Potential Actors Research Articles

Social Network Analysis of Knowledge and Actor Relations: A Case Study in KLG IT Department

IT department is often relied on as business activities enabler. To be able to do that task efficiently while also continuing to innovate, knowledge is necessary. KLG is one of the retail business players in Indonesia; currently their IT department is in effort to capture various types of important knowledge. Unfortunately, it experiences stagnation. What the IT department have now is a file repository, so where to start to implement a more comprehensive solution like Knowledge Management? To better understand the current pattern of communication influenced by its unique culture and structure of the organization, this research uses Social Network Analysis (SNA) one-mode network and bipartite graph. The visualization and analysis of the social network were performed using tools called Cytoscape. From total of 10 IT-side actor nodes and 5 business-side actor nodes, it was found connection value between actors. FA and PM get identical results due to being indistinguishable by other actors. FA/PM got the highest score followed by IT Ops & Support at betweenness (1.0993, 1.0369) and stress centrality (796, 698). At closeness centrality, Ops & Support (0.8750) took the lead, followed by FA/PM (0.7778) and developers (0.7778). In addition to the analysis of the actors’ relationships, potential knowledge contributors and actors’ interest in different types of knowledge are also identified. Further research will describe how knowledge management strategies are shaped based on these findings.

The Middle-Out Perspective: an approach to formalise 'normal practice' in public health advocacy.

The middle-out perspective (MOP) provides a lens to examine how actors positioned between government (top) and individuals (bottom) act to promote broader societal changes from the middle-out (rather than the top-down or bottom-up). The MOP has been used in recent years in the fields of energy, climate change, and development studies. We argue that public health practitioners involved with advocacy activities and creating alliances to amplify health promotion actions will be familiar with the general MOP concept if not the formal name. The article aims to demonstrate this argument. This article introduces the MOP conceptual framework and customises it for a public health audience by positioning it among existing concepts and theories for actions within public health. Using two UK case studies (increasing signalised crossing times for pedestrians and the campaign for smoke-free legislation), we illustrate who middle actors are and what they can do to result in better public health outcomes. These case studies show that involving a wider range of middle actors, including those not traditionally involved in improving the public's health, can broaden the range and reach of organisations and individuals involving in advocating for public health measures. They also demonstrate that middle actors are not neutral. They can be recruited to improve public health outcomes, but they may also be exploited by commercial interests to block healthy policies or even promote a health-diminishing agenda. Using the MOP as a formal approach can help public health organisations and practitioners consider potential 'allies' from outside traditional health-related bodies or professions. Formal mapping can expand the range of who are considered potential middle actors for a particular public health issue. By applying the MOP, public health organisations and staff can enlist the additional leverage that is brought to bear by involving additional middle actors in improving the public's health.

A network perspective of cognitive and geographical proximity of sustainable tourism organizations: evidence from Italy

PurposeThis research aims to contribute to the literature on sustainable hospitality and tourism by applying social network analysis to identify sustainable tourism business networks and untangle the role of cognitive and geographical proximity in their formation.Design/methodology/approachData mining and machine learning techniques were applied to data collected from the websites of tourism companies located in northeastern Italy, namely, the Veneto region. Specifically, the authors used Web scraping to extract relevant information from the internet.FindingsThe results support the existence of geographical clusters of tourist accommodation providers that are linked by strong cognitive proximity based on sustainability principles that are well communicated via their websites. This does not appear to be greenwashing because companies that have agreed on sustainability principles have also implemented concrete actions and tend to signal these actions through a variety of sustainability certifications.Practical implicationsThe results may guide tourism managers and policymakers in developing tourism initiatives directed at the creation of fruitful collaborations between similarly oriented organizations and methods to support clusters of sustainable tourism accommodation. Identifying sustainable tourism networks may assist in the identification of potential actors of change, fueling a widespread transition toward sustainability.Originality/valueIn this study, the authors adopted an innovative methodology to detect sustainability-oriented tourism business networks. Additionally, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to simultaneously explore the cognitive and geographical connections between tourism businesses.

