Mission Focus Research Articles

Space, state-building and the hydraulic mission: Crafting the Mozambican state

This article explores the role of large-scale water infrastructure in the formation of states in sub-Saharan Africa. We examine this through a focus on government agents and their shifting hydro-developmental visions of the state in colonial and post-colonial Mozambique. Over time, the focus, underlying principles and goals of the hydraulic mission shifted, triggered by contextual factors and historical developments within and outside the country. We identify the making of three hydraulic paradigms, fostering different imaginaries of ‘the state’ and social and spatial engineering of the territory: the ‘Estado Novo’ (1930–1974), the socialist post-independence state-space (1974–1987) and the neoliberal state (1987–present). We then conclude by discussing how the shifting discursive justifications for infrastructure projects consolidate different state projects and link these to material re-patterning of hydrosocial territories. Whilst promoted as a rupture with the past, emerging projects tend to reaffirm, rather than redistribute, power and water within the country.

The CanMars Mars Sample Return analogue mission

The return of samples from known locations on Mars is among the highest priority goals of the international planetary science community. A possible scenario for Mars Sample Return (MSR) is a series of 3 missions: sample cache, fetch, and retrieval. The NASA Mars 2020 mission represents the first cache mission and was the focus of the CanMars analogue mission described in this paper. The major objectives for CanMars included comparing the accuracy of selecting samples remotely using rover data versus a traditional human field party, testing the efficiency of remote science operations with periodic pre-planned strategic observations (Strategic Traverse Days), assessing the utility of realistic autonomous science capabilities to the remote science team, and investigating the factors that affect the quality of sample selection decision-making in light of returned sample analysis.CanMars was conducted over two weeks in November 2015 and continued over three weeks in October and November 2016 at an analogue site near Hanksville, Utah, USA, that was unknown to the Mission Control Team located at the University of Western Ontario (Western) in London, Ontario, Canada. This operations architecture for CanMars was based on the Phoenix and Mars Exploration Rover missions together with previous analogue missions led by Western with the Mission Control Team being divided into Planning and Science sub-teams. In advance of the 2015 operations, the Science Team used satellite data, chosen to mimic datasets available from Mars-orbiting instruments, to produce a predictive geological map for the landing ellipse and a set of hypotheses for the geology and astrobiological potential of the landing site. The site was proposed to consist of a series of weakly cemented multi-coloured sedimentary rocks comprising carbonates, sulfates, and clays, and sinuous ridges with a resistant capping unit, interpreted as inverted paleochannels.Both the 2015 CanMars mission, which achieved 11 sols of operations, and the first part of the 2016 mission (sols 12–21), were conducted with the Mars Exploration Science Rover (MESR) and a series of integrated and hand-held instruments designed to mimic the payload of the Mars 2020 rover. Part 2 of the 2016 campaign (sols 22–39) was implemented without the MESR rover and was conducted exclusively by the field team as a Fast Motion Field Test (FMFT) with hand-carried instruments and with the equivalent of three sols of operations being executed in a single actual day. A total of 8 samples were cached during the 39 sols from which the Science Team prioritized 3 for “return to Earth”. Various science autonomy capabilities, based on flight-proven or near-future techniques intended for actual rover missions, were tested throughout the 2016 CanMars activities, with autonomous geological classification and targeting and autonomous pointing refinement being used extensively during the FMFT. Blind targeting, contingency sequencing, and conditional sequencing were also employed.Validation of the CanMars cache mission was achieved through various methods and approaches. The use of dedicated documentarians in mission control provided a detailed record of how and why decisions were made. Multiple separate field validation exercises employing humans using traditional geological techniques were carried out. All 8 of the selected samples plus a range of samples from the landing site region, collected out-of-simulation, have been analysed using a range of laboratory analytical techniques. A variety of lessons learned for both future analogue missions and planetary exploration missions are provided, including: dynamic collaboration between the science and planning teams as being key for mission success; the more frequent use of spectrometers and micro-imagers having remote capabilities rather than contact instruments; the utility of strategic traverse days to provide additional time for scientific discussion and meaningful interpretation of the data; the benefit of walkabout traverse strategies along with multi-sol plans with complex decisions trees to acquire a large amount of contextual data; and the availability of autonomous geological targeting, which enabled complex multi-sol plans gathering large suites of geological and geochemical survey data.Finally, the CanMars MSR activity demonstrated the utility of analogue missions in providing opportunities to engage and educate children and the public, by providing tangible hands-on linkages between current robotic missions and future human space missions. Public education and outreach was a priority for CanMars and a dedicated lead coordinated a strong presence on social media (primarily Twitter and Facebook), articles in local, regional, and national news networks, and interaction with the local community in London, Ontario. A further core objective of CanMars was to provide valuable learning opportunities to students and post-doctoral fellows in preparation for future planetary exploration missions. A learning goals survey conducted at the end of the 2016 activities had 90% of participants “somewhat agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that participation in the mission has helped them to increase their understanding of the four learning outcomes.

