Interviews Of Key Actors Research Articles

Bolstering community resilience through health-focused climate change adaptation: moving from talk to action in Western Canadian communities

ABSTRACT The impacts of climate change have been recognized as a global health emergency. Worsening climate stressors are resulting in injury, illness and death. As this threat to health grows, so does the need to adapt. Climate change adaptation has been noted to reduce the risk of disease transmission, chronic illness exacerbation, physical trauma, and the mental health impacts associated with climate change. Cities across Western Canada have initiated the process of implementing health-focused climate change adaptation; however, progress has been slow, leaving communities vulnerable to health threats. Exploring five case study communities in Western Canada, this research sheds light on factors that enable and constrain progress on health-focused climate change adaptation. Research objectives are addressed through analysis of 16 key actor interviews (with experts in public health, planning, local governance, and other related fields), and a scan of relevant strategic planning documents. Results indicate that political will, expertise, and awareness has resulted in the development of health-focused climate change adaptation policy/ plans. However, implementation of these plans lags in practice. This lag stems from a lack of implementation detail in climate change adaptation plans, limited understanding of the impact of climate change on health, and jurisdictional confusion.

Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Breaking Down Barriers through Comprehensive Educational Frameworks

The planning profession sits at the forefront of local climate adaptation action. Yet, novel challenges exist for coordinating and implementing comprehensive actions. Through key actor interviews, this qualitative study examines the role of planners in navigating these challenges. In order to understand how planners are being prepared for this role, attention to how climate adaptation features in required courses across accredited planning programs in Canada is included. This study finds that while planners excel at a range of key skills related to communication, in the context of climate adaptation, these strengths are constrained by a lack of technical knowledge.

Mapping of construction materials reuse practices within large Norwegian municipalities

An increase in the reuse of building materials is identified as crucial to fulfil the UN Sustainable Development Goals within the built environment. The ambition of this paper is to examine systems for reuse in five of Norway’s largest municipalities, to understand the barriers and drivers for their well-functioning. Through a literature review, Norwegian praxis is then compared to best practices internationally. The methodological approach was based on a two-stage process. First, a preliminary round of informal interviews (N=28), and site visits to the sites were scrutinized. This first round gave the basis for the research design of the consecutive stage. Here, a scoping literature review was carried out to map the existing literature within the field. In the second stage, in-depth interviews of key actors (N=8) were carried out, along with renewed site visits. Document studies were carried out in the second round (contracts, site descriptions, and project descriptions). Norwegian praxis within the field of reuse lags behind best practices internationally. This is particularly true when compared to other northern-European countries. The main barriers to effective reuse within Norwegian municipalities are time, costs, lack of logistics, and requirements relating to materials, construction products and building design. Of particular importance is the lack of a system for reusing when existing buildings are terminated. If reuse is to gain adherence, there is a need for an improved understanding of how to systemise the logistics of reuse. It is therefore needed to increase theoretical knowledge and initiate change among practitioners.

Sentinel event reviews: applications in criminal justice settings

ABSTRACT Sentinel event reviews were developed in the medical, military, and aviation fields and involve systematic assessment of the processes that resulted in a critical event such as an unexpected death of a patient or an airplane crash. The sentinel event review is intended to identify system weaknesses that resulted in the negative outcome and to inform corrective actions. Sentinel event reviews have rarely been used in the criminal justice system, although recent years have witnessed experimentation in the use of review processes to examine negative outcomes such as domestic violence homicides and drug overdoses. This study examined the development and implementation of sentinel event review processes in three midwestern cities. The sentinel event reviews built upon existing reviews of shooting incidents and extended those reviews through a systematic approach that involved deeper investigation into specific critical incidents. The research involved participant observation, review of the materials related to the sentinel event reviews, and a small number of key actor interviews. The results suggest that the reviews hold promise for informing decision makers on system weaknesses and for improving criminal justice practices. Yet, they also revealed obstacles to effective implementation and utilization of sentinel event reviews in criminal justice settings.

