148 research outputs found

    Vocational education and training for a greener construction sector: low road or high road approaches to apprenticeships?

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    All too often, the issue of climate change is treated as a purely technical one, outside the realm of the social sciences or education. To address it effectively, however, implies a transformation in the vocational education and training (VET) and qualification systems as well as in the labour market. VET can play a major role in reducing CO2 emissions and improving the energy efficiency of buildings across Europe. The paper explains why this is so and what can be done to implement change in the construction, a sector set to gain more employment than any other from the transition to a green economy through policies and programmes for nearly zero energy building (NZEB), renewable energy installations and retrofit across Europe. The imperative of equipping the construction workforce with the appropriate knowledge, skills and competences is an integral part of the European Union (EU) green transition policy for the built environment. Zero carbon and NZEB require the training of millions of construction workers, a different construction process from the traditional one and a significant upgrading of existing VET systems. The complex technical and social challenges confronting construction VET systems throughout Europe and the constraints involved in addressing these are the focus of this paper. The aim is to identify the changes in the quality of labour and in VET required to achieve NZEB and to present a trans-European transparency tool against which different VET programmes for low energy construction (LEC) can be assessed. As apparent from the European Commission’s Build-up Skills initiative, successful NZEB depends on co-ordination and overall project awareness, teamwork and the application of theoretical knowledge to particular circumstances. This requires an energy literate workforce, with broader and deeper theoretical knowledge, higher technical and precision skills, interdisciplinary understanding, and a wide range of transversal competences. The depth and breadth of expertise implied and the qualitative transformation of the construction labour process required also need to be expressed by qualification frameworks to facilitate a uniform approach in conformity with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Broadly-based initial VET (IVET) systems and occupational profiles, constructed and maintained through consultation and co-ordination with social partners and based on imparting relevant knowledge, represent the ‘high road’ to energy efficiency in buildings and are best placed to respond to the challenges of climate change. Developing the agency and powers of judgement of workers through VET is not only a promoter of personal development but a means of providing up to date construction expertise. The paper shows how an approach to VET based only on learning outcomes and targeting specific skills, as implied in the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESC) initiative, is too narrow and lacking in depth to allow for the systematic application of theoretical LEC knowledge to practice and the development of NZEB expertise in the workplace. Theoretically broader, deeper, more technical and inter-disciplinary expertise is needed to meet European Performance in Buildings Directive (EPBD) targets. Despite this, VET for LEC across Europe has been largely preoccupied just with developing specific ‘skills’ and confined to short and task-specific continuing VET (CVET) courses, representing what can be regarded as the ‘low road’. Mainstreaming the knowledge, skills and competences required for NZEB into IVET curricula is rare though it is achieved in German construction IVET, which takes a standards-based approach, successfully embeds LEC elements and seeks to overcome occupational boundaries and develop a holistic understanding of the construction process. The paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of different VET systems in meeting NZEB requirements and presents examples from CVET and IVET from different parts of Europe to show what can be done to incorporate LEC elements. Through an investigation in ten European countries, the paper presents the range of different strategies advanced and illustrates the significance of social partnership, the need to overcome the fragmentation of the construction process, and the high-quality VET essential in order to address climate change. It is argued that a ‘high road’ approach, in encompassing a broad concept of agency, successfully addresses NZEB requirements whereas in contrast a ‘low road’ approach represents an instrumentalist approach to labour that jeopardises the achievement of higher energy efficiency standards

