Inter-institutional Network 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.

Collaboration networks in agricultural research in Uruguay: An exploration based on social network analysis

Scientific collaboration networks connect researchers across institutions and academic disciplines. Agricultural research involves multiple stakeholders and academic disciplines to address increasingly complex and diverse research agendas. However, the dynamics of collaboration and the patterns of interaction in the agricultural sciences have been little investigated. Uruguay has a rich tradition in agricultural research, but little is known about the ways in which institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration occur and have evolved recently. This article uses relational data from projects documented in researchers’ vitas (CVs) to examine patterns of collaboration in agricultural research in Uruguay during the period 2000–2017. Collaboration networks were explored with social network analysis (SNA) resulting in networks involving varied institutions and academic disciplines. An inter-institutional network with a center and periphery structure is revealed with long-standing science and technology centers as the fundamental nodes. Interdisciplinary collaborations show diversification over time with more academic fields involved in research projects in the agricultural sciences. Joint research between agricultural sciences and other academic fields to address complex current phenomena could benefit from increasing connections with multiple fields in the environmental, social, and health sciences. The study shows the usefulness of SNA and research project data to improve the understanding of collaboration patterns in agricultural research.

In This Issue: Fostering socially and ecologically resilient food and farm systems through research networks

First paragraph: In this summer issue, we offer the first installment of a special set of papers in response to the call entitled “Fostering Socially and Ecologically Resilient Food and Farm Systems Through Research Networks,” sponsored by the tripartite partnership of the Inter-institutional Network for Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability (INFAS), eOrganic, and the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). We appreciate their support for furthering the literature on this topic. Additional papers in response to the call will follow in the forthcoming fall issue. . . .

Debrief on the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS)

What are the roles and responsibilities of U.S. academia in global fora such as the United Nations Food Systems Summit? In an effort to be better global partners, the Inter-institutional Network for Food and Agricultural Sustainability (INFAS) accepted an invitation to participate in the UNFSS. INFAS then convened a debriefing for our members to hear from our colleagues about their experiences and any outcomes that may have emerged from the Food Systems Summit. The Food Systems Summit process was deeply flawed, resulting in confusion and power inequities, yet it stimulated coalition-building and reflection on how and why to participate in global food governance.

Confronting COVID-19 - The case of PPE and Medical Devices production using Digital Fabrication at PUC-Rio

At the end of 2019, the first cases of COVID-19 were registered. As the disease spread across continents culminating in a pandemic, countries suffered from a shortage of personal protective equipment. In Brazil, the first case was recorded on February 2020. This study aims to describe the experience of creating an interinstitutional network to meet the pandemic’s demands and the experience of transforming an academic design laboratory into space for the production of personal protective equipment using 3D printing and laser cutting techniques. The actions described in this study, made it possible to meet the high emergency demand for PPE in the city of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the construction of knowledge both within the scope of building networks to solve complex social problems and about the possibilities of production in an academic environment. The work addresses and reflexes this action on society's perception of Design professionals.

Construir a visibilidade dos cânceres ocupacionais. Uma pesquisa permanente em Seine-Saint-Denis

Desde 2003, a prevenção dos cânceres ocupacionais tem sido considerada como uma prioridade sanitária que supõe uma produção de conhecimentos mobilizáveis por estratégias de proteção de trabalhadores assalariados contra a exposição profissional às causas carcinogênicas. A primeira parte deste artigo questiona a interpretação das desigualdades relacionadas ao câncer e coloca em evidência os limites do modelo dominante de interpretação da causalidade do câncer, fundado sobre o papel exclusivo de fatores comportamentais. Apoiando-se sobre as características do câncer, doença que se insere em um longo e complexo processo, a autora demonstra a tripla invisibilidade socialmente construída do câncer relacionado ao trabalho: a ignorância tóxica, a invisibilidade física e a invisibilidade social. A segunda parte apresenta uma pesquisa para a ação realizada desde 2001 com pacientes com câncer em três hospitais de Seine-Saint-Denis com o objetivo de reconstruir suas carreiras profissionais, identificar carcinógenos nessas carreiras e monitorar procedimentos para reconhecimento como doenças ocupacionais. Após um breve histórico da constituição da rede interdisciplinar e interinstitucional em que se realiza esta pesquisa, a autora apresenta o método e os resultados. Coloca-se em evidência a significativa poli-exposição ocupacional aos carcinógenos dos 684 pacientes acompanhados no estudo. Surge então outra história de cânceres ocupacionais, que segue a história das mudanças no trabalho e na produção económica, pondo em causa o modelo de referência para o reconhecimento dos trabalhadores ou ex-trabalhadores com câncer como doenças ocupacionais. Em conclusão, a autora propõe que a reconstrução das vias ocupacionais e as histórias de exposição se tornem uma dimensão necessária dos registros departamentais de câncer, possibilitando determinar, em nível local, quais as prioridades e estratégias a serem implementadas para a proteção dos trabalhadores contra a exposição ocupacional a carcinógenos.

