The Necessity of Associative Democracy: Bringing Corporatism Back In

One of the UN SDGs is tackling and minimize climate change. This is a threat that has many adverse consequences, including in the world of work. Women are one of the most vulnerable categories in labor relations, and unfavorable environmental factors, which are aggravated due to climate change, are not always taken into account and taken into account by the employer. The paper discusses some legal measures that are being taken at the international, regional, national and employer levels to minimize the adverse effects of climate change in labor relations with women. A legal analysis of the norms of the international framework, as well as materials of international organizations on women's rights in a changing climate, is carried out. Some conclusions and proposals are formulated to improve the efficiency of legal regulation of labor and social security relations with women in the workplace.

Sustainability issues are intricate in nature and difficult to address without careful consideration. Among the most urgent sustainability problems, if not the most serious, is human-caused climate change. It is an example of a so-called wicked problem, mainly due to its significant complexity and lack of precise boundaries. Solving this extremely complex problem requires knowledge from various academic fields and areas of society. Consequently, addressing climate change requires cross-disciplinary approaches and crosscurricular teaching. One approach to crosscurricularity is through “socio-scientific issues.” Thus, the aim of this chapter is to discuss climate change as an example of a wicked problem and a socio-scientific issue. We argue for the importance and urgency of including climate change in education. Based on a review of previous research and Finnish policy documents, we present alternative routes to a crosscurricular teaching approach more generally. The Finnish example addresses a wicked problem in an upper secondary curriculum context. With this example, we aim to highlight crucial didactical elements built on a cross- and transcurricular approach. Our conclusion is that wicked problems such as climate change necessitate changes in subject teacher education and the teaching practice in upper secondary schools to tackle the complexity from both scientific and social perspectives.

Heat stress amplified by climate change causes excessive reductions in labor capacity, work injuries, and socio-economic losses. Yet studies of corresponding impact assessments and adaptation developments are insufficient and incapable of effectively dealing with uncertain information. This gap is caused by the inability to resolve complex channels involving climate change, labor relations, and labor productivity. In this paper, an optimization-based productivity restoration modeling framework is developed to bridge the gap and support decision-makers in making informed adaptation plans. The framework integrates a multiple-climate-model ensemble, an empirical relationship between heat stress and labor capacity, and an inexact system costs model to investigate underlying uncertainties associated with climate and management systems. Optimal and reliable decision alternatives can be obtained by communicating uncertain information into the optimization processes and resolving multiple channels. Results show that the increased heat stress will lead to a potential reduction in labor productivity in China. By solving the objective function of the framework, total system costs to restore the reduction are estimated to be up to 248,700 million dollars under a Representative Concentration Pathway of 2.6 (RCP2.6) and 697,073 million dollars under RCP8.5 for standard employment, while less costs found for non-standard employment. However, non-standard employment tends to restore productivity reduction with the minimum system cost by implementing active measures rather than passive measures due to the low labor costs resulting from ambiguities among employment statuses. The situation could result in more heat-related work injuries because employers in non-standard employment can avoid the obligation of providing a safe working environment. Urgent actions are needed to uphold labor productivity with climate change, especially to ensure that employers from non-standard employment fulfill their statutory obligations.

That climate change is a major disruptor of rural livelihoods in the low‐ and middle‐income countries, including sub‐Saharan Africa, has been a key narrative for the continent's development for at least a decade. And while the severity of climate impacts on African development should not be underestimated, in this paper I argue that the vulnerability of smallholders in São Tomé and Príncipe should be considered in the broader political economic and historical context of progressing depeasantisation and proletarianisation of global agricultural labour. Moreover, I posit that certain smallholders' vulnerability can actually increase as a result of both autonomous and externally planned adaptation strategies, the latter most commonly promoted by governments and their international development partners. To substantiate these arguments, the paper combines theoretical insights from labour geography and critical adaptation studies with ethnographic data collected in Liberdade – a village in the small island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe – which participated in a nationwide climate change adaptation project. I trace local smallholders' vulnerability back to the country's political economic history and complement this by an investigation of the changing labour relations at the community level. Here, I analyse the autonomous adaptation strategies pursued by the residents and critically assess the localised effects of planned adaptation embodied by the project, with a specific focus on how they affect local labour relations. I conclude by providing some reflections on addressing the current pitfalls of planned adaptation.

