Sköpun í stafrænum heimi: Sjónarmið myndmenntakennara

Markmið rannsóknarinnar var að kanna notkun snjalltækja í listgreinum. Í ljósi aukinnar notkunar snjalltækja í skólastarfi og mikilvægis skapandi hugsunar er leitast við að kanna hvernig slík tæki eru notuð í myndmenntakennslu. Jafnframt er markmiðið að kanna notkunarmöguleika tækninnar í myndmennt og tækifæri til sköpunar. Í rannsókninni var notuð eigindleg rannsóknaraðferð og tekin hálfopin viðtöl við fjóra myndmenntakennara og einn margmiðlunarkennara sem starfa í grunnskólum á höfuðborgarsvæðinu. Tilgangurinn var að svara eftirfarandi rannsóknarspurningum: Hver er tilgangurinn með notkun snjalltækja í myndmennt, hvernig nota kennarar tækin í kennslu og hver eru tækifærin til sköpunar? Í þessari grein eru skoðuð viðhorf kennara til tækninnar og snjalltæki sem verkfæri skoðuð. Niðurstöður leiddu í ljós að snjalltæki eru notuð sem tiltekin verkfæri í myndmenntakennslu en þau nýtast nemendum við upplýsingaleit, hugmyndavinnu og efnisleit. Notkun snjalltækja kemur ekki í staðinn fyrir hefðbundnar aðferðir í myndmennt heldur er meginhlutverk þeirra að styðja vinnuferli og verkefni nemenda. Þrátt fyrir takmarkaða notkun snjalltækja í myndmennt og ólík viðhorf kennara til notkunar tækninnar í greininni gefa niðurstöður til kynna að upplýsingatækni og gagnvirkir miðlar geti eflt skapandi hugsun nemenda. Færni nemenda til sköpunar og þekking þeirra á tækninni gegnir þar stóru hlutverki. Í myndmennt geta skapast tækifæri fyrir kennara til að breyta kennsluháttum sínum með því að nýta snjalltæki á virkan hátt við ný verkefni sem annars væru óframkvæmanleg. Þannig getur tæknin bæði nýst til að breyta nálgun og stutt hefðbundnar aðferðir.Ritrýnd grei

Rehabilitation of pure alexia:A review

Acquired reading problems caused by brain injury (alexia) are common, either as a part of an aphasic syndrome, or as an isolated symptom. In pure alexia, reading is impaired while other language functions, including writing, are spared. Being in many ways a simple syndrome, one would think that pure alexia was an easy target for rehabilitation efforts. We review the literature on rehabilitation of pure alexia from 1990 to the present, and find that patients differ widely on several dimensions, such as alexia severity and associated deficits. Many patients reported to have pure alexia in the reviewed studies, have associated deficits such as agraphia or aphasia and thus do not strictly conform to the diagnosis. Few studies report clear and generalisable effects of training, none report control data, and in many cases the reported findings are not supported by statistics. We can, however, tentatively conclude that Multiple Oral Re-reading techniques may have some effect in mild pure alexia where diminished reading speed is the main problem, while Tacile-Kinesthetic training may improve letter identification in more severe cases of alexia. There is, however, still a great need for well-designed and controlled studies of rehabilitation of pure alexia

The Wicked Problem of Regional Development Policy in Iceland

This paper forms a part of a larger project sponsored by the European Union ́s Hori-zon 2020 research and innovation programme, which goes by the acronym ArcticHubs: Global drivers, local consequences: Tools for global adaption and sustainable develop-ment of industrial and cultural Arctic “hubs”, (https://projects.luke.fi/arctichubs/), under the grant agreement No. 869580. We would like to thank our anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and suggestions which have led to significant improvement of this paperWith increasing globalization, the influence of global drivers on local livelihood and prosperity is becoming more apparent at the local level. Global drivers are for the most part driven by economic incentives and often disregard sustainable rural development. This paper uses a political economy perspective to investigate how global impacts are affecting regional development policy. This is accomplished via content analysis and literary study of regional development policy documents post-2000 in Iceland, recognized as a predominately rural island nation. Contributing to the literature on public administration and policy in Iceland and elsewhere, the paper argues that regional development and sustainability in rural regions is a wicked problem and emphasises the importance of a holistic perspective in sustainable regional and rural development. Conclusions suggest that place-specific, nuanced approach needs to be taken to meet the demands of sustainable development. As influenced by the new regionalism, places, and the communities within them, differ in environmental, economic, social, and cultural ways. The uniqueness of places underpins the vital importance of inhabitants ́ participation in decision making. Moreover, addressing wicked problems at the community level is an easier and a more transparent way to diagnose and manage issues of concern.Peer reviewe