A Systematic Review on Social Robots in Public Spaces: Threat Landscape and Attack Surface

There is a growing interest in using social robots in public spaces for indoor and outdoor applications. The threat landscape is an important research area being investigated and debated by various stakeholders. Objectives: This study aims to identify and synthesize empirical research on the complete threat landscape of social robots in public spaces. Specifically, this paper identifies the potential threat actors, their motives for attacks, vulnerabilities, attack vectors, potential impacts of attacks, possible attack scenarios, and mitigations to these threats. Methods: This systematic literature review follows the guidelines by Kitchenham and Charters. The search was conducted in five digital databases, and 1469 studies were retrieved. This study analyzed 21 studies that satisfied the selection criteria. Results: Main findings reveal four threat categories: cybersecurity, social, physical, and public space. Conclusion: This study completely grasped the complexity of the transdisciplinary problem of social robot security and privacy while accommodating the diversity of stakeholders’ perspectives. Findings give researchers and other stakeholders a comprehensive view by highlighting current developments and new research directions in this field. This study also proposed a taxonomy for threat actors and the threat landscape of social robots in public spaces.

Microbiome and Metabolome Insights into the Role of the Gastrointestinal-Brain Axis in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Disease: Unveiling Potential Therapeutic Targets.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), the prevalence of which is rapidly rising due to an aging world population and westernization of lifestyles, are expected to put a strong socioeconomic burden on health systems worldwide. Clinical trials of therapies against PD and AD have only shown limited success so far. Therefore, research has extended its scope to a systems medicine point of view, with a particular focus on the gastrointestinal-brain axis as a potential main actor in disease development and progression. Microbiome and metabolome studies have already revealed important insights into disease mechanisms. Both the microbiome and metabolome can be easily manipulated by dietary and lifestyle interventions, and might thus offer novel, readily available therapeutic options to prevent the onset as well as the progression of PD and AD. This review summarizes our current knowledge on the interplay between microbiota, metabolites, and neurodegeneration along the gastrointestinal-brain axis. We further illustrate state-of-the art methods of microbiome and metabolome research as well as metabolic modeling that facilitate the identification of disease pathomechanisms. We conclude with therapeutic options to modulate microbiome composition to prevent or delay neurodegeneration and illustrate potential future research directions to fight PD and AD.

CONCEPT OF CO-PRODUCTION AND THE URBAN POOR'S HOUSING CHALLENGE IN BANGLADESH

Co-production is more than an idea; it is a gathering of thoughts collaborating to find common results. Co-production within the community becomes successful when the community people lead their processes themselves. Through this theme, the communities can enhance their capacity to respond constructively to future problems. Besides, community people, the government, and other organizations play important roles in regulating, financing, and managing the whole process, being potential actors. Slowly, a transformation is taking place in the relationships between the stakeholders—that is, being equal partners in development. This type of relationship strengthens the sustainability of community development initiatives. In some cases, the application of co-production at the grassroots for a better life has encountered numerous challenges limiting participation at various levels. Our study aims at exploring the concept of co-production in housing scenarios, identifying the outcomes of this concept by indicating active roles encountering diverse ways that actors and participants may face challenges to make it successful in the housing process. This paper also focuses on finding out the benefits and drawbacks of co-production in housing and the effectiveness of management policies in the context of Bangladesh. For achieving these objectives, an effective literature review of the existing knowledge on this theme of “Co-Production” has been followed as the study methodology. The results from this study depict that co-production within a community can be an alternative approach to addressing the housing issues of the underprivileged community of society. Although having the challenges of socio-economic and political dynamics, a flexible participatory approach to co-production can be successful in Bangladesh, with an appropriate management policy undertaken by the stakeholders.