    Proceedings of the ANDROID Doctoral School in Disaster Resilience 2014

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    The ANDROID Doctoral School is a core element of the ANDROID disaster resilience network with a mandate to strengthen the link between research and teaching in the area of disaster resilience. The interdisciplinary mixed teaching space that we have developed as part of this ongoing project encouraged and promoted the work of doctoral students in this field. Furthermore, the doctoral school provided an opportunity for the development of a supportive interdisciplinary community of researchers in the area of disaster resilience. The ANDROID disaster resilience network doctoral school consists of two programmes: 1. Online Doctoral School (ODS) and 2. Residential Doctoral School (RDS) The interlinked programmes work together to deliver on a number of teaching and research driven objectives. The Online Doctoral School, conducted in Spring 2014, provided an innovative platform for developing an interdisciplinary knowledge base for the doctoral candidates. A total of 44 doctoral candidates representing 27 countries participated in the two day online programme. The school offered a series of live presentations by domain experts in disaster resilience around the world, an opportunity for discussions between experts and students and thematic sessions aimed at engaging the students in knowledge discovery and identification of shared problems and issues through detailed discussions fully exploiting the state of the art facilities in online programme delivery. The Residential Doctoral School programme (2014) was used as an opportunity to build on the outcomes of the Online Doctoral School by actively engaging doctoral student work through presentations, domain expert feedback and intensive discussion during the annual meeting of the Android Disaster Resilience Network. All participating students developed and submitted an original research piece (based on their doctoral studies) that was peer reviewed by experts within the field. The RDS process includes a limited number of scholarship awards to attend a three day event which entails a panel review of the work of the students and dissemination of this work to a wider audience. A total of 26 papers double peer reviewed and edited through the doctoral school team were presented at the RDS 2014. All presenters were successful participants of the online doctoral school, ODS 2014 held in March 2014. The residential portion of the school was held from the 8th to the 10th of September, 2014 in the MediaCityUK, Salford Quays in Manchester runs in parallel with the 4th International Conference on Building Resilience which incorporates the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Android Disaster Resilience Network. The conference event itself has been jointly organised by the Centre for Disaster Resilience, University of Salford and the ANDROID Disaster Resilience Network, in association with the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) Making Cities Resilient: ‘My City is getting ready!’ campaign. This volume presents concise summaries of the contributions of all the doctoral papers presented at the RDS (2014), produced and developed by doctoral students with the guidance, direction and suggestions of a group of experts led by the ANDROID Doctoral School team. These papers demonstrate the richness, diversity and interdisciplinary nature of research topics and problems being tackled by disaster resilience researchers. Furthermore, we see here examples of discovery and expansion of research themes that go beyond disciplinary boundaries, reflecting on the greater context of disaster resilience. The work of the doctoral researchers presented here is a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge which, given the growing vulnerability and exposure to disasters of human and natural origin, depends on the development of greater interdisciplinary expertise among the scholars of the future. Further information on the ANDROID Doctoral School can be found at: http://www.disaster-resilience.net/index.php/doctoral-school-2014

    Abstract Book: Scales of Social, Environmental & Cultural Change in Past Societies

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    The interplay of environment, social relations, material culture, population dynamics, and human perception are the key factors of socio-environmental changes. The exploration of processes and parameters of societal change enable further exploration of transformations of human-environmental interactions. These processes and parameters are detectable in the development of, for example, settlement systems, material culture, or ritual sites, which link different socio-environmental components. Humans and environments deeply shaped each other, creating diverse social, environmental, and cultural constellations. On the one hand, examining the roots of social, environmental, and cultural phenomena and processes, which substantially marked past human development, can lead to a deeper understanding of the development of societies. On the other hand, a focus on transformation patterns within momentous developments of past societies opens up the possibility of identifying substantial and enduring re-organisation of socio-environmental interaction patterns

    Spiritual Leadership, School Climate, and Teacher Collective Efficacy in Asian International Schools

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    This research explored whether spiritual leadership could predict teacher collective efficacy and school climate in Asian international schools. Fifteen international schools from nine countries elected to participate and 104 teachers completed an online survey. Linear regression and multiple regression were used to discover a prediction equation linking spiritual leadership to the outcomes of teacher collective efficacy and school climate. Findings from this study indicated that spiritual leadership significantly predicted teacher collective efficacy accounting for 28.3% of the variation, a small effect according to Cohen (1988). Further, spiritual leadership significantly predicted school climate accounting for 44.1.3% of the variation, a medium effect according to Cohen (1988). Using multiple regression, it was found that four of the six components of spiritual leadership added significantly to the prediction of teacher collective efficacy, p \u3c .05 while all six components of spiritual leadership added significantly to the prediction of school climate, p \u3c .05. It is recommended that more research is needed to examine this spiritual leadership theory in schools and in international schools, specifically research with larger samples

    Resourcing For Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction: The Case Of Cyclones Sidr And Aila In Bangladesh

