Global Perspectives on Large Dams: Evaluating the State of Large Dam Construction and Decommissioning Across the World

Report on a Conference held November 3-5, 2006 at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studie

From Tsarist empire to League of Nations and from USSR to EU: two eras in the construction of Baltic state sovereignty

This thesis examines how the three Baltic countries constructed their internal and external sovereign statehood in the interwar period and the post Cold War era. Twice in one century, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were confronted with strongly divided multiethnic societies, requiring a bold and wide-ranging ethnics policy. In 1918 all three Baltic countries promised their minorities cultural autonomy. Whereas Estonian and Latvian politicians were deeply influenced by the theories of Karl Renner and Otto Bauer, the Lithuanians fell back on the historic Jewish self-government in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Many politicians were convinced that the principle of equality of nationalities was one of the cornerstones of the new international order, embodied by the League of Nations. The minority protection system of the League was, however, not established to serve humanitarian aims. It only sought to ensure international peace. This lack of a general minority protection system was one of many discussion points in the negotiations of the Estonian and Latvian minority declarations. Although Lithuania signed a much more detailed minority declaration, its internal political situation rapidly deteriorated. Estonia, on the other hand, established full cultural autonomy with corporations of public law. Although a wide-ranging school autonomy was already established in 1919, Latvia never established cultural self-government. The Second World War and the subsequent Soviet occupation led to the replacement of the small historically rooted minority groups by large groups of Russian-speaking settlers. The restoration in 1991 of the pre 1940 political community meant that these groups were deprived of political rights. In trying to cope with this situation, Estonia and Latvia focused much more on linguistic integration than on collective rights. Early attempts to pursue a decolonisation policy, as proposed by some leading Estonian and Latvian policymakers, were blocked by the ‘official Europe’ which followed a policy analogous to the League of Nations

Regional and Local Development in Times of Polarisation

Despite the emphasis of the European Regional Policy on territorial cohesion, regional disparities have been increasing within Europe in the past years. The metropolitan areas in almost all countries are considerably growing while regions outside of agglomerations are stagnating or even declining. Against this background this book aims to provide an understanding of the underlying processes of polarisation and related regional and local policies. This open access volume contributes to the debates about polarisation and regional development by focussing on questions of spatial justice, power distribution and policy transfer. Theoretical and empirically grounded contributions show that European policies are indeed reproducing socio-spatial inequalities instead of challenging them. The book shows further the existing potentials and limits of individuals, economic, political and civil society actors to respond to polarisation on the regional and local level. In this book conceptual thoughts on polarisation, regional policy and regional development are combined with empirical research and resulting implications for policymaking. As such, it is a valuable source for early career students and researchers as well as professionals in the field of regional and economic development, policy consultants, and policy makers

Re-conceptualising Territorial Cohesion Through the Prism of Spatial Justice : Critical Perspectives on Academic and Policy Discourses

Peer reviewe

Translating Scientific Results: Encouraging Reflective Policies as a Chance for Change

Peer reviewe

Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences

Universities across the globe have, for some time, been exploring the possibilities for achieving public benefit and generating business and visibility through releasing and sharing open educational resources (OER). Many have written about the need to develop sustainable and profitable business models around the production and release of OER. Downes (2006), for example, has questioned the financial sustainability of OER production at scale. Many of the proposed business models focus on OER’s value in generating revenue and detractors of OER have questioned whether they are in competition with formal education. This paper reports on a study intended to broaden the conversation about OER business models to consider the motivations and experiences of OER users as the basis for making a better informed decision about whether OER and formal learning are competitive or complementary with each other. The study focused on OpenLearn - the Open University’s (OU) web-based platform for OER, which hosts hundreds of online courses and videos and is accessed by over 3,000,000 users a year. A large scale survey and follow-up interviews with OpenLearn users worldwide revealed that university provided OER can offer learners a bridge to formal education, allowing them to try out a subject before registering on a formal course and to build confidence in their abilities as learners. In addition, it was found that using OER during formal paid-for study can improve learners’ performance and self-reliance, leading to increased retention and satisfaction with the learning experience

Open educational resources for all? Comparing user motivations and characteristics across The Open University’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform.

With the rise in access to mobile multimedia devices, educational institutions have exploited the iTunes U platform as an additional channel to provide free educational resources with the aim of profile-raising and breaking down barriers to education. For those prepared to invest in content preparation, it is possible to produce interactive, portable material that can be made available globally. Commentators have questioned both the financial implications for platform-specific content production, and the availability of devices for learners to access it (Osborne, 2012). The Open University (OU) makes its free educational resources available on iTunes U and via its web-based open educational resources (OER) platform, OpenLearn. The OU’s OER on iTunes U reached the 60 million download mark in 2013; its OpenLearn platform boasts 27 million unique visitors since 2006. This paper reports the results of a large-scale study of users of the OU’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform. A survey of several thousand users revealed key differences in demographics between those accessing OER via the web and via iTunes U. In addition, the data allowed comparison between three groups: formal learners, informal learners and educators. The study raises questions about whether university-provided OER meet the needs of users and makes recommendations for how content can be modified to suit their needs. As the publishing of OER becomes core to business, we reflect on reasons why understanding users’ motivations and demographics is vital, allowing for needs-led resource provision and content that is adapted to best achieve learner satisfaction, and to deliver institutions’ social mission

Alchemy in the vernacular: an edition and study of early English witnesses of The Mirror of Alchemy

