Participation Of Actors Research Articles

Popolo and Sindacato in the City of Siena: Rethinking Popular Agency in Medieval Italy

Abstract The Italian sindacato was a procedure that from the end of the twelfth century held major officials accountable and exposed them to public control. While the sindacato presented citizens with the opportunity of bringing forward their claims against officials, the evidence of these claims and their outcomes are sketchy. Recent historiography often portrays this procedure as a rhetorical device of civic order and legitimation that only produced real consequences when used as a tool for the political purposes of the elite. The article focuses on Siena, often singled out for the popular character of its governments, as a unique case to test the actual popular participation and oligarchical involvement in sindacati and their significance in relation to the sindacati in other communal cities. First, it analyzes the wide spectrum of participants in the procedure and, in particular, the interests at play for common actors. Second, it explores the direct relationship between sindacati and other institutions and systems of accountability within the city, as well as their interdependent transformations over time. The result is a revision of sindacati that reintegrates the agency and participation of popular actors. The sindacato appears then as neither a zenith of communal democracy nor a crooked tool in the hands of oligarchical interests, but rather as a central act of civic life articulating a wide range of interests among all sorts of citizens, which allowed for its symbolic relevance to perdure until the Renaissance and beyond.

A Novel Stochastic Optimization Model for Reverse Logistics Network Design of End-of-Life Vehicles: A Case Study of Istanbul

Waste management is gaining crucial importance as recycling aims at transforming produced waste into value for the economy. As the automotive industry is growing fast worldwide, recycling end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) attracts great research attention. Due to the promulgated regulations, multiple players like the last owners, manufacturers, treatment centres, and municipalities require a more cooperative engagement. The participation of multiple actors in the recycling process of ELVs brings various uncertainties. Additionally, parameters of the recycling process, like the number of vehicles withdrawn per year, cost items, and material composition tend to change due to technological, social, and economic developments. The automotive industry has crucial importance in the Turkish economy, which is highly affected by socio-political and economic issues. Furthermore, the Istanbul metropolitan area has the highest rate of vehicle ownership in Turkey. For that purpose, this paper proposes a scenario-based real-life stochastic optimization model to improve ELV supply chain network management in Istanbul. Sensitivity analyses to changes in scenario occurrence probabilities and changes in the amount of collected ELVs are performed to question the consistency of the study. The results of the mathematical model highlight that the operational cost items have the greatest ratio comparing the other cost items in the model. Furthermore, the results of the sensitivity analysis underline that the operational costs and selling prices of the materials from the ELVs have a significant impact on the profitability of ELVs’ recycling process. In addition, uncertainty in the number of ELVs has a significant effect on both operational and strategical decision-making processes. This research can be extended in the direction of examining the effectiveness of ELV management in Turkey since Istanbul could represent the whole of Turkey with its economic and cultural characteristics. Further works can also try to implement the novel concept of a “socially resilient supply chain” in the ELVs’ management.

Global health and health promotion processes: an integrative literature review

Global Health is a polysemic expression, but strongly identified as a response to relatively new Health problems and with accelerated growth in the number of cases, which affect the population of both rich and poor countries, such as the emergence of diseases that can be avoided by through exercise practices or physical or sports activities. These diseases can be: Obesity, Diabetes, Cardiopathies, Kidney dysfunctions, Metabolic syndromes, among others. These diseases can also be avoided through food control, social programs such as the Family Health Program, vaccination campaigns, control of health and humanitarian crises. Another factor that has contributed to the imbalance of Global Health is the unrestricted use of natural resources, the growing and unrestrained exploitation of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, among others. In this sense, this article aims to show in the current literature how the Global Health field is being configured, linked to contemporary globalization processes. Methodologically, the study took place through an integrative view of the literature, with emphasis on scientific productions published from the 2000s onwards. The main results of the article show that Global Health is a field that involves diplomatic relations between countries, role remodeling of agencies considered hegemonic in the 20th century, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), horizontal proximity between countries in the formulation of health policies, participation of actors from civil society and the second sector, recognition of cultural, political and social diversity , and the need to understand the environmental determinants of health. On the other hand, it shows its limits of practical action in contexts marked by neoliberal principles, of minimal state intervention, since investments in Global Health depend on the performance of strong national health systems.

