Suchergebnisse

From the contents: Kenya/Bo Göransson -- Zambia/Jeremy Gould -- Nigeria/Jirin Ibrahim -- South Africa/Heidi Hudson

On August 11, 2006, in response to the 34-day summer war between Israel and Hizb'allah, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1701, which called for a more robust international military presence along the United Nations-drawn Blue Line dividing Israel and southern Lebanon. But the strengthened United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is likely to face a range of security threats that could undermine its peacekeeping duties and endanger its personnel. Among the more serious threats, underscored by intelligence reports over the past few years that indicate a growing al-Qaeda presence in Lebanon, is a catastrophic terrorist attack against UNIFIL by local salafist jihadist entities.

This study is the third in the series. The subject, Nordic urban research, is one that is increasing in importance. In 2007, for the first time in history, half of the world's population live, work, consume and pollute in cities. In the European Union, 80% of all citizens already live in urban areas. Consequently, many of the challenges we currently face, such as ensuring continued economic development, sustainable energy, public health and environmental quality are in part urban-based. In commissioning this study, NordForsk wished to explore the potential of Nordic research cooperation in the field of urban research as one means of meeting these chalenges.

This report tracks the history of historical responsibility in negotiations to and under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The concept aims at attributing individual country burdens in mitigating climate change based on the relative levels of past emissions. A hermeneutic approach and discursive theory has been applied to the empirical material consisting of documents form the main bodies of the UNFCCC. The historic narrative constitutes a basis for an analysis of how the UNFCCC framing of historical responsibility have affected discussions on equity and inclusiveness across the North-South divide. Even though the concept was part of the discursive struggle over the content of the UNFCCC, it has been more central in the struggle to make the principles on equity, established in the Convention, operational. Historical responsibility has been most elaborated in a proposal by Brazil to the 1997 pre-Kyoto negotiations. This proposal combined a biophysical approach (preferred by the North) with that of a political economic approach (preferred by the South). However, the proposal was soon pushed off the central agenda and discussions on the topic turned technical and centred on scientific uncertainties. The biophysical framing excluded discussions on equity. As the proposal was marginalised within UNFCCC as a whole it became central in discussions on comprehensive approaches to historical responsibility. Any who wanted to discuss comprehensive approaches were referred to this forum wherein talks on equity were excluded by rules of discussion. This echoes a world system with a periphery in the global South dependent upon core countries in the global North. The last mentioned have the capacity to set the agenda. The resulting discursive rules, excluding talks on equity, have not been good to the inclusiveness of Southern participants in the discussion process nor favoured much needed dialogue across the North/South divide in climate change negotiations.

Since the end of the 1980:s when OECD published the Brundtland report, in which the concept of sustainable development as a critical global issue was introduced, the role of education for global survival has been frequently discussed and explored, by politicians as well as researchers. In the report, sustainable development is defined as "…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs". In school curricula and practice, efforts have been made to include material and issues related to, for example, climate changes and nature resources in teaching and learning. Surprisingly little attention has however been paid to in what way and on what premises early childhood education may and should be involved. In our paper we will discuss some issues related to this. We will particularly bring forward and try to identify in what way preschool education can be seen as having a specific role in, and as carrying specific resources for, education for sustainable development. We will also discuss how the concept of learning in early education contexts can be related to sustainable development. As we see the concept of sustainable development as closely linked with citizenship, we will also consider this issue. Recent and on-going political transformations within the educational system in Sweden as well as planned and earlier research will serve as frames for our presentation.

Very few could disagree with the assertion that civic education is especially needed in societies that have recently freed themselves from authoritarian regimes. Education, which would aim at raising citizens' understanding of constitutional democracy, i.e. rule of law, limited government, individual rights, political participation, social activism. The main task of which would be to inculcate in adults that it is necessary to combine liberty with order, majority rule with minority rights, private rights with the public good. The question however, is how to overcome the communist legacy - that is, how to successfully combat indifference and distrust of citizens? The memory of the infamous 'political education' (wychowanie obywatelskie) is so strong that it still impedes many adults from attending any kind of non-vocational education. It also discourages many associations and institutions from including 'civics' in their educational offer. According to the few accessible studies presented in this report, the majority of adult Poles declare their attachment to democratic and liberal values. However, the "need for a democratic society is recognize rather than understood". As far as the research is concerned, general statements rather than actual research prevail in Polish academic publications. One can distinguish several reasons for that. As it was previously mentioned, education for democratic citizenship targeting adults is virtually non-existent in Poland. Thus, there is not much to be investigated. No purposeful, intentional courses in civics for adults are given – there are no interested providers or an interested public. ; LLL-EDC study, grant agreement n. 225292-CP-1-2005-1-DK-GRUNDTVIG-G1

