Transport Poverty with Special Reference to Sustainability: A Systematic Review of the Literature

The aim of this work is to analyse the state of the art of scientific research related to transport poverty with special reference to sustainability and to identify new research needs. To this end, a methodology has been used in line with the objective set out, choosing the systematic review of the literature as the most suitable method. The results show that transport poverty is an under-exploited issue and is not well articulated by researchers, and there are great differences between the different areas of knowledge studied. The subjects related to health and medicine have more publications, almost 58%, with the rest distributed among 11 different subjects. Of the works analysed, only 26.69% refer to the topic of sustainability, and therefore this is a branch which is little studied in the literature in this field. Another relevant finding is that all the articles analysed highlight the vulnerability and inequality of the groups affected by transport poverty, with the elderly being the least studied in the research work

Technical and vocational education and training for disadvantaged youth

Due to its close links to the labour market, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) can play an important role to improve job opportunities and livelihoods for young people, and in particular for disadvantaged youth. However, this potential is not always fully realized, and relatively little research and evidence has been collected about the barriers disadvantaged youth face when accessing to and progressing through TVET.This paper maps some of the main barriers disadvantaged youth face in TVET and examines available evidence on strategies and approaches that are being used or can be used to meet the needs of disadvantaged youth. The paper discusses these barriers using a framework that looks at ‘4As’: availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability. The report is the outcome of a study conducted in collaboration with the University of Nottingham and other members of the UNEVOC Network

The Road to Academic Excellence : The Making of World-Class Research Universities

For middle-income and developing countries as well as some industrial nations a major challenge for building and sustaining successful research universities is determining the mechanisms that allow those universities to participate effectively in the global knowledge network on an equal basis with the top academic institutions in the world. These research universities provide advanced education for the academic profession, policy makers, and public and private sector professionals involved in the complex, globalized economies of the 21st century. In addition to their contribution to economic development, these universities play a key societal role by serving as cultural institutions, centers for social commentary and criticism, and intellectual hubs. The positive contribution of tertiary education is increasingly recognized as not limited to middle-income and advanced countries, because it applies equally to low-income economies. Tertiary education can help these countries to become more globally competitive by developing a skilled, productive, and flexible labor force and by creating, applying, and spreading new ideas and technologies. A recent study on how to accelerate economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa spells out the crucial contribution of tertiary education in supporting this endeavor (World Bank 2008). It observes that the key for success in a globalized world increasingly lies in how effectively a country can assimilate available knowledge and build comparative advantages in areas with higher growth prospects and how it can use technology to address the most pressing environmental challenges. The main chapters of this book are nine case studies that illustrate what it takes to establish and sustain research universities and help validate the analytical model outlined above, including the paths to building research excellence

Impact of Asian Soft Power in Latin America - China and South Korea as Emerging Powers in the Subcontinent

Has the use of soft power as a strategic foreign policy tool enabled China and South Korea to position themselves as emerging powers in Latin America? This study operationalizes and conceptualizes the concept of soft power by measuring it through specific categories within a case study and offers an extended definition of emerging powers. The concept of soft power has been defined by IR theory as a tool only available to hegemonic or strong powers, which has perpetuated an inherent western bias and limited its application to smaller countries. Furthermore, the distinction of hard and soft power has been oversimplified. The case study proves: China´s use of cultural soft power is not the reason behind its rise as an emerging power in Latin America. Instead, its palpable economic strength in the subcontinent represents its main soft power asset. Furthermore, South Korea has turned into an emerging power by using its cultural soft power. That result expands the existing definition of emerging powers, which has so far neglected the rise of a country through the use of culture. Because South Korea is also a middle power, the research proves that soft power can be exerted by smaller powers and not just by great ones

How Inclusive is Inclusive Business for Women? Examples from Asia and Latin America

