Inter-institutional Networks Research Articles

Climate change adaptation attributes across scales and inter-institutional networks: insights from national and state level water management institutions in India

Effective climate change adaptation requires cohesive inter-institutional networks across different scales, facilitating the sharing of data, information, knowledge, and practices. However, the impact of adaptation attributes across scales is poorly understood due to limited focus on these networks. Based on interviews with 26 institutions operating at the national level (ION) in India and 26 institutions operating within a state (Himachal Pradesh) (IOS), this study analysed adaptation attributes and the inter-institutional networks across the two scales to understand its implications at different scales. IONs have a greater capacity (compared to IOS) to frame guidelines, standards and regulations for practitioners along with better accessibility to resources and information. When coupled with bridging institutions, this can enhance adaptive capacities at other scales. Conversely, learnings from low regret adaptive measures being implemented by IOS are opportunities for informing national policy strategies. While national adaptation strategies and goals can inspire adaptation at lower scales, the currently fragmented inter-institutional network in India reduces the passage and accessibility of data and information, creating a bottleneck for the smooth devolution of adaptation attributes. Recruitment and deployment practices for water officials further entrench silo attitudes, impeding essential data accessibility. Adaptation needs comprehensive networks across vertical, horizontal, and diagonal institutional connections to improve climate risk perception and strategy implementation. Policy measures should consider socio-institutional factors beyond legislative prescriptions.

A review and analysis of accountability in global health funding, research collaborations and training: towards conceptual clarity and better practice

IntroductionAccountability is a complex idea to unpack and involves different processes in global health practice. Calls for accountability in global health would be better translated to action through a better...

Avances en el conocimiento sobre Sistemas Silvopastoriles en Uruguay

Silvopastoral systems (SSP) constitute a type of agroforestry system that integrates the forestry, forage and animal components in a balanced way, and allows income to be diversified and the environment and ecosystem to be preserved. They differ from conventional forest plantations because they integrate the tree component into livestock production at low densities, improving the services provided by pasture. The SSPs timidly began to settle in Uruguay together with the forestry expansion of the 1990s, regaining momentum in 2005 and consolidating as of 2011. The greatest limitations for the diffusion and adoption of the SSPs identified initially are being overcome, giving rise to the creation of teaching, research and extension platforms. The generation of knowledge in planned situations to exploit the synergies between the different components begins to consolidate and the first results allow Uruguay to be placed at a prominent point in the subject. The creation of strategic inter-institutional networks to design long-term experiments will allow a better understanding of the biotic and abiotic interactions of SSPs and their positioning as sustainable livestock systems.

SUPPORT FOR CLUSTER INITIATIVES AND CLUSTER POLICY (CASE STUDY OF THE EUROREGION "THE LOWER DANUBE")

The purpose of the article is to investigate the essence and significance of the cluster initiative and the cluster policy as tools for strategic development and increasing of the economy competitiveness of the Euroregion “The Lower Danube” based on the analysis of factors providing state support for cluster initiatives in the context of the promotion of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region. The theoretical and methodological background is the works of Ukrainian and foreign academic economists studying general systems theory, systemic analysis, and also strategic planning methodology at enterprise, regional and national levels. The research is based on the fundamental provisions of economic theory, the theory of strategic planning, institutionalism, regional and global economics, cluster theory, the location theory, the growth pole theory, M. Porter’s competitive theory, networked economy theory, spatial economic agglomeration, as well as modern theoretical developments on the problems of formation and implementation of the Euroregional policy of the EU. The research hypothesis is the assumption that the cluster approach is the most effective mechanism for the development of international economic cooperation in modern conditions and, eventually, the meso-level of competitive cross-border integration systems and a necessary requirement for qualitative growth of Ukraine’s integration into the European Economic Area. The goal statement can be described as a meso-economic synthesis of concepts of the development of innovation clusters and international integration associations. Based on the analysis of problems of formation and development of clusters, the methods and tools of state support of cluster initiatives are explained, and the most important strategic directions of activity of executive bodies aimed at stimulating the processes of formation and development of clusters in the Euroregion “The Lower Danube” are formulated. Cluster policy aimed at stimulating cluster initiatives with a further formation of cross-border innovation clusters can be considered as one of the effective tools for intensifying innovation activity in the Euroregion “The Lower Danube”. The authors conclude that the creation of cross-border clusters in the Euroregion “The Lower Danube” with the participation of Odesa region of Ukraine is associated with the necessity to form a united cross-border area. At the same time, the state is given a leading role in ensuring a favorable cluster environment (including the reduction of barriers to trade) and stimulating international cooperation. It is proposed to develop meso-level integration processes within the Common Economic Space of Euroregions, with the active participation of Ukraine on the basis of a cluster approach, forming cross-border cluster systems based on competition, cross-border cooperation, virtualization of interinstitutional networks and formation of “clouds” of highly efficient intercluster interactions.

