Access, learning and development in the creative and cultural sector: from 'creative apprenticeship' to 'being apprenticed'

This paper challenges the prevailing conventional wisdom in the UK that the government is the sole architect of the education and training (E&T) system and that qualifications are the magic bullet for securing employment in the creative and cultural sector. It also argues that if policy-makers are serious about wanting to diversify the occupational profile of the creative and cultural sector to reflect both the multicultural composition of the UK's population and the rising demand for broader creative and cultural products and services, then it is necessary to develop a less qualification-driven and more multifaceted approach to facilitating access and supporting learning and development in that sector. The paper maintains that this presupposes a shift from the current credentialist strategy to develop 'creative apprenticeships' towards a strategy that supports people to 'be apprenticed' in a variety of ways in the creative and cultural sector. © 2006 Taylor & Francis

Further improvement of the implementation of the Aarhus convention in Malta : a review

Chapter 2Th e Twinning project MT/06/IB/EN/01 “Further Institution Building in the Environment Sector” aimed at supporting the Maltese Government in improving the implementation of the Aarhus Convention on public access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision making and access to justice in environmental matters. Th e project was carried out by MEPA as Benefi ciary Institution and the Austrian Environment Agency as Lead Member State Partner. Th e project duration was 15 months as from 16th April 2008. Th e project was co-funded by the European Union and the Maltese Government under the 2006 Transition Facility Programme for Malta. Th e project consisted of four components: • Component 1: Assessment of the current situation and development of recommendations, • Component 2: Implementation of recommendations, • Component 3: Development of guidance documents, • Component 4: Training and awareness-raising. In Component 1, the legal instruments and institutional arrangements in place for the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Malta were assessed, and recommendations were drawn up on how to improve the existing situation with regard to public access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters. In Component 2, the recommendations were discussed with a wide range of stakeholders, and consequently applied in the practice, establishing an effi cient and eff ective administrative system to implement the Aarhus Convention. Amongst other measures, its implementation formulated a series of agreements between the benefi ciary and key holders of environmental information in Malta, with the aim of securing the availability, timeliness and quality of environmental data, supported by effi cient information management systems. In Component 3, guidelines were produced addressing the public authorities, the industry and the general public in Malta. Component 4 provided training for public offi cers and awareness-raising for key stakeholders and the general public. The most relevant project results are summarised in this chapter, as achieved under each Component.peer-reviewe

Willful Misconduct: How Bill Frist and the Drug Lobby Covertly Bagged a Liability Shield

Drug industry lobbyists conspired with the White House and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) last year to craft a sweeping liability provision that shields the industry from lawsuits over products used to treat pandemic illnesses, even in cases of gross negligence or gross recklessness.This report relies on internal documents and e-mails of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) to illustrate the degree to which Frist's office deferred to drug industry demands and describes Frist's sleight of hand in securing passage of the provision. It underscores the enormous power of the drug industry and its lobbyists to steer a highly controversial provision into law.Frist inserted the shield provision into an already-completed conference report for the defense appropriations bill in the dead of night, with the aid of House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Many of the members of the conference committee had never seen the language, let alone approved it. Committee leaders explicitly assured Democrats, made wary by rumors circulating in the preceding days, that no attempt would be made to insert the liability measure into the spending bill.The shield is unnecessary because the government now can -- and does -- indemnify drug companies in contracts, using provisions saying that the government will cover costs in excess of the companies' insurance.The pharmaceutical industry used legions of influence-peddlers to push for the measure. The industry deployed at least 158 lobbyists to influence policies relating to vaccines and pandemic preparedness in 2004 and 2005, including 84 who were previously employed by the federal government. Of those, seven were former members of Congress, two were former top health care aides to Frist and another was the son of the speaker of the House

Small Business - A Cyber Resilience Vulnerability

Small business in Australia comprise 95% of businesses. As a group this means that they contain increasing volumes of personal and business data. This creates escalating vulnerabilities as information is aggregated by various agencies. These vulnerabilities include identity theft and fraud. The threat environment of small business is extensive with both technical and human vulnerabilities. The problem is that the small business environment is being encouraged to adopt e-commerce by the government yet lacks resources in securing its cyber activity. This paper analysed the threats to this situation and found that questions of responsibility by individual businesses and the government are fundamental to the protection of small businesses information. Ultimately this raises the possibility of an undefined and unrecognised major vulnerability for Australia

Climate Benefits Tenure Costs: The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights in the Amazon

A new report offers evidence that the modest investments needed to secure land rights for indigenous communities will generate billions in returns—economically, socially and environmentally—for local communities and the world's changing climate. The report, Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs: The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights, quantifies for the first time the economic value of securing land rights for the communities who live in and protect forests, with a focus on Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia

Securing urban land for housing among low‐income earners in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Case study of workers’ co‐operative society, Enugu, Nigeria

Co‐operative societies across the world have age‐old tradition of assisting members gain easy access to vital resources and services through collective efforts. This paper explores the strategies adopted by public sector workers’ co‐operative society in securing urban land for housing development. This study is motivated by dearth of empirical studies on strategies used by low‐ and middle –income earners in overcoming myriad challenges militating against access to urban land and housing in Nigerian cities. We used a qualitative research method to carry out an empirical investigation through one‐on‐one interviews with purposively selected members of Land Acquisition Committee (LAC) of the NEPA District Co‐operative Thrift and Saving Loan Association Enugu, Nigeria. Findings show that a mixture of customary,informal and formal practices involved in securing land from indigenous landowners was principally aimed at ensuring customary and statutory legitimacy as well as secured tenure. The paper concludes that co‐operative approach has great potentials in addressing problems of multiple payments for land, “indigenous land owners’ factor” and high cost of urban land in Nigeria, and therefore, should be encouraged and promoted among disadvantaged urban residents in developing countries

Securing The Root: A Proposal For Distributing Signing Authority

Management of the Domain Name System (DNS) root zone file is a uniquely global policy problem. For the Internet to connect everyone, the root must be coordinated and compatible. While authority over the legacy root zone file has been contentious and divisive at times, everyone agrees that the Internet should be made more secure. A newly standardized protocol, DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC), would make the Internet's infrastructure more secure. In order to fully implement DNSSEC, the procedures for managing the DNS root must be revised. Therein lies an opportunity. In revising the root zone management procedures, we can develop a new solution that diminishes the impact of the legacy monopoly held by the U.S. government and avoids another contentious debate over unilateral U.S. control. In this paper we describe the outlines of a new system for the management of a DNSSEC-enabled root. Our proposal distributes authority over securing the root, unlike another recently suggested method, while avoiding the risks and pitfalls of an intergovernmental power sharing scheme

The Declaration of Independence and the American Theory of Government: “First Come Rights, and Then Comes Government”

The topic of this panel is the Declaration of Independence, to which I devoted a chapter of my recent book, Our Republican Constitution. I want to draw on that book to make five points