Better late than never: Leading hospitality toward a more sustainable path

This doctoral thesis starts with the idea that tourism and hospitality are nature-based industries, since the natural environment plays an extremely relevant role in the attractiveness of tourist destinations and the competitiveness of hospitality businesses. At the same time, however, hospitality companies are responsible for the production of a significant amount of waste and the consumption of a large quantity of natural resources. Hotels and lodgings in general are \u201cboth victims and contributors\u201d of environmental degradation, a situation that has led to the so-called \u201cresource-paradox\u201d: the production of tourism experience, in fact, requires the simultaneous consumption and protection of natural resources. This issue was worsened by the exponential growth of this industry in recent decades, and sustainability has become a necessary response to the size and growth of tourism. Despite the increasing need for hospitality to limit its environmental impacts, and despite the large number of research papers dealing with sustainable tourism, sustainability still remains an ongoing debate and several tourist businesses are far from being sustainable in practice. The overall aim of this doctoral dissertation is therefore to make a contribution to reducing the gap between theory and practice in order to help the further dissemination of environmentally sustainable behaviors in hospitality businesses. More specifically, the purpose of the research is to investigate the modalities in which sustainable practices can be implemented, the main drivers for their implementation and the barriers that may constrain their implementation, both from the perspective of hospitality managers and tourists. The thesis comprises 3 research papers. Although each paper deals with different aspects of the same issue, i.e. environmental sustainability in the hospitality industry, they are to be considered as 3 separate papers. The thesis starts with a review of the literature on environmental sustainability in the hospitality industry, and this is followed by two empirical investigations. The literature review helped systematize concepts related to modalities, motivations and barriers for environmentally sustainable practices in hospitality, and provided a starting point for exploratory research. The first empirical investigation adopts a qualitative methodology and addresses hospitality managers\u2019 perspectives in order to explore the validity in a real context of the concepts that emerged from the literature review. The second empirical investigation is quantitative and takes into account the tourist perspectives. Considering the perspectives of both the \u201cproducers\u201d and the \u201cconsumers\u201d of tourism experiences was deemed important to triangulate concepts and increase the overall validity of the research. The three chapters are briefly described below. The first paper is titled \u201cEnvironmental sustainability and hospitality. A literature review on modalities, motivations and barriers\u201d, and aims to critically review and systematize the following issues: (a) modalities for the implementation of environmentally sustainable behaviors in the hospitality industry; (b) motivations that drive hospitality managers to the implementation of environmentally sustainable behavior; and (c) barriers that may constrain the implementation of environmentally sustainable behavior. After conducting a content analysis of 44 research papers, I was able to classify concepts and create two theoretical frameworks: the HOW framework encompasses 5 areas for the implementation of environmentally sustainable behavior, i.e. waste management, water conservation, energy conservation, sustainable purchasing and people involvement; the WHY/WHY NOT framework involves 4 types of motivations and barriers that drive/prevent hospitality managers from implementing environmentally sustainable behavior, i.e. direct monetary motivations/barriers; indirect monetary motivations/barriers; non-monetary motivations/barriers; and personal motivations/barriers. These frameworks, in addition to adding to the existing literature on sustainability and hospitality, are a useful starting point for further exploratory research. The second paper is titled \u201cEnvironmental sustainability and hospitality. An exploratory research on modalities, motivations and barriers\u201d and builds on the findings of the previous paper in order to explore the validity and applicability of both theoretical frameworks in a real context. I conducted qualitative research based on primary data, through on-site visits and interviews with 18 managers of different lodging facilities, 8 located in the mature destination of Verona (Italy) and 8 located in the emerging context of Huelva (Spain), investigating modalities, motivations and barriers to the implementation of environmentally sustainable behavior. A middle ground approach to textual analysis was selected, starting from the theoretical underpinnings of the research, i.e. the two theoretical frameworks, but also taking into account