Platform For Stakeholders Research Articles

Formation of the ecosystem of the educational program based on social networking sites technology

The paper investigates the problem of transforming existing approaches to the formation of new effective links between universities and all stakeholders, which becomes the basis for creating competitive educational programs. The purpose of the study is to determine the prerequisites for the formation of an ecosystem and substantiate the concept of interaction between key stakeholders of the educational program based on partnership, network communications and digital transformation. Based on results of the SWOT analysis of the acting master’s educational programs, where the authors work, the feasibility of forming information and communication space of educational program as an ecosystem with the use of all opportunities provided by digital technologies is proved, in particular: the reasons for the inefficiency of existing communication channels within university educational programs are discovered; opportunities and limitations of social networking technology in the deployment of the educational program SMART platform are revealed; the concept of such a virtual space is proposed; benefits of the platform for key stakeholders in the educational program are substantially analyzed. SMART platform architectonics of the educational program is elaborated that describes deciding components of the platform considering the needs of key stakeholders of the educational program and SMART principles of ecosystem formation. The request of members of the educational community for the formation of an open learning space solves the following tasks: 1) students receive direct access to all educational materials, relevant information on cooperation with companies and participation in research projects; 2) expanding the boundaries of educational products, the use of new tools and forms of educational work, the involvement of business experts in the educational process; 3) direct access of employers to program students as potential employees, which minimizes transaction costs for finding personnel with a high level of practical competence, attracting young talents, introducing modern training content in accordance with professional standards. Such collaboration will be able to ensure the relevance of scientific research, enhance its practical significance and facilitate the transfer of innovative technologies into the business environment.

The Design Canvas Platform on the Arena-O Startup Venture

This study aims to plan a suitable business model using the Platform Design Canvas for the Arena-O Startup business. This study uses a qualitative method. Data collection was carried out by in-depth interviews and documentation study. The informants in this study represent the respective actors of the platform business, namely producers, consumers, and platform owners. The results of this study describe the business model of a sports field reservation startup called Arena-O, which is detailed using thirteen blocks on the Platform Design Canvas. Thus, thirteen blocks in this reseacrh are platform owners, stakeholder platforms, enabling services, empowering services, other services, core value proposition, ancillary value proposition, infrastructure and core components, transactions, channels & contexts, partners, peers producers, peers consumers. This research can find out the visualization of Arena-O's business processes from upstream to downstream. Then from these results, the managerial implications of Enabling Services, Other Services, and Partners indicators can be applied to Arena-O so that it can develop.

An integrated framework of UN and AACSB principles for responsible management education

PurposeGiven the increasing relevance of Responsible Management Education (RME) to social and human welfare around the world, this paper aims to present an integrated framework that captures the essence of the principles of RME as defined by the United Nations (UN) and further set forth and embedded in the core principles of the accrediting body of business schools, namely, the American Association of Colleges and Schools of Business (AACSB). Such a framework serves as a rigorous platform for business schools and key stakeholders to integrate and implement core RME principles to deliver long-term sustainable benefits to the communities in which they operate.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper. The authors first define key terms of RME used in the UN and AACSB guidelines to provide a universal language for business schools to communicate with their stakeholders and to monitor RME initiatives. Next, the authors identify and map RME Principles and Standards common to both organizations that business schools can apply and integrate into their educational practices to create societal impact. Finally, they categorize the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN into four core purposes and articulate the benefits of clear and consistent messaging that aligns with the vision and mission of the institution.FindingsThe integrated framework presented here makes a unique contribution to business schools that are in the early stages of RME implementation in the following ways: It simplifies the complexity and challenges of integrating the complex RME principles outlined by the UN and the spirit of the RME principles embedded in the accreditation guidelines of AACSB; the four unique themes that emerged from our research provide business schools with a clear pathway to assess their RME progress; and the framework addresses how RME can deliver exceptional value to various stakeholders of business schools.Research limitations/implicationsThere are many opportunities for future researchers to expand on our work particularly, in the areas of RME-driven curriculum development and experiential learning, embedding ethics within high-impact RME practices and developing rigorous metrics to define and measure societal impact. Future researchers may also wish to expand and refine the definitions of key terms and explore the role of societal interaction as an indicator of meaningful institutional engagement with the business community.Practical implicationsBusiness educators can use this framework that maps AACBS core RME themes to the RME guidelines of the UN to assess, establish and enhance their strategies to implement and improve RME-driven business education.Originality/valueThis integrated framework makes a unique contribution to business schools by simplifying the complexity and challenges of implementing RME principles outlined by the UN and that of AACSB. By integrating the principles outlined by both the accrediting body of business schools with the ideals of the U.N in a simple and elegant framework, business schools can embrace and embark on implementing one or more of the four core RME themes identified in this paper. Implementation of these principles within a core RME theme has the potential to create a strong and unique global leadership position for a business school and its graduates.

