Vision Of Integration Research Articles

Two sides of the same coin? Exploring the relation between safety and security in high-risk organizations

IntroductionWhile safety in high-risk organizations has been high on the agenda for multiple decades, these organizations are now increasingly concerned about security threats. In light of this, academics and institutions have set forth the vision of a synergistic integration of safety and security, warranted by their common goal to protect people and the environment. However, it is not always clear how this vision should be enacted on the work floor. While safety and security policies share some elements, recent studies point out that their practical enactments may diverge and lead to potential tensions.Methods: Using an empirically grounded inquiry within a nuclear research center, this paper analyzes how safety and security practices interact. Our analysis reveals that, while they contain similar management frameworks and practical means, safety and security interactions are also characterized by various tensions. Mobilizing paradox theory, we highlight how these tensions are (to a large extent) rooted in three underlying paradoxes: distrust vs trust; transparency vs confidentiality; and movement enablement vs movement restriction.Practical Applications: We discuss the practical implications of these findings and, based on these, we argue that an integrated approach to safety and security should, rather than sideline tensions, promote the creation of ‘tension venues.’ Such tension venues offer spaces for reflection, and as such would enable the co-creation of innovative measures to articulate safety and security.

Multi-dimensional boundary effects and regional economic integration: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt

While the challenges posed by multi-dimensional boundary effects to global economic integration are studied widely, regional economic integration within a sovereign country requires additional analysis. The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), a super-scale interprovincial area including three nested urban alliances, is a meaningful vision of regional economic integration in China. After building the producer services-based urban corporate network, this study investigates the influence of multi-dimensional boundary effects on regional economic integration by social network analysis and the exponential random graph model. The findings show that the fragmented reality of YREB’s economy is significantly different from the vision of the Chinese central government. More specifically, although the natural boundary restraints represented by distance have disappeared, multi-dimensional barriers to regional economic integration are still posed by administrative, policy, economic, and cultural boundaries. The estimation results pass the robustness test of the grouping sample of producer services. Therefore, we confirm that the multi-dimensional boundary effects, particularly the intangible ones, significantly impact regional economic integration even within a country with a top-down ‘strong’ governance.

Federalists and the Beginnings of the Council of Europe: Converting Institutions and Opinion to Supranationality (1949–1951)

In 1949, it seemed that Western governments were ready to accept some delegation of sovereignty, which met the ambitions of increasingly well-organised Europeanists. One of the most ambitious advances was the proposal for a European Assembly, which could have heralded the beginning of an integration process. However, on this point, as on many others, there was not total agreement between the unionists and the federalists: for some, the Assembly was simply a co-operation structure, while others thought it should be a constituent body. The federalists—who had been united since December 1946 within the European Union of Federalists (EUF), which claimed to have no fewer than 150,000 members—were very demanding. After the adoption of the Statute of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949, the EUF Central Committee approved a “motion on the Consultative Assembly” in which it openly demanded the drafting of a federal pact that would lead to real European power. Faced with the modest intergovernmental status of the Council of Europe, the EUF proposed that the Assembly of this Council should be transformed from a “consultative” to a “constituent” assembly, which amounted to condemning any kind of conciliatory attitude. Therefore, the constituent path was becoming more and more important within the federalist organisation: it was now a matter of pressing, without restraint, for the triumph of ideals freed from initial reluctance, in the most diverse forums. The most important of these remained the Council of Europe, which was, in the eyes of the federalists, an institution that could be improved. Defending an integrated Europe, the federalists called for the creation of a democratic power on the scale of the challenges of the time, which seemed to them to exceed that of the nation states. To achieve this, they defended a “political” vision of integration, of which the Council of Europe could be the spearhead. It is this struggle, which took place at a time when the construction of Europe seems to be based on a simple but firm act of will, that this article will examine.

Tissue Wrapping Augmentation for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) has become a popular surgery in orthopedic practice today, and the technique has evolved significantly over time. Surgical procedure, graft choice, and fixation systems have varied over the years. Nonetheless, several challenges like insufficient graft ligamentization, tunnel enlargement, and insufficient reestablishment of proprioception remain in ACLR. A vision of better graft healing and integration for improved outcomes after ACLR introduced the idea of the biological ACLR. Various techniques with growth factors, cellular therapies, or tissue augment have been researched with ACLR surgery for better integration and ligamentization. This review highlights the tissue wrappingmodalities currently being explored in biological ACLR.

