How should conservation be professionalized?

Meeting the complex demands of conservation requires a multi-skilled workforce operating in a sector that is respected and supported. Although professionalization of conservation is widely seen as desirable, there is no consistent understanding of what that entails. Here, we review whether and how eight elements of professionalization observed in other sectors are applicable to conservation: (1) a defined and respected occupation; (2) official recognition; (3) knowledge, learning, competences and standards; (4) paid employment; (5) codes of conduct and ethics; (6) individual commitment; (7) organizational capacity; and (8) professional associations. Despite significant achievements in many of these areas, overall progress is patchy, and conventional concepts of professionalization are not always a good fit for conservation. Reasons for this include the multidisciplinary nature of conservation work, the disproportionate influence of elite groups on the development and direction of the profession, and under-representation of field practitioners and of Indigenous peoples and local communities with professional-equivalent skills. We propose a more inclusive approach to professionalization that reflects the full range of practitioners in the sector and the need for increased recognition in countries and regions of high biodiversity. We offer a new definition that characterizes conservation professionals as practitioners who act as essential links between conservation action and conservation knowledge and policy, and provide seven recommendations for building a more effective, inclusive and representative profession.

Institutional, inter-organizational, and financial factors in science parks: a study from the perspective of collaborative governance

This study investigates the importance of fundamental elements of collaborative arrangements from the perspective of the actors operating in Brazilian science parks, and assesses whether these collaborative arrangements are found in the parks’ daily practices. Factor analysis identified ten variables considered most relevant, separated into three factors: (i) individual - commitment and motivation among actors; (ii) inter-organizational - interdependence between parties, the participation of all institutions in decision-making, the involvement of various institutions, and trust; and (iii) financial - funding sources and investments. Frequency analysis identified three elements of collaborative governance, although they are not highly prevalent in Brazilian science parks: commitment among actors, participation of all institutions in decision-making, and investment-related issues.

FACTORS RELATING TO THE QUALITY OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN BAHTERAMAS REGIONAL PUBLIC HOSPITAL SOUTHEAST SULAWESI PROVINCE

Background: Data on the achievement of minimum service standards at Bahteramas Hospital shows that several programs have not reached the specified Minimum Service Standards, namely the availability of facilities and operating equipment (34.37), customer satisfaction (74.04%) from the standard ?80%, time provision of medical records (30 minutes) from standard 10 minutes, completeness of informed concent (67.75%) of ?80%. Observing the development of human resources at the Bahteramas Hospital has not been carried out optimally, for example, such as a standardized selection and recruitment process, support for facilities, infrastructure and technology, individual commitment to organization, leadership commitment and employee work relations themselves. The purpose of this research is to analyze factors related to the quality of human resources at the Bahteramas Regional General Hospital, Southeast Sulawesi Province. Methods: Quantitative research using a cross sectional study design.The population in this study amounted to 981 people. The number of samples in this study were 277 people. The sample was determined by simple random sampling technique. The data were obtained using the testchi square. Result: The test results using the chi square statistical test, it is known that the value of the selection variable (22,378> 3,841), the value of the training variable (18,658> 3,841), the value of the individual commitment variable (38,863> 3,841), the value of the reward variable (51,784> 3,841), the value of the skill variable (94,713> 3,841). Conclusion: There is a relationship between selection and the quality of human resources, there is a relationship between training and the quality of human resources, there is a relationship between individual commitment and the quality of human resources, there is a relationship between reward and the quality of human resources, there is a relationship between skills and the quality of human resources.

Sustainability-Sport-Physical Activity

The present study is a synthesizing analysis of international literature on correlations between sustainability, sport, and physical activity. The study of sustainability is considered essential in modern research; its multidisciplinary approach relies on sports science and sports economics as well. There are several aspects of sustainability that are closely associated with health and health preservation; the beneficial effect of exercise on health is also widely known. For the analysis of this complex matter, our current study relied on secondary sources, and besides exploring specialist literature, it also illustrates and analyzes related statistical data. Our results highlight the correlations between living environment and physical activity, the importance of increasing individual commitment towards sustainability and using green spaces for exercising, as well as questions on social and environmental development in relation to physical activity. The study revealed the existence of highly complex links between physical environment, physical activities, and sustainability. The results section of our study provides a brief summary on the possible ways of making people physically active. Increasing physical activity is of paramount importance for achieving the objectives formulated in relation to sustainability.

