The Boston University-Chelsea Partnership or the Role of Networking for School System Reform

The longstanding partnership between Boston University and the Chelsea Public School District of Chelsea, Massachusetts is unique for many reasons. Perhaps the most recognizable feature of this Partnership, however, is that it is the only example of an American university engaging in the day-to-day management of a public school system. The BU/Chelsea partnership will come to an official end in 2008. The original intent of the partnership has always been to provide Chelsea with the strong foundation to run its schools autonomously. In an effort to build this foundation, the university has, over the years, made a point of sharing its managerial and educational expertise. The future development and the effective and efficient management of the Chelsea School District will not depend solely upon whether the university has shared its expertise effectively, however. If that were the case, at the termination of the project, even the intangible assets, e.g. knowledge, upon which the success of the District was based, will be lost. Instead, Chelsea¿s opportunity to continue to achieve excellent performance results depends on how well Boston University, the ¿flagship business¿ of the Partnership, has been able to share, with the other members of the Network, the responsibility of managing the system. Moreover, continuing the good work begun almost twenty years ago depends on the intellectual capital the District has managed to ¿accumulate¿, and on the ability to produce new capital, through the promotion of knowledge-management processes. This report endeavors to determine how the Partnership changed the involvement of staff members, students, their families and the community as a whole, thereby promoting the creation of a network of primarily private and non-profit institutions (already in existence or created at the time) to improve the schooling system.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and applied statistic

Making inroads in educational leadership within the Euro-Mediterranean context : a collaborative initiative between Italy and Malta

A sense of urgency shapes our national discourse on state education. Students strive to meet new academic standards while their teachers work to improve the quality and equity of education opportunities. Yet achievement gaps persist, particularly in urban and rural schools . The demand for effective leadership is clear. We need school leaders who visualise successful student learning, understand the work necessary to achieve it, and have the skills to engage with others to make it happen. How can we prepare more individuals to meet these challenges? This paper explores what three universities – two in Italy and one in Malta – are doing to establish a programme that offers an innovative pathway to school leadership. It presents the inception of this partnership, the rationale behind the discourse that has evolved over the years, and the establishment of links between the universities and other bodies within the Mediterranean and Commonwealth contexts with the aim of preparing the next generation of school leaders needed within the Euro-Mediterranean region. The concluding part presents a number of opportunities that lie ahead and highlights the various challenges that await us as we embark on this journey.peer-reviewe

A Step-by-Step Process towards an Evolutionary Policy Encouraging the Adoption of Sustainable Business Models

The increasing awareness on environmental issues and their implications for society and economy, has led policymakers to rethink the legislative and financial measures supporting companies to innovate their business. As a result, companies are encouraged to integrate corporate sustainability (CS) into their value creation. Different from the past approaches, the current policy making process has been inspired by a multi-value creation system, aimed to deeply analyze the present situation, and identify the bottlenecks to design further steps to be taken. In this context, regional authorities cover a pivotal role in financing the pre-competitive phase of innovative and sustainable business models (SBMs). A survey was launched in the Emilia Romagna Region (ERR), analyzing the main factors contributing to maximizing CS. This paper investigates supply chain, welfare, environmental management as well as planning, control and communication strategy together with ecological footprints such as materials, energy, water, plastics, and waste ecological footprints. It gives a twofold contribution: first, it sets the stage for the construction of a theoretical model representing an SBM, and second, it gives a practical contribution by supporting the public administration decision-making in adopting a breakthrough roadmap facilitating the value transfer from industry to society

“Our common future” for different subjects: How accounting, engineering and pedagogy courses enhance sustainable development literacy

Considering the pedagogical need for sustainable development the present study presents the results of an explorative study considering how a common framework for teaching sustainable development can affects students from different disciplines, such as accounting, engineering and pedagogy. Through a survey, data collection has been developed looking for the level of students literacy and their perception on sustainable development issues. A first survey collected data at the begging of three different courses that, despite their different subjects (accounting, engineering and pedagogy), propose a specific section on sustainability. The same survey was proposed at the end of these courses for determining the change in the level of sustainable development literacy of the attending students. First results underline how the same approach can obtain different results on the literacy level of students underlining the importance of a tailor-made education according to different subject

Linking bioeconomy, circular economy, and sustainability: Trends, gaps and future orientation in the bio-based and biodegradable plastics industry