This study concerns an English-language alchemical work called The Mirror of Alchemy (MoA). I examine manuscript copies of MoA from the 15th to 17th centuries as well as a printed edition from 1597. The main aim of my study is to edit a previously unstudied manuscript version of MoA, making this work accessible for future research and contributing to developing editorial methods for early scientific texts. A central aim is to place MoA in its textual and historical contexts to clarify the edited text to readers. I employ theory and methods from the fields of scholarly editing and textual scholarship, and integrate the discussion of manuscript and printed witnesses. MoA is an English translation of the Latin work Speculum alchemiae. This is a well-known alchemical work, formerly attributed to Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1292?). The material for my study consists of the seven extant manuscript copies of MoA, as well as the 1597 printed edition. There is a previous edition of the 1597 witness, but all the manuscript copies were previously unstudied and unedited. My analysis uncovers the textual relationships between the witnesses as well as examining the witnesses as translations, focusing on the translation of specialised alchemical terminology into English. Based on detailed qualitative textual comparisons, my study shows that the witnesses of MoA can be divided into four textual groups. MoA is an example of the gradual shift from Latin to English, as the four Groups represent different translations of Speculum alchemiae. I examine these Groups both from the point of view of their textual relationships and that of the influence of the (potential) source texts on the translations. My analysis shows that a combination of linguistic strategies was used to translate Speculum alchemiae into English multiple times. The differences in the translations are explained by the translation strategies used and diachronic changes in the language of science. A major result of this study is also the best-text edition and its commentary and glossary, as well as transcriptions of the four Groups. The edition’s text also provides some previously unrecorded words and antedatings: these show that editing and studying early alchemical material is a valuable undertaking also from a lexicological perspective.--- Väitöstutkimuksessa tarkastelen englanninkielistä alkemistista teosta nimeltään The Mirror of Alchemy (MoA). Aineistoni koostuu MoA:n 1400–1600-luvuilta olevista käsikirjoituskopioista sekä vuoden 1597 painetusta editiosta. Tutkimukseni päätavoite on editoida MoA:n aiemmin tutkimaton käsikirjoitusversio, mikä tuo aineiston tutkijoiden käyttöön. Editio kehittää myös osaltaan editointimetodeja varhaisille tieteellisille teksteille. Tutkimuksen keskeinen tavoite on asettaa MoA tekstuaalisiin ja historiallisiin konteksteihinsa. Käytän tutkimuksessa tieteellisen editoinnin ja tekstuaalitieteiden teorioita ja metodeja, ja käsittelen painettua ja käsikirjoitusaineistoa yhdessä. MoA on käännös latinankielisestä teoksesta Speculum alchemiae. Tätä tunnettua alkemistista teosta pidettiin ennen Roger Baconin (n. 1214–1292?) kirjoittamana. Tutkimusaineistoni koostuu MoA:n seitsemästä säilyneestä käsikirjoituskopiosta sekä vuonna 1597 painetusta editiosta. Jälkimmäisestä on olemassa tieteellinen editio, mutta käsikirjoituskopioita ei ole tutkittu tai editoitu. Analyysini selvittää tekstien väliset suhteet sekä tarkastelee tekstejä käännöksinä keskittyen erityisesti siihen, miten alkemistista erikoisterminologiaa on käännetty englanniksi. Tutkimus osoittaa tekstikriittisen vertailun pohjalta, että MoA voidaan jakaa neljään tekstiryhmään. MoA on esimerkki tieteen kielen vähittäisestä siirtymästä latinasta englantiin, ja neljä tekstiryhmää edustavatkin eri käännöksiä Speculum alchemiaesta. Tarkastelen näitä käännöksiä tekstien välisten suhteiden näkökulmasta ja tutkin, miten (mahdolliset) lähtötekstit ovat vaikuttaneet käännöksiin. Analyysini osoittaa, että eri käännöksissä oli käytössä oli erilaisia kielellisiä strategioita Speculum alchemiaen kääntämisessä. Käännösten väliset erot selittyvät eri käännösstrategioilla sekä tieteen kielen diakronisilla muutoksilla. Merkittävä tulos on myös tutkimukseen sisältyvä best text -editio, johon kuuluu kommentaari ja sanasto, sekä transkriptiot kaikista neljästä ryhmästä. Edition teksti tuo myös esille joitakin aiemmin tuntemattomia sanoja sekä sanoja, jotka varhaistavat sanakirjojen ensiesiintymiä. Ne kertovat siitä, että varhaisen alkemistisen aineiston editointi ja tutkiminen on kannattavaa myös sanastontutkimuksen näkökulmasta

France and Ireland in the Public Imagination

This engaging collection of essays considers the cultural complexities of the Franco-Irish relationship in song and story, image and cuisine, novels, paintings and poetry. It casts a fresh eye on public perceptions of the historic bonds between Ireland and France, revealing a rich variety of contact and influence. Controversy is not shirked, whether on the subject of Irish economic decline or reflecting on prominent, contentious personalities such as Ian Paisley and Michel Houellebecq. Contrasting ideas of the popular and the intellectual emerge in a study of Brendan Kennelly; recent Irish tribunals are analysed in the light of French cultural theory; and familiar renditions of Franco-Irish links are re-evaluated against the evidence of newspaper and journal accounts.Drawing on the disciplines of history, art, economics and literature, and dipping into the good wines of France and Ireland, the book paints a fascinating picture of the relationship between the two countries over three dramatic centuries.https://arrow.tudublin.ie/afisbo/1007/thumbnail.jp