Talent Boost 2023–2027 : Programme for international recruitment and work-based and education-based immigration

Talent Boost is an intersectoral programme for international recruitment and work-based and education-based immigration coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Education and Culture. The programme seeks to build a Finnish ecosystem across organisational boundaries in which different parties can work towards common goals in a customer-oriented manner. The previous Talent Boost programme was adopted in summer 2020 and a roadmap for education-based and work-based immigration was completed in autumn 2021. The revised Talent Boost 2023–2027 complies with the priorities of the Programme of Prime Minister Orpo's Government and intensifies the measures already under way. The programme will target the central government's international recruitment measures more clearly at specific countries and sectors in line with the Government Programme. Talent Boost has three components: 1) Finland's attractiveness: promoting experts and availability and carrying out country branding, 2) efficient and controlled residence permit processes with effective follow-up monitoring and prevention of abuses, 3) improving Finland's retention. Prevention of work-related exploitation is also an integral part of the package, for which an action plan will be drawn up. The main purpose of Talent Boost is to ensure consistent progress among intersectoral programme partners. The preparation and implementation are directed, coordinated and monitored by an intersectoral steering group chaired alternately by the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Education and Culture. Steering group members include representatives of ministries and agencies that are essential for work-based and education-based immigration as well as representatives of municipalities, cities and higher education institutions. The participants will draw up a mid-term report on the programme implementation and effectiveness for the ministerial working group on employment and entrepreneurship. In addition, programme monitoring and reporting indicators will be created in spring 2024

Amounts served and consumed of school lunch differed by gender in Japanese elementary schools

School lunches serve to improve nutritional status and to promote the health of children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the portion sizes of school lunches served and consumed in Japanese elementary schools. In addition, gender difference in servings and consumption were also studied. A cross-sectional study was undertaken between October 2007 and February 2008 in schools located in Tokyo and Okayama, Japan. A total of 192 fifth-grade children attending four elementary schools participated in this study. Weighed plate waste methods and observation were used to collect dietary data for two non-consecutive days. The proportion of children who chose staple foods along with main dishes and/or side dishes for at least one day was higher in boys than in girls (respectively, for staple food: 42.1% vs. 9.3%, for main dish and/or side dish: 68.4% vs. 44.3%, P < 0.001). The ratio of initial amount served to amount offered was 0.88 ± 0.11 for boys and 0.84 ± 0.10 for girls (P < 0.05). The ratio of amount consumed to amount offered was 1.04 ± 0.19 for boys and 0.88 ± 0.12 for girls (P < 0.001). Weight was related to amount consumed both in boys (r = 0.222, P < 0.05) and in girls (r = 0.201, P < 0.05). These findings suggest that the nutritional standards of school lunch programs should take into account gender differences. Clearly, boys were more likely to consume more than the initial amounts served due to their higher propensity to take second helpings. Boys feel few reservations about taking second helpings to adjust their total intake. However, school lunch plans should take into consideration girls' reluctance to do so, by serving appropriate initial portion sizes

Policy change as institutional work: introducing cultural and creative industries into cultural policy

Purpose – Policy change is frequently framed as resulting from governmental strategy based on explicit preferences, rational decision making and consecutive and aligned implementation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the theoretical perspective of institutional work as an alternative approach to understanding policy change, and investigates the construction of resources needed to perform such work. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a case study of the process wherein the idea of cultural and creative industries was introduced into Lithuanian cultural policy. The main data generating methods are document studies and qualitative interviews. Findings – The analysis demonstrates the ways in which the resources needed to perform institutional work are created through the enactment of practice, and through the application of resourcing techniques. Three such techniques are identified in the empirical material: the application of experiences from other fields of practice, the elicitation of external support, and the borrowing of legitimacy. Originality/value – The study offers an alternative approach to studies of policy change by demonstrating the value of institutional work in such change. Further, it contributes to the literature on institutional work by highlighting how instances of such work, drawing on a distributed agency, interlink and connect to each other in a process to produce policy change. Finally, it proposes three interrelated resourcing techniques underlying institutional work

Estimation of the value of convenience in taking influenza antivirals in Japanese adult patients between baloxavir marboxil and neuraminidase inhibitors using a conjoint analysis

Aims: Estimating the monetary value of the convenience of using influenza antivirals approved in Japan from a patient perspective using a conjoint analysis. Methods: An online survey (August 2020) was performed on individuals aged 20–64 years living in Japan who had taken oral or inhalant antivirals for influenza treatment in the 2018/19 or 2019/20 seasons. Efficacy and safety were assumed to be equivalent among the antivirals. The attributes for the conjoint analysis included route (oral or inhalant), duration, frequency of administration, and out-ofpocket expenses. A conditional logit model was applied as a baseline model. The monetary value of each attribute was calculated by comparing the same utility of the linearly interpolated level of the out-of-pocket attribute. Another survey to determine the experiences of the latest antiviral intake was also conducted on the same respondents. Results: Of the respondents, 1,550 were men and 1,587 were women. The monetary value for oral antivirals was estimated to be higher, saving JPY 741 (USD 7.06, as of August 2020), compared with inhalant. Regarding the length and frequency of administration, five days corresponds to an increase of JPY 2,072, compared with one day, and twice a day corresponds to a JPY 574 increase compared to once a day. Conclusions: The results suggest that – among the antivirals approved in Japan – the monetary value of the utility is the highest in the single dose oral antiviral, baloxavir marboxil (baloxavir). Although the drug cost was highest in baloxavir among the brand antivirals, the difference in the value of utility for influenza patient was estimated to be larger than the difference in the drug costs. Limitations: Although individuals with diverse attributes from all over the country were included in the survey, they are not necessarily a representative population of the Japanese society

DSTS and Modeling Tools Report

MK16 Fostering Evidence-Based IWRM in the Stung Pursat Catchment (Tonle Sap Great Lake) CambodiaDecision Support Tools (DSTs) have been developed by various organisations (government agencies, international organizations, NGOs, universities, consultancy companies and think tanks) to facilitate decision making around a number of issues, including water governance and management. There are arange of DSTs, distinguished by their function, quality of services (accuracy and precision), ease of use, time of application (project planning, implementation, monitoring, etc.), data requirements, data generated and other factors. The main objective of this analysis is to assess currently available and relevant decision support tools (DSTs), and to highlight the method of selecting most appropriate tool