Influence of Institutional Arrangement Factors on Local Government Authorities’ Service Delivery in Dodoma, Tanzania

The study is aimed at examining how institutional arrangement factor fosters service delivery systems, specifically how By-laws, Acts and Policies influence service delivery. A cross-sectional research design was used for the study. The study was conducted in Dodoma City as well as Kongwa and Chamwino District councils in Dodoma Region using a sample of 399 village council and street committee members. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used in data analysis in order to determine the influence of institutional arrangement factors on local government authorities’ service delivery. The study established that By-laws, Acts and Policies were positive predictors of institutional arrangements towards service delivery. Compliance with institutional arrangements increases the propensity of LGAs to serve the citizens in an efficient manner. Based on the conclusions, it was recommended that by-laws should be provided to citizens and all service delivery potential actors in LGAs. The approved national education and health policies and Acts need to be available and accessible to lower local government authorities in order to maintain the facilitation effects of institutional arrangement for sustainable LGA service delivery.

Expression of the miR-9-5p, miR-125b-5p and its target gene NFKB1 and TRAF6 in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE)

Childhood- onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) is a multisystem inflammatory disease that can lead to severe clinical conditions resulting in early comorbidities. Several genetic, environmental, and immunological factors are known to influence the onset of the disease. MiRNAs have been already considered as potential actors involved in the development and activity of the SLE. Thus, understanding the behavior of these regulators can contribute to clarify the inflammatory process affecting SLE patients. Among miRNAs, miR-125b-5p and miR-9-5p targeting NFKB1 and TRAF6 genes can be involved in the etio-pathogenesis of the disease by modulating inflammation. In this study we evaluated miR-9-5p and miR-125b-5p expression and its target genes NFKB1 and TRAF6 in peripheral blood samples (PBMC) from the 35 cSLE patients and 35 healthy controls. MiRNAs and gene target expression have been evaluated by using RT-PCR with specific TaqMan® probes. Both miR-9-5p [Fold Change (FC) = −2.21; p = 0.002] and miR-125b-5p (FC= −3.30; p < 0.0001) and NFKB1 (FC = −1.84; p < 0.001) were downregulated in cSLE patients, while TRAF6 was upregulated (FC = 1.80; p = 0.006) in cSLE patients when compared to controls. A significant correlation was found between miR-125b-5p and its target gene NFKB1 [Spearman (r) = 0.47; p = 0.023]. Our results showed miR-125b-5p and miR-9-5p differential expression in cSLE patients, possibly contributing to better understanding the role of these regulators in cSLE development and disease pathogenesis.

“Hope dies, action begins?” The role of hope for proactive sustainability engagement among university students

Purpose Education in sustainability science is largely ignorant of the implications of the environmental crisis on inner dimensions, including mindsets, beliefs, values and worldviews. Increased awareness of the acuteness and severity of the environmental and climate crisis has caused a contemporary spread of hopelessness among younger generations. This calls for a better understanding of potential generative forces of hope in the face of climate change. This paper aims to uncover strategies for fostering constructive hope among students. Design/methodology/approach This study examines, through qualitative interviews, the characteristics of constructive hope amongst proactive students enrolled in university programs related to global environmental challenges. Constructive hope describes a form of hope leading to sustained emotional stability and proactive engagement through both individual and collective actions. Findings The findings are presented according to four characteristics of constructive hope: goal, pathway thinking, agency thinking and emotional reinforcement. This shows how students perceive the importance of: collaboratively constructing and empowering locally grounded objectives; reinforcing trust in the collective potential and external actors; raising students’ perceived self-efficacy through practical applications; teaching different coping strategies related to the emotional consequences of education on students’ well-being. Originality/value We outline practical recommendations for educational environments to encourage and develop constructive hope at multiple levels of university education, including structures, programs, courses and among students’ interactions. We call for practitioners to connect theoretical learning and curriculum content with practice, provide space for emotional expressions, release the pressure from climate anxiety, and to foster a stronger sense of community among students.

