Institutional Platforms Research Articles

The Early Socio-ecological Dimensions of Tricontinental (1967–1971): A Sovereign Social Metabolism for the Third World

This article delves into the socio-ecological dimensions of OSPAAAL, the Cuban Third World solidarity institution, focusing particularly on the early years of its official organ: the magazine Tricontinental (1967–1971). Tricontinental’s articles and graphic works, even if not always in an explicit manner, addressed environmental concerns in a revolutionary way, anticipating debates that would later unfold on international institutional platforms. These concerns were primarily discussed in the context of the Third World’s quest for autonomous production, closely intertwined with the agrarian question and sovereign industrialization. Key aspects such as land access, distribution, and resource management were pivotal. The publication’s central emphasis on struggles for national liberation, especially within the guerrilla arena, played a crucial role in disseminating the anti-imperialist pursuit of a sovereign social metabolism across the Third World. Combining Cuban, Latin Americanist, and internationalist accents, Tricontinental also condemned the ecological impact of transnational corporations’ predatory resource extraction in the Third World, while exploring alternative and cooperative models. This article unveils the latent socio-environmental dimensions of its critique, illustrating how ecological concerns subtly underpinned its anti-imperialist and internationalist discourse.

Exploring Pedagogical and Digital Practices in Vocational Education and Training: Comparing Teacher and Student Perspectives

This article investigates the pedagogical and digital practices of vocational education and training teachers, offering comparative insights from both teacher and student perspectives. To this end, two questionnaires were constructed for teachers and students and then validated by means of inter-judge procedures and expert review. The questionnaires were administered to representative samples of 158 teachers and 309 students in intermediate and higher vocational education and training programs in the Spanish region of Catalonia. Thanks to institutional collaboration, it was possible to obtain both samples by a non-probability sampling technique. The results obtained from the quantitative analyses performed show that while most vocational education and training teachers utilize a combination of active and lecture-based methods, less than a third incorporate online tools, prioritizing institutional platforms. Although both teachers and students acknowledge a diversity of teaching strategies, the latter, particularly female students and those in advanced years or on dual programs, tend to be more critical of the effectiveness of the teaching strategies employed compared to their teachers. The findings underscore the need for vocational education and training programs to enhance digital tool integration and address the varying perceptions of teaching effectiveness to better meet students’ expectations and needs.

Multi‐level Implementation of International Law: The Role of Vertical Epistemic Communities

AbstractSubnational entities in federal states typically retain a degree of sovereignty and enjoy leeway in implementation, raising questions such as whether—and how—international law is actually implemented at the subnational level. This article sheds light on these questions, using two contrasted case studies in Switzerland: The Istanbul Convention on domestic violence and the European Union (EU) Directive 2016/680 on data protection. Based on a document analysis of the law‐making process and 44 semi‐structured interviews with national and subnational political actors, we observe how international obligations are legally implemented, that is, transposed into legislation at the subnational level. Our results show that: (1) Subnational civil servants play a decisive role, while members of parliament are marginal. (2) Civil servants may constitute Vertical Epistemic Communities (VECs), which are able to “technicize” the issue to ensure swift implementation through administrative venues. (3) VECs are particularly influential as they use intercantonal conferences as institutional platforms to shape implementation processes. Otherwise, implementation becomes politicized, and its success strongly depends on subnational politics.

A FORMAÇÃO DE PILOTOS PRIVADOS DE HELICÓPTERO NA PMDF: um estudo de viabilidade da escola de aviação da Corporação

In 2016 Federal District Military Police (PMDF) ractified its helicopter pilot trainning course. The Operational Aviation Police Unit received more autonomy in pilot training, freeing itself from bidding processes and related bureaucratic obstacles. In a scenario of cost reductions and continuous assessment of logistical costs, a more detailed comparative analysis between the operational training program and public procurement has become imperative to achieve efficiency in public services. Throughout exploratory research on institutional platforms, analyzes of conducted interviews with aviation managers and bibliographical reviews of aeronautical literature and public management, it was possible to confirm that, although more expensive, the maintanence of an institutional school has more advantages because it brings together efficiency, based on the criteria of speed and budget availability, in addition to standardized operational procedures for new pilots maintaining, for the time being, the Basic trainning of Police helicopter pilots within the PMDF school.

