Institutional Mechanisms Research Articles

The Roles of Adaptive Water Governance in Enhancing the Transition towards Ecosystem-Based Adaptation

The growing realization of the inadequacies of the conventional approach to climate change adaptation has generated interest in sustainable forms of adaptation that could promote long-term ecosystem health and social equity. In this regard, the concept of ecosystem-based adaptation has been receiving attention as an integrative framework for maintaining healthy ecosystems, with the aim of building the resilience and reducing the vulnerability of social–ecological systems to climate change impacts. However, there is currently an inadequate understanding of the institutional requirements for the transition towards ecosystem-based adaptation. A promising institutional mechanism for addressing these governance challenges is adaptive governance, a governance mechanism that relies on flexible, multi-level institutions to connect actors across multiple scales in managing conflicting values and uncertainties in ecosystem-based management processes. This paper discusses four roles of adaptive governance in the transition of water resource systems towards ecosystem-based adaptation: (1) creating awareness about climate change through social learning and the integration of diverse sources of knowledge; (2) generating interest for policy change through the provision of economic and non-economic incentives; (3) creating opportunities for change through the promotion of vertical and horizontal interactions among actors; and (4) building capacities for change through enhanced access to relevant institutions and resources.

Urban electricity governance and the (re)production of heterogeneous electricity constellations in Dar es Salaam

BackgroundElectricity infrastructures in sub-Saharan African cities are characterized by heterogeneous socio-technical constellations, including alternative grid access channels and off-grid systems. These constellations secure access beyond conventional grids but also produce adverse social, environmental, and economic outcomes affecting sustainable energy transition efforts. In fact, interventions aiming to promote energy transitions may be restricted by institutional mechanisms that produce and maintain these heterogeneous constellations. This article explores these institutional mechanisms by focusing on the governance of heterogeneous electricity constellations in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It develops a novel framework on governance modalities to understand and explain the logics, mechanisms, and actors that govern different constellations across diverse neighborhoods as well as to unpack how they limit the potential of sustainable energy transitions and offer specific opportunities for them.ResultsThis article is based on a qualitative case study covering three diverse neighborhood types in Dar es Salaam (i.e., low-income, peri-urban, and affluent areas) that reflect heterogeneous user demands. The research draws on interviews with residents and community leaders to understand local modes of coordination, the participatory observation of technical features and user practices, as well as document sources and semi-structured expert interviews to analyze institutional aspects. Our study demonstrates that heterogeneous electricity constellations in Dar es Salaam are governed by the place-based interplay of four governance modalities: hierarchical, market-based, network-based, and managerial governance. Based on this conceptualization, we identified critical barriers for interventions toward urban energy transitions in the context of infrastructural heterogeneity, namely, conflicting logics that shape conventional grid services, complex and fragmented actor constellations, and diverging, place-based interests among various actors, including different state actors.ConclusionsOur study indicates that heterogeneous urban infrastructure constellations are not merely a response to the considerable socio-spatial inequalities within Southern cities. Rather, their prevailing importance and (re)production must be understood as resulting from the interplay of various governance modalities. The study contributes to debates on urban energy transitions in sub-Sahara Africa by explaining the institutional complexity associated with infrastructural heterogeneity, which can restrict interventions aiming to improve and universalize service provision through heterogeneous urban electricity constellations.

Integrated policymaking: Institutional designs for implementing the sustainable development goals (SDGs)