Sustainability and Large-Scale Events: The Case of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy and the Application of Sustainable Development Goals

Large-scale events, which are characterised by a dynamic complexity involving different national public administrations and institutional levels, require special attention in order to select adequate event management systems. Consequently, the analysis of a best practice event may be useful to identify the main variables, in terms of sustainable strategic planning, execution and control –required to achieve the greatest level of efficiency with regard to cost optimisation and quality of service delivery– along with exhorting the public sector to seek a structural renovation that makes better use of its available resources and fosters global sustainable growth. From this perspective, one such relevant experience has been the Italian case of the 2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, coordinated by the Prefect of Rome. Indeed, the latter decided to adopt actions consistent with sustainability standards due to an inter-institutional network design and the engagement of institutions at different levels. Within a very short period, the Prefect of Rome achieved three main results: the coordination of the activities of the working groups, the integration of internal and external surveillance and communication systems, and collaboration with higher education institutions to acquire and disseminate knowledge. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to describe and analyse this best practice event organised and managed by the Italian public administration with reference to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To systemise and combine the outcomes of these processes, as well as to evaluate whether they were consistent with sustainable development, the systems thinking technique was used. This paper explores the concept of sustainable development and focuses on its traditional social, environmental and economic pillars within the context of planned events such as the 2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

Merging wine and tourism-related services: evidence from the Douro (Portugal) Wine Region

ABSTRACTThis article examines the supply structure and merging level of tourism-related services of wineries, focusing on a set of internal and external resources, namely corporate information, wine, tourism-related services/activities, information about the wine region inter-institutional network. A sample of 25 wine companies which own 103 wineries in the Douro Wine Region (DWR) are examined and enhanced with seven international wine regions as a benchmark. Results suggest that wineries exhibit an adaptive and atomized organization which is based on mutualistic cooperation between wine and tourism rather than being founded on a core product-supplementary services norm. The benchmarking analysis indicates that the parameters that define the online positioning of wineries in the DWR are in line with the best practices worldwide.

When success is an orphan: informal institutional governance and the EU–Turkey deal

This article traces the role of the EU institutions in the process leading up to the EU–Turkey Action Plan and EU–Turkey Statement. The EU–Turkey deal is the proverbial ‘orphan’ in EU crises management, with none of the key actors and institutions eager to claim ownership. Yet when judged from the perspective of process management, the deal resulted from effective inter-institutional collaboration, which stands in stark contrast to the EU’s handling of the relocation schemes or the Dublin reform. Using insights from the informal governance literature, the article maps the inter-institutional network that managed this process, traces the activities within the network, and determines the effects these had on the final outcome. On an analytical level, the mechanism contains five key elements of informal institutional governance: linking, bridging, shielding, laying out the tracks and creative fixes. The conclusion reflects on the wider applicability and scope conditions of this mechanism.

Interinstitutional Network in the Medical Child Abuse Protocol

Interinstitutional Network in the Medical Child Abuse Protocol

Para articular la gestión del riesgo hídrico en el Gran La Plata

El artículo resume el abordaje metodológico, los objetivos y las secuencias instrumentales desplegadas en el proyecto PIO UNLP/CONICET 27CO2 para aportar a la co-construcción de un sistema de soporte de decisiones (SSD) en vistas a la constitución e instalación de una autoridad de gestión del riesgo hídrico en el tramo Intermedio de la Cuenca Hídrica Vertiente Río de La Plata en la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ese SSD apuntó a articular (i) una fase técnica (un sistema de información de alta precisión) y (ii) una fase institucional (un modelo de gestión de riesgo que compone e involucra progresivamente una red interinstitucional flexible a escala de la cuenca y un nodo articulador). Esta co-construcción (a la que se alude también como co-producción / co-creación / co-diseño) alude a la creación y desarrollo de interfaces válidas entre la producción (los productores) de conocimientos y la formulación (los formuladores) de políticas públicas. Es condición de viabilidad que el sistema a co-construir reconozca, se adapte y dé cuenta de la complejidad regional, técnica, institucional y social que caracteriza a la gestión de la problemática abordada.