Política externa e saúde no Brasil (1995-2010): uma análise da diplomacia de saúde brasileira – da Aids ao ‘Fome Zero’

ABSTRACT This article analyses, from a policy analysis approach, how health entered Brazilian foreign policy between 1995 and 2010 and supported the country’s international position, which is rarely explored in the literature on Brazilian health diplomacy. By drawing on literature review, document analysis and key-actor interviews, we examined policies triggered by far-reaching and complex historical change processes in Brazil. We find significant interrelationships between foreign policy and social policy, including health. The internationalization of Brazilian domestic policies, and South-South cooperation, played a central role during Lula governments (2003-2010). Health found its way into the foreign policy agenda to support Brazil’s growing international presence. These developments were made possible by the activism and engagement of several of State and non-State actors working on two levels: national and transnational advocacy, and coordinated activities of government representatives, including Brazilian diplomats, and civil society activists. The main argument of this study is that national and international policies are intertwined in this process and that domestic dynamics and societal engagement are essential but more is needed: governmental choices are also determinant. Institutional arrangements and policies shift in different conjunctures and are constantly prone to conflicts and change.

(In)visible agents in regional development: Active individuals and their networks as a driver of regional product labelling initiatives

Support for regional production along with its certification and labelling can be understood more broadly as regional development initiatives. Accordingly, the declared objectives of many certification schemes include environmental, economic, social, and cultural aspects. However, to bring benefits for the region, a certification scheme must be used efficiently. Key actor interviews combined with an assessment of the activities of thirty Czech certification schemes, all members of the Association of Regional Brands, helped us identify positive and negative factors affecting the initiatives’ success and potential for enhancing regional development. In line with current institutional approaches to regional development, the engagement and creativity of actors as well as creating networks, which help them overcome various constraints, were found to be essential.

Investigating Innovation Ecosystems for Wearable Medical Devices.

Wearable medical technologies (wearables) are a type of digital health technology that have the potential to transform the delivery of healthcare by offering a personalized, predictive, and preventative form of patient care. Unfortunately, the adoption of these technologies remains low, indicating an issue with the innovation ecosystem. Existing literature on innovation ecosystems fails to address wearables and the trade-offs between profitability and health outcomes, hindering discussion on how to promote the widespread adoption of wearables. This paper reviews and synthesizes literature from the business community and healthcare technology community on innovation ecosystems to contribute towards developing a more robust model of the innovation ecosystem for developing wearables. Future work aims to enrich this conceptualization with interviews of key actors in the innovation ecosystem. Clinical Relevance- This establishes the relevance of innovation ecosystems in enabling the usage and uptake of digital health technologies that meet patient needs.

Changing nature of the work units and urban governance in China: The enduring influence of public institutions

Economic reform and housing commercialisation have fundamentally changed employer and employee relations and resulted in new patterns of urban governance in China. Consequently, recent research has focused on the emergence of new residential forms, their corresponding homeowners’ associations, neighbourhood committees and shequ governance structures – shedding light on state re-emergence at the grassroots level. However, an important omission in the literature is the changing roles played by the large number of existing work units within urban governance. This paper examines the new status of urban work units and assesses the changing nature of public institutions and their impact on socio-economic relations in communities – using a 70-year-old city hospital ( shiye- danwei) as a case study. Key actor interviews and field observations reveal that these type of work units have created a framework of ‘one work unit, multiple systems’ – where mainstream employees not only enjoyed high pay, enhanced support and benefits at work, but also more opportunities to exercise influence in the neighbourhoods where they live. The case demonstrates that neighbourhoods and work units form two pillars within contemporary Chinese urban society in which shequ, resident associations and the work units all provide social and economic support and concurrently exercise social and political control.

“The social and cultural dimension of ‘platforming’ live music : the case of the Hong Kong independent music scene during the Covid-19 pandemic”

ABSTRACT This article explores the implications of the rise of digitally–mediated live music performances in the context of one marginalized cultural scene, the Hong Kong independent music scene, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Combining observation of live-streamed events with interviews of key actors in the scene, this article analyses the processes by which the partial ‘platformization’ of live music activities has led to the deterritorialization and reterritorialization of the scene - through collaborations between some Hong Kongand international indie music actors and the reaffirmation of the‘local’ via the use of visual represesentations of the city in online concerts, as well as to forms of digital disengagement. In turn, the article argues that analyses of the platformization of culture music must take into consideration the socio-cultural effects of digital platforms on specific localized contexts of cultural creation and consumption such as cultural scenes.