Community‐Based Social Enterprises as Actors for Neo‐Endogenous Rural Development: A Multi‐Stakeholder Approach☆

AbstractRural shrinking is an ongoing phenomenon in many parts of Europe. Against this backdrop neo‐endogenous rural development has been gaining support as a conceptual and policy approach which stress the combination of local and external actors, resources and forces for enhancing an integrated development of rural areas. Within this governance framework rural social enterprises have been stressed as potential key actors contributing to rural development. This paper explores, through 36 semi‐structured interviews with diverse stakeholders of two Irish community‐based rural social enterprises, the role of these organizations in contributing to a neo‐endogenous development. Our findings show how their mobilization of the social attachment of their members, their collective character and their delivery of tangible results have been key to develop collaborative dynamics with stakeholders from different sectors and situated at various spatial scales. Moreover, these organizations have accommodated global‐exogenous forces buffering their effects through locally‐focused solutions which address the needs of their rural communities, despite their incapacity to address the causes of these global‐exogenous trends. We conclude that rural community‐based social enterprises can play a relevant role in contributing to neo‐endogenous development, however, institutional frameworks that address the diversity of rural areas and that enhance balanced collaborations among different rural development stakeholders are a precondition to unlock their potential.

THERUKUTHU AS A TRAINING METHOD FOR CONTEMPORARY THEATRE ACTOR

The contemporary acting in theatre has resembling in many features of the Tamil traditional theatre form Therukuthu. So, this discussion intended to establish the possibilities of the Therukuthu as a method of actor training for contemporary theatre actors. The primary concern of the discussion includes the actor and acting of contemporary theatre; the way how actor presents the character and communicates with the audience as co-actors, which are the two significant features of contemporary theatre. So, the discussion considers at those factors of Therukuthu form and acting or performance those applicable to the contemporary theatre actor, to consider Therukuthu as a potential Contemporary actor training method.

Linking academic buoyancy and math achievement in secondary school students: Does academic self-efficacy play a role?

Academic buoyancy describes the ability to successfully overcome and recover from setbacks in an academic context (e.g., a poor grade, motivational dips, stress due to upcoming performance exams). This day-to-day form of academic resilience has recently been defined in the context of positive psychology. The present study aimed to gain insights into the mechanisms of academic buoyancy by predicting math achievement. Since there is already evidence that this relationship is rather indirect than direct, we were particularly interested in investigating a potential actor of an indirect effect, namely academic self-efficacy. For this purpose, n = 974 students at eleven secondary schools in southwestern Germany were surveyed through a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using a latent variable approach. The results of the study show that academic buoyancy is a significant predictor of math achievement and that this relation is explained through academic self-efficacy, even when controlling for gender. Implications for practice and further research are also discussed.

CHANGING BALANCES IN SOUTH CAUCASUS AFTER 44 DAYS WAR, KEY AZERBAIJAN AND KEY ZENGEZUR

The 44-Day War was a groundbreaking war that radically changed the existing practices and balances in the South Caucasus. After the collapse of the USSR on December 26th, 1991, Armenia unjustly occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding areas of Lachin, Gubatli, Zangilan, Cebrayil, Fizuli, Agdam and Kelbajar with the support of Moscow. During these occupations, thousands of Azerbaijani Turkish women were brutally murdered, along with their children. As a result of this occupation by Armenia in violation of the rules of international law, Azerbaijan lost 20% of its territory. After that date, until the 44-Day War began, Armenia continued to violate the borders it had carried out unjustly and to make provocations that had the potential to start a total war. Finally, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, in his speech at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on September 25th, 2020, stated that a counter-attack would be launched within the boundaries of the right to self-defense. He also announced that this operation would be carried out in order to realize Azerbaijan’s vision of ending Armenia’s unjust occupation in the region. This honorable war, launched against a long-standing injustice, is the UN Security Council affirming that Armenia is an occupier and that the occupied territories belong to Azerbaijan, and at the same time calling on the Armenians to end the occupation; It is compatible with the four UN Decision “822, 853, 874, 884”. The war started against the Armenian occupation elements on September 27th, 2020, ended with the absolute victory of Azerbaijan on November 10th, 2020. According to the basic principles of international law; attacks to change the borders by using force are not allowed under any circumstances, and the use of force to protect the attacked country and people is considered within the boundaries of the “right to self-defense”. Hence the 44 Day War; Since it complies with the rules of International Law, the UN, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), it does not have a legal problem. The changing world after the Cold War and the 2008 global economic crisis; It has brought up the changing security perceptions and the ongoing global and regional conflicts, changing balances, new alliances and new potential regional power actors. Considering these developments that took place after the millennium, we can say that Azerbaijan is an important “keyhole” country, especially in the Caucasus region, and by looking at its geographical location that provides an opening from Europe to Asia, and the key to the lock is Zangezur. In this study, especially after the 44-Day War, the changing balances and opportunities in the South Caucasus will be examined. In this context, the importance of the Azerbaijan and Zangezur corridor, which we describe as the key country that was the absolute winner of the 44-Day War, will be discussed.