Aims: Climate change is an intergenerational challenge likely to impede the realization of Sustainable Development Goals. To combat the effects of climate change requires public understanding of the science behind climate change. Studies however show that the levels of awareness are still low across the world especially in Africa where vulnerability to the effects of climate change is on the rise. There is a need therefore for public education to enhance the relationship between awareness of climate change and study discipline, since awareness is important for effective climate action. This study sought to research on awareness levels of climate variability and change across undergraduate’s study disciplines in Kenyatta University, in Kenya.
 Place and Duration: The study was conducted in Kenyatta University between the months of November and December 2021.
 Study Design: A quasi- experimental research design was adopted in which units on environmental education and climate change were considered the treatment variable.
 Methodology: Purposive sampling and stratified random sampling technique were used to select the schools and respondents in various levels of study, respectively. The sample size was 375 students(n=375) which included 177 female and 198 male students drawn from three schools. School of Environmental Studies formed the experimental group, while School of Business and School of Humanities and Social Sciences formed the control group. A questionnaire was administered to participants drawn from each year level within the three schools. Analysis was done using Kruskal Wallis one-way ANOVA.
 Results: The results revealed a statistically significant difference in the medians of climate change knowledge level across the categories of schools, = 41.138, df =2, P=0.00. Also the distribution of climate change knowledge across the schools varies significantly = 17.968,df=3, P=0.00. School of Environmental Studies exhibited a significantly high level of knowledge and awareness. The three schools were statistically different from each other. Consequently, the null hypothesis of no significant difference in students’ awareness of climate change across disciplines, was rejected.
 Conclusion: Given that study discipline influences awareness levels of climate change, the university curriculum should be reviewed to incorporate adequate content on climate change across study disciplines in order to enhance capacity for climate action.

The article analyzes the general theoretical aspects of the transformation of labor relations in view of the development of information technologies. The labor market and employment are undergoing significant changes due to various factors that characterize the global economy. In particular, progress in technologies, the emergence of non-standard forms of employment, demographic shifts, rapid urbanization, scarcity of resources, climate change, wars, epidemics of various kinds affect all spheres of life and accelerate the processes of transformation of social relations in the sphere of work, Digitization of the economy and production shifts its emphasis to the Internet environment, where the success of work depends on digital capital. It is noted that the transformation of labor activity means changes in social and labor relations, where modern technologies form a digital labor market, digital employment, and a digital workplace. The gig economy sector is forming new work models characterized by long and short duration, contractual nature of working conditions. Digitalization entailed a radical transformation of labor relations, changing the nature of labor relations, changing communication between the employee and the employer, ensuring the confidentiality of information, and the emergence of new forms of employment using software platforms. All this brought significant changes to the labor legislation regarding remote work, home work, the introduction of electronic document management, etc. It is asserted about the need for reform, ensur­ing the flexibility of labor legislation and optimal coordination of the interests of the employee and the employer in labor relations. It is noted that digitalization has significantly changed the organization of work at enterprises, institutions, and organizations. Today, the work process functions and is managed in a remote mode, which cannot fail to reflect both the status of the specialist and his functional duties. Signif­icant changes are also taking place in the area of labor migration. The fundamental task is the development of conceptual foundations for the development of non-standard labor relations. It is necessary to develop new approaches to the training of personnel and their entry into the labor market in the conditions of the digital economy.

Associative Democracy (AD) has been developed as a specific response to statist socialism and neoliberal capitalism, drawing on older traditions such as associationalism, democratic socialism, and cooperative socialism. As the ‘real third way’, it is distinct from neoliberal privatization and deregulation in the Blair–Schröder varieties of social democracy and in the conservative Reagan–Thatcher–Cameron varieties. This article summarizes what seemed to make AD an attractive realist utopia: its combination of economic, societal and political democracy; its focus on democratic institutional pluralism in all these regards; its considered moral/political minimalism; and its practical experimentalism. It recapitalizes some of the important economic, societal and political changes during the last decennia that seem to make AD plainly utopian again. It focuses on an outline of basic principles and institutions of socio-economic alternatives to capitalism because, if neoliberalism rules supreme, no viable alternatives can emerge and grow. Even if there is not one institutional design that fits all countries and contexts, we can show what the basic tenets of such alternatives are and how such a colourful democratic socialism relates to and can integrate other approaches such as ‘circular economy’, ‘foundational economy’ and ‘radical social innovation’. The hope is that AD’s broad institutional pluralism and its emphasis on practical experimentalism show new ways of thinking which are urgently needed for sustainable and socially fair economic development and for renewing representative democracy.