Overcoming barriers to breeding for increased lice resistance in farmed Atlantic salmon: A case study from Norway

Lice is a persistent and major problem in the salmon aquaculture sector with serious environmental impacts and reducing growth potential and income of the salmon industry. This article discusses whether there is an untapped potential in breeding for improved lice resistant of Atlantic salmon. To this end, three sets of factors that may impact the state of breeding for lice resistance are examined, using document analysis and key actor interviews. First, our data material indicates that market-based factors will hardly stimulate this type of breeding, as the benefits from breeding for lice resistance is predominantly a public good, and because the polygenic nature of lice resistance does not enable patenting as a powerful instrument to secure private goods or privatize the benefits of genetic improvement. Second, the regulation of gene editing technologies is in flux, and increase the risk of investments in technologies as selective breeding that could handle the polygenic challenges of lice resistance. Finally, policy instruments aimed at stimulating relevant innovation has been applied generously for other types of innovations to deal with the lice problem. For instance, new technologies for delousing have resulted in increased treatments and caused higher stress and mortality the recent years. However, none of these have targeted major root causes of the salmon lice problem (e.g. big monocultures or susceptible fish) or been exploited by breeding actors. Seen from a social and environmental point of view this could paradoxically lead to increased demand for fish that better endures harsh delousing treatments rather than demand for more lice resistant fish.

Navigating gender in elite bargains: Women's movements and the quest for inclusive peace in Colombia

AbstractA growing body of scholarship connects the participation of women and the inclusion of gender provisions to the sustainability of peace settlements. But how do women's groups navigate gender power structures and gendered forms of violence within complex and fragile political bargaining processes aimed at ending large-scale conflict? The 2016 Colombian peace agreement, internationally applauded for its inclusion of strong gender provisions and women's participation as negotiators and peace advocates, is a significant case for examining these questions. Drawing on original case material, including interviews of key actors on different sides of the conflict – this article analyses the political bargaining dynamics within and among women's movements, the Santos government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). We argue that the inclusion of women was pivotal in transforming the elite bargaining process and power structures of Colombian society enabling a gender-based approach to the substantive peace agenda addressing transitional gender justice for sexual violence survivors and gender-equal redistribution through land and rural reform programmes. The study suggests that deeply situated political bargaining analysis is essential to navigating gender in elite bargains rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to inclusive peace.

Labor as a Linchpin in Ecosystem Services Conservation: Appropriating Value from Collective Institutions?

ABSTRACT The role of labor in value production for neoliberal conservation arrangements is a topic that has only recently begun to receive attention from scholars. Engaging with Marx’s labor theory of value, this article analyzes the interaction of a water fund Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) program with labor institutions in the Ecuadorian Andes. Data from participant observation, key actor interviews, and textual materials support an empirical case study of the model water fund, Fondo para la protección del agua – FONAG. Despite neoliberal discourse promoting financial and material incentives as the main driver of conservation action, this article demonstrates how PES agreements interact with pre-existing labor and land use regimes to generate and circulate value beyond the contractual arrangement between the target community and PES promoters. This article furthermore highlights how value produced from pre-existing labor institutions may constitute an overlooked component of “green grabbing” as it may be unacknowledged and susceptible to appropriation by international organizations.

Kunta ja muuttuva osallistuminen

This is a case study, carried out with a strategy of action research. This study concerns the organizational model of citizen participation in the city of Vantaa. The research questions are: What are the incentives for developing citizen participation in municipalities, and how is the multifarious participation carried out in municipality. The data consists of interviews of key actors (8), documents, diaries, and a workshop diary.
 An important incentive for development seems to be regulation concerning participation, the general and local discussion concerning democracy and the experiences from already existing variety of participation activities. When it comes to the process of development good pilots and adequate support and activity are important factors. Structural solutions are needed but at the same time there is an attempt to keep participation as resilience as possible. The results conclude, that development of participation can be observed as an institutional change.