Mersin City-Lab: Co-creative and participatory design approach for a circular neighbourhood

While environmental, economical and social challenges that the world has been facing recently are increasing dramatically; cities have played critical role in generation many of these problems like negative impacts on environment and overconsumption of resources. Most of the cities today face severe sustainability challenges including sanitation, air pollution, environmental degradation, over population and lack of livability. However, cities may also raise answers to find solutions against many of such complex urban problems, since they are assumed as creative and innovative platforms for social ecosystem of ideas. In this sense, there is increasing interest in ‘City Laboratories’ or ‘Urban Living Labs’, which are established to provide creative experimental platforms with participation of city actors to discuss urban sustainability issues before implementation of deep and structural urban changes for citizens. They provide participatory, co-creative and experimental platforms for self-organizing cities. The aim of this paper is to discuss a collaborative City Laboratory approach -Mersin City Lab- to achieve sustainability principles during urban regeneration process for the selected case-study area located in Mersin. Mersin City Lab focuses on two aspects: Firstly, ‘City Lab’ approach, involves citizens and stakeholders into decision-making process. Secondly, it focuses on urban transformation process with circularity principles including water, mobility, energy, waste management, food and circular economy to achieve sustainable neighborhood development. The paper starts with introduction of ‘city-gaming’ methodology which has been adopted as the main structure of participation of multi-stakeholders. It continues with discussions on stages of the case-study project through implementation of workshops and game sessions by participation of multi stake-holders. Following, the results gathered from overall evaluations of participants’ proposals regarding land-use, mobility and urban water management, local economy, urban development, urban agriculture and food strategies in neighborhood level are discussed. Finally, the paper concludes with impacts of City Labs approach and city-gaming methodology on decision-making process for real urban problems and urban settings.

Application of Big data to configuration management in a PLM context

The emergence of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the early 1990s, particularly the Internet, made it easy to produce data and distribute it to the rest of the world. Today's business information systems contain data that is more massive, complex and heterogeneous. The increase in complexity, globalization and collaborative work mean that an industrial project (product design) requires the participation and collaboration of actors who come from several fields and workplaces. Information retrieval is an essential function for any information system. However, the latter is never easy as it always represents a major bottleneck for all organizations. In the environment of complex, heterogeneous and multi-use data, providing all users with easy and simple access to data becomes more difficult due to lack of technical skills or different user perspectives.
 PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) being a business strategy that aims to create, manage and share all the definition, manufacturing, maintenance and recycling information of an industrial product, throughout its life cycle. life, from preliminary studies to end of life and Big data, the collection of large data sets that are complex and difficult to analyze by traditional data processing methods.
 In this context, this article proposes to establish the main obstacles to the deployment of Big data in PLM systems (the collection of data from the PLM system, the storage and transfer of data in the PLM, the processing of data based on industrialization knowledge and experience, data security and visualization, etc.). The objective is to apply methodologies related to Big data to the management of product configurations (management of product diversity in connection with the development of mass customization (mass customization)).

Political discourse in the knowledge economy: edutainment as a genre

In the socio-political context of a strategic transformation of public diplomacy in China, non-governmental discourses such as intellectual discourses have been showing increasing visibility both online and offline, at home and abroad. Through a digital ethnographic approach, this study investigates the meaning-making of the political discourse that uses edutainment as a genre by foregrounding the media activities of a commercial media company branded by Guan Media and the media discourse of an involved intellectual. Social media are changing the normality of knowledge production and distribution and the traditional media communication logic. Whether it is market-based filter bubble and echo chamber, politically controlled censorship, or spontaneous grassroots engagement, what is important is why and how mainstream discourses are constructed because of these factors through social media as a new form of political communication. To show the complexity of media communication of political messages in China, micro-level close observation on highly visible forms of news production and distribution by non-government actors is necessary. There are two levels of analysis in this study: self-branding of researchers in the knowledge economy, and edutainment as a genre of political discourse. Multimodal discourse analysis is adopted to discover the specific discursive and media strategies through the theoretical lenses of knowledge-power structure and semiotics. The cooperation of commercial media companies and intellectuals from higher education is found to be promoting a new form of political communication, in which edutainment works as a genre for better media presentation. In the context of the knowledge economy, edutainment content adjusts to the ideological dynamics of the socio-political reality in China in the tide of globalization and digitalization. This study contributes to understanding the participation of non-governmental actors in political communication and public sentiment on politics when political communication has become more dynamic and better organized by adjusting to the new media age.

