Advancing Stability in an Era of Change

Argues for an integrated grantmaking strategy for world security, stewardship, and the peaceful management of change. Focuses on the individual, the nation-state, civil society organizations, private sector corporations, and multilateral institutions

Factors Influencing Household Solar Adoption in Santiago, Chile

In Santiago, Chile, the market conditions are seemingly excellent for the household adoption of photovoltaic (PV) technology, yet the uptake is negligible. To explore this paradox, the authors conducted a Delphi study to solicit the knowledge of a panel of Chilean PV experts. These efforts yielded 26 factors—both motivations and barriers—impacting the diffusion of PV in Santiago. Of the 26, experts were in consensus on the relative importance of 21. The literature suggests that diffusion of PV technologies is influenced by complex technical, economic, and social factors. Similarly, the experts saw influence from financial, environmental, and energy supply (e.g., electrical reliability) factors. They saw emergent barriers to adoption as being financial, technical, institutional, and knowledge factors. They considered the most important factors influencing adoption to be financial motivations (e.g., subsidies) and financial barriers (e.g., high upfront costs); they considered the least important factors to be environmental motivations (e.g., environmental stewardship) and technical barriers (e.g., concerns with roof mounting). With this knowledge, the authors develop an adoption framework for household PV that describes the interaction among the identified motivations and barriers. This framework informs policy recommendations for Santiago, Chile, and contributes to the body of literature exploring the interconnected systems of factors that influence civil infrastructure in general and PV adoption in particular

From Novelty to Expectation: Recommendations to Develop a System of Campus Support for Foster Youth

As longtime funders of efforts to promote educational opportunity for current and former foster youth, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation (WSJF) and Stuart Foundation have been in the forefront of efforts to replicate successful models of campus support programs for former foster youth at public institutions of higher education in the Bay Area and Northern California. This paper was commissioned to help the funders determine what additional investments could be made to help additional campuses implement support programs and to move the field toward a "tipping point" where temporary philanthropic support for a relatively small number of demonstration programs begins to be replaced by on-going public support for the widespread replication of CSPs throughout the state's public institutions of higher education. This paper examines the challenges and barriers faced by campuses that seek to replicate campus support programs for foster youth, determine what campuses need for effective replication, and the most useful ways in which support could be delivered. In also includes a potential design for a campus support program initiative and makes recommendations for the type of intermediary needed to manage the initiative

Process and outcomes of an urban charter school implementing an advisory centered, project-based school reform model

This positivistic case study documents the processes and outcomes of an urban charter school implementing an advisory centered, project-based school reform model from conception to the end of year three. Currently throughout the United States innovative school reformers are actively designing and implementing new schools. Historically, school models that go beyond traditional teaching and learning paradigms have faced significant resistance and, once in place, have been difficult to sustain. Utilizing the theoretical framework of organization development and systems thinking (Senge, 1990, 1994, 2000) and applying a lens of critical theory (Brookfield, 2005) the researcher examined the challenges and achievements of starting a new charter school. The researcher created a theory and tested it for developing and sustaining successful charter schools. The study examined data from nationally normed formative and summative assessments, as well as satisfaction surveys. Data was also collected to assess autonomy, belongingness, goal orientation, academic press, engagement and hope. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with both staff and students. The analysis of the data supported the fourteen essential processes defined in the theory that are needed to help implement and sustain a new school. To implement an innovative new school, planners have a school design or design essentials that act as a roadmap. Often missing are the essential processes needed to reinforce or activate the intended design. Additional research is needed concerning how the process essentials identified in this study may contribute to successful school development. The data also identified an implementation effect and limits of growth that was linked to the negative impact of compliance to requirements of the federally mandated No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. More research is needed to determine if the implementation effect and limits of growth transfers to other schools throughout the United States

21st-century scholarship and Wikipedia

Wikipedia, the world’s fifth most-used Web site, is a good illustration of the growing credibility of online resources. In his article in Ariadne earlier this year, “Wikipedia: Reflections on Use and Academic Acceptance”, Brian Whalley described the debates around accuracy and review, in the context of geology. He concluded that ‘If Wikipedia is the first port of call, as it already seems to be, for information requirement traffic, then there is a commitment to build on Open Educational Resources (OERs) of various kinds and improve their quality.’ In a similar approach to the Geological Society event that Whalley describes, Sarah Fahmy of JISC worked with Wikimedia and the British Library on a World War One (WWI) Editathon. There is a rich discourse about the way that academics relate to Wikipedia

Changing Urban High Schools

This report chronicles a Cross City Campaign working meeting co-sponsored by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Reaching the Tipping Point: Insights on Advancing Competency Education in New England

This paper explores K-12 competency-based education policy and practice across six New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.This paper explores the core concepts of competency education, detailing the limitations of the traditional system, and how competency education is designed explicitly for equity and student success. Author Chris Sturgis then dives into why and how the New England region embraces competency education. She provides insights into policy strategies being used across states and analyzes the impact of competency education on quality, equity, scaling and sustainability. The Appendix offers a synopsis of each state strategy, complemented by short case studies of a few districts and schools

Global Sustainability Crossroads: A Participatory Simulation Game to Educate in the Energy and Sustainability Challenges of the 21st Century

Producción CientíficaThere is a general need to facilitate citizens’ understanding of the global sustainability problem with the dual purpose of raising their awareness of the seriousness of the problem and helping them get closer to understanding the complexity of the solutions. Here, the design and application of the participatory simulation game Global Sustainability Crossroads is described, based on a global state-of-the-art energy–economy–environment model, which creates a virtual scenario where the participants are confronted with the design of climate mitigation strategies as well as the social, economic, and environmental consequences of decisions. The novelty of the game rests on the global scope and the representation of the drivers of anthropogenic emissions within the MEDEAS-World model, combined with a participatory simulation group dynamic flexible enough to be adapted to a diversity of contexts and participants. The performance of 13 game workshops with ~420 players has shown it has a significant pedagogical potential: the game is able to generate discussions on crucial topics which are usually outside the public realm such as the relationship between economic growth and sustainability, the role of technology, how human desires are limited by biophysical constraints or the possibility of climate tipping point

Motivated for Action and Collaboration: The Abrahamic Religions and Climate Change

Leaders of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have publicly advocated action to mitigate the adverse effects of human-forced climate change. Particularly prominent prior to, during, and after the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change were Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Pope Francis, and Patriarch Bartholomew. Also prominent was a group of Islamic clerics, leaders of organizations, and scholars who collaborated in issuing a declaration on climate change three months prior to COP 21. Informed by the Earth sciences, these leaders shared their faith-based rationales for acting locally to internationally as indicated in the documents explored in this article. Examples of organizations motivated by their leaders’ faith perspectives demonstrate their readiness to act informed by scientists. To work effectively, these religious leaders and activist groups require well-substantiated conclusions from data collected to counter unsubstantiated claims by climate skeptics. Earth scientists will find among the religious leaders and groups allies in the quest for a flourishing planet