An Occupational Paradox: Why Do We Love Really Tough Jobs?

Sometimes we come upon unexpected or counterfactual results during research that make us wonder and lead us into unknown territory. Such was the experience of a team of Air Force researchers exploring aeromedical evacuation crew members' experiences of safety and patient care concerns throughout the en route care system. To explore what it is about the aeromedical evacuation crew members' occupation that generates a strong motivation to the mission despite the demands it places on its workers. Eight focus groups were conducted with 69 Air Force aeromedical evacuation and staging facility active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command nurses and medical technicians between May 2012 and April 2013 at 5 locations in the contiguous and outside the contiguous United States. An unexpected finding was that despite the austere nature of the Air Force en route care mission and the acuity of the patients being transported, nurses and medical technicians were passionate about bringing home the wounded, sick, and injured warriors and were committed to providing the best and safest care possible. It is plausible that a high level of commitment and mission focus contributes significantly to the safety and well-being of those transported. Still, we must wonder why nurses and technicians voluntarily serve in such a demanding and sometimes dangerous occupation, and yet find such a high degree of satisfaction and contentment with this type of job.

Adolescent health promotion based on community-centered arts education.

To evaluate the contribution of arts education to health promotion of adolescents in situations of urban social vulnerability. Participatory evaluative research, with a qualitative approach, using as a reference the theoretical constructs of Paulo Freire's Conscientization and the Empowerment Evaluation as a method of collecting with adolescents and teachers of an arts education program in the field of the Family Health Strategy. Participants constructed a collective mission that represented the concept of adolescent health promotion. Arts education activities were prioritized and ranked with a mission focus, and over a three-month period, the program implemented health goals through art. In the reevaluation, the group presented a broad look at the implementation of activities and self-determination for change. Arts education is a potential space for nurses to act in the conscientization and empowerment of adolescent health in Primary Health Care.

Negotiating for survival: Balancing mission and money

The impetus for prioritising money over mission in charities is increasingly pertinent as public sector austerity progresses in the UK. Mid size charities – who are heavily reliant on grant funding - have experienced proportionately greater challenges to austerity than larger entities. A substantial part of accountability efforts in mid size charities are directed towards funders, where funder imposed frameworks and measures may direct charity attention away from social mission towards funder needs, causing mission drift. Four charity case studies and grant funder interviews were conducted to investigate how charities can pursue social mission in a challenging funding environment. This paper shows that charities can protect social mission despite high dependence on grant funding, but also provides evidence of susceptibility to mission drift in cases where the balance between money and mission changes. Charity accounting systems display notable funder influence. A resource dependence perspective is utilised to highlight the complexity in assessing dependence of charities in a challenging environment and demonstrates the extent of funder influence in accounting and performance systems in these charities. However, charities employ strategies to cope with external requirements, enabling them to retain mission focus.