Pros and cons of teleworking in relation to the physical and mental health of the working general population: a narrative exploratory review

Teleworking has been growing over the decades, arising many challenges to overcome. The COVID-19 pandemic situation accelerated this process. The forms of presentation are varied, homework perhaps is the most frequent. The objective of this study was to carry out a review on teleworking in the positive and negative aspects in relation to the physical and mental health of the teleworker. So, from the literature consulted, risk factors for health are identified, most of them correspond to damages derived from exposure to psychosocial and ergonomic risks. Sleep disturbances, anxiety and distress, and depression stand out as damage to mental health. With regard to damage to physical health, musculoskeletal disorders, alterations resulting from the decrease in physical activity due to sedentary lifestyle and stress, in particular non-communicable diseases, and alterations in vision are also identified. From a preventive perspective, actions aimed at policies linked to the organization of teleworking should be encouraged. In particular, those related with working and resting times, ensuring, among other aspects, the so-called right to disconnection. The ergonomic design of the workstation and taking active breaks are an element that also contributes to the well-being of the worker. The active participation of social actors, workers, employers and the state is strategic for teleworking, contributing to decent work and not to its precariousness.

GIS Mapping of Salt Farms and Salt Supply Chain Actors in the Visayas and Mindanao, Philippines

The 2010 survey of the Nutrition Council of the Philippines (NCP) revealed dramatic changes in the level of participation of the salt supply chain actors and their production, processing, and marketing activities. Among the industry’s biggest challenges are: salt remains excluded from the list of priority commodities of the government; the changes in weather patterns due to climate change which adversely impact the production cycle; prominence of traditional methods of production; and low productivity of local farms. While remote sensing technologies including geographic information system (GIS) mapping have been widely adopted for the improvement of agricultural productivity in the Philippines, use of such in research that focuses on salt production and supply chain is still very limited. GIS maps are perceived as effective information library and decision support tool that can help the supply chain of the neglected salt industry. This study focused on the mapping of salt farms and their supply chain actors from selected salt production sites in the Visayas and Mindanao islands. Eleven provinces were included in the surveys of market intermediaries and end-consumers who were traced from salt producers. Their geographic coordinates were recorded and satellite and Google Earth images of the supply chain actors were digitized in ArcGIS 10.5 software to generate the maps, physical characteristics of which were examined for possible patterns. Results show that in Mindanao, the market areas (or the salt traders) are concentrated in Zamboanga del Sur particularly in Aurora and Zamboanga City, but the producers are in Alubijid and El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental. In the Visayas, traders are more scattered and are greater in number than in Mindanao.

The effects of Adopting Technological Innovations on Rice Value Chain Actors in Cameroon

The outcomes of adopting technological innovations remain debatable, in spite of its importance. With multiple innovations available in the sector, not all adopters’ benefit at same the magnitude. The majority of agricultural technology adoption studies analyze adoption effects on a single actor, often neglecting other actors on the value chain; limiting knowledge of adoption rates and their effects on entire value chains. Studying adoption choices and effects among multiple actors on the value chain can provide novel insights of scientific and policy relevance. This study examines the adoption of innovations by multiple rice value chain actors and adoption effects on actors’ performance in Cameroon. The multi-stage sampling technique was applied to identify and collect data from 800 rice value chain actors, using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regressions were performed to identify adopted innovations; and their income effects respectively, using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Female actors (55%) dominated the rice value chain compared to males (45%). Mean rice production per actor was 8,011kg/year, generating a mean income of FCFA (Franc Communauté Financière Africaine) 1,201,650.00 (US$ 2,031.23). The number of adopted innovations varied across value chain actors (farmers:7, millers:8, wholesalers:5, and retailers:4). Overall, 13 of the 21 adopted innovations (~62%) had significant effects on actors’ incomes (P = 0.000). Some innovations (owning mobile phones, mobile money accounts, and engaging in mobile money transfers) were adopted by all actors; however, most adopted innovations were actor-specific; indicating differences in actors’ technology preferences. The most important effect of technology adopted was increased food consumption, reported by 100% of all actors. We contend that food security is a prime motive for adopting rice innovations in the study site. We further recommend active participation of actors along the rice value chain in selecting preferred technologies prior to dissemination, to enhance high adoption rates. Future research should identify why only 38% of available innovations were adopted along the rice value chain in this Cameroonian case study, and which factors influenced the choices of different actors. A retrospect on effects other than income can provide stronger relevance for policies promoting adoption of innovations among rice value chain actors in the study site.