The Impact of Group Size on Decision Effectiveness

The relationship between organization and environment, based on the need to gather information and find resources, is increasingly characterized by a high level of uncertainty. Uncertainty means that managers do not have enough information and time to anticipate changes and make good decisions. More and more managers make decisions about new problems or situations. The level of risk increases, as well as the degree of complexity that the decision maker has to face. Under these conditions, organizations are moving towards the use of groups. The main purpose of the current research is to identify what are the most important benefits and limits of the group referring to its size, taking into analysis the banking institutions. For the current study is adopted the quantitative research and for the data collection is used the questionnaire. A total of 344 questionnaire are distributed. 80 percent of the participants agree that group size affects the quality of the decisions made and most of them prefer small groups. Also, most of them believe that within large groups are more conflicts, the relationships between members are more formal, the attention and individual commitment are lower than in small groups, the consensus is difficult, decisions can be made only through a voting process and there are no delays in decision-making, but coordination problems are not necessarily higher than within small groups.

When Design Principles Do Not Apply: The Role of Individual Commitment and “Voluntarism” in Maintaining Communal Water Supply in Northern Kunene, Namibia

Blueprints resembling Ostrom’s (1990) design principles have been used in Namibia’s northern Kunene to instruct pastoral communities in managing boreholes in their localities. However, these blueprints are only marginally adopted by local agents, and consequently, Ostrom’s design principles do not fully apply. Water shortages are not the immediate outcome of these circumstances as, due to the individual commitment of mostly young men, communal water supply is maintained, especially in emergency cases. By drawing on aspects from the anthropology of ethics and human behavioral ecology, this paper offers an explanation as to why these individuals “volunteer” to keep the pumps running in their communities. It discusses whether rules and sanctions in the Ostromian sense are the only drivers for people to commit themselves to others and the common good.

Lower-Caste Conversions (1530–Present)

Beginning in the 1860s and 1870s, in separate regions of India, Protestants witnessed explosive growth through group conversions among the “depressed classes.” Forced to revise their understanding of conversion as an individual commitment made by one person at a time, Christians discovered that their future success lay in the conversion of the outcastes and tribal groups. By 1933, an estimated one-half of the Roman Catholics in India were descendants of mass-movement converts and at least 80 percent of the Protestant converts had also come via this route. This chapter considers group conversions or mass movements, primarily among nineteenth- and twentieth-century depressed classes and tribal peoples, who currently represent over 50 percent and 15 to 20 percent, respectively, of Christians in India. Groups discussed include the Shanars of Tirunelveli, the Chuhras of Punjab, and the Mizos of northeast India. The chapter concludes with an examination of recent conversion controversies.

Performance Appraisal in Universities—Assessing the Tension in Public Service Motivation (PSM)

Performance appraisal (PA) has become a prominent feature on the agenda of higher education institutions (HEIs). However, the traditional culture of the typical university is based on individual commitment, scientific teamwork, dedication to public service and intrinsic motivation of the academic staff, all of which are the essential components of public service motivation (PSM). By interviewing key informants from three public universities, the purpose of our research was to identify various tensions between PA and PSM, by asking what is the impact of PA on PSM of academics in public HEIs. Our findings have shown that the purposefulness of PA activities may not be fully understood by public HEI management and academics. The existing tensions between PA normative aims of motivation and fair evaluation and its descriptive effects of increasing bureaucracy and dissatisfaction might undermine PSM, an essential driving force that motivates academics to work in public HEIs.

Multi Sistem Pendidikan Pesantren dan Tantangan Masa Depan

Pesantren or Pondok Pesantren are Islamic boarding school. According to onepopular tradition. As social institutions, pesantren have played a major role overthe centuries. They emphasise cores values of sincerity, simplicity, individualautonomy, solidarity and self-control. Young men and women are separated fromtheir familier, which contributes to a sense of individual commitment to the faithand close bonding to a teacher. Pesantren aim to deepen knowledge of Qur’an,particularly thruugh the study of Arabic, traditions of exegesis, the Sayings of theProphet, law and logic. The term pesantren derives from the root word santri orstudent – pe-santri- or the place of the santri. Pesantren provides to Indonesiancitizens at low cost; although today some modern pesantren charge higher feesthan previously, they are still significantly cheaper than non-pesantreneducational instittutions. The tradisional pattern was for students to work in theheadmaster’s rice fields in exchange for food, shelter, and education. Allpesantren are led by a group of teachers and religious leaders known Kyai. TheKyai is respected as teacher and devout man. Kyai also play important roles in inthe community as a religious leader and in recent years as a political figure.There are Kyai families that have a long history of serving in this role. Somecontemporary Kyai are the grandsons and great-grandsons of famous historialfigures who established well known pesantren