Increased policy coherence and integrated implementation are necessary to address pressing development problems that cut across different sectors. Meeting these demands, as called for by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, requires institutional innovation. Based on the comparative analysis of 137 countries, this paper investigates how governments have responded to this call and which contextual factors shape their institutional responses. We propose a four-dimensional typology to analyse the institutional set-ups for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), focusing on political leadership, horizontal integration across policy sectors, vertical integration across levels of government, and integration of societal stakeholders. We apply this framework to the descriptions of national SDG-implementation bodies provided by governments in their Voluntary National Review (VNRs) and use qualitative directed content analysis and regression modelling to investigate different driving factors of institutional design choices, including socio-economic development and political regime. Besides a strong commitment from the Centre of Government in most cases, our results show that ministries of the exterior and the environment have a dominant role, indicating that sustainability is not yet perceived holistically. Further, we find that the integration of subnational governments and societal actors is often under-institutionalised: while countries with higher levels of socio-economic development appear more likely to set up mechanisms suited to achieving cross-sectoral integration, political regime type seems to have little impact on institutional design choices for SDG implementation. Conceptually, this study offers a theory-led investigation of the institutional mechanisms for integrated SDG-implementation and the factors that drive institutional innovation or inertia. Empirically, by compiling the information in an original dataset, our study paves the way for future cross-national analysis on effective integrated SDG implementation and identifies entry points for inter- and transnational support of integrated SDG implementation in the context of development cooperation.

Лидерское сообщество в системе публичной политики региона (на материалах исследования сообщества участников кадрового проекта «Лидеры Кубани»)

The article presents the results of a study of the regional leadership community (participants of five seasons of the Governor’s Personnel Project “Leaders of Kuban – Moving Up!”), conducted in 2022 by online question-naire to assess the career development, professional potential and effectiveness of institutional mechanisms for recruiting youth leaders into the system of public administration of Krasnodar Krai. The authors come to the following conclusions: the community of leaders in the region includes representatives of different age groups of society, combining the potential of energy and experience; leadership potential is concentrated mainly in local centers; the leadership community is mainly focused on realizing its potential in the region. The region’s leadership potential is concentrated in the system of public policy, but this potential is unevenly distributed: the maximum concentration of leadership potential is in the social sphere, the economy and business. Representa-tives of the leadership community are focused on the further search for social lifts and career advancement, they are open to using various innovative recruitment formats for the socio-political and administrative-political elite of the region.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN KAZAKHSTAN

The purpose of the study to determine the main stages of the development of the functioning of public-private partnership (hereinafter – PPP) in Kazakhstan and to assess the PPP based on the analysis of the experience of the Kazakh PPP model.Methodology. The scientific article uses the works of foreign and domestic scientists, regulatory legal acts and other official sources. The study uses a systematic approach and a method of comparative analysis.Originality / value of research. The value of the research lies in the practical significance of the scientific results, namely, the improvement of the institutional and legal mechanisms of PPP for the interaction of government agencies and business entities in order to increase the efficiency of the implementation of infrastructure and socially significant projects.Findings. Research results allowed us to determine how important it is to study the institutional and legal basis of the PPP mechanism in order to attract private and additional investments. Through a comparative analysis, the main stages of the development of public-private partnership in Kazakhstan are identified, an assessment of institutional and legal aspects is given and the main directions for improving the development of this tool are identified. The practical significance lies in the fact that the research materials can be used to obtain practical recommendations, taking into account the specifics of PPP projects in Kazakhstan.