recurrent and emerging themes. I was therefore able to incorporate emerging issues and provide adjusted versions of both frameworks: in the adjusted HOW framework the 5 areas for the implementation of environmentally sustainable behaviors are further divided into two sub-areas, increasing the specificity of the framework. In the adjusted WHY/WHY NOT framework, non-monetary facilitators together with motivations are included. Moreover, organizational facilitators and organizational barriers are added as a sub-category of non-monetary facilitators and barriers, respectively. Besides supporting the validity of both frameworks in a real context, the study has useful managerial implications about the advantages and disadvantages of environmental sustainability in the hospitality industry and about the potential sources of support for the successful implementation of environmentally sustainable behavior. However, only managerial perspectives are addressed in this work, while the perspective of other relevant stakeholders are lacking. The third paper, \u201cEnvironmental sustainability and hospitality. How sustainability influences customers\u2019 behavioral intentions\u201d, takes into account the perspectives of a relevant stakeholder in the hospitality industry, i.e. tourists. The aim of the research is to investigate whether and to what extent different environmentally sustainable practices affect customers\u2019 intentions when choosing a hotel, their expected satisfaction during the stay and willingness to pay a higher price in order to stay in \u201cgreen\u201d accommodation. I conducted quantitative research through online questionnaires to 237 respondents, asking the extent to which 10 different sustainable practices influence hotel choice, expected satisfaction and willingness to pay a 5% higher price. Sustainable practices were derived from the two previous papers and are of three different types: \u201chealth related\u201d, \u201cindirect involvement\u201d and \u201clow comfort\u201d environmentally sustainable practices. Results support the idea that different sustainable practices have a different influence on customers\u2019 behavioral intentions and while all types of practices positively affect hotel choice and expected satisfaction, some practices display a neutral or even negative influence on customers\u2019 willingness to pay a higher price. The research adds to previous literature, supporting the idea that environmental sustainability is not a unique concept but involves different dimensions, that in turn display a different influence on customers\u2019 behavioral intentions. In addition, practical implications for hospitality managers can be derived, and in particular I was able to create a ranking of priorities for the implementation of sustainable practices, considering both the influence on customers\u2019 behavioral intentions and the economic effect on the hospitality organization of each sustainable practice. The limit of the study is that only behavioral intentions are considered, while often there is a gap between intentions and actual behavior. To sum up, this doctoral thesis provides important theoretical contributions that add to the previous literature on environmental sustainability in the hospitality industry: the two adjusted theoretical frameworks encompass modalities, motivations and barriers to the implementation of environmentally sustainable practices and help to systematize concepts; moreover, the distinction of three types of environmentally sustainable behaviors contributes to clarifying the fact that environmental sustainability has numerous aspects and dimensions. From these theoretical contributions, relevant practical implications for hospitality managers can be derived, as outlined at the end of each paper. These may help to facilitate the further dissemination of sustainable practices and behaviors in hospitality companies. The overall limitation of this study is that it addresses only the environmental dimension of sustainability and only hospitality companies, among the many types of organization in the tourism value chain. The reason for this choice is that tourism, and hospitality in particular, are probably more concerned with the environmental dimension of sustainability, due to the \u201cresource-paradox\u201d and the dependence on the natural environment of tourist businesses. An attractive environment is a core product, in addition to service quality; hospitality can and should play a significant role in the achievement of environmental sustainability. However, sustainability is a holistic concept with economic and sociocultural dimensions that often overlap. In addition, hospitality is only a part of the tourism value chain, and other tourist businesses may also have relevant impacts. Therefore, the study opens possibilities for further research that should broaden the focus of the analysis to include the economic and sociocultural dimensions of sustainability and other kinds of tourist organizations, enhance and promote the dissemination of triple bottom line sustainability, which should be the ultimate goal not just of tourism but of society at large

