The role of academic health centres in improving population health: a multiple-case study in Australia and England

Alexandra Edelman explored the role of Academic Health Centres in Australia and the United Kingdom in improving population health. She found that the centres face several barriers to delivering a population health role. Her findings are being used to inform the ongoing development and evaluation of centres in both countries

Co-creation dynamics in a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). The case of the DARIAH-ERIC Working Groups.

This PhD research studies the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) and the research communities that take part in them. In particular, it examines the case study of the DARIAH-ERIC, the Research Infrastructure for the (digital) Arts and Humanities, and its Working Groups. These are communities of researchers gathered around similar research interests with the aim of providing concrete solutions to scholarly challenges. This research investigates collaborative practices taking place in the DARIAH Working Groups, by focussing on the epistemic and socio/political dynamics created by the interaction of practices and governance models proper of Research Infrastructures and Research Communities. Finally, this research asks, do Research Infrastructures encourage collaboration among researchers? In this research, I couple an institutional perspective - which has deeper roots in the field of Research Policy - with a research methodology (including ethnographic methods) originating in Science and Technology Studies and Philosophy of Science. Drawing on existing literature and empirical research, I identify the concept of co-creation as central in dynamics of knowledge creation in Research Infrastructures. Concluding, I argue that within Research Infrastructures, co-creation becomes societally and culturally relevant because of its crucial role in knowledge and technology transfer between stakeholders. As an example, the DARIAH Working Groups connect several actors, such as researchers, research managers, policymakers or citizens, from different disciplines and background, and provide an answer to concrete social or scholarly challenges

Thriving Innovation Ecosystems: Synergy Among Stakeholders, Tools, and People

An innovation ecosystem is a multi-stakeholder environment, where different stakeholders interact to solve complex socio-technical challenges. We explored how stakeholders use digital tools, human resources, and their combination to gather information and make decisions in innovation ecosystems. To comprehensively understand stakeholders' motivations, information needs and practices, we conducted a three-part interview study across five stakeholder groups (N=13) using an interactive digital dashboard. We found that stakeholders were primarily motivated to participate in innovation ecosystems by the potential social impact of their contributions. We also found that stakeholders used digital tools to seek "high-level" information to scaffold initial decision-making efforts but ultimately relied on contextual information provided by human networks to enact final decisions. Therefore, people, not digital tools, appear to be the key source of information in these ecosystems. Guided by our findings, we explored how technology might nevertheless enhance stakeholders' decision-making efforts and enable robust and equitable innovation ecosystems

CHARACTERIZING ENABLING INNOVATIONS AND ENABLING THINKING

The pursuit of innovation is engrained throughout society whether in business via the introduction of offerings, non-profits in their mission-driven initiatives, universities and agencies in their drive for discoveries and inventions, or governments in their desire to improve the quality of life of their citizens. Yet, despite these pursuits, innovations with long-lasting, significant impact represent an infrequent outcome in most domains. The seemingly random nature of these results stems, in part, from the definitions of innovation and the models based on such definitions. Although there is debate on this topic, a comprehensive and pragmatic perspective developed in this work defines innovation as the introduction of a novel or different idea into practice that has a positive impact on society. To date, models of innovation have focused on, for example, new technological advances, new approaches to connectivity in systems, new conceptual frameworks, or even new dimensions of performance - all effectively building on the first half of the definition of innovation and encouraging its pursuit based on the novelty of ideas. However, as explored herein, achieving profound results by innovating on demand might require a perspective that focuses on the impact of an innovation. In this view, innovation does not only entail doing new things, but consciously driving them towards achieving impact through proactive design behaviors. Explicit consideration of the impact dimension in innovation models has been missing, even though it may arguably be the most important since it represents the outcome of innovation

Urban carbon politics : civil society, policymaking and the transition to carbon-neutral cities

