Responsibility Sharing in International Refugee Law: Towards Differentiated Legal Obligations

This Thesis is a study on the law and practice of international cooperation and responsibility sharing for refugees, both as it is and as it should be, with a strong focus on the latter. Despite the existence of a general duty of states to cooperate to protect refugees in international law, there is no subsequent positive obligation of responsibility sharing, namely any assistance to overwhelmed refugee host countries remains at the discretion of states. This has been widely acknowledged to constitute a normative gap of the Refugee Convention. In practice, this gap has been responsible for the arbitrary allocation of refugee protection responsibilities between states on the basis of accidents of geography. This arbitrary allocation is further exacerbated by the existence of a virtual ‘Great Wall’ built of sophisticated non-entrée measures and interstate arrangements that seek to deter refugees and confine protection in the Global South, where the majority of refugees originate and is hosted. The thesis argues that the normative gap of the Refugee Convention cannot be satisfactorily addressed without a codified responsibility sharing obligation in international law. In moving towards responsibility sharing obligations, the thesis takes guidance from recent global refugee policy instruments that implicitly engage with the language of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’ (CBDRRC), a concept and a principle of international environmental law. As a way of unlocking the true potential of a CBDRRC-guided framework, the thesis studies the principle and the logic of differentiated responsibilities in international environmental law, in order to understand the concept and draw insights from its operationalisation in the international climate change law regime. The parallel study of international environmental law is illuminating. On a theoretical level, international environmental law has gone the furthest in relation to a fairness debate and has sought to balance conflicting interests and existing inequities between states within legal arrangements. On a technical-legal design level, these multilateral responsibility sharing regimes are facilitative and flexible, reducing the sovereignty costs of entering into a binding agreement and therefore appealing to states. Crucially, the study of the international legal regime on climate change has revealed that the heterogenous interests of states can be accommodated in international law under the right architecture. To this end, fairness considerations have a structural role to play in the legal design process. In light of these findings, the thesis proposes the adoption of a protocol on responsibility sharing that would put in place a principled yet pragmatic legal framework that would codify a light package of minimalist and differentiated, responsibility sharing obligations implemented bottom up. Focusing on questions of legal design, the thesis explores in detail the nature of the legal obligations that would best suit responsibility sharing in international refugee law. All this is done through adopting an ‘enlightened positivist’ methodology to the study of international refugee law. This softer form of legal positivism claims that the protection of refugees reflects a community interest in international law which is served by the Refugee Convention. Enlightened positivism provides the international lawyer with the methodological tools to put forward de lege ferenda arguments for the development of international refugee law without however losing sight of the international system of sovereign but unequal states in which the international refugee regime operates. Finally, since international law can only be part to the solution of the refugee challenge, the study concludes with ways to build the necessary sustained political will required, towards a challenging but worthwhile undertaking

Θαλάσσια χωροταξική πολιτική στην Ελλάδα. Εφαρμογή στις δυνατότητες αξιοποίησης υδρογονανθράκων.

Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο--Μεταπτυχιακή Εργασία. Διεπιστημονικό-Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών (Δ.Π.Μ.Σ.) “Περιβάλλον και Ανάπτυξη

Enseignement, Apprentissage de la culture et de la langue françaises à l'aide de descriptions narratives numériques : Conception et création d'un livre électronique

Résumé : A l'ère du numérique, il est impératif d'adapter de nouvelles méthodes d'enseignement. L'apprentissage à distance, l'apprentissage en ligne et l'apprentissage mobile sont désormais bien établis dans le domaine de l'éducation. Cet article traite la contribution des descriptions narratives dans l'enseignement/apprentissage du français langue étrangère et de la culture, en présentant des descriptions narratives numériques qui sont le produit du travail du cours "Apprentissage portable dans la classe de langue étrangère : approches pédagogiques et scénarios d'utilisation" du Département de langue et littérature françaises, Faculté de philosophie, Université Aristote de Thessalonique. Dans le cadre de ce cours, les étudiants ont été initiés à une variété d'outils numériques pour créer/éditer et composer des descriptions narratives numériques. Mots-clés : narration numérique, appareils mobiles, culture française, enseignement, livres électroniques, didactique

Inclusive education: An enigma of ‘wicked proportions’

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Brill via the DOI in this recor

