SUSTAINABILITY OR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT A RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALISTS

The community development has in view the encouragement and the involvement of the human resources management on the track meant for the individual and social development. The quantification of the human capital offers the necessary information for the design of a strategy oriented towards resources for the organisational development. In Romania, according to the information regarding the dynamic of the economic indicators, we notice a positive economic growth, but the inflation constitutes a problem from an internal as well as external point of view. By analysing the development performances of the last years, we discover progresses in innovation, research, in the entrepreneurial development of the company, in the degree of occupation of the human resources and the economic cohesion, in the sustainable economic development and in the liberation of the market. Indicators like the number and density of the population, the territorial distribution of the population, the structure of the population on genders, age groups, residential environments, ethnical structure, religion, social and economical structure and education, as well as the indicators referring to the housings shape a complete picture of the human potential development according to the European standards. Through the increase in competitiveness and of the globalisation, the workforce market suffers certain transformations from the integration point of view together with the other social sectors. The evolution of the society determines the building of a society and economy based on the knowledge according to the European social model values, in the field of the human resources management they will contribute to the social integration, to the development of new changes at the level of social dialogue. The last decades got us used to the reality of the “leaps”. In the most varied fields of the human’s life, we are the witnesses to some triumphal mutations and stupefying progresses that are taking place imperatively and simultaneously. Is there really a price to pay for the progress? Absorbed with a delirious speed in some kind of a time tunnel, the human being is forced to accept the idea that frontier of the impossible became extensible in all its meanings. The undreamed of and fantastical chances become common places from one day to another. These are the matters and thoughts tried to be answered in the lines of this articleHuman resources,management, education, ethic, damages, natural environment, responsibility, sustainable development

Visuospatial Integration: Paleoanthropological and Archaeological Perspectives

The visuospatial system integrates inner and outer functional processes, organizing spatial, temporal, and social interactions between the brain, body, and environment. These processes involve sensorimotor networks like the eye–hand circuit, which is especially important to primates, given their reliance on vision and touch as primary sensory modalities and the use of the hands in social and environmental interactions. At the same time, visuospatial cognition is intimately connected with memory, self-awareness, and simulation capacity. In the present article, we review issues associated with investigating visuospatial integration in extinct human groups through the use of anatomical and behavioral data gleaned from the paleontological and archaeological records. In modern humans, paleoneurological analyses have demonstrated noticeable and unique morphological changes in the parietal cortex, a region crucial to visuospatial management. Archaeological data provides information on hand–tool interaction, the spatial behavior of past populations, and their interaction with the environment. Visuospatial integration may represent a critical bridge between extended cognition, self-awareness, and social perception. As such, visuospatial functions are relevant to the hypothesis that human evolution is characterized by changes in brain–body–environment interactions and relations, which enhance integration between internal and external cognitive components through neural plasticity and the development of a specialized embodiment capacity. We therefore advocate the investigation of visuospatial functions in past populations through the paleoneurological study of anatomical elements and archaeological analysis of visuospatial behaviors

Ethnographic Reflection On Group Formation In Blizzard\u27s world Of Warcraft

Cyberanthropology or the anthropology of cyber space/culture is an emerging subfield of cultural anthropology that deals with the varied integration of human beings and technology. This specialized area of study focuses on topics ranging from new technologies used in ethnographic research to information and communication technologies utilized by specific societal groups. Communication technology encompasses the World Wide Web, email, and online multiperson interactive spaces such as chatrooms and video games. In this work, I ethnographically investigate human social interactions in the online gaming realm of World of Warcraft. On the whole, the expanding numbers of virtual communities in existence today offer new and exciting realms for social scientists in general, and anthropologists in particular, to expand their knowledge of social interaction. During the period between August 2007 and May 2009 I “lived” with the players of WoW as a participant observer. The culmination of this research spotlights virtual group formation and dynamics from an anthropological perspective and is intended to pave the way for future research