Using Social Media as a Research Tool for a Bespoke Web-Based Platform for Stakeholders of Children With Congenital Anomalies: Development Study.

BackgroundLimited research evidence exists on the development of web-based platforms for reciprocal communication, coproduction research, and dissemination of information among parents, professionals, and researchers. This paper provides learning and the outcomes of setting up a bespoke web-based platform using social media.ObjectiveThis study aims to explore the establishment of a web-based, multicontextual research communication platform for parents and stakeholders of children with congenital anomalies using social media and to identify associated research and ethical and technical challenges.MethodsThe ConnectEpeople e-forum was developed using social media platforms with a stakeholder engagement process. A multilevel approach was implemented for reciprocal engagement between parents of children with congenital anomalies, researchers, health care professionals, and other stakeholders using private and invisible and public Facebook groups, closed Twitter groups, and YouTube. Ethical approval was obtained from Ulster University.ResultsNonprofit organizations (N=128) were invited to engage with an initial response rate of 16.4% (21/128). Of the 105 parents contacted, 32 entered the private and invisible Facebook groups to participate in the coproduction research. Public Facebook page followers rose to 215, a total of 22 posts had an engagement of >10%, and 34 posts had a reach of over 100. Webinars included requested information on childhood milestones and behavior. YouTube coverage included 106 ConnectEpeople videos with 28,708 impressions. Project information was obtained from 35 countries. The highest Facebook activity occurred during the early morning hours. Achievement of these results required dedicated time management, social media expertise, creativity, and sharing knowledge to curate valuable content.ConclusionsBuilding and maintaining a multilayered online forum for coproduction and information sharing is challenging. Technical considerations include understanding the functionality and versatility of social media metrics. Social media offers valuable, easily accessible, quantitative, and qualitative data that can drive the reciprocal process of forum development. The identification and integration of the needs of the ConnectEpeople e-forum was a key driver in the dissemination of useful, meaningful, and accessible information. The necessary dedicated administration to respond to requests and posts and collate data required significant time and effort. Participant safety, the development of trust, and the maintenance of confidentiality were major ethical considerations. Discussions on social media platforms enabled parents to support each other and their children. Social media platforms are particularly useful in identifying common family needs related to early childhood development. This research approach was challenging but resulted in valuable outputs requiring further application and testing. This may be of particular importance in response to COVID-19 or future pandemics. Incorporating flexible, adaptable social media strategies into research projects is recommended to develop effective platforms for collaborative and impactful research and dissemination.

ETWatch cloud: APIs for regional actual evapotranspiration data generation

Increased model complexity and data quantities have raised the computing power requirement for efficient evapotranspiration (ET) estimation. A cloud-based service is presented to encapsulate and publish the ETWatch modeling algorithms as web application programming interfaces (APIs) in a consistent style to provide extensible model calculation service and data storage service in a cloud platform for water managers and stakeholders. The prototype system, named ETWatch Cloud allows users to rapidly and easily set up an ET generation project for any region of interest by invoking APIs directly to produce ET data using a web browser or local integrated development environment. The case study demonstrates that ETWatch Cloud can provide a highly scalable and interoperable ET generation tool for stakeholders from ET community, helping to facilitate the application of remote sensing-based ET algorithms for water management in hydrology sector.

