Suchergebnisse

Corporate social responsibility in accordance with the concept of sustainable development plays an increasingly important role in the existing business and competitive environment. This trend together with more strict environmental legislative requirements forces companies to implement various activities in the environmental field of corporate social responsibility. One of the voluntary preventive tools of company environmental policy is use of eco-design techniques within product development. The paper presents the findings of a qualitative study focused on possibilities of eco-design implementation within medium sized Czech chemical company, a producer and distributor of chemical compounds. The survey was conducted through personal interviews with company employees, especially with people on manager and technologist positions. Various types of potential innovations for improvement of environmental product profile are discussed. At the same time, perceived benefits are shown together with potential barriers for eco-design implementation within these companies. The contribution of this paper lies in the detail analysis of eco-design application within Czech chemical company in the form of case study. ; Společenská odpovědnost podniků spolu s konceptem udržitelného rozvoje hraje stále důležitější roli ve stávajícím obchodním a konkurenčním podnikatelského prostředí. Tento trend společně s přísnějšími požadavky na ochranu životního prostředí nutí společnosti realizovat nové aktivity v oblasti ochrany životního prostředí, jako součást společenské odpovědnosti organizace. Jedním z dobrovolných preventivních nástrojů environmentálního managementu je využití technik ekodesignu v rámci vývoje produktů. Článek představuje výsledky kvalitativní studie zaměřené na možnosti využití principů ekodesignu v rámci výrobkových, výrobních a dalších inovací ve středně velké české chemické společnosti, která je výrobcem a distributor chemických látek. Výzkum byl proveden prostřednictvím osobních rozhovorů se zaměstnanci společnosti, zejména s lidmi na manažerských a technologických pozicích. Identifikovány byly různé druhy potenciálních inovací pro zlepšení environmentálního profilu výrobku. Současně byly identifikovány vnímané výhody a zároveň potenciální překážky pro realizaci ekodesignu v rámci této společností.

Studija se bavi promjenama u odnosu između lokalnih novinara i lokalnih političara u Češkoj kao posljedicom profesionalizacije političke komunikacije, kako na nacionalnoj tako i na lokalnoj razini, nakon takozvane Baršunaste revolucije iz 1989. godine. Taj je fenomen već istraživan u zapadnim demokracijama, a u Češkoj je relativno nov. Unaprijeđene komunikacijske vještine političara te zapošljavanje komunikacijskih stručnjaka u politici utječu na povjerenje – temeljnu komponentu u odnosu političara i novinara. Članak se temelji na saznanjima iz polustrukturiranih intervjua s 10 novinara i 11 političara iz različitih mjesta u Češkoj, kojima je cilj istražiti na koji način oni shvaćaju i održavaju razine međusobnog povjerenja. Najprije smo opisali ključne komponente povjerenja te objasnili zašto se povjerenje smatra ugroženijim u doba rofesionalizirane političke komunikacije nego što je bilo tijekom 1990-ih. Naposljetku zaključujemo članak istraživanjem triju najvažnijih prijetnji povjerenju koje su identificirali naši ispitanici. ; The study discusses changes in the relationship between local journalists and local politicians in the Czech Republic as a consequence of the professionalization of political communications at national as well as local levels following the so-called Velvet Revolution of 1989. This phenomenon has been studied widely in Western democracies but is relatively new in the Czech Republic. Politicians' improved communication skills and the employment of communication professionals in politics influence trust – a key component in the relationship – between politicians and journalists. The article is based on semi-structured interviews with 10 journalists and 11 politicians from different Czech localities, which aim to explore how these actors understand and maintain levels of mutual trust. First we describe key components of trust and explain why in the era of professionalized political communication trust is perceived as more threatened than in the 1990s and we conclude by exploring the three most important threats to trust as identified by our interviewees.

AbstractWhile alternative food networks (AFNs) have become the leading conceptualisation of sustainable food systems, vibrant scholarship on food self‐provisioning (FSP) in Central and Eastern Europe has remained confined to the geopolitical region it investigates. This article brings these two bodies of thought closer together in two steps. First, we trace four framings of FSP deployed over the last three decades—coping strategy, cultural practice, hobby and source of good food and reading FSP as transformative practice—to demonstrate its progressive affinity with AFNs. Second, we follow the most recent framing in highlighting the material reality of local food production as a feature shared by both FSP and AFNs. From this perspective, FSP can be understood as a more radical variant of AFNs given its more substantial environmental and social impact (FSP is more widespread and socially inclusive and less dependent on market transactions). By uncovering the epistemological underpinnings of these different framings of FSP and exploring their implications for food practices on the ground, this article draws general lessons for scholarship aiming to advance food system transformation.