Les villes sont au cœur de l’urgence climatique et elles sont fondamentales pour accélérer la transition vers un monde ‘carboneutre’. Aujourd'hui, les municipalités ne sont plus que de simples fournisseurs de services; elles doivent catalyser des transitions urbaines durables. La réalisation de villes durables est un défi extrêmement complexe car les exigences et le contexte changent constamment, plusieurs interdépendances dynamiques jouent un rôle crucial et il y a peu de possibilités d'apprendre par essais et erreurs. La signification même de ce qu'est une ‘ville durable’ est très vaste et basé sur des débats sociétaux très contesté. Bien que la société civile et les ‘entrepreneurs politiques’ jouent déjà un rôle important dans le contexte urbain et façonnent considérablement la façon dont les gens perçoivent la crise climatique; on ne sait pas encore comment ils peuvent répondre à des défis ‘super vicieux’ telle que l’urgence climatique dans le contexte urbain et comment les acteurs de la société civile peuvent contribuer à accélérer la transition vers des villes carboneutre. Souvent caractérisés par leur désir de maintenir une certaine indépendance vis-à-vis des institutions publiques, la question est de savoir comment les acteurs de la société civile occupent différentes positions vis-à-vis les institutions qu'ils cherchent à transformer, et les effets que ces différentes positions ont sur leurs contributions aux transitions urbaines durables. Si de nombreuses recherches ont été menées sur les entrepreneurs politiques ‘puissants’ associés aux systèmes dominant de nos sociétés, les ‘régimes’, on en sait beaucoup moins sur les entrepreneurs politiques issus de la société civile. Il est nécessaire d'améliorer notre compréhension de la manière dont ces derniers encadrent l'urgence climatique dans le contexte urbain et de la manière dont ils mettent à l'échelle leurs actions pour parvenir à une profonde et rapide décarbonisation du contexte urbain. La question de la thèse est: Comment est-ce que les entrepreneurs politiques issue de la société civile encadrent le problème de l'urgence climatique et comment mettent-ils à l'échelle leurs actions pour rapidement décarboniser le contexte urbain et accélérer la transition vers des villes carboneutres? La recherche est une étude de cas unique longitudinale et approfondie, sur une période cinq ans (2015-2020), qui reconstruit l'émergence de la Coalition climat Montréal; un organisme à but non lucratif qui vise à ce que Montréal atteigne la carboneutralité d'ici 2042, année du 400e anniversaire de la ville. La thèse mobilise le champ de recherche des théories de transition (Transition Theory) et des études en politiques publiques, pour mieux comprendre les efforts, actions et stratégies de la Coalition climat Montréal depuis sa création, au moment de l'accord de Paris COP21 de 2015. Basé sur un cadre théorique qui revisite la perspective multi-acteurs (MaP), l'accent est mis sur une meilleure compréhension des ‘actes’ des acteurs de la société civile qui visent à ‘gagner’ dans le champ d’action stratégique de la carboneutralité dans lequel ils opèrent à Montréal. La recherche met en relief leurs stratégies, comment elles ont émergé et se sont structuré à travers les années, ainsi que leurs capacités à influencer les processus d'élaboration des politiques publiques urbaines pour la carboneutralité et les processus de transition urbaine en général. Une attention particulière est portée au contexte; examinant comment (et dans quelle mesure) la nature ‘polycentrique’ de la gouvernance climatique et les caractéristiques des institutions municipales locales facilitent et contraignent les efforts des acteurs. Adoptant une stratégie d'analyse processuelle et abductive, la recherche révèle les stratégies entrepreneuriales des acteurs de la société civile qui cherchent à perturber le statu quo en faisant progresser des politiques publiques ambitieuses pour la carboneutralité urbaines, et le potentiel que de telles actions au niveau micro puissent provoquer des changements au niveau macro. Adoptant le rôle engagé d'un ‘chercheur-activiste’, j'explore les formes d'entrepreneuriat qui ‘tiennent tête’ aux acteurs et secteurs les plus puissant de notre société; enrichissant notre compréhension du rôle actif que certains acteurs de la société civile jouent afin d’ancrer la carboneutralité dans l’agenda des politiques publiques. Ce faisant, la thèse contribue à enrichir une notre compréhension nuancée de l’influence que certains acteurs de la société civiles ont sur la direction et la vitesse des transitions urbaine pour la carboneutralité, et la durabilité en général. D'un point de vue pratique, la recherche contribue à mieux informer les actions et les stratégies de la société civile concerné par l’urgence climatique, ainsi que le types de processus de politique publique climatique au niveau municipal qui peuvent effectivement accélérer les transitions urbaines vers la carboneutralité; contribuant au développement de ‘sagesse pratique’ pour l’action climatique locale. Fondamentalement, le potentiel des villes n'est pas de tout simplement adopter les cadres politiques internationaux, mais aussi de montrer comment d'autres voies alternatives venant des ‘marges’ sont possibles. Impliquant un important potentiel émancipateur, la ville en tant que site d'expérimentation socio-écologique radicale doit être encouragée et catalysée, plutôt que d’être simplement laissé au mirage d'une ‘économie verte’.Cities are at the heart of climate emergency, and they’re fundamental if we are to accelerate the transition to a ‘carbon-neutral’ world. Today, municipal governments are no longer just service providers; they need to be catalysts for sustainability transitions. Achieving sustainable cities is a vicious problem as requirements are always changing, complex and dynamic interdependencies play a crucial role, there is no absolute right or wrong solution, and little opportunities exist to learn by trial and error. The very meaning of what is a ‘sustainable city’ is a very contested societal debate. Although civil society and policy entrepreneurs are already central actors in the urban context and considerably influence the way by which people think about the climate crisis; it’s not clear yet how they can respond to challenges of such magnitude as the climate emergency, and how they can contribute to accelerating the transition to a carbon-neutral world. While often characterized by their desire to sustain a certain form of independence from governments, it’s not yet clear how civil society actors occupy different positions vis-à-vis the institutions they try to transform, and the effects that these diverse positions have on their contributions to urban sustainability transitions. For instance, while much has been researched about powerful ‘regime’ policy entrepreneurs, much less is known about policy entrepreneurs emanating from civil society. There’s a need to enhance our understanding of how such actors frame the climate emergency in the urban context and how they scale their actions in order to achieve deep urban decarbonisation. The thesis question is: How do civil society’s policy entrepreneurs frame the climate emergency problem and scale their actions to quickly decarbonise the urban context and accelerate the transition to carbon-neutral cities? The research is a five-year in-depth longitudinal single case study that reconstructs the emergence of the Montreal Climate Coalition; a non-profit organization that aims for Montreal to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2042, year of the city's 400th anniversary. The thesis mobilizes the research fields of sustainability transitions and public policy studies to better understand the Coalition’s efforts, actions and strategies since the 2015 COP21 Paris agreement. Based on a conceptualised theoretical framework that revisits the Multi-actor perspective (MaP), the focus is to shed light on the ‘acts’ of civil society actors that aim to ‘punch above their weight’ in the strategic urban carbon-neutrality action field in which they operate, the way that they develop and deploy their strategies, and how this contributes to (and shapes) policymaking processes for urban carbon-neutrality; as well as overall urban sustainability transition dynamics. Particular attention is paid to context, examining how (and to what extent) the ‘polycentric’ nature of climate governance and local municipal institutions facilitate and/or frustrate the efforts of actors. Adopting a processual, abductive and transformation-based strategy of analysis that aims to generate ‘practical wisdom’ knowledge for urban sustainability science, the research reveals civil society’s entrepreneuring strategies that seek to disrupt the status quo by advancing ambitious urban carbon-neutrality policies, as well as the potential for such micro-level acts to bring about changes at the macro level. In this way, and by taking on the role of an engaged climate ‘researcher-activist’, I explore the forms of entrepreneurship that stand up to powerful actors and sectors in our society, enriching our knowledge of the active role that some civil society actors (can) play in setting the urban carbon-neutrality agenda. In doing so, the thesis contributes to enriching an ever more nuanced understanding of the influence that civil society actors can have on the speed and direction of urban sustainability transitions. From a practice-based perspective, the research contributes to better informing civil society’ actions and strategies, as well as the kind of municipal climate policy processes that can catalyze deep decarbonisation and accelerate the urgently needed urban sustainability transitions to carbon-neutral cities. Fundamentally, the potential of cities is not just to simply associate themselves with current international climate frameworks; but more critically, to show how other alternative pathways from the fringes of society are possible. Involving considerable emancipatory potential, the city as a site of radical socio-ecological experimentation needs to be fostered, and not just handed over to the mirage of a ‘green economy’

