Action Research between Large-Scale Socioeconomic Changes and Workplace-Level Developmental Activities

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-229
Author(s):  
Antti Kasvio ◽  
Maarit Lahtonen
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
Socioeconomic Changes ◽  
Internationalization Strategies ◽  
The City

Global economic competition is currently placing modern welfare states under increasing pressure to change. New kinds of solutions must be sought in all spheres and at all levels of the state's functioning. But it is very difficult to mediate the macro- and micro-level approaches in a sensible manner and to utilize the innovatory potentials of social science in actual research practice. This article describes a current ongoing action research project within the City of Helsinki for the development of work in a number of the City's workplaces. The local developmental activities are closely connected to broader discussions about the development of the city's internationalization strategies and of the role of high-quality welfare services in their realization. The project assumes that it is possible to build a fruitful interaction between the development of new practices at local level and the broader strategic discussions that are going on in other echelons of the City's organization.

Researching and Enabling Youth Geographies in the Digital and Material City

2019 ◽  
pp. 221-247
Author(s):  
Giacomo Pettenati ◽  
Egidio Dansero ◽  
Alessia Calafiore
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Community Mapping ◽  
Mapping Process ◽  
The University ◽  
The City

This contribution presents the methodologies and the results of an action-research project called Teencarto carried out by the University of Turin and the City of Turin. The project involved more than 600 teenagers from 16 high schools, in a massive process of community mapping aiming at producing a representation of their urban geography. Data collected has been analyzed to make evident the way teenagers use the city as well as how they imagine a better city. The mapping process is based on First Life, a map-based social network, which aims at reconnecting digital and real spaces, using cartographic representations and crowdsourcing. The teenagers' geographies emerging from this large-scale mapping activity reveal the crucial role of four types of “piazza” (Italian word for square) as meeting points: real squares, green squares, commercial hybrid squares, and nightlife squares.

Actieonderzoek in leefstijlonderzoek is geen sinecure

KWALON ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Famke van Lieshout ◽  
Gaby Jacobs ◽  
Shaun Cardiff
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Clinical Practice Setting ◽  
Learning Together

Action research in lifestyle research is no sinecure. Response to Kromme et al.: ‘Changing together is learning together’, a participatory action research project This is a reply to the contribution entitled: ‘Learning together is changing together: A participatory action research project on the role of the internist in promoting a healthy lifestyle’. Here the authors highlight the complexity of facilitating participatory action research (PAR) in a clinical practice setting and reflect on the first three stages of their research through eight principles that could guide PAR, as described by Van Lieshout et al. (2017). As we developed these principles, we explain the principles of participation, reflexivity, contextuality and transformation in greater detail in relation to the context of this study. The authors made suggestions to change the five-phased model of PAR to get a better grip on the process. The authors rightly highlighted some limitations in the labeling of some phases. However, it is the reflexivity on the multiple perspectives that facilitators encounter and the relationships they engage with during the process, as well as acknowledging the iterative process of PAR, which needs to be embraced and experienced during the entire process of study.

scholarly journals It’s All in the Reading

Arts ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Déirdre Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Art ◽  
Mass Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Book Production ◽  
Art Practice ◽  
The Arts ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City

It seems inherent in the nature of contemporary artist’s book production to continue to question the context for the genre in contemporary art practice, notwithstanding the medium’s potential for dissemination via mass production and an unquestionable advantage of portability for distribution. Artists, curators and editors operating in this sector look to create contexts for books in a variety of imaginative ways, through exhibition, commission, installations, performance and, of course as documentation. Broadening the discussion of the idea of the book within contemporary art practice, this paper examines the presence and role of book works within the context of the art biennale, in particular the Venice Art Biennale of which the 58th iteration (2019) is entitled ‘May You Live In Interesting Times’ and curated by Ralph Rugoff, with an overview of the independent International cultural offerings and the function of the ‘Book Pavilion’. Venetian museums and institutions continue to present vibrant diverse works within the arena of large-scale exhibitions, recognising the position that the book occupies in the history of the city. This year, the appearance for the first time, of ‘Book Biennale’, opens up a new and interesting dialogue, taking the measure of how the book is being promoted and its particular function for visual communication within the arts in Venice and beyond.

Community Resilience and Urban Planning during the Ninth-Century Maya Collapse: A Case Study from Actuncan, Belize

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Mixter
Keyword(s):  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Ritual Space ◽  
Maya Collapse ◽  
The City

To remain in place in the immediate aftermath of the ninth-century Maya collapse, Maya groups employed various resilient strategies. In the absence of divine rulers, groups needed to renegotiate their forms of political authority and to reconsider the legitimizing role of religious institutions. This kind of negotiation happened first at the local level, where individual communities developed varied political and ideological solutions. At the community of Actuncan, located in the lower Mopan River valley of Belize, reorganization took place within the remains of a monumental urban centre built 1000 years before by the site's early rulers. I report on the changing configuration and use of Actuncan's urban landscape during the process of reorganization. These modifications included the construction of a new centre for political gatherings, the dismantling of old administrative buildings constructed by holy lords and the reuse of the site's oldest ritual space. These developments split the city into distinct civic and ritual zones, paralleling the adoption of a new shared rule divorced from cosmological underpinnings. This case study provides an example of how broader societal resilience relies on adaptation at the local level.

scholarly journals Foundations in the Netherlands: Toward a Diversified Social Model?

