Integrated and sustainable agroecological production for medicinal plants: a proposal based on strategic management

A management plan based on Integrated and Sustainable Agroecological Production (Pais) technology for the cultivation of medicinal plants, through a case study. The Swot-AHP technique was adopted to evaluateproblems to agroecological cultivation, indicating stages of the implementation work, before the physical structuring of the project, integrated with a participative social action with employees of the institution who revealed the use of 64 medicinal plants, highlighting boldo, lemongrass, and lemon balm, while 174 plant species were identified in official Brazilian documents. The lack of electricity and funding delays by funders are the most significant problems, while the space for work and gardening courses are the best potential. The integration of these data has proposed the implementation of teams for fundraising and project implementation, based on a list of medicinal species to compose the future structure made with Pais social technology.

Implantação de Projetos de Tecnologia Social: proposta de uma trilha metodológica ## Implementation of Social Technology Projects: proposal for a methodological trail

O objetivo da pesquisa é apresentar uma Trilha Metodológica para implantação de Projetos de Tecnologia Social. Para tanto, promoveu-se uma revisão da literatura a respeito das Tecnologias Sociais, seguido de observação participante em projetos de extensão da Universidade Federal de Sergipe para um melhor entendimento empírico do fenômeno. Delineou-se também uma análise em Projetos de TS da Fundação Banco do Brasil, por meio de entrevista e documentos, com a finalidade de verificar como ocorreu a implantação destas TS. Como resultado, infere-se que a Trilha Metodológica proposta é uma importante estratégia para a definição de um percurso operacional para implantaçao de TS, por meio de etapas, ações e ferramentas. Para esta pesquisa as etapas foram denominadas de Estações, que são: Diagnóstico, Construção, Experimentação e Expansão. ABSTRACTThe objective of the research is to present a Methodological Trail for the implementation of Social Technology Projects. To this end, a literature review on Social Technologies was promoted, followed by participant observation in extension projects at the Federal University of Sergipe for a better empirical understanding of the phenomenon. An analysis of the TS Projects of the Banco do Brasil Foundation was also outlined, through interviews and documents, with the purpose of verifying how the implementation of these TS occurred. As a result, it is inferred that the proposed Methodological Trail is an important strategy for the definition of an operational path for the implantation of ST, through steps, actions, and tools. For this research the steps were called Stations, which are: Diagnosis, Construction, Experimentation and Expansion

INNOVATIVE SOCIAL TECHNOLOGIES AT WORK WITH CHILDREN AND YOUTH

The article disclosed the content of the concepts «innovation», «social innovation», «social technology», «innovative social technology». It is indicated that one of the features of modern social technology is its innovative nature. The purpose of the article is to define the essence of the concept of «innovative social technologies», substantiate and analyze the possibilities of their application in work with children and youth. Innovation is increasingly becoming the subject of scientific research in the social sphere. The main attention of researchers is focused on innovative technologies in social work, innovative processes, innovative methods, types and subjects of social innovation, innovative practices of social work with vulnerable groups in Ukraine. It is noted that the emergence of innovative technology is determined by the needs and social problems of society, requires accurate planning, serious training and qualified personnel. For social pedagogy, the term «innovation» currently remains new and poorly researched. This term is interpreted in two meanings: innovation as a process and innovation as a product. The characteristics, functions and sources of social innovation are considered. It is emphasized that innovations actively influence the surrounding social environment. For social work, social pedagogy, an essential characteristic of innovation is its social consequences. The social processes that determine the growth of innovative activity in the social sphere are indicated. Innovative technologies exist in two forms: in the form of programs and documents and in the form of social processes. It was also noted that children and youth are quite often the most vulnerable social categories and need qualified assistance and support. The presence of social problems prompts the development and implementation of innovative technologies for social work with children and youth. The innovative social technologies in working with children are listed. The innovative forms of the implementation of youth work in Ukraine have been identified. The promising directions of innovative activity in the social sphere, including in the social and pedagogical work with children and youth, are indicated.

Social Technology: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Improving Care for Older Adults

Population aging is a defining demographic reality of our era. It is associated with an increase in the societal burden of delivering care to older adults with chronic conditions or frailty. How to integrate global population aging and technology development to help address the growing demands for care facing many aging societies is both a challenge and an opportunity for innovation. We propose a social technology approach that promotes use of technologies to assist individuals, families, and communities to cope more effectively with the disabilities of older adults who can no longer live independently due to dementia, serious mental illness, and multiple chronic health problems. The main contributions of the social technology approach include: (1) fostering multidisciplinary collaboration among social scientists, engineers, and healthcare experts; (2) including ethical and humanistic standards in creating and evaluating innovations; (3) improving social systems through working with those who deliver, manage, and design older adult care services; (4) promoting social justice through social policy research and innovation, particularly for disadvantaged groups; (5) fostering social integration by creating age-friendly and intergenerational programs; and (6) seeking global benefit by identifying and generalizing best practices. As an emergent, experimental approach, social technology requires systematic evaluation in an iterative process to refine its relevance and uses in different local settings. By linking technological interventions to the social and cultural systems of older people, we aim to help technological advances become an organic part of the complex social world that supports and sustains care delivery to older adults in need.

