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China has committed to implement both the 13th Five-Year Plan and the Official Position Paper on the 2030 Agenda. Both comprise components that address the SDGs and thus the following mapping exercise examines both documents together.The two guiding principles of the 13th Five-Year Plan (hereafter 'FYP') are as follows: 1) to undertake further reform to strengthen the decisive role of the market and improve the role of the state; 2) to maintain the leadership of the Communist Party and strengthen its capacity and role. These two guiding principles are intended to modernize and strengthen governing capacity, which is considered essential for the successful development of China.The Sustainable Development Goals (hereafter 'SDGs' or '2030 Agenda') and the 13th Five Year Plan or 'China's Position Paper on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development' are broadly in alignment, with the exception of gender equality. However, it would be inaccurate to conclude that gender equality issues in China will not be addressed during the period 2016-20. Policies such as poverty alleviation, and improvement of equal access and affordability of education and healthcare services would automatically target women as they are currently the disadvantaged groups in these policy areas. However, some of the other policy areas do not address gender issues at all.Despite broad alignment between the FYP and the SDGs, differences can be observed at the target and indicator levels. The SDGs have 17 goals, 169 targets and 230 indicators, and the FYP contains 25 targets in four categories, of which 13 have quantitative requirements which are therefore binding. Our comparison reveals that 50 indicators in the SDGS are fully covered in the FYP, 70 indicators appear partially, and 119 indicators are not reflected. The highest numbers of common targets between the SDGs and the FYP occur in the areas of poverty reduction, health, clean water and protecting life on land. Conversely, indicators in the areas of reduced inequalities, gender inequality, decent work, peace and partnerships are under-represented in the FYP.The 2030 Agenda stresses the importance of reducing inequality. This is echoed in the FYP, which incorporates targets on narrowing the income gap and significantly improving the income of low income groups, in addition to increasing the proportion of the country's middle class. However, there is a significant divergence between the detailed targets on inequality in the SDGs and the FYP. The SDGs focus on reducing inequality through addressing inter-group disparities, particularly women and children, in all policy areas. The FYP does not have clear targets aimed at reducing inter-group inequality. However, potential exists for the detailed indicators in the SDGs to be built into the Accurate Poverty Reduction Agenda (APRA) and incoming national plans for education and health, respectively. Poverty is a national level priority and a whole set of institutional arrangements have been established to achieve this goal. This allows a considerable degree of certainty in predicting that China will continue as a world leader in eradicating absolute poverty and hunger. Poverty reduction in the FYP primarily focuses on people living below the poverty line. However, two concerns arise from the emphasis placed by the central government on this initiative. First, local governments, under pressure from the top, may take an easy approach to reducing poverty by "giving fish," rather than following guidance from the central government to combine "teaching how to fish" with "giving fish." In this regard, SDG targets such as the empowerment of vulnerable groups and mobilizing non-public sectors may help China to set up more targeted policy targets and make use of diverse resources to achieve poverty reduction goals. . The second concern relates to the near-poor, which are not addressed as part of the FYP poverty reduction initiatives. The concern in the SDGs about people at the periphery of poverty may provide impetus for China to strengthen its poverty reduction program in future.Both the SDGs and the FYP put great emphasis on innovation. The FYP highlights the importance of capacity-building for innovation, and considers innovation to be an important tool to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth. The 2030 Agenda links innovation to the delivery of social benefits and economic growth. The SDGs are therefore of assistance to China in specifying the desired social and environmental outcomes from growth.Many goals and targets in the SDGs and the FYP require inter-sectoral actions. This poses two challenges to China: there needs to be better coordination between different sectors, and measuring the performances in reaching these targets is more complicated. A large part of the FYP is devoted to capacity and institution-building to deliver complex policy agendas. The Chinese government has also established a set of dedicated institutions for planning, implementing and monitoring the progress of SDGs at both the national and global levels. However, these are not sufficient. There needs to be more resources for the implementation, and there should be sound performance measurement and evaluation to be able to implement the policies, and ultimately to be able to tell the actual outcomes. In China, funding and resources at various levels of governments often do not match. The governments' ability to collect data to monitor and evaluate the progress is also not yet up to the challenges posed by SDGs. These challenges, however, may inspire reforms in the tax system and public spending, stimulate technological innovation and create opportunities for public participation.

