Suchergebnisse

A little known provision of the North America Trade Agreement (NAFTA) legislation of 1993 is a mechanism that assists displaced workers with an interest in becoming entrepreneurs and small business owners. A program named the Self Employment Assistance Program (SEAP) was created and implemented in a number of states in the 1990s to do just that. SEAP facilitates entrepreneurial and small business management training and assistance to displaced workers. This article summarizes the experience and findings from Indiana University of Pennsylvania's SEAP program, which has provided assistance to over two hundred displaced workers in a tri-county area of western Pennsylvania between 1998 and 2003. The results support the contention that entrepreneurs can be "made" (or at least "assisted") even when they are confronted with less than optimal circumstances. Moreover, the findings suggest that the most reliable predictor of "success" was participation in the program itself, not entrepreneurial predisposition, education, aptitudes, or other factors that would be expected to positively influence success. Based on the success criteria established by the state of Pennsylvania, this program produced a "success rate " of 83%. Using an "up and running" criterion to define a successful entrepreneur, a 70% success rate was achieved. The framework for this entrepreneurial training program is also presented.

This study presents the case of a Metropolitan Municipality in the Aegean Region of Turkey, which undertook a series of initiatives to conduct projects on environmental protection and sustainability. This case study was conducted as two separate studies as a part of Horizon 2020-funded ECHOES project under Work Package 6, aiming to gain insight into the collective magnitudes of energy-related choices and behavior. The starting point of the process is marked, in 2015, by the municipality becoming a party to the Covenant of Mayors movement, joining around 8,000 signatories from over 50 countries. In line with European Union's (EU's) climate targets and associated energy-related policies, signatories of the Covenant of Mayors aim to decrease carbon emissions by 20% by 2020 and by 40% by 2030. In order to enhance the design and operationalization of policies for achieving these targets, each partner in the Covenant of Mayors is required to develop a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). The SEAP is to be prepared within 2 years of becoming a party to the Covenant of Mayors and involves action plans and projects in order to operationalize the strategies for achieving the associated targets. To this end, this study analyzes the Metropolitan Municipality's SEAP and its components, which include zero-emission public transportation project, transformation of existing buildings to a more energy-efficient standard and related energy audit studies, a project for decreasing waiting periods in traffic via a Smart Traffic System, a pedestrianization project, and a project for increasing the use of geothermal energy for district heating. This study set out to identify the internal and external factors, as well as bottom-up and top-down mechanisms involved in various phases of the preparation and implementation of the SEAP. The research method was expert interviews, incorporating viewpoints and perceptions of stakeholders from different levels of the municipality. Among the key results are understanding the roles of enthusiasts ...

Este artigo tem como objetivo discutir as políticas públicas aplicadas durante a pandemia nos presídios estaduais e federais do Rio Grande do Norte (RN). Para a realização deste estudo, foram utilizados dados qualitativos e quantitativos do Departamento Penitenciário Nacional (DEPEN), referentes às medidas de combate à Covid-19 e dados da Secretaria Estadual de Administração Penitenciária (SEAP/RN). Como resultados, observou-se que no estado do RN, em abril de 2020, foi decretada a suspensão total das visitas de familiares aos internos, consultas com advogados e defensores públicos. Nas prisões, foi implantado o projeto "cartas que falam", em que os presos podem receber e enviar cartas de até seis linhas para seus familiares, e "televisitas", que podem ser agendadas pelos familiares por meio do site da SEAP.