Participatory governance and the capacity to engage: A systems lens

AbstractEffective local participatory governance depends on government responsiveness. Drawing insights from empirical research in a large South African city, we show how inadequate integration of institutional platforms for community participation into the wider participatory system undermines this capacity. While much of the participatory governance literature considers tools, norms and the experiences of citizens, we explore how officials, structures and platforms within the city interact. We apply a systems lens to understand the municipal capacity to engage and respond to citizens and communities. Our analysis demonstrates that officials navigate an institutional system experiencing disconnected municipal structures, engagement practices and platforms. We theorise the government capacity to engage in terms of the personalisation, co‐creation and institutionalisation of responsiveness. This capacity to engage thus requires a systemic capability that acknowledges complexity and nurtures collective learning alongside institutional design strategies that seek to address potential disconnects.

Finding flow: unpacking the capacity of in-lecture question activities to engage online students

ABSTRACT Maintaining student engagement in online and recorded lectures is a challenging aspect of higher education. In light of this, active learning through in-lecture question activities was investigated using a pre-teaching focus group (n = 12) and student evaluations (n = 43) after an in-class trial. Data analysis was underpinned by flow theory, which can explain student engagement and immersion with content and activities. The key findings included: (1) students’ preference for familiar technology platforms; (2) students desired more engagement in their lectures both internally and online; and (3) in-lecture questions had to be matched with quality content to ensure the highest chance of flow and student engagement. Thematic analysis suggested engagement may have been related to key aspects of flow such as immediate feedback, and matching challenges to skill levels. Overall, learning designers and educational technologists should be used to ensure in-lecture question activity introductions work within current institutional platforms and pedagogies such as active learning.

A ‘fateful compromise’? Transnational religious organizations and regional governance in Africa

ABSTRACT This article uses the activities of the Catholic and mainline Protestant churches in West Africa to explore how transnational theologically inspired actors are co-constructing a ‘new regionalism’ in Africa. It contends that through a strategy of ‘fateful compromise’ with states, rather than co-optation, mainline churches have evolved well-developed institutional platforms and coordination mechanisms capable of ‘re-scaling’ the governance of transboundary ‘peace–democracy–development nexus’ issues to the regional level. The empirical evidence is derived from the activities of the Regional Catholic Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) and the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa (FECCCIWA). Pivoting to regional spaces is a strategic response to inter-religious hegemonic competition, especially with Pentecostalism and revivalist Islam; shrinking domestic space for civil society organizations (CSOs); and de-secularization that diminished the historic churches’ erstwhile political influence in national policy. Furthermore, limited access to regional policy process granted to selected CSOs, particularly in Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), turned regional spaces into complementary or alternative sites of citizenship. The West African experience enriches the ‘new regionalism’ scholarship by introducing the concept of ‘fateful compromise’, which suggests multiple trajectories in church–state relations rather than presumption of ‘elite co-optation’ as the only option for inclusive or collaborative governance in regressive democracies in Africa.

Quantifying the Impact of COVID-19 Relief Vouchers Schemes on Food Security: Empirical Evidence Insights from South Africa

Livestock production systems are essential for sustaining household food security, especially in the drylands of Africa. This study assesses the impact of South Africa’s targeted Large Stock Unit (LSU) social protection program on the acute food insecurity effects of the COVID-19 pandemic among selected smallholder livestock farmers. An embedded research approach was utilized in four local municipalities purposively selected in the Northern Cape Province, where 217 households were selected using a stratified proportionate random method. A structured questionnaire was employed, while secondary data on beneficiary farmers were collected from implementing agencies. A full information maximum likelihood (FIML) Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) model was adopted to capture variations due to self-selection bias among respondents. ESR model results show that the decision maker’s age, the household head’s education level, the land holdings’ size, average relative livestock losses, the orientation of production, and the level of external support impact food security. The study concludes that based on average treatment effects analysis, beneficiaries of the LSU program are better off in the household food security relative to their non-beneficiary counterparts. These findings validate the need for enhancing support initiatives during COVID-19 shocks for households to attain food security using their main livelihood sources as the gateway. Increasing the diversity of livelihood strategies in these vulnerable communities needs to be scaled up to protect households from acute food insecurity. Targeted support programs, including direct financing and binding networks, may also be supported through youth-sensitive training programs to enhance mitigations and resilience against COVID-19 acute food insecurity. A policy can tap into existing local structures and province-wide institutional platforms for the long-term sustainability of the LSU support initiatives and mitigation of COVID-19 food security vulnerabilities.