Politics, economics, Ricardus Haber and environmental policy in Lebanon

ABSTRACT Unsustainable dependence on natural resources combined with the absence of strict regulation and political stability have battered the environment of Lebanon. Examining the work of Ricardus Haber, we analyse how local institutional arrangements have shaped policy outcomes in a mostly top-down, politicised context. Lack of political will and communication between different sectors, institutional deficiencies and embedded corruption hinder effective governance of natural resources. The Lebanese environmental movement has failed to build on Haber’s early success but, if we have peace, there are still opportunities for networking with policymakers, increasing incentives and creating a better participatory platform for stakeholders.

Preface

We are delighted about the success of our 3rd International Conference on Tropical Resources and Sustainable Science (CTReSS 3.0) that was held 14-15 July 2021. This conference was conducted as a virtual conference due to the growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. Protecting the well-being of our participants, partners, and staff is our priority. Besides that, Malaysia Government has announced movement restriction orders (MCO) since April 2021 until further notice. All the gathering and social event including conference are prohibited. Therefore, CTReSS 3.0 needs to be organised virtually at the Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia. CTReSS 3.0 is a yearly event platform for researchers and stakeholders worldwide to interact and share experiences and discoveries from their research on sustainable science and natural resource management. Postponed or delayed CTReSS 3.0 would demotivate and indifferent the researchers and stakeholders to share their current findings.The theme of CTReSS 3.0 is “Steering sustainability from tropical to global scale through effective management and conservation of natural resources“, which highlights four topics: environment, sustainability, society, and management. This scientific event brings together 92 national and international researchers in the related research area. On top of the local participants from different national universities in Malaysia, international participants are also registered from different countries, namely Vietnam, Indonesia, Nigeria, Thailand, Morocco, and India. In the context of the conference model, CTReSS 3.0 is divided into three sections keynote speeches, oral presentation, and poster presentation. The technologies have been adopted in ensuring the success of the conference virtually. For example, keynote sessions were conducted using StreamYards technology and played live on the conference website and Facebook. Besides that, oral and poster presentation sessions were conducted using Microsoft teams based on plenary sessions. A total of 60 presenters participates in the oral presentation, while 32 presenters participate in the poster presentation. Each presenter was allotted 20 minutes for the presentation and 10 minutes for the discussion as well as the question-and-answer session. Each participant was allowed to ask a question to the presenter to get clarification and more explanation about their research.List of 3rd International Conference on Tropical Resources and Sustainable Sciences (CTReSS 3.0) List of Committees, are available in this pdf.

The Collegeville Workshops on Scientific Software: Looking Back and Forward

Scientific software underpins a large and growing number of scientific discoveries and engineering advances. At the same time, it is a small portion of the total software produced, has little literature, or focus on improvement and community building relative to other, larger software domains. The Collegeville Workshop Series on Scientific Software provides a platform for scientific software teams and stakeholders to exchange information on the nature, challenges, and technical and cultural approaches to improve key elements of the scientific software enterprise. By soliciting white papers, posters, and tea-time themes, these workshops gather content to provide a three-day live event, plus recorded presentations and interviews that enable community members to learn from each other. The outcomes from the first two workshops, in 2019 and 2020, have provided a body of knowledge and experience that expands the size and recognition of software as an important part of the scientific enterprise. The 2021 workshop, focused on software teams, intends to further expand the conversation, and continue to build community around scientific software to improve its impact on science and engineering.

Going Green and Socially Responsible – Textile Industry in Transition to Sustainability and a Circular Economy

The textile industry is faced with many problems today. In addition to having to meet customers’ changing preferences and expectations, who wish to stay abreast of fashion trends and stand out from the crowd, it also needs to make efforts to change its image of one the biggest polluters in the world it has earned due to production processes consuming large amounts of resources that end up as piles of household waste. The circular economy (CE) model to reduce the environmental footprint seems to be the right solution for textile companies implementing sustainable development strategies. This paper discusses the principles of the CE model and makes an attempt at explaining how textile companies transition to it. It is based on the analysis of 34 textile companies sampled from among the members of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, which was conducted using a special analytical checklist compiled from the ReSOLVE and BECE frameworks. Because of the proportions and degree of integration between strategic and operational practices they used to achieve circularity, they were divided into integrated, hybrid, and selective organisations.

