Physical Activity & The Sustainable Development Goals: A Public Health Approach Towards Advancing the Power of Movement

With the worldwide rise in noncommunicable disease, physical inactivity, obesity, and the global presence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), health and sport science practitioners must be able to address each of these health domains while considering frameworks for the most urgent health and human development priorities in a sustainable manner. The sector of sport for development, which uses physical activity, sport, and game-based programming to address specific development and peace initiatives to empower individuals and communities, is one such approach that practitioners can employ to address such challenges. During the 2000-2015 era of the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the sport for development sector used sport to address several MDGs, contributing most significantly towards improving HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and behavior changes. Practitioners are still using sport to address the 2015-2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article explores case studies of 17 sport for development initiatives that are meeting key targets for each of the 17 SDGs. Furthermore, it provides recommendations for how to further advance sport for development’s contributions. By synthesizing cost effective analyses and discussing key components to further the sport for development field, this article maps a way forward to advance sport for development as a cost-effective and viable tool for addressing the SDGs, reducing the effects of unresolved ACEs, and promoting physical activity to help individuals and communities lead healthy, empowered lives

What are the necessary skills to lead an innovation center in Saudi Arabia?

In the early 2000s, technology innovation became a strategic choice for Saudi Arabia, supported by an increasing base of start-up technology businesses and young Saudis, who are considered a potential driving force for innovation and entrepreneurial activities. Since then, technological innovation encouraged more Saudi young people to become entrepreneurs or innovators. Thus, in mid 2000s, Saudi Arabia launched many initiatives related to innovation, science, and technology, such as the establishment of innovation centers and research parks, in an effort to support developing individuals who could potentially become future entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study was to identify the top leadership skills for running Saudi Arabian technology innovation centers and examine the key factors that affect the Saudi innovation environment. In addition, the SPELIT framework was used to identify the driving forces/factors affecting the Saudi Arabian innovation environment. This quantitative study used an online survey instrument to capture 78 responses from Saudi Arabian citizens. This study was limited by the shortage of available information and data about the Saudi Arabian technology innovation base. After collecting the data, the findings were analyzed and substantively discussed, leading the researcher to draw conclusions, highlight implications, and suggest a series of recommendations for policy, practitioners, and future research. The total male participation was more than female participation by almost 18%. The age mean was 34 and the majority of the respondents were highly educated. More than half of the respondents were either involved in the past or currently involved in innovation, with experience that ranged from less than 6 months to more than 5 years. About 60% of the respondents reported that they were either aware or completely aware of the concept of innovation centers. The study concluded that goal setting, self-confidence, and ability to motivate are the most needed leadership skills to lead an innovation center in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, it was found that young people; cooperation among the government, universities, and the private sector; and skilled human capital were the most three significant factors affecting the technology innovation environment in Saudi Arabia as perceived by respondents

Current trends in Smart City initiatives: some stylised facts

The concept of Smart City (SC) as a means to enhance the life quality of citizen has been gaining increasing importance in the agendas of policy makers. However, a shared definition of SC is not available and it is hard to identify common global trends. This paper provides with a comprehensive understanding of the notion of SC through the elaboration of a taxonomy of pertinent application domains, namely: natural resources and energy, transport and mobility, buildings, living, government, and economy and people. It also explores the diffusion of smart initiatives via an empirical study aimed at investigating the ratio of domains covered by a city's best practices to the total of potential domains of smart initiatives and at understanding the role that various economic, urban, demographic, and geographical variables might have in influencing the planning approach to create a smarter city. Results reveal that the evolution patterns of a SC highly depend on its local context factors. In particular, economic development and structural urban variables are likely to influence a city's digital path, the geographical location to affect the SC strategy, and density of population, with its associated congestion problems, might an important component to determine the routes for the SC implementation. This work provides policy makers and city managers with useful guidelines to define and drive their SC strategy and planning actions towards the most appropriate domains of implementatio

Social Innovation: What it is, why it matters and how it can be accelerated

The results of social innovation are all around us. Self-help health groups and self-build housing; telephone help lines and telethon fundraising; neighbourhood nurseries and neighbourhood wardens; Wikipedia and the Open University; complementary medicine, holistic health and hospices; microcredit and consumer cooperatives; charity shops and the fair trade movement; zero carbon housing schemes and community wind farms; restorative justice and community courts. All are examples of social innovation – new ideas that work to meet pressing unmet needs and improve peoples’ lives. This report is about how we can improve societies’ capacities to solve their problems. It is about old and new methods for mobilising the ubiquitous intelligence that exists within any society

Gender Inequality and Terrorism: The Impacts of Female Empowerment on Domestic and Transnational Terrorism

In the post-9/11 years, terrorism has emerged as an urgent issue with important national security and foreign policy ramifications. Within political science, terrorism research has likewise developed as a burgeoning subfield with the potential for significant contributions to policymaking worldwide. However, the literature has until recently generally neglected gender inequality as a structural antecedent to terrorism, despite studies which support a relationship between gender parity and conflict mitigation in other areas as well as increasing calls for the integration of gender measures into counterterrorism agendas and initiatives among scholars and policymakers. To address this gap in the literature, I introduce a theory linking gender inequality to terrorism characterized by the implications of substantial gender gaps in rights as well as participation in social, economic, and political arenas, which I refer to as “pull,” “push,” and “prevent” factors. I test the theory using both panel analyses and a case study examining the formation of Boko Haram in Nigeria. Results of the empirical analyses indicate that while facets of female empowerment, including higher education, paid employment, and social rights, have robust effects on both terrorist group formation as well as numbers of attacks, gender equality is not a panacea for terrorism. In addition, effects on groups and attacks are not homogenous across types of gender inequities, indicating the need for further research on the relationship between socioeconomic and political gender gaps and terrorism. Case study findings largely reflect results from the models, and a comparison of regions in Nigeria further reveals that temporal and spatial patterns of gender inequality generally align to the outbreak of terrorist violence. I conclude by offering several areas of future research generated by arguments and findings presented here and discussing ways in which interventions at the global, state, and local levels may close gender gaps which have salience for mitigating terrorism

