Participation Of New Actors Research Articles

Public diplomacy and soft power: building a positive image of the state

In modern international politics, not only the image of political figures is becoming increasingly important, but also the perception of nation states in the international arena. The emergence and active participation of new actors in world politics has increased the role of soft power as an impact strategy for governments that seek to strengthen their positions. This article examines the role of soft power and public diplomacy in shaping or creating a country's image. Using cultural elements and public diplomacy, States set themselves the goal of creating an attractive image in the minds of the population of another State. Effective initiatives in the field of public diplomacy not only strengthen the country's soft power and influence, but also contribute to building strong relations and strengthening interstate cooperation. Structural and functional, discourse analysis, institutional, and systemic approaches were used to study soft power and public diplomacy. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the systematization and comparison of approaches to defining the concept of soft power and public diplomacy, as well as the components and forms of implementation of soft power by foreign researchers. Special attention is also paid to cultural peculiarities and the unique perception of the image of states. The author came to the following conclusions: soft power is an alternative to military and economic force. Successful implementation of soft power contributes to the formation of a positive image, which in the long term seems to be more effective and sustainable than traditional methods of influence. Soft power and public diplomacy are becoming not only tools for creating a country's image, but also an important part of its foreign policy, contributing to even greater support from the international community to strengthen its position on the world stage.

The Local and Global Scope of The Year of the Ox

Abstract The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic brought significant life changes and acted as a point of rupture for many people around the world. Using mixed methods research, this article explores how the pandemic scenario affected the organization and conceptualization of the Chinese New Year Festival in Barcelona, as well as how people participated in the festivities. Having been canceled in 2020, when everything was ready to go in 2021, its transition to a virtual event entailed changes in its format, content, and scope, leading to new synergies and ways of understanding the festival. First, the virtual format enabled the participation of new actors within and beyond the Chinese diaspora, resulting in a shift of visibility. Second, new (non-folkloric) spaces for participation served to diversify the esthetics, aims and scope of the festival, with the global economic crisis and its local impacts as key factors. Finally, while the virtual format limited the festival’s local impact, it stimulated new transnational dynamics and facilitated an increase in the number of global attendees.

Pronunciamientos, petitions and elections in the Colombian crisis (1826-1832). A case study on the forms of political instability in the Hispanic world in the early XIXth century

The political crisis that compromised Simon Bolivar´s dream of a great nation that united the northern territories of South America is considered as a case study. By stressing the central role of the pueblos and of military corporations and the nature of the political resources that these actors displayed during the Colombian crisis (1826-1832), the author proposes the thesis that the endemic instability that Latin American republics experienced in the early XIXth century was not the consequence of a presumed reluctance to legality and constitutionalism. Rather, it was the result of a political culture embedded in catholic theology that maintained the monarchical normativity in force and the jurisdictional exercise of power. Constitutionalism guaranteed the conditions for its reproduction, enhancing conflict amongst other things because it promoted intense political participation of new actors through a set of devices highly institutionalized and legalized.

Autoclaving in the management of waste services Health: Brief assessment and outlook

The ease of implantation of autoclaving units for waste from health services, in relation to other thermal treatment technologies, results in a quantitative increase, to the detriment of the quality and safety of this technology and its environmental licensing. Objective: To analyze the conflicts between environmental licensing parameters and the introduction of new technologies, considering a Strategic Environmental Assessment and the individualization of processes. Methods: Exploratory, deductive, bibliographic study, raised, described and analyzed questions about autoclaving, licensing parameters and their relationship in the market. Specialized publications, books, periodicals and scientific articles supported the work. Results: The first equipment for sterilization of residues in Brazil was developed and validated in 1999, being licensed in 2002. The licensing process established the parameters of Organs environmental agencies that appear in all Brazilian equipment: (1) alternating pulses of pressure and vacuum , (2) elimination of air resistance contained in bags, (3) crushing after autoclaving, (4) exposure time of 15 minutes at 151ºC, among others. These are considered necessary to achieve microbial deactivation in waste treatment. ANVISA started to define different situations for this deactivation, requiring, in certain situations, inactivation of 4Log10 (disinfection) and in others 6Log10 (sterilization). The absence of clear and well-founded requirements regarding the level of microbial reduction and the really necessary operational parameters directly interfere in the quality and nominal capacity of the equipment, units and treatment values. Conclusion: Ensuring the continuity of growth in the treatment sector, in a safe way, enabling the participation of new actors in the waste management chain, in order to achieve high quality standards and improvement in autoclaving processes, involves compliance and critical analysis of parameters that punctuate the licensing and proof of technological efficiency, as well as imposing the implementation of new control systems, in the search for better socioeconomic and environmental results. Work extracted and adapted from the original published in the Annals of the III CONCISUS - Sustainable Cities Congress of the Northwest Paulista.