The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) launched in 2008, is a voluntary initiative supporting the development of energy efficiency and climate-change responsive strategies, oriented to the achievement of the EU climate neutrality by 2050. Every CoM Signatory outlines its commitments into practical measures and projects by a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP). Among these measures, good practices (successful examples) developed by Signatories, have been selected as effective results of their interventions. The work focuses on the CoM Small Municipalities, highlighting the main features from their SECAPs and good practices, and selecting the suitable ones for the case study proposed of Castelsaraceno Municipality.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Original Title Page -- Original Copyright Page -- Dedication Page -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- List of Tables -- SeCAP Publications -- SeCAP Directors -- Chapter 1 Nuclear Dilemmas and Asian Security: Problems of Coalition Defense in the Nuclear Era -- Introduction: The Dilemma of Deterring the Soviet Union -- The Soviet Union's Asian Military Buildup: Seeking Security on the Far Eastern Frontier -- Regional Reactions to the Soviet Military Buildup in Asia -- U.S. and Allied Responses to the Growing Soviet Nuclear Threat in Asia -- Part One The Soviet Military Buildup in the Asia-Pacific Region -- Chapter 2 Asia in a Global Context: Strategic Issues for the Soviet Union -- The Soviet Union's Two-Front Security Problem -- Moscow's Far East Military Buildup and the China Challenge -- Trends in Northeast Asian Politico-Military Relations -- Limits and Vulnerabilities to the Soviet Position in Asia -- Chapter 3 The Soviet Far East Military Buildup: Motives and Prospects -- Trends in Soviet Nuclear Deployments -- New Weapon Systems in the Soviet Nuclear Inventory -- The Soviet Conventional Force Buildup in Asia -- Soviet Objectives in Indochina and Afghanistan -- Some General Conclusions -- Chapter 4 Thinking About the Nuclear Balance in Asia -- Assessing the Soviet Military Buildup in the Asia-Pacific Region -- Trends in Soviet Far East Nuclear Forces (SS-20s and Backfires) -- Thinking About the Nuclear Balance in Asia -- The Impact of the Soviet Nuclear Buildup on U.S. and Allied Security Interests -- Dealing with the Soviet Nuclear Buildup in Asia: Offshore Nuclear Forces and Improved Conventional Defenses -- Appendix: Nuclear Force Posture Characteristics -- Part Two Regional Perspectives on the Soviet Nuclear Threat.

During the 2000s–2010s, EU Commission and Parliament and European interest groups advanced a specific model of regulation. It combines, on one side, lobbyists self‐regulation—the codes of conduct for EU lobbying professionals' associations, such as SEAP and EPACA—with institutional nonbinding or "soft" regulation on the other side—the EU Transparency Register framework for registered interest groups, its code of conduct, the related system of checks, alerts, and complaints about interest groups misconduct put forward by the EU Joint Transparency Register Secretariat, the list of Dos and Don'ts by the EU Ombudsman. This paper examines the peculiar lobbying self‐regulation and soft regulation tools and practices, as implemented within the EU model: SEAP and EPACA codes of conduct, EU Transparency Register, EU Interest Groups Code of Conduct, Commissioners and MPs codes of conduct, the procedures of the EU Joint Transparency Register Secretariat, and the Ombudsman list of Dos and Don'ts, underlining their growing impact on interest groups registration to the EU Transparency Register. This EU innovative regulatory model‐based on a peculiar mix of self‐regulation and institutional, incentive‐based, soft regulation‐stands as a concrete alternative to the traditional North American top‐down binding regulatory pattern. The EU model is based on a participatory, cooperative, and pragmatic dialogue between European policy makers and interest groups. Clarifying the concept, the nature, and the functions of this model, while underlining its peculiarity is the purpose of this paper.

In this article, we will discuss about the potential of renewable energies available in a relatively small territorial context, such as municipalities, and the various problems interfering with a full exploitation of said potential. Since the launch of Covenant of Mayors, CoM, in 2008, thousands of local governments committed on volunteer basis in reaching or even exceeding, to the EU targets with regards to climate change and renewable energies for the years to come. Every local government committed to the CoM needs to produce the SEAP (Sustainable Energy Action Plan), which highlights the actions that the government is willing to implement in order to achieve the target set by the CoM (referred either to the 2020 or to the 2030). While studying the local context, many problems of various nature often arise which can be detrimental for the full exploitation of the potential of renewable resources available. This article displays a few examples of local governments located around the world and the problems encountered while writing their SEAP, related to geographical position, types of agricultural, industrial and commercial activities in the area, plants already operative, financial situation of the local government and the population living in the area. The possible areas of intervention include energy efficiency works on public and private buildings, traffic reduction strategies, energy recovery systems applied to factories and industrial plants, solar thermal, photovoltaic and wind power installations, material and energy recovery processes applied to waste management and hydroelectric power installations. © 2019 WIT Press ; ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research was supported by the Municipality of Oppeano (Italy) and by Act 211 Government of the Russian Federation, contract № 02.A03.21.0006.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1807-0221.2017v14n25p142Este artigo visa apresentar atividades desenvolvidas por projeto de extensão universitária que teve como objetivo promover espaço de escuta, conversação e reflexão sobre vínculos afetivos com pessoas cumprindo pena em unidades semiabertas da Secretaria de Administração Penitenciária do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (SEAP). Serão aqui informados e discutidos os resultados obtidos nos cinco encontros efetuados em quatro unidades de regime semiaberto, onde foram realizados grupos com detentos. Observou-se a importância de desenvolver atividades que possibilitem trabalhar a transição do momento vivido dentro do regime prisional para o contexto extramuros, colaborando-se com a reflexão sobre projetos de vida em liberdade.