In Asia, where nearly 60% of the population lives below the poverty line of $3-$4 per day, globally active private companies have increasingly acknowledged the importance of the so-called bottom of the pyramid as economically relevant consumers and actors in their markets. Many of these companies integrate the poor into their value chains as producers, employees, or entrepreneurs, and some provide commercially viable solutions to the problems faced by low-income people. These approaches to pro-poor growth comprise what are more broadly known as inclusive business models. In 2012, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched its Inclusive Business Initiative leveraging lessons learned from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) . Shortly thereafter, ADB and the IDB entered into a formal partnership targeting inclusive business as a priority. Since 2013, ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department has invested a total of $491 million in 16 inclusive businesses. In addition to financial investments, ADB provides technical assistance to private-sentor companies promoting social impact, and supports public sector efforts to create enabling environments for inclusive business. Inclusive businesses often operate in sectors that provide jobs and services relevant to low-income women. These sectors may include those that involve labor-intensive work such as agriculture and the garment industry or those that provide access to affordable finance, reproductive health, water supply, and education and skills training. As part of ADB’s focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment, this study explores the extent to which inclusive businesses are “women-inclusive” and aims to support companies looking to consider women’s empowerment as part of their core business activity

BIT BANG 5: Changing Global Landscapes - Role of Policy Making and Innovation Capability

Bit Bang – Changing Global Landscapes: Role of Policy Making and Innovation Capability was the fifth multidisciplinary postgraduate course for Aalto University doctoral students. A total of 24 students from five Aalto University Schools participated in this two-semester course. The course focused on global competition for leadership in innovation, policy-making, technology, and science and education. The fundamental objective of the Bit Bang courses is to teach the students teamwork, multidisciplinary collaboration and scenario building, as well as provide the students with global perspective, and industry and business foresight. In addition to normal class activities the students worked in six person teams to study local and global strategies to strive for success. This joint publication contains the final reports of the teamwork assignments. In the chapters the students seek answers to what makes the difference between the leaders and the followers. The topics include e.g. the potential of additive manufacturing for bringing manufacturing industries back to Western countries, the link between national higher education systems and innovation capability at the nation level, and changing governmental structures to better match contemporary challenges. The Bit Bang post graduate courses are organised by Aalto University’sMultidisciplinary Institute of Digitalisation and Energy (MIDE)

Framework to understand the Sustainable Development Goals through the Design Lens

Development and study of a framework for the World Design Organization (WDO) that shows the importance of design for global sustainability and specifically in the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This thesis aims to show the key correlations between design and the 17 SDGs, translating it into a tool that can empower and activate designers and non-designers to achieve these goals. The methodology followed an analysis of design, its definition, and its components to understand its positive and negative impacts within the four areas of sustainability (Economical, Environmental, Cultural, and Social). The WDO is currently working on the development of an interactive platform that will curate existing sustainable tools, collect and publish resources to encourage and facilitate the adoption of sustainable practices. The expected result is an interactive tool that combined with the resources can become a meeting point for designers and the WDO community for finding new ways to meet the UN agenda for 2030.Development and study of a framework for the World Design Organization (WDO) that shows the importance of design for global sustainability and specifically in the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This thesis aims to show the key correlations between design and the 17 SDGs, translating it into a tool that can empower and activate designers and non-designers to achieve these goals. The methodology followed an analysis of design, its definition, and its components to understand its positive and negative impacts within the four areas of sustainability (Economical, Environmental, Cultural, and Social). The WDO is currently working on the development of an interactive platform that will curate existing sustainable tools, collect and publish resources to encourage and facilitate the adoption of sustainable practices. The expected result is an interactive tool that combined with the resources can become a meeting point for designers and the WDO community for finding new ways to meet the UN agenda for 2030.Diseñador (a) IndustrialPregrad

Neoliberalism and the University: An Analysis of Patterns of Transformation within Nigerian Private and Public Institutions

This study explores the dynamics surrounding neoliberal transformation of higher education in Nigeria. Chapter Through this study, I apply an analytic framework that focuses on the introduction of market-based principles and practices across three key dimensions (governance structures, pedagogy and curriculum, and student and staff expectations), and highlight the differences and similarities between public and private universities. The observed dynamics show an overarching similarity in patterns of neoliberalisation across public and private universities, but a few crucial differences. Overall, neoliberalisation of higher education in Nigeria broadly coheres with visions presented in existing scholarship of ‘the neoliberal university’, albeit with national characteristics. These findings extend understanding of the university within the neoliberal context by highlighting similarities across private and public sector transformations, and the importance of existing institutions and structures in shaping national varieties and pathways of neoliberalisatio