IntroductionAlthough climate change has been identified as one of the greatest threats to health, medical school curricula have very little coverage of its health consequences. While students are key stakeholders in medical school curricula, their perspectives on the inclusion of this content are largely unknown. This study sought to evaluate medical student perceptions on the intersection of climate change and health in medical education. Materials and methodsAuthors surveyed students at select U.S. medical schools from April–July 2020 using Likert-scale items, multiple choice questions, and free text responses. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and a regression analysis was performed to assess student characteristics predictive of stronger beliefs in climate health education. ResultsOf 600 student respondents at 12 medical schools, 83.9% (n=503) believed that climate change and its health effects should be included in the core medical school curriculum, but just 13.0% (n=78) believed that their school currently provides adequate education. Only 6.3% of students (n=38) felt they would be “very prepared” to discuss the question, “How can climate change affect my health?” with a patient. There was no significant association between student beliefs regarding climate change in medical education and age, medical school region or rank, or stage of training, though students with no or low past or present engagement with climate change had significantly lower scores in a composite score assessing belief in climate change's health effects and place in medical education. DiscussionThe majority of medical students believe that climate change should be a core topic in medical school curricula and current coverage is inadequate. By demonstrating student demand to fill this educational gap, this study functions as a needs assessment in the development of climate health curricula moving forward.

In this research, in the Environmental Education and Climate Change Course (6th, 7th or 8th grades) Curriculum; What specific goals, skills, achievements, topics/concepts related to water literacy are included and their place in the program are investigated. Document review, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. The research was based on the Environmental Education and Climate Change Curriculum revised in 2022. The document examined in the context of the research was analyzed with descriptive analysis. As a result of the research, water literacy is indirectly included in the special purpose dimension of the Environmental Education and Climate Change Course Curriculum; directly in the skill dimension; It has been determined that it is included directly and indirectly in the dimension of achievement and subject/concepts. It is seen that the achievements and topics/concepts that may be important for the reflection of water literacy in the curriculum are included in the "Environmental Problems" and "Sustainable Development and Environmentally Friendly Technologies" units. Within the scope of the results obtained, it can be said that the 2022 Environmental Education and Climate Change Course Curriculum includes content aimed at raising awareness and awareness about water literacy. The inclusion of water literacy in different teaching programs can be determined.

We present methods to examine the relationships between climate change and education while rethinking educational approaches that do not rely on endless economic growth, extraction, and accumulation through dispossession. At this historical moment, which is focused on transitions toward a greener future, it is essential to consider how the roles of those most affected by climate change are often overlooked in narratives about “climate solutions.” The paper highlights what is absent from and erased within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and prevalent approaches to climate change education. It does so by focusing on a longer historical arc, as well as Black and Indigenous knowledge systems and cosmologies, alongside ongoing and historical injustices. Utilizing the framework of a decolonial educational ecology, we reimagine climate change in education within interconnected global contexts, emphasizing historically marginalized knowledge systems, confronting power imbalances, and creating alternative pathways toward more sustainable, just futures that transcend universal Western epistemic frameworks.

This Emerging Issue Report (EIR) explores research and evidence on the relationship between education, girls’ education and climate change. There is scientific consensus that climate change is real, manifested through increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including drought, flooding and cyclones. Climate change, environmental degradation and climate vulnerability are closely linked. Climate change exacerbates environmental and land degradation, especially in areas with drylands and permafrost, river deltas and low-lying coastal areas. There is high confidence that people living in areas affected by environmental degradation are experiencing an increase in the negative effects of climate change. Gender, alongside other drivers of vulnerability and exclusion, is a key determinant of an individual’s vulnerability to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation and influences how climate change is experienced. It is estimated that at least 200 million adolescent girls living in the poorest communities face a heightened risk from the effects of climate change. Evidence and commentary on the role of education, and girls’ education, to address climate change through adaptation, resilience and mitigation is limited, albeit growing. This EIR identifies and summarises the evidence and key commentary around the following themes: links between education, particularly girls’ education, and climate change; how climate and environment matter for achieving gender equality; and why securing girls’ education is an important strategy in addressing climate change. The EIR draws on academic research and literature from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as policy frameworks and grey literature, media articles and blogs from the climate, education and gender fields.