Geopolitical tensions framing different industries in the European Arctic: aquaculture, forestry, mining, and tourism in question

Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine in early 2022 has brought geopolitics, particularly classical geopolitics, back into the political and economic discussions and decision-making. Discursive, as well as real-world change, has been rapid, as the turn of the 21st century was the time of globalisation and neoliberal ideology – the free movement of people, products, and services. However, in this paper, we argue that classical geopolitics has defined the development of Northern industries even before the war began in 2022. Our interview data (n = 60) collected in the advent of the Russian invasion of Ukraine reveal that the themes of state power; ‘hard’ security meaning military armament; the economy as a field of national interests; and spill-over effects of geopolitical tensions between superpowers have framed economic fortunes in the European Arctic. It is concluded that the state actors’ interests in the European Arctic’s physical space and natural assets will be increasingly expanding.publishedVersio

Exploring land use conflicts arising from economic activities andtheir impacts on local communities in the European Arctic

The European Arctic is commonly thought of as a pristine and homogeneousarea. In reality, it is a diverse region experiencing growth relying on naturalresource extraction. Despite local communities being primarily affected byindustry activities, most socioeconomic impact assessments are conducted atthe macro level. This study addresses this gap by examining the impacts ofeconomic activities on local communities. Using secondary data and semi-structured interviews from 15 hubs in five European Arctic countries, thestudy draws on locally relevant insights. Findings indicate that many activitiesfocus on economic growth, and existing strategies do not adequately addressbiophysical boundaries. Furthermore, alternative activities need to be devel-oped in a more balanced manner that aligns with the needs of indigenousand local communities. Finally, participation of various actors in future devel-opments is critical to reduce the negative impacts of industry activities. Land use conflicts; forestry;indigenous people;extractive industries; tourismpublishedVersio

Geotourism

Geotourism is one of the newest concepts within the field of tourism, and primarily focuses on promoting geological and geomorphological features in landscapes as tourist attractions. This new niche market segment within tourism is based on the conservation of geoheritage and geodiversity through appropriate sustainability measures and management. Geotourism is, however, a broad concept which encompasses many aspects of a range of tourism activities, such as transport, accommodation, destination amenities, recreation, planning, and management. A testament to the rapid growth of geotourism worldwide is the expansion of membership of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network, from 20 geoparks when it was founded in 2004 to 140 in 2018 (Global Geopark Network: http://www.globalgeopark.org/homepageaux/tupai/6513.htm). Concurrent with the growth of geotourism, there has been an explosion in the number of scientific publications on issues related to the subject over the past few years. To date, the major focus of these publications has been on geotourism as an economic driver with respect to rural development. This special issue of Geotourism presents a collection of 11 scientific contributions that underpin the intimate connection between geotourism and its geological resources, while at the same time highlighting the broad scope of geotourism. These contributions increase our understanding of how geotourism has evolved over time, as well as its setting out what challenges it faces in the future

The Role of Public Participation for Determining Sustainability Indicators for Arctic Tourism

The new paradigm of sustainable development highlights the importance of enforcing defined boundaries between economies, societies, and the environment within a system. Sustainability indicators are tools that have proven to be a successful aid in defining and creating system boundaries. This paper focuses on the development of sustainability indicators for Arctic tourism, with a special emphasis on the role of public participation in their determination. It presents a stakeholder-centric approach to indicator selection by developing a framework that effectively integrates public participation in the processes of indicators’ selection and designation, and highlights the importance of combining local and expert knowledge in these processes. The results reveal that the making of sustainability indicators is an ideal platform for local voices to be heard, and thus to have a significant stake in the overall process of tourism development. The most effective way to make their voices heard in the final decision-making process is via their evaluation of the adaptability and prioritization of these indicators. The results, furthermore, stress that sustainability indicators need to be constantly re-evaluated and updated, as tourism is part of a complex and dynamic system that is constantly changing. To provide a holistic vision of the impact of economic, environmental, and social factors, as well as the causality between them in the system, sustainability indicators must be integrated from many indicators. Since the monitoring of conventional indicators is often less complicated and more cost-effective than the monitoring of integrated indicators, a better result can however be reached by combining conventional indicators with sustainability indicators