The International Conference on Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Equality and Diversity in Sports (ICMPEDS). 14th to the 16th of july 2021 . Book of abstracts

The International Conference on Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Equality and Diversity in Sports (ICMPEDS) is organized by GESPORT with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union from the 14th to the 16th of July 2021. The conference is an excellent forum for academics, researchers, practitioners, athletes, man- agers and professionals of federations, associations and sport organizations, and those other- wise involved in sport to share and exchange ideas in different areas of sport related equality worldwide. We will keep you informed by email and post the latest information on this matter on the GESPORT website and social media. Sport and its management continues to be a field where men and masculinity strongly prevail. This conference aims to investigate the complexities attached to the following questions: What does gender openness mean in the context of sport in the 21st century? What persists as gen- der closure in the same context? What are the gender cultures that signify sport continuing to be defined by regimes that resort to a dominant masculinity embodied in a strong and athletic male body? Moreover, and albeit some exceptions, athletes, practitioners, decision and policy makers, and sports spectators are predominantly men. In this sense, gender discrimination and segregation are present in multiple aspects of sport. Some illustrations include: a) male athletes have high salaries, more career opportunities, and get more recognition by society than female athletes; b) management and leadership positions in sports organizations are mainly occupied by men, including in sports traditionally considered as feminine and which have become feminised (e.g. gymnastics and dance); c) masculinised sports and its male athletes have much more attention and recognition from the media than female athletes; d) sports journalism continues to be predominantly produced and managed by men; e) some sports spectatorships cultures are marked by rituals and interactions that resort to masculine tribalism, often leading to aggressive and violent behaviours. Gender discrimination in sport is somehow socially normalised and accepted through a dis- course that essentialises the embodied sexual differences between genders. This gender dis- course legitimises the exclusion of women in some sports modalities and traps female bodies in sociocultural constructions as less able to exercise and engage in sport, or as the second and weaker version of the ideal masculine body. However, there are signs that the context of sport may be changing. The European Union and some national governments have made an effort to promote gender equality and diversity by fostering the adoption of gender equality codes/policies in different modalities and in in- ternational and local sports organizations. These new policies aim to increase female partic- ipation and recognition in sport, their access to leadership positions and involvement in the decision-making in sport structures. Additionally, the number of women practising non-com- petitive sport and as sports spectators have started growing, leading to new representations of sport and challenging the role of women in such a context. Finally, different body constructions and the emergence of alternative embodied femininities and masculinities are also challeng- ing how athletes of both genders experience their bodies and sports practice. Yet, research is scarce about the impact of these changes/challenges in the sports context. This conference will focus on mapping gender relations in sport and its management by taking into account the different modalities, contexts, institutional policies, organizational structures and actors (e.g. athletes, spectators, media professionals, sport decision makers and man- agers). It will treat sport and its management as one avenue where gender segregation and inequality occurs, but also adopt such as a space that presents an opportunity for change and does so as a widely applicable topic whose traits and culture are reflected in organizations and work more broadly. In this sense, the conference is interested in theoretical and empirical research work that may explore, but are not limited to the following issues: • Women representativeness in sports modalities and in sport organizational structures in different countries; • Women and management accounting in sport organizations; • The gender regimes that (re)produce different sports policies, modalities, and institu- tions in sport; • The stories of resistance/conformity of women that already occupy different roles in sport contexts; • The challenges and impact of conventional and new body representations in sports institutions and including athletes of both genders; • The discourses of masculinities in sport and its effect on women and men athletes; • The emergence of nationalism and populist discourses in political and governments states and their impact on the (re)shaping of masculinity and femininity constructions in sport; • The gendered transformations of the spectators’ gaze in what concerns different sports modalities; • The effects of new groups of sports spectators on gender relations in sport; • The discourses in media and its participation in the sports gender (in)equality; • The impact of new technologies, and new practices of training/coaching in the body- work and identities of athletes of both genders