The educational landscape in the province of Alberta is undergoing change. The government's agenda includes changes in funding, reducing the number of school jurisdictions and local school boards, the provincial appointment of superintendents, increasing school-based decision making and accountability, and increasing parent, community, and business involvement in the delivery of education. It is expected that these changes will be completed during 1997. Considering the climate of change in Alberta education, it is of paramount importance that in the implementation process, participants in the change recognize their personal power to operationalize what is proposed. Government legislation can demand compliance, but without the commitment of Alberta trustees, superintendents, principals, and school advisory council presidents, change in education may remain on paper only. Power, defined as the capacity to knowingly participate in change, provides the theoretical basis for the assessment of the perceived power in influencing change among Alberta trustees, superintendents, principals, and school advisory council presidents. The synergistic interrelation of the concepts of awareness, choice, freedom to act intentionally, and involvement in creating change constitutes the theory of power whereby human beings participate in the innovative creation of their reality. Assessing the degree of knowing participation in change of the groups selected may serve as an indicator of their commitment to change in the province of Alberta. The results of the study indicated that school advisory council presidents had the most perceived power, followed by principals and trustees. Superintendents felt the least power. The personal variables of age and gender influenced the awareness and choice of trustees. Female trustees were more aware of education change and recognized more choices than did male trustees. Older trustees felt more freedom to act intentionally than did their younger counterparts. The study also indicated that female principals were more aware of change than male principals. The institutional variables influencing the perceived power of the groups studied were size, type of jurisdiction, and position. Trustees in smaller jurisdictions felt less power than trustees in larger jurisdictions. Trustees in divisions felt less power than those in districts. School advisory council presidents felt more powerful in terms of choice than did superintendents.

How and when higher climate change risk perception promotes less climate change inaction

Primary school students and climate change–an interview study in Finland and Tanzania

Background Climate health literacy (CHL), recommended and recognized as vital for the global response to climate change and impacts on health, lacks comprehensive studies on its integration into primary and secondary school curricula. In Kosovo, where numerous environmental issues already exist and are expected to worsen due to climate change, the resulting health outcomes pose significant challenges. Moreover, the low environmental knowledge among youth further adds to the complexity of addressing these issues. This study addresses this gap by focusing on understanding and enhancing the inclusion of climate change and health topics in pre-university education. Methods A content analysis was conducted on: (1) core curricula, (2) subject curricula, and (3) textbooks for pre-university education (grades 0-12) in Kosovo. The outcomes of the content analysis were then juxtaposed with the CHL framework to identify alignment and gaps. Results We found that curricula in Grades 0-5, contained one topic on climate change and health topic out of 638 (0.16%) topics documented; however, textbooks did not elucidate this focus. Grades 6-9 had 2 out of 701 (0.28%) and the relevant textbook revealed that various environmental and health topics are covered, but that they lack exploration of the interrelatedness between environmental pollution, climate change, and health. Grades 9-12 had the highest integration with 4 out of 745 (0.54%). Textbook analysis of these grades revealed a more in-depth coverage of climate change and health linkages. In total, seven topics out of a pool of over 2000 topics encompassed learning outcomes related to climate and health in Kosovo’s pre-university education. Conclusions The current efforts to integrate climate change and health into Kosovo’s curriculum fails to meet the recommendations for achieving CHL levels. Localized and context relevant additions are needed to fulfil CHL among students in Kosovo and other countries interested in improving CHL. Key messages • This case serves as a testing ground for a framework assessing climate health literacy within curricula. The results identify gaps and areas of improvement, which inform the implications to attain CHL. • Results reveal shortcomings in the incorporation of climate change and health topics in schools, underscoring the necessity for tailored strategies to foster CHL among students.