of international human rights in Canadian law. Arguing that the Supreme Court of Canada should explicitly acknowledge this relation, the article sketches a framework for understanding how a human right of access to knowledge, if present in the international human rights system, would also be found within Canadian law itself. Finally, the article denies the supposed human rights nature of copyright, and, conversely, argues that several different instruments within the United Nations system provide solid grounds for grasping the existence of a human right of access to knowledge. Understanding, that users’ rights are human rights has important implications for copyright policy. The most important of all is the presumption against retrogressive measures, which would oblige those who push the ongoing process of copyright reform in this country to prove that any additional layer of protection would be legitimate within a human rights context.published_or_final_versio