Bio-based and biodegradable plastics (BBPs) are innovative materials, wholly or partially produced from biomass, with the potential to enhance the circulation of resources in the biological cycle of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s butterfly diagram. Although BBPs are generally considered more environmental-friendly than conventional plastics, robust scientific evidence is still missing. The lack of tools and metrics to assess the circularity and sustainability of the BBPs industry poses relevant challenges for its upscaling and contribution to climate neutrality goals in Europe. It calls for adopting system and life cycle thinking, guided by multi-level and multi-dimensional examinations, which led researchers to build a comprehensive picture of trends, gaps and future orientations that may boost a sustainable circular bioeconomy in the sector. The value- chain based and multi-faceted SWOT analysis that emerged from the intersection of system and corporate data reveals the need to establish a combined circular bioeconomy strategy where incentives to integrated local supply chain, dedicated EPR scheme, eco-design guidelines, revised EoL standards, new clear labelling schemes and harmonised sustainability criteria should be prioritized and conjointly pursued to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy of the BBPs value chain

Multinuclear solid state NMR of novel bioactive glass and nanocomposite tissue scaffolds

Sol-gel derived bioactive glasses are promising candidates for bone regeneration, where bone is a natural nanocomposite of collagen (organic polymer) and hydroxyapatite (inorganic mineral) with a complex hierarchical structure and excellent mechanical properties. Solid-state NMR is a sensitive probe and offers atomic-level information on the structure of sol-gel derived bioactive glasses. In this thesis, a multinuclear solid state NMR approach, as part of an extensive study, has been applied to a key range of sol-gel derived materials related to novel nanocomposites to act as tissue scaffolds. The nanostructure evolution of sol-gel derived bioactive glasses 70S30C (70 mol% SiO2 and 30 mol% CaO) was characterised by 29Si, 1H and 13C CP MAS NMR. Calcium was found to be incorporated into the silica network during the stabilisation stage and to increases its disorder. The inhomogeneity found within 70S30C bioactive glass monoliths showed that the calcium concentration was higher in the outer region of the monolith caused by the way calcium only enters into the structure after breakbown of the nitrate. Trimethylsilylation reaction mechanisms used to tailor the nanoporosity of sol-gel derived 70S30C bioactive glass was also studied. The 29Si NMR results showed that the modification processes affected the atomic scale structure of the glass, such as Qn structure and network connectivity. 1H and 13C NMR was used to follow the loss of hydroxyls and organic groups directly. The study was extended to 58S (60 mol% SiO2, 36 mol% CaO, 4 mol% P2O5) systems and compared for two synthesis routes: inorganic and alkoxide. Via the inorganic route high temperatures were needed for calcium incorporation, while via alkoxide route calcium was found to be incorporated at low temperatures. Reactive surface Ca ions were involved in the formation of different types of carbonates for the two routes. The addition of P2O5 to the silica-calcium oxide system results in a scavenging of calcium ions by phosphate groups to give orthophosphate and pyrophosphate units. Solid-state NMR of new organic-inorganic hybrid scaffolds, class II, in the silicagelatin and silica-calcium oxide-poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) systems indicates that 3- glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) provides a covalent link between the organic and inorganic networks and increased the inorganic condensation. 1H-1H intra- and intermolecular proximities have been identified using 1H DQ (double-quantum) CRAMPS (combined rotation and multiple pulse spectroscopy) techniques. 13C NMR results indicate that an efficient promotion of epoxide ring opening of GPTMS was reached by either gelatin or γ-PGA. 43Ca NMR identified different calcium environments in the hybrid systems. The last part of this thesis is focused on the comparison studies in the mechanism of apatite growth on both melt-derived (Bioglass®) and sol-gel derived (TheraGlass®) bioactive glass surfaces. By using a combination of 1H, 13C, 31P, 29Si and 23Na, using one and two dimensional NMR spectroscopy, the inhibitive effects of serum proteins in the mechanism of the apatite growth was revealed. The solid-state NMR experimental data support the hydroxycarbonate apatite formation mechanism proposed by Hench. Apatite formation takes place from the largely amorphous phosphate ions initially deposited on the glass surface. Serum proteins adsorbed on the glass surface have been found to significantly inhibit the apatite formation. Multiple sodium sites have been identified in Bioglass® composition with the formation of a more ordered local structure on increasing immersion time.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceUniversity of WarwickEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)GBUnited Kingdo

