The mathematical space in the portuguese language (EMeLP)

The Mathematical Space in the Portuguese Language (EMeLP – Espaço Matemático em Língua Portuguesa) is an international partnership, the members of which are scientific societies and scientific and academic institutions whose main interest is the promotion and development of mathematics in its broadest sense in countries that have Portuguese as one of their official languages. This short note describes the formation, goals, and projects of EMeLP.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Futuros designers como agentes de mudança : exploração do ensino do design focado em inovação social e sustentabilidade

ABSTRACT : This paper, part of a Ph.D. in Design research, focused on discussing the role of Design Education on training future designers to be actors of change. It describes the methodology of a workshop for design students during the Design Week of Mérida, at Universidad de Extremadura – Spain. The workshop discussed the point of view of students in problem-solving, and what they believe to be the skills, methods, and partnerships for design to achieve such a change in its approach and how Design Education plays a part in preparing the future genera_on of designers to tackle social innovation and sustainability problems. The results showed how these particular group of future designers see as crucial in the given context and the possibilities for improvement on a system that struggles to be resilient and respond at a faster pace.O presente trabalho é parte do projeto de investigação para o programa de Doutoramento em Design e foca em discutir o papel do Ensino do Design na educação de futuros designers como agentes de mudança. O artigo descreve a metodologia aplicada a um workshop facilitado para alunos de design durante a Semana de Design de Mérida, na Universidad de Extremadura, em Espanha. A atividade discutiu os pontos de vista dos estudantes no tocante à resolução de problemas complexos e suas crenças sobre as habilidades, métodos e parcerias necessárias ao Design para que alcance as mudanças necessárias, para além de discutir o papel do Ensino do Design na preparação da futura geração de profissionais focados na resolução de problemas de sustentabilidade e inovação social. O resultado demonstra o que este particular grupo de futuros designers entendem como sendo crucial neste contexto e as possibilidades para melhorias em um sistema que sofre para se tornar resiliente e responder às questões sociais de maneira mais ágil.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Conceptualizing sexual and gender-based violence in European asylum reception centers

Background: Sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) is a major public health problem and a violation of human rights. Refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are exposed to a constant risk for both victimization and perpetration. Yet, in the context of European asylum reception centers (EARF) professionals are also considered to be at risk. Our study explores the conceptualization of SGBV that residents and professionals have in this specific context. Further, we intent to identify key socio-demographic characteristics that are associated with SGBV conceptualization for both groups. Methods: We developed a cross-sectional study using the Senperforto project database. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents (n=398) and professionals (n=202) at EARF. A principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to variables related with knowledge on SGBV. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were applied to understand if significant statistical association exists with socio-demographic characteristics (significant level 0.5%). Results: The majority of residents were male (64.6%), aged from 19 to 29years (41.4%) and single (66.8%); for professionals the majority were women (56.2%), aged from 30 to 39years (42.3%) and married (56.8%). PCA for residents resulted in 14 dimensions of SGBV representing 83.56% of the total variance of the data, while for professionals it resulted in 17 dimensions that represent 86.92% of the total variance of the data. For both groups differences in SGBV conceptualization were found according to host country, sex, age and marital status. Specific for residents we found differences according to the time of arrival to Europe/host country and type of accommodation, while for professionals differences were found according to legal status and education skills. Conclusion: Residents and professionals described different conceptualization of SGBV, with specific types of SGBV not being recognized as a violent act. Primary preventive strategies in EARF should focus on reducing SGBV conceptualization discrepancies, taking into account socio-demographic characteristics

A Airbnb e o mercado de habitação na pandemia da covid-19 Um estudo comparativo de Barcelona e Lisboa

Since 2010, Airbnb has had a significant impact on the housing market in all tourist cities where it operates. With a very small investment, Airbnb enables the use of residential flats for short-term rentals, creating a rent increase that ultimately excludes long-term tenants. Using data drawn from the Inside Airbnb website, Idealista, and the 2011 Census of Spain and Portugal, this article first estimates the number of commercial listings, multi-hosts, and long-term rentals lost to Airbnb in Barcelona and Lisbon; second, it measures the potential increase in rents created by Airbnb in specific neighbourhoods in both cities; and finally, it examines the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on Airbnb activity in these cities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Madam Ambassador: A Statistical Comparison of Female Ambassadors across the U.S.,German, and EU Foreign Services. College of Europe EU Diplomacy Paper 03/2019