CubeSats in Hydrology: Ultrahigh‐Resolution Insights Into Vegetation Dynamics and Terrestrial Evaporation

AbstractSatellite‐based remote sensing has generally necessitated a trade‐off between spatial resolution and temporal frequency, affecting the capacity to observe fast hydrological processes and rapidly changing land surface conditions. An avenue for overcoming these spatiotemporal restrictions is the concept of using constellations of satellites, as opposed to the mission focus exemplified by the more conventional space‐agency approach to earth observation. Referred to as CubeSats, these platforms offer the potential to provide new insights into a range of earth system variables and processes. Their emergence heralds a paradigm shift from single‐sensor launches to an operational approach that envisions tens to hundreds of small, lightweight, and comparatively inexpensive satellites placed into a range of low earth orbits. Although current systems are largely limited to sensing in the optical portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, we demonstrate the opportunity and potential that CubeSats present the hydrological community via the retrieval of vegetation dynamics and terrestrial evaporation and foreshadow future sensing capabilities.

Does College Focus Matter? Explaining Differences in Labor Market Outcomes among Community Colleges

The evolution of community colleges from their origins as junior colleges to institutions with dual missions to provide both academic and workforce preparation raises questions about the impact of a college’s mission focus on their students’ labor market success. We examine this question using the 58 colleges in the North Carolina Community College system as case study for community colleges nationally. We find that students from community colleges that specialize or focus on career objectives had higher labor market earnings; about one-fifth of the variation in students’ earnings across community colleges is due to the college’s mission focus. Other community college variables also enhance students’ earnings, such as institution size as well as having single-county service areas and low proportions of remedial students.

Managing governance complexity and knowledge networks in transparency initiatives: the case of police open data

ABSTRACTPublic organisations are often described as being subject to types of complexity that result from the interorganisational structure of governance networks. Transparency programmes add another level of complexity due to increased information openness. However, neither the nature of this complexity nor the network management approaches needed for transparency programmes has been conceptually developed. To address this gap, this article brings together governance complexity theory and knowledge management theory. An empirical model is tested using the case of police open data with regression analysis and 22 expert interviews. The results show that institutional and environmental complexity such as budget pressures, legal-normative constraints, and task complexity exert a negative influence on police information openness. However, network knowledge management practices including developing mission focus on people and communication and overcoming organisational boundaries through interorganisational collaboration can counteract these problems of complexity.

An investigation of social entrepreneurial intentions formation among South-East European postgraduate students

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the formation of social entrepreneurial intentions (SEIs) in postgraduate students in the South-East European region. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach (self-administered online questionnaire) is used to gather data. The total number of the questionnaires that were collected and analyzed through SPSS statistical suite was 115 from which 111 were valid. Findings From the proposed five hypotheses set in the literature, only the personality trait theory was totally rejected because it failed to predict social and commercial entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). The remaining hypotheses were found to be valid. The study’s key finding is that the chosen theory (Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB)), is able to predict both kinds of intentions. An alarming key finding is that tensions in mission focus seem to be present in the early shaped intentions of potential social entrepreneurs. Research limitations/implications Research findings impose that major educational and policy efforts are needed to promote the theme of social entrepreneurship (SE). The results indicate that most of the postgraduates have not yet fully understood the mindset of SE as they were confused about the synergy of the goals (inherent in their social vs profit intentions). Originality/value This research contributes in three major ways to the literature. First, it shows that SEIs seem to be shaped similarly to EIs; determined mostly by two of the motivational factors of the TPB (personal attitude and perceived behavioral control). Second, it shows which factors seem to affect both constructs and third, it adds to the literature by showing that tensions in mission focus are evident early on in the intentions’ formation process, underlying the necessity of immediate educational and legislative precautions.

The Legacy, Leadership, and Hope of Pan‐African Women of Faith in Building Sustainable Just Communities as a Missional Focus

AbstractConceiving mission in relation to discipleship entails learning from the margins. This article analyzes the experience and self‐understanding of pan‐African women of faith. Especially in relation to and utilizing the methodology of the ongoing emphasis on an ecumenical “pilgrimage of justice and peace,” their vision of hope is examined under the headings of via positiva, via negativa, and via transformativa. The article concludes by detailing recent and future work of PAWEEN–the Pan African Womens Ecumenical Empowerment Network–in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