Open and collaborative innovation for the energy transition: An exploratory study

This work aimed at investigating how electricity sector companies have adapted their approaches to innovation in response to calls for openness and the participation of new actors. It combined results from academic and grey literature as well as real-world initiatives to identify companies' strategies to innovation. A systematic literature review was conducted, aided by the development of an ontology of collaborative and open approaches to innovation. These approaches were associated with four main aspects: open innovation, business model innovation, non-producer innovation, and the open movement. Among the main findings, it can be highlighted that, although partnerships, alliances, and co-development are now quite common, electricity sector companies have just started to participate in open data and open-source initiatives. Outbound innovation is less common compared to inbound practices. Co-creation, co-design, and crowdsourcing reflect the inclusion of communities in the ideation of transition pathways, even though in a limited manner. The inclusion of civil society is also emphasized in the development of alternative partnerships and user innovation. Challenges that accompany the implementation of collaborative and open approaches to innovation are varied and contingent on local circumstances, which emphasizes the relevance of international partnerships for the energy transition.

How do new use environments influence a technology's knowledge trajectory? A patent citation network analysis of lithium-ion battery technology

It is important for policymakers and industry practitioners to understand the factors that influence the evolution of a technology's knowledge base, i.e., its knowledge trajectory. The literature on the evolution of technologies and their underlying knowledge bases suggests that technological innovation takes place in an incremental and cumulative manner along certain trajectories. We extend this literature by not only focusing on the influence of the design hierarchy on the evolution of knowledge, but also the influence of emergence of use environments. We focus on the case of lithium-ion battery (LIB) technology from 1970 to 2018. We use a dataset of 101,620 patent families to identify and analyze the LIB industry's core knowledge trajectory. Our results indicate that the emergence of new use environments (in particular, those that require different service characteristics as compared to older use environments) can serve as an important mechanism for increased knowledge generation at the level of the product architecture, increased product innovation, increased technological uncertainty, and increased participation of new actors in the core knowledge trajectory. We discuss implications for practitioners and policy makers interested in understanding factors that influence the relative knowledge positions of firms and nations in complex, multi-purpose technologies.

Shifting political power in an era of electricity decentralization: Rescaling, reorganization and battles for influence

The energy transition is increasingly high stakes, defined by the participation of new actors, and – above all – political. Renewable energy communities (RECs) are electricity system actors defined by local control and motivations beyond profit maximization. There has been much speculation about the potential impact of RECs on political systems, but little empirical investigation. This study examines (a) if RECs are shifting larger political power structures, (b) the mechanisms through which shifts are occurring, and (c) the implications of shifts for the future. It compares across the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Ontario, Canada. Findings reveal that political power is shifting but outright policy wins are rare. RECs are gaining capacity, building political coalitions and benefiting from changing norms. However, they are challenged by pressures from incumbents to maintain centralised ownership and control. Energy action, both sanctioned and subversive, is rescaling toward local levels. Implications for energy and social policies are significant.

Lessons Learned from Rural Electrification Experiences with Third Generation Solar Home Systems in Latin America: Case Studies in Peru, Mexico, and Bolivia

There are 17 million people without access to electricity services in Latin America. This population lives in small isolated and scattered communities with low incomes where it is difficult to achieve 100% access to electricity by the grid extension. Therefore, it is necessary to create market mechanisms and promote off-grid electrification in which photovoltaic (PV) technology plays a fundamental role. This research assesses successful projects developed in Peru, Mexico, and Bolivia, where 3rd Generation Solar Home Systems (3G-SHSs) are being introduced to support off-grid initiatives. To do so, we applied a mixed-methods approach including a comparative case study analysis, an extensive literature review, focus group discussions, and field research. Thereby, the lessons learned reveal that confidence, commitment, and flexibility are the main pillars of rural electrification. Additionally, it is demonstrated that the combination of various business models—an energy service company, fee-for-service, pay-as-you-go, and a microfranchising—with 3G-SHSs is powerfully effective in terms of sustainability. Our findings are useful to policy makers, researchers, promoters, and other stakeholders to rethink intervention strategies in rural areas. Access to electricity must be a state policy to facilitate the participation of new actors, especially of the private sector and communities, and the introduction of innovative business models and high-quality technology.

