Public-private partnerships (PPP) can be employed to provide public rental housing for young graduates, which has been urgent to achieve social sustainability in China. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate the financing structure of PPPs, particularly the ratio of private investment, which is important in initiating a PPP project. This study develops a robust model to determine the financing structure through considering the uncertainties in operation. A case study in Hangzhou demonstrates the process of the model. The relevant findings provide private investors and the local government with effective references for negotiating the financing structure of a PPP project. ; OTB ; Architecture and The Built Environment
This is an updated version of the brief submitted to the House of Commons Heritage Committee on Oct. 6, 2016 as part of the committee's study on Communities and Local Media. Residents of Canada's largest municipalities can obtain news from multiple sources, but it's a different story elsewhere in the country. People who live in smaller cities and towns, suburban communities and rural areas have fewer options to begin with, and in recent years their choices have become even more limited. Traditional news outlets have been hit by cutbacks, consolidations and closures, while digital first news sites often struggle to stay afloat. Does any of this matter? The answer is "yes," according to a report by the U.S.-based Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. The commission's report concluded that information is "as vital to the healthy functioning of communities as clean air, safe streets, good schools, and public health (Knight Commission, 2009, xiii)." It went on to argue that in addition to helping communities develop a sense of connectedness, access to information is essential in terms of holding public officials to account and making it possible for community members to work together to solve problems. While local journalism is the subject of increasingly intensive scrutiny by scholars in the United States – Duke University's Philip Napoli, for instance, is launching a project that will investigate the state of local news in 100 U.S. communities (Napoli, 2016) - there is much we don't know about the Canadian situation and the extent to which the critical information needs of rural areas, towns and smaller cities in particular are being addressed. As Carleton University professor Dwayne Winseck warned committee members during his testimony earlier this year, there are "severe" shortages of information on changes to the media landscape overall. Moreover, he cautioned, there are "a lot of opinions and little data to act upon" (Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage 2016, 5) . ; Lindgren, A., Hodson, J. and J. Corbett. (2016). Local News Poverty in Canadian Communities : Presentation to the House of Commons Heritage Committee, updated version of the brief submitted to the House of Commons Heritage Committee Oct. 6, 2016. Retrieved from : http://localnewsresearchproject.ca/2016/11/01/local-news-poverty-in-canadian-communities/
The rise in self-publishing, digital folk culture and social media participation, have revolutionized reading and writing practices. Readers can directly contact their favourite authors, and publishers, through social media and become authors, and publishers, themselves. One of the outcomes of digital reading and writing is that writing is now becoming more democratic: traditional publishers are no longer the sole gatekeepers of culture. The popularity of social writing platform Wattpad is a recent example of how a new generation of influential and innovative writers is entering the publishing arena. This also demonstrates that there is a demand for authorship without the intervention from publishers. Despite this, traditional notions of authorship, ownership and control are prevalent in contemporary publishing hindering the true potential of creativity. The disharmony between the rise of the amateur author and the control of the traditional publisher is confronted in the digital public sphere. Consequently, issues such as authority and influence are mediated during the activities and interactions that take place on social media and other online platforms. Established authority figures, such as famous authors or well-known publishers, that exert authority and influence in the traditional sphere, can shift this authority and influence to the digital world; however, this sphere is also occupied by emerging networks of influencers, such as emerging authors or micro-celebrities, who gain popularity as a result of specific trends, in specific domains, at specific times. This article will examine how new and established authors are using social platforms, and social media, to publish their writing, build communities and extend their dialogue with readers and other writers. A netnographic study of Wattpad will identify which authors are the influencers and innovators in social publishing. Consequently, this article will underscore the increasing importance of social networks and social relationships in 21st century publishing.