Public governance, corporate governance and excessive ESG

PurposeGrowing social concerns and ecological issues accelerate firms’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) engagement. Hence, this study aims to advance the existing literature by focusing on the interplay between institutional and firm governance mechanisms for greater ESG engagement. More specifically, the authors investigate whether public governance stimulates excessive ESG engagement and whether corporate governance moderates this relationship.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 43,803 firm-year observations affiliated with 41 countries and 9 industries, the authors adopt a country, industry and year fixed-effects regression analysis.FindingsThe authors find that public governance strength via its six dimensions stimulates excessive ESG engagement. This implies that firms in countries with strong voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption are more motivated for ESG engagement. Furthermore, corporate governance negatively moderates the relationship between all public governance dimensions (except political stability) and excessive ESG engagement. This implies that public governance and corporate governance are substitutes for encouraging firms to commit to ESG. Further tests reveal that whereas these results in the baseline analyses are valid for developed countries, they are not valid in emerging markets.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings support the interplay between institutional and agency theories. In countries with strong (weak) institutional mechanisms, corporate governance becomes weak (strong) in inciting greater stakeholder engagement. This implies that the public governance mechanism alleviates agency costs, rendering internal mechanisms of corporate governance noncompulsory for ESG engagement.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that emerging countries need to reinforce their institutions for greater accountability, regulatory quality and control of corruption, which will have a domino effect on firms in addressing stakeholder expectations. The results also advise emerging country firms to augment their internal monitoring mechanisms for greater stakeholder engagement, such as structuring boards and establishing corporate social responsibility mechanisms, committees and policies.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the recent literature investigating the role of corporate governance mechanisms in excessive ESG engagement. The study also explores whether public governance is associated with greater ESG involvement and provides a comprehensive analysis of the association between six indicators of public governance quality and excessive ESG practices in developed and emerging economies.

Same threats, different platforms? Female journalists’ experiences of online gender-based violence in selected newsrooms in Namibia

Concerns about the disproportionate levels of online gender-based abuse experienced by female journalists when compared to their male counterparts have attracted sizeable scholarly attention in the last few years. Extant studies have highlighted that female journalists experience online forms of harassment such as name calling, body shaming, trolling, verbal abuse, sextortion, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, manipulation of photos, cyberstalking, doxing, hacking, receiving unwanted, offensive sexually explicit emails or messages, and inappropriate advances on social media platforms, in the line of duty. Although these findings are true in some of the newsrooms in the global North, there is a disconcerting absence of systematic studies looking at the experiences of female journalists in selected newsrooms in Africa in general and Namibia in particular. This article seeks to fill this lacuna by empirically investigating the extent to which online gender-based violence is deep-seated social problem in selected Namibian newsrooms. It deploys the intersectional approach to analyze the online gender-based violence experienced by female journalists in Namibia. Drawing our data from interviews with female journalists in selected Namibian newsrooms, overall, our findings suggest that cases of online gender-based violence against female journalists are still negligible when compared to other contexts, it is happening, nonetheless. This emerging phenomenon is largely underreported. Furthermore, it is occurring in an environment devoid of legislative, institutional, and newsroom-specific mechanisms aimed at ensuring the safety of female journalists. Namibian female journalists are facing unique online gender-based violence, which contributes immensely towards self-censorship and retreating from the public sphere.

Unity in Diversity: Federalism in Multiethnic Country Nepal

Federalism, in general and multiethnic federalism, in particular is supposed to be a device to create unity in diversity in multiethnic country. Multiethnic federalism, a form of federalism, in which the territorial government or state is carved out based on nation or ethnic category to enable national minorities to exercise indigenous and ethnic minority rights like self-rule and autonomy is supposed to be a device to create unity in diversity in multiethnic country like Nepal. In Nepal, indigenous nationalities, and Madhesi communities who, historically, have been excluded in state’s institutions, have demanded multiethnic federalism, identity-based federalism on their own term, as an institutional device for their inclusion in the state. They have argued that it is a device to generate unity in diversity through accommodating diversity in the state. But there was no consensus on this issue while making the constitution through the constituent assembly. Some have argued that it would be a 'castist' (Jatiya) state if ethnic-based federalism is adopted. In this article, I have argued that multiethnic federalism is a device to end the nature of the age-old exclusionary Nepali state and an institutional mechanism of healing the inter-ethnic rupture of Nepali society. Indigenous nationalities in Nepal have demanded separation within a state to protect and promote their identity based on democratic values rather than separate from a state of their own. For this purpose, I have reviewed theoretical articles and critically analyze how it creates unity in diversity in a multiethnic country like Nepal.