When studying Adult Education for Democratic Citizenship (AEDC) or discussing the relationship between adult education and civil society, one can attribute an NGO, or the "Interesting and Relevant Initiatives" (IRIs) gathered for this project, three roles: (1) as a supplier of services to civil society; (2) as an organisation (or a group of organisations) which is part of civil society; (3) as an exemplary power which itself visibly adopts and fosters the mind set needed for civil society to flourish Altogether 24 Interesting and Relevant Initiatives (IRIs) were analysed in the nine countries involved: Austria (AT/2 IRIs), Germany (DE/2), Denmark (DK/3), Spain (ES/3), Hungary (HU/2), Poland (PL/5), Romania (RO/2), Slovenia (SL/2), United Kingdom (UK/2). ; LLL-EDC study, grant agreement n. 225292-CP-1-2005-1-DK-GRUNDTVIG-G1

Municipal and local governments seem to use other entities to a larger extent to organise and co-ordinate their activities. Thus the need and demand for consolidated financial statements has been observed in several countries as well as by international standard-setters such as the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). Sweden introduced consolidated financial statements in municipalities and local governments in the 1980s and is one of the few countries where consolidated financial statements for municipalities and local governments are fully implemented. The aim of this study is to analyse similarities and differences in the approach to consolidated financial statements in standards issued by the IPSASB and the Swedish Council for Municipal Accounting (SCMA). The analysis is based on data from documentary studies and interviews. The results show that the two standard-setters approach the problem of consolidation quite differently. While the IPSASB seems to emphasise decision-making, the SCMA accentuates accountability. As a result, the standard-setters come to different conclusions about such matters as concept of control, valuation and methods of consolidation.

Power, Citizenship & Individual Development Plans Individual Development Plans (IDP) are plans made by teachers, parents and children to target specific parts of the development of an individual child. The plans should not be confused with grades, which children in the Swedish education system do not receive until the age of fifteen, in future possibly from the age of seven. Rather IDPs are aim oriented plans and strategies to stimulate the development of the child. IDPs are compulsory according to the Swedish Compulsory School Ordinance from 2006. The aim of the study is to describe and discuss how power relations between teachers, parents and children work within the processes of the formulation of IDPs. Also, how these plans could be understood against the background of the education for democratic citizenship of children. Before 2006 children did not receive any grades before the age of fifteen. Instead they had individual development talks which over the years have been framed in different ways. They could be called parental talks, 'quarter of an hour talks' or individual development talks, but the overall aim of these talks was to discuss the development of a child between teacher and parent or between teacher, parent and child. Usually these talks were in the form of information about the previous development of a child from the teacher to the parents and the child. With the introduction of Individual Development Plans the idea was to produce plans which did not only assess but also formulated aims for the future development of a child. It also involved ideals of a possible influence of the child and its parents in formulating these aims. Power relations became thereby in focus in a different way from before. Earlier there was a very specific view upon the ways in which the development of a child could be described, discussed and stimulated. That is, not by means of grades formulated in terms of figures or letters but rather by means of lengthy information through words and narratives. Despite the ...

This paper will compare tele-nursing in the UK and Sweden and explore how the formation of the same practice at different times and within different institutional and political contexts, shaped the work organisation outcomes for tele-nurses. It will examine whether a 'dominant recipe' is emerging on how to produce health care through the call centre format; or alternatively, whether institutional diversity between the two societies continues to produce national models of tele-nursing. The two cases are critical, because in England a central plan for access to health care through a call centre format has been centrally driven by the state within an environment where the call centre industry is an established and powerful sector. Sweden has a regional organisation for health care and the development of tele-nursing has been heterogeneous. However to some degree the case of NHS Direct has been a background model for Swedish planners. Therefore the paper will address the question of diffusion or continued institutional diversity, with a strong focus on the effects of different systems on the work organisation of tele-nurses.

Agnese Balode, "Implementation of an Integrated Environmental Management System in a Latvian Construction Company" MSc Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, 2007, pp. 70, April 2007. This thesis essayed to find an approach to environmental aspect and indicator identification in order to establish a valid base for implementation of an integrated environmental management system in a Latvian construction company. The construction industry has been selected as the area of interest because its "product" is affecting humans, the environment and other industries in the most direct and significant way. A management system is required for achieving a balance between development driving forces. By examining existing environmental management systems - their weaknesses and strengths - opportunities for improvement were determined and used during development of the approach. The thesis includes a review of legislation, international standards, and research. The result of the thesis is a 2-Level Matrix, which serves as an environmental aspect identification and relevant indicator selection tool. Within the theoretical framework, the established approach was tested at construction sites and discussed amongst construction experts. The matrix allows performance of environmental aspect ranking and provides support for the decision-making process, while establishing an Integrated Environmental Management System. ; www.ima.kth.se