An international turn: Rebuilding Chinese temple networks in Indonesia 20 years after the Suharto era

AbstractThe transnationalization of Chinese temples is producing new spatial imaginaries and adding cosmopolitan dimensions to Chinese Indonesian identities in the post‐Suharto era. In 1999, the Indonesian state legally‐sanctioned Chinese Popular Religion after decades of prohibition, ushering in a period of Chinese religious revival nationally backed by constitutional legitimacy. The recent emergence of transnational temple networks is providing a further form of cultural legitimacy based on symbols and statuses that circulate in a broader cosmopolitan transnational social sphere. Using case studies of three temples in Singkawang, Indonesia, each with a different form of international network, this paper shows how the transnational circulation of religious teachings, people, ideas, donations and deities can provide the raw materials for expressions of cultural identity which are locally rooted and embedded in specific ethnic politics of belonging. Forging transnational religious connections has the potential to develop into long lasting and formal institutional platforms of exchange, however, it often begins with informal, spontaneous and idiosyncratic encounters.

Perspectives on knowledge management capabilities in universities: A qualitative identification of organisational factors

AbstractPrior research has had a limited approach to identifying organisational factors related to knowledge management (KM) practices of higher education institutions (HEIs), the centre for knowledge creation. This qualitative study explored such factors affecting KM capabilities from the perspectives of 30 full‐time academics in public universities, and identified the dimensions of the KM capabilities framework. Results revealed that physical conditions, budget, human and technological resource management, division of labour, workload, time management, communication, bureaucracy, structural differentiation, motivation, individualism, and organisational behaviour affect KM infrastructure capabilities; bureaucracy, KM teams, institutional platforms, organisational structure, knowledge maps, vision, individual attitudes, academic collaboration, process management, budget, decision‐making processes, sustainable academic KM, transparency, labour force, knowledge security, organisational culture, accessibility, and archiving affect KM process capabilities. These results contribute to identifying the organisational factors influencing KM that are critical to guiding practitioners and administrators of HEIs in developing more effective KM strategies and practices.

Self-organizing or organizing one another? Cycling groups’ participation to planning

ABSTRACT Studies on planning have traditionally exposed how institutional participation opposes informal modes of participation. But do activists have to choose between the two? Suggesting that there is a grey-zone, recent work has focused on the distinct paths that individuals take to engage in civic life. We argue that strategies that involves both civil society-led and traditional approaches may help defend planning options, especially for those not considered in formal decision-making in local planning. In what ways can the interrelation of traditional and non-traditional modes of participation help bring forth new ideas? Building on a case study of urban activists tackling issues regarding cycling in Québec City (Québec, Canada), we observed how they connect planning with different modes of participation. Activists take part in the debate on urban planning through institutional platforms, demonstrating their desire to be recognized. Also, they take actions to increase the legitimacy of alternative modes of mobility.