Secondary English Teachers’ Experiences of Agency: Connections to Shifting Educational Contexts During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic caused schools around the world to enter uncharted territory. Due to the unprecedented nature of the educational crisis, it was important to examine how teacher agency may have been affected. Teacher agency can have important implications for school climate, policy, and the experience of stakeholders. The main focus of this study was to cultivate an understanding of secondary English teachers’ perceptions of agency as they navigated teaching throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. An ecological framework was used to examine teachers’ experiences of agency in the context of COVID-19. The study utilized a basic qualitative design with in-depth interviews serving as the data source. Transcripts were analyzed using inductive hand-coding and comparative analysis, and then synthesized for thematic connections. As a result of the qualitative interviews, six key themes emerged. The themes included: (1) From Face-to-Face to Faceless: How Student Engagement Impacted Teachers, (2): “I had no Paper.”: How COVID Changed Teachers’ Workload and Roles, (3) The Necessity of Flexibility and Innovation in Times of Crisis, (4) “We Put Everybody’s Brain in a Blender”: Mental Health and Socio-Emotional Well-Being, (5) “Wiggle Room,” and How Agency Plays out Within a Bureaucratic Public School System, and (6) Looking Forward. The synthesized findings contributed to the literature by providing valuable insight into teachers’ lived experiences and perceptions of agency during COVID-19. Additionally, the need for intentional and sustained attention to teachers’ mental health and for improvement in supporting new and inexperienced teachers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic emerged as key points of significance. The study also suggests the need for future research, namely in examining the changes COVID-19 has had on teachers’ agency and the possible long-term effects on education