Проблеми та переваги впровадження категорійного управління на вітчизняних підприємствах

Categorical management has been gaining great popularity in the world since the 2000s. In the domestic market, categorical management began to gain momentum only in 2015. Its advantages are obvious compared to the traditional management model, however, categorical management is not a universal solution to all problems. The data of enterprises show that only 6% of enterprises did not have a positive effect from the introduction of categorical management, the rest of the companies had: increased turnover, margins, average check, inventory turnover, increase in the number of customers and total profit. All this indicates that the problems of implementation of categorical management in domestic enterprises should be resisted and solved, because it will help increase their competitiveness. Among the main tasks of category management are: optimization and formation of the company's product range, selection and selection of strategies and business models for each of the product categories, the implementation of automation of category management and more. In the era of e-commerce, categorical management is becoming more popular thanks to online stores and social media stores, of which Instagram and Facebook are the most popular. Due to the division of the company's range into product categories, its time management also becomes more effective. Among the problems of implementation of categorical management at domestic enterprises are: lack of time, financial resources and qualified personnel; insufficient understanding of the mechanism of categorical management by employees, lack of a unified vision of integration into business processes; resistance of personnel to changes; lack of a single clear strategy and automated system; insufficient motivation of top management. There are criteria for the readiness of the enterprise to apply categorical management, namely: mastery of employees in the methodology of categorical management; optimization of organizational structure in accordance with the principles of categorical management, etc. According to these criteria, many domestic enterprises, especially small and medium-sized businesses, are not ready to implement this business category. There are also different concepts of categorical management: impulsive, target, seasonal, routine, competence. All these concepts have their own characteristics according to which the product can be classified. In the future, this facilitates the process of categorical management and not only that, which should serve as an incentive for the introduction of categorical management in domestic enterprises.

Harmonious or disjointed?: Epistemological framing and its role in an integrated science and engineering activity

AbstractScience reforms in national K‐12 science education standards position engineering as a discipline that can be productively integrated into science curricula. This integrated approach presents science as foundational to engineering and engineering as a tool to contextualize and reinforce science ideas such that students come to develop understandings about the natural and engineered worlds. To better understand if integrating engineering into science classrooms achieves the promise described in national reforms, we explored how elementary school students came to understand what is expected of them when asked to engage in an integrated science and engineering unit and whether their understandings represent epistemologically productive ways of integrating the doing of science and engineering. For this purpose, we examined video recordings, transcripts, and classroom artifacts of tasks from a 9‐week unit contextualized in an engineering challenge in which students engaged in activities to explore, design, and build simple circuits devices to develop explanations of energy movement in a circuit. Our findings suggest that an integrated approach may be more problematic than promising; while at times students took up integrated tasks as opportunities to wonder about, question, and explore materials that sparked their interest, their framing of the tasks did not align with the vision for integration called for in current reform documents.

Mobility as a service or mobility as commons?

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a relatively fast-growing emerging technology based on a vision of integration and user-friendliness in mobility systems, based on a “mobility platform” approach. Considering that most of the literature so far does not take an explicitly critical attitude towards this emerging technology, this paper considers the great uncertainties and implications for the socio-technical domains in and out of everyday mobility. The analysed implications also refer to the set of innovation actors, as well as the institutions and patterns of interaction between them. The conclusion is that the technological transition of MaaS from a niche to a mobility regime requires the convergence of several socio-technical factors of societal digitalization, the development of a wider infrastructure, and a regulatory system change. To avoid the potential undesired effects of MaaS, transport policy and institutions for managing technological development will need to recognize the underlying problems at the root of further activities, ranging from depoliticization to fundamental theoretical questions about the essence of the mobility commons.