Global climate governance: rising trend of translateral cooperation

The transformation from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement has been analyzed by international relations scholars, international law, and transnational governance theory. The international relations literature looks at the climate regime from a perspective of power distribution, state interests, institutions, and multilateral negotiations. International law theory focuses on legal analysis and design of international climate agreements. The transnational governance literature examines the participation of transnational actors at different levels of governance. However, each of these theories overlooks a bilateral trend of cooperation in a multilateral setting that arises as part of the construction or reconstruction of the international regime. Why do national and subnational public actors in global climate governance cooperate bilaterally when multilateral cooperation already exists? What type of bilateral cooperative agreements do these actors prefer, and why? Using qualitative methods, combining content analysis subsequent interviews, this research empirically demonstrates the role and importance of bilateral transatlantic cooperation and informal agreements between national and subnational actors in global climate governance. Using the EU-US case study, this research identifies a diagonal dimension of interaction between states and transnational actors. It introduces and defines the terms “translateral cooperation” and “translateral agreements” in the new climate regime.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10784-022-09575-6.

Judicial Reasoning and Non-State Participation before Inter-State Courts and Tribunals

Abstract The present article explores the premise that the participation of non-State actors may in some instances be necessary to the conduct of contentious or advisory proceedings before inter-State courts and tribunals. It first considers whether such necessity may be directly asserted as a legal requirement, in the absence of lex specialis treaty mechanisms or party consent. The article thus considers the potential to apply general principles of law, customary international law, and doctrinal concepts to this question. Unsatisfied with reliance on the stated legal considerations of international courts and tribunals, however, it turns to assess the root causes of such necessity, beneath pronouncements of legal sources and doctrine. The authors identify these as practicality – which speaks to what a court or tribunal must do to fulfil its mandate today – and legitimacy, which speaks to what it should do to ensure that its mandate is respected tomorrow.

Competing Narratives

Abstract This article traces the trajectories of the historical narratives of Tamil medicine from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century in the Madras presidency. It examines how different actors promoted different historical narratives that were influenced by contemporary political, social, and cultural factors. Marking out pre- siddha (up to 1921) and siddha (after 1921) eras of Tamil medicine, it traces the work of Ayothidoss Pandithar, the split after 1921 between ayurveda and siddha traditions, and how particular narratives became dominant through the participation of key actors in powerful political and cultural movements and colonial institutions. It offers a corrective to the dominant upper-caste non-Brahmin Tamil siddha narrative by drawing attention to the marginalization of Dalit physicians and bringing into focus hitherto unrecognized critical voices such as Pandit Narayana Iyengar and S. R. V. Das.

Multidimensional Evaluation of Brown Shrimp Trawling Fisheries on the Amazon Continental Shelf

Brown shrimp (Penaeus subtilis) trawling in the northern coastal waters of Brazil is an industrial fishing activity with a share in the international market and an important resource in the fishery market. Due to the scarcity of updated information on this practice and owing to its complexity, it is difficult to have a measurement of all dimensions of the development of this fishery, whether they are ecological, economic, or social-institutional. The present paper uses an assessment tool focused on data-poor fishery systems, the Fishery Performance Indicators (FPIs), to assess the multidimensional conditions of this fishery. The indicators were assessed between 2019 and 2020, and the metrics were based on public official data, scientific publications, in loco consultations with production agents, and databases of research projects. Results showed that the critical points of this activity are primarily related to the ecological indicator (1.75), which obtained a lower score compared to other fisheries assessed using the same methodology. This is due to its low selectivity, which results in high by-catch volumes and discards. The limited participation of productive chain actors also restrains the efficacy of management measures, which hampers successful resource management. This issue maximizes other setbacks throughout the productive chain, such as economic and social factors.

