Suchergebnisse

Mankind will prevail in the fierce war against the coronavirus, a hidden, treacherous foe that has been attacking randomly and leaving many human deaths behind. The struggle with this pandemic has an end in sight because we have effective weapons to combat it now, such as vaccines which are be used on a grand scale, worldwide. We will overcome the severe economic downturn as well; but this crisis will leave deep scars, given that economies are witnessing sweeping changes. These changes, adding to tensions and intricate issues and policy dilemmas that date back prior to the Pandemic and the current economic crisis, call for introspection, examination of economies' functioning and a revisiting of public policies. The financial crisis that erupted a decade ago prodded social scientists and policy-makers to think about serious problems that afflict modern economies. In the text below I hook up with ideas that I have expressed in recent years and extrapolate them to the fallout from the current crises

Road traffic is one of the major sources of many of the worst pollutants, including carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide, carcinogenic particles and noise. The past decades have seen a dramatic rise in these harmful effects on human health, that proved to cause at the same time massive damage to the natural and built environment. In response to this aggravating situation, the new European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen placed as the centrepiece of her political mandate 'the European Green Deal', a comprehensive climate and nature package of measures to make Europe climate neutral by 2050. To reach this very ambitious goal, there is a need for very creative and efficient policy solutions. And this is the scope of the current study. As the sustainability concerns become vital for policy planning, the paper advocates for the need of all EU's main stakeholders to realise the potential of 'green gamification' to help EU member states reach these ambitious policy goals, particularly in the field of transport and mobility - which are of crucial importance for overall CO2 reduction. Placed at the intersection of technology innovation and the need to find more efficient ways to protect the environment, 'green gamification' is an emerging concept that refers to the usage of game mechanics when it comes to engaging people, with the purpose to change their behaviour on sustainability issues. In short, it aims to motivate a sustainable behaviour within companies, institutions and citizens, with the use of interactive games, in order to fight against pollution and climate change. Applied to the field of transport and mobility, green gamification implies using strategies to cut carbon emissions especially by convincing people to reduce the use of private cars. But how can we better incentivise citizens' behaviour for cutting carbon emissions and achieve the new EU transport and mobility policy goals for 2050? To tackle this relevant question the article aims to assess the potential of 'green gamification' to help EU member states reach these ambitious policy goals.

The world's tectonics seem to be changing faster than before, considering the current Covid-19 pandemic. Understanding the general, global sources for change that drive the major powers' national interests is key to understanding Eastern European geopolitical trends. This research paper looks at the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had so far on the world, considering the main geopolitical questions that have been raised during the last nine months since the pandemic started. It also addresses the pandemic effects on Europe, focusing on the challenges for Eastern Europe during the short and medium term. Conclusions refer to the way the regional balancing act changes, depending on how the EU, the US, China and Russia change position globally and how their strategies intersect with one another and with those of the countries in the Eastern Europe.

Success or a lesson to learn? In this paper, I propose an evaluation design of the Romanian Youth Strategy 2015-2020 transformative effects, in which I argue for a participative evaluation process, promoting diversity, social justice, fairness and transparency. My focus is not only on the instruments for analyzing the objectives, results, resources and impact, but also on encouraging the development of the social values that are attached to this policy. The innovative elements of the suggested design are the introduction of the gender perspective and multiple discrimination and also the reflection on the influence of the NGO sector on the achieved results. It is expected this study to engage the evaluators and the readers interested in the youth issue in a debate for improving the process of assessing public policies and programmes.

The current world order is under scrutiny. The 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Eastern Ukraine have marked a turning point in international affairs: a state actor used force against another sovereign state to gain a territorial victory in order to advance its own geopolitical interests. Since then all major building blocks of the system, mainly the multilateral institutions such as the UN and NATO have been scrutinized and their effectiveness has been questioned. The significance of the individual nation state is gaining again in significance. It is more important than ever to find ways to repair transatlantic discord and to deepen cooperation between NATO and the EU, to recalibrate the strategic bedrock of the alliance and to reposition the transatlantic defence community in a way that facilitates effective defence and deterrence. It is the aim of the article to define and contextualize the Romanian official strategic vision and to outline how it in fact successfully synergies its membership in NATO and in the EU with bilateral partnerships in order to achieve its strategic goals as well as to contribute to the transatlantic cause. The paper starts by introducing the theoretical framework, mainly structural realism. Next, it defines the Romanian strategic view, it contextualizes it and it correlates the strategic priorities to the Black Sea area. The article focuses on EU NATO complementarity through a Romanian strategic lens by focusing on interoperability and crisis readiness in the Black Sea, an area of existential significance to the Romanian national interest. Finally, the conclusions underscore how the Romanian strategic paradigm creates an auspicious medium in order for NATO - EU complementarity and deeper cooperation to occur.

The global order was facing multiple challenges even before the pandemic, so it is very likely – based on the evolutions recorded since the beginning of 2020 – that these challenges will further amplify. On the impact of COVID-19 on the world order, opinions of political scientists vary greatly, from reserved optimism to worst-case scenario, from treating it as a simple inflexion point to forecasting the transformative changes it will entail. In this article we argue that this current pandemic will only accelerate previous trends by deepening international power competition, thus accelerating the transition towards a more realist world order. This working hypothesis disregards potential non-linear events that might occur from this point on and that could impact all forecasts. In this article we discuss the structure of the current international system and we analyze recent developments, thus trying to determine which specific trends will be accelerated. Furthermore, we examine the "lessons" learned so far and try to determine what can be done to limit the consequences of the pandemic, at least at the national level.

