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The program aims to build a theoretical framework and generate policy directions from the standpoint of marginalized women in the region; to broaden the conceptual horizon about gender and ICTs; and towards a politicization and radicalization of the 'access-centred' discourse. Core feminist questions about power, justice and equity will be addressed. An important part of the program is the generation of a network of learning among the researchers and research teams through exchange of resources. The report provides updates in research outputs and activities.

Meeting: Court of Women, 27-29 July, 2009, Bangalore, IN ; By placing the individual at the centre, new media promotes a version of participation that is commodified and conformist, where content democratization or plurality also means a coopted or controlled 'public'. Under the mask of multiplicity, there is a persistence of gender stereotypes and misogyny. The presentation deconstructs virtual reality and digital presence in terms of gender, and asks: What institutional frameworks are necessary to address the transnational corporate control of the media and public sphere?

Employee engagement continues to pose a challenge to parastatals. Consequently, governments have adopted the transformational leadership style as an effective method of enhancing employee engagement. Nevertheless, it is still unknown whether the establishment of transformational leadership dimensions has boosted employee engagement in the Kenyan energy sector parastatals. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of intellectual stimulation on employee engagement in parastatals in the energy sector in Kenya. Also, the study sought to determine the moderating influence of employee motivation on the relationship between intellectual stimulation and employee engagement. This study targeted the 10 parastatals within the energy sector in Kenya with a population of 315 middle-level managers. The study adopted a positivist research philosophy to examine the influence on intellectual stimulation on employee engagement and data was collected using structured questionnaires. A correlational research design was conducted with the purpose of determining the strength of the relationship between parameters of intellectual stimulation and employee engagement.The findings showed that employee engagement has a statistical significant relationship with creativity and innovation, r(166) = 0.540, p < 0.01; job design, r(166) = 0.452, p < 0.01 and employee involvement, r(166) = 0.512, p < 0.01. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that employee motivation positively and significantly moderates the relationship between intellectual stimulation and employee engagement, R2= .409, F(2, 159) = 55.115, p <.05; ? = 0.259, p <.01. The study concluded that creativity and innovation, job design, employee involvement, and employee motivation positively enhance employee engagement.

Employee engagement continues to pose a challenge to parastatals. Consequently, governments have adopted the transformational leadership style as an effective method of enhancing employee engagement. Nevertheless, it is still unknown whether the establishment of transformational leadership dimensions has boosted employee engagement in the Kenyan energy sector parastatals. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of intellectual stimulation on employee engagement in parastatals in the energy sector in Kenya. Also, the study sought to determine the moderating influence of employee motivation on the relationship between intellectual stimulation and employee engagement. This study targeted the 10 parastatals within the energy sector in Kenya with a population of 315 middle-level managers. The study adopted a positivist research philosophy to examine the influence on intellectual stimulation on employee engagement and data was collected using structured questionnaires. A correlational research design was conducted with the purpose of determining the strength of the relationship between parameters of intellectual stimulation and employee engagement.The findings showed that employee engagement has a statistical significant relationship with creativity and innovation, r(166) = 0.540, p < 0.01; job design, r(166) = 0.452, p < 0.01 and employee involvement, r(166) = 0.512, p < 0.01. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that employee motivation positively and significantly moderates the relationship between intellectual stimulation and employee engagement, R2= .409, F(2, 159) = 55.115, p <.05; β = 0.259, p <.01. The study concluded that creativity and innovation, job design, employee involvement, and employee motivation positively enhance employee engagement.

Tracking Change… is a new research initiative funded by the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada and led by the University of Alberta, the Traditional Knowledge Steering Committee of the Mackenzie River Basin Board, the Government of the Northwest Territories and many other valued partner organizations. Over six years (2015-2022), the project will fund local and traditional knowledge research activities in the Mackenzie River basin and sister projects in the Lower Amazon and Lower Mekong River Basins, with the long term goal of strengthening the voices of subsistence fishers and Indigenous communities in the governance of major fresh water ecosystems. The project developed in recognition that river systems are important social, economic, cultural and ecological places that contribute to the well-being of communities in diverse ways. River peoples, particularly Indigenous peoples who have well developed fishing livelihoods can offer extremely valuable insights about long term (historic and current) patterns of social and ecological change and the interconnections between the health and dynamics of these river systems and that of river communities. Although based on oral traditions, this system of observation or "tracking change" is much like monitoring. Like those who live on Canada's east and west coasts, the ability of Indigenous communities in the Mackenzie River Basin to maintain fishing as a livelihood practice is of social, economic and cultural importance to all of Canada; if this river system is not healthy, how can we be?