Morphology, Pandemic, and 3D

The COVID‑19 pandemic imposes the biggest restrictions on access to morphological information housed in scientific collections, compromising the progress of scientific research. Even though it is not the first event to impose restrictions on access, it is undoubtedly the most global in range. Based on this, we discuss the barriers to access information and we show 3D technology as an important tool to create routes to mitigate the effects of future restrictions. In a global sphere, there are initiatives of inter-institutional integration and international networks focused on facilitating and disseminate the implementation of digitization tools and techniques to facilitate access to diverse biological information. Notwithstanding, when we speak in 3D technology in Latin American countries, as is well noted in Brazil, this type of progress is lacking, with only isolated initiatives from some laboratories and research centers that implement 3D digitization tools, but often as experimental uses. Moreover, recent events, such as the Museu Naciona fire and the mobility restriction imposed by the COVID‑19 pandemic, reinforce the need and urgency to discuss the virtualization of natural history collections in the national territory. In this sense, we recommend photogrammetry as a more accessible and versatile technology, which could be quickly implemented in curatorial procedures. We, also, have defined criteria to establish priorities for virtualizing the collection. The virtualization of the type specimens is an inevitable and necessary task to ensure their access and expansion of their safe preservation, as established by the ICZN, and should therefore be considered as a high priority, followed by reference specimens, which are frequently accessed. Finally, to ensure Latin America advances to levels similar to those observed in other continents, it is important to establish a collaborative network of museums and other research institutions.

Gênese organizacional e empreendedorismo institucional em redes de pesquisas científica, tecnológica e de inovação

Este trabalho buscou investigar a interação em redes interinstitucionais e o comportamento colaborativo dos pesquisadores mineiros imersos nas Redes de Pesquisa Científica, Tecnológica e de Inovação (RPCTI) apoiadas pela Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG). As redes existentes em Minas Gerais representam um sistema de interdependência constituído por dois níveis: redes interpessoais e interinstitucionais. O primeiro se estrutura a partir da interação entre pesquisadores afiliados às Instituições de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (ICTI). O segundo é composto pela colaboração entre as ICTI. Esta proposta busca entender o efeito de formas de colaboração prévia entre pesquisadores e instituições sobre a formação das RPCTI, bem como o efeito mútuo dos atributos e relações nos dois níveis na configuração da colaboração interinstitucional e interpessoal. A pesquisa analisou os papéis dos principais pesquisadores que atuaram como empreendedores institucionais nestas redes. Sendo eles dotados de características particulares e controladores de recursos complementares, destacam-se as seguintes hipóteses: 1ª) empreendedores institucionais ocupam posições centrais na rede interpessoal; 2ª) empreendedores periféricos podem se beneficiar pela filiação às RPCTI; 3ª) os atributos dos atores influenciam a formação de laços de colaboração nas RPCTI. Foram aplicadas técnicas de Análise de Redes Sociais a partir de um modelo de seleção social para descobrir quais fatores afetaram a seleção de parcerias na gênese das RPCTI.

The Importance of Intra- and Inter-Institutional Networks for Capacity Building in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Services: Experience from an Oncology Centre in Eastern India

AbstractHigh-throughput, accurate, cost-effective and rapid testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) is the need of the hour in face of the global coronavirus disease pandemic. This target is achievable, within a relatively short time through capacity building of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests by utilising the strengths of intra and inter institutional networks. These networks act as force multiplier for vital resources which are required for capacity building, namely, leadership, expertise, equipment, space, infection control inputs and human resources. In this article, we report the experience of capacity building for delivery of RT-PCR tests for SARS CoV-2 from a cancer hospital in Eastern India. The relevance, mode of operation and value addition of this essential public health service are discussed in the context of inter departmental collaboration and interaction with other institutes through the existing diagnostic, surveillance and infection control networks. This networking model for service development and delivery could be used by other centres.