Immigrant Justice in an Era of National Borders: Multi-Level Governance and Advocacy in the U.S. and Greece

abstract: This project seeks to explore how organizations work toward refugee and immigrant integration through forming different types of coalitions and strategic networks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to identify when coalitions emerge between refugee organizations and immigrant rights groups in order to examine their development, from how the coalitions broadly conceive of refugee and immigrant rights, to how they organize resources and information sharing, service provision, policy advocacy, and policy implementation. The project is guided by the question: What explains the formation of coalitions that advocate for both immigrant rights and refugee rights? Through examining the formation and development of these coalitions, this thesis engages at the intersections of immigration federalism, refugee studies and human rights scholarship to reveal deeper complexities in the politics of immigrant integration. The project sharpens these three scholarly intersections by three multi-level jurisdictions – California and Arizona in the United States and Athens in Greece – and by employing comparative analysis to unpack how national governments and federalism dynamics shape coalition building around immigrant integration.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Social Justice and Human Rights 201

Beyond the biomedical: community resources for mental health care in rural Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: The focus of discussion in addressing the treatment gap is often on biomedical services. However, community resources can benefit health service scale-up in resource-constrained settings. These assets can be captured systematically through resource mapping, a method used in social action research. Resource mapping can be informative in developing complex mental health interventions, particularly in settings with limited formal mental health resources. METHOD: We employed resource mapping within the Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME), to systematically gather information on community assets that can support integration of mental healthcare into primary care in rural Ethiopia. A semi-structured instrument was administered to key informants. Community resources were identified for all 58 sub-districts of the study district. The potential utility of these resources for the provision of mental healthcare in the district was considered. RESULTS: The district is rich in community resources: There are over 150 traditional healers, 164 churches and mosques, and 401 religious groups. There were on average 5 eddir groups (traditional funeral associations) per sub-district. Social associations and 51 micro-finance institutions were also identified. On average, two traditional bars were found in each sub-district. The eight health centres and 58 satellite clinics staffed by Health Extension Workers (HEWs) represented all the biomedical health services in the district. In addition the Health Development Army (HDA) are community volunteers who support health promotion and prevention activities. DISCUSSION: The plan for mental healthcare integration in this district was informed by the resource mapping. Community and religious leaders, HEWs, and HDA may have roles in awareness-raising, detection and referral of people with mental illness, improving access to medical care, supporting treatment adherence, and protecting human rights. The diversity of community structures will be used to support rehabilitation and social reintegration. Alcohol use was identified as a target disorder for community-level intervention

Exploring digital teaching tools, including the use of social media, to support teaching; perspectives of M.Pharm. students

Background: The School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of Bradford, is keen to evaluate the potential benefits of digital tools to enhance the teaching and learning of all M.Pharm. students. Students are increasingly using digital technology for both educational and social purposes (Cheston et al., 2013). This project explored the views of pharmacy students about digital technology, including social media, for teaching in the M.Pharm. programme. Method: Convenience sampling was employed to recruit M.Pharm. students for focus groups. Each focus group, facilitated by student researchers with topic guide, was audio-recorded and analysed for themes. Ethics approval was obtained from the University. Results: Year 2 and 3 students from two focus groups (n1=8 (6 male), n2=10 (8 male)) identified three main digital teaching tools used in the current programme: Blackboard, response clickers, and iSTAN. Blackboard, a virtual learning environment, was seen as a hub for holding all required learning materials. However, its use depended on internet access and some felt they would benefit from offline use and improved compatibility with different devices. Audience response systems and a human patient stimulator were well received by students. However, participants strongly felt that they were underutilised. The main benefit of using social media for learning was instant feedback and the encouragement of informal discussions. Participants were not always comfortable posting within the current digital tools used in the programme (e.g. Blackboard) as they felt ‘monitored’. However, participants acknowledged that information obtained through social media might not be as reliable as information from digital tools moderated by academics. Interestingly, participants reported a lack of engagement with programme specific social media pages (e.g. Facebook page). They felt that the information provided was aimed at qualified pharmacists, rather than current students. Conclusion: Participants valued accessibility, flexibility and availability of instant feedback when using digital tools to support their learning. They felt positive about the digital tools used within the programme but emphasised the need of greater integration. References Cheston, C.C., Flickinger, T.E. & Chisom, M.S. (2013). Social media use in medical education: a systematic review. Academic Medicine, 88(6), 893-90

Forms of organizing: What is new and why?