The Covid-19 pandemic has sped up our migration from the physical to the digital domain. With social distancing, our jobs and social interactions have increasingly played out online. This process, which was already in motion before the pandemic, has been turbo-charged as remote work has become the norm for millions of European professionals. At the same time, the digital domain has also been under-regulated, with governments taking a laissez-faire approach in terms of the rights and responsibilities of the largest technology companies. This seems to be coming to an end, as governments are increasingly signaling willingness to regulate this space to address privacy, competition or public debate issues. To tackle the great technological transformation of our time, public and private actors need to understand what is legitimate in the eyes of the citizens and what sort of technological future they may be ready to embrace. Failing to do so could result in resistance to technological change and even greater political polarization. Our annual survey, European Tech Insights, investigates attitudes towards technological change with the aim of understanding how technology is transforming our lives and how it should be governed. It seeks to shed light on the hopes and concerns of our technological future. In this edition, we focus on how the pandemic has altered our habits and perceptions with regards to healthcare, work, social networks and the urban space. More than a year after the outbreak of Covid-19, Europeans are still struggling to return to any form of pre-pandemic normality. While the long-lasting effects of the pandemic in our lives are yet to determined, our report unveils public opinion shifts that reveal the profound impact of this crisis. The findings of the study suggest a sense of growing public responsibility to address societal issues that have been exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic. At the onset of the pandemic, European solidarity deteriorated with closed borders, a lack of coordination and even ...

SUMMARY The Authority is required by legislation to review the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) every three years; this is its first review. The review has benefited from consultations with stakeholders from a range of sectors and the Authority thanks those who contributed. When introduced in 2011, the CFI was designed to complement the carbon pricing mechanism. Accordingly, it focused on sectors not covered by the carbon price, namely: agriculture, waste (in part), and land use, land use change and forestry. CFI projects earned credits that could be sold to entities with liabilities under the carbon pricing mechanism. The carbon price has since been repealed, and the CFI has been expanded to form the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) and now covers all sectors of the economy. The ERF is the central plank of the government's Direct Action Plan to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. It has been introduced through amendments to the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (Cth), which brings it within the scope of this review. For simplicity's sake, this report refers to the CFI as the scheme as originally configured, and the ERF as the scheme as approved by the parliament in November 2014. Under the ERF, the government will purchase emissions reductions through auctions (and possibly other means). Fixed-price contracts, typically for seven years, will be offered to those who are successful at auction. Other changes to streamline the scheme are also being introduced, and a safeguard mechanism (that will discourage large emitters from increasing their emissions above historical levels) is to commence in July 2016. While these changes are substantial, the ERF retains an essential characteristic of the CFI in that it credits projects for reducing emissions below a defined baseline, and the baseline reflects what would have been expected to occur in the absence of the scheme. The changes to the CFI are important for this review in two ways. First, as the scheme is being expanded to become the central ...

SUMMARY This is the Climate Change Authority's second review of the Renewable Energy Target (RET). The RET targets reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector and thereby contributes significantly to reducing Australia's overall emissions. In its 2012 review of the RET, the Authority found that the RET was stimulating considerable investment in renewable energy and argued that a stable and predictable policy was essential to sustain this investment. It concluded that no major changes were warranted to the overall RET design, but suggested some minor operational changes. The uncertain future of the Authority until recently has limited the time available to conduct this review. Largely for that reason, the Authority has focused on what, it its view, are the most important issues. The Authority has also drawn on both its 2012 Authority review, and on the review conducted this year by a panel headed by Mr Dick Warburton AO LVO. The RET and Australia's emissions reduction goals In 2010, when the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET) was set at 41,000 GWh, it was estimated that this contribution, with contributions from the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and other pre-existing renewables (notably hydro), would together represent at least 20 per cent of Australia's (then) projected total electricity demand in 2020. Given that electricity accounts for approximately one-third of Australia's emissions of greenhouse gases, renewable sources were seen as making a significant contribution to Australia's broader emissions reduction goals. Reducing emissions in the electricity sector plays a pivotal role in climate change policies around the world. Unchecked climate change is widely seen as posing serious risks for the Australian community and its economy. Together with the broader international community, Australia has agreed to a goal of limiting global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. This requires ...

This is an excerpt of a report series produced by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) aimed at providing current assessments of climate change science to inform public debate, policy, and operational decisions. The document contains a list of team members and authors, a memo to Congress, a table of contents, acknowledgements, recommended citations, a synopsis of the full report, and a preface.