OSCAR Foundation: empowering lives through football

Subject area Social entrepreneurship, Social enterprise. Study level/applicability Masters Programme in Social Entrepreneurship, Social Work, Business Administration; Management Development Programme for Social Entreprenuers. Case overview Organisation for Social Change, Awareness and Responsibility (OSCAR) Foundation is a non-profit organisation registered in 2010 under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950. Born and raised in the slum colony of Ambedkar Nagar, Cuffe Parade, Ashok, the founder, grew up seeing his friends becoming a victim to many socially inappropriate behaviours due to dropping out of school. Inspired by the thought of breaking this vicious cycle, Ashok used football as a mechanism to instil essential life skills among children and youth and encouraged them to continue their education. The success of his pilot motivated him to set up OSCAR. Presently, through its various programmes, the organisation has reached out to more than 3,000 marginalised children and 500 youths and aims to reach out to 20,000 children by 2020. The case highlights the struggles of Ashok’s entrepreneurial journey and maps the new challenges in scaling up his enterprise. Expected learning outcomes The expected learning outcomes are as follows: to identify the characteristics of a social entrepreneur and ascertain the leadership skills required by a social entrepreneur; to scrutinise the life cycle of a social enterprise and develop insights to examine the unique risks and challenges faced at the start-up phase of the social enterprise; and to enhance the understanding of interrelationship between passion, mission focus and challenges to attain financial sustainability for a social venture. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Water Baptism and Spirit Baptism in Luke-Acts

Despite their disagreement on the interpretation of Acts regarding reception of the Spirit, both Evangelicals and Pentecostals operate from the assumption that the purpose of Acts is to provide a normative template of experience to be repeated in later Christians. Here it is argued that the purpose of Luke-Acts in reporting on the reception of the Spirit is not to provide an experiential norm at all, but rather to highlight the contrast between John’s water baptism without the Spirit and Christian water baptism with the Spirit. A careful reading of Luke-Acts reveals a consistent and at times strident distinction between John and Jesus, suggesting a long-forgotten struggle in the early church to ascertain where the otherwise identical practice of water baptism by John and by Jesus’s followers diverges. This interpretation is supported by consideration of the missional focus of Acts and the issue of the forgiveness of sins.

BloodConnect: enriching lives

Subject area Social enterprise, Social entrepreneurship. Study level/applicability PGDM, PGDM Executive. Case overview The case is about the evolution of a unique social organization, BloodConnect, over its journey of four years. Initiated by two Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi students in 2010, the organization went on to be recognized for making leeway into the hitherto underserved need of blood security in India. The case describes BloodConnect's evolution with respect to different dimensions of blood shortages and the organization's acquisition of knowledge over the years. BloodConnect acted as a facilitator to bring multiple stakeholders, including potential donor segments, beneficiaries, hospitals, government and NGOs, on the same platform to collectively identify solutions, thereby increasing the ownership of each segment toward an issue of importance to the society. While the organization started gaining visibility and was on its way to making its operation structured, it desired to move beyond the confines of Delhi-NCR to raise the movement to the national level, but it was faced with challenges peppered with lack of resources, lack of funds, absence of a permanent leadership and complex dynamics between the multiple stakeholders. Donor dependency for funds and amateur management were the other major impediments for its sustenance. The case brings forth the major challenges threatening the very existence of the organization as it grappled to identify solutions that could provide revenue sustainability without dampening its mission of creating social value. The case is of relevance to social enterprises in the context of a developing nation as most of the low and middle income countries face similar challenges pertaining to blood security. It also brings forth the issues of survival, scalability and the concept of social value measurement. In what are the myriad hurdles faced by start-ups, the traditional metrics might not be enough while measuring the impact created by a social enterprise. Expected learning outcomes To develop an insight into the unique challenges faced by start-up social ventures and options available to them for growth and subsequent consolidation. To enhance the understanding of interrelationship between mission focus, scale of operations, revenue sustainability and social impact. To introduce students to the concept of social value measurement. The students would be able to appreciate the uniqueness of the metrics specific to a social venture. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Quantify measuring method for combat unit mission focusing on unsuccess prevention

To describe the self-adaptive character of combat unit (CU), which may not be able to give precise explanation by conventional mission measurement, we present a measurement method orienting to unsuccess prevention for CU mission. Firstly, the task characteristics of multi-phase and multi-level of CU are explained. On this basis, a hierarchical measuring system including measure of capability deviation, relating to basic task unsuccess and composite task is given by quantifying the disturbance. Based on unified measurement, the basic task unsuccess according to presumable domain from required domain is quantified, and the composite task unsuccess is also quantified. Finally, a case of capability deviation measurement and its impact on overall unsuccess are presented for check.