Morality Politics and Prostitution Policy in Brussels: A Diachronic Comparison

This paper discusses the genealogy of prostitution policies in Brussels through the lens of morality politics. It uses the analytical framework proposed by Hendrik Wagenaar and Altink (2012) to compare the formulation and implementation of policies in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with today’s policymaking in Brussels as well as the discourses underlying those policies. Although it departs from the six characteristics of morality politics, the study introduces one element that adds to the complexity of policymaking in this domain: gender. We argue that a gendered ideology and stigma have informed past and present prostitution policies in Brussels and that the many actors involved in the city’s policymaking have more often than not relied on emotions and personal views on female sexuality to support their calls for the control or outright repression of public commercial sex. The comparative analysis illustrates the persistent symbolic nature of policy formulation and a blatant disregard for data, both of which have led to the approval of unworkable laws and sudden policy shifts. However, the participation of new actors in the debates about prostitution in recent years has ushered in an increase in questionings of morality politics and will hopefully bolster calls for fact-based policies.

Participação das organizações da sociedade civil na cooperação Sul/Sul: em busca de um modelo de análise nos estudos em administração

Resumo Este artigo se propõe a discutir a participação de organizações da sociedade civil brasileiras no âmbito da cooperação para o desenvolvimento. Trata-se de um artigo teórico que procura problematizar os processos de cooperação para o desenvolvimento e construir um quadro analítico capaz de dar conta da participação de novos atores, de natureza não governamental, nas relações entre países em desenvolvimento − comumente denominada de cooperação Sul/Sul (CSS) − e suas implicações para a ampliação de direitos entre populações em situação de extrema vulnerabilidade. O artigo recorre a fontes bibliográficas de diferentes campos do conhecimento. Destaca as relações internacionais, a sociologia política e a gestão social para entender as possibilidades, perspectivas e armadilhas que se configuram para os processos de cooperação para o desenvolvimento e que são moldadas pela busca de maior horizontalidade entre nações e participação de novos atores, notadamente, da sociedade civil.

Explorando el uso de las herramientas teóricas de Stephen J. Ball en el estudio de las políticas educativas en América Latina

En este ensayo introductorio al número especial sobre el uso de las teorías de S. J. Ball en América Latina nos proponemos explorar cómo las preocupaciones teóricas y las preguntas de investigación empírica de Ball contribuyen a visibilizar, mapear e interrogar algunos aspectos que han sido marginalizados en la mayoría de las investigaciones sobre las políticas educativas en la región. Agrupamos las contribuciones de Ball en dos grandes ejes. En primer lugar, el análisis de la participación de nuevos actores en la política educativa, tales como las empresas y las organizaciones filantrópicas; lo que implica una redefinición del estado y de la forma en que se gobierna a la educación. El segundo eje que destacamos es el que analiza los ciclos de la política y la "puesta en acto" de las políticas en el nivel micro-institucional. Ball cuestiona el concepto de "implementación" y las visiones lineales acerca de las relaciones entre la "política" y la “práctica". Por el contrario, propone enfoques conceptuales que contribuyen a abrir la caja negra de las políticas educativas, explorando cómo éstas definen marcos posibles para la acción, pero, al mismo tiempo, dejan márgenes para las interpretaciones y acciones de los individuos que actúan en diferentes contextos.

Fish and chips: cross-cutting issues and actors in a co-managed fishery regime in the Pacific Northwest

The goal of biological resource management regimes is to balance human uses of resources with their inherent regenerative capacities. While accomplishing this goal, managers usually face a multiplicity of stakeholder groups bringing a suite of different, and at times conflicting, interests and values to the management table. In the case of the migratory Pacific salmon, the resource regimes are comprised of a series of hierarchically nested institutional arrangements, engaged in cross-level and cross-scale interactions. Co-management institutions have emerged, at least in part, to address these challenges, encompassing a diversity of stakeholders, providing a forum for the sharing of different beliefs, values and perspectives and, importantly, an institutional response to a suite of cross-scale challenges. This article examines how institutional innovation, specifically the emergence of the Pacific Northwest salmon co-management regime, created new roles and legitimized the participation of new actors. In turn, this has transformed tribal co-managers into “cross-cutting actors”, active in management arenas at multiple jurisdictional and spatial levels in which they represent different interests or constituents. Wearing “different hats”, these tribal actors mobilize a suite of cross-cutting issues, relevant within different policy subsystems, and create bridges among actors who may be opponents in other fora. This has altered the emergence and trajectory of conflict and cooperation as well as problems of institutional interplay and addressed some of the scale-related challenges that exist within the Pacific salmon management regime.

