E4 Thematic Network

This Thematic Network aims at developing the European dimension of Higher Engineering Education by enhancing the compatibility of the many diverse routes to the profession of engineer, by facilitating greater mobility and integration of skilled personnel throughout Europe, by favouring a mutual exchange of skills and competences and providing a platform for communication between academics and professionals. Five main activities have been organised under the overall umbrella of the Thematic Network.The work contains 6 volumes

Responsible leadership : proceedings of the Corporate Responsibility Research (CRR) 2009 Conference

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Disability-free life expectancy of Italian older adults: trends, inequalities, and applications

Italy's ageing population may pose challenges to the sustainability of the country's socioeconomic and healthcare systems. This depends on the (un)healthy ageing process. The disability status of mid-to-older adults is a crucial determinant of individuals' autonomy and participation in society. Disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) is an important metric for assessing the health and disability risks of the population in a summary indicator, neat of the age structure. Demographic changes also affect intergenerational relationships and in Italy, where grandparents play a significant role in caregiving, it is crucial to study their health evolution. This thesis aims to, first, detect the long-term trend of DFLE in Italy and to analyse the drivers of its change in terms of disability-specific mortality and dynamics of disability onset and recovery. Second, to shed light on gender, socioeconomic, and territorial inequalities in DFLE (and their intersections) and the factors driving these inequalities in terms of differences in mortality and disability risks. Third, to analyse the trend of the length of life to live as grandparents free from disability and understand how it is influenced by age-specific survival and grandparenthood-disability prevalence evolution. The thesis applies different demographic and statistical methods to different cross-sectional and longitudinal data and provides DFLE estimates, trends and applications for mid-to-older Italian men and women. The findings show that while DFLE at mid-to-older ages has increased, it has not always progressed as favourably as life expectancy. The greatest contribution to DFLE changes is the changes in the transition in and out of disability. There are notable differences in DFLE at older ages within the country, between genders and educational groups. Women have a life expectancy advantage, but their health disadvantage counterbalances it. The disadvantage in DFLE accumulates over education and region of residence, resulting in higher educated living in northern regions having more than double DFLE than lower educated living in southern regions. Health differences are also the major contributors to educational differences in DFLE. Italian grandmothers and grandfathers are gaining years of coexistence-life-time with their grandchildren in good functional health. Women can expect to live more years as disability-free grandmothers than men, but their share of disability-free grandmothers years over total years as grandmothers is lower than that for men. The increase in disability-free grandparenthood years is primarily led by improved survival and health conditions and, for men, by the postponement of grandparenthood to older ages

Implementation Criteria of University Computer Education in Spain between First Experiences and the European Higher Education Space (EHES)

Part 2: The History of Computing and Its Meaning for the FutureInternational audienceThis paper intends to present a short overview of the different criteria used in the university environment for setting up the computer education in Spain since the first teaching experiences in this do- main to the current implementations adapted to the European Higher Education Space (EHES). Also some samples of these different curricula are presented

Financial cooperatives: regulatory and supervisory answers for South Africa and Malawi

The regulatory and supervisory framework of financial co-operatives in South Africa consists of the Cooperatives Act (No. 14 of 2005), the Co-operatives Bank Act (No. 40 of 2007), Banks Act Exemption (Notice 620 of 2014) and the Financial Sector Regulation Act (No. 9 of 2017). In Malawi, the regulatory and supervisory framework of financial co-operatives consists of the Financial Services Act (No. 26 of 2010) and the Financial Co-operatives Act (No. 8 of 2011). This thesis proposes that the regulatory and supervisory frameworks provided by these pieces of legislation in both South Africa and Malawi do not adequately regulate the sector and that this in turn, one of the main contributing factors to the slow growth of financial co-operatives in the respective countries. On the one hand, the frameworks over-regulate some aspects of the financial co-operatives sector. This overregulation has created a harsh regulatory environment for some financial co-operatives. On the other hand, some aspects of the financial co-operatives sector are underregulated. Under-regulation has resulted in regulatory arbitrage and oversight of the fact that financial co-operatives have economic objectives, ownership structures, risks, and challenges unique to them. Interestingly, although such gaps and overcompensations in the frameworks have hindered the growth of formal and semi-formal financial co-operatives, they have fostered the growth of informal financial cooperatives. Accordingly, in both countries, there is an overwhelmingly large sector of informal financial co-operatives. Informal financial co-operatives are not governed by formal pieces of legislation. Rather, they are governed by indigenous law, or as otherwise termed, the law of the people. This thesis postulates that the overregulation and under-regulation embedded in the current regulatory and supervisory frameworks have been birthed from a misunderstanding of what financial co-operatives are and how they ought to function; an infusion of unfavourable historical and political influences and practices into the current regulatory and supervisory frameworks; overdependence of external aid; and lastly, an underestimation of the competencies of the citizens in both countries. The aim of this thesis is not to suggest supplanting of the current formal frameworks in South Africa and Malawi, or an adoption of informal governance structures. Instead, this thesis aims to provide recommendations for legal reform within the current framework. It aims to propose how, if possible, or required, the relevant laws in South Africa and Malawi might be changed, reformed or developed within their existing frame of reference