24 research outputs found
Hard measures for soft stuff: citizenship indicators and educational policy under the Lisbon Strategy
How far is the European Union a vehicle for inclusion and empowerment of a new range of policy actors in education? This article explores the role of actors in policy formation through a case study. It examines European Union attempts since 2000 to develop indicators of ‘active citizenship’ and ‘education and training for active citizenship’. It is based on two main sources: policy documents on the development of indicators and benchmarks; and a case study of an exercise (2005-07) to develop such indicators, initiated by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture. It shows that policy actors have attempted to take advantage of the Open Method of Coordination, often seen as a neo-liberal control mechanism, to ensure that citizenship remains on the
policy agenda
Graphitic Carbon Nitride as a Catalyst Support in Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers
Electrochemical power sources such as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) require the use of precious metal catalysts, which are deposited as nanoparticles onto supports in order to minimize their mass loading and therefore cost. State-of-the-art/commercial supports are based on forms of carbon black. However, carbon supports present disadvantages including corrosion in the operating fuel cell environment and loss of catalyst activity. Here we review recent work examining the potential of different varieties of graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) as catalyst supports, highlighting their likely benefits, as well as the challenges associated with their implementation. The performance of gCN and hybrid gCN-carbon materials as PEMFC electrodes is discussed, as well as their potential for use in alkaline systems and water electrolyzers. We illustrate the discussion with examples taken from our own recent studies.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Graphene Flagship under Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme grant agreement No. 696656 – GrapheneCore1 and from the EPSRCEP/L017091/1. C.M. acknowledges the award of a Royal Society University Research Fellowship by the UK Royal Society
European Union broadcasting and telecoms: towards a convergent regulatory regime?
After placing the development of EU broadcasting and telecommunications policy into its historical context, the article argues that the EU, having traditionally found it difficult to develop a regulatory regime concerning content and culture, has primarily utilized telecommunications regulation in regard to broadcasting. This framework is a necessary but insufficient base for the regulation of convergent technologies