D4.3 Catalogue of mobility best practices

RECIPROCITY aims to transform European cities into climate-resilient and connected, multimodal nodes for smart and clean mobility. The project's innovative four-stage replication approach is designed to showcase and disseminate best practices for sustainable urban development and mobility. As part of this project, this catalogue of mobility provides guidance and direction for mobility services providers and cities looking to implement sustainable mobility solutions. It is based on interviews and results from RECIPROCITY workshops and webinars and is designed to help cities across Europe become more resilient, connected, and sustainable. The catalogue of best practices is a critical component of the project's four-stage replication approach. It includes a range of strategies and tools for sustainable urban development and mobility, such as innovative transport modes, smart mobility solutions, and sustainable infrastructure. The catalogue also provides guidance on how to implement these best practices and adapt them to local contexts, ensuring they are feasible and cost-effective

Green or Greed? An Alternative Look at CEO Compensation and Corporate Environmental Commitment

This study relies on environmental stewardship, a stakeholder-enlarged view of stewardship theory, and institutional theory to analyze the relationship between CEO compensation and firms’ environmental commitment in a worldwide sample of 520 large listed firms. Our findings show that environment friendly firms pay their CEOs less total compensation and rely less on incentive-based compensation than environment careless firms. This negative relationship is stronger in institutional contexts where national environmental regulations are weaker. Our findings have important theoretical meaning and practical implications. Results show that CEOs do not necessarily act opportunistically; rather some of them may be willing to act as stewards of the natural environment and accept a lower, less incentive-based compensation from environment friendly firms. This study also provides evidence of the important influence of the institutional context in setting-up CEO compensation as the relationship is stronger when national environmental regulations are weaker. Our findings question the universal validity of agency theory in explaining CEO compensation. Compensation based on pecuniary incentives might be less indicated to motivate CEOs who feel rewarded by playing a stewardship role for environment friendly firms. When designing compensation for CEOs, compensation committees and external compensation advisors should consider psychological and institutional factors that might affect CEO motivation

Do CEO social connections promote corporate malpractices? Evidence from classification shifting

This paper examines the effect of CEOs’ external social connections with other executives and directors on classification shifting, a widespread malpractice that inflates core earnings by altering the presentation of income statement line items without affecting bottom-line income. Using a sample of 995 UK listed firms in the period 2005 to 2016 and relying on the assumptions of social capital theory and the rent-extraction perspective, we find that CEOs with a larger number of external connections are more likely to engage in classification shifting. Further results indicate that this phenomenon occurs particularly when well-connected CEOs are local and/or are in the early years of their service. Collectively, the results suggest that social connections promote corporate malpractices that are unlikely to cause reputational losses. Overall, we contribute to the literature by providing evidence that the social capital of the CEO is an important driver of classification shifting

Ethnic minorities, income inequalities and the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from English local councils

This study examines the effects of ethnic minority populations and income inequalities on COVID-19 excess mortality within English local councils. We demonstrate empirically that councils with large ethnic minority populations and high-income inequalities exhibit higher excess mortality during the first wave of the pandemic. We further show that the association between a large ethnic minority population and high excess mortality is manifested significantly more in councils with larger income inequalities. Our findings call for immediate actions and long-term policies to address social and income inequalities as these inequalities affect population health conditions

Biodiversity reporting for governmental organisations: Evidence from English local councils

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyse the current nature and content of biodiversity reporting practices adopted by English local councils. By adopting a multi-theoretical framework that relies on economic and social theories such as agency, stakeholder, legitimacy and institutional theories, this study also aims to investigate the factors that explain the extent of biodiversity disclosure provided by local councils. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a self-constructed disclosure index to analyse the biodiversity-related information published in the official websites of 351 English local councils. A multivariate analysis was conducted to analyse the association between local councils’ characteristics and biodiversity disclosure. Findings – This study shows that the information disclosed on local biodiversity is limited and does not allow the interested stakeholders to get a comprehensive picture of the current status of local biodiversity. It also provides evidence that the level of biodiversity disclosure is significantly associated with the level of local council’s population, the presence of councillors from environmentally-oriented parties and environmental non-governmental organisations operating in the local council area, poor biodiversity management practices and local councils’ visibility. Originality/value – This study is one of the few accounting studies that provides a comprehensive analysis of biodiversity disclosure by analysing its nature and content and investigating the factors associated with such disclosure. It extends agency, stakeholder, institutional and legitimacy theories, by showing that local councils use voluntary disclosures to satisfy the informational needs of the main stakeholders and to assure that their strategies and practices conform to the values and expectations of the community they represent

Language data and project specialist: A new modular profile for graduates in language-related disciplines. UPSKILLS Intellectual output 1.6

The UPSKILLS needs analysis explored the current academic offer in language- and linguistics-related fields (modern languages and cultures, translation, general linguistics, etc.) and the requirements the job market has for graduates in these areas. The analysis highlighted the need for a new skill set and a new mind frame to meet the demands as well as the professional challenges of the industry. Taking into consideration the results of the individual components of the needs analysis, this final report outlines a new professional profile, that of the language data and project specialist, and includes a detailed description of the knowledge, skills and competences that present-day and future graduates in languages and linguistics should obtain to improve their employability in the digital business sector

Competences, skills and tasks in today's jobs for linguists: Evidence from a corpus of job advertisements. UPSKILLS Intellectual output 1.3

The corpus-based analysis of job advertisements is part of the UPSKILLS needs analysis. Its objective is twofold. First, it aims to provide an overview of the knowledge, skills and competences mentioned in job posts targeting graduates in language-related degrees or professionals with expertise in this area, as well as of the typical tasks and responsibilities associated with these positions. Second, it aims to provide an initial list of companies at the crossroads between the language sector and the digital sector, which can be involved as stakeholders for the dissemination of UPSKILLS results