“Is open-mindedness necessary for intellectual well-being in education? Bringing together virtue, knowledge and well-being in initial teacher education”

Is open-mindedness necessary for intellectual well-being in education? To answer this question this thesis draws on Aristotle‟s virtue ethics and virtue epistemology. It is argued that in order to understand eudaimonia (well-being) it is necessary to understand phronesis. In this regard, it is implied that in order to understand well-being, it is necessary to understand virtue, thus, well-being needs virtue(s). Just as Aristotelian virtue ethics defends the necessity of virtue(s) for well-being, virtue epistemology defends the priority of intellectual virtues for intellectual well-being. Unlike epistemology, virtue epistemology focuses on how an individual can be a good informant through the cultivation of intellectual virtues. To this end, this thesis proposes an alternative regulative educative virtue epistemology for intellectual well-being in education. In this context, open-mindedness is examined as an intellectual virtue that secures and facilitates other virtues both for individual and collective well-being in education. Bringing together White‟s and Nussbaum‟s seemingly opposed approaches to well-being, this thesis argues that a better theory of well-being in education must be one that equally combines a collective subjective major-informed desire theory with an individual objective list account of well-being. This account of well-being implies a certain understanding of intellectual open-mindedness. Drawing on Wolff‟s and De-Shalit‟s novel ideas of „secure‟ and „fertile functioning‟ as well as on Roberts‟ and Wood‟s „intellectual functionings‟, this thesis proposes a genuine intellectual open-mindedness that is both well-informed, reasonable, and necessary to „secure‟ and „fertile‟ „intellectual functionings‟ for intellectual well-being in education. Throughout the discussion, the thesis asserts that particular attention needs to be paid to the well-being of student teachers. Although it is widely accepted that pupils‟ well-being is important, less attention has been given to teachers‟ well-being. This thesis argues that teachers‟ and pupils‟ well-being is inextricably connected and initial teacher education should focus on student teachers‟ intellectual well-being as they constitute the future teaching workforce. The implications of how this account of well-being might inform Scottish initial teacher education programmes is addressed

Exploitation de l'intelligence artificielle dans l'enseignement du français langue étrangère sur objectifs spécifiques : une étude de cas

Résumé : L'objectif de cet article est de présenter une étude de cas illustrant l'utilisation de l'intelligence artificielle (IA) dans l'enseignement du français en tant que langue étrangère à des fins spécifiques. Cette étude explore l'utilisation de Chat GPT pour l'enseignement du français chez les étudiants d'un cours de formation de base de 15 semaines. Chat GPT a été initialement chargé de développer du matériel linguistique pour un cours pour l'enseignement du français à des fins spécifiques dans le cadre d'un programme d'art culinaire au sein d'un institut de formation professionnelle. Le matériel pédagogique a été collecté et structuré de manière à répondre aux exigences du cours. Peut-on exploiter l'intelligence artificielle dans l'enseignement du français langue étrangère sur objectifs spécifiques ? D'après les résultats de cette étude, l'IA offre une qualité de réponse satisfaisante d’après les enseignants et son utilisation peut leur fournir un service précieux en leur permettant de personnaliser leur propre matériel d'enseignement en analysant et en étudiant le matériel d'apprentissage généré sur la base des spécifications du guide d'étude. Cette étude de cas met en lumière la manière dont Chat GPT peut produire des ressources qui vont être utilisées dans le cadre de l'enseignement des langues. Mots-clés : Intelligence artificielle, didactique du Français, fins spéciales, langue étrangère, nouvelles technologie