‘It’s for others to judge’: what influences students’ construction of the ideal student?

ABSTRACT Recognising the changing landscape and financial costs, changes in the higher education sector continue to challenge the purpose and operations of universities, notably the shift towards student consumerism. Given this, what it means to be a student in contemporary higher education can evolve and would arguably have implications about the expectations of university students and staff for learning and teaching practice. To promote greater transparency of expectations, this paper develops the concept of the ideal student further with closer look into the spheres of influence that shape university students’ construction of the ideal student. We draw on 23 focus groups with 105 university students to explore the key factors that contribute to how the ideal student is developed and recognised. Our findings indicate that students’ construction of the ideal student is closely shaped by and rooted in their prior educational experiences, interaction with their peers and the curriculum, and perceptions of lecturers, institution and employer expectations. All these influences lead to a fluid and complex negotiation process as students navigate the meanings of being a university student. We conclude with practical implications for learning, teaching and curriculum development in higher education. The paper therefore provides a platform for key stakeholders to discuss different influencing factors as we support student transition and progression and manage their expectations of higher education.

Understanding Heritage-Led Development of the Historic Villages of China: A Multi-case Study Analysis of Tongren

ABSTRACT Historic villages in China have dramatically changed in recent years, particularly those in poor areas where local culture and a lagging economy constitute the socio-economic framework. The critical relationship between preservation and commodification has become the focus of debate, but little attention has been paid to how different historic villages have been changed through heritage-led development processes and different patterns of stakeholders involved. In this paper, a case study is presented, which focuses on three historic villages in Tongren, China. The findings confirm the idea that heritage preservation as a governance technique is vulnerable to changing socio-economic circumstances. Three transformational approaches with different patterns of stakeholder engagement are identified. In addition, the coalition between the government and real-estate development enterprises played a dominant role in the government-led approach. In the case where the government and enterprises are not strongly present, village elites and village cadres are the power holders in leading to the heritage-led development despite their dual position in heritage preservation and profit-making. This paper suggests that the rigorous, scientific investigation in the planning and project-making involving a shared platform of stakeholders should be developed to address a shared future for the historic villages in China. Abbreviations: VRP: Village Rectification Plan; VEMC: Villages with Ethnic Minority Characteristics; HCTVs: Historical and Cultural Towns and Villages; CTVs: Chinese Traditional Villages; COEs: County-owned enterprises; ESMV: Ethnic Solidarity Model Village.

Organic Agroforestry Long-Term Field Experiment Designing Trough Actors’ Knowledge towards Food System Sustainability

The implementation of agroecology principles within organic farming research is a crux to redesign sustainable agri-food systems. To govern this transition, the local research demand should be addressed by direct engagement of all stakeholders in the research process. The first step is the involvement of farmers and technicians, with the aim of restoring their decision-making role, switching governance to local scale. The co-design/co-management of Long-Term Experiments (LTEs) can be crucial to govern the above-described transition through networking and participatory activities. In this study, we report the experience of co-designing a new LTE in Southern Italy by local actors and scientists. Through a participatory action research methodology, an LTE was considered as a biophysical component of an agroecological living lab, a public–private environment aimed to design a local food system. The setup of parallel field trials in satellite farms stands for the other biophysical component, whereas the stakeholder platform represents the social one. Through definition of common objectives, a step-by-step process is presented, which highlights the interest of local organic actors to share ideas and perspectives for the territory, pointing out the inclusion of end-users (the consumers) in the process to complete the transition to sustainable food systems.

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Quality Management Systems in Zimbabwean Hotels

This paper aims at highlighting factors contributing to late adoption of quality management systems (QMS) in the Zimbabwe hotel industry. The research answered questions on: What are the internal factors affecting adoption of QMS in hotels; What are the external factors affecting adoption of QMS in the hotels. Hotel managers and key stakeholders in the hotel industry were interviewed to get data. Focus group discussions was used to get data from hotel staff members. Directed content analysis was used to analyse data. Some of the internal factors affecting adoption of QMS in the hotel industry in Zimbabwe identified are high staff and management turnover, absence of specialised quality function, poor remuneration of hotel employees and lack of financial resources. While some of the external factors identified are high taxes and licensing fees, industry over regulation, hyperinflation, and poor industry supporting infrastructure. The study recommended for creation of hotel industry stakeholder platform to enhance adoption of QMS in the hotel industry looking at how best to ease the identified factors. There is need for a review of hotel industry operating environment from regulator perspective so as to ease the operating environment which can improve the hotels sustainability.

