The Educational Intelligent Economy – Lifelong Learning – A vision for the future

Almost every detail of our lives, where we go, what we do, and with whom is captured as digital data. Technological advancements in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and data analytics offer the education sector new ways not only to improve policy and processes but also to personalize learning and teaching practice. However, these changes raise fundamental questions around who owns the data, how it might be used, and the consequences of use. The application of Big Data in education can be directed toward a wide range of stakeholders, such as educators, students, policy-makers, institutions, or researchers. It may also have different objectives, such as monitoring, student support, prediction, assessment, feedback, and personalization. This chapter presents the nuances and recent research trends spurred by technological advancements that ave influenced the education sector and highlights the need to look beyond the technical boundaries using a socio-semiotic lens. With the explosion of available information and digital technologies pervading cultural, social, political as well as economic spaces, being a lifelong learner is pivotal for success. However, technology on its own is not sufficient to drive this change. For technology to be successful, it should complement individual learning cultures and education systems. This chapter is broadly divided into two main sections. In the first section, we contemplate a vision for the future, which is deemed possible based on ongoing digital and computing advancements. The second section elaborates the technological, pedagogical, cultural, and political requirements to attain that vision

From ‘Unilateral’ to ‘Dialogical’: Determinants of EU–Azerbaijan Negotiations

The European Union (EU) and Azerbaijan have negotiated three different agreements for a new legal basis underpinning their relationship since 2010. Whereas the EU tries to adhere to a more unilateral approach, Azerbaijan wants cooperation to take place on a more inclusive, dialogical, basis. The essay will present a model of ‘bargaining power’ to analyse how the Azerbaijani government has tried to enforce this, and to what degree it has been successful. It finds that the bargaining power model can explain some of the changing power dynamics in EU–Azerbaijan relations, and that these might speak to the broader Eurasian region too

Brexit and the UK-Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Aid Relationship

Debates about Brexit draw on powerful discursive mechanisms that have important implications for the UK–Africa, Caribbean and Pacific aid relationship. Some of these narratives can be characterized in the following ways: First, that Brexit is an opportunity to recreate a Global Britain after a period of EU membership that saw the UK neglect its former partners, particularly the Commonwealth. Second, the costs of EU membership are profligate and these funds could be better utilized by the national government. Third the Brexit ‘divorce bill’ is a penalty exacted by the EU for the UK’s decision to leave. This article explores these claims via the EU-ACP relationship, and proposes three counter arguments. First, the discourse of ‘neglect’ overlooks the external relationships the UK has maintained through EU membership. Second, these relationships have provided ‘value for money’ for the UK. Third, these contributions represent a significant proportion of the Brexit ‘divorce bill’ and are on-going financial commitments that the UK was central to establishing. The article then reviews the potential impact of Brexit on UK aid, arguing that rather than reinvigorating Global Britain Brexit threatens to undermine the UK’s position in global development, current levels of aid and longstanding commitments to eradicate poverty

Using data envelopment analysis to address the challenges of comparing health system efficiency

Efficiency is one of the most potent measures of health system performance and is of particular interest to policy makers because it seeks to assess the valued outcomes of a health system in relation to the resources that are sacrificed to achieve those outcomes. However, the production process of the health care system is a complex sequence, and most indicators are only able to capture part of that process; these indicators offer limited scope for analysis. While researchers have previously constructed composite indicators which combine partial measures into a single number, the weights used for aggregating data can be contentious and may not be universally applicable across systems. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is most often used to compare the productivity of different producing entities, including health systems. In this article, we instead propose a method that relies on DEA to construct composite health system efficiency indicators from several partial efficiency measures. Among other noted benefits, this enables the construction of composite indicators where different weights are attached to partial indicators for each country, allowing countries to be viewed according to the weights that cast each in the best light. Our application of this method suggests that there is reasonable consistency among the countries that are found to be efficient

Examples of holistic good practices in promoting and protecting mental health in the workplace: current and future challenges

Background: While attention has been paid to physical risks in the work environment and the promotion of individual employee health, mental health protection and promotion have received much less focus. Psychosocial risk management has not yet been fully incorporated in such efforts. This paper presents good practices in promoting mental health in the workplace in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidance by identifying barriers, opportunities, and the way forward in this area. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 17 experts who were selected on the basis of their knowledge and expertise in relation to good practice identified tools. Interviewees were asked to evaluate the approaches on the basis of the WHO model for healthy workplaces. Results: The examples of good practice for Workplace Mental Health Promotion (WMHP) are in line with the principles and the five keys of the WHO model. They support the third objective of the WHO comprehensive mental health action plan 2013e2020 for multisectoral implementation of WMHP strategies. Examples of good practice include the engagement of all stakeholders and representatives, science-driven practice, dissemination of good practice, continual improvement, and evaluation. Actions to inform policies/legislation, promote education on psychosocial risks, and provide better evidence were suggested for higher WMHP success. Conclusion: The study identified commonalities in good practice approaches in different countries and stressed the importance of a strong policy and enforcement framework as well as organizational responsibility for WMHP. For progress to be achieved in this area, a holistic and multidisciplinary approach was unanimously suggested as a way to successful implementation