Bonds of Empire: The English Origins of Slave Law in South Carolina and British Plantation America, 1660–1783 by Lee B. Wilson

Reviewed by: Bonds of Empire: The English Origins of Slave Law in South Carolina and British Plantation America, 1660–1783 by Lee B. Wilson Justin Roberts Bonds of Empire: The English Origins of Slave Law in South Carolina and British Plantation America, 1660–1783. By Lee B. Wilson. Cambridge Historical Studies in American Law and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. 288 pages. Cloth, ebook. The preamble to the first comprehensive English slave code—passed in Barbados in 1661—justified the creation of this set of laws by arguing that in all of the "Lawes of England" there was "noe tract to guide us where to walke, nor any rule sett us, how to governe such Slaves."1 This would suggest, as some colonial American historians have surmised, that slavery constituted a radical departure from English legal traditions. Lee B. Wilson's Bonds of Empire offers a counterpoint. By looking at a more comprehensive set of legal practices undergirding slavery in the British Atlantic, Wilson is able to stress the continuity of English legal systems in the development of colonial slave law. She argues that colonial slave law was not "a legal aberration" (3) or "beyond the pale of English imperial legal history" (5); rather, it "was a natural extension" of the English "legal system" (10). Bonds of Empire is nominally about slave law in South Carolina, but it is really much broader and more ambitious because Wilson extends her analysis to the Caribbean colonies—particularly Jamaica—and to the maritime world. Her book follows a loose chronological trajectory from the late seventeenth century through the end of the eighteenth century. The chapters trace that arc while remaining thematically organized around the concepts embedded in private law sources such as the conditional bonds used to transfer enslaved property, the records of the Vice-Admiralty Courts, and the records of the Board of Police, which governed Charleston during the American Revolution. Wilson relies on her legal training to shed light on how these records, which most scholars have overlooked, illuminate practices related to slavery. By focusing on such sources, Wilson offers a deeper appreciation of the ways in which English law buttressed the colonists' "commercial need to treat slaves as things" (261). Bonds of Empire clearly demonstrates that the prescriptive slave codes that have drawn so much attention from slavery historians were only a narrow subset of a far more expansive body of slave law. "Bloody and punitive," the slave codes addressed the slaves as potential criminal actors in need of social control, and they focused on "stripping enslaved people of the rights" (10) of freeborn English people. The "viscerally shocking" nature of these [End Page 491] slave codes has led some historians to emphasize that their creation signals "colonial legal deviance" (39). Wilson, by contrast, turns most of her attention to "the 'private' law of slavery—embodied in quotidian transactions and routine litigation" (39). These are sources that generally depict slaves as little more than commodities. Wilson maintains that by conceptualizing slaves as chattel and making them analogous "to ships, cows, or horses" (13), enslavers were able to draw directly from traditional English legal practices and "slot slaves into extant legal procedures and forms" (17), especially instruments of English property transfer such as "preprinted bills of sale, mortgages, trusts, and conditional bonds" (13). By relying on conventional English legal practices, she argues, colonial enslavers normalized the institution of slavery, insulating it from "moral critiques" (5). This continuity in "improvisational" (10) English legal practices and traditions made colonial British slavery resilient in the face of moral criticism and adaptable to change. Ultimately, Wilson argues that the status of the enslaved as property encouraged the "replication" of long-standing English legal practices in private law, which simultaneously bolstered the institution of slavery and "contributed directly to the dehumanization of enslaved people" (21). By privileging legal sources more concerned with enslaved people as alienable property than as potential criminal actors in need of social control, Wilson reinforces the idea that this chattel principle—the idea that a person could be bought and sold—was at the essence of Anglo-American slavery. She argues that "historians have long understood that transforming people...