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (13) ◽  
pp. 1833-1843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theo N. M. Schuyt ◽  
Barbara M. Gouwenberg ◽  
Barry L. K. Hoolwerf
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
Income Source

This article describes the history, development, and current position of Dutch foundations. In the past, the philanthropy sector and foundations initiated many nonprofit services in the Netherlands. Along with the growth of the welfare state, philanthropy was sidelined. Due to public funding, the pillarized Dutch nonprofit sector extended strongly. However, despite its large scale it shows a special feature. Most nonprofits are still privately governed institutions although publicly funded. In the 1980s, governmental budget cuts forced the nonprofits to embrace the market as income source. A dualistic model got dominancy or state or market. At the end of the 20th century, however, philanthropy revived and a new philanthropy sector emerged. The article addresses the issue of the role of philanthropy in changing (European) welfare states. Are we experiencing further marketization and privatization—toward a so-called Anglo-Saxon shareholder model—or are we seeing a continuation of the so-called Rhineland, multistakeholder model of government, market, and philanthropy?

scholarly journals Toronto's Cultural Renaissance

2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara L. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Cultural Construction ◽  
City Branding ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
Cultural Renaissance ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
The City ◽  
New Buildings

Abstract: Toronto is experiencing a building boom, with eight major cultural construction projects in the works. These new monuments, part of what the City of Toronto calls its “Cultural Renaissance,” are intended to bolster the city’s reputation as an international economic and cultural capital. Albeit architecturally important, these buildings are better understood in the context of contemporary patterns of global economic competition and the changing role of culture in capitalist production. They also assert national identity and reflect a reorientation of Canadian cultural policy. This paper analyzes Toronto’s “Cultural Renaissance” in light of changing cultural policies at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels, examining the role these new buildings will play in terms of promoting cultural tourism, city “branding,” and nationalism. Résumé : La ville de Toronto connaît actuellement un boum immobilier comprenant huit projets culturels majeurs. Ces nouveaux monuments, qui feront partie de ce qu’elle appelle une « Renaissance culturelle », visent à accroître la réputation de la ville en tant que capitale économique et culturelle internationale. Ces immeubles sont importants du point de vue architectural, mais leur fonction se comprend mieux dans le contexte de la concurrence économique mondiale actuelle et du rôle changeant de la culture dans la production capitaliste. Ils affirment en outre l’identité nationale et reflètent une réorientation de la politique culturelle canadienne. Cet article analyse cette « Renaissance culturelle » torontoise à la lumière des politiques culturelles changeantes aux niveaux municipal, provincial et fédéral, examinant le rôle que ces nouveaux immeubles joueront dans la promotion du tourisme culturel et du nationalisme et dans la mise en valeur de la ville en tant que « marque ».

Exploring the complexities of validity claims in action research

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 381-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter McInnes ◽  
Paul Hibbert ◽  
Nic Beech
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Research Setting ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Validity Claims ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe paper aims to explore the problematics of validity that are inherent to the conduct of an action research project because of the disparate language games of both practitioners and academics.Design/methodology/approachAn exploration is offered of the tensions between different understandings of a research setting at different stages of the research process.FindingsIn each phase of the research there are a number of tensions between different epistemological assumptions about the “reality” of the research setting. Validity is not, therefore, about capturing a singular objective picture of the organisation, but rather it is produced through the negotiation of a temporary intersection of language games.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides a framework for understanding the role of the researcher in the research process and the issues underlying validity claims made from different epistemological positions.Practical implicationsThe paper provides insights in to the mechanisms through which practitioners and academics come to understand each other and the limitations of this knowledge.Originality/valueThe article raises awareness of the different normative assumptions at play within a variety of action research contexts.

Times of the city

2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Mückenberger ◽  
Jean-Yves Boulin
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Local Time ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Interdisciplinary Cooperation ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Empirical Survey ◽  
European Foundation ◽  
Working And Living Conditions ◽  
The City

Urban time policies have to be regarded and embarked upon as a democratic and cross-sectional process. For such policies to become institutionalised requires citizens’ forums, model experiments and surveys within the community as well as interdisciplinary cooperation between the various branches of the local authority administration. The article has its focus first on Eurexcter — a European action-research project in five European countries which has been promoting practical experiments with local time policies — and secondly on an empirical survey concerning time policies in Europe conducted for the European Foundation for the Improvement of Working and Living Conditions/Dublin.

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