scholarly journals IASSIST gone glocal

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsten Boye Rasmussen

Welcome to the special double issue of IASSIST Quarterly 2021 (IQ vol. 45(3-4) 2021).  IASSIST is an acronym. You may think that the word is the contraction of the two words 'I assist'. In my mind, you are right! Whether the word IASSIST or the long explanation of seven words came first is the problem of the chicken and the egg. However, it is undisputed that when it is spelled out, the first I in IASSIST is for International. That has been so from its founding in 1974. Having IASSIST members in USA, Canada, and some (west) European countries was for a long time what we myopic westerners considered to be international. It is with great pleasure that IASSIST Quarterly now presents a double issue from a regional workshop in Africa. Even in 2021, it is only a small number of IASSIST's members who are from regions not part of the western world. However, having a special issue from the African region is an important contribution to making IASSIST truly international. The phrase 'think globally, act locally' is a good framing of the compressed word 'glocal'. This special issue was compiled by guest editors Winny Nekesa Akullo and Robert Stalone Buwule, and they were also behind the Africa Regional Workshop that took place at Makerere University (Kampala, Uganda) on January 11 to 13, 2021. Winny Nekesa Akullo works as Head, Library and Documentation Centre at Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority in Uganda, and is the IASSIST Africa Regional Secretary. Robert Stalone Buwule is Senior Assistant Librarian at Kyambogo University, also in Uganda. The themes of the workshop addressed a world issue: 'Data Literacy as a catalyst for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)'. Thus, global problems were addressed from a local viewpoint. Great thanks to Winny and Robert for their lead in the arrangement of the workshop and extra thanks to them for collecting, editing, and making the papers of the regional workshop available to us all, and for making the regional international and the local global. Enjoy the reading! Karsten Boye Rasmussen - December 2021  

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-320
Author(s):  
Sena Ariesandy ◽  
Ema Carnia ◽  
Herlina Napitupulu

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which began in 2000 with 8 goal points, have not been able to solve the global problems. The MDGs were developed into Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 with 17 targeted goal points achieved in 2030. Until now, methods for determining the priority of SDGs are still attractive to researchers. Centrality is one of the tools in determining the priority goal points on a network by using graph theory. There are four measurements of centrality used in this paper, namely degree centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and eigenvector centrality. The calculation results obtained from the four measurements are compared, analyzed, to conclud which goal points are the most prior and the least prior. From the results obtained the most priority goal points in Sustainable Development Goals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
G Barocco ◽  
V Patussi ◽  
M Cella ◽  
D Germano ◽  
A Pernarcic ◽  
...  

Abstract Surveys (2008-2018) carried out by the Local Health Agency of Trieste (ASUITS) in local collective catering (CC) services of schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and workplaces (25.000 daily meals) have shown some non - adherence to healthier food choices, food standards, procedures and green and social procurement as recommended by the WHO, FAO, UE, Ministry of Health and of Environment. The purpose of this project is to support local public and private organizations in transforming the national and regional catering services food standards related to health, nutrition, environment and social criteria into food procurement and food contracts specifications. This has been done by compiling the major obstacles to improved standards observed during surveys, and by sharing critical and relevant examples with major public contractors across local, regional and national level. The guidelines (GL) for public procurement of CC consist of five chapters: the elaboration of specifications; a response module to present the offer of services; selection and award criteria, an evaluation system of offers, and the technical specifications attached. Technical information fixes the constituent elements of the service in order to have similar and directly comparable offers. GL cover both the purchasing of food and the contracting of catering services. In this way public or private institutions are able to prepare tender documents suitable to respond to health, economic needs and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The development of the GL has increased the awareness and real potential that local organizations have in enhancing the strategic use of purchasers to boost food qualification, jobs, growth and investment. As well as to create a more innovative economy, to be resource and energy efficient, and to be socially-inclusive. To meet population nutrient intake goals and SDGs it is necessary to increase co-operation and the sharing of the objectives of ’Health in All Policies’. Key messages Contractors need practical tools to apply sustainable development goals criteria in collective catering. The integrated collective catering guide is a key to improving capacity building in institutions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dörte Bemme ◽  
Laurence J Kirmayer

In recent years, efforts in Global Mental Health (GMH) have evolved alongside critical engagement with the field's claims and interventions. GMH has shifted its agenda and epistemological underpinnings, increased its evidence base, and joined other global policy platforms such as the Sustainable Development Goals. This editorial introduction to a thematic issue traces the recent shifts in the GMH agenda and discusses the changing construct of “mental health” as GMH moves away from a categorical biomedical model toward dimensional and transdiagnostic approaches and embraces digital technologies. We highlight persistent and emerging lines of inquiry and advocate for meaningful interdisciplinary engagement. Taken together, the articles in this special issue of Transcultural Psychiatry provide a snapshot of current interdisciplinary work in GMH that considers the socio-cultural and historical dimensions of mental health important and proposes reflexive development of interventions and implementation strategies.


Author(s):  
Narcisa Requelme ◽  
Ana Afonso

This study reviews how policy and agricultural laws relate to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 and 12, sustainability and rural development, in Ecuador. Policy aligns itself with goals 2 in terms of increased productivity and income (target 2,3) to interna-tional markets (targets 2b y 2c), rural infrastructure, research, agricultural extension and technological development (target 2a), agrobiodiversity and traditional knowledge (target 25). It is related with SDG 12 to sustainable production and consumption targets 12.1, 12.2 and 12a). Laws highlight public procurement, research, seeds, and efficient resource management through sustainable practices. It is concluded that policy is aligned with SDGs 2 and 12 but is necessary to establish others that surpass the emphasis on produc-tivity towards export markets that leave AFC production and achieve a transition to sus-tainable production and consumption. The study of laws indicates that it is necessary to strengthen local governance for food sovereignty, including the peasant sectors within the framework of existing laws with participation in spaces of debate and formulation of ac-tions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 8-17 ◽  

There is increasing evidence that climate change is a growing social and economic burden. Moreover, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at risk of falling short of their intended tar­gets. The difficulties will only be made worse as the climate and economic burdens grow. A growing literature suggests that the problems largely stem from the non-productive use of resources which erode our social and economic well-being—especially over the long haul. These huge inefficiencies include the non-productive use of capital, materials, water, food, and especially energy. One as­sessment notes that, depending on how we ignore global ecosystems or, more hopefully, how we might build up a more healthy and resilient environmental capacity, “the global value of ecosystem services can decline by $51 trillion/yr or increase by $30 trillion/yr” by the year 2040 (with values in 2007 dollars). At the same time, moving to a smarter and more productive use of all resources requires a larger number of institutional changes. Such changes range from the use of new metrics to assess future opportunities to an array of policies and perspectives that promote these changes. In this special issue we review a number of different ways that institutional changes might create opportunities in which all resources might be managed more productively. While no single special issue can cover all elements of the necessary institutional changes, nor can even a series of books on the topic, this is another step forward to open up thinking more along the lines of human and cultural dimensions toward a better understanding of how resources might be more productively used for social and economic benefits.


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