Companions on the journey: an exploration of the value of communities of practice for the professional learning of early career secondary teachers in Australia

his study investigates the value that early career secondary teachers (ECSTs) in Australia might gain in their professional learning from belonging to a Community of Practice. In particular, it considers whether their self-efficacy, professional identity and social connection might be developed from belonging to these collaborative groups. The study was, in part, motivated by the recent statistics of the Initial Teacher Education: Data Report 20171 (AITSL, 2017c) that 15% of ECSTs in Australia consider permanently leaving the teaching profession within their first five years of teaching, whilst only 65% of graduating teachers (in 2015) attained a full-time ongoing position. The researcher has endeavoured, through her research and a review of literature, to determine the reasons behind these disturbing statistics and to generate possibilities for addressing these important issues. The conceptual framework of this research is based on an understanding of Communities of Practice as a quintessential type of Social Learning Space. Other Social Learning Spaces that this research considers are networks, such as the relatively recent phenomenon of TeachMeet, a 'grassroots' form of gathering, organised by teachers for teachers and online networks such as private Facebook groups and Twitter Personal Learning Networks (PLNs). The Value Creation Framework of Wenger, Trayner and de Laat (2011) has been adapted for use in these new contexts. A constructivist paradigm was used to design the research and a mixed methodology was employed as the most appropriate method to capture the breadth and depth of the ECST experience. This included a questionnaire, focus groups and semistructured interviews, which arose from a sample of participants drawn from the questionnaire. The data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Three key results emerged from this study, adding new knowledge to an understanding of how early career teachers can be supported through Communities of Practice. The first was that ECSTs in schools where there is high human, social and decisional capital within the staff and who work collaboratively to improve student outcomes through Communities of Practice, are in a superior position to those who do not. They have the opportunity, over time, to develop sustained self-efficacy, a strong professional identity and broad social connection. The second finding was that those who do not necessarily belong to a school Community of Practice, can find the support they need to develop these qualities through participating in external networks such as TeachMeet and/or participating in online, private Facebook groups or Twitter PLNs. These latter groups became 'virtual staff-rooms' offering particular support and professional learning particularly to casual relief teachers, those who were isolated in rural or remote areas and those who felt uncomfortable in their own school communities. The third and most significant of the findings was that those participants who belonged to both a school Community of Practice and one or more other Social Learning Spaces operated as brokers in a Landscape of Practice and were able to accelerate their professional learning more so than those who were in just one community. The original contribution of knowledge and understanding of the experiences of early career secondary teachers has significant implications for policy makers, Initial Teacher Education institutions and for secondary schools in ensuring that all ECSTs are given every opportunity to have a supported beginning to their teaching career and ongoing professional learning through collaborative structures within an overall culture of growth

Reducing uncertainty: an exploratory study of people's treatment decisions after transient ischaemic attack or minor stroke

Little is known about people's responses to the impact of a transient ischaemic attack or minor stroke on their health status and future risk of stroke. In this thesis my aims are: to explore how the experience of TIA or minor stroke affects people's perception of their health and their uptake of health maintenance measures; to examine people's assessment, interpretation and perceptions of evidence in relation to their stroke risk; to explore the ways in which people reach decisions about treatment options in the light of their personal experience and in the context of evidence-based healthcare; and to explore the effect of anticipated regret in these processes. I conducted 28 audiotaped one-to one interviews with a purposive sample of 20 participants, each of whom had previously experienced a TIA or minor stroke. Ten of them had carotid endarterectomy in addition to best medical treatment (BMT). The data collection and analysis used a reflexive approach, based on my clinical nursing practice in this field, and was informed by the constant comparative method of grounded theory. My findings show that the experience of TIA diminishes people's quality of life and leads to a process of acknowledgement versus denial of its potential threat to health. People access evidence from formal and informal sources in the process of reaching decisions about their treatment. Their decisions tend to be deterministic in nature, even when they are aware of the scientific evidence. I present a theoretical framework, in which the central theme is the person's use of strategies to reduce uncertainty relating to their risk of stroke. I propose that people's primary aim in seeking health care, accessing information, and making treatment choices after TIA or minor stroke, is to reduce their perception of uncertainty about the threat of a future stroke, rather than to reduce stroke risk itself. I discuss the implications of these findings in relation to directions for future research, health care policy and nursing practice