This paper aims to further our understanding of new forms of organizing by asking and answering two related questions: What is new in forms of organizing? and Why is it so? It starts by examining the main forces that lead to the emergence and diffusion of new organizational arrangements, distinguishing between objective and subjective factors and pointing out the interplay between the two. Elaborating on these two groups of factors, the paper introduces two dimensions ‹flexibility and openness‹ on which a contingency analysis of new forms of organizing and a classification are built. Flexibility is associated with the question «How fast does the organization as a whole have to learn?», while openness is intended to measure the need for knowledge integration and the location of relevant knowledge. Having outlined the main trends in the development of organizational arrangements, the paper looks at some of the implications. The use of information and communication technologies, knowledge management, changes in human resource practices and social contract, and changes in management roles and careers are all seen as consequences of a new quest for openness and flexibility. All these considerations lead to the conclusion that, nowadays, changes in organizational patterns are radical, calling for a paradigm change that will facilitate, in a holistic manner, the adjustments that are needed in order to build and manage these organizations. Like any paradigm change, this requires a change in the mindset of the agents involved, especially the decision-makers.new forms of organizing; new organizational arrangements;

Conceptual framework for scenarios development in the Water futures and Solutions project

The major purpose of the Water Futures & Solutions (WFaS) initiative is to develop a set of adaptable resilient and robust solutions and a framework to facilitate access to and guidance through them by decision makers facing a variety of water-related challenges to sustainable evelopment, and a set of optional pathways to achieve plausible sustainable development goals by 2050. The WFaS Initiative addresses the multidimensional aspects of the water system and is guided by stakeholders representing these various aspects. The Initiative views freshwater systems as being strongly interweaved with human activities (Economy, Society) and Nature as a whole. Dynamics and health of freshwater systems is critical to human well- being. The Initiative will go beyond scenario production and model comparisons and will focus on exploring solutions and necessary innovations to address the growing water challenges. Solutions can be combinations of technological innovations, regulatory approaches, manageent or institutional changes that improve the balance of water supply and demand, improve water quality, or reduce water-related risks for society. Solutions will often be embedded in and cut across all sectors of social and economic activities. In order to represent the aspirations and interdependencies as described above, the conceptual framework has been developed, to communicate project results to the target audiences. This document describes this conceptual framework that will be used: -to support development of qualitative water scenarios -to identify and select critical dimensions of the water scenarios -to guide integration of scenarios with quantitative models -to guide integration of information from various data sources into the scenarios -to support development and assessment of solutions -to support collaboration between project and stakeholder groups -to facilitate presentation of results to target audiences The WFaS conceptual framework is developed using the 'concept maps' technique (Caqas and Carff, 2005; Novak and Caqas, 2006b). Concept maps method was develop to represent knowledge in an organized way. It allows practitioners to represent concepts and specific relationships between concepts. It is flexible enough to adapt to different knowledge domains to support better understanding and communication between individuals and groups from different backgrounds

Challenges of Vulnerable Immigrants: A focus on Refugees and Housing , Their Canadian Experience

The refugee and immigrant problem in Canada are gradually descending into a crisis. Women and elderly people are among the categories of people who experience differentiated integration processes and some forms of discrimination in society. A percentage of immigrants live in poverty, insecurity, and social exclusion, for these individuals, may be in great distress, itinerant, or living in precarious housing conditions. This dire situation made this research imperative to better understand the challenges and measures needed to address the housing challenges of these vulnerable groups. This paper examines the immigrant and refugees housing challenges in Canada. Immigrants and refugees find themselves under diminished capacity as an individual or group to anticipate, cope with, resist, and recover from the impact of the natural or man-made hazard. Qualitative research method was adopted, and data were generated by both primary and secondary sources. Focus groups and policymakers were also interviewed to come up with a logical conclusion on the topic of discussion. The study concludes that there are tripartite causes of housing challenges for refugees and migrants cannot be overemphasized, and it is interconnected to economic, political, and cultural systems. Also, that at best, what has been obtainable is ethnic-specific efforts targeted at some certain migrant groups, which further creates ethical dilemmas as different groups of refugees and different groups of immigrants receive different levels of assistance which is not sustainable, and also antithetical to recommendations from international organizations whose mandate is to ensure quality and adequate housing as a pressing human right issue.  The study concluded that creating economic opportunities for migrants and refugees, making information, quality housing, more available and accessible. Also, when housing providers bring cultural agencies into social housing, it would go a long way in mitigating the challenges housing by immigrants and refugees in Canada.  Key words: Immigrants; refugees; housing challenge