Analisis Hukum Peranan Pemerintah Daerah Dalam Pengelolaan Dan Pendayagunaan Hasil Hutan Di Desa Wasuamba Berdasarkan Peraturan Menteri Kehutanan Nomor P.88/Menhut-II/2014 Tentang Hutan Kemasyarakatan

Community Farmer Groups as agents of change, which lately have been more charged with the role of guarding and regulating the conversion of forest functions, this must receive attention and of course it is very appropriate if applying for a Community Forest Management Permit (Hkm) is seen as a priority that must be considered. both by the Forest Service, NGOs and the community in general. The inefficiency of community forest licensing services is due to several obstacles that have so far not been properly resolved. These obstacles are mainly related to the institutional mechanisms of the Regional Government, especially those in the UPTD KPH Unit II Lasalimu, which so far have not been designed as a public service institution. The main objective of this research is to find out the role of the local government in managing and utilizing forest products under Community Forest (HKM) status and to find out the efforts by the local government in following up on Ministerial Regulation P.88/Menhut-II/2014 concerning Community Forestry. This study uses a normative and empirical juridical approach.

Results of the 110th session of the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organization and prospects for the development of international fisheries law

The legal status of the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as one of the most important institutional mechanisms for the improvement and progressive development of international maritime law are considered in the article. Some decisions of the 110th session of the IMO Legal Committee adopted on key issues of international maritime and fisheries law are analyzed, on the basis of which conclusions and proposals are made to improve the international legal regulation of fisheries management.

Universal health coverage in India and health technology assessment: current status and the way forward.

In India, there is a renewed emphasis on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Alongside this, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is an important tool for advancing UHC. The development and application of HTA in India, including capacity building and establishing institutional mechanisms. We emphasized using the HTA approach within two components of the Ayushman Bharat programme, and the section concludes with lessons learned and the next steps. The UHC has increased the importance of selecting and implementing effective technologies and interventions within national health systems, particularly in the context of limited resources. To maximize the use of limited resources and produce reliable scientific assessments, developing and enhancing national capacity must be based on established best practices, information exchange between different sectors, and collaborative approaches. A more potent mechanism and capacity for HTA in India would accelerate the country's progress toward UHC.

СОЗДАНИЕ ЭЛЕМЕНТОВ ГОРОДСКОЙ НИЗОВОЙ СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ АВТОНОМИИ И ЛОГИКА ИХ СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВА: НА ОСНОВЕ АНАЛИЗА МОДЕЛИ САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЯ «ГОСТЕВАЯ КОМНАТА» В РАЙОНЕ ЦИНПУ, ШАН, КНР

. In 2019, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee emphasized the "acceleration of modernizing urban social governance," which has significant theoretical and practical implications. In 2020, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee further proposed requirements such as "strengthening and innovating urban social governance" and "improving the level of urban governance and strengthening risk prevention and control in mega-city governance," pointing out the direction for the next step of modernizing the urban governance system and governance capacity. Urban social governance is an important dimension of national governance and plays a pivotal role in the national governance system. This requires accurate analysis and clarification of the relationship between national governance and local governance, grassroots governance and social governance, urban governance and county-level social governance, and village governance, and promoting the organic combination of the "system of self-governance, governance based on moral principles, and governance by law," to truly achieve the orderly social operation of self-governance, governance based on moral principles, powerful governance by law, and orderly politics. The construction of the institutional framework and mechanism innovation of urban social governance requires the governance content and behavior to be located in appropriate spatial areas and governance units, to flexibly and conveniently form combinations and reconstructions of governance units of different levels, types, and subjects according to local conditions. To optimize the spatial scale of urban social governance, shift the governance focus downwards, and continuously consolidate the pivot and base of modernizing urban social governance, in order to better form a rural-urban integration social governance system with top-down linkage, horizontal interaction, facility connectivity, and data integration, and effectively give full play to the value and function of grassroots governance units to undertake the heavy responsibility of promoting the modernization of national governance.