Multifactorial influences underpinning a decision on COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers: a qualitative analysis

ABSTRACT COVID-19 vaccination in healthcare workers (HCW) is essential for improved patient safety and resilience of health systems. Despite growing body of literature on the perceptions of COVID vaccines in HCWs, existing studies tend to focus on reasons for ‘refusing’ the vaccines, using surveys almost exclusively. To gain a more nuanced understanding, we explored multifactorial influences underpinning a decision on vaccination and suggestions for decision support to improve vaccine uptake among HCWs in the early phase of vaccination rollout. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with thirty-three HCWs in Singapore. Transcribed data was thematically analyzed. Decisions to accept vaccines were underpinned by a desire to protect patients primarily driven by a sense of professional integrity, collective responsibility to protect others, confidence in health authorities and a desire to return to a pre-pandemic way of life. However, there were prevailing concerns with respect to the vaccines, including long-term benefits, safety and efficacy, that hampered a decision. Inadequate information and social media representation of vaccination appeared to add to negative beliefs, impeding a decision to accept while low perceived susceptibility played a moderate role in the decision to delay or decline vaccination. Participants made valuable suggestions to bolster vaccination. Our findings support an approach to improving vaccine uptake in HCWs that features routine tracking and transparent updates on vaccination status, use of institutional platforms for sharing of experience, assuring contingency management plans and tailored communications to emphasize the duty of care and positive outlook associated with vaccination.

A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of a Nutrition Behavior Change Intervention Delivered Through Women’s Self-Help Groups in Rural India: Impacts on Maternal and Young Child Diets, Anthropometry, and Intermediate Outcomes

ABSTRACTBackgroundWomen's self-help groups (SHGs) have become one of the largest institutional platforms serving the poor. Nutrition behavior change communication (BCC) interventions delivered through SHGs can improve maternal and child nutrition outcomes.ObjectivesThe objective was to understand the effects of a nutrition BCC intervention delivered through SHGs in rural India on intermediate outcomes and nutrition outcomes.MethodsWe compared 16 matched blocks where communities were supported to form SHGs and improve livelihoods; 8 blocks received a 3-y nutrition intensive (NI) intervention with nutrition BCC, and agriculture- and rights-based information, facilitated by a trained female volunteer; another 8 blocks received standard activities (STD) to support savings/livelihoods. Repeated cross-sectional surveys of mother-child pairs were conducted in 2017–2018 (n = 1609 pairs) and 2019–2020 (n = 1841 pairs). We matched treatment groups over time and applied difference-in-difference regression models to estimate impacts on intermediate outcomes (knowledge, income, agriculture/livelihoods, rights, empowerment) and nutrition outcomes (child feeding, woman's diet, woman and child anthropometry). Analyses were repeated on households with ≥1 SHG member.ResultsForty percent of women were SHG members and 50% were from households with ≥1 SHG member. Only 10% of women in NI blocks had heard of intervention content at endline. Knowledge improved in both NI and STD groups. There was a positive NI impact on knowledge of timely introduction of animal-sourced foods to children (P < 0.05) but not on other intermediate outcomes. No impacts were observed for anthropometry or diet indicators except child animal-source food consumption (P < 0.01). In households with ≥1 SHG member, there was a positive NI impact on child unhealthy food consumption (P < 0.05).ConclusionsLimited impacts could be due to limited exposure or skills of volunteers, and a concurrent national nutrition campaign. Our findings add to a growing literature on SHG-based BCC interventions and the conditions necessary for their success.

Black left feminism in pre-revolutionary Cuba: the life and work of Esperanza Sánchez Mastrapa (1901–1958)

ABSTRACT This article studies the life and political thought of the Afro-Cuban, communist, feminist activist and lawmaker Esperanza Sánchez Mastrapa and her historical context. The article builds on the existing literature by using new periodical and archival sources from institutional collections of communist organizations and personal correspondence with feminist leaders. The paper’s main objectives are the following. First, to demonstrate that Sánchez Mastrapa simultaneously engaged with Afro-Cuban, feminist, and communist organizations. Second, to illuminate how these platforms offered a productive space for some women activists like Sánchez Mastrapa to conceptualize a simultaneous critique of racism, capitalism, and patriarchy. And third, to analyze how she used these institutional platforms to articulate an early intersectional feminism as part of a growing transnational left-wing movement fighting in favor of Black, poor, women workers.

Trends in institutional Open Access publishing in Europe

See RECORDING. In this talk, I will review recent trends in institutional Open Access publishing in europe and discuss funder-based OA publishing, the variety of institutional OA platforms, and the Open Access Diamond Journals Study. I will provide a brief personal perspective on what needs to be done to make institutional (Diamond) open access publishing a viable alternative to commercial academic publishing in Europe.