The politics of organizing indigenous sport – cross-border and cross-sectoral complexity

ABSTRACT Research Question The authors studied the complexity surrounding the organization of sport in nations without nation-state status, exploring three research questions: (1) How do representatives of Sámi sport organizations in Finland and Norway perceive and act upon the proposal to reorganize Sámi sport? (2) How do representatives of the Sámi parliaments in Finland and Norway perceive and act upon the proposal to reorganize Sámi sport? (3) How do representatives of the state bureaucracy in Finland perceive and act upon the proposal to reorganize Sámi sport? Research Methods We interviewed representatives of the Sámi parliaments and Sámi sport in Norway and Finland, an external consultant in Norway and a state official of Finland constituting a total of eight key actor interviews. Results and Findings The analysis revealed the dominant role of the Norwegian side of Sámi sport, largely based on the institutional power of the Sámi parliament in Norway. In that respect, voluntary sport organizations in both Finland and Norway were reluctant to consider or were even negative towards an ongoing reorganization of Sámi sport since it was initiated by the Norwegian authorities and by the Norwegian Sámi parliament. Implications Decision-makers in government agencies involved in cross-border and cross-sectoral issues should consider the opinions of all parties involved. Moreover, concerning indigenous groups striving for self-determination in post-colonial contexts, it is important to create a unified voice in matters important to the group as a collective.

Embedding smart technologies in accounting to meet global irrigation challenges

PurposeAgriculture is under pressure to produce more food under increasingly variable climate conditions. Consequently, producers need management innovations that lead to improved physical and financial productivity. Currently, farm accounting technologies lack the sophistication to allow producers to analyse productivity of water. Furthermore water-related agricultural technology (“agtech”) systems do not readily link to accounting innovations. This study aims to establish a conceptual and practical framework for linking temporal, biophysical and management decision-making to accounting by develop a soil moisture and climate monitoring tool.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts an exploratory mixed-methods approach to understand supply of and demand for water accounting and water-related agtech; and bundling these innovations with farm accounting to generate a stable tool with the ability to improve agricultural practices over time. Three phases of data collection are the focus here: first, a desk-based review of water accounting and water technology – including benchmarking of key design characteristics of these methods and key actor interviews to verify and identify trends, allowing for conceptual model development; second, a producer survey to test demand for the “bundled” conceptual model; third and finally, a participant-based case study in potato-farming that links the data from direct monitoring and remote sensing to farm accounts.FindingsDesign characteristics of water accounting and agtech innovations are bundled into an overall irrigation decision-making conceptual model based on in-depth review of available innovations and verification by key actors. Producer surveys suggest enough demand to pursue practical bundling of these innovations undertaken by developing an integrated accounting, soil moisture and climate monitoring tool on-farm. Productivity trends over two seasons of case study data demonstrate the pivotal role of accounting in leading to better technical irrigation decisions and improving water productivity.Originality/valueThe model can assist practitioners to gauge strengths and weaknesses of contemporary water accounting fads and fashions and potential for innovation bundling for improved water productivity. The practical tool demonstrates how on-farm irrigation decision-making can be supported by linking farm accounting systems and smart technology

TRANSLATING THE MULTIACTOR APPROACH TO RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE USING A WORKSHOP APPROACH FOCUSING ON SPECIES MIXTURES

The EIP-Agri multiactor approach was exemplified during a 3-day workshop with 63 project participants from the EU H2020 funded project “Redesigning European cropping systems based on species MIXtures”. The objective was to share firsthand experience of participatory research among researchers who were mostly not familiar with this approach. Workshop participants were divided into smaller multidisciplinary groups and given the opportunity to interact with representatives from eight actor positions in the value chain of the agrifood cooperative Terrena located in Western France. The four stages of the workshop were: (1) key actor interviews, (2) sharing proposed solutions for overcoming barriers, and (3) developing possible interdisciplinary concepts. Expressions of frustration were recorded serving both as a motivation for group members to become more aware of the scientific concerns and practices of their colleagues, as well as a recognition that some researchers have better skills integrating qualitative approaches than others. Nevertheless, the workshop format was an effective way to gain a common understanding of the pertinent issues that need to be addressed to meet overall multiactor-approach objectives. Working with the actor networks was identified and emphasized as a means to overcome existing barriers between academia and practice in order to coproduce a shared vision of the benefits of species mixture benefits.