Responding to Socioeconomic Diversity in the European Union (and to Steven Klein’s Essay) with Democracy-Enhancing Conflicts Law

Responding to Socioeconomic Diversity in the European Union (and to Steven Klein’s Essay) with Democracy-Enhancing Conflicts Law

The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: Aiding Intra-African trade towards deeper continental integration

The signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) reflected many years of hard work by the continent’s forefathers who include Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Frantz Fanon of Algeria, but to mention a few. The AfCFTA also depicts the novel work of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), and later the African Union (AU), towards shaping a vision of continental integration, embedded in the vision of the African Economic Community (AEC), a by-product of the Abuja Treaty. Vision 2030 and the long-term continental vision of Agenda 2063: ‘The Africa We Want’ are also designed to contribute towards deeper and successful continental integration. However, by now the excitement over the AfCFTA signing has subsided. For each member state, the reality of being an AfCFTA party has started to sink in. Some member states have expressed concern and fear over problems such as opening their markets and accepting continental competition, allowing free movement of persons and trade across borders. Others find it too expensive to deal with the internal political fallout from their populace’s scepticism regarding the agreement’s effects on jobs (due to increased competition) and livelihoods. This article examines the AfCFTA to determine its impact and related advantages in respect of continental trade policies. It discusses the advantages of the AfCFTA and its potential challenges.

ІММІГРАЦЙНЕ ПИТАННЯ ТА МОДЕЛЬ ІНТЕГРАЦІЇ ІММІГРАНТІВ У ФРАНЦУЗЬКЕ СУСПІЛЬСТВО В ДРУГІЙ ПОЛОВИНІ ХХ СТОЛІТТЯ

The politics of integration in France which was being constructed in the late 1980s and the 1990s was researched in this article. The primary written sources used in the analysis are different types including legislation laws, analytical note, statistical and press materials. The historiographical basis of the study consisted of several works written by researchers of integration, citizenship and nationalism, whose views differ on the assessment of the model of integration. The necessity to develop a model for the politics of integration of immigrants into French society appeared in the early 1980s. The Commission was opened due to contradictions between politicians regarding the vision of integration of foreigners and second-generation immigrants and should have resolved differences on this issue. Eventually, the Commission's proposals formed the basis of the integration model, but provoked a strong public reaction in the late 1980s. Thus, the model of integration of immigrants into French society was formed in the late 1990s, which was based on the idea of citizenship. Obtaining the citizenship by the foreigner indicates the conscious transition to French nationality and access to integration institutions.

The Making of “Self-Sufficient” Citizens: The “Civic Turn” and the Neoliberal Vision of Integration in the French Naturalisation Process

Scholars have often underlined that the “civic turn” promotes a communitarian vision of integration that aims to defend the moral if not ethnocultural foundations of the national community. Although this article does not dismiss that claim, it reflects on the paradoxical combination of that vision with a neoliberal vision of integration in the French context. Through the analysis of the condition of “professional integration” for naturalisation, the article investigates whether economic performance requirements for the granting of French citizenship stand in contradiction with the communitarian dimension of the “civic turn” or whether they support each other. To answer this question, the article draws on administrative archives and on case law from early twentieth century onwards, as well as on interviews with French civil servants and also with lawyers and judges.

Party Positions on Differentiated European Integration in the Nordic Countries: Growing Together, Growing Apart?

The Nordic countries constitute an interesting laboratory for the study of differentiated European Integration. Even though Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden share some historical, cultural, socio-economic and political characteristics, all those countries have ultimately opted for a different kind of relationship with the EU. Whereas Finland, a member of the Eurozone since its inception in 1999, has been considered to be part of the Union’s ‘inner core’ for quite some time, Iceland and Norway, in contrast, have opted to remain outside the EU albeit closely associated via the European Economic Area Agreement. The variation of relationships has also been reflected in Nordic parties’ positioning vis-à-vis European integration in general and differentiation of European integration in particular. Broadly speaking, party families can be distinguished along traditional (e.g., agrarian, Christian democratic, conservative, and social democratic) and modern (e.g., socialist left, green, and populist radical right) ideological orientations. Although political parties belonging to both the traditional and modern Nordic party families have adopted different stances on European differentiated integration, we would assume—against the backdrop of Nordic cooperation—higher levels of transnational cooperation in European matters. Consequently, this article examines the similarities and differences between parties belonging to the same ideological family, and the extent of transnational party cooperation in the Nordic countries. Drawing on a series of interviews conducted with party representatives as well as on official party documents, this article shows that although institutionalized party cooperation mostly reflects divisions between party families, such institutionalization does not include a common vision for European integration. We conclude that the low level of partisan Nordic integration is primarily caused by domestic-level factors, such as intra-party divisions, government participation and public opinion.