The Impacts of Global Research and International Educational Experiences on Texas A&amp;M University System LSAMP Participants

The Texas A&amp;amp;M University System was one of the first six Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) awardees. All current members of the Alliance are part of the Texas A&amp;amp;M University System. Many high impact practices (HIP) have been emphasized in the Alliance’s 30 years of programming with Diversity/Global Learning as a focus in the last 14 years. Diversity/Global Learning has been supported in two formats on the Alliance campuses, through traditional study abroad programming and a College of Engineering initiative. Data presented were derived from a number of sources, project evaluation information regarding student perspectives and outcomes, survey research conducted by an independent party, and institutional data and online platforms accessed to assess student outcomes. Triangulation was completed between data sets. Results indicate both forms of programming were efficacious for underrepresented and first-generation students. Outcomes reported were substantial increases in awareness of and interest in graduate school, increases in cultural learning, confidence in travel outside the United States, learning relevant to major, commitment to continuing involvement with research, interest in another similar experience, and willingness to consider employment outside the U.S. Participants reported statistically significant growth in personal, professional, and research skills. They persisted, participated in additional study abroad experiences, and graduated at higher rates than their institutional peers with approximately 90% of informants indicating intention to consider graduate school in the future, over 40% indicating intent to attend immediately following undergraduate study, and 39.4% of 2007–2014 participants enrolling in graduate school by the spring of 2021. Programming described is replicable at and likely to be efficacious for a wide variety of institutions of higher education.

Characterizing the Digital Culture of Prospective Primary School Teachers

This article aims at characterizing the digital culture of prospective Moroccan primary school teachers during their training. The study was conducted as a survey on a sample of prospective primary school teachers from Morocco. A descriptive frequency analysis was performed using SPSS. The results show that this digital culture is rooted more considerably in their personal use of different technological tools or resources. The article analyzes the resources of digital culture through the objectives of digital practices of prospective teachers and the motivations underlying their choice of a specific digital tool and practice. The digital practices of prospective teachers are marked by frequent use of social networks and a low tendency to make use of institutional platforms and their trainers’ blogs. The analysis highlights the nature of the environments, services, and digital resources manipulated by prospective teachers during their training. It also sheds light on the role of this digital culture in the content preparation activities of these potential teachers, as well as the resources produced by them and by their trainers. The preparation of pedagogical content often makes use of social network tools, while educational tools are in average use. Finally, the results show that these exchanges are dominated by WhatsApp, Google Drive, and e-mail; however, the use of the WhatsApp application is more prevalent when interacting with trainers.

A Women’s Group-Based Nutrition Behavior Change Intervention in India Has Limited Impacts Amidst Implementation Barriers and a Concurrent National Behavior Change Campaign

Abstract Objectives Women's self-help groups (SHGs) have become one of the world's largest institutional platforms of the poor, reaching over 70 million Indian women in 2020. Limited evidence exists on effects of nutrition interventions through SHGs on maternal and child nutrition outcomes. Methods The Women Improving Nutrition through Group-based Strategies (WINGS) study was a quasi-experimental impact evaluation, comparing 16 matched blocks where communities were provided support to form SHGs and improve women's livelihoods; 8 blocks (1 in each matched pair) received a 3-year nutrition intervention (NI) with nutrition education, agriculture- and rights-based information, facilitated by a trained female volunteer; the other 8 blocks received standard activities (STD) to support savings &amp; livelihoods. We conducted repeated cross-sectional surveys of mother-child pairs in 2017–18 (n = 1609 pairs) and 2019–20 (n = 1841 pairs). We matched treatment groups over time and applied difference-in-difference (DID) regression models to estimate NI impacts. Outcomes were knowledge domains (nutrition for pregnant women, breastfeeding, complementary feeding, child health), child feeding (e.g., early breastfeeding initiation, dietary diversity, animal source food (ASF) consumption), woman's diets, woman's BMI and child anthropometry. Matching covariates included woman, child, and community characteristics. Results About 40% of women were SHG members. Nutrition intervention exposure was low; only ∼10% of NI women had heard of intervention content at endline. There were large improvements in women's knowledge in both groups. DID estimation revealed a positive NI impact on knowledge of timely introduction of ASFs to children (P &amp;lt; 0.05), but knowledge of nutrition for pregnant women unexpectedly improved more in the STD group (P &amp;lt; 0.05). No impacts were observed for any anthropometry or diet indicators except child ASF consumption (P &amp;lt; 0.01). Conclusions Limited impacts on nutrition outcomes may be due to limited exposure, low motivation or skills of volunteers, and a concurrent national nutrition behavior change program targeting mothers and children in all study areas. Our findings add to a growing literature on SHG-based behavior change interventions and the conditions necessary for their success. Funding Sources Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.