A novel day/night-technique for area-wide precipitation retrieval over Central Europe using MSG SEVIRI data

Knowledge of the spatio-temporal precipitation distribution is of great value in agriculture, water engineering, climatology and risk management. So far, no adequate method existed for the detection and monitoring of precipitation at high temporal and spatial resolutions in most parts of the world where radar networks are not available. Due to spectral constraints, existing retrieval techniques rely on a relationship between rainfall probability and intensity and the cloud top temperature measured in an infrared channel. These techniques show considerable drawbacks concerning precipitation processes in the mid-latitudes. Improved techniques for rain area identification based on spectral enhancements of new generation satellite systems used to be only available on polar orbiting platforms with poor temporal resolutions. Furthermore, these algorithms are only applicable during day-time. With the advent of Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) Spinning-Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) in 2004, a geostationary satellite system with significantly improved spectral and spatial resolutions has become available. The central aim of the present study therefore was to develop a novel method for operational precipitation detection during day- and night-time based on MSG SEVIRI data. The focus of the newly developed scheme lies on precipitation processes in the mid-latitudes in connection with extra-tropical cyclones. It is therefore not only applicable to convectively dominated rain areas but also to precipitating cloud areas of advective-stratiform character. The newly developed rainfall retrieval scheme based on the advanced second-generation GEO system MSG SEVIRI rests upon the following conceptual model: • Precipitating cloud areas are characterized by a sufficiently high cloud water path and ice particles in the upper part. • Cloud areas with higher rainfall intensities are characterized by a higher cloud water path and a higher amount of ice particles in the upper part. • Convective clouds with very high rainfall intensities are characterized by a large vertical extension and a high rising cold cloud top. Based on this conceptual design, the new retrieval scheme consists of an entirely new methodology compiling novel and innovative algorithms and approaches. The following three components are the focal parts of the novel technique: • A new algorithm for the identification of the rain area during day- and night-time was developed for SEVIRI. The method allows not only a proper detection of mainly convective rain areas but also enables the detection of advective-stratiform precipitation (e.g. in connection with mid-latitude frontal systems). It is based on information about the CWP and the cloud phase in the upper cloud regions. • An infrared retrieval technique appropriate for convective precipitation processes in the mid-latitudes was successfully transferred and adapted to MSG SEVIRI. The phenomenon of positive brightness temperature differences between the WV and IR channels (dTWV-IR), which enables the detection and classification of convectively dominated raining cloud areas was investigated for the WV and IR channels of SEVIRI. Based on radiative transfer calculations, which revealed the existence of positive ΔTWV-IR for all SEVIRI WV-IR differences, the dTWV technique could be applied and transferred to SEVIRI. • A new technique for precipitation process and rainfall intensity separation was developed for SEVIRI. The process separation and the further subdivision relies on information about the cloud top height, the cloud water path and the cloud phase in the upper parts. The subdivision is realized in a stepwise manner. In a first step the rain area is separated into the subareas of convective and advective-stratiform precipitation processes. In the following both separated process areas are divided into subareas of differing rainfall intensities. The process separation and the subdivision of the convective precipitation area relies on information about the cloud top height. The subdivision of the advective-stratiform precipitation area is based on information about the CWP and the particle phase in the upper parts of the cloud. The rain area and the process-oriented rainfall intensities detected and classified by the newly developed retrieval technique were validated against corresponding ground-based radar data of Germany, representative for mid-latitude precipitation processes. The results of the validation study indicate persuading performance of the new algorithm concerning rain area identification as well as process and intensity differentiation and indicate the stability of the introduced conceptual design

Networks of support: factors contributing to successful inter-agency work with young people