U članku »The 'Bubbling Up' of Subterranean Politics in Europe«, objavljenom 2013. u časopisu Journal of Civil Society, Mary Kaldor i Sabine Selchow pokušale su otkriti specifične značajke pobuna koje su se javila nakon 2010. godine u europskim zemljama poput Njemačke, Španjolske, Italije, Engleske itd. Prema autoricama, način organiziranja koji čini glavno tijelo ovih emancipatornih pokreta preuzima svoju osnovnu logiku iz svijeta Interneta. Analogija s Internetom zahtijeva ponovnu evaluaciju negativnih komentara o tehnici iz filozofske perspektive. Martin Heidegger i Herbert Marcuse najutjecajniji su filozofi 20. stoljeća koji su se bavili negativnim aspektima tehnike. Heidegger je prikazao destruktivne učinke znanstvene racionalnosti i tehnike na zapadnu kulturu kroz kritiku tradicionalne zapadne metafizike na fenomenološ- ko-ontološkoj razini, dok je Marcuse, kao predstavnik zapadnoga marksizma, oblikovao svoju kritiku tehnike u kontekstu pojma instrumentalne racionalnosti te kritike razvijenog industrijskog društva i kapitalizma. Iako su polazišne točke njihovih pogleda na tehniku, kao i osnovne svrhe kritike tehnike, različite, može se reći da obojica imaju poprilično negativno i gotovo u potpunosti pesimističko shvaćanje tehnologije. U tom će se kontekstu razmotriti Heideggerova i Marcuseova kritika tehnike kao i razlike i sličnosti između tih dvaju pristupa. Zaključno će rad naglasiti mogućnost pozitivne uloge tehnike, koja može služiti kao alternativa negativnoj perspektivi osvjetljavajući odnos između nedavnih pobuna i interneta. ; In the paper "The 'Bubbling Up' of Subterranean Politics in Europe", which was published in 2013 in the Journal of Civil Society, mary Kaldor and Sabine Selchow attempted to reveal the specific qualities of the uprisings which emerged after the year 2010 in some European countries, such as Germany, Spain, Italy, England etc. According to the authors, the mode of organization which forms the main body of these emancipatory movements obtains its basic logic from the world of the Internet. The use of the Internet requires a re-evaluation of negative philosophical commentary regarding technology. In the context of the twentieth century philosophy, martin Heidegger and Herbert marcuse are the most influential philosophers who studied on the negative aspects of technology. Heidegger portrayed the destructive effects of scientific reasoning and technology on the Western culture through the criticism of the traditional Western metaphysics on a phenomenological-ontological level. marcuse, belonging to the tradition of Western marxism, formed his critique of technology in the context of the concept of instrumental rationality and the critique of advanced industrial society and capitalism. Although the starting points of their perspectives on technology and the underlying purposes of their critiques of technology were different, it may be asserted that both have a rather negative and almost entirely pessimistic disposition towards technology. Heidegger's and marcuse's criticisms of technology will be discussed in this context and the differences and similarities between these criticisms will be shown. Finally, the paper will emphasise the question of the possibility of a positive role of technology. Technology can serve as an alternative to negative uses by shedding light on the relation between the current uprisings and the Internet. ; Dans l'article « The "Bubbling Up" of Suberranean Politics in Europe » publié en 2013 dans Journal of Civil Society, mary Kaldor et Sabine Selchow tentent de mettre en lumière les caractéristiques spécifiques des révoltes qui ont fait jour après 2010 dans certains pays européens – Allemagne, Espagne, Italie, Angleterre, etc. Selon nos auteures, le mode d'organisation qui a formé le corps essentiel de ces mouvements émancipatoires tire sa logique de base