scholarly journals Pivoting in the Time of COVID-19: An in-Depth Case Study at the Nexus of Food Insecurity, Resilience, System Re-Organizing, and Caring for the Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Fox ◽  
Joshua Frye
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
School Nutrition ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
School Lunches ◽  
The Public ◽  
Northwest Arkansas ◽  
Meaningful Engagement

According to the School Nutrition Association, nearly 100,000 schools serve free or reduced school lunches and breakfasts daily to approximately 34. 34 million students nationwide. However, as COVID-19 forced many schools to close, students who depended on the public schools to meet the majority of their nutritional needs faced an even larger battle with food insecurity. Recognizing this unmet need, and that food insecurity was intertwined with other needs within the community, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and its satellite contemporary art space the Momentary, partnered with the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank and over 30 additional partner organizations to pivot their existing outreach services. In this case study, we identify lessons learned by Crystal Bridges that might be useful for other organizations who seek to foster meaningful engagement with the public, especially in times of crisis. Specifically, we focus on three main lessons: 1) how the museum created a plan to learn through the pivot in order to capture their own lessons, 2) how the members of the organization experienced a sense of coming together (congregation) during the pivot, and 3) how the organization planned to improve both internal and external communication.

scholarly journals Trusting the Corona-Warn-App? Contemplations on trust and trustworthiness at the intersection of technology, politics and public debate

2021 ◽  
pp. 026732312110283
Author(s):  
Judith Simon ◽  
Gernot Rieder
Keyword(s):  
Technology Development ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Moral Duties ◽  
Moral Demands

Ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions of whom or what to trust have become paramount. This article examines the public debates surrounding the initial development of the German Corona-Warn-App in 2020 as a case study to analyse such questions at the intersection of trust and trustworthiness in technology development, design and oversight. Providing some insights into the nature and dynamics of trust and trustworthiness, we argue that (a) trust is only desirable and justified if placed well, that is, if directed at those being trustworthy; that (b) trust and trustworthiness come in degrees and have both epistemic and moral components; and that (c) such a normatively demanding understanding of trust excludes technologies as proper objects of trust and requires that trust is directed at socio-technical assemblages consisting of both humans and artefacts. We conclude with some lessons learned from our case study, highlighting the epistemic and moral demands for trustworthy technology development as well as for public debates about such technologies, which ultimately requires attributing epistemic and moral duties to all actors involved.

Public libraries and public primary school literacy: a Kenyan case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 689-701
Author(s):  
Peter Mose
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
School Type ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Library Staff ◽  
Teachers And Parents

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain how public libraries have been instrumental in early child school literacy teaching and learning. Most African public schools do not usually afford enough core textbooks and supplementary readers.Design/methodology/approachThis was a qualitative case study in Western Kenya amongst public library staff members, public primary school teachers and parents of library children clients. The following questions were addressed: What is the book situation in public primary schools in the study site? What school-type literacy-related services are offered by the sampled public library? and What are library staff members’, teachers’ and parents’ feelings about the public library services offered? Observations, interviews and document studies were used to collect data. Data were analysed thematically.FindingsPublic schools do not have enough core textbooks and the situation is worse for supplementary readers; the public library branch studied offers critical school-type literacies to school children both at the library building as well as at public schools registered with it; and library staff members, teachers, and parents express positive feelings about the services offered.Research limitations/implicationsThis was a case study whose findings might not apply to the larger situation and the study did not confirm actual literacy benefits of the library services amongst school children by, for instance, conducting literacy tests. The findings are, however, an index to the possible situation in the macro context.Practical implicationsThe relevant stakeholders should find ways of co-opting public libraries as associates of public schools in literacy teaching. This relationship is not straight forward in Kenya.Originality/valueThe findings reported are from original research.

scholarly journals A laicidade e o “jeitinho brasileiro”: formas diversificadas e improvisadas de regulação do religioso em ambientes laicos e públicos: o caso de escolas municipais de Juiz de Fora/ MG / Secularism and the ‘Brazilian way’:

Numen ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Camurça ◽  
Sueli Martins
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Public Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Debate ◽  
The Public ◽  
Substantive Issue ◽  
Informal Regulation ◽  
The City