The existing building stock has been in the focus of European Union policies for energy savings. Nevertheless, energy certification schemes refer mostly to operational energy and usually do not consider aspects related to the life cycle of the building. To look at the overall energy cost during the lifespan of a building, the energy used to produce and assemble the building materials also needs to be included. This paper develops a design methodology for existing residential buildings that aims at decreasing the life cycle energy use as much as possible. This approach was applied on a case study of an existing post-war residential building in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The main focus of this study is to find a design solution for façade retrofitting that considers both embodied and operational energy. The design approach is based on comparing different strategies for the use of façade materials. This design methodology can be replicated in other projects, as the conclusions and recommendations can also be used for future refurbishment projects for which a low operational energy and materials with a low embodied energy are desired. ; Architectural Engineering +Technology ; Architecture and The Built Environment
Canada is one of a number of countries (e.g. Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and Ireland) in which the provision of social services is considered to be a partnership between government and nonprofit service providers, with government providing the money and the nonprofit organizations (NPOs) delivering the service. However, the Canadian model incorporates two significant features of the Anglo-Saxon model, as practiced in Great Britain, United States and Australia. First, many Canadian social service NPOs receive additional philanthropic support, some even relying exclusively on philanthropy; and second, many social service NPOs benefit from a large volunteer presence (Hall, Barr, Easwaramoorthy, Wojciech & Salamon, 2005).Overall, the social service sector receives 66% of their revenues from government sources - mostly from provincial governments (Barr et al., 2005). Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Meinhard, A., Lo, L. & Hyman, I. (2015). The provision of services to new immigrants in Canada: characteristics of government-non-profit partnerships (Working Paper Series Volume 2015 (2)). Toronto: Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Ryerson University.
The scale of society's evolving challenges gradually surpasses the capacity of the public sector to address them. Coping with these challenges requires budget-short governments to look for innovative ways to transform and improve their operations and service provisioning models. While in many cases transformation starts from the inside-out (based on policy goals) and focuses on reorganization through ICTs, we notice a different class of initiatives in which external ICT developments are capitalized by governments to transform from the outside-in. One category of ICT innovations that is especially promising for such a transformation is that of information platforms (henceforth platforms), which can be used to connect different stakeholders; public and private. Platforms are not new. Yet, there is not much research on using public–private platforms as part of a transformation effort, the (policy) instruments that are involved, nor about dealing with the cascading multi-level challenges that transformation through platforms offers. This paper addresses these knowledge gaps by drawing on empirical research embedded in two long-term endeavors: (1) standard business reporting between businesses and government agencies and (2) international trade information platforms. In both cases, platforms are being collaboratively developed and used by a collective of public and private organizations. These initiatives reveal that government agencies can steer and shape the development of public–private platforms in a way that enables businesses to pursue their own interest whilst transforming business–government interactions and more generally serving collective interests and public value. Our findings indicate that once a public–private governance structure is accepted by stakeholders and adapted to fit with the technical dimensions of the information infrastructure, even platforms that are driven by the private sector can start to evolve in a way that enables extensive transformation of the operations of government. ; Engineering, Systems and Services ; Technology, Policy and Management
The preparation of this report would not have been possible without the valuable contribution of countless individuals and groups who contributed not only to this final report, but also to the planning, development and implementation of the study. Sincere gratitude is extended to the Dominican contributors and collaborators, starting with the CIANI families, CIANI employees, and community stakeholders who took the time to share their experiences. The data collectors in the Dominican who completed the field work on the ground, working tirelessly to collect and organize the data. To Kirsys Fernandez, for allowing us to partner with CONANI, and who facilitated the work done. To the various CONANI staff, for contributing their expertise and providing guidance and consultation throughout the life of this study. Special thanks to Alberto Padilla who helped facilitate collaboration and data collection. To INAIPI who took the time to meet with us and review our findings and provide feedback, special thanks to Alexandra Santelises and Eric Gomez who took the time to review the report and findings and meet with us to discuss. Lastly, to the European Union's Children and Violence Evaluation Challenge Fund, for their financial support ; Parada, H., Silver, S., & Burke, M. (2016). Evaluation of Centres for the Integral Attention of Children in Dominican Republic (CIANIs) and Local Community Organizations for Child Protection (LCOCP). Toronto, Ontario: Ryerson University. School of Social Work. Faculty of Community Services.