Entrepreneurship and community economic development : exploring the link.

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN014423 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Gendered work culture in free/libre open source software development

This article adopts a feminist perspective to examine masculine work culture in the development of free/libre open source software. The authors draw on a case study of ‘the Heidi Bug’ discovered during the development of the Mozilla Firefox web browser to examine how 'gendered talk' was (en)-acted to facilitate 'bricolage' in an online work environment. Such gendered talks contain cultural references familiar to male developers. Though seemingly innocuous, such acts could be seen as a performance of gender that simply reflects the hegemonic heterosexual masculine culture manifested in online virtual work space. The virtual work space therefore can be exclusive to those who shared the cultural references. Although it may not necessarily be ignorance or insensitivity of male developers, a more gender-balanced, women-friendly and inclusive work place certainly would benefit from a more diverse environment. This paper highlights the gendered aspect of software development through examining the language use and mainstream 'bricolage' practice, and establishes a compelling ground for enlarging the talent pool to include more women and integrating gender ethics (e.g., raising awareness of sensitive languages and design approaches) into computer ethics education

A stakeholder-grounded evaluation of the seven functions model of technological innovation systems theory in UK offshore wind and marine renewables.

Technological innovation systems theory (TIS) provides a useful framework within which to consider energy transitions. The "seven functions" framework allows researchers to examine the progress of emergence of new technologies, but has not hitherto been tested for completeness and validity with stakeholders in an energy transition. The emergence of offshore wind over the last twenty years in the UK has been a significant part of the UK's energy decarbonisation transition and has provided the industrial roots for this research. The research has critically evaluated the "seven functions" model of TIS with stakeholders in the offshore renewable energy sector in the UK, with the aim of assessing whether each of the seven functions is necessary and whether together they are sufficient to explain the development of a TIS. This thesis has reviewed the literature to find that no canonical inventory of seven functions exists and it therefore develops one. Using interviews with more than thirty influential participants in the offshore renewables sector - including project and technology developers, policy makers, supply chain, support organisations and other stakeholders - the thesis examines whether the seven functions provide a "necessary and sufficient" framework, to characterise the emergence of offshore wind and marine renewables (tidal stream and wave) in the UK since 2000. The research supports the seven existing functions and finds evidence for a new function, which is defined as "relative value potential" (RVP). RVP considers the potential or actual value offered by an emergent technology, to consider whether it can demonstrate a roadmap to achieving an unsupported viability. TIS is far from unique in theories for understanding socio-technical transitions. This thesis also finds that the proposed new function offers some scope for a reconciliation of TIS and another leading theory in this space – Multi-Level Perspective. The thesis concludes by eliciting learnings from the emergence of offshore wind for the benefit of tidal stream and wave energy developers