scholarly journals Engaging with the Natural Environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
Johanna Kujala ◽  
Anna Heikkinen ◽  
Jere Nieminen ◽  
Ari Jokinen ◽  
Riikka Tapaninaho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Strong Sustainability ◽  
Shed Light

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the debate on how nature can be understood as a stakeholder and to develop the idea of nature-inclusive stakeholder engagement. While acknowledging the arguments against the stakeholder status of nature, we build on a growing stream of literature that argues that nature should and can have stakeholder status. To move beyond the arguments for and against the stakeholder status of nature, we suggest the idea of nature-inclusive stakeholder engagement that builds on the ideas of strong sustainability and ecocentrism. We suggest, first, that urban nature as an ideal context for the empirical examination of the nature-inclusive stakeholder engagement. Second, we claim that multidisciplinary research is needed to understand the nature-inclusive stakeholder engagement. Third, we highlight that specification of the particularities of nature is needed when speaking about the nature-inclusive stakeholder engagement.

Predictors of e-publishing adoption in environments of uncertainty

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Chukwunonye Ifeduba
Keyword(s):  
Copyright Protection ◽  
Predictive Value ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Publishing Industry ◽  
Innovation Adoption ◽  
Digital Publishing ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Industry ◽  
Shed Light

Purpose Many developing environments are characterised by uncertainties and research on how these uncertainties impact development in different industries is on-going. However, there is hardly any empirical examination of how this phenomenon impacts innovation adoption in the publishing industry, notwithstanding that the education industry largely depends on publishing. This study aims to interrogate this phenomenon with a view to describing clearly the factors that influence e-publishing innovation adoption in environments of uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach E-publishing data were collected from 79 websites whereas 109 firms filled out a questionnaire both online and offline. Four interviews were conducted and data were analysed using the SPSS to compute frequencies, percentages and correlates of digital publishing innovation adoption. Findings Book piracy and curriculum uncertainty were found to play greater influential roles in the adoption of e-publishing; and though they both correlated positively with e-publishing adoption, only book piracy has a significant predictive value in the adoption of e-publishing. Originality/value The results of this study shed light on the predictors of digital publishing adoption and should help interested publishers and scholars in environments of uncertainty to understand why efforts should be intensified to pursue copyright protection and enforcement.

Effects of a five-day Nordic skiing camp on the individuals and on the group.

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-49
Author(s):  
Eduard Inglés Yuba ◽  
Víctor Labrador Roca ◽  
Unai Sáez de Ocáriz Granja
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Outdoor Sports ◽  
Integral Development ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Nordic Skiing ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Scholars from diverse disciplines are increasingly concerned with the benefits generated by the practice of physical activity in the natural environment on individuals (Gomila Serra, 2014; Jirásek et al., 2016). This chapter attempts to shed light on the various scientific approaches that confirm this beneficial relationship. It also contributes to the holistic and integral conception of the human being, made up of different dimensions: physical, mental, emotional and social (Sandell et al., 2009; Borkowski, 2011). After an introductory approach to the relationship between outdoor sports and the integral development of their participants, an empirical study is shown. A five-day Nordic skiing camp is used to evaluate the effects of this practice on the individuals and on the group.

scholarly journals Identifying Influencers in Social Networks

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyu Huang ◽  
Dongming Chen ◽  
Dongqi Wang ◽  
Tao Ren
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Multilayer Network ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
Huge Data ◽  
Real World Datasets ◽  
Shed Light

Social network analysis is a multidisciplinary research covering informatics, mathematics, sociology, management, psychology, etc. In the last decade, the development of online social media has provided individuals with a fascinating platform of sharing knowledge and interests. The emergence of various social networks has greatly enriched our daily life, and simultaneously, it brings a challenging task to identify influencers among multiple social networks. The key problem lies in the various interactions among individuals and huge data scale. Aiming at solving the problem, this paper employs a general multilayer network model to represent the multiple social networks, and then proposes the node influence indicator merely based on the local neighboring information. Extensive experiments on 21 real-world datasets are conducted to verify the performance of the proposed method, which shows superiority to the competitors. It is of remarkable significance in revealing the evolutions in social networks and we hope this work will shed light for more and more forthcoming researchers to further explore the uncharted part of this promising field.

scholarly journals What Motivates China to Invest So Heavily in U.S. Treasury Securities?