This paper examines forest exploitation in Romanian communal villages from
a new-institutional perspective. Using mixed-methods research but with an
emphasis on qualitative data, it explores the specificities of forest exploitation.
Starting from three research questions, the paper addresses the ideas of corruption,
illegal logging, and the types of institutions that exist(ed) in the Romanian obşti
and their forest exploitations. Findings reveal that although institutions tend to
be inclusive, extractive elements and challenges related to illegal logging and
corruption persist. Thus, although the State increases its power, the situation is
far from perfect.

"The current research continues previous explorations on the online media representation of the victims of terrorist attacks from an ethical and legal standpoint. The paper focuses on the interdependence between journalism, media ethics and media law by analyzing the manner in which the private British newspaper The Telegraph chose to cover several terrorist attacks which happened in Europe. Keywords: Ethical portrayal, legal analysis, victims, terrorist attacks"

Multiple forms of disinformation have proliferated on digital media platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic, when news consumption increased considerably. In this specific context, this paper investigates the way media diet influences the third person perceptions about people's ability to detect fake news. We focus here on some understudied predictors of third person perception about fake news detection, such as diversity of media diet and belief in conspiracy theories. By means of a national survey (N=1006) conducted in Romania in October 2020, we test this effect for close and distant others, and the role both mainstream and online media play in this context. Main findings show that frequency of news consumption, trust in the media, and belief in conspiracy theories decrease the perceptual gap between self and others, while education and the diversity of the media diet intensifies it. Keywords: third person effect; media diet; news consumption; conspiracy theories; COVID-19. ●●●●● Platformele media digitale au favorizat apariția unor forme multiple de dezinformare în timpul pandemiei de COVID-19, atunci când consumul de știri a crescut considerabil. În acest context, prezenta lucrare investighează modul în care dieta (agenda!!) media influențează percepțiile oamenilor cu privire capacitatea lor și a celor din jur de a detecta știri false (percepția celei de-a treia persoane; en. third person perception). Sunt analizați predictori ai acestei percepții, precum diversitatea dietei (agendei) media și credința în teoriile conspirației. Prin intermediul unui sondaj național (N=1006) realizat în România în octombrie 2020, este analizat efectul celei de-a treia persoane și rolul pe care mass-media mainstream și cea online îl joacă în acest context. Principalele rezultate arată faptul că frecvența consumului de știri, încrederea în mass-media și credința în teoriile conspirației scad decalajul perceptiv dintre sine și ceilalți, în timp ce educația și diversitatea dietei mass-media îl intensifică. Cuvinte-cheie: efectul celei de-a treia persoane; dieta media; consum de știri; teorii ale conspirației; COVID-19.

This paper investigates the role activity trackers play for their users, focusing on
the transformative role of wearable technology in shaping our perceptions of
our bodies and health. Drawing on autophenomenography, in-depth interviews
and online content analysis, it questions the neutrality of tracking data and
interpretation, by drawing on Annemarie Mol's concept of ontonorms and
highlighting the built-in normativity of the assemblage that makes it constantly
prone to enacting a certain kind of optimal performance. Using Katherine
Hayles' concept of cognitive assemblages, it defines trackers as being specific
types of cognizers, entering alongside humans in assemblages in which their role
sometimes ends up dethroning the body's own perceptual systems and changing
the way we are aware of our own bodies. Throughout the research, three different
types of users are identified and described, for whom the cognitive assemblage
takes a different shape: regular users, users with medical issues and power users.

"The topic of this paper explores the online media representation of the victims of terrorist attacks in relation to the ethical and legal frameworks aimed at protecting the people. Despite the fact that freedom of expression should not be restricted under any circumstances, the news media outlets ought to take into consideration the legal acts, the moral behaviors and ethical principles when publishing and disseminating information about the terrorist attacks. Journalists should aim to pursue the purpose of this profession with the intent of remaining objective and upright while respecting the human rights. The research of this paper focuses on the interdependence between journalism, ethics and law by analyzing how Le Monde covered some of the terrorist attacks which happened in Europe. The importance of ethics in journalism had been acknowledged by analyzing the role of the regulatory organizations for the press, as well as the professional standards which were set in order to guide the journalists and protect the people. The in-depth analysis of the media representation of the victims of terrorist attacks highlighted the fact that the journalistic ethical codes might have the power to strengthen the protection of the people in the press, while assessing the noninfringement or the breach of the supranational and national legislation enacted by the European Union and France. Keywords: victims, terrorist attacks, media ethics, media law "

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's speech at the meeting organised by the Mercator Institute for China Studies and the European Policy Centre revealed a comprehensive and realistic European strategy on China, adjusted to the latest developments (European Commission). These foreshadow the EU's future Economic Security Strategy. The major outstanding European issues in the relationship with China remain on the table: the EU between China and the USA, in the context of the debate about Beijing's usefulness in dealing with Russia and possible arms deliveries; the possibility of concomitant EU decoupling from Russia and China; but above all, the need for real war preparedness of European industries. The refusal to see the competition of democracies with China going to war leads to the rejection of the instrument of real deterrence of Beijing's march towards a new global war. All this while French ambitions and obsession with strategic autonomy (Taylor, 2022) undermine EU unity, and Germany has been forced by Macron's post-Beijing tirades to restore clarity to the European position and red lines on China.