Owners and municipalities face the choice to renovate or rebuild buildings in order to improve energy efficiency and sustainability. The process of upgrading the existing building stock can be supported by land management tools, i.e., municipal energy plans (MEP) or sustainable building codes (BC), that municipalities use to plan, check and monitor actions taken. Many local and regional authorities are involved in the Covenant of Mayors supported by the European Union (EU): the sustainable energy action plan (SEAP) is the key document in which the Covenant signatory outlines how it intends to reach CO2 reduction target by 2020. Sustainability at the urban scale is also supported by voluntary certification schemes such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)® for neighbourhood development proposed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Communities proposed by UK Building Research Establishment (BRE) and Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) for Urban Development proposed by the Japan GreenBuild Council. The fact that there are so many tools to manage urban sustainability is positive, but what happens when multiple tools are applied to the same territory? Overlap, redundancy, and conflicts in management may be critical elements. The purpose of this article is to analyze these critical issues, highlighting the elements of integration and possible synergies for effective management of sustainability at the local level.

The city of Turku is located in southwest Finland, in Northern Europe. Founded in 1229, it is the country&rsquo ; s oldest city. It is situated around the Aura River, which flows into the Baltic Sea, making it an ideal location for its 184,000 inhabitants and 20,000 enterprises. In June 2018, the city unveiled an ambitious climate plan to be carbon neutral by 2029. This plan was prepared according to the common model of the European Union (EU) (SECAP, Sustainable energy and climate action plan) with key milestones for years 2021, 2025, and 2029. It focuses on both adaptation and mitigation strategies with six measures outlined as necessary to meet the targets, two of which directly target citizen outreach and engagement. These two measures focus on mobilizing communities as partners in the climate plan and on raising awareness of climate change. Given its significance to the plan, this paper examines stakeholder engagement in the City of Turku&rsquo ; s climate policies from a governance perspective. It asks the question, how does stakeholder participation materialize in the City of Turku&rsquo ; s carbon neutral planning process? It aims to give a snapshot of baseline stakeholder participation in the city&rsquo ; s carbon neutral aspirations. It has found that whilst the plan contains ambitions for stakeholder participation, it is not fully implemented. It recommends a citizen facilitated public participation steering group that aims to inspire citizens towards taking action and engaging in the decision-making process for a carbon neutral 2029.

Owners and municipalities face the choice to renovate or rebuild buildings in order to improve energy efficiency and sustainability. The process of upgrading the existing building stock can be supported by land management tools, i.e. , municipal energy plans (MEP) or sustainable building codes (BC), that municipalities use to plan, check and monitor actions taken. Many local and regional authorities are involved in the Covenant of Mayors supported by the European Union (EU): the sustainable energy action plan (SEAP) is the key document in which the Covenant signatory outlines how it intends to reach CO 2 reduction target by 2020. Sustainability at the urban scale is also supported by voluntary certification schemes such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ® for neighbourhood development proposed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Communities proposed by UK Building Research Establishment (BRE) and Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) for Urban Development proposed by the Japan GreenBuild Council. The fact that there are so many tools to manage urban sustainability is positive, but what happens when multiple tools are applied to the same territory? Overlap, redundancy, and conflicts in management may be critical elements. The purpose of this article is to analyze these critical issues, highlighting the elements of integration and possible synergies for effective management of sustainability at the local level.

Abstract In the European scene a breakthrough in the field of environmental sustainability is represented by the innovative model of multi-level governance, introduced by European Community in 2008, well known as the "Covenant of Mayors". It is an initiative that involves countries, cities and regions that voluntarily commit to reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases, through the so-called "20-20-20", that is to reduce by 2020 the 20% of CO2, generating 20% of energy from renewable sources with a reduction of the 20% of energy consumption. The aim of the initiative is to provide a practical tool in order to guide municipalities in the process of drafting a SEAP (Sustainable Energy Action Plan) according to the European Guidelines drawn up by the Covenant of Mayors Office (Co.MO). Since 2012 the new regional government of Sicily has followed carefully the initiative "Covenant of Mayors" by establishing a technical, scientific and organizational structure called "Control room for the Covenant of Mayors". The Control room has been as promoter of cultural activities with information and educational purpose, organizing and following meetings with many delegates of all municipalities in Sicily. This path led to a full participation of many Sicilian municipalities, recovering the previous gap during the early years of the initiative. In this analysis, a general overview about the participation of all regions of Italy is exposed, focusing the attention on on the virtuous path undertaken by the Region of Sicily. A more accurate statistical analysis by using several indexes has been conducted to better understand the strengths and weakness of this initiative.