829 research outputs found
Developing places for human capabilities
This dissertation develops an understanding towards governing social sustainability goals into area-based urban development projects. It draws on Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach to construct a capability-centered evaluation of how institutionalized governance processes around these projects ultimately affect people’s freedoms to do the things they value in their urban living environment. Presenting case studies from the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria, the approach adopted in this dissertation reveals the unique ways in which different individuals interpret urban social sustainability and convert spatial resources into personal capabilities. The research uncovers the governance elements and institutional conditions around urban development projects that enable or constrain resource-to-capability conversions. It shows that governing social sustainability goals into urban development projects is a balancing act between reflexive governance action on the one hand, and an institutionalization of principles, actor responsibilities, and funding provision on the other hand. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that, to steer towards urban social sustainability, urban development practices can be improved by adopting an approach that is not merely focused on spatial improvements, but takes the equal expansion of human capabilities as its point of departure
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Policy options for food system transformation in Africa and the role of science, technology and innovation
As recognized by the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa – 2024 (STISA-2024), science, technology and innovation (STI) offer many opportunities for addressing the main constraints to embracing transformation in Africa, while important lessons can be learned from successful interventions, including policy and institutional innovations, from those African countries that have already made significant progress towards food system transformation. This chapter identifies opportunities for African countries and the region to take proactive steps to harness the potential of the food and agriculture sector so as to ensure future food and nutrition security by applying STI solutions and by drawing on transformational policy and institutional innovations across the continent. Potential game-changing solutions and innovations for food system transformation serving people and ecology apply to (a) raising production efficiency and restoring and sustainably managing degraded resources; (b) finding innovation in the storage, processing and packaging of foods; (c) improving human nutrition and health; (d) addressing equity and vulnerability at the community and ecosystem levels; and (e) establishing preparedness and accountability systems. To be effective in these areas will require institutional coordination; clear, food safety and health-conscious regulatory environments; greater and timely access to information; and transparent monitoring and accountability systems
Discursive Struggles Reflected in the Communication of Conservative Christian Parents and Their Adult Children With Differing Religious Beliefs and Values
Nearly half of American adults no longer believe in their childhood faiths (Pew Research Center, 2015). The steady decline of Christianity could have considerable impacts on family life (Pew Research Center, 2022). From a postmodern critical perspective and guided by Relational Dialectics Theory 2.0, the researcher sought to discern how conservative Christian parents and their adult children with differing religious beliefs and values communicated when they discussed these differences, as well as to identify the discourses that informed and were reflected in their talk and illustrate how these discourses interplayed and animated the meaning of participants’ Christian family identities. The researcher undertook turning points interviews; 30 adult children with differing religious beliefs and values from their conservative Christian parent(s) identified relational change sites. The researcher then used contrapuntal data analysis to analyze the data. Based in relational dialectics theory, the researcher discovered two primary discourses that informed and were reflected in participants’ talk concerning their communication with their conservative Christian parents: (a) righteousness and exclusion; and (b) openness and inclusion. Most participants countered the dominant discourse of righteousness and exclusion with the discourse of openness and inclusion. Others negated righteousness and exclusion altogether and/or entertained it along with openness and inclusion. Some participants brought the two discourses together, creating discursive hybrids. The findings of the present study facilitated the researcher’s argument that when adult children with differing religious beliefs and values from those of their conservative Christian parents assert their own religious identities to these parents, both the conservative Christian parents and the adult children experience difficulty making meaning of their Christian family identity. Understanding the interplay of the discourse of righteousness and exclusion and the discourse of openness and inclusion in participants’ talk provides insight into the processes of individual and collective identity construction and meaning making. The researcher discusses these insights and applications for these family members.
Advisors: Dawn O. Braithwaite and Jordan Soli
Science and Innovations for Food Systems Transformation
This Open Access book compiles the findings of the Scientific Group of the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 and its research partners. The Scientific Group was an independent group of 28 food systems scientists from all over the world with a mandate from the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. The chapters provide science- and research-based, state-of-the-art, solution-oriented knowledge and evidence to inform the transformation of contemporary food systems in order to achieve more sustainable, equitable and resilient systems
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Healthy Diet: A Definition for the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog
2023-2024 undergraduate catalog for Morehead State University
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