“Motor of Europe” as a Potential Role Model for the Western Balkans

This chapter focuses on the Franco-German reconciliation and cooperation model as a potential role model for improving the relations and cooperation between Serbia and Croatia. It examines key similarities and differences in the particular socio-historical context of the Western Balkans and today’s dynamics of the EU, which impact the extent to which these two countries can mirror the Franco-German model as “core countries” that could push for reconciliation and regional cooperation within the region. In order to examine the extent and applicability of this model to relations between Serbia and Croatia, the chapter compares the context in which the reconciliation process among these countries took place, with a particular focus on the role of the political leadership, thereby mapping contextual differences that could present potential shortcomings in transferring the lessons learned from the Franco-German model

On the usability of Lombardi graph drawings

A recent line of work in graph drawing studies Lombardi drawings, i.e., drawings with circular-arc edges and perfect angular resolution at vertices. Little is known about the effects of curved edges versus straight edges in typical graph reading tasks. In this paper we present the first user evaluation that empirically measures the readability of three different layout algorithms (traditional spring embedder and two recent near-Lombardi force-based algorithms) for three different tasks (shortest path, common neighbor, vertex degree). The results indicate that, while users prefer the Lombardi drawings, the performance data do not present such a positive picture

Recovery-Net: A Multilevel and Collaborative Approach to Mental Healthcare Transformation

A recent orientation of therapeutic practices in mental healthcare is moving from focusing on the treatment of the disease (clinical recovery) to the promotion of wellbeing (personal recovery) that implies a growing engagement of users toward co-production. This transformation requires the innovation of individual services and organisations, but also the collaboration with a wider set of local actors, able to guarantee the continuity of care, and enhance the potential for rehabilitation and social inclusion. This chapter will illustrate the first step of an action research project—Recovery-Net—toward the establishment of 3 Recovery Co-Labs in the Lombardy region in Italy, intended as the operational mechanism to activate and operationalise this transformation. The text will focus on the specific Co-Lab to be established in the city of Brescia, in the urban periphery of San Polo District