An EU budget of states and citizens

AbstractIn a European Union of states and citizens, the budget of the Union continues to function principally as a budget between states. Despite various attempts over the decades to introduce reforms aimed at strengthening the connection with citizens, the budgetary system has shown itself to be resistant to change. However, the landmark agreements of 2020 on the new multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021–2027, own resources and recovery plan (Next Generation EU [NGEU]) packages potentially open up new possibilities to move beyond the logic of juste retour and promote a more positive vision of European budgetary integration, founded on solidarity between states and citizens and coordinated action at all levels of governance. Building on the developments of 2020, this contribution assesses how the Conference on the Future of Europe might explore options to further strengthen the profile of the Union budget as a ‘budget of citizens’, as well as a ‘budget of states’.

Digitally Engaged? Reflections and recommendations for engaging citizens in smart cities

A significant cultural shift occurred over recent decades, with the majority of the world’s population now living in cities and contributing over two thirds of global carbon emissions. If countries around the world are to meet challenging global carbon reduction targets, then how our cities are governed and managed to maximize energy efficiency is of vital importance. Faith is increasingly being placed in what are commonly referred to as ‘smart cities.’ Smart cities seemingly offer a utopian vision of urban integration, efficiency and [subsequent] carbon reductions, yet urbanisation presents real challenges, as noted by Sustainable Development Goal 11: “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. Cities are made up of people and increasingly both policymakers and practitioners are starting to see citizens as an essential stakeholder, even if there is a blurring over the boundaries between citizens and consumers. It is unclear what these people actually refer to when they talk about citizen engagement. Adopting key theoretical underpinning of ladder of participation (Arnstein), this research will present findings from case studies of novel citizen engagement from around the world, notably Nottingham (UK), Espoo (Finland) and Portland (USA). Utilising semi-structured interview material findings are analysed through critical framework of citizen engagement to see whether they fulfil the notion of smart cities and communities. Specifically, new forms of engagement that do not fit previously held assumptions around participation need to be considered. Recommendations are provided for increasing new forms of citizen engagement in smart city strategies in order to ensure they are fully adopted and embedded.

A Nonaligned Business World: The Global Socialist Enterprise between Self-Management and Transnational Capitalism

AbstractThis article explores the role of Yugoslav self-managed corporations in the global economy, with a particular attention to the late socialist period (1976–1991). Guided by a vision of a long-term integration of the Yugoslav economy into the international division of labor on the basis of equality and mutual interest, by the late 1970s the country’s foreign trade and hard currency revenue was boosted by a number of globally oriented corporate entities, some of which survived the demise of socialism and the dissolution of the country. These enterprises had a leading role as the country’s principal exporters and as the fulcrum of a web of economic contacts and exchanges between the Global South, Western Europe, and the Soviet Bloc. The article seeks to fill a historiographic gap by focusing on two major Yugoslav enterprises (Energoinvest and Pelagonija) that were based in the less-developed federal republics—Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. The article also investigates the transnational flow of ideas around the so-called “public enterprise,” its embeddedness in an interdependent global economy, and its visions for equitable development. Finally, the article explores these enterprises as enablers of social mobility and welfare, as well as spaces where issues of efficiency, planning, self-reliance, and self-management were negotiated.

TRABALHO DE CAMPO EM BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA NO ENSINO DE GEOGRAFIA E OS COMPONENTES FÍSICO-NATURAIS

O presente artigo tem como objetivo principal apresentar a estratégia de ensino do trabalho de campo em bacia hidrográfica como proposta metodológica potencializadora para a mobilização dos componentes físico-naturais. A concepção do trabalho de campo desenvolvida nesta investigação está baseada numa abordagem processual, crítica e participativa. É processual por estabelecer um conjunto de sequências didáticas no planejamento escolar do professor, a saber, pré-campo, campo e pós-campo. É crítica ao desenvolver operações mentais investigativas que corroboram no pensamento indagativo e reflexivo junto aos escolares. E, por último, é participativa pois desenvolve a organização conjunta dos escolares no planejamento, pesquisa e registro durante a realização desta estratégia de ensino. Norteou-se pela pesquisa qualitativa em educação associada ao gênero de pesquisa participante, ao envolver os sujeitos pesquisador e investigados em um ambiente escolar público do Ensino Médio na cidade de Porangatu-GO. O percurso investigativo revelou que o desenvolvimento do trabalho de campo na bacia hidrográfica do córrego Barreiro-GO potencializou a construção de temas, conteúdos e componentes físico-naturais atrelados ao relevo, rede hidrográfica e impactos ambientais na Geografia Escolar. A proposta do trabalho de campo desenvolveu uma visão de integração apoiada na conjunção do conceito de paisagem ao articular o espaço vivido pelos escolares na leitura de mundo, reconhecendo-os como sujeitos ativos do seu processo de apreensão de conhecimentos. Palavras-chave Trabalho de campo, Estratégia de ensino, Bacia hidrográfica, Componentes físico-naturais