The Implementation of Environmental Management Accounting and Sustainable Tourism in Tourism Villages in Bali

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the implementation of sustainable tourism based on environmental management accounting in tourism villages in Bali, Indonesia.
 Research methods: This research method is qualitative which data collection techniques were done through documentation studies. This method was chosen to gain a deep understanding of the implementation of sustainable tourism based on environmental management accounting in tourism villages in Bali.
 Findings: The participation of tourism actors in implementing sustainable tourism based on environmental management accounting in tourism villages in Bali is still not maximized.
 Implications: The process of community empowerment to open accommodation services in the form of homestays that use the principles of green tourism, local transportation services, the availability of craft and art communities, and local guides is still very rare.

Why Nepal Matters in the Geopolitical Chessboard

This study examines the position of Nepal in the geopolitical chessboard amid the participation of international actors, including; China, America, and India’s sphere of influence. It argues that the involvement of international actors in Nepal with their strategy-loaded projects like BRI and MCC has put Nepal under the pressure to accommodate the geopolitical interest of both superpowers by adhering to its policy of non-alignment. The research further aims to identify the new geopolitical paradigm of Nepal and its growing significance in the geopolitical chessboard. After analyzing the available literature and the arguments of scholars, this paper found that Nepal has now become a land of geo-strategic importance that belies its weakness as a small state. This finding supports the conclusion that the external forces are taking interest in Nepal mainly because of its geographical positioning that gives them the advantage of connectivity potential, the balance of power, sphere of influence, and security outlook.

Open and collaborative innovation for the energy transition: An exploratory study

This work aimed at investigating how electricity sector companies have adapted their approaches to innovation in response to calls for openness and the participation of new actors. It combined results from academic and grey literature as well as real-world initiatives to identify companies' strategies to innovation. A systematic literature review was conducted, aided by the development of an ontology of collaborative and open approaches to innovation. These approaches were associated with four main aspects: open innovation, business model innovation, non-producer innovation, and the open movement. Among the main findings, it can be highlighted that, although partnerships, alliances, and co-development are now quite common, electricity sector companies have just started to participate in open data and open-source initiatives. Outbound innovation is less common compared to inbound practices. Co-creation, co-design, and crowdsourcing reflect the inclusion of communities in the ideation of transition pathways, even though in a limited manner. The inclusion of civil society is also emphasized in the development of alternative partnerships and user innovation. Challenges that accompany the implementation of collaborative and open approaches to innovation are varied and contingent on local circumstances, which emphasizes the relevance of international partnerships for the energy transition.

Power relations in the co-creation of water policy in Bolivia: beyond the tyranny of participation

Abstract Integrated water management is complex and requires the participation of diverse actors to identify and implement transformative solutions. However, power relations can obstruct the more inclusive and equitable experiences of participatory approaches, hence limiting the empowerment of vulnerable groups. It is thus important to study how power relations are influenced by people's interests, socio-political structures, and knowledge in the process of (co)creation of water policies. We use a case study in a rural municipality of Bolivia to address this issue. Qualitative data were collected between 2017 and 2020 and analysed using the elements of the Power Cube of Gaventa as the analytical framework. Results confirm that different factors influence power relations in the making of a water policy such as interests, access to information, habits, and customs. Actors use different forms, spaces, and levels of power to achieve their interests. Our results show the importance and need to analyse power relations prior, during and after the (co)creation of any public policy and to step away from linear and sectoral frameworks of policy development.