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-234
Author(s):  
Radhames A. Lizardo ◽  
Mary H. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Trade Balance ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rates Of Return ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Treasury Securities ◽  
Tactical Decision ◽  
Investment Option ◽  
Shed Light

This paper attempts to shed light on the question: What motivates China to invest so heavily in U.S. Treasury securities, despite the fact that U.S. Treasuries provide real rates of return that are either close to zero or negative? Such an investment strategy can be perceived as economically irrational. A linkage can be presumed between China’s investment practices and the tactical decision to moderate the United States’ influence on economic, political, and military issues. We hypothesize, however, that China does not have a better investment option because holding an ever-increasing amount of U.S. dollar-based liquid assets gives China the ability to manage the value of the yuan in order to force its desired trade surpluses. In other words, China’s main mechanism to secure a positive trade balance and increase its foreign direct investment is by maintaining an undervalued currency, which requires an ever-increasing foreign-exchange reserve. From what we know, our study is the most comprehensive empirical examination of motivations for China’s heavy purchases of U.S. Treasury securities by analyzing nearly 25 years that begins in 1987 and covers the period over which China dramatically increased its holdings of these instruments.

scholarly journals Changes in the Natural Environment Recorded in the Sediments of the Karaśne Lake-Mire Complex (Lublin Polesie, E Poland)

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (-1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystyna Bałaga
Keyword(s):  
Human Impact ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Glacial Sediments ◽  
Late Glacial And Holocene

Changes in the Natural Environment Recorded in the Sediments of the Karaśne Lake-Mire Complex (Lublin Polesie, E Poland)This article presents results of multidisciplinary research which has been carried out in order to determine changes in the vegetation cover as well as changes in the structure of the Karaśne lake-mire complex in the Late Glacial and Holocene. In addition, human impact on the formation of the vegetation cover and the bio- and chronostratigraphy of the Late Glacial sediments is discussed.

scholarly journals Climbing, Hiding and Having Fun: Schoolchildren’s Memories of Holistic Learning in a Norwegian Kindergarten

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-285
Author(s):  
Teresa Katherine Aslanian ◽  
Anne Kristin Andresen ◽  
Turid Baasland
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Holistic Learning ◽  
School Based ◽  
Methods Of Learning ◽  
Shed Light

Firmly planted in the Nordic tradition, policies that guide practice in Norwegian kindergartens emphasize a holistic approach that integrates care, play and learning and promotes well-being and development through relationships and experiences in the natural environment. While the holistic approach enjoys support both politically and within the profession, a political call for increased learning has resulted in a number of programs embracing school-based methods of learning infusing the field. The aim to increase learning has increasingly relied on a concept of learning that is the result of intentional pedagogic practice and high quality engagement between educators and children. This understanding of learning does not embrace learning related to children as biological beings in a vital phase of growth; that occurs outside of situations crafted to be learning situations. In this article, we address learning as a biological and social phenomenon, and consider how schoolchildren’s recollections of life in kindergarten can shed light on how and what children learn in the unique learning environments of Norwegian kindergartens. Our approach offers an opportunity to understand what holistic learning in ECEC can mean for children as biosocial beings.

scholarly journals Ympäristönsuojelu autoritaarisissa järjestelmissä

Idäntutkimus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-28
Author(s):  
Viktor Pál
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Hungarian Case ◽  
Conservation Of Natural Resources ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
Shed Light

