scholarly journals An initial evaluation framework for the design and operational use of maritime STAMP-based safety management systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osiris A. Valdez Banda ◽  
Floris Goerlandt ◽  
Johanna Salokannel ◽  
Pieter H. A. J. M. van Gelder
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Safety Management ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Initial Evaluation ◽  
Natural Ecosystem ◽  
Organizational Safety ◽  
Organizational Policies

Abstract A safety management system (SMS) is the common means used by organizations to assess organizational performance with respect to the safety and well-being of people, property and the natural ecosystem. A SMS provides confidence to diverse stakeholders that organizational safety is at an appropriate level and fulfils the applicable regulatory standards. As a multifaceted system for organizational safety assessment, ensurance and assurance, the evaluation of the design and operational use of SMS is a complex process. An evaluation needs to provide evidence about how well the design and operation of an SMS complies with applicable standards and how well the methods used in the SMS implementation support the organizational policies and practical work. In the maritime domain, SMS is broadly applied. However, there are few theoretically rooted SMS design approaches, and there is a lack of frameworks to evaluate how well the SMS is designed and how effectively it operates. This paper proposes an initial evaluation framework for the design and operational use of a maritime SMS design approach based on Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP), realist evaluation and Bayesian Networks. This framework is applied for a case study of vessel traffic services (VTS) Finland to test its relevance and ability to guide the SMS design. The experiences gained in the case study, and the related discussion on the framework, can guide further research in this area. Ultimately, the work can be used as a basis for developing maritime SMS auditing processes, based on specific theoretical and methodological approaches.

The impact of a refurbishment programme on older people living in sheltered housing

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-64
Author(s):  
Zeibeda (Zeb) Sattar ◽  
Stephanie Wilkie ◽  
Jonathan Ling
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Sheltered Housing ◽  
Social Activities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Communal Areas ◽  
Physical Changes ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to explore residents' perceptions of a refurbishment programme to sheltered housing schemes and its impact on their well-being. Design/methodology/approach The methodology draws upon a realist evaluation framework. Four participatory appraisals (PAs) and 19 interviews with residents were conducted in the sheltered housing schemes. Ages of participants ranged from 50 to 99 years. Findings Two categories of residents were identified: healthy active older adults and older frail adults (or over 85+). Residents said their social and emotional well-being improved from the provision of indoor and outdoor communal areas. Older frail residents only accessed the new communal spaces when staff took them in their wheelchairs. The physical changes increased opportunities for social connections for residents. Conservatories and sensory gardens were most popular. Residents felt that structured activities in the new spaces and digital training would improve their social activities. Research limitations/implications The participatory methods spanned over an hour, and some residents felt too tired to complete the full session. Practical implications A practical limitation was that some sensory rooms were not fully completed at the time of the evaluation. Originality/value This paper adds the following: Perceptions of residents of a refurbishment programme in sheltered housing and the impact on their well-being. Perceptions of residents about social activities after a refurbishment programme. Perceptions of residents about the impact of physical changes to their sheltered housing schemes and impact on their internal accessibility to the improvements.

scholarly journals Workplace Innovations as Reflected in the Romanian Economic Press

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Cristina Leovaridis
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Flexible Working ◽  
Economic Journals ◽  
Economic Press

<p>Workplace innovations are designed to optimize production processes in firms and improve employees’ working conditions; few researches on this topic have shown that workplace innovations increased employees’ job satisfaction, as well as a sense of responsibility and autonomy, but also employees’ overall well-being, especially regarding to work–life balance and health. Workplace innovation includes aspects regarding work organization (job autonomy, self-managed teams, flexible working etc.), organizational structure and systems (devolution of decision-making to employees, fairness and equality, supporting employee initiative etc.), learning and development (high involvement innovation, staff learning and development, shared knowledge and experience etc.), workplace partnership (social dialogue, representative participation, involvement in change, openness and communication, integrating tacit and strategic knowledge etc.). This paper aims to highlight the main characteristics of workplace innovations in Romanian firms, as they are presented in some economical, business and academic, journals in our country. The research methodology consisted of a content analysis performed on four Romanian economic journals two from academic area (Management and Marketing and Management Dynamics in Knowledge Economy) and two from business area (Cariere and Biz). The dimensions of content analysis included the different types of workplace innovations and their effects on organizational performance as well as on employees’ quality of life at the workplace, the size and the source of capital and economic sector of firms that innovate in human resource management, barriers and drivers to the implementation of workplace innovations etc. The period for journals content analysis was 1 year, between January 1 and December 31, 2013. The paper contains a case study for each journal, including abstracts of the most relevant articles on the workplace innovations and related topics.</p>

scholarly journals A Framework for Assessing Benefits of Implemented Nature-Based Solutions

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Watkin ◽  
Ruangpan ◽  
Vojinovic ◽  
Weesakul ◽  
Torres
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Performance Indicator ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Selection Of