Non-traditional Diplomacy and the Construction of China-Arab Community With a Shared Future

Abstract Compared with the traditional diplomacy based on the behavior of national leaders and professional diplomats, non-traditional diplomacy relies on more diverse actors such as political officials, well-known scholars, academic institutions, business elites, ethnic groups, and media organizations to carry out strategic communication, policy interpretation, agenda setting and other practices with the people of other countries, so as to achieve the purpose of guiding public opinion and influencing government decision-making. During the development of relations between China and Arab countries, non-traditional diplomatic practices carried out in the form of government public relations, international communication, people-to-people exchanges, cultural and educational exchanges, which has effectively promoted policy communication, people-to-people and conceptual exchanges between China and Arab states. With the continuous deepening of the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, non-traditional diplomacy will play a positive role in enhancing political trust, promoting economic and trade benefits, and fostering mutual appreciation of civilization, to expand the practical path, innovate the institutional mechanism and consolidate the foundation of public opinion for the construction of China-Arab community with a shared future.

The mechanism of cooperation of states in combating crimes in the field of information technologies

The article examines the mechanism of cooperation between states in combating crimes in the field of information technologies. The research used general scientific methods of cognition - formal-logical, systemic-structural, as well as private scientific methods - formal-legal and comparative-legal. International cooperation in combating crimes in the field of information and communication technologies is relevant for Ukraine, which is actively advocating for the strengthening of interstate cooperation in the field under consideration. The study of the contribution of the United Nations to the development of legal and institutional frameworks for countering crimes in the field of information technologies is important for all spheres of public life. It indicated that the problems of combating crimes in the field of information technologies are complex, and in connection with this, specialists in various fields of science actively study them. At the same time, a number of key aspects of the international legal regulation of cooperation between states in combating crimes in the field of information technologies remained without a comprehensive international legal assessment. The functioning of the UN institutional mechanism for countering crimes in the field of information technologies carried out taking into account the growing need to implement effective international cooperation, increasing the role of regulatory and legal bases of interstate cooperation. The activity of structural divisions of the United Nations Organization, which carry out countermeasures against crime in the field of information technologies, is considered. Special attention paid to the activities of the International Telecommunication Union and its contribution to the protection of children from the destructive influence of the Internet and the implementation of measures aimed at countering crime in the field of information technologies. The activities of the Congresses of the United Nations Organization on crime prevention and criminal justice and their influence on the formation of regulatory and legal protection against crime in the field of information technologies are considered. The trends that directly affect the state of cybercrime identified and the measures taken by international organizations within the UN to combat crime in the field of information technologies disclosed.

The Role of Environmental Impact Assessment as a Tool that Aids Decision Making in Achieving Sustainable Development: Perspectives on its Evolution in Cameroon

The objective of this article is to conduct a critical reflection on the role of EIA as a tool that aids decision making in achieving sustainable development. Despite the fact that there is a host of legal and institutional mechanisms ranging from global, regional, sub regional right down to the national level that regulate environmental policies in Cameroon, sustainable development is still a major challenge to policy makers. The major problem that Cameroon is facing is that of implementation of the available legal instruments coupled with the institutional problems that are mostly characterized by overlapping of functions, corruption, nepotism, mediocracy, irrelevant administrative tolerance among others, thus making it difficult to apportion blames on any institution that fails to carry out its task. Broadly based on the reading of records, interviews as well as observation as main research methods, the results obtained are to the effect that there is an antagonistic relationship between economic development and environmental protection in Cameroon. This is against the backdrop of the fact that proceeds that are gotten from the exploitation of natural resources in Cameroon are hardly redeployed for the purposes of environmental protection to be able to stabilize the rate at which the environment is degraded during such exploitation. The study reveals that sometimes the results of EIA are not respected. Among the plethora of recommendations made, it is recommended that special attention should be given to the ESIA such that any results that come from such an assessment should be respected.