Since the end of the Cold War, transatlantic partners have championed enlightenment principles and progressive values around the world, including gender equality. The extent to which the actors tasked with spreading these fundamental values also embody them within their own organizations – in this case within the diplomatic profession – is the focus of this research. This paper examines how women’s representation at the ambassadorial level has changed from 1990 to 2018 across the foreign services of the U.S., Germany, and the European Union (EU). A dataset constructed especially for this study compares: (1) the numbers of female ambassadors over time, (2) the ‘types’ of posts they are sent to, and (3) recruitment pipelines and training, including special characteristics like political appointments in the U.S. and different origins of EU ambassadors. The results show that the U.S. foreign service peaks at 40% women’s representation in 2017, the EU at 22% in 2014, and Germany only at 14.5% in 2018. Females disproportionately serve in small African nations, multilateral organizations, and former Soviet states. Female U.S. ambassadors are more likely to come from the career track, while political appointees are overwhelmingly male, at a ratio of 4:1. In Europe, two-thirds of female ambassadors previously worked at the European Commission and one-third in their national foreign service, while founding Member States – especially France, Germany, and Italy – are dominant. Interviews with seasoned diplomats help illuminate and contextualize the underlying causes that potentially drive these trends, including policy, historical, or cultural factors. Looking towards the future, this work provides a small, yet important building block in rooting the concept of gender equality firmly within the success strategy of each diplomatic corps. A future generation of foreign policy leaders depends on it

Internal devaluation and economic inequality in Portugal: challenges to industrial relations in times of crisis and recovery

Internal devaluation policies imposed in southern European countries since 2010 have weakened labour market institutions and intensified wage inequality and the falling wage share. The debate in the wake of the financial and economic crisis raised concerns about slow wage growth and per- sistent economic inequality. This article attempts to shed light on this debate, scrutinising the case of Portugal in the period 2010–2017. Mapping the broad developments at the national level, the article examines four sectors, looking in particular at the impact of minimum wages and collective bargaining on wage trends vis-a`-vis wage inequality and wage share trajectories. We conclude that both minimum wage increases and the slight recovery of collective bargaining had a positive effect on wage outcomes and were important in reducing wage inequality. The extent of this reduction was limited, however, by uneven sectoral recovery dynamics and the persistent effects of pre- carious work, combined with critical liberalisation reforms.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Prospecting otherwise : stirring culture´s role in tackling the climate emergency

No pico do progresso preconizado desde o modernismo, que “hipernormaliza” (Yurchak 2006) um entendimento antropocêntrico de agência absoluta sobre o planeta, tornam-se hoje gritantemente audíveis as vozes críticas dos não-humanos: enfrentamos uma iminente colisão frontal com “Gaia” (Lovelock e Margulis 1974) e um provável fim de mundo como o conhecemos. As alterações climáticas e os desequilíbrios impostos ao Sistema Planetário da Terra pairam como um “hiperobjecto” (Morton 2013). A presente investigação pretende reflectir sobre as implicações culturais da actual crise climática e ecológica, e explorar o papel das práticas artísticas contemporâneas no combate às tendências de negação, desinteresse e desconhecimento face à ameaça existencial vigente. A proposta toma a forma de um programa de artes performativas e visuais a apresentar em Portugal ao longo da temporada 2023/2024 – incluindo onze locais em todo o país –, fundado num processo de escuta profunda das preocupações da sociedade portuguesa relativamente às alterações climáticas e inspirado num amplo legado de iniciativas no âmbito da programação cultural associada a estas temáticas. Prospecting Otherwise (PO) [Prospectar outro Devir] propõe-se contribuir para uma imperativa mudança de paradigma cultural, tendo em vista reconfigurar, através da experiência artística, modos de conhecimento e construção de sentido face ao colapso, na expectativa de instigar uma alternativa “ecocêntrica” (Curry 2006) de modos de ser, aliada a uma nova “ética de possibilidade” (Appadurai 2013). Este projecto procura debater modos de catalisar a capacidade partilhada de mudança radical, desenhando novas orientações para o emergente devir planetário, humano e nãohumano, hoje antecipado pela crise climática.As humans reach the peak of modernity’s achievements, anthropocentric worldviews have become “hypernormalised” (Yurchak 2006). However, nonhuman critical voices are louder than ever: eminently facing a frontal collision with “Gaia” (Lovelock and Margulis 1974), humankind may soon witness an end to an all-too-human world. Climate change and the unbalances imposed on the Earth’s Planetary System loom as an “hyperobject” (Morton 2013). The present research intends to deepen the understanding of the cultural implications of the current climate crisis and explore the role of contemporary artistic practices in countering trends of denialism, disengagement, and unknowingness. This endeavour takes the form of a performing and visual arts programme unfolding in eleven different venues across Portugal and throughout one season (2023/2024) – Prospecting Otherwise (PO) –, grounded in a process of “deep listening” (Oliveros 2005) to Portuguese societal concerns regarding climate change and inspired in preceding cultural programming initiatives echoing these topics. PO sets to contribute to an imperative cultural paradigm shift: it aims at reconfiguring, through the experience of art, means of knowing and making sense of impending collapse, towards an alternative, “ecocentric” (Curry 2006), “ethics of possibility” (Appadurai 2013). This project aims at discussing and practising modes of catalysing shared capacity for radical change, which might enable gearing away from the anticipated planetary “extinction as usual” (Rowan 2015)