Cairo My City, Our Revolution creates a new geography of existence of both Cairo and its people and of the author's life in it ranging from a present victory of the Egyptian Revolution 2011 to reminiscences ofreceding golden times of her private memories. In its attempt to authorize a search for meaning, the book creates a rich historical tapestry that merges the personal with the political as the Egyptian people manage to reclaim agency for themselves and for their home country
As part of a larger study titled "Integration Trajectories of Immigrant Families", this literature review looked at who provides support for newcomer settlement and integration, and how they are funded. The reviewed studies assessed why support was important, whether the existing supports were sufficient, and what else could be done. Beyond formal and informal support specific to newcomer integration, housing and health were identified as two areas of critical need and as important points of comparison with non-immigrant Canadians. Common across the paper's three sections on settlement supports, housing, and health were the grey areas pertaining to the service mandates of programs and departments; the coping mechanisms that newcomers and their allies develop to make integration happen; and the barriers to accessing services that include discrimination and differential incorporation. It is recommended that future studies should focus on how different migration pathways affect housing and healthcare needs. They should ask how communities can tailor support to the diverse needs of families, consider how informal community support is leveraged by the government, and examine the ways in which established immigrants facilitate the orientation and integration of more recent newcomer families. ; Maharaj, S. & Wang, S. (2015). Community Support for Newcomer Families: A Literature Review. Toronto: Ryerson Centre for Immigration & Settlement.
An increased focus on the concept of resilience in flood protection has led to the development of a comprehensive flood protection strategy in the Netherlands which stresses the need to provide 'Room for the River' rather than building dykes. But how can a resilient solution in flood protection be successfully implemented? Using insights from the major Dutch flood-protection project 'Room for the River', this article studies the governance of resilience. From a political perspective, resilience is often a win-lose game with many uncertainties. The actors involved have strong incentives to exploit these uncertainties and to hamper resilience based policies. The 'Room for the River'-project was based upon the idea of resilience and had a win-lose character. Nevertheless, the many actors involved, with their conflicting interests, managed to reach consensus by broadening the agenda and by making flood protection a multi-issue game. ; Multi Actor Systems ; Technology, Policy and Management
The EU parliament has accepted a proposal of the EU commission on the backloading of EU emission allowances (EUA), where the auctioning of EUAs is postponed to future time periods. The EU commission has also proposed a market stability reserve (MSR), which is a quantity-based stabilisation policy that is aimed at controlling the volume of EUAs in circulation. Using an agent-based electricity market simulation with endogenous investment and a CO2 market (including banking), we analyse the backloading reform and the proposed MSR. We find backloading to only have a short-term impact of CO2 prices; regardless, there is a significant risk of high CO2 prices and volatility in the EU ETS. Our simulations indicate that the triggers of the proposed MSR appear to be set too low for the hedging need of power producers, effectively leading to a stricter cap in its initial 10–15 years of operation. While the current proposal may be improved by choosing different triggers, a reserve that is based on volume triggers is likely to increase price volatility, contrary to its purpose. Additional problems are the two-year delay in the response time and the abruptness of the response function, combined with the difficulty of estimating future hedging behaviour. ; Engineering, Systems and Services ; Technology, Policy and Management
The Berlin-based firm of W. Collin led by Wilhelm and Georg Collin and the antiquarian, author, and editor Ernst Collin were among the leaders in German bookbinding trade and writings about the trade from the mid-1800's into the mid-1930's. During that same time, bookbinding experienced many transformations, as well, moving from a trade practiced in smaller master-run shops to large industrial firms, including changes in materials, book structure, aesthetics, and overall business climate with concerns about quality and business opportunities. As court bookbinders to Prussian Kings and German Emperors, the firm of W. Collin was privileged with access to commissions based on royal patronage, connections no doubt instrumental in gaining customers from the private sector, and providing the opportunity to help set aesthetic trends and influence the direction of the trade. Born into this milieu, Ernst Collin wrote about the many changes to the bookbinding trade, the arts, economics, and politics, deftly melding these themes together. This bibliography makes no claims to be comprehensive, in particular because it was largely compiled with available online collections. Instead, it is to be viewed as a beginning, and a window into the Collins, in particular Ernst Collin's views on bookbinding and other topics. On a personal level I hope that it helps to restore the memory and contributions of this significant family of Berlin bookbinders and (re)introduces the writings of Ernst Collin, the most important source of information about the family. More information about this research project can be found on the Pressbengel Project blog under Colliniana.
