Design Function in Innovation Processes

Some words emerge at a given moment to catalyse ideas and give new meaning to old terminology. Innovation and design are two such words. Innovation has traditionally been linked with the Applied Sciences, especially technology, whereas advances in the PureSciences tend to be termed discoveries, inventions, or creations. However, for decades now, innovation has been a leitmotiv in all fields of scientific knowledge in both the Pure and the Applied Sciences. Design has also emerged from the niche it once occupied for decades (andeven centuries) at least insofar as its impact on the History of Science and of Philosophy is concerned. In fact, design’s introduction into the academic world has gone hand-in-hand with Art and its impact on our daily lives. This paper analyses innovation processes in boththe Pure and the Applied Sciences to discover how far new design theories over the last few decades have influenced innovation in fields such as Epistemology and Technology. We focus on Design Epistemology and methodological innovation, specifically in connectionwith design simulations and methodological models. We also look at the underlying design technologies and the key role they play in innovation processes.

Methodological Innovations for the Study of Spirituality

One of the most important decisions in any study of spirituality is the method used to collect information about spiritual life. This methodological choice frames later conceptual analysis—making possible some types of conclusions but preventing others. Accordingly, methodological innovation in the study of spiritualty holds the promise of conceptual innovation. This chapter puts forth three methodological innovations available to spirituality researchers. They are (1) using smartphones to collect experience-sampling method data about day-to-day spiritual experiences, (2) conducting field experiments in which spiritual experiences are randomly assigned, and (3) analyzing big data to observe societal-wide trends and patterns in spiritual expressions. Each of these methods promises to produce rich and novel data that hold the potential for conceptual breakthroughs in our understanding of spiritual processes.

The effect of repertoire, routinization and enacted complexity: Explaining task performance through patterns of action

We use pattern mining tools from computer science to engage a classic problem in organizational theory: the relation between routinization and task performance. We develop and operationalize new measures of two key characteristics of organizational routines: repertoire and routinization. Repertoire refers to the number of recognizable patterns in a routine, and routinization refers to the fraction of observed actions that fit those patterns. We use these measures to develop a novel theory that predicts task performance based on the size of repertoire, the degree of routinization, and enacted complexity. We test this theory in two settings that differ in their programmability: crisis management and invoice management. We find that repertoire and routinization are important determinants of task performance in both settings, but with opposite effects. In both settings, however, the effect of repertoire and routinization is mediated by enacted complexity. This theoretical contribution is enabled by the methodological innovation of pattern mining, which allows us to treat routines as a collection of sequential patterns or paths. This innovation also allows us to clarify the relation of routinization and complexity, which are often confused because the terms routine and routinization connote simplicity. We demonstrate that routinization and enacted complexity are distinct constructs, conceptually and empirically. It is possible to have a high degree of routinization and complex enactments that vary each time a task is performed. This is because enacted complexity depends on the repertoire of patterns and how those patterns are combined to enact a task.

Posthumanist trauma: An intrasectional approach to accountable determinacy in current North American narrative

How can we deal with trauma in a posthuman world? The 9th of September 2001 will be remembered as the day the world changed. The turn of the century in the Western world was signaled by this national trauma, but also by a change in the humanist paradigm that very much conditioned the way in which such trauma was experienced and represented. This article explores this intersection in the works of Thomas Pynchon and Art Spiegelman as they struggle to account for 9/11 through two trauma narratives that signal a matching change in aesthetic approach. Its methodological innovation lies in the application of Karen Barad’s concept of “intra-action” to the humanities.

Three-dimensional modeling as a methodological innovation for teaching zoology and as a strategy for environmental education

The great diversity of animals and the relationship between their morphological characteristics, adaptations and life strategies are approached in the teaching of zoology. The use of innovative and alternative methodologies, such as zoological modeling, are tools that can contribute to a high interest in the study of zoology and it is use in an environmental education strategy. In this study, the zoological modeling intermediated the teaching-learning process in undergraduate students of the Biological Sciences course and the connection of teaching practices with environmental extension activities. Twenty-two animal models were built with representatives of the Phylum Arthropoda, Mollusca, Cnidaria and Echinodermata, approaching aspects of external, internal morphology and life cycle. The process of perception, viability and assimilation of the construction of the zoological modeling was analyzed through interviews with 40 undergraduates and 100 children and teenagers, the target audience of the workshops. The results showed that the three-dimensional modeling stimulates environmental students in the teaching-learning process and it is use in education activities were efficient, awakening curiosity, enabling the demystification of animals and the dissemination of their essential ecosystem services for the conservation of biodiversity.