The challenge of coordinated civic climate change education

Many sustainability educators want to more effectively engage their students with climate policy. They also seek to support students’ civic and change agent skills and dispositions to take on critical social, economic, and environmental challenges that require collective action. Training young people for civic leadership and collective action is integral to the mission of higher education and part of achieving that mission has been to share success stories. This article shares anecdotal but research-informed reflections on the Power Dialog, a twenty-state, multi-month, civically minded, coordinated climate change educational program developed for college students to provide input to state governments on the Clean Power Plan. The Power Dialog was crafted on theories and practices of democratic education, behavioral economics, policy theory, and up-to-date climate science and risk assessments. This reflection shows that factors in state government, strong interinstitutional networks and leadership, and programs inside of the universities themselves were critical for success. The article concludes by recognizing that the national, state, and local political landscapes have shifted with the Trump administration and educators will need to respond accordingly.

Interinstitutional networks and democratization of services in social intervention with older people in Portugal

This article presents an interinstitutional network supporting older people in Portugal and a policy document that institutionalized this type of interinstitutional practices. The data are part of a large corpus collected in the course of interdisciplinary research: “Aging, poverty and social exclusion: an interdisciplinary study on innovative support services.” (https://apseclunl.wordpress.com/). The documentation of good practices in intervention with older people at risk of exclusion were the aim of the research project. The data collected incudes: interviews, observation and recordings of inter-institutional meetings. In the light of the relevant literature, the study discusses the ethnographic account in relation to relevant policy documents (“Rede Social” Interinstitutional Network Program RCM no. 197/97, of 18 November). Describing the main aspects of the intervention strategies with the older population, the article documents the value of these experiences and the approach in policies for the democratization of services and the inclusion of citizens participating in decision making about delivery of services and the promotion of inclusive societies.

Adapting water management to climate change: Institutional involvement, inter-institutional networks and barriers in India

Abstract The capacity of a nation to address the hydrological impacts of climate change depends on the institutions through which water is governed. Inter-institutional networks that enable institutions to adapt and the factors that hinder smooth coordination are poorly understood. Using water governance in India as an example of a complex top-down bureaucratic system that requires effective networks between all key institutions, this research unravels the barriers to adaptation by combining quantitative internet data mining and qualitative analysis of interviews with representatives from twenty-six key institutions operating at the national level. Institutions' online presence shows a disconnect in the institutional discourse between climate change and water with institutions such as the Ministries of Water Resources, Earth Sciences and Agriculture, indicating a lesser involvement compared to institutions such as the Ministries of Finance, External Affairs, Planning Commission. The online documents also indicate a more centralised inter-institutional network, emanating from or pointing to a few key institutions including the Planning Commission and Ministry of Environment and Forests. However, the interviews suggest more complex relational dynamics between institutions and also demonstrate a gap between the aspirational ideals of the National Water Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change and the realities of climate change adaptation. This arises from institutional barriers, including lengthy bureaucratic processes and systemic failures, that hinder effective inter-institutional networks to facilitate adaptation. The study provides new understanding of the involvement and barriers of complex multi-layered institutions in climate change adaptation.

Contextual and interdependent causes of climate change adaptation barriers: Insights from water management institutions in Himachal Pradesh, India

Research on adaptation barriers is increasing as the need for climate change adaptation becomes evident. However, empirical studies regarding the emergence, causes and sustenance of adaptation barriers remain limited. This research identifies key contextual causes of adaptation barriers in water institutions in the mountainous Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with representatives from twenty-six key governmental, non-governmental, academic and research institutions in the State with responsibilities spanning domestic water supply, irrigation and hydropower generation, environmental monitoring and research. It identified low knowledge capacity and resources, policy implementation gaps, normative attitudes, and unavailability and inaccessibility of data and information compounded with weak interinstitutional networks as key adaptation barriers. Although these barriers are similar to those reported elsewhere, they have important locally-contextual root causes. For instance, inadequate resources result from fragmented resources allocation due to competing developmental priorities and the desire of the political leadership to please diverse electors, rather than climate scepticism. The identified individual barriers are found to be highly inter-dependent and closely intertwined which enables the identification of leverage points for interventions to maximise barrier removal. For instance, breaking down key barriers hindering accessibility to data and information, which are shaped by systemic bureaucracies and cultural attitudes, will involve attitudinal change through sensitisation to the importance of accurate and accessible data and information and the building trust between different actors, in addition to institutional structural changes through legislation and inter-institutional agreements. Approaching barriers as a system of contextually interconnected cultural, systemic, geographical and political underlying factors enriches the understanding of adaptation enablers, thereby contributing to achieving a better adapted society.