ПРОБЛЕМИ ФУНКЦІОНУВАННЯ ТА ШЛЯХИ ВДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ РОЗВИТКУ ХАРЧОВОЇ ПРОМИСЛОВОСТІ УКРАЇНИ

The aim of the article is to study the problems of functioning and find ways to improve the development of the food industry of Ukraine taking into account modern global financial, economic and technological trends of the economy, as well as identify all positive and negative factors of the industry in the new industry. Ukraine's food industry is extremely important for the country's economy, and food production always deserves special attention in the state economic policy and food security of the country. An analysis of the indicators of agricultural production and the level of self-sufficiency in food revealed an anomalous phenomenon, namely, the higher the size of gross output per 1 ha, the lower the level of self-sufficiency in food. An analysis of the indicators of agricultural production and the level of self-sufficiency in food revealed an anomalous phenomenon, namely, the higher the size of gross output per 1 ha, the lower the level of self-sufficiency in food. It is concluded that: Ukraine has a strong agri-food potential to be able to maximize consumer demand for its own food products, but there are no appropriate legal and institutional platforms; The main problems in the development of the food industry are its focus on the export of raw materials and non-compliance with international standards that block access to international markets. Given the prospects for the development of the food industry and SWOT-analysis, it is reasonable that the state should consider the food industry "flagship" of economic prosperity and solve problems to support and strengthen the position of Ukrainian producers in industrial markets of other countries. The food industry should focus on the development of production of high-tech innovative products with added value, which will increase the competitiveness of food products and the level of industrial processing. The increase in the production of goods with high added value opens up opportunities for Ukraine to increase exports, leading to significant growth in the country's economy. The research results and conclusions can be used in the practical activities of public authorities and local governments aimed at ensuring food security, for the development of food industry development programs, in the development of state programs of socio-economic development.

Las TIC en el proceso evaluativo virtual en tiempos del covid 19: percepción docente

During the period Spring 2020 to Spring 2021, due to the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic, face-to-face classes were suspended at all educational levels, including the higher level, forcing the actors to use information and communication technologies (ICT) as main tools in the teaching-learning process, action that was initially carried out empirically and individually, but which forced higher education institutions (HEIs) to adapt study programs to the virtual environment, hire and improve institutional platforms, and initiate teacher training courses, impacting on the prevailing teaching-learning process, especially in the form of evaluation. The objectives of this educational research work are to know the level of satisfaction in the undergraduate teachers of Facultades de Contaduria Publica and Ingenieria Quimica from Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP), through the analysis of a significant sample, with the new evaluation process in which they were participants during the aforementioned period, using a mixed methodology (quantitative and qualitative), descriptive and interpretive; and with this, generate a proposal to improve said evaluation process, which allows maintaining and/or raising the level of teacher satisfaction to continue in the virtual mode or with hybrid educational models; and so achieve the learning purposes of each subject and facilitate the learning-teaching process with a focus on competencies, determined by BUAP's modelo universitario Minerva (DGES BUAP, 2016). To do this, an electronic survey type research instrument was designed, analogous to the Likert scale; The data treatment was carried out by creating a database in Excel Spreadsheet and, later, the SPSS Software was used to build the descriptive statistical graphics, obtaining satisfactory results.