Strengthening Conservation Agriculture innovation systems in sub-Saharan Africa: lessons from a stakeholder analysis

ABSTRACT Complexity of African agrarian systems necessitates that agricultural research and development transition to agricultural innovation system [AIS] approaches. While AIS perspectives are embraced across sub-Saharan Africa, engagement of stakeholders in agricultural research and development processes as espoused in AIS paradigm remains limited. This paper aims to analyze key stakeholders in the AIS in Malawi using the case of Conservation Agriculture [CA]. We analyze roles, organizational capacity and collaboration of stakeholders in Malawi’s CA innovation system. Although Government has the most extensive role, NGOs dominate the national CA agenda, while smallholder farmers remain passive recipients of CA interventions. Many CA promoters lack technical and financial capacity, and pursue limited collaboration, which diminish prospects of inclusive stakeholder engagement. While insufficient resources lead to inadequate technical support to smallholders, the limited collaboration hinders integration of programmes, multiple sources of innovation and knowledge required to foster social learning and sustainability of CA. Our findings indicate a need to: (1) strengthen understanding of AIS approaches among CA innovation system stakeholders; (2) build stronger partnerships in CA research and development by strengthening stakeholder platforms and social processes; (3) strengthen collaboration advisory mechanisms to facilitate knowledge-sharing, resource mobilization and joint programme implementation with strengthened feedback loops.

The Current Status of Opportunities for Rice Cultivation in Uganda

The purpose of this article is to explore the current status of opportunities in the Ugandan rice sector in order to form informed decisions for future investment and support for the farmers. The Government of Uganda has prioritised rice as a strategic commodity for the national economy. Uganda produces up to 350,000 metric ton (MT) of rice annually, and has set a target to produce 680,000 MT by 2020. A national rice development strategy and a robust rice stakeholder platform have been put in place in order to guide potential investors. Despite the already-existing economic opportunities for the smallholder farmers who participate in producing more than 90% of the rice output in Uganda, productivity still remains low. This is primarily due to the frequent use of low-yielding rice varieties, limited farmer access to the seed of improved varieties and other yield-enhancing inputs, the limited usage of time and labour-saving technologies, and limited knowledge of good agronomic practices. There are three major high rainfall areas in the Northern, Eastern, and Western parts of the country. The mean annual rainfall is estimated at 1,180 mm, and the mean annual temperature is within the range of 18 to 35oC. Nine major varieties of rice, including Namche, Komboka, Kaiso, Wita 9, Basmat 370, IR 64, Supa, Buyu, and NERICA are being cultivated in Uganda. The two Korean rice varieties, such as KAF- 172-67 and KAF-304-287 strains, which were developed through a Korea-Africa Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) project, will also be registered. This will help to increase domestic rice production, stabilize domestic prices, and make rice more affordable for consumers.

Digital Innovation Ecosystems for Circular Economy: the Case of ICESP, the Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform

An important but unexplored research issue is understanding how digital innovation ecosystem and a quintuple helix model can support the promotion of Circular Economy. Circular Economy, however, is intrinsically linked to the innovation issue. It can occur in a productive and consumption system under the form of a new product, process, organizational or marketing model. In the meantime, the digital innovation ecosystem debate was enriched by the social and environmental sustainability perspectives that are the pillars of the Circular Economy theory. Despite this, the research has failed to achieve full comprehension of digital innovation ecosystems’ dynamics and processes for the Circular Economy, by highlighting the need for deeper understanding. Under the above assumptions, this paper presents the evidence of a single and extreme case study related to the Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ICESP). This is shown as good practice of a digital platform for stakeholders’ engagement, supporting the creation of a digital innovation ecosystem focused on the Circular Economy. We conclude by deriving implications for researchers and policy makers’ agendas.