Delivering off-grid electricity systems in the Brazilian Amazon

In Brazil, more than 14million people have benefited from the rural electrification program Luz Para Todos (LPT — Light for all), mainly through grid-extension. A new off-grid model is now required if remote areas in the Amazon region are to fully benefit from the program. In this paper, we explore the institutional and financial schemes that support LPT and their suitability for delivering off-grid solutions in the Amazon region. Our conclusions draw attention to the need for more local and site specific solutions, and new regulatory frameworks to allow the participation of new actors. We argue that the uniqueness of the Amazon region justifies renewable technologies focused on local needs and potential, adaptation of the LPT institutional framework and rethinking of funding channels. An off-grid approach will enhance the inclusion of remote areas in universal access goals while adjustments will help guarantee the sustainability of the electrification program.

A Municipalização, Consolidação e Crise dos Serviços de Saneamento de Itabuna/BA: A Emergência de um Pacto Cooperativo

This paper aims to report the processes underlying the decentralization and strengthening local management of sanitation Itabuna and analyze the crisis management of the sector from the emergence of a cooperative agreement, represented by the articulation of local management of sanitation and a new arrangement Institutional moving to the region, with the creation of CBHL Watershed Committee of the East. When you make a discussion of the decentralization of public policies in Brazil, emphasizes the participation of new actors in the formulation and implementation of local policies that are also influenced by new forms of intergovernmental relations and agreements to integrate multi-sectoral. In the specific case of the sanitation sector there is the introduction of institutional arrangements that make new agreements that tend to suggest a reconfiguration of the management practices of local governments. Key-words: Public Administration. Sanitation. Institutional Arragements.

New Actors for the Immunological Mechanisms Involved in the Materno- Fetal Tolerance

Tolerance to the semi-allogeneic fetal graft by the maternal immune system is the consequence of a wide panel of mechanisms that may be interconnected. In the present work we discuss the participation of new actors that might contribute to the materno-fetal tolerance and their involvement in the failure of a successful pregnancy occurring in patients with recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA). The presence of blocking factors (BF) of the maternal allogeneic response in the sera of fertile women is usually associated with a successful pregnancy. In this context, Galectin-1 (a β- galactoside-binding protein expressed at sites of T-cell activation and immune privilege) and RANTES (regulated on activated normal T cells, expressed and secreted) are able to immunosuppress the allogeneic response. This effect induces a significant increase of the apoptosis of CD45R0+ cells and is accompanied by caspases activation and Bcl-2 down regulation. Moreover, trying to identify reliable markers for RSA diagnosis, we investigated some activation markers like CD69 (an early activation marker), SLAM (signaling lymphocytic activation molecule) and the pattern of Th1/Th2 cytokine expression in the preimplantation endometrium and in the peripheral blood from fertile and RSA women. Finally, as a treatment for RSA patients, we evaluated the effectiveness of the alloimmunization, with paternal leukocyte and investigated the immunomodulation induced by this treatment on RANTES, and the subpopulations of CD3+CD69+ and CD3+SLAM+ T cells in RSA patients.

A política florestal européia: um sonho ou uma realidade?

Mudanças nas políticas florestais na Europa servem como ponto de partida para refletir sobre conceitos e tendências práticas da política florestal em geral. A política florestal é definida como abrangendo os processos e as estruturas que produzem as relações entre sociedades e florestas. O artigo aponta que mudanças nas estruturas sociais e nos processos políticos afetam a percepção e as funções atribuídas às florestas na Europa. Argumenta que a conformação de redes políticas (policy-networks) integra mais agentes nos processos políticos e, também, transforma as relações entre as sociedades e florestas. Neste sentido, identifica algumas tendências gerais (1) com respeito aos agentes participantes, uma transnacionalização das relações; (2) uma globalização com respeito aos referenciais de interpretação de problemas e busca de soluções; e (3) uma "ambientalização", no sentido de que a importância das florestas é, cada vez mais, percebida como parte integrante do conjunto dos esforços para evitar riscos de catástrofes ambientais. Assim, argumenta que as mudanças ligadas à chamada europeização permitem reconhecer a existência de uma "política florestal da Europa".