Systematization of the pilot implementation of a Gesell dome in a Family Court

Children and adolescents who are victims of sexual abuse or severe mistreatment are exposed to secondary victimization -understood as the revictimization resulting from the cons tant memory of the mistreatment or the abuse suffered when they are subject of multiple questions about what happened- when they have contact with the justice system. In 2012, the Chilean State implemented a pilot Gesell dome in order to reduce this risk and move towards a single interview process, with probative value in the context of the judicial process. To systematize the implementation process of a Gessel Dome in a chilean Family Court. Qualita tive, non-experimental, exploratory and descriptive study. Ten representatives of institutions of the inter-institutional network of the Family Court at the city of Melipilla were interviewed. Purposive sampling was used for the selection of participants, which seeks to obtain a representative discour se of the participants. The Semi-structured Individual Interview was used, based on seven research dimensions: 1) knowledge of the Gesell dome; 2) knowledge of the right of the child to be heard; 3) knowledge regarding severe mistreatment and sexual abuse; 4) knowledge about secondary victi mization; 5) organization and operation of the institutional network; 6) training; and 7) general eva luation of the Gesell dome of the Melipilla Family Court. There are differences in knowledge and information management among the institutions associated with the project. Coordination diffi culties of the local network that affect the objectives of the project are identified. There are problems of coordination and networking in the implementation and use of the Gesell dome. In order to achieve the objective of reducing secondary victimization, in addition to the investment in physical facilities and specialized training, a strong investment in local network management and coordination is required. The results facilitate the development of plans to avoid such difficulties in the future implementation of Gesell domes as public policy.

In-depth analysis of international collaboration and inter-institutional collaboration in nuclear science and technology during 2006–2015

ABSTRACT Nuclear science and technology (NST) is a promising but dangerous field, and the collaboration patterns were cautiously encouraged to promote this field. An in-depth analysis was conducted to reveal overall trends, collaboration patterns, citation impact, and collaboration networks in NST category of the Science Citation Index Expanded. Newly developed indicators of TC year, CPP year, SNI, and CPP SNI were employed for the concrete analysis. Fruchterman Rheingold default layout algorithm in Gephi 0.9.1, a data visualization and manipulation software, was also used to visualize the network and relationships of collaboration among countries, and institutions. Results show that the leading institutions and countries involve more inter-institutional and international collaborations. The USA and European countries were important centers of global international collaboration network, while Iran was isolated from the international community. National Institute for Nuclear Physics from Italy and Japan Atom Energy Agency were two centers of inter-institutional collaboration network. International collaboration improved scientific impact of almost all countries in NST field. Moreover, a close relationship between one country's scientific papers and nuclear power stations was revealed. This study originally revealed the collaboration patterns and impact of NST during 2006–2015, and provided important information and prior collaborators for researchers and policy-makers.

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.

Programa de educação parental “Em Equilíbrio”: Estudo crítico-reflexivo

O presente estudo apresenta uma reflexão crítica sobre o programa de educação parental “Em Equilíbrio”, implementado numa rede interinstitucional, numa lógica de intervençãoseletiva, tendo como objetivo geral a promoção do desenvolvimento de competênciasparentais. Os resultados alcançados apontam para o impacto do programa em fatores-chave da parentalidade e dinâmica familiar, relacionados com a prevenção do comportamento antissocial e dos maus tratos infantis. O estudo conclui que existe um bom ajustamentoentre os objetivos do programa e a sua metodologia de implementação. A sua principal mais-valia é a dinamização e envolvimento da rede formal das famílias e os aspetos a melhorar são a objetividade da seleção dos participantes, disponibilidade de supervisão, a centralidade interventiva e o modelo de avaliação.

The Enlighten Campinas Program: the construction of an intersectoral and interinstitutional policy to confront violence as a social problem.

Resumo A inclusão da temática violência na agenda da promoção da saúde demanda a reorientação nas linhas de cuidado do sistema de serviços e a consolidação de ações voltadas para indivíduos e coletividades, em uma perspectiva de trabalho intersetorial, multidisciplinar, integrado e em redes que contemple a reorganização das práticas para acolher esta questão como um determinante de saúde. O objetivo deste artigo é compartilhar a experiência da implementação do Programa Iluminar Campinas – uma política local de promoção da saúde de um município de grande porte –que articulou o setor saúde em uma ampla rede intersetorial e interinstitucional para ofertar cuidados às pessoas que sofreram violência. As perspectivas teóricas do estudo foram o Construcionismo Social e a Teoria Ator Rede (TAR) e a metodologia envolveu a análise de documentos, entrevistas e observações de eventos do Programa Iluminar.