Artikkeli käsittelee autoritaaristen hallitusten ympäristösuhteita. Artikkelin tapaustutkimus käsittelee Unkarin kommunistisen hallituksen reagointia kasvaviin ympäristöongelmiin 1960-luvulla. Artikkelin tarkoituksena on selittää ympäristökriisin tärkeimpiä kansallisia tekijöitä erityisesti Borsodin teollisuusalueeseen liittyen. Ko. alueella luonnonvarojen käyttö aiheutti monimuotoisen ympäristökriisin, minkä ratkaisu vaati valtiotoimijoilta useita eri toimia.  Artikkelissa Unkarin tapaus asetetaan laajempaan kontekstiin: miten ja miksi autoritaariset hallitukset kuten Guatemalan ja Chilen juntat tai demokratiat kuten Länsi-Saksa käyttivät erilaisia teknologioita ja propagandaa luonnonvarojen säilyttämisen edistämiseksi. Artikkelin tarkoituksena on vastata siihen, kuinka ja miksi erilaiset lähestymistavat ympäristönsuojeluun epäonnistuivat erilaisissa poliittisissa järjestelmissä. Artikkeli pyrkii myös selittämään ihmisten ja luonnollisen ympäristön ristiriitaisia suhteita autoritaarisissa hallintojärjestelmissä.   Environmental protection in authoritarian systems This article discusses the complex relationships between the natural environment and authoritarian governments via the study’s main case: the growing environmental problems of Cold War Hungary and the reaction to those issues by the country’s government. This study aims to shed light on some of the most important factors of the environmental challenges faced in one of the largest industrial areas of that country, the Borsod Basin. Here, the extraction of natural resources caused a complex environmental crisis that required substantial efforts from various state agencies. This article presents the Hungarian case in a broader context to study how and why authoritarian and democratic governments such as the Guatemalan and Chilean juntas and West Germany have used technology and propaganda to promote the conservation of natural resources. In conclusion, this article aims to explain how and why various approaches under various political and economic circumstances to mend the environment eventually failed.

1. Higher Education and Alien Ecologies: Exploring the Dark Ontology of the University

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-40
Author(s):  
SØREN S.E. BENGTSEN ◽  
RONALD BARNETT
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
The University ◽  
Shed Light

The meaning of Anthropocene rests on the idea that there is a specific rationale behind the university and higher education, which is in itself progressive, educational, and redeeming. Institutions for, and students and teachers within, higher education, are more or less directly linked to the structures and rational of their political surroundings and social and cultural environments. However, just as there is depth to ecologies in the natural environment, and just as there is strangeness and even alien forms hidden within those environments, so it is with universities and higher education. They harbor hidden aspects, and these presences call from the dark, with their deeper and more unknown voices, even alien ones that seem to reach into universities not only from a future but also from a present that we cannot easily see or even understand. In this essay, we shed light on these more alien strands of higher education reality; what we term an “ontological excess” of universities. This darker ontology helps us argue that the foundations of the university go much deeper, and is societally more tangled, than the immediate pillars of the Anthropocene.

Some Reflections on the Ancient Metallurgy of Sumhuram (Sultanate of Oman)

2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 179-196
Author(s):  
Michele Degli Esposti ◽  
Alexia Pavan
Keyword(s):  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Sultanate Of Oman ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Metal Production ◽  
Ancient Metallurgy ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Multidisciplinary research on the metallurgy-related items and features from the ancient South Arabian harbour of Sumhuram, in southern Oman, have shed light on ancient copper and iron production and use at the site, pointing out what appears to be a definitely unusual practice in particular for what concerns copper alloying. In this paper, the archaeometallurgical data are summarised and discussed with the aim of showing that the existence of a copper working tradition specific to South Arabian centres can be tentatively postulated and that at least two different networks of metal production and exchange probably existed, centred on the opposite sides of the southern Arabian Peninsula.

scholarly journals Research Synthesis Infrastructures: Shaping Knowledge in Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
J. W. Hammond ◽  
Pamela A. Moss ◽  
Minh Q. Huynh ◽  
Carl Lagoze
Keyword(s):  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Research Synthesis ◽  
Primary Research ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
Collective Work ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Purposive Selection ◽  
Support Research ◽  
Research Studies

Research syntheses provide one means of managing the proliferation of research knowledge by integrating learnings across primary research studies. What it means to appropriately synthesize research, however, remains a matter of debate: Syntheses can assume a variety of forms, each with important implications for the shape knowledge takes and the interests it serves. To help shed light on these differences and their stakes, this chapter provides a critical comparative review of six research synthesis infrastructures, entities that support research syntheses through investments they make in synthesis production and/or publication—enabling (and constraining) the ways knowledge takes shape. Identifying our critical cases through purposive selection, we examined research synthesis infrastructure variations with respect to four different kinds of investments they make: in the genres of synthesis they support, in their promotion of synthesis quality, in sponsoring stakeholder engagement, and in creating the conditions for collective work. We draw on this comparison to suggest some of the potential changes and challenges in store for education researchers in future years.

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