du monde de l'internet. Cette analogie avec l'internet requiert une réévaluation, à partir d'un point de vue philosophique, des commentaires négatifs sur la technologie. martin Heidegger et Herbert marcuse sont les philosophes les plus influents ayant travaillé sur les aspects négatifs de la technologie au sein de la philosophie du XXe siècle. Heidegger a dépeint les effets destructeurs de la raison scientifique et de la technologie de notre culture occidentale à travers son criticisme de la métaphysique traditionnelle occidentale à un niveau phénoménologico-ontologique, tandis que marcuse, membre du « communisme occidentale », a formé une critique de la technologie au sein du concept de rationalité instrumentale et une critique de la société industrielle avancée et du capitalisme. Bien que le point de départ de leur perspective sur la technologie et que le but sous-jacent de leur critique diffèrent, il est possible d'affirmer que leur point commun est d'avoir posé un regard négatif et presque entièrement pessimiste sur la technologie. À cet égard, le criticisme d'Heidegger et de marcuse vont être abordés afin d'en soulever les diffé- rences et les similarités. Enfin, cet article mettra l'accent sur la possibilité d'un rôle positif de la technologie qui pourrait servir d'alternative aux perspectives négatives en faisant la lumière sur le lien entre les révoltes actuelles et l'internet. ; In dem Artikel "The 'Bubbling Up' of Subterranean Politics in Europe", veröffentlicht im Jahre 2013 im Journal of Civil Society, versuchten mary Kaldor und Sabine Selchow die spezifischen Qualitäten der Aufstände zum Ausdruck zu bringen, die nach 2010 in den europäischen Ländern ausbrachen – Deutschland, Spanien, Italien, England usw. Nach Ansicht der Autoren erhält der modus der Organisation, der den Hauptkörper dieser emanzipatorischen Bewegungen bildet, seine grundlegende Logik aus der Welt des Internets. Die Analogie mit dem Internet erfordert eine Neubewertung der negativen Kommentare über die Technologie aus philosophischer Perspektive. martin Heidegger und Herbert marcuse sind die einflussreichsten Philosophen, die sich mit den negativen Aspekten der Technologie in der Philosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts befasst haben. Heidegger schilderte die zerstörerischen Auswirkungen der wissenschaftlichen Vernunft und Technologie auf die westliche Kultur durch die Kritik an der traditionellen abendländischen metaphysik auf der phänomenologisch-ontologischen Ebene, während marcuse, ein mitglied des westlichen marxismus, seine Kritik an der Technologie im Rahmen des Konzepts der instrumentellen Rationalität und der Kritik der fortgeschrittenen Industriegesellschaft und Kapitalismus geformt hat. Obgleich die Ansatzpunkte ihrer Perspektiven über die Technologie und die zugrunde liegenden Zwecke ihrer Kritik an der Technologie unterschiedlich waren, kann behauptet werden, dass beide eine eher negative und fast völlig pessimistische Einstellung zur Technologie hatten. In diesem Zusammenhang werden Heideggers und marcuses Kritiken an der Technologie diskutiert sowie Unterschiede und Ähnlichkeiten zwischen den beiden Kritiken aufgezeigt. Abschließend unterstreicht das Paper die Frage nach der möglichkeit einer positiven Rolle für die Technologie, die als Alternative zur negativen Perspektive dienen kann, indem sie Licht in das Verhältnis zwischen aktuellen Aufständen und Internet bringt.