Leadership, innovazione e cambiamento organizzativo. Promuovere comunità di apprendimento professionale

Il concetto di Professional Learning Community (PLC) riconosce l’importanza di un processo di apprendimento continuo per tutti i suoi membri, promuovendo una cultura della ricerca, della sperimentazione e dell’innovazione come condizione necessaria in un ambiente complesso e dinamico per rispondere ai bisogni degli studenti. Le sfide educative del ventunesimo secolo sono spesso adattive e, dal punto di vista organizzativo, non possono essere affrontate seguendo una gerarchia verticale di decisioni-azioni e normali procedure operative. Weick e Sutcliffe hanno definito le organizzazioni capaci di affrontare le crisi con successo (High Reliability Organizations – HRO) come pienamente consapevoli e capaci di anticipare e contenere l’inatteso, sviluppando alte competenze e capacità decisionali, conoscenza trasformativa e responsabilità condivise. Applicata al contesto scolastico, la creazione di HRO si traduce nell’attenzione verso tutti quegli elementi che caratterizzano la scuola come definizione di una visione condivisa, investimento sulla formazione del personale, promozione di pratiche collaborative, ricerca, sperimentazione e innovazione, creazione di sistemi efficaci di knowledge management, apertura e interazioni con il territorio, sostegno a pratiche di leadership condivisa

Are Biodegradable Plastics The Future For Agricultural Mulch Film Applications?

This report summarises the findings of a focus group conducted by the University of Bologna on May 25, 2023, as part of the BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE project. With the aim to investigate the potential of biodegradable plastics to increase the sustainability of the agriculture sector, the focus group was joined by stakeholders, experts and researchers from public and private organisations representing the whole value chains. Using system thinking and multi-dimensional analysis, the findings reveal that biodegradable plastics have a high potential to contribute to the sustainability of the agriculture sector. However, many questions remain open and multiple measures must be implemented. Among the priorities, the most compelling are: 1. To increase farmers’ awareness about the impact of certain practices to the soil and the human health 2. To define applications and contexts where conventional mulch films are still a valid option, provided that removal, collection and recycling is ensured 3. To invest in R&D to improve the technical characteristics of biodegradable mulch films 4. To introduce guidelines for better removal of conventional mulch films from soils 5. To establish mandatory or voluntary Extended Producer Responsibility schemes in each EU country It follows that biodegradable plastics are not conceived as a stand-alone solution but as one of the alternatives in a more comprehensive sustainability roadmap. These elements reveal the necessity for a systemic joint policy intervention in the sector oriented to build up new business ecosystems, going beyond the boundaries of a single business to embrace collective actions in innovative ecosystems

Are Bio-Based Plastics The Future For Toy Applications?

This report summarises the findings of a multi-stakeholder dialogue conducted by the University of Bologna on November 11th 2022 at Ecomondo1, and presented on March22nd, 2023 at the bio!TOY20232 conference. The initiative is part of BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE project and aims to investigate the potential of bio-based plastics to increase the sustainability of the toy industry. In the form of focus group, the discussion was joined by experts and stakeholders from public and private organisations representing the whole toy value chain. With the use of system thinking and multi-dimensional analysis, the findings reveal that bio-based plastics have high potential to contribute to the sustainability of the toy industry if: 1. Eco-design for recycling criteria are defined 2. Strict methodology to assess environmental benefits is established 3. Robust communication about product sustainability is introduced 4. Clear information about the bio-based content is provided 5. Rigorous assessment of recyclability and biodegradability properties in range environments is performed. It follows that bio-based plastics are not conceived as a stand-alone solution but as one alternative in a more comprehensive sustainability roadmap. These elements reveal the necessity for a systemic joint policy intervention in the sector oriented to build up new business ecosystems, going beyond the boundaries of a single business to embrace collective actions

L'esercizio dell'autonomia nel dirigere scuole: creare legami a servizio di un territorio

Il contributo \ue8 frutto di un progetto di ricerca pluriennale promosso dall\u2019Istituto d\u2019Istru- zione Secondaria Superiore Carlo Emilio Gadda di Fornovo di Taro (Parma) nell\u2019ambito delle attivit\ue0 di promozione e orientamento nanziate della Regione Emilia-Romagna e dall\u2019Ufficio Scolastico Regionale per l\u2019Emilia-Romagna