Managing International News-Agency Relations under the Guomindang: China’s Central News Agency, Zhao Minheng, and Reuters, 1931–1945

During the Nationalist Era, China dealt with its relatively weaker position in the global geopolitics of news communication by forging and managing strategic collaborations with the world’s leading news agencies. This study analyzes the case of the bilateral contractual relationship between Reuters and the Guomindang (GMD) government’s official news agency, the Central News Agency (CNA). By doing so, the article reveals that in the course of developing useful cooperation with the leading international news agencies to open up inter-institutional and interpersonal channels and networks for disseminating the GMD government’s official news and viewpoints abroad, the GMD government and CNA were also confronted with a growing necessity to manage and control protracted contentions, disputes, and even conflicts arising from the party-state’s persistent attempts to assert news communication sovereignty. The study also highlights the vital role of Zhao Minheng (1904–61)—a US-educated Chinese journalist in the employment of Reuters—as middleman in the CNA-Reuters relationship. Zhao’s career provides us with an important means to analyze CNA’s international news-agency relations from transnational and transcultural perspectives.

Pathways and barriers to developing pediatric research consortia

In many countries pediatric radiology is responsible for imaging of patients ranging from premature babies to 19-year-olds, thus meaning a weight range from less than 500 g to sometimes much more than 100 kg. Children are not small adults and many differences exist when comparing them to adults. Therefore pediatric radiologists face a 4-D problem: the three dimensions in space as well as time, which can be summarized as maturation. Due to this multidimensionality experience exchange, knowledge transfer and teamwork is mandatory. Research consortia represent a useful approach. According the author's experience in setting up and running international, inter-institutional academic networks, this article describes pathways and barriers of such cooperations, which can be divided into external (institutional), internal (departmental) and organizational and by the research fellows themselves.

Central American regional integration in science, technology and innovation: a new challenge

In recent years in international cooperation policies and public policies of the Central American (CA) region multilateral mechanisms were generated to form interinstitutional networks that drive science, technology, and innovation (STI) as the engine for regional economic growth. In the agreements social, political, and economic disparity were taken into account in order to stimulate the articulation between actors and potentialize local strengths to generate critical mass on the level of knowledge and build a research core base. The aim of this article is to identify institutional and productive capacities acquired in the countries of the region (CA) that encourage interaction on a national level and create favorable conditions to generate regional agreements to build regional interaction on STI. Results show deficiencies in the linking between public and private agents derived from the limited funds destined to I+D, the insufficient channels of information and the lack of interest of the investigations to respond to priority problems of the region, which weaken links with the productive sector. From there, arise the need to build a joint and collaborative work agenda to consolidated the institutional environment and favors the capacities to absorb knowledge.

Lifelong Learning Network (LLN) progression agreements: An effective and sustainable approach for promoting the social mobility of vocational students?

This paper will critically reflect upon the findings from a recent Higher Education Academy (HEA) funded literature synthesis on how progression agreements (PAs) promote social mobility through improving pathways to the professions and vocational careers. This was based on material in the HEA‟s Widening Access, Student Retention and Success national programmes archive, predominantly focused on the work of PAs which formed part of HEFCE-funded Lifelong Learning Networks (LLNs). The agreements were designed to support transition into Higher Education (HE) for holders of level 3 vocational qualifications, including those studying via work based learning programmes, and to help develop clearly defined access routes into graduate careers. Such students tend to come from lower socio-economic groups than those with A levels, making LLN PAs potentially important instruments for the promotion of upward social mobility through providing alternative pathways into and through HE. Although the full impact of their activities won't be fully understood for some time, the paper will consider some initial evidence from the literature on the impact of progression agreements in areas such as academic and employment benefits for students; employer engagement; the sustainability of inter-institutional partnerships and networks; and the status of vocational qualifications in HE.

Violencia en las escuelas de Puerto Carreño: ¿Realidad o fantasía?