The notion of Environmental Citizenship embodies behaviour – an actively involved citizen who exercises his/her environmental rights and obligations in the private and public spheres. Education for Environmental Citizenship implies behavioural change; its goal is to facilitate an individual's intellectual growth (cognitive domain) and emotional capacity (affective domain) that may lead to a critical and actively engaged individual. Human behaviour is overwhelmingly sophisticated, and what shapes pro-environmental behaviour is complex and context specific. Furthermore, empirical research indicates a discrepancy between possessing environmental knowledge and environmentally supportive attitudes and behaving pro-environmentally. The point of departure of this chapter is that the social and psychological study of behaviour has much to inform the study of environmental behaviour and, deriving from this, to inform regarding the type of education towards behaviour/action in the goal of sustainable socioecological transformation. The chapter focuses on internal (psychosocial) factors. It presents selected models regarding factors influencing behavioural decisions that are acknowledged as influential theoretical frameworks for investigating pro-environmental behaviour, as well as various theories that inform these models. These are categorised into knowledge-based models; attitude-, value- and norm-oriented models; skills, self-efficacy and situational factors; and new approaches to environmental behaviour models. The chapter concludes with suggestions for Education for Environmental Citizenship deriving from the various models.

The notion of Environmental Citizenship embodies behaviour – an actively involved citizen who exercises his/her environmental rights and obligations in the private and public spheres. Education for Environmental Citizenship implies behavioural change; its goal is to facilitate an individual's intellectual growth (cognitive domain) and emotional capacity (affective domain) that may lead to a critical and actively engaged individual. Human behaviour is overwhelmingly sophisticated, and what shapes pro-environmental behaviour is complex and context specific. Furthermore, empirical research indicates a discrepancy between possessing environmental knowledge and environmentally supportive attitudes and behaving pro-environmentally. The point of departure of this chapter is that the social and psychological study of behaviour has much to inform the study of environmental behaviour and, deriving from this, to inform regarding the type of education towards behaviour/action in the goal of sustainable socioecological transformation. The chapter focuses on internal (psychosocial) factors. It presents selected models regarding factors influencing behavioural decisions that are acknowledged as influential theoretical frameworks for investigating pro-environmental behaviour, as well as various theories that inform these models. These are categorised into knowledge-based models; attitude-, value- and norm-oriented models; skills, self-efficacy and situational factors; and new approaches to environmental behaviour models. The chapter concludes with suggestions for Education for Environmental Citizenship deriving from the various models.

The notion of Environmental Citizenship embodies behaviour – an actively involved citizen who exercises his/her environmental rights and obligations in the private and public spheres. Education for Environmental Citizenship implies behavioural change; its goal is to facilitate an individual's intellectual growth (cognitive domain) and emotional capacity (affective domain) that may lead to a critical and actively engaged individual. Human behaviour is overwhelmingly sophisticated, and what shapes pro-environmental behaviour is complex and context specific. Furthermore, empirical research indicates a discrepancy between possessing environmental knowledge and environmentally supportive attitudes and behaving pro-environmentally. The point of departure of this chapter is that the social and psychological study of behaviour has much to inform the study of environmental behaviour and, deriving from this, to inform regarding the type of education towards behaviour/action in the goal of sustainable socioecological transformation. The chapter focuses on internal (psychosocial) factors. It presents selected models regarding factors influencing behavioural decisions that are acknowledged as influential theoretical frameworks for investigating pro-environmental behaviour, as well as various theories that inform these models. These are categorised into knowledge-based models; attitude-, value- and norm-oriented models; skills, self-efficacy and situational factors; and new approaches to environmental behaviour models. The chapter concludes with suggestions for Education for Environmental Citizenship deriving from the various models.

AbstractThis article presents the results of an international comparative study on food self‐provisioning, an activity still widespread in the countries of the Global North. We collected the data in a sociological survey done in 2010 as a part of the household energy use research project GILDED. We selected a region with urban and rural areas as a case study in each of the five EU countries, including Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Our article raises two main research questions: (1) What is the level of food self‐provisioning in the regions? (2) Who participates in it? Additionally, we inquired into the motivations of self‐provisioners using the results of analyses of sociodemographic and food consumption habits for their interpretation. We found that the level of self‐provisioning varies considerably among the regions. Its share ranges from 13 percent in Dutch urban areas to 58 percent in German rural areas. The effects of some sociodemographic and geographic factors differ significantly among the countries. However, we can summarize that living in one's own property, living in a house or in a rural area, having a partner or children, being retired, or having a low income increases the probability of food self‐provisioning.