Social performance and social media activity in times of pandemic: evidence from COVID-19-related Twitter activity

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine corporate disclosure of stakeholder-oriented actions on Twitter in response to COVID-19 during the pandemic outbreak and to empirically investigate whetherfirms’ social performance and their financial resilience impact on their engagement in, and communication of, stakeholder-oriented COVID-19 actions. Design/methodology/approach This study scrapes a sample of tweets communicated by major global listed firms between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020 and identifies disclosures that mention firm engagement in stakeholder-oriented actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cross-sectional regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between firms’ social performance and the number of tweets they post about stakeholder-oriented COVID-19 actions. Further, firms’ financial resilience is examined as a moderating factor of this relationship. Findings The results show that firms with better social performance are more likely to engage in and, hence, communicate stakeholder-oriented actions for the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter. Moreover, it is evident that firms with better social performance communicate more stakeholder-oriented actions only when they belong to industries that have not been severely impacted by the pandemic. Originality/value This study has two important contributions. First, this study provides contemporary evidence of corporate disclosure of firms and their stakeholder-oriented actions on Twitter in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during the initial outbreak period. Second, it reveals insights into what characteristics drive firms to engage in costly corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, and promote them on social media, in a period characterized by high economic uncertainty

Relatórios de estágio supervisionado: um mecanismo de transferência de tecnologia para os cursos de engenharia

The present study has takeninto account the reasoning of Sábato triangle and reports from Supervised Training Curriculum of Engineering Course at the University as a study tool to verify the possibility of becoming a mechanism for technology transfer. The general objective of this research was to verify whether the Supervised Training Curriculum Reports of Engineering Courses have been or could be mechanisms for technology transfer. It is believed that the collection, organization and dissemination of data obtained through the reports may cause a change on the behavior of the actors involvedin the Supervised Training process. In order to achieve such a goal it was chosen an applied qualitative research approach by considering the dynamic relationship between the real world and the subjective one. The research was documentary (Supervised Training Curriculum Reports) from Engineering Courses of Federal Technological University of Paraná - Campus CornélioProcópio. Interviews with supervisors teachers have been made in order to identify requirements to the work of guidance and supervision of professional training since such reports could facilitate the dialogue between Education Institutions and Labor Market. It is suggested a new way of “seeing” theSupervised Training Curriculum and its reports by innovating and providing the acquired information and knowledge as well as adapting the academic period to society as a whole.O presente estudo teve como linha de raciocínio o triângulo de sábato e os relatórios de estágio Curricular Supervisionado do Curso de Engenharia na Universidade como ferramenta de estudo a fim de verificar a possibilidade de este tornar-se um mecanismo de transferência de tecnologia. O objetivo geral dessa pesquisa foi verificar se os relatórios de Estágio Curricular Supervisionado dos Cursos de Engenharia estão sendo ou poderiam ser mecanismos de transferência de tecnologia. Acredita-se que a compilação, organização e divulgação de dados obtidos através dos relatórios podem provocar uma mudança de comportamento nos atores envolvidos no processo do Estágio Curricular Supervisionado. Neste trabalho optamos por uma pesquisa aplicada com abordagem qualitativa, pela relação dinâmica entre o mundo real e o subjetivo. A pesquisa foi documental (Relatórios de Estágio Curricular Supervisionado) dos Cursos de Engenharia da Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná – Campus de Cornélio Procópio. Entrevistas com os professores supervisores dos estágios foram feitas a fim de identificar quesitos para o trabalho de orientação e supervisão de estágio profissional, pois tais relatórios poderiam viabilizar a interlocução entre as Instituições de Ensino e as Empresas. Sugere-se um novo olhar para o Estágio Curricular Supervisionado, e o relatório do mesmo, inovando-o, disponibilizando as informações e o conhecimento adquirido e transformando o período acadêmico à sociedade como um todo

La formazione in traduzione fra competenze, professione e civismo Alcune riflessioni sul service-learning

La formazione in traduzione ha avuto un rapido sviluppo negli ultimi venti anni ed   stata accompagnata da un'intensa riflessione sulle competenze e sugli approcci pedagogici necessari per acquisirle, anche sulla spinta di iniziative come la rete EMT (European Master's in Translation), che hanno favorito i contatti fra istituzioni di istruzione superiore che formano traduttori/rici professionisti/e. Particolare attenzione   stata posta, soprattutto nell'ultimo periodo, sulle competenze pi  strettamente legate alla professione. Questo contributo intende offrire una panoramica dei principali quadri delle competenze e dei principali approcci pedagogici proposti per lo sviluppo di tali competenze (informazioni non sistematicamente disponibili in lingua italiana). Su questa base propone poi l'introduzione di un approccio pedagogico noto come service-learning, attualmente sperimentato in diversi contesti universitari, in Italia e all'estero, il cui valore per la formazione in ambito traduttivo risulta ancora inesplorato. L'intervento si conclude con alcuni suggerimenti pratici per la sperimentazione di un'esperienza di service-learning in un contesto universitario italiano.In the past two decades there has been a substantial increase in the number of translator education programmes, that has gone hand in hand with intense reflection on translation competences and on the pedagogic approaches needed to acquire them. An important role has been played by network initiatives such as the EMT (European Master's in Translation), which have strengthened collaboration among higher education institutions that educate future language professionals. Particular attention has been devoted, especially in the latest years, to professional competences. In this contribution we survey the main competence frameworks and pedagogic approaches proposed for the acquisition of such competences. Based on these premises, we argue for the introduction of a new pedagogic approach known as service-learning, which is being tested and used in higher education settings internationally, but that is still not widely employed in translation pedagogy. We conclude with some practical suggestions for the implementation of service-learning in an Italian university translation programme