How trust is lost: the Food Systems Summit 2021 and the delegitimation of UN food governance

Social movements see participation formats of international organizations (IOs) with suspicion. They increasingly retreat from cooperation to contest IOs from the outside, because they fear co-optation without real policy impact. However, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) was an exception to this trend because its opening up was seen as long-term dialogue facilitating discussions about the nature of food production, and because it created credible institutional mechanisms that were trusted by activists to give influence to farmers and peasant movements. Therefore, the food sovereignty movement participated within the FAO framework in a remarkably institutionalized way throughout the 2010s. But in 2019, when the United Nations (UN) announced to hold a food systems summit (United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS)), this changed dramatically. The food sovereignty movement, many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and eventually scientists, decided to boycott the summit, instead organizing an alternative Peoples’ Summit, and withdrawing from long-held institutional roles in the FAO. How can this be explained? This article traces the process from the announcement of the UNFSS to its implementation, stressing how institutional trust was damaged by several decisions in the process that undermined the good faith of activists. As we show in detail, the circumvention of established institutional mechanisms, and the feeling of betrayal on the side of the movement, was decisive for losing institutional trust. Importantly, a mixture of substantive and institutional changes in the context of UNFSS not only undermined the movement’s trust into the integrity and ability of the summit organizers, but thereby also provoked movement efforts to delegitimize UN food governance at large.

Disentangling the relationship between omnichannel integration and customer trust: a response surface analysis

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether customer trust is influenced by the congruence and incongruence between customers' perceptions of two types of omnichannel integration—perceived transactional integration (PTI) and perceived relational integration (PRI). The authors further considered the perceived effectiveness of e-commerce institutional mechanisms (PEEIM) as the boundary condition of omnichannel integration's effect.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon the stereotype content model, this study hypothesizes the influences of PTI and PRI on customer trust wherein PEEIM moderates the relationships. The research model was empirically examined based on the responses surface analysis of survey data collected from 311 omnichannel customers.FindingsResults showed that when PTI and PRI are congruent, customers are inclined to trust brands that have high levels of PTI and PRI rather than low levels of PTI and PRI. Moreover, the incongruence between PTI and PRI is positively related to customer trust. PEEIM was found to weaken the congruence effect while strengthening the incongruence effect. The authors also examined customer distrust as another relational outcome to provide a robust check.Originality/valueThis study uncovers customer cognition of omnichannel integration and examines the influences on customer trust, therefore contributing to our understanding of omnichannel integration's effect from the customer perspective. Findings from this research provide insights for brand managers on deploying channel integration strategies and institutional mechanisms to manage customer trust.

Sustainable Financing Strategies for the SMEs: Two Alternative Models

A sustainable financing strategy for SMEs should aim to enhance a low-cost collateral-free supply of loans to SMEs with good track records of repayments to banks. In this paper, we suggest two alternative financing models for SMEs that address certain borrowing constraints of SMEs. First, the model incorporates institutional mechanisms involving the government, banks, and SMEs. The strategy employs a two-pronged approach: (i) the government enhances the supply of loanable funds to banks, and (ii) identifies good SME borrowers through skills development programs and introduces them to banks. This model will reduce default risk and allow banks to offer lower-interest and collateral-free credit to SMEs, thereby improving their access to finance and performance. Second, the model could be extended to accommodate digital finance using a data-driven credit risk score of the borrowers to reduce banks’ default risks and transaction costs with or without government funds. The proposed model could resolve the moral hazard and selection bias problems. Our proposed models are based on a public-private partnership approach and therefore could solve certain borrowing constraints of SMEs. Our empirical results support the model outcomes and therefore are consistent with the predictions of our theoretical models.

