Fostering Civic Engagement in Smart Cities

Smart cities are modern concepts that aim to provide better living conditions to their citizens by creating a sustainable environment. Citizens are the key partners behind the development of a smart city. They have to be aware about the civic duties and responsibilities towards the community. In this chapter, the authors analyze the concept of smart cities and what are the issues and challenges in India for developing a smart city. The authors also examine various civic engagement initiatives by the government of India. The objective of this chapter is to find the role played by public libraries in creating smarter communities and how they will help in promoting civic engagement activities.

Obowiązek posiadania dowodu osobistego i funkcje dowodów pod rządami dekretu z dnia 22 października 1951 roku o dowodach osobistych oraz w czasach współczesnych

The fulfilment of basic civic duties has always entailed the need for individuals to bear certain responsibilities. Their weight varies depending on the content of the obligation itself and the political system of the state in which the obligation is fulfilled. Such a claim is fully justified if we consider the obligation to have an identity card, defined by the content of the Decree of 22 October 1951 and the Act of 6 August 2010 on Identity Cards. The analysis of the above-mentioned regulations allows for: emphasizing the obligation’s character as a basic civic duty, recalling the differences in the actual occurrence and social perception of ailments related to the implementation of the obligation to have an identity card in the times of the Polish People’s Republic and in the 21st century, while referring to the similarities and differences resulting from the visual aspects and functionality of contemporary and historical ID cards.

Antecedents and consequences of system justification among Iranian migrants in Western Europe

Seeing the sociopolitical system as fair and legitimate is important for people’s participation in civic duties, political action, and the functioning of society in general. However, little is known about when migrants, without life-long socialization in a certain system, justify the sociopolitical system of their host country and how system justification influences their political participation. We examined antecedents of system justification using a survey among Iranian migrants in eight European countries (N = 935). Subsequently, we examined the relationship between system justification and political participation intentions. We found that system justification beliefs are generally high in our sample, mainly stemming from an assessment of opportunity to achieve changes in intergroup relations. Stronger social identity threat, feeling disadvantaged, a longer residence in Europe, and perceived intergroup stability all relate to less system justification. Conversely, stronger efficacy beliefs bolster system justification. Furthermore, we found some support for a curvilinear relationship between system justification and political participation intentions, but the size of this effect is small. The results show that the high levels of system justification of Iranian migrants are at risk when discrimination and disadvantage are perceived to be stable facets of society. Surprisingly, political participation to better Iranian migrants’ societal position is barely affected by system justification. We discuss implications and further research that can increase understanding of system justification among migrants.

The Role of Contemporary Religious Practice in the Development/Under-Development of Nigeria

This paper examines the role of contemporary religious practices in the development/underdevelopment of Nigeria. And it was revealed that despite some factors inhibiting the role of religion in the development of Nigeria, it has to a large extent contributed significantly to the economic development directly or indirectly especially in the development of manpower and human resources through the establishment of educational and health facilities. Based on these revelations, it was recommended among others to integrate religion into the development agenda of Nigeria to overcome the ignorance responsible for the disconnection some often make between their faith and their civic duties. Honestly embrace peace and mutual co-existence by understanding and tolerating one another’s religious beliefs.

Citizen X: Exploring Connectedness and Engagement: Among Engaged Youth - An Existential Analysis

What value do we place on being engaged? Civic engagement connects us to social institutions that enhance well-being, self-worth and quality of life satisfaction. Yet, for youth (ages 18–22), there exists the phenomena of civic engagement in spite of isolation, lack of skills or discrimination. This article explores the explicit and implicit meanings of civic engagement among our youth, and the elements needed to achieve meaning in their lives – even through civic engagement. This analysis explores the interpretation of civic engagement among youth, and the individuals who present as connected and engaged. Forty individuals were surveyed with 18 comprising the youth group (ages 20–22). The results show the types of civic duties they participated in and the relationship to their satisfaction with their quality of life. It is believed that the respondents who presented as most connected and engaged were those who were saturated with strong civic messages pre-adolescence. These individuals presented a strong sense of hope, a conscious choice in serving others and a strong sense of community that are central to existential theory.

Organizing Intellectual Competitions of Students in Universities: Forms and Areas for Improvement

The article outlines the tasks facing higher education institutions in the context of digitalization and acceleration of the knowledge updating process, which are aimed at creating a sustainable system for acquiring competencies, entrepreneurial skills and civic duties among students, teachers and employees. Performance indicators of all-Ukrainian student Olympiads, All-Ukrainian competitions of research works in Ukraine in 2009–2019 analyzed, to find out the patterns of organization of various intellectual competitions of students and their regional features. The factors contributing in the growth of participation of students from higher education institutions in these events were determined. It is indicated that the share of new organizational forms of Olympiads such as business games, blitz tournaments, solving situational problems, performing essay tasks, practical tours with employers’ support and participation is increasing. The results of a survey of 200 higher education institutions on student participation in international competitions held abroad and their prizes in 2015 and 2019 are presented. The tendencies of student involvement in international competitions abroad, in international, all-Ukrainian conferences, seminars for students and young researchers are outlined. Areas for improvement of intellectual competitions of students with account to priorities of modernization and technological development of the Ukrainian economy, employer needs and social demands are formulated. It is proposed to introduce comprehensive forms and methods for stimulating students' interest in learning and self-development, obtaining high-quality education through intellectual games such as scholarship, grant or competitive ones. Evidence is given of the need to reform the nomenclature of specialties with highlighting the disciplines or the modules of disciplines in which the following types of all-Ukrainian intellectual competitions of students should be held: subject Olympiads, competitions of student research works, professional competitions.