Aðild að málum er varða umhverfið

Meginmarkmið þessarar ritgerðar er að gera grein fyrir þeim aðildarreglum er gilda á sviði umhverfisréttar og hvaða úrræði almenningur hefur til að láta til sín taka í þeim efnum. Í því augnamiði verður gerð grein fyrir því hvort réttlæta megi rýmri aðild að umhverfismálum á sviði stjórnsýslunnar í ákveðnum tilvikum. Þessar aðildarreglur verða síðan skoðaðar með tilliti til þeirra breytinga sem urðu að landsrétti í kjölfar fullgildingar Árósasamningsins. Einnig verður það skoðað hvort hagsmunaregla stjórsýsluréttar sé rýmri en hagsmunaregla réttarfars. Í þvi samhengi verður skoðuð skörun og samspil milli aðildareglna stjórnsýsluréttar og réttarfars. Jafnframt verður fjallað um möguleika aðila stjórnsýslumáls á að bera úrlausn stjórnvalds undir dómstóla, einkum þegar aðild er byggð á frávikum frá hagsmunareglu stjórnsýsluréttar. Að lokum verða dregin saman helstu sjónarmið sem gilda um aðild að stjórnsýslumálum á sviði umhverfismála, réttarstöðu almennings á sviðinu og hver gildandi réttur er í dag

"This continues to be about our employees and the success of the workplace" Human resource management during the Covid-19 pandemic

Þessi ritgerð fjallar um mannauðsstjórnun á tímum Covid-19 heimsfaraldurs. Markmiðið var að afla skilnings og þekkingar á reynslu mannauðsstjóra í heimsfaraldrinum, rýna í þau áhrif sem faraldurinn hafði á starf þeirra og afla upplýsinga um hvernig þeir sjá málaflokkinn þróast til framtíðar. Framkvæmd var eigindleg viðtalsrannsókn, þar sem tekin voru hálfopin viðtöl við níu starfandi mannauðsstjóra hjá litlum, meðalstórum og stórum skipulagsheildum sem voru ýmist starfandi í einkageiranum eða á opinberum vettvangi. Helstu niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar benda til þess að meginhlutverk mannauðsstjóra hafi ekki tekið miklum breytingum vegna Covid-19, en að starfið hafi orðið veigameira, flóknara og krafist aukins sveigjanleika. Heimsfaraldurinn hefur leitt til breytts vinnuumhverfis og nýrra starfshátta, sem fela í sér ýmis tækifæri en einnig áskoranir fyrir mannauðsstjóra. Niðurstöður benda jafnframt til þess að í framtíðinni muni hlutverk mannauðsstjóra einkennast í vaxandi mæli af ráðgjöf og stuðning við þá sem eru með mannaforráð og að mannauðsstjórnun verði hluti af almennri stjórnun innan skipulagsheilda. Sýn þátttakenda á framtíð málaflokksins er mismunandi. Mikill meirihluti þátttakenda taldi að mannauðsstjórnun myndi þróast, eflast og taka miklum breytingum til framtíðar. Mun færri sáu fyrir sér að mannauðsstjórnun færi í sama horf og fyrir Covid-19. Hins vegar var sameiginleg niðurstaða allra að stafrænar lausnir væru komnar til að vera. Helsti lærdómur af rannsókninni er að þrátt fyrir fordæmalausar og erfiðar aðstæður hafi mannauðsstjórar ekki misst sjónar á meginhlutverki sínu heldur sýnt sveigjanleika, verið úrræðagóðir og lausnamiðaðir til að varðveita öryggi og líðan starfsfólks og tryggja árangur skipulagsheildar sinnar.This thesis focuses on human resource management during the Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to gain understanding and knowledge about the experiences of human resource managers during the pandemic and examine the impact it had on their work. The aim was also to explore how human resource managers see the field evolve in the future. A qualitative interview study was conducted which included semi-structured interviews with nine human resource managers in small, medium, and large organisations, in the private and the public sector. The findings of the study indicate that the main role of human resource managers did not change much due to Covid-19. Their role, however, became more important, more complex and required more flexibility. The pandemic led to changes in the work environment and called for new work practices, which brought various opportunities as well as challenges for human resource managers. The findings also suggest that the role of human resource managers will shift towards supporting and advising managers and leaders within organisations to a larger extent. It furthermore seems likely that human resource management will develop to become a strong part of the general management within organisations. The human resource managers who participated in the study saw the future developments in different ways. The vast majority saw the field undergoing major changes, evolving, and strengthening in the future, while a small minority believed the field would go back to the same state as before the Covid-19 pandemic. However, all participants agreed that digital solutions were here to stay. A main conclusion of the study is that despite unprecedented and difficult times, human resource managers never lost sight of their main role. They have been flexible, resourceful, and solution-oriented to maintain employees security and wellbeing, as well as ensuring the success of the organisation