Transformačný líder v edukácii v kontexte organizačnej kultúry školy

The transformation of education should originate in the school environment. Teachers, as actors of change, thus find themsel es in the position of transformational leaders. Keller (2006) identifies as transformational leaders those individuals who can succeed and fulfil a vision, inspire and activate followers who respond with en‑ thusiasm and determination to achieve goals. Part of a leader’s job is the co‑creation of the organizational culture being upheld in the educational setting. Organizational culture rep‑ resents the nature of the workplace, approach, unwritten rules of interaction and the values of the organization (Morcos, 2018). Organizational culture as defined by Cameron and Quinn (2011) points to the fact that aleader significantly participates in its formation. These claims are confirmed by various studies conducted in different types of organizations, including schools, worldwide (f.e. Daud et al., 2015; Berkemeyer et al., 2015; Yücel et al., 2013). Goal: The aim of the present paper was to find out whether there is a relation between the school organizational culture and the characteristics of transformational leaders in education in the Slovak context. Methods: The paper consists of two studies due to the use of two different research methods assessing transformational leadership factors. Study 1: the research group consisted of 107 Slovak teachers (N = 107; AMage= 43.72; SDage= 10.51; 18.69 % men). The data were obtained through the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI; Kouzes &amp; Posner, 2013), assessing five types of practices – leadership practices: 1) Model the Way, 2) Inspire a Shared Vision, 3) Challenge the Process, 4) Enable Others to Act, 5) Encourage the Heart and 6) the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI; Cameron &amp; Quinn, 2006), mapping four types of organizational culture – Clan, Adhoc, Market, and Hierarchy. Study 2: the research group consisted of 100 Slovak teachers (N = 100; AMage= 40.99; SDage= 7.79; 30.00 % men). The data for this study were obtained through the Czech Leadership Questionnaire (CLQ; Procházka et al., 2016) assessing eight subscales corresponding to four components of transformational leadership, three components of transaction‑ al leadership, and laissez‑faire leadership. Only the four components of transformational leadership were used. The second questionnaire was also OCAI. All tools were modified and adapted to local conditions. Results: Relation analysis between the observed variables in both studies showed statistically significant positive moderately strong relations assessed by LPI, CLQ to the Clan’s organizational culture of the school (LPI r = from.262** to.394**; CLQ r= from.222* to.420***). For Study 1: negative moderately strong relations between Market organiza‑ tional culture and LPI factors (r = from -.224** to -.421***) and Study 2: CLQ with Hierarchical Organizational Culture (r = from -.249* to -.437***). The Clan organizational culture dominates in the monitored Slovak schools, closely related to the characteristics of trans‑ formational leaders in education as potential actors of changes in education. Conclusion: According to the findings, transformational leaders in education, being an attractive example for others, are charismatic bearers of innovative ideas, they are progressive in their approach to their followers, strengthening the school team spirit and ap‑ preciating and encouraging them. They are the leaders of the Clan organizational culture. The positive finding in both studies remains that the researched Slovak schools show a prevalence of the Clan organizational culture.

Effectiveness of PMSE Vat in the New Normal Era in KPP Badan dan Orang Asing (KPP Badora)

This study aims to analyze the application of Value Added Tax collection policies on Trading transactions through Electronic Systems at the Corporate and Foreign Tax Service Office. This research is a qualitative descriptive study with data collection techniques through interviews, observations and using written documents. The results showed that the implementation of the VAT collection policy on PMSE, VAT receipts decreased in 2019 due to covid, the number of additional PMSE VAT taxpayers tended to decrease every semester, PSME VAT receipts tended to increase every semester, in terms of the level of effectiveness in 2020, respectively. less effective but in the 2021 period, very effective per semester, the application of the regulations has several weaknesses, namely related to the affirmation of sanctions against collectors who are negligent in carrying out their tax obligations and activities to explore potential Business Actors who are ready to be appointed as PMSE VAT collectors. In addition, public awareness about taxation is still very low, there are still many users who use the service for free and also the prevalence of piracy, this has more or less affected the number of transactions that can be subject to Value Added Tax.