Starting and Sustaining LGBTQ Antiviolence Programs in a Southern State

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) persons experience partner and other violence at high levels requiring culturally competent interventions. Virginia Anti-Violence Project (VAVP)—a 501(c)(3) organization in Virginia (organized in 2006 and incorporated since 2008)—has a mission focusing on LGBTQ experiences of violence, and has collaborative bonds with organizations involved with sexual and partner violence, promoting LGBTQ community health and safety, and concerned with social inclusion and legal protection of LGBTQ individuals, families, and communities. VAVP’s programs have increased provider and community competency and capacity toward improving LGBTQ safety, health, and well-being. Findings from a statewide assessment of transgender Virginians, and other local research informs its programs, including advocacy, training, direct services, and its consulting platform, VAVP’s research, organizational development, and contextual issues may inform other programs in other jurisdictions, identification of critical research questions, and implementation of rigorous program evaluation models toward a shared purpose of preventing LGBTQ partner violence.

Reintegrating socially excluded individuals through a social enterprise intervention

Purpose– The aim of this research project is to reveal participant perceptions of a Social Enterprise Intervention (SEI) programme, run by a social enterprise and designed to reintegrate socially excluded individuals into society.Design/methodology/approach– The research participants were the social entrepreneur, staff at the social enterprise, the SEI programme attendees and a representative from an external referral agency. Participants engaged in semi-structured interviews with a researcher designed to elicit participant perceptions of the programme.Findings– Results of the analysis of the interviews revealed six emergent themes that were interpreted by the researchers as: “social mission focus”, “heroic social entrepreneur”, “social impact”, “recidivism”, “the programme” and “programme attendees”. Results of the analysis reveal that all research participants reported the programme helped to re-socialise the programme attendees and increased their self-confidence and self-esteem. Participants also believed programme attendees acquired important skills and qualifications in general warehouse activities and forklift truck driving, which would greatly increase their future employability. Programme attendees indicated the “real world” working environment was important to their feelings of success on the programme.Originality/value– This paper identifies a hybrid SEI programme based upon the “vision” of a “heroic” social entrepreneur. It also identifies the advantages of the “real” working environment in increasing the employability of socially excluded individuals whilst, at the same time, increasing their social skills.