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are solutions that can protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems in urban and rural areas, while providing many benefits and co-benefits including stormwater mitigation, biodiversity enhancement, and human well-being. As such, NBS have the potential to alleviate many of the environmental, social, and economic issues that we face today. Grey infrastructure, such as lined trenches and catch basins, pipes, and concrete dikes are frequently used for stormwater management and flood protection, but they do not provide many of the co-benefits that are common with NBS. Grey infrastructure is designed to quickly collect and remove rainwater, whereas NBS keep rainwater where it falls, and where it can be used by the environment. Many stakeholders lack knowledge of the capabilities and benefits of NBS, and as a result, they continue to rely on grey infrastructure in their projects. When information is made available on the benefits and how they can be quantitatively measured, it is hoped that NBS will be promoted to a mainstream infrastructure choice. A valuable way to quantify and highlight the benefits of NBS is by using an evaluation framework. There are several evaluation frameworks that qualitatively assess the potential benefits of possible NBS, however there is a need for quantitative frameworks that can assess the actual benefits (or performance) of implemented (or existing) NBS. This article presents an evaluation framework that aims to quantify the benefits and co-benefits of implemented NBS. The framework involves five main steps: (1) selection of NBS benefit categories, (2) selection of NBS indicators, (3) calculation of indicator values, (4) calculation of NBS grade, and (5) recommendations. The outcome of the framework is a single numerical grade that reflects the benefit functioning for an NBS site and values for each performance indicator. This information may be used by decision makers to determine their budget allocations to expand or construct a new NBS site, to update maintenance plans that will improve the benefits of that site, to set up programs to monitor the NBS benefits and co-benefits over time, and to schedule labour and resources for other NBS projects. The framework was tested and validated on a case study of NBS in Thailand. Through conversations with stakeholders and knowledge of the case study area, relevant categories and indicators were chosen. Using data and information obtained through various means, values for each indicator and the overall NBS grade were calculated. The values revealed which benefits were pronounced, those that were weak, and where improvements were required.

China’s ecosystem services planning: will Shanghai lead the way? A case study from the Baoshan district (Shanghai)

Erdkunde ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-293
Author(s):  
Harald Zepp ◽  
Matthias Falke ◽  
Franziska Günther ◽  
Lars Gruenhagen ◽  
Luis Inostroza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Baoshan District

Ecosystem services (ES) are a fundamental component of well-being and sustainable urban development with tremendous potential to enhance urban planning. Recently, several studies have evaluated the environmental performance of urban plans using the ES approach. To strengthen this science-policy integration, it is still necessary to perform ES assessments within the urban planning practice as well as to collect empirical evidence on the impacts of envisioned planning measures on the supply of ES in urban environments across the world. In this research, we analyzed the state-of-the-art of China’s new environmental governance, which aims to change China’s land use policy and particularly the role of Green Infrastructure (GI) regarding urban planning and ES. We focused on the Shanghai Baoshan district Master Plan as a case study, and analyzed it under the lenses of the supply of ES using the matrix approach. We ascertained the supply of ES as delineated in the ecological network plan for 2035, and developed an evaluation framework based on CICES v5.1 and two expert workshops. Our approach used an integrated preliminary ES-assessment, and evaluated the consequences for the supply of ES in Baoshan district, which is adaptable to varying urban geographies. The results of our assessment show that, if realized as planned, the district will increase the overall supply of ES, especially regulating and cultural services, that play an important role within GI on the urban level. In general, the land use plans should include fine-grained information within building blocks to allow for even better assessing of the spatial structure of the supply of ES

scholarly journals Dogs at the Workplace: A Multiple Case Study

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Elisa Wagner ◽  
Miguel Pina e Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Business World ◽  
Organizational Policies ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Multiple Case Studies ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

As the work environment is increasing in competitiveness and stressfulness, more and more companies try to increase employee well-being. One option is allowing employees to bring their dogs to work, building on the considerable evidence that dogs have a positive influence on people’s well-being. However, little is known about how a dog’s presence influences the employees and the companies in offices. Therefore, we empirically scrutinize the presence of dogs in organizations and the impact of pet-friendly organizational policies, with multiple case studies with semi-structured interviews as their foundation. Based on an inductive approach for the data analysis, we found that organizational members consider that dogs can lower their stress, improve communication, and foster social cohesion when a flexible organizational culture is in place. This includes the following: Problems in the company are openly addressed; employees have job autonomy, with flexibility to take breaks; and mistakes and errors are allowed to be made by employees and their companions alike, and room to find solutions is given. The inflexible permission of pets at work can, on the contrary, create pressure and stress in employees. For the business world, this implicates that this kind of incentive only leads to success if the right framework and culture is in place, and it cannot only be seen as an instrument to increase employee well-being.

SenCity – Evaluating Users’ Experiences of Intelligent Lighting for Well-Being in Smart Cities

2018 ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Henrika Pihlajaniemi ◽  
Anna Luusua ◽  
Eveliina Juntunen
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evaluation Methods ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
System Data

This paper presents the evaluation of usersХ experiences in three intelligent lighting pilots in Finland. Two of the case studies are related to the use of intelligent lighting in different kinds of traffic areas, having emphasis on aspects of visibility, traffic and movement safety, and sense of security. The last case study presents a more complex view to the experience of intelligent lighting in smart city contexts. The evaluation methods, tailored to each pilot context, include questionnaires, an urban dashboard, in-situ interviews and observations, evaluation probes, and system data analyses. The applicability of the selected and tested methods is discussed reflecting the process and achieved results.

Chakras and Endocrine Glands

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Andrea Jain
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Scientific Discourse ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Endocrine Glands ◽  
Subtle Body ◽  
Modern Yoga ◽  
Unique System ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

This paper is an exploration of preksha dhyana as a case study of modern yoga. Preksha is a system of yoga and meditation introduced by Acarya Mahaprajna of the Jain Svetambara Terapanth in the late twentieth century. I argue that preksha is an attempt to join the newly emerging transnational yoga market whereby yoga has become a practice oriented around the attainment of physical health and psychological well-being. I will evaluate the ways in which Mahaprajna appropriates scientific discourse and in so doing constructs a new and unique system of Jain modern yoga. In particular, I evaluate the appropriation of physical and meditative techniques from ancient yoga systems in addition to the explanation of yoga metaphysics by means of biomedical discourse. I will demonstrate how, in Mahaprajna’s preksha system, the metaphysical subtle body becomes somaticized. In other words, Mahaprajna uses the bio-medical understanding of physiology to locate and identify the functions of metaphysical subtle body parts and processes in the physiological body.

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