Constitutional Pluralism and Authoritarianism

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between constitutional pluralism and authoritarianism. It does so since the Weiss decision of the FCC spurred unusual attacks on constitutional pluralism. This particular theoretical vision of European integration has been described as inherently dangerous and its abandonment has been called for out of chiefly instrumentalist reasons, in order to prevent constitutional pluralism turning into an autocrats’ refuge. The article argues this critique of constitutional pluralism does not succeed. Due to its truncated, exclusively positivist understanding of constitutional pluralism, it has failed to take into account pluralism’s normative core. The latter presents itself an antipode to authoritarianism, which means that the autocratic regimes simply cannot credibly avail themselves of the theory of constitutional pluralism to justify their authoritarian actions.

Two worlds collide? The role of Chinese traditions and Western influences in Chinese preservice teachers’ perceptions of appropriate technology use

AbstractThis study reports Chinese preservice teachers’ perceptions of appropriate technology use in early childhood education (ECE). China provides an interesting but understudied research context as research into technology use in the early years is western‐centric and the contemporary Chinese ECE is characterized as a hybrid combining traditional Chinese values and Western influences which differ from each other in a rather fundamental manner. Interpretive analysis of qualitative interviews with eight purposefully selected preservice teachers revealed three intertwining determinants as appropriate technology use: objective, time and context. Both, Chinese cultural traditions and Western educational ideas were evident in shaping the participants’ perceptions of appropriate technology use, with the former being the major influence in restraining the preservice teachers’ vision and understanding of technology integration. Implications for teacher education, educational policies and future research are discussed.

More that unites us than divides us? A qualitative study of integration of community health and social care services

BackgroundThe integration of community health and social care services has been widely promoted nationally as a vital step to improve patient centred care, reduce costs, reduce admissions to hospital and facilitate timely and effective discharge from hospital. The complexities of integration raise questions about the practical challenges of integrating health and care given embedded professional and organisational boundaries in both sectors. We describe how an English city created a single, integrated care partnership, to integrate community health and social care services. This led to the development of 12 integrated neighbourhood teams, combining and co-locating professionals across three separate localities. The aim of this research is to identify the context and the factors enabling and hindering integration from a qualitative process evaluation.MethodsTwenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with equal numbers of health and social care staff at strategic and operational level. The data was subjected to thematic analysis.ResultsWe describe three key themes: 1) shared vision and leadership; 2) organisational factors; 3) professional workforce factors. We found a clarity of vision and purpose of integration throughout the partnership, but there were challenges related to the introduction of devolved leadership. There were widespread concerns that the specified outcome measures did not capture the complexities of integration. Organisational challenges included a lack of detail around clinical and service delivery planning, tensions around variable human resource practices and barriers to data sharing. A lack of understanding and trust meant professional workforce integration remained a key challenge, although integration was also seen as a potential solution to engender relationship building.ConclusionsGiven the long-term national policy focus on integration this ambitious approach to integrate community health and social care has highlighted implications for leadership, organisational design and inter-professional working. Given the ethos of valuing the local assets of individuals and networks within the new partnership we found the integrated neighbourhood teams could all learn from each other. Many of the challenges of integration could benefit from embracing the inherent capabilities across the integrated neighbourhood teams and localities of this city.

The Cosmopolitan and the Federal Margins of Appreciation

“This paper attempts to explain how the difference between a cosmopolitan and a federal vision of integration is relevant to understanding judicial deference and the margin of appreciation that results from it. It will point out, first, why participation in the convention system invests constitutional law with a cosmopolitan dimension. It then sketches how the cosmopolitan dimension of the convention system gives rise to a particular—possibly even the only defensible—understanding of the margin of appreciation. After contrasting this understanding with the role that such a margin plays within federal contexts, the papers explain why systems of fundamental rights protection remain steeped, necessarily, in indeterminacy. Ultimately, they are based not on law but on mutual trust. This is key to understanding their inherent “pluralism”.“