Together Towards Life: Norwegian Reflections

The new Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) mission document has received widespread attention in Norway. Two mini-conferences were arranged last fall, with the CWME-secretary Jooseop Keum taking part in both. The conferences offered a platform for responses and comments from church and mission leaders. They were widely covered by the two Christian dailies in Norway (Dagen and Cart Land), which also opened their columns for the ensuing debate between ecumenicals and evangelicals. The backdrop to this debate goes back to New Delhi 1961 and the merger of the International Mission Council (IMC) with the WCC, resulting in the establishment of the CWME. The Norwegian Mission Council (NMC), as probably the only council, decided not to join the CWME. This decision has since then coloured the view of the conciliar movement among mission organizations, free churches, and evangelicals. At the same time, some of the Norwegian churches, and particularly the Church of Norway, have been active members of WCC and CWME while most of the organizations and churches have formed a Norwegian Council for Mission and Evangelism (NORME) with the Lausanne Covenant (1974) as their basis. This issue and the divergent views on the conciliar and evangelical movements have again come to the fore in the debate about the new mission document, and particularly so because Dr Keum in his lectures in Oslo and Stavanger called for a review of the 1961 decision: Dear sisters and brothers in the Norwegian Council for Mission and Evangelism, shall we journey together again? We shall in the following summarize and analyze the Norwegian reflections on Together Towards Life. Secondly, we shall look at the Norwegian context and situation in regard to engagement in the CWME. In the conclusion we shall run the risk of giving our response to Dr Keum's invitation. Even though this article aims at describing Norwegian reflections on the document, it is important to note that the authors and their views do not officially represent any of the Norwegian agencies or churches. Summary and analysis of reflections Here are some of the views expressed in the Norwegian conversation: Ecumenism and mission belong together The heartbeat of the church is mission. The church exists by mission, and if the church does not engage in mission, it ceases to be church. Mission must be ecumenical since the focus of both mission and ecumenism is to cross borders. Both of them are about meeting people with respect and tolerance. Ecumenism does not aim at making churches alike, but at making them belong together in diversity and respect. Both ecumenism and mission are about people meeting each other and about the church encountering people of different faiths, different ideologies, and different convictions. As we share the good news of Jesus Christ and invite people of other faiths to discipleship, we are challenged to learn dialogue and respect from ecumenism. Both ecumenism and mission are about listening to others and being challenged by others. The Holy Spirit and mission The emphasis on the Holy Spirit is what makes the new document exciting. This is a novel perspective among Protestants and Lutherans. But this emphasis implies by the same token a major challenge: How do we discern what the work of the Spirit is? The document says that the Spirit is at work in mysterious ways that we cannot comprehend or grasp. This opens the door for the Spirit being at work in other living faiths, in politics, and in economics; and also nature and creation, which await God's redemption and release, become arenas for the Spirit at work. What is God doing right now? Is the Spirit at work in our hospitals and our families? These questions are new in our context. Could the document play a role in two ways: first, by paving the way for impulses from charismatic congregations and Orthodox theology to churches that have an anaemic theology of the Holy Spirit; and, second, by connecting the Spirit with the wide cosmos and thus making individualism a false option. …

Belhar: �n Spiritualiteit van resepsie in die plaaslike gemeente

The Confession of Belhar: A spirituality of reception in the local church. The GeneralSynod of the Dutch Reformed Church took the following decision during October 2011: �TheGeneral Synod decides to make the Confession of Belhar part of its confessional foundation,that is, in terms of its church ordinances, and commission the Moderamen to prepare thenecessary processes regarding ecclesiastical law.� This article deals with the perception of,the reception of and resistance against Belhar as confession in a local congregation, ElardusPark. The research also describes how this obstructs the development of missional focus. Themain contribution of this article is to argue that the ecumenical concept�s full reception shouldbe assessed within the broader framework of building up a missional local church where aspirituality of reception is fully developed in terms of a missional positioning in Africa.

New Heavens and New Earth

The article examines references in several early pentecostal periodicals concerning the soteriological destiny of the other-than-human created order to demonstrate that the current focus among many current pentecostal advocates of creation care is a valid expression of pentecostal spirituality in continuity with the soteriological emphases of early pioneers in the movement. After examining impediments to creation care that relate primarily to a missional focus on evangelism in light of popular dispensational understandings of eschatology, I survey the occurrence of the phrase new earth in early pentecostal periodical literature to show that many writers held views of eschatology and soteriology that held out hope for the redemption of all creation. Current pentecostal thought on creation care that challenges the noted impediments against this focus is not acquiescence to secular faddism, but is consonant with strands of thought early in the movement.

Beyond the third mission: Exploring the emerging university function of co-creation for sustainability

This paper explores a global trend where universities are collaborating with local government, industry and civic organisations to advance the sustainable transformation of a specific town, city or region. With empirical evidence, we argue that this function of ‘cocreation for sustainability’ could be interpreted as the seeds of an emerging, new mission for the university. We demonstrate that this still evolving mission differs significantly to the economic focus of the third mission and conventional technology transfer practices, which we argue, should be critically examined. After defining five channels through which a university can fulfil the emerging mission, we analyse two frontrunner ‘transformative institutions’ engaged in co-creating social transformations in pursuit of materialising sustainable development in specific locations and regions. This study seeks to add to the debate on the third mission and triple-helix partnerships. It does so by incorporating sustainable development and place-based co-creation with government, industry and civil society. (Less)