Role of networking capability, socio-economic and institutional characteristics on adoption tendencies of clean seed potato agri-enterprises in central Rift Valley, Kenya

Even though quality of seed is a major yield determinant in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production and global food security, inadequate availability of and access to high quality (certified) seed is a major challenge to potato producers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to examine farmer’s adoption tendency towards decentralised clean seed potato multiplication agri-enterprise (CSPMAE) in Central Rift Valley, Kenya, which aids in implementation of stage matched entrepreneurial interventions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire on 54 seed potato producers and 192 non-seed potato producers, through multistage sampling. Ordered logistic regression analysis, based on the trans-theoretical model, revealed that household head, partner knowledge, gender, land size allocated for potato production, level of education, ownership of transport and/or storage facilities, frequency of interaction with certified seed potato producers and agricultural extension officers influenced adoption tendencies of CSPMAE, positively and significantly. Seed potato value chain stakeholder platforms, development workers and donors should prioritise their support for clean seed agri-enterprises to farmers with such traits. This is likely to lead to increased supply of access to clean seed, thereby improving potato yields in Kenya.

Role of networking capability, socio-economic and institutional characteristics on adoption tendencies of clean seed potato agri-enterprises in central Rift Valley, Kenya

Even though quality of seed is a major yield determinant in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production and global food security, inadequate availability of and access to high quality (certified) seed is a major challenge to potato producers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to examine farmer’s adoption tendency towards decentralised clean seed potato multiplication agri-enterprise (CSPMAE) in Central Rift Valley, Kenya, which aids in implementation of stage matched entrepreneurial interventions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire on 54 seed potato producers and 192 non-seed potato producers, through multistage sampling. Ordered logistic regression analysis, based on the trans-theoretical model, revealed that household head, partner knowledge, gender, land size allocated for potato production, level of education, ownership of transport and/or storage facilities, frequency of interaction with certified seed potato producers and agricultural extension officers influenced adoption tendencies of CSPMAE, positively and significantly. Seed potato value chain stakeholder platforms, development workers and donors should prioritise their support for clean seed agri-enterprises to farmers with such traits. This is likely to lead to increased supply of access to clean seed, thereby improving potato yields in Kenya.

Greening the Car? Conflict Dynamics within the German Platform for Electric Mobility

The environmental crisis due to air pollution, high CO2 emissions, noise from traffic and soil ceiling requires profound changes to the car-dependent transport system. This article examines the political dynamics of German transport politics, focusing on the National Platform for Electric Mobility (NPE), a high-level political forum that aimed to accelerate the run-up of the electric mobility market in Germany. The NPE provides an interesting case to study the strategies of stakeholders in influencing policy-making and shaping alternative pathways to the car-centered transport system. The paper focusses on actor constellations and the conflicts that arise within the NPE, as well as the temporal dynamics within the electric mobility debate. The findings suggest that the NPE contributed to a narrow understanding of mobility transformation based on road transport and electric cars, but that it is better described as ecological modernization. Within this narrow framework, a fundamental conflict unfolds between strong advocates versus those slowing down the ecological modernization of the car. A third group demands at least a partial departure from the automobile-centered model but remains marginalized within the NPE. Aside from this core conflict, members of the NPE struggled over the location for battery cell production, the introduction of a purchase grant known as the environmental bonus, and the expansion of battery recharging infrastructure. These issues illustrate that discussions within the NPE relate to the political debates about the future of mobility, which have intensified in Germany in recent years. However, the case of the NPE shows that high-level stakeholder platforms are not an adequate forum to legitimately deliberate and to practically contribute to a wider and more fundamental rethink of future mobility concepts.

Genetic Resources – A new attempt at serving the community

Through the Horizon 2020 project ’GenRes Bridge’ the new journal Genetic Resources was conceived to serve as a new cross-cutting platform for stakeholders and practitioners in genetic resources. Its ambition is to provide access to relevant information and tools for the monitoring, conservation, management, characterization and use of genetic resources, and thus to contribute to the FAO global plans of action on genetic resources. Conceived to fill the gaps left by the discontinuation of the journals Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter and Animal Genetic Resources, it aims at serving the genetic resources community worldwide and across sectors.