The article analyzes contemporary political discourses with regard to social inclusion of Roma on the basis of comparison with achievements and failures in the previous historical period of the communist rule in Eastern Europe. It argues that since the vast majority of the European Roma had lived in the past and continue living nowadays in the countries of Eastern Europe, no successful policy for their inclusion is possible without taking into account the experiences and outcomes of the actions for Roma integration in the socialist period. The experience from the times of socialism shows that successful policies are possible only in an appropriate socio-political context and only if accomplished within the mainstream approach. Against this background, the article scrutinizes the European Policies for Social Inclusion of Roma, and explains why they present a Catch 22 situation: There is a vicious cycle of problems which need to be solved; the solution requires a special policy for inclusion, however this policy stigmatizes Roma and sets them even more apart from the rest of society. Thus the vicious cycle of problems expands. The main point of the article is to propose an explanation of this failure of democracy and liberalism, which could constitute a useful lesson for the future.
The article analyzes contemporary political discourses with regard to social inclusion of Roma on the basis of comparison with achievements and failures in the previous historical period of the communist rule in Eastern Europe. It argues that since the vast majority of the European Roma had lived in the past and continue living nowadays in the countries of Eastern Europe, no successful policy for their inclusion is possible without taking into account the experiences and outcomes of the actions for Roma integration in the socialist period. The experience from the times of socialism shows that successful policies are possible only in an appropriate socio-political context and only if accomplished within the mainstream approach. Against this background, the article scrutinizes the European Policies for Social Inclusion of Roma, and explains why they present a Catch 22 situation: There is a vicious cycle of problems which need to be solved; the solution requires a special policy for inclusion, however this policy stigmatizes Roma and sets them even more apart from the rest of society. Thus the vicious cycle of problems expands. The main point of the article is to propose an explanation of this failure of democracy and liberalism, which could constitute a useful lesson for the future. ; Publisher PDF ; Peer reviewed
Cities form the key context within which social, economic and environmental challenges for sustainable development will manifest in the years to come. As they face the grand societal challenges of climate change and the greening of energy systems, city governments are confronted with the challenge of designing and implementing workable policy strategies. We find that although much attention has been paid to low carbon energy transition in cities, there is surprisingly little attention to the dimension of governance, policy and politics in the scholarly literature. The main question in this guest editorial of the thematic issue, entitled 'Governing the Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Transition Challenges in Cities', is: How can effective policy strategies be designed and implemented to govern the challenges of climate change and energy transition in cities? We develop some preliminary answers to this question based on seven research papers that form the contribution to the thematic series. In particular, the various roles that cities play in governing the climate change challenges and energy transition require further description and analysis, specifying the different governing roles of urban actors and how the city—socially, institutionally or geophysically—forms the context within which governance initiatives and arrangements are formed and implemented, while cities themselves are in turn part of larger physical, infrastructural and institutional networks that influence and condition the local governance opportunities. A research agenda to explore the topic further must include particularly the following areas: the role of local government in the interplay between governance initiatives at multiple levels, the influence and the confluence of current (sectoral) policies, learning from a variation of practices of local low carbon policy, mapping the institutional dimension, mapping design and implementation practices of urban low carbon policy, assessing the effects and legitimacy of urban low carbon policies, further understanding of strategic action fields and lines of conflicts between (coalitions of) actors and identifying workable governance frameworks and policies supporting community-led energy initiatives. ; Management in the Built Environment ; Architecture and The Built Environment