This study examines how agencies might work together more effectively to improve the life chances of young people who fall `through the net' of agency provision. Whatever the situation, the failure to co-operate challenges a democratic society and basic human rights. The problem occurs when individual primary care agencies either: • try to do on their own what can only be achieved by co-operation, or • fail to do anything because, in their view, the client's needs should be met by some other agency, or • only do what they can do on their own. The purpose of this study is to establish: • to what extent improvements in inter-agency co-operation would help agencies work more effectively with young people variously described as falling through the net, or on the margins of an agency's responsibility • what factors contribute to these improvements • what characterises effective models of inter-agency practice. The study finds that over the last thirty years, the legislative framework surrounding inter-agency co-operation for young people provides few examples of structures or procedures requiring agencies to co-operate. Where these exist, they have been set up in response to needs or crises of pressing concern at the time. Research into the practice of inter-agency work shows that successful inter-agency projects set up to meet the needs of those at risk of falling through the net follow a characteristic pattern. This led to the construction of a model based on the idea that successful inter-agency practice depends on the existence of collaborative activity at three interconnected levels: policy and planning; implementation, case work, research and training; networking/liaison. Projects supported at all three levels are more likely to be successful and survive than those which are not. This pattern can be replicated in different contexts and with different client groups to ensure effective co-ordination and redistribution of resources, and that a balance is held between preventative and proactive work. The model's key elements enable it to structure communication pathways within and between agencies, to co-ordinate activity in relation to a particular issue, to develop the interpersonal skills of participants and to provide feedback to policy makers. The research concludes that: • formal structures promoting inter-agency collaboration encourage agencies to innovate and to provide co-ordinated services for young people needing more support than can be provided by any one of them • inter-agency work has become a new area of professional and para professional expertise • models designed to help agencies meet the needs of people at risk can be applied to other projects set up to solve complex problems involving more than one department

Ordering terror, terrorizing order:Governmentality, counterterrorism and the European Community/European Union, 1972-2016

This dissertation focuses on the counterterrorism efforts by the European Community (EC) and later the European Union (EU) between 1972 and 2016. For this purpose it draws on a poststructuralist perspective within the discipline of International Relations. The research specifically uses Michel Foucault’s notion of governmentality in order to investigate the ways in which responses to terrorism were and are enacted. This means that counterterrorism is not regarded as a self-evident and logical response to a phenomenon defined as terrorism. To the contrary, counterterrorism is regarded as a contingent category, a specific and historically situated (set of) response(s) that emerged in relation to the events it defined as problematic and in need of intervention. The analysis of the distinct forms of government associated with counterterrorism at the EC and later EU level translates into a focus on three interrelated aspects: the key problematizations around which the institutionalization of counterterrorism took place, the practices and devices through which counterterrorism was and is conducted, and the issue of who can legitimately speak and practice counterterrorism. This research is neither an inquiry into the effectiveness of counterterrorism nor into its normative directions, but into how counterterrorism has become and is being practiced as a category of government

A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Parents of Young Children with Autism Receiving Special Education Services

Over the past two decades reported rates of autism have steadily risen. The current incidence is 1 in 68 children. While autism can be reliably diagnosed at 18 months in most children with the condition, specialized autism treatment rarely begins before a child\u27s third or fourth birthday. As screening and diagnosis procedures improve so does the need for effective early interventions for autism. Researchers and professionals have expressed a growing concern over the need for effective early interventions for infants and toddlers with autism. At the same time, there is a dearth of qualitative research exploring the needs and experiences of parents with a very young child with autism. Employing a phenomenological framework, the purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of parents of a young child with autism receiving early special education services. Unstructured interviews and photo elicitation were used to generate rich, detailed descriptions of the phenomenon. Data analysis from photographic images and narrative dialogues illuminated six essential themes across participants: (a) parents as pioneers: forging the way for future families; (b) making the journey as a family; (c) navigating uncharted service systems; (d) overcoming challenges and obstacles; (e) resilience, ingenuity and hope; and (f) reflecting on the first three years and looking forward. Participants expressed that they felt this study gave them a voice in the research literature. This study is one of the first to investigate the lived experiences of parents as they seek and secure autism services for their child under five with autism