Labor in the Food System: A View from INFAS

The Inter-institutional Network for Food, Agriculture and Sustainability (INFAS or Network), initiated informally in 2008 and formalized in 2011, encompasses a broad group of practitioners, primarily in academic institutions, who work individually on a diverse range of topics in agricultural and food system sustainability. INFAS grew from a shared vision to expose the challenges facing the transformation of agriculture and our global food system, including the sometimes competing interests of labor, producers, and consumers in the food system. From the start, the Network was envisioned to include activists in collaboration with academics in order to broadly improve the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of the food system by spanning disciplinary and institutional boundaries, convening diverse stake-holders, and linking knowledge with action. We envision an environmentally sustainable and socially just U.S. food system. This requires that race, class, and gender no longer determine health outcomes, social status, or economic opportunity, and that healthy, restored agroecosystems and fisheries are achievable....

Active Aging and Inclusive Communities: Inter-Institutional Intervention in Portugal

Enhancing older citizens’ participation is a worthwhile aim in itself in a democratic country, but it is also the most effective means of promoting active aging. The actual involvement of older people in the social, cultural and political life of their communities represents the way to healthy and positive aging. This study refers to a research project on social intervention in relation to poverty and social exclusion among older people, the APSE 2 project “Aging, poverty and social exclusion: Institutional networks and integrated social and health intervention with older people.” https://apseclunl.wordpress.com/ In this ethnographic study, social intervention with older people was observed in a borough in Lisbon in Portugal. The data collected comprise observation and recordings of inter-institutional meetings, activities involving older people and interviews. Through a detailed ethnographic account (Atkinson et al. 2001), the main features of the intervention strategies with the older population are described. The article shows how the inter-institutional network in a borough of Lisbon promotes the social inclusion of the older people within the community. It describs the main features of the intervention with the older population and reports some examples of activities that have been particularly effective in bringing older people into the spot light and making them the protagonists of the cultural life of their city.

<b>Informação e comunicação em redes de prática como educação permanente: o caso da Estação Escola GHC do Observatório de Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação em Sistemas e Serviços de Saúde</b>

The complexity of demands in the healthcare field requires greater plasticity in management actions involving multifaceted and trans-disciplinary approaches. The creation of spaces promoting the development and analysis of healthcare information constitutes an innovation strategy, especially when promoting the systematization of knowledge in everyday life. National policy concerning health information enabled the emergence of the OTICS - Observatory of Information Technology and Communication in Health Services and Systems (Observatorio de Tecnologias de Informacao e Comunicacao em Sistemas e Servicos de Saude - OTICS) project. The focus of OTICS lies in supporting new forms of healthcare management by using information to strengthen healthcare practice. The Conceicao Hospital Group School Station (CHG-SS) [Estacao Escola Grupo Hospitalar Conceicao (EE-GHC)] was created within the scope of the OTICS project. This paper aimed to analytically describe an experiment performed in partnership with OTICS and the CHG [GHC] School. First, a conceptual approach was used to address the challenges of performing in highly complex, specialized scenarios, and the potential innovations of using information and associated technologies in everyday health work and management. Two different experiences were analyzed regarding the potential use of information in health surveillance technology development, focusing on the concept of holistic health: the creation of a program for health education and promotion related to toxicological events in children (PEPSET) and another based on the construction of a monitoring and tracking system for orthopedic prosthetics. Regarding PEPSET, multifocal action was taken by training community health agents and other healthcare professionals. As a result, ANVISA (National Agency of Health Surveillance) [Agencia Nacional de Vigilância Sanitaria] approved the methodology, making it viable for disseminating the experiment in other locations and supporting the evaluation mechanism of actions that are still under development. Since its implementation, CHG-SS [EE-GHC] has managed not only to increase the use of information for the qualification of hospital services but also to create a space for the development and analysis of projects. In doing so, it has contributed robust data destined to improve the performance and management of health surveillance within an inter-institutional network and directed toward quality in individual and collective care. In this case, integration is strengthened by inter-institutional articulation with the formation of closer structural and practical bonds between health surveillance and assistance, with the production of useful knowledge for everyday work and prospection in health surveillance. Above all, this takes place by strengthening the role that permanent education plays in healthcare.