The European Union membership of Bulgaria since January 2007 imposes higher requirements to the national waste management system and demands changes in the current waste management practices. In this context it is of great interest to study the contemporary and possible future development of the Bulgarian municipal solid waste management system. A systems analysis was carried out to provide better understanding of the Bulgarian municipal solid waste management and to analyze the possibilities for its future development in a sustainable way. Five different scenarios were constructed and compared using the ORWARE model which is a tool for environmental systems analysis that predicts ecological and economic impacts in a life-cycle perspective. The first describes the present municipal waste management system using landfilling as the only municipal solid waste treatment option. The other four describe possible future developments including business as usual and different combinations of municipal solid waste treatment options including landfilling, composting and incineration. Material recycling was included in all future scenarios. The results from the ORWARE simulations show that landfilling has the overall highest environmental impacts as compared to the other treatment methods. The introduction of composting and incineration proved to has a positive impact on the environment and provides different benefits in terms of recovered nutrients, heat and electricity production. Material recovery and recycling allows the recovery of different materials but is highly energy intensive. European and Bulgarian policies, legislation and different publications were studied to understand the factors that shape the current and future development of municipal solid waste management. Further, the application of tools incorporating life-cycle thinking, like ORWARE, was put in a broader perspective, i.e. their use in the policy and decision making process. The results from the research show that environmental policies in the ...

The intention of this Masters thesis is to analyze the worst-case scenario approach and in doing so gather, summarize and analyze all available relevant information. The current project is limited to purely theoretical research. Due to a lack of order in information regarding this approach it has become very important to systematize information concerning worst-case scenarios. A couple of interesting alternative approaches and opinions concerning content and usefulness of worst-case scenarios were found during the data collection phase. The 'Likelier but less catastrophic' scenario approach is one such example which has raised a number of new questions. Some unexpected difficulties have also arisen; for example, we have failed to find a single specific definition for what is considered to be a worst-case scenario. Discussion within the scientific world centers on two competing approaches, qualitative and quantitative. Both can and should be applied for worst-case scenarios, however most contemporary researchers tend to overestimate the value of qualitative approaches. It is unclear which one suits our purposes, but it seems that both are needed for a thorough description of any scenario. This explains our introduction of a semi-quantitative approach. One chapter of this thesis is dedicated to the study of safety legislation in countries all over the world, indicating that authorities in the United States appear to make the greatest effort to implement worst-case scenario approach in practice, while the legislation of European countries lacks clear definition of worst-case scenarios. People need different types of information about the potential harm to their locales in case of serious accidents. The information should differ in quantity and content depending on the recipient. For example, technical details of scenarios are of little or no interest to the majority of the population. Moreover they can become a source of danger in case of misuse by terrorists. This is where the public's "right to know" becomes ...

This report is a presentation of the work realised during an internship at the consultancy division of Thales Security Systems from September 2005 to June 2006. Thales Security Systems is part of Thales, an international group in defence, aeronautics, etc. The work realised consisted in the creation of a new risk assessment methodology for a commercial offer called HELP, standing for Human, Environmental, Logical and Physical security. As a basis for the work, 5 existing risk assessment methodologies were studied, summed up and analysed: - Integrated security risk assessment: a methodology created by Thales Security Systems but not used because of its complexity - Ebios: a whole risk assessment methodology created by the French government - Marion: more or less an audit questionnaire - Audit questionnaire ISO 17799: an audit questionnaire created by Thales Security Systems - A confidential methodology: a methodology of another company with interesting concepts So as to complete this first work, many interviews were realised with specialists in risk assessment and strategy: - Counter-admiral Girard who insisted on the preliminary task of the definition of the mission and its limits, the return of experience as well as on the security frame of mind - Guy Dubois for the maintenance of the security level year after year - Thomas Lebouc for the tools used to apply the methodology - Gérard Pesch regarding the commercial offer - Yves le Dauphin for the human issues Afterwards, the different advantages and drawbacks of the studied methodologies have been studied so as to determine the essential characteristics that were necessary to have in the new methodology The new methodology has thus been created taking into account all these advantages, drawbacks and pieces of advice. The new methodology is a five step methodology: - Definition of the mission and its limits: determination of the objectives of the mission and its perimeter - General analysis of the system: study of the system in its environment - Risk analysis: ...

Companies are recognising the need for being sustainable in their approach to business. There are mounting pressures from environmentalists, NGOs and Governments for greater transparency. Awareness of company's reputation, contribution to society, and environment are all public knowledge these days thanks to the internet and free media culture. On one hand, there are companies who are unable to find their feet in CSR and perceive it isas a 'publicity' tool only, overlooking many other benefits which it brings along. On the otherhand, there are companies who have taken the first step in getting involved with CSR relatedactivities, however, need guidance for further improvements with their performance measurement and reporting. This thesis aims to present CSR as an 'umbrella' under which many of the sustainable development issues rest. It aims to present CSR as a tool which, if utilised, can bring benefitsto companies in environmental, social and long term financially. With the help of casestudies, recommendations and suggestions are given to improve CSR policies/strategies and broaden the horizons of business. ; www.ima.kth.se