Barriers to Genetic Testing in Vascular Malformations

Vascular malformations (VMs) are rare disorders of vasculogenesis associated with substantial morbidity. Improved understanding of their genetic basis is increasingly guiding management, but logistical barriers to obtaining genetic testing in patients with VM may constrain treatment options. To examine the institutional mechanisms for and obstacles to obtaining genetic testing for VM. This survey study invited members of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Vascular Anomalies Interest Group, representing 81 vascular anomaly centers (VACs) serving individuals up to 18 years of age, to complete an electronic survey. Respondents were mostly pediatric hematologists-oncologists (PHOs) but included geneticists, genetic counselors, clinic administrators, and nurse practitioners. Responses that were received between March 1 and September 30, 2022, were analyzed with descriptive methods. Requirements for genetic testing by several genetics laboratories were also reviewed. Results were stratified by size of the VAC. Vascular anomaly center and associated clinician characteristics and practice patterns for ordering and obtaining insurance approval for genetic testing for VMs were collected. Responses were received from 55 of 81 clinicians, for a response rate of 67.9%. Most respondents were PHOs (50 [90.9%]). Most respondents (32 of 55 respondents [58.2%]) replied that they order genetic testing on 5 to 50 patients per year and reported a genetic testing volume increase of 2- to 10-fold over the past 3 years (38 of 53 respondents [71.7%]). Most testing was ordered by PHOs (35 of 53 respondents [66.0%]), followed by geneticists (28 [52.8%]) and genetic counselors (24 [45.3%]). In-house clinical testing was more common at large and medium-sized VACs. Small VACs were more likely to use oncology-based platforms, which potentially miss low-frequency allelic variants in VM. Logistics and barriers varied by size of the VAC. Obtaining prior authorization was the duty shared among PHOs, nurses, and administrative staff, but the burden of insurance denials and appeals were on PHOs (35 of 53 respondents [66.0%]). Lack of administrative support; unclear institutional, insurance, and laboratory requirements; and lack of clinician education were barriers to genetic testing at VACs of all sizes. The effort to obtain genetic testing for patients with VM, compared with patients with cancer, was perceived as excessive, despite genetic testing being considered standard of care for this population. Results of this survey study showed the barriers to genetic testing for VM across VACs, described differences between VACs based on size, and proposed multiple interventions to support clinicians ordering genetic testing for VM. The results and recommendations should have broader application to clinicians caring for patients for whom molecular diagnosis is important to medical management.

Education as a Resource for the Formation of “Soft Power” in Working with Young Compatriots Living in the CIS countries

In the Russian Federation the relevance of researching policy towards Russian-speaking young compatriots living abroad is growing. Firstly, Russian-speaking compatriots are the demographic potential of Russia, and nowadays institutional mechanisms have been developed and implemented to facilitate the voluntary resettlement of compatriots living abroad to the Russian Federation. Secondly, in the conditions of geopolitical instability Russian compatriots are a source of “soft power” preserving the unity of the Russian world. This study discusses the potential of education as a source of state policy aimed at coordinating work with young compatriots in the CIS countries. The purpose of this work is to identify the main problems and strategies of using education as a “soft power” resource in relation to Russian compatriots living in the CIS countries. The research methodology is based on “soft power” theories and political communication theories. The research method is a discourse analysis of the newsletters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Russian MFA) for 2012-2022. During this period 1949 documents were published, the sample is solid but not every document contained information on the studied problem. During discourse analysis the following tools of public administration were evaluated: communication and institutional resources of education as the basis of Russia’s “soft power” in the CIS countries aimed at preservation of communication with Russian-speaking compatriots. The discourse analysis revealed the transformation of the main policy strategies in relation to Russian-speaking compatriots justified both by geopolitical challenges and the final formulation of the ideological concept of Russia. Russian language and culture preservation and the development of public diplomacy were the main strategies in 2012-2014. Since 2014 efforts to preserve historical memory have been intensified, and by 2020 a discourse aimed at justifying the preservation of traditional values is being formed. The transfer of education combines these stages as a key strategy that promotes the voluntary resettlement of compatriots to the Russian Federation or the preservation and reproduction of traditional culture on the territory of other states.