Multiproxy Holocene Fire Records From the Tropical Savannas of Northern Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia

Paleoecology has demonstrated potential to inform current and future land management by providing long-term baselines for fire regimes, over thousands of years covering past periods of lower/higher rainfall and temperatures. To extend this potential, more work is required for methodological innovation able to generate nuanced, relevant and clearly interpretable results. This paper presents records from Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia, as a case study where fire management is an important but socially complex modern management issue, and where palaeofire records are limited. Two new multiproxy palaeofire records are presented from Sanamere Lagoon (8,150–6,600 cal BP) and Big Willum Swamp (3,900 cal BP to present). These records combine existing methods to investigate fire occurrence, vegetation types, and relative fire intensity. Results presented here demonstrate a diversity of fire histories at different sites across Cape York Peninsula, highlighting the need for finer scale palaeofire research. Future fire management planning on Cape York Peninsula must take into account the thousands of years of active Indigenous management and this understanding can be further informed by paleoecological research.

INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES FOR EDUCATION OF ROMA CHILDREN IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

The problem with the education, socialization and upbringing of Roma children in Bulgaria is serious and requires the joint efforts of universities and schools. For many of these children, education is not a value. They study only in primary school and then remain traditionally in their family. It must be recognized that traditional family values ​​and traditions for the Roma have the force of law. Many Roma families managed to socialize by leaving the ghetto and settling in Bulgarian communities - but many of them do not want to change their lifestyle. The cooperation between the schools and the university is presented in the university project "Innovations in the socialization of bilingual students through communication and speech development" presented here. A methodological innovation for the education of Roma children has been introduced. This innovation combines tradition (Roma fairy tale) and the development of reader literacy, thinking, and solving cases. A total of 415 Roma students participated in the empirical study. With their participation in the project it is established that they increase their reading skills, learn the Bulgarian language better and develop critical thinking.

Procesos da historiografía literaria galega Para un debate crítico

Galician literary historiography shows links and ruptures that refer to the cultural history of Galicia itself and to the sequence of historical events that have delineated the social, economic and political development of the country since the 19th century. These coordinates comprise a series of processes, including the elaboration and propagation of ideologies aimed at achieving a way out of political subalternity and oriented towards the horizon of national emancipation. Those events and these processes also marked the connection of Galicia with modernity and the dynamics of historical change. As a result of the above, this book analyses critically the institutionalization processes of the history of Galician literature – with special emphasis on historiographic models such as that of Said Armesto, Carvalho Calero, Méndez Ferrín and others – and indicates the need to undertake a productive methodological innovation of the discipline in heuristic, organic and discursive terms. It further argues that this update should pay attention to substantive theoretical debates, not exclusively of specific cultural coordinates, such as Galician ones or any others that could be considered. Among these, the cooperation between history and sociology, the intellection of literary facts as historical facts, the review of the link between literary history and nation, the public uses of literary history, and the inquiry of discursive choices that promote a less self-indulgent and predictable historiography. This essentially involved a challenge, that of permanent dialogue with some of the most powerful critical reinterpretations of the Galician historiographic tradition and with alternative models constituted from feminist thought, postcolonial theories, the sociology of the literary field or the systemic theories of culture, as well as with the contributions made from a post-national understanding of the literary phenomenon.

Mediating Knowledge Co-Production for Inclusive Governance and Delivery of Food, Water and Energy Services in African Cities

Rising rates of urbanisation in Africa, without attendant improvements in critical infrastructure, have occasioned gaps in the provision of basic services in cities across the continent. Different systems and scales of service delivery — decentralised and centralised, public and private — coexist and often compete in urban spaces but rarely connect in ways that ensure the needs of the poorest are met. Our paper interrogates the value of transdisciplinary research for bringing actors in these systems together to co-produce knowledge for inclusive and sustainable outcomes. Drawing on empirical data from two complementary projects in four African cities, we demonstrate the possibilities for facilitating this kind of knowledge co-production among system actors in the food, water and energy domains. We show, through a comparative approach, elements of the co-production process that enable more responsive engagement by traditionally detached policy actors. From our findings, we generate a framework that local researchers serving as ‘knowledge intermediaries’ can use to stimulate research-policy-society interactions aimed at fostering sustainable and inclusive service delivery across Africa. By synthesising the findings from local case studies into a widely applicable framework, our analysis informs both the theory and practice of transdisciplinary sustainability research in the African context where the imperative to bridge gaps in methodological innovation and service delivery is high.