Επέκταση περιοχής συζητήσεων του INSPIREus με δεδομένα αλληλεπίδρασης

Ολοένα και περισσότεροι εκπαιδευτικοί φορείς τα τελευταία χρόνια αποφασίζουν να υιοθετήσουν και να αξιοποιήσουν Διαδικτυακές Πλατφόρμες Μάθησης και να εντάξουν τα forum συζήτησης στις λειτουργίες τους. Πέρα από την βασική χρήση τους για την διευκόλυνση της επικοινωνίας, προσφέρεται επιπλέον και η δυνατότητα λήψης πληροφοριών για την βελτίωση τόσο του εκπαιδευτικού υλικού όσο και για την επίδοση των εκπαιδευόμενων. Στην παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία μελετήθηκαν ποικίλα εργαλεία που έχουν αναπτυχθεί για την καταγραφή της αλληλεπίδρασης των δεδομένων σε μια εκπαιδευτική πλατφόρμα. Η μελέτη αυτή γίνεται με γνώμονα τα δεδομένα που καταγράφουν, τον τύπο του χρήστη, το πλήθος των χρηστών που έχει πρόσβαση στα στατιστικά δεδομένα και τις τεχνικές λεπτομέρειες για την καταγραφή αυτή. Επίσης στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διπλωματικής πραγματοποιήθηκε επέκταση του forum του προσαρμοστικού εκπαιδευτικού συστήματος υπερμέσων INSPIREus καθώς εμπλουτίστηκαν τα δεδομένα καταγραφής αλληλεπίδρασης σε ατομικό και ομαδικό επίπεδο.In recent years , more and more educational providers decide to adopt and utilize Online Learning Platforms and ariculate discussion forum in their operations. Except from their basic use for communication , they also offer the opportunity to record interaction data that can be used to improve both teaching materials and learners’ performance. In the current work we deal with a variety of tools which are used to record interactive data in an educational platform. This study was done in the light of the recorded data, the type of user, the number of users who have access to statistical data as well as the technical details for this record. Moreover, during this study the forum of the adaptive educational hypermedia system INSPIREus was enriched with interaction log data at individual and group level

Considering the role of curriculum integration towards inclusive education

The term "curriculum" entails the learning and social structures, practices, organization as well as what and how is taught within educational settings (Apple, 1996; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Carr, 1993). The design and implementation of curriculum has been one of the most crucial topics in education because through its rules, practices and content it transmits societal values in terms of knowledge and culture (Armstrong, 1999). Curriculum is not static but it changes in order to keep up with the ongoing social development (Browder, Flowers, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Karvonen, Spooner & Algozzine, 2004; Otis-Wilborn, 1995). Along with the society's evolution, a major development that influenced curriculum and raised concerns regarding its role in education was the inclusive movement. Inclusion came as a response to the economical, political, social, cultural conditions and humanistic values that emerged in most western societies (Freire & César, 2003) and reflected the new societal perspectives regarding children with diverse needs and consequently children with special educational needs (Browder et al., 2004). An inclusive learning environment is the one that reflects the heterogeneity of our society (Bradley & Switlick, 1997), through the acceptance of all children regardless of their perceived physical, educational or psychological challenges, accommodates their needs and creates opportunities so that all children develop their full potentials in the school (Armstrong, 1999; Bradley & Switlick, 1997; Stainback & Stainback, 1990; Stainback, Stainback, & Jackson, 1992; Walter-Thomas, Korinek, McLaughlin & Williams, 2000). The realization of inclusive education has been a rather complicated and demanding process and despite the efforts of researchers as well as of policy makers around the world to support and promote inclusion (Van Kraayenoord, 2003), effective planning has not been accomplished yet (Kavale, 2002; Kavale & Forness, 2000). The issue of complexity derives from the assumption that inclusion does not simply concern a placement but a philosophy, the implementation of which requires dynamic educational changes and a reconsideration of the roles of professionals, learners, the curriculum, as well as instructional and financial resources (Peters, 2002; Lipsky & Gartner, 1999; Thomas, Walker & Webb, 1998; Ware, 1995). The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of the curriculum as well as that of the teachers as two critical factors in the realization of an effective inclusive programme

Cytokine expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of dogs with mitral valve disease

Inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of congestive heart failure (CHF). In humans with CHF, increased production and high plasma concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1, IL-8 and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) have been associated with disease progression and a negative prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether differences in cytokine blood mRNA expression exist between clinically healthy dogs and dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD); to determine if the expression was related to the severity of MMVD, and to detect any correlations with echocardiographic parameters of cardiac remodelling. Twenty-three dogs with MMVD of varying severity and six clinically healthy dogs were included in the study. Whole blood samples were obtained for measurement of mRNA expression of IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TGF-β1, TNF-α by reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR). There were statistically significant differences between clinically healthy dogs and dogs with MMVD for IL-8 and TGF-β1 gene expression. IL-8 expression increased with increasing MMVD severity and TGF-β1 expression was higher in asymptomatic dogs with echocardiographic signs of cardiac remodelling (American College Veterinary Internal Medicine class B2) than in all other groups. These results could suggest the involvement of these cytokines at different stages of the disease