Understanding Racial and Rural Disparities in the Relationship between Social Isolation and Social Technology Use

Social isolation is characterized by lack of social contacts and high degrees of loneliness. Feelings of loneliness and social isolation are linked to declines in cognitive functioning and increased risk of dementia. Previous research suggests that loneliness is more prevalent among Black and rural older adults compared to White and urban-dwelling older adults. Given these disparities, it is important to identify methods that reduce social isolation and loneliness among this population. Social technology, such as Facebook and Skype, is one possible way to connect with others. This study uses the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) dataset to examine racial and rural disparities in the relationship between social technology use and social isolation, loneliness, and social support among individuals age 50 and older. The overarching hypotheses are that (1) rural-dwelling older adults and older Blacks will report less social technology use compared to urban-dwelling and older White adults, and (2) there will be a negative relationship between loneliness and social technology use, and (3) a positive relationship between perceived positive social support and social technology use. Racial or rural disparities in these latter potential relationships are exploratory. Multiple linear regression analysis will be performed to assess these relationships. Preliminary correlational results indicate that, consistent with prior work, greater use of social technology was associated with higher social support (N=6,029; r=.29, p<.001). However, contrary to our hypothesis, greater self-reported loneliness was associated with greater social technology (r=.09, p<.001). Examination of potential racial and rural disparities in these relationships are currently underway.

Sertanejo biodigestor: a social technology, an alternative source of energy

The use of biogas as an alternative to using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking food in the context of family farming is something recent and has ample room for growth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of the Sertanejo biodigester by farming families as a social technology for cooking gas production, as well as an alternative energy source. It also aimed to identify elements which contribute to disseminating this technology as an alternative to the use of firewood, charcoal and LPG. Quali-quantitative approaches were used following the exploratory method, with interviews and non-probabilistic sampling. A population with 132 units of biodigesters in the Agreste mesoregion of the State of Pernambuco was considered, with 83 interviews being collected. The results indicated that the Sertanejo biodigester social technology provides an increase in the income of farming families, avoids the use of firewood and charcoal for cooking food and produces biofertilizer for crops. They also showed that its non-continuous use or deactivation is related to a lack of raw material and the need for maintenance. Given this scenario, its implementation must consider the availability of a raw material source in the production unit and the potential for biogas production from the existing herd and consumption demand. It is recommended to strengthen arguments of economic and environmental impact for low-income families to disseminate this technology; to encourage the use of biogas associated with other activities in the production system; and to incorporate biodigestor social technology in rural credit financing lines.

Managing categories: The role of social technology in kindergarten teachers’ work to promote early intervention and integration

Early intervention and integration are highly valued ideals in kindergartens in Norway. Building on two research projects informed by institutional ethnography, the authors address how kindergarten teachers ‘do’ early intervention and integration in their everyday work. They argue that this work largely revolves around managing categories, whether making categories fit people or making people fit categories. In this work, the kindergarten teachers rely on social technology that is influenced by a ‘psy-discourse’. Despite good intentions, the social technology and the professionals’ use of it ends up constructing the categories they are intended to help or ‘heal’.

Avoid being a victim of social engineering attack during the COVID-19 pandemic

Several professional routines were moved to Digital media because of the prevalent circumstances of the COVID 19 disease outbreak. This resulted in a spike in the number of individuals on all these sites and also saw current members leap into the period consumed digitally. This rise in folk's internet connectivity often never precedes cyber security awareness and the different forms of threats that can happen to a daily Web user. This makes this particular circumstance ready for use by malicious hackers and social engineering attacks (SEA) are indeed the main kind. The assaults on social engineering are a category of advanced cyber threats that manipulate the inherent human behavior and thus violate most security mechanisms. This article addresses how the COVID-19 disease outbreak has laid the groundwork for an increased social technology assault, the implications of these threats as well as some strategies for countering these challenges. This report would assist entities and enterprises through an examination of the several known threats on coronaviruses and suggestions. The study also investigated social engineering philosophy and proposes safety knowledge as a solution for reducing the risk of threats of being the victim of social engineering.

“This changes things”: Children, targeting, and the making of precision

Avoidance of civilian casualties increasingly affects the political calculus of legitimacy in armed conflict. “Collateral damage” is a problem that can be managed through the material production of precision, but it is also the case that precision is a problem managed through the cultural production of collateral damage. Bearing decisively on popular perceptions of ethical conduct in recourse to political violence, childhood is an important site of meaning-making in this process. In pop culture, news dispatches, and social media, children, as quintessential innocents, figure prominently where the dire human consequences of imprecision are depicted. Children thus affect the practical “precision” of even the most advanced weapons, perhaps precluding a strike for their presence, potentially coloring it with their corpses. But who count as children, how, when, where, and why are not at all settled questions. Drawing insights from what the 2015 film, Eye in the Sky, reveals about a key social technology of governance we have already internalized, I explore how childhood is itself a terrain of engagement in the (un)making of precision.