Social vulnerability associated with sanitation and its connection to environmental injustice in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Palestine: الضعف الاجتماعي المرتبط بالصرف الصحي واتصاله بالظلم البيئي في الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة في فلسطين

This paper aimed to discuss the concept of social vulnerability associated with sanitation and its connection to environmental injustice in a framework of governance as a new way to manage natural resources, which includes the participation of social actors in planning environmental policies, by investigating how the social vulnerability associated with sanitation and its connection to environmental injustice in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in Palestine, and the paper analyzes cases of inequality within two axes. The first axis is based on the use of the methodology of organizing information that is carried out through bibliographic review, and the second axis is based on the statistical analysis of the relevant tables, which showed an increasing mathematical function by increasing independent variables that are closely related, noting that The results of the analysis showed a close and increasing correlation between the method of connecting wastewater to the sewage networks with poverty rates based on the area of ​​residence (rural, camp, urban). The analysis focuses on the two axes of the paper on taking into account the essential role of public policies in combating social and environmental inequalities, especially those related to the arbitrary practices of the Israeli occupation. One of the most important results of the analysis was that the social vulnerability associated with sanitation is related to environmental injustice in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and is exacerbated by the arbitrary practices of the Israeli occupation, especially environmental ones. The paper concluded with the importance of taking into account the integration of water policies with those related to agriculture and economic works, and the inclusion of all socio-economic factors within specialized programs within the framework of partnership with institutions, including private sector institutions, to develop joint activities between them, and to prioritize safe environmental sanitation for the poor population, and areas Low-income people and those most affected by the arbitrary policies of the Israeli occupation, in addition the paper recommended the importance of establishing programs to ensure social justice, combat differences in service levels, adopt the principle of differentiation between users by imposing fees on water uses, and manage the balance between preserving resources and promoting multiple uses for them.

Bioeconomic Entrepreneurship and Key Factors of Development: Lessons from Argentina

For Argentina, a country with large biomass availability, scientific-technological capacities and a strong agro-industrial sector, bioeconomy comes with an opportunity for sustainable local and national development. As key actors in bioeconomic transition processes, entrepreneurs become an important source of information for the design and implementation of bioeconomic strategies and policies. However, bioeconomic activity cannot guarantee sustainable development outcomes. Here, we examine factors that influenced bioeconomic entrepreneurship and related sustainability outcomes. Our case study involved interviews with 23 enterprises of varying size and technological level, covering the main sectors and regions of the Argentine bioeconomy. We identify five bioeconomic pathways with distinct characteristics. Among the main factors driving development in these pathways of the Argentinian bioeconomy, entrepreneurs emphasized the rich endowment with natural resources and the high level of scientific, technological and entrepreneurial capacities. Public policies, economic stability and regulatory frameworks were considered as the most critical barriers to bioeconomic development. Entrepreneurs saw their contribution to sustainable development primarily in the generation of new knowledge and employment. Ecological or social motives were less frequently reported. Despite agricultural commodity production being the mainstay of the Argentinian bioeconomy, small-scale local initiatives, which also include socio-institutional and agro-ecological innovations, are coming up. Recommendations to improve the competitiveness of the Argentinean bioeconomy include the elaboration of a national bioeconomic development policy with the participation of private actors and their organizations, and the scientific and technological complex. Moreover, regulatory and normative frameworks have to be adapted and bureaucratic obstacles be reduced. Finally, a national strategy for the bioeconomy in Argentina should pay more attention to entrepreneurship as a driver of transformation.

SISTEMATIZACIÓN DE LA EXPERIENCIA METODOLÓGICA PARA EL DISEÑO DE PRODUCTOS TURÍSTICOS A PARTIR DE INICIATIVAS DE MICROEMPRENDIMIENTO LOCAL EN EL CANTÓN DE DOTA, COSTA RICA

This document shares the historical-chronological reconstruction of the events of the experience from the project "Experience tourism and biocultural heritage in Los Santos: community organization for innovation and chaining of the offer of tourist goods and services" of the National University of Costa Rica (UNA). The objective of this document is to share the experience and methodology used in this initiative whose objective was to support the development of a rural tourism proposal for the county of Dota following the innovative concept of experiential or lively tourism. The methodological experience used in this project was based on the constructivist approach implemented through the participatory research-action practice of the Program for Territorial Tourism Studies (PETT). The approach was modified for this case according to the conditions and characteristics of the county of Dota, thus establishing three phases of the project (diagnosis of the tourist system, design of the tourist product, and complementary products) with their respective moments. Within the results of the project, it was possible to identify and create typologies of tourism entrepreneurships with high participation of the social actors from the communities. In addition, it was possible to identify possibilities for chaining activities, as well as the design of information material on appropriate tourism sustainability practices and a prototype for a website.