On Borders

When are borders justified? Who has a right to control them? Where should they be drawn? People today think of borders as an island’s shores. Just as beaches delimit a castaway’s realm, so borders define the edge of a territory occupied by a unified people, to whom the land legitimately belongs. Hence a territory is legitimate only if it belongs to a people unified by civic identity. Sadly, this Desert Island Model of territorial politics forces us to choose. If a country seeks to have a legitimate territory, it can either have democratic legitimacy or inclusion of different civic identities—but not both. The resulting politics creates mass xenophobia, migrant bashing, hoarding of natural resources, and border walls. On Borders presents an alternative model. Drawing on an intellectual tradition concerned with how land and climate shape institutions, this book argues that we should not see territories as pieces of property owned by identity groups. Instead, we should see them as watersheds: as interconnected systems where institutions, people, the biota, and the land together create overlapping civic duties and relations, what the book calls place-specific duties. This Watershed Model argues that borders are justified when they allow us to fulfill those duties; that border-control rights spring from internationally agreed conventions—not from internal legitimacy, that borders should be governed cooperatively by the neighboring states and the states system, and that border redrawing should be done with environmental conservation in mind. The book explores how this model undoes the exclusionary politics of desert islands.

Tools for Living Democracy: Putting the CLDE Theory of Change into Practice

A Crucible Moment, the influential report from the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (2012), served as both a clarion call and a marker of progress for higher education’s civic engagement movement. After decades of productive experimentation with strategies for fostering civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions in students and setting up mutual and reciprocal relationships between higher education institutions and community partners (Saltmarsh & Hartley, 2011, 2017), the report’s authors could credibly call to move civic learning and democratic engagement from the margins to the core of higher education’s concerns. The phrase “democratic engagement,” meaning nonpartisan engagement in the political process, reflected the report’s emphasis on engaging students in civic inquiry, deliberation, and collective action, not just episodic service or the performance of civic duties such as voting. The authors identified numerous promising examples of institutions demonstrating and cultivating civic-mindedness.

Displacement and Children's Rights

This chapter examines the relationship amongst displacement, education, and sustainable national development. It pays attention to the effects of displacement on the rights of children to education in Nigeria. Data for the study were obtained via in-depth interviews from key informants and focus group discussions (FGDs) amongst internally displaced women in a government-managed and faith-based IDP camps in the Adamawa State as well as informal settlements in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja on the quality of education offered in the camps. Findings from the study show that wide gaps exist between the education received by displaced children and the expectations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The study argues that the educational exclusivity of displaced children would have adverse effects on the sustainable development of the Nigerian state as it would decrease awareness of values about their civic duties needed for sustainable development. It thus recommends for increased media advocacy in pushing for better implementation of inclusive education in Nigeria.

DIRECTIONS OF CHARITY ACTIVITIES OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH

The article presents an analysis of the charitable activities of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as one of the representatives of the Protestant community. It was determined that one of the priority areas of social service to the community. Adventists consider charity, through which they try in every possible way to help people suffering from hunger, hostilities, conflicts and the like. In particular, attention is focused on the dominant Adventist charitable programs, such as: "The Eastern Angel" and "Hands of Hope", through which Seventh-day Adventists provide material and other assistance to the population in different parts of Ukraine. It has been established that from the moment of their inception to the present day Adventists have been carrying out important social programs aimed at improving the physical and material situation of socially unprotected segments of the population. Attention is focused on the fact that the contribution of Adventists to the socio-economic development of Ukraine, on the one hand, is relatively insignificant, but on the other hand, due to the conscientious fulfillment of their civic duties, believers of this denomination systematically serve the needs of society to the best of their ability. Adventists define their duty to the state and society as follows: paying taxes in good faith, developing business and creating new jobs, establishing real human relations, and active charity. It has been established that the life of Adventists is subject to Christian ethics: property rights, hard work, freedom of entrepreneurship, charity. As a result, all actions of the representatives of this religion are aimed at a person and his needs. A conditional guide in the social ministry of Adventists is the "Social Teachings of the Church of Seventh-day Adventists", which sets out the principles of social responsibility of Adventists to the society of which they themselves are a part. A powerful charitable organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the Adventist Relief and Development Agency, through which the Church is trying to help people in crisis situations. It has been established that since 2014, ADRA has been actively helping residents in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The reports of ADRA were analyzed, according to which it was established that the Adventist charitable agency implements food, non-food and other programs throughout Ukraine.