RESUMOA partir de um estudo de caso de escolas municipais na cidade de Juiz de Fora, este artigo visa discutir a questão de fundo da laicidade no Brasil. Tomando a perspectiva do debate internacional atual que analisa este processo de uma forma plural e não como via única que tem como modelo os países europeus e os EUA, busca-se aqui estabelecer uma tipologia - três casos paradigmáticos - que nos aproxime das formas diferenciadas e informais de regulação do religioso no ambiente público escolarPalavras-chave: Chave: Escolas públicas, laicidade, regulação, religiões, BrasilABSTRACTDrawing upon a case study on public schools in the city of Juiz de Fora (MG), this article aims to discuss the substantive issue of secularism in Brazil. The paper builds on the current international debate that analyzes the process of secularization under a plural and multidimensional, rather than one-imensional perspective, which has been modeled on European countries and the United States. We seek to establish a typology based on three paradigmatic cases that may bring us closer to the differing forms and informal regulation of the religious phenomenon in the public education environment.Keywords: Public schools, secularism, regulation, religions, Brazil 

scholarly journals Integration Versus Meritocracy? Competing Educational Goals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

AERA Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233285842110657
Author(s):  
Elise Castillo ◽  
Molly Vollman Makris ◽  
Mira Debs
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Educational Goals ◽  
Social Efficiency ◽  
The Public ◽  
Equity And Access ◽  
Democratic Equality ◽  
The Individual

Alongside the immediate challenges of operating schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, over the past year, parents, students, and policymakers around the country have also debated equity and access to some of the country’s most elite and segregated public schools. This qualitative case study examines how New York City activists conceptualized educational equity during the pandemic. Conceptually framed by Labaree’s (1997) typology of the three competing purposes of education—democratic equality, social efficiency, and social mobility—we document different lessons learned from the pandemic by integration activists, who emphasized school integration for democratic equality; and meritocratic activists, who prioritized retaining the existing stratified system mainly to foster social mobility and social efficiency. Our findings highlight the challenge of sustaining a vision oriented around the public good amid powerful framings emphasizing the individual purposes of education.

Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Mobile Fare Payment Applications: A Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 2674 (11) ◽  
pp. 616-624
Author(s):  
Kevin Dennis ◽  
Maxat Alibayev ◽  
Sean J. Barbeau ◽  
Jay Ligatti
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Transportation Industry ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
The Public ◽  
It Systems ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Fare Management

Mobile fare payment applications are becoming increasingly common in the public transportation industry as a convenience for customers and as part of an effort to reduce fare management costs and improve operations for agencies. However, there is relatively little literature on vulnerabilities and liabilities in mobile fare payment applications. Furthermore, few public agencies or supporting vendors have policies or established processes in place to receive vulnerability reports or patch vulnerabilities discovered in their technologies. Given the rapidly increasing number of data breaches in general industry IT systems, as well as that mobile fare payment apps are a nexus between customer and agency financial information, the security of these mobile applications deserves further scrutiny. This paper presents a vulnerability discovered in a mobile fare payment application deployed at a transit agency in Florida that, because of the system architecture, may have affected customers in as many as 40 cities across the United States, an estimated 1,554,000 users. Lessons learned from the vulnerability disclosure process followed by the research team as well as recommendations for public agencies seeking to improve the security of these types of applications are also discussed.

scholarly journals Indoor Air Quality in Naturally Ventilated Classrooms. Lessons Learned from a Case Study in a COVID-19 Scenario

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8446
Author(s):  
Alberto Meiss ◽  
Héctor Jimeno-Merino ◽  
Irene Poza-Casado ◽  
Alfredo Llorente-Álvarez ◽  
Miguel Ángel Padilla-Marcos
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Public ◽  
Simple Protocol ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Ventilation Strategies ◽  
The Government

This paper describes the implementation of a series of ventilation strategies in a nursery and primary school from September 2020, when the government decided to resume the students’ face-to-face activity in the middle of a COVID scenario. Air quality and hygrothermal comfort conditions were analysed before the pandemic and compared for different ventilation configurations in a post-COVID scenario. Ventilation strategies included the protocols issued by the Public Administration, while others were developed based on the typological configuration and use of the school. Results revealed that it is advisable to implement certain strategies that reduce the risk of infection among the occupants of the spaces, without a significant decrease in hygrothermal comfort. Given the importance of maintaining better IAQ in the future within classrooms, and regarding the pre-COVID situation, these strategies may be extended beyond this pandemic period, through a simple protocol and necessary didactic package to be assumed by both teachers and students of the centre.

scholarly journals Enterprise Architecture Implementation Is a Bumpy Ride: A Case Study in the Norwegian Public Sector

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kristin S. Ajer ◽  
Dag Håkon Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Governance Mechanisms ◽  
The Public ◽  
External Consultants