Systems analysis approach to the design of efficient water pricing policies under the EU Water Framework Directive

Economic theory suggests that water pricing can contribute to efficient management of water scarcity. The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) is a major legislative effort to introduce the use of economic instruments to encourage efficient water use and achieve environmental management objectives. However, the design and implementation of economic instruments for water management, including water pricing, has emerged as a challenging aspect of WFD implementation. This study demonstrates the use of a systems analysis approach to designing and comparing two economic approaches to efficient management of groundwater and surface water given EU WFD ecological flow requirements. Under the first approach, all wholesale water users in a river basin face the same volumetric price for water. This water price does not vary in space or in time, and surface water and groundwater are priced at the same rate. Under the second approach, surface water is priced using a volumetric price, while groundwater use is controlled through adjustments to the price of energy, which is assumed to control the cost of groundwater pumping. For both pricing policies, optimization is used to identify optimal prices, with the objective of maximizing welfare while reducing human water use in order to meet constraints associated with EU WFD ecological and groundwater sustainability objectives. The systems analysis approach demonstrates the successful integration of economic, hydrologic, and environmental components into an integrated framework for the design and testing of water pricing policies. In comparison to the first pricing policy, the second pricing policy, in which the energy price is used as a surrogate for a groundwater price, shifts a portion of costs imposed by higher water prices from low-value crops to high-value crops and from small urban/domestic locations to larger locations. Because growers of low-value crops will suffer the most from water price increases, the use of energy costs to control groundwater use offers the advantage of reducing this burden.The authors would like to thank the Danish Research School of Water Resources (FIVA) for financial support. Three anonymous reviewers made helpful suggestions that were incorporated into the revised version.Riegels, N.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Doulgeris, C.; Sturm, V.; Jensen, R.; Moller, F.; Bauer-Gottwein, P. (2013). Systems analysis approach to the design of efficient water pricing policies under the EU Water Framework Directive. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. 139(5):574-582. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000284S574582139

The drivers of change for the contribution of small farms to regional food security in Europe

[EN] The capacity of the food system to respond to the economic, demographic and environmental challenges ahead has become a topic of increasing interest, with particular attention to the roles and responsibilities of the different actors to ensure more sustainable food systems that can guarantee food and nutrition security for all. In this paper we approach the need to better understand the factors that can condition the potential contribution of small farms to regional food and nutrition security in Europe, acknowledging the role that small farms play in Europe at present. The analysis is based on a survey to 94 experts from 17 regions (NUTS3 level) in 11 different European countries, which identified the drivers of change according to the regional experts. These drivers were then categorized and their relative relevance assessed. The results indicate that some relevant drivers in the European context are linked to the capacity to adopt technologies and practices allowing adaptation to climate change, and the capacity to connect to food markets, with emphasis in the need for cooperation and collective action. The weight of other more European-specific drivers such as 'consumer values and habits' reveal that the future role of small farms will be very dependent on a societal change, with equity becoming a relevant component of consumers' choice.This research was supported by the `Small Farms, Small Food Businesses and Sustainable Food Security' (SALSA) project, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 677363Arnalte-Mur, L.; Ortiz Miranda, D.; Cerrada-Serra, P.; Martinez Gomez, VD.; Moreno-Pérez, OM.; Barbu, R.; Bjorkhaug, H.... (2020). The drivers of change for the contribution of small farms to regional food security in Europe. Global Food Security. 26:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100395S1826Béné, C., Prager, S. D., Achicanoy, H. A. E., Toro, P. A., Lamotte, L., Cedrez, C. B., & Mapes, B. R. (2019). Understanding food systems drivers: A critical review of the literature. Global Food Security, 23, 149-159. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2019.04.009Bourgeois, R., & Sette, C. (2017). The state of foresight in food and agriculture: Challenges for impact and participation. Futures, 93, 115-131. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2017.05.004Ericksen, P. J. (2008). Conceptualizing food systems for global environmental change research. Global Environmental Change, 18(1), 234-245. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2007.09.002Guiomar, N., Godinho, S., Pinto-Correia, T., Almeida, M., Bartolini, F., Bezák, P., … Wästfelt, A. (2018). Typology and distribution of small farms in Europe: Towards a better picture. Land Use Policy, 75, 784-798. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.04.012Inayatullah, S. (1998). Causal layered analysis. Futures, 30(8), 815-829. doi:10.1016/s0016-3287(98)00086-xMiller, R. (2015). Learning, the Future, and Complexity. An Essay on the Emergence of Futures Literacy. European Journal of Education, 50(4), 513-523. doi:10.1111/ejed.12157Šūmane, S., Kunda, I., Knickel, K., Strauss, A., Tisenkopfs, T., Rios, I. des I., … Ashkenazy, A. (2018). Local and farmers’ knowledge matters! How integrating informal and formal knowledge enhances sustainable and resilient agriculture. Journal of Rural Studies, 59, 232-241. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.01.02