The ‘Invisible’ Indians Right to Life: The Quest for Redressal of Social Citizenship

Migration is today, as it has always been, a function of the search for greater opportunity. It is a well-known fact that the economic growth of a region rests on economic agents moved from less affluent places to an employment-oriented industrial sector. Development gains result in both the sending and receiving regions. However, it has been observed that a close relationship exists between development gains resulting from migration and protection of rights of potential actors in the growth of the economy of origin and destination regions. The place from which these workers come and those in which they work have a shared responsibility to lessen the burdens on them by protecting and promoting their rights.

Exploring Institutional and Socio-Economic Settings for the Development of Energy Communities in Europe

Energy communities (ECs), intended as collective action initiatives in the energy field involving citizens’ participation, have been gaining relevance for the past decades as an alternative way to organize the energy chain to challenge the incumbent system. With Europe’s recently adopted Clean Energy Package, ECs found a formal recognition by the European Union as potential actors of the transition of the energy system towards a wider and more decentralized use of renewable sources. Although the potential role of ECs in the transition is therefore hardly questionable, a thorough comprehension of the enabling factors that might foster their diffusion and scaling up is still lacking. Through a comparative analysis of the evolutionary trajectories in six EU countries regarding their energy systems, their regulatory frameworks and their historical evolution of ECs, namely through the example of cooperative models, this paper aims at providing some preliminary evidence about the factors and dynamics that seem to have played, and may play, a role in hampering or facilitating EC model diffusion. Attention is therefore specifically paid to three dimensions of analysis referring to: the energy mix and market structure; the institutional and policy landscape; the wider social attitudes towards environmental issues and cooperation among citizens. In addition to providing a wide comparison of different EU countries, the paper shows that the historical evolution pathways have to be carefully taken into account to understand what might trigger ECs exploitation in the EU.

A Community-partnered Approach to Social Network Data Collection for a Large and Partial Network

In the small town of Sitka, Alaska, frequent and often catastrophic landslides threaten residents. One challenge associated with disaster preparedness is access to timely and reliable risk information. As with many small but diverse towns, who or what is a trustworthy source of information is often contested. To help improve landslide communication in Sitka, we used a community-partnered approach to social network analysis to identify (1) potential key actors for landslide risk communication and (2) structural holes that may inhibit efficient and equitable communication. This short take describes how we built trust and developed adaptive data collection methods to build an approach that was acceptable and actionable for Sitka, Alaska. This approach could be useful to other researchers for conducting social network analysis to improve risk communication, particularly in rural and remote contexts.

The impact of participatory dementia research on researchers: A systematic review.

Participatory approaches are increasingly required and used in research. In this review, we examined the impact (benefits and disadvantages) of participatory dementia research on researchers as potential key actors to sustainably implement the participatory approach. Our aim was to provide information on how the participatory process could be improved. We conducted a systematic literature review covering the Cochrane Library, PsycNet, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria for publications were as follows: research (1) involving people with dementia as co-researchers, (2) including a description or discussion of the impact of participatory research for researchers, (3) published between 2000 and 2020, and (4) in English. We performed a quality assessment of the included publications. Our final review included nine publications; three categorized as high quality, five as medium quality, and one as low quality. Four of the publications categorized as high or medium quality implemented participation at the level of partnership, and two publications implemented participation at the level of delegated power. The beneficial impact of participatory dementia research on researchers consisted of an increased understanding of people with dementia that widened researchers' theoretical knowledge and perspectives and increased their competence in working with people with dementia. Disadvantages comprised the required additional effort and time as well as the difficulty of establishing a balanced relationship between researchers and co-researchers. Disadvantages may result from the lack of a definition and structure of participatory research and a lack of training on both sides. More well-designed and transparent methods of evaluating participatory research projects are needed.