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a widespread approach for the development of new digital solutions in a planned and controlled way for large and complex organisations. EA is also viewed as a prerequisite for the digitalisation of the public sector. However, public sector organisations struggle to implement EA programmes, and research has demonstrated that organisational and managerial issues are critical obstacles to EA implementation. This study aims to increase our understanding of EA implementation in the public sector by investigating the central challenges for EA initiatives and to trace the progress of current EA initiatives in the Norwegian public sector. An additional goal is to disclose some ways to improve the situation. We conducted three interpretive case studies in the hospital, higher education, and labour and welfare sectors. We have identified 28 challenges to the EA initiatives. We find that organisational and technical complexities, as well as a limited understanding of EA and lack of formal EA governance mechanisms, are significant obstacles. Among others, the lack of understanding of EA and its methodology will lead to problems with anchoring the EA approach in the organisation and facilitating the necessary EA arrangements to induce the promised benefits of EA, which are necessary requirements to establish the EA initiative’s legitimacy and foster the organisation’s willingness to implement change. Our study provides four lessons learned for planning and implementing EA initiatives, as follows: #1. It is advisable to take small steps. #2. The use of external consultants should be carefully considered. #3. Formal architectural governance mechanisms are important for legitimacy and enforced use. #4. Executive commitment and understanding of EA are crucial for achieving a sustainable EA initiative. Finally, we find a common evolution of the EA initiatives through the phases of optimism, resistance, decline and finally, reconsolidation of the most persistent ones.

scholarly journals Lending against warehouse receipts: Evidence from Serbia

2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-355
Author(s):  
Vlado Kovačević ◽  
Irena Janković ◽  
Vesna Paraušić
Keyword(s):  
Legal Framework ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
The Public ◽  
Guarantee System ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Fast Development ◽  
Computational Analyses

The paper examines factors influencing development of the public warehouse system. Public warehouse system primary role is to provide stakeholders in agribusiness financing against stored commodity as collateral. Case study is conducted in Serbia. Interviews with banks, analyses of the public warehouse results, computational analyses and intensive literature research were conducted. Most important factors for lending against warehouse receipts from bankers' perspectives are guarantee system performances followed by efficient enforcement procedure, efficient public warehouse surveillance, favourable central bank's rating of warehouse receipts and subsidies. According to the results, Serbian public warehouse legal framework is properly established resulting in fast development of the public warehouse system in first years. After 2014 system deteriorated primarily due to the absence of inspection and Indemnity fund low guarantee performance. Lessons learned from Serbia point out that besides proper legal framework, implementation and favourable business environment are paramount for successful public warehouse system.

Are We Forgetting the Lessons From the Accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2, March 1979: A Case Study

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Christie ◽  
David H. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Operator Training ◽  
The Public ◽  
Emergency Procedures ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Abnormal Events

The accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2 in March 1979 resulted in major changes to the way emergency procedures were written and operators were trained at nuclear commercial electric generating units. These changes had a major impact on the public health risk of nuclear electric generating units. The record over the last 20 years has been excellent. For approximately 2000 reactor years of operation since 1979, there have been no accidents equivalent to TMI Unit 2 in the USA. Other factors have had an influence on this excellent record but it is clear that more efficient emergency procedures and better operator training had a significant impact on the excellent record achieved over the last 20 plus years. Abnormal events still occur at the nuclear commercial electric generating units in the USA and these events have the potential for causing damage to the reactor core. In some cases, the emergency procedures used in abnormal events and the training received by the operators of the nuclear units have not been based on the lessons learned from the accident at Three Mile Island. The following paper describes one such case. It is clear to the authors of this paper that further changes should be made to make sure that the lessons learned from the accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2 in 1979 are implemented and not forgotten.

scholarly journals In Scrooge’s boots: Lessons learned on disinformation from the 2019 European elections

European View ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-209
Author(s):  
Jonáš Syrovátka
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
European Elections ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Future ◽  
Previous Election ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Significant Attention

There has been much heated discussion on the possible influence of disinformation campaigns on the 2019 European elections—including those campaigns launched by outside actors (namely the Russian Federation). This is not surprising considering previous election experiences not only in Western states, but globally. As far as we know, the 2019 European elections were fortunately not targeted by a large and coordinated disinformation campaign. Given the significant attention paid to the 2019 European elections by the public, researchers and policymakers, they present an interesting case study that might help us to learn not only how to tackle the issue of disinformation, but also how to understand and analyse it in the future.

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