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    This study investigates the effectiveness of resourcing in post-disaster housing reconstruction with reference to Cyclones Sidr and Aila in Bangladesh. Through evaluating three key theories- Build Back Better approach, Balance Scorecard approach and Dynamic Competency theories, the synthesis of literature, and empirical fieldwork, this research develops a dynamic theoretical framework that moves the trajectory of post-disaster housing reconstruction towards the reconstruction of more resilient houses. The ultimate goal of any post-disaster housing reconstruction project is to provide quality houses and to achieve high levels of satisfaction for beneficiaries. However, post-disaster reconstruction projects often fail in their stated objectives; only 10-20% housing needs are met, with most houses constructed on a temporary rather than permanent basis. A number of scholars have argued that access to resources can significantly increase the capacity and capability of disaster victims to rebuild their lives, including the construction of new homes. This study draws on structured interviews of 285 villagers affected by cyclones to investigate the effectiveness of resourcing in rebuilding houses after Cyclone Sidr in 2007 and Cyclone Aila in 2009. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 key stakeholders in UNDP, OXFAM, government officials, and national and international NGOs. The results of this study show that recovery rate of cyclone resilient houses that can withstand cyclone is very low and majority of the population are still vulnerable. Furthermore, multiple regression of survey data and thematic analyses of qualitative data indicate that access to resources, level of education, quality of building materials and income-generating activities of the respondents are critical for effective post-disaster recovery. Conversely, resource availability, lack of coordination among participant organisations, corruption and lack of access to appropriate land constituted significant obstacles to livelihood recovery. Finally, this study makes significant theoretical contributions to the theories of post-disaster recovery by introducing access to resources, land, level of education and level of income generating activities as new variables and it also identifies relevant method of measuring the effectiveness of resourcing for post-disaster housing reconstruction by employing parameters of rate of housing reconstruction, vulnerability reduction, poverty reduction, livelihood recovery, beneficiaries’ satisfaction and quality of reconstructed houses by which effectiveness of resourcing can be measured

    Vulnerability analysis in an Early Warning System for drought

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    Early Warning Systems (EWS) for drought are often based on risk models that do not, or marginally, take into account the vulnerability factor. The multifaceted nature of drought (hydrological, meteorological, and agricultural) is source of coexistence for different ways to measure this phenomenon and its effects. The mentioned issue, together with the complexity of impacts generated by this hazard, causes the current underdevelopment of drought EWS compared to other hazards. In Least Developed Countries, where drought events causes the highest numbers of affected people, the importance of correct monitoring and forecasting is considered essential. Existing early warning and monitoring systems for drought, produced at different geographic levels, provide only in a few cases an actual spatial model that tries to describe the cause-effect link between where the hazard is detected and where impacts occur. Integrate vulnerability information in such systems would permit to better estimate affected zones and livelihoods, improving the effectiveness of produced hazard-related datasets and maps. In fact, the need of simplification and, in general, of a direct applicability of scientific outputs is still a matter of concern for field experts and early warning products end-users. Even if the surplus of hazard related information produced on the occasion of catastrophic events has, in some cases, led to the creation of specific data-sharing platforms, the conveyed meaning and usefulness of each product has not yet been addressed. The present work is an attempt to fill this gap which is still an open issue for the scientific community as well as for the humanitarian aid world. The present study aims at conceiving a simplified vulnerability model to embed into an existing EWS for drought, which is based on the monitoring of vegetation phenological parameters, produced using free satellite derived datasets. The proposed vulnerability model includes (i) a pure agricultural vulnerability and (ii) a systemic vulnerability. The first considers the agricultural potential of terrains, the diversity of cultivated crops and the percentage of irrigated area as main driving factors. The second vulnerability aspect consists of geographic units that model the strategy and possibilities of people to access marketplaces; these units are shaped on the basis of the physical accessibility of market locations in one case, and according to a spatial gravity model of market catchments in other two proposed cases. Results of the model applied to two national case studies and evaluated with food insecurity data are presented

    Urban and Buildings Regeneration Strategy to Climatic Change Mitigation, Energy, and Social Poverty after a World Health and Economic Global Crisis

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    In recent months, we have suffered the effects of an unexpected global health crisis that has led to an even worse global economic crisis, with GDPs plummeting to unprecedented levels. While our health workers struggle to find a vaccine to protect our health, we have had to live through situations hitherto unimagined, and we have spent even more time in our homes while our streets remained empty, which has brought to light the weaknesses and strengths of our system and our way of building and designing. Our aim is to publish research projects and papers that contribute to reactivate the Construction Sector from within, in the context of this world economic crisis. Such an effort will focus especially on solutions that improve the quality of indoor air in buildings, strengthening the circular economy in an eco-efficient rehabilitation of buildings and neighborhoods in our cities

    Disasters and History

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    This monograph provides an overview of research into disasters from a historical perspective, making two new contributions. First, it introduces the field of ‘disaster studies’ to history, showing how we can use history to better understand how societies deal with shocks and hazards and their potentially disastrous outcomes. Second, we introduce historians to the topic of disasters and the field of disaster studies, and explicitly show the relevance of studying past disasters to better understand the social, economic, and political functioning of past societies
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