Science and Technology-based Regional Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands: Building Support Structures for Business Creation and Growth Entrepreneurship

In this contribution we develop a theoretical framework derived from the national system of innovation literature and the subsequent criticisms voiced by regional scientists and industry/technology experts who emphasize the importance of the intermediate subnational and sectoral levels to analysing science- and technology-based regional entrepreneurship in the Netherlands. The national system of innovation of the Netherlands, and its specifics and peculiarities, and the country’s general ent

Third Mission Advancement in Higher Education : developing and envisioning entrepreneurial pathways for higher education institutions

In 1983, Henry Etzkowitz coined the term entrepreneurial universities to explain the strategic developments taking place at some American higher education institutions (HEIs) that have engaged in industry partnerships and generating revenue from new sources, such as patents. The involvement of HEIs in economic activities has led scholars to propose that HEIs currently have a third mission beyond the traditional two missions of teaching and researching. In the past few decades, this phenomenon has attracted the attention of policy-makers, researchers, and HEI leaders, with new developments being documented in many countries around the world. Nevertheless, one aspect of this phenomenon that remains poorly understood is the entrepreneurial pathways pursued by HEIs in their attempt to strategically develop their third mission. Therefore, the overarching research question addressed in this dissertation is: how can HEIs become more entrepreneurial and strategically advance their third mission? The purpose of this dissertation is to envision and develop entrepreneurial pathways for HEIs, contributing to the research domain of higher education entrepreneurialism from a managerial perspective. This dissertation comprises three studies: (1) a systematic literature review of the transformation journey of 36 HEIs across the globe establishes the researching status quo, proposes core entrepreneurial pathways and an action-framework, and identifies specific research avenues for the topic; (2) an international foresight study adds a novel perspective by proposing five future scenarios for HEIs based on the interests, preoccupations, and expectations of entrepreneurial ecosystem stakeholders from sixteen countries; and (3) a confirmatory study which identifies two mechanisms through which dynamic capabilities translate into third mission strategic advancements. Combined, these studies shed light on the strategic choices HEIs must take when developing their third mission, effectively explaining how HEIs can become more entrepreneurial. This dissertation thereby contributes concomitantly to the theory on entrepreneurial universities and HEIs management practice.Henry Etzkowitz prägte bereits 1983 den Begriff Entrepreneurial Universities, um die strategischen Entwicklungen an einigen amerikanischen Hochschulen zu erklären, die sich in Industriepartnerschaften engagierten und Einnahmen aus neuen Aktivitäten, bspw. in Form von Patenten erzielten. Die Einbeziehung wirtschaftlicher Aktivitäten veranlasste die Wissenschaftler zu dem Vorschlag, dass die Hochschulen auch einen dritten Auftrag haben, der über die traditionelle Lehre und Forschung hinausgeht. In den letzten Jahrzehnten hat das Phänomen die Aufmerksamkeit von politischen Entscheidungsträgern, Forschern und Hochschulleitungen auf sich gezogen, und seine Entwicklungen wurden in vielen Ländern der Welt dokumentiert. Dennoch bezieht sich ein Aspekt dieses Phänomens, der immer noch wenig verstanden wird, auf die unternehmerischen (entrepreneurial) Entwicklungspfade, die die Hochschulen bei ihrem Versuch verfolgen, eine dritte Mission strategisch zu entwickeln. Die übergreifende Forschungsfrage, die in dieser Dissertation behandelt wird, lautet daher: Wie können die Hochschulen unternehmerischer (im Sinne des Begriffs Entrepreneurship) werden und ihre dritte Mission strategisch weiterentwickeln? Das Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, unternehmerische Entwicklungspfade für Hochschulen zu entwerfen und zu entwickeln, um einen Beitrag zum Forschungsbereich des Hochschulunternehmertums aus einer strategischen Perspektive zu leisten. Diese Dissertation umfasst drei Studien: (1) Ein systematischer Literaturüberblick zeichnet die Transformation von 36 Hochschuleinrichtungen weltweit nach und bildet den Status Quo in der Forschung ab. Auf dieser Basis werden Entwicklungspfade für Entrepreneurial Universities und ein Handlungsrahmen vorgeschlagen sowie spezifische künftige Forschungswege für dieses Thema identifiziert. (2) Eine internationale Vorhersagestudie ergänzt bisher nicht existente bzw. betrachtete Forschungsperspektiven, indem sie fünf Zukunftsszenarien für Hochschulen vorschlägt, die auf den Interessen, Sorgen und Erwartungen von Stakeholdern in Entrepreneurship-Ökosystemen in 16 Ländern basieren. (3) Eine konfirmatorische Studie identifiziert zwei Mechanismen, durch die dynamische Fähigkeiten in strategische Fortschritte der dritten Mission umgesetzt werden können. Zusammengenommen beleuchten diese Studien die strategischen Entscheidungen, die Hochschulen bei der Entwicklung ihrer dritten Mission treffen müssen, und erklären so, wie die Hochschulen unternehmerischer werden können. Somit leistet diese Dissertation einen Beitrag zur Theorie der unternehmerischen Hochschule (Entrepreneurial Universities) und zur Managementpraxis der Hochschulen