Narratives of Territorial Cohesion and Economic Growth: A Comparative Study

The ability of regions to develop new productive capacities and to address the needs of inhabitants has become central in the EU agenda to trigger cohesion, sustainable growth and equality. This ability does not derive only from material assets but also from cognitive ones, such as trust, ways of cooperation, governance cultures and sense of belonging. Cognitive aspects are in fact fundamental in making the most of the greater potential of territorial features. Using the concept of territorial capital, we investigate this mix between material and cognitive assets in regional planning discourses. Territorial capital raises issues of spatial diversity and inequality as questions of access. Starting from the theoretical framework suggested by Servillo, Atkinson, and Russo (2011) on attractiveness and mobilization strategies, this article addresses the issue of territorial inequalities on material and cognitive bases by analysing mobilization discourses on territorial capital at a regional scale in Italy and Austria. The investigation of three case studies at differentterritorial scales (urban, suburban and rural) in each country allows both intra-regional and inter-regional comparison. By mapping the discursive structures of local economic development documents and key-actor interviews, we analyse the different mobilizing strategies in these contexts. Comparing inter-regional mobilization provides an in-depth insight into differences as well as similarities of cohesion strategies in regional planning on multiple levels. This can spark new territorially sensitive schemes for further sustainable socio-economic and equalising development that connects with the social structures on the ground.

Internationalization aimed at global social justice

The increased immersion of global higher education in a competitive, economy-oriented paradigm calls for perspectives on international interaction that are explicitly aimed at shaping cooperative, sustainable, and alternative futures. In Brazil, higher education internationalization efforts driven by the Brazilian government have historically been attached to the State’s development interests. As they have consolidated in a hegemonic way (mainly focused on Brazil’s integration in the capitalist global market), initiatives pursued by individual higher education institutions themselves gain relevance in that context. In this article, we explore the projects developed by two Brazilian federal universities – the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) and the Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) – seeking to integrate refugees and displaced populations into higher education and the Brazilian society more generally. Our approach combines bibliographic and document analysis with interviews of key actors. Based on the results, we emphasize: 1. The role of Brazilian higher education institutions’ autonomy in order to develop internationalization strategies that are both contextually relevant and aimed at promoting global social justice; 2. The importance of linking existing university outreach activities aimed at marginalized groups to institutional policy for internationalization, so that internationalization efforts do not end up suppressing the more direct social role of those institutions.

From Kubatana to #ThisFlag: Trajectories of digital activism in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACTDigital communication technologies have been considered as empowering tools for activists advancing socio-political causes or challenging oppression. In Zimbabwe, digital activism is still considerably new, but considered on its own terms, can it offer an insight on digital activism in general? The paper uses six pioneering Zimbabwean groups – Kubatana, Sokwanele, Magamba, Baba Jukwa, Occupy Africa Unity Square, and #ThisFlag, to explore the trajectory of digital activism from the early 2000s to the period immediately after the historic stepping down of the country’s long-time president, Robert Mugabe, in 2017. A qualitative exploration triangulating secondary sources with online research of the groups and in-depth interviews of key actors is used to explore activists’ work. The study’s approach is broadly informed by theoretical concepts from social movements and digital activism literature. While these advocacy groups are separate entities, the study observers that pioneering organizations like Kubatana and Sokwanele have led to Zimbabwe’s non-institutionalized collective action that bridges the online and offline repertoire to make claims and challenge the status quo. A restrictive socio-political environment and the growth in information technologies, and opportunities they present for activists and civil society caught in this repressive context, weave through the 20-year trajectory of Zimbabwean digital activism.

An Alternative Theorization of Payments for Ecosystem Services from Mexico: Origins and Influence

ABSTRACTThe national Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programmes of Mexico were originally based on the neoclassical economic theory that conceptualized ecosystems as factories whose various outputs can be quantified and converted to commodities. This model of PES clashed with an alternative theorization, Compensation for Ecosystem Services (CES), with home‐grown roots in the ontological orientation and contextualized experience of an epistemic community of public intellectuals with deep engagement in rural Mexico. While built upon the same basic premise — that healthy ecosystems produce services of value — the CES model reimagines payments as compensation for the sustainable stewardship and labour of rural communities and, mediated by the state, as a means to counteract the systemic structural inequities between rural and urban and global North and South. Based on discourse analysis of a series of key actor interviews, longitudinal participant observation and policy analysis, this article explores: 1) the common conceptual underpinnings in the theory of CES, but also the variances; 2) the specific influence of this model on the design of the national PES programmes; and 3) the ways in which this influence has been mediated by politics and shifting relations of power in Mexico.