<p>El proyecto Violencia en las escuelas de Puerto Carreño: ¿realidad o fantasía?, nace del proceso de investigación emprendido en el cead desde hace dos años y está implícito dentro de la jornada denominada: Tras las huellas de la investigación, como un espacio de reflexión, análisis y construcción que nos ha permitido, como comunidad académica pedagógica unadista, apropiarnos de diferentes temáticas, sensibilizarnos con un tema y una actividad específica, proyectarnos como miembros activos pertenecientes a una institución superior en la localidad y región.</p><p>El presente trabajo se desarrolla dentro de la interinstitucionalidad porque se articulan tres instituciones: (unad, icbf y Escuela Normal Superior f.ll.a.), con un fin común: ahorrar esfuerzos, optimizar recursos económicos, compartir saberes y aportar cada una desde su perspectiva.</p><p>El objetivo principal del proyecto es saber si en las escuelas primarias de Puerto Carreño se presentan episodios de violencia escolar e identificar los factores con los cuales están asociados. Asimismo constituir redes académicas interinstitucionales y sistematizar procesos académico-pedagógicos que se adelantan desde las instituciones educativas. El método utilizado es la investigación cualitativa, con un diseño expo-facto. Los resultados indican que el fenómeno de la violencia escolar sí se presenta en Puerto Carreño asociado con violencia intrafamiliar, desconocimiento de las estrategias de afrontamiento de los docentes hacia los episodios de violencia escolar, falta de contacto entre los padres de familia y la escuela; y, deficientes habilidades sociales en los niños que asisten a los establecimientos. Se encontró también que hay factores protectores en la comunidad educativa como el interés de los docentes en mitigar el fenómeno, la participación de jóvenes de secundaria en el proceso y el reconocimiento por parte de los niños agresores y víctimas de la necesidad de nuevas formas de convivencia pacífica. Como conclusión se encuentra que el fenómeno de la violencia en las escuelas está tan extendido que se presenta aun en una ciudad con muy bajos índices de violencia social como es Puerto Carreño por lo cual se recomienda que los investigadores del área social lo intervengan.</p>

Climate change and Ontario forests: Prospects for building institutional adaptive capacity

Institutions play an important role in the adaptive capacity of a system in responding to climate change. This review paper characterizes the status of the collective institutional response (government, industry, First Nation, community, civil society) to climate change in the forest sector of the Canadian province of Ontario, and highlights the presence and nature of inter-institutional networks as part of the response. Based on a synthesis of the commonalities in the public administration and policy literature on tackling wicked problems, and the resilience literature, inter-institutional networks, which foster exchange of different types of knowledge, are an important aspect of enhancing the adaptive capacity of social–ecological systems such as the forest sector. Based on a content analysis of publicly available documents and insights gained from representatives of government, community members and non-governmental organizations, mitigation and adaptations strategies are described. At the provincial level there have been some new innovations in inter-institutional networks, but expansion of the forest stakeholders involved in such networks would further enhance adaptive capacity. In particular, it is important to network with First Nations and other forest-dependent communities who have a heightened vulnerability to climate change. The presence of a collaborative capacity builder could foster the transfer, receipt and integration of knowledge across the networks, and ultimately build long-term collaborative problem-solving capacity in the Ontario forest sector.

Thinking more deeply about networks in education

In education, initiatives to restructure and reculture schools through their involvement in intra- and inter-institutional networks have grown in number in recent years. Networks of teachers and schools (often linked to institutions outside education) are becoming a key focus of change efforts promoted by professionals and policymakers. However, in current research, writing and policymaking, the use of the network concept has been generally vague, normative and mostly instrumental. This paper develops a discussion of network concepts and proposes more systematic, less normative ways of addressing and researching network issues in education. It outlines a set of key dimensions of intra- and inter-organizational networks and makes a case for more a comprehensive research approach to these phenomena.

Methodology for an organisational development process: An integral and sustainable qualitative transformation of complex inter-institutional networks, working on social and environmental problem situations

An organisational development methodology (ODM) of transformation is being designed to carry out radical changes in a small number of complex networks of organisations or organisational ecosystems. They are collaborating on a regional systemic change towards a sustainable and integral quality of life. The complex organisational networks have a combination of private, public and social institutions. The public and private organisations have a traditional vertical form of organisation, in contrast with some of the social organisations that have a flat form of structure, such as NGO environmental networks. We are working on three organisational networks, one has a local aim, another a national scope and the third one a continental dimension. At the end of this article, we show as a case study the first one of these organisational networks. The ODM has different stages of transformation, devised as evolutionary Life Cycles (Peon 1996): These stages of the ODM are conceived as an action-research systemic process of planned change, aimed to improve the efficiency of the organisational model under the conceptual guidelines of the Ecosystemic Metaphor. The strategic intervention has technical, economic, social, cultural, political and environmental dimensions. In each stage of the long-term intervention process, there is a careful selection of the most relevant issues. This is a simplistic description of a complex nonlinear process of change.

Inovação e arranjos institucionais: contribuições para um análise teórica das redes de inovação | Innovation and institutional arrangements: contributions to a theoretical analysis of innovation networks

This paper analyses the role played by institutional arrangements around the innovation of processes and products, calling the attention to the new media sector. Such arrangements are characterized by the emergence of networks. The constitution of interinstitutional networks is relevant because of the capacity to, potentially, give a new configuration to the kind of innovation made as well as to the economic and social results. We are following a neo-institutional approach and, so doing, present contributions to the theoretical literature on the innovation process, especially of some authors still not very well known in Brazil.