Includes bibliographical references. ; Number of sources in the bibliography: 72 ; Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Cyprus, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, 2016. ; The University of Cyprus Library holds the printed form of the thesis. ; Η παρούσα διατριβή διερευνά τις διαφορές τιμών στην ΕΕ και την ύπαρξη ομάδων σύγκλισης τιμών σε όλη την υδρόγειο. Πρώτα, εξετάζουμε τους καθοριστικούς παράγοντες και την εξέλιξη της διασποράς τιμών των εμπορευμάτων σε όλη την Ευρώπη με την πάροδο του χρόνου. Βρίσκουμε ότι η εμπορευσιμότητα και οι μη – εμπορεύσιμες εισροές παίζουν σημαντικά μικρότερο ρόλο στην διασπορά τιμών μεταξύ των χωρών μετά την υιοθέτηση του ευρώ, και για τις οικονομίες στην Ευρωζώνη (ΕΖ) σε σύγκρισή με αυτά της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης (ΕΕ). Στην συνέχεια, συγκρίνουμε τις κατανομές των αποκλίσεων του νόμου της μιας τιμής (LOP) με την πάροδο του χρόνου και ανακαλύπτουμε ότι οι κατανομές μετά την υιοθέτηση του ευρώ είναι συνήθως στατιστικά διαφορετικές σε σύγκριση με αυτά πριν την υιοθέτηση, συνεπής με την ολοκλήρωση σε μεγάλο βαθμό. Επιπλέον, διαπιστώνουμε ότι οι αποκλίσεις του νόμου μιας τιμής (LOP) συσχετίζονται σημαντικά για τους ορίζοντες των πέντε ή δέκα ετών, και οι συσχετίσεις παραμένουν σημαντικά υψηλές για μεγάλους χρονικούς ορίζοντες. Αυτές οι συσχετίσεις είναι μεγάλες για ομοιογενείς σε σχέση με τα διαφοροποιημένα αγαθά, και ποικίλουν από χώρα σε χώρα. Για τις περισσότερες αυτές ευρωπαϊκές οικονομίες και αγαθά, πλεονέκτημα τιμής συνήθως φαίνεται να είναι πιο επίμονο από ότι μειονέκτημα τιμής. Κατόπιν, εξετάζουμε τις αποκλίσεις από τον νόμο μίας τιμής για την περίπτωση της Κύπρου σε σχέση με την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση (Ε.Ε.) μεταξύ 2005 και 2010 για να κατανοήσουμε το ρόλο που διαδραματίζει η διαδικασία υιοθέτησης του ευρώ για αυτή τη συγκεκριμένη χώρα. Συμπεραίνουμε ότι πρώτον, η Κυπριακή οικονομία παρουσίασε σημαντικά αυξημένο βαθμό ολοκλήρωσης εν σχέση με χώρες της Ε.Ε. μεταξύ 2005 και 2010, και δεύτερον, η Κύπρος έγινε σχετικά φθηνότερη κατά αυτήν την περίοδο. Από το 2010 η εμπειρική κατανομή αποκλίσεων από τον νόμο μίας τιμής για την Κύπρο γίνεται στατιστικά ίδια με αυτή χωρών του πυρήνα της ΕΖ όπως η Γερμανία. Αυτό συνάδει με ένα γρήγορο ρυθμό προσαρμογής των σχετικών τιμών κατά την διαδικασία υιοθέτησης του ευρώ, καταδεικνύοντας και τον ψηλό βαθμό προσαρμοστικότητας της Κυπριακής οικονομίας. Τέλος, εξετάζουμε την ύπαρξη ομάδων σύγκλισης στον μηχανισμό τιμών της κάθε χώρας για 96 αγαθά σε επίπεδο τιμών λιανικής πώλησης για 40 χώρες όπου τα δεδομένα είναι διαθέσιμα σε εξαμηνιαία βάση από 1990 – 2010, χρησιμοποιώντας μη γραμμικό μοντέλο παράγοντα και εργαλεία παλινδρόμησης ορίων (threshold regression). Αυτό το άρθρο είναι το πρώτο, το οποίο βρίσκει ισχυρή ένδειξη για την ύπαρξη ομάδων σύγκλισης για τιμές λιανικής πώλησης . Βρίσκουμε ότι οι χώρες οι οποίες είναι πιο κοντά στους πιθανούς εμπορικούς εταίρους συγκλίνουν ταχύτερα από ότι οι χώρες στον τομέα της υψηλής απόστασης αν η αρχική παραγωγικότητα εργασίας είναι χαμηλή ή αν έχουν χαμηλό αρχικό εισόδημα, και οι χώρες με χαμηλή αρχική παραγωγικότητα εργασίας συγκλίνουν ταχύτερα από ότι οι χώρες που βρίσκονται στο τομέα υψηλής παραγωγικότητας αν χαρακτηρίζονται από χαμηλή μέση απόσταση από τους εμπορικούς εταίρους. Ερμηνεύουμε τα αποτελέσματα μας ως ένδειξη για την ύπαρξη τοπικού νόμου της μιας τιμής λόγω της ύπαρξης εμπόδιων για την σύγκλιση τιμών ; The present dissertation investigates price differences in the EU and the existence of price convergence clubs across the globe. First, we study the determinants and the evolution of goods price dispersion across Europe over time. We find that tradeability and non-traded inputs play a significantly smaller role for cross-country price dispersion after the adoption of the euro, and for Eurozone (EZ) economies as compared to European Union (EU) ones. We then compare the distributions of law-of-one-price (LOP) deviations over time and reveal that the distributions after the euro are typically significantly different than those before, consistent with a greater degree of integration. Moreover, we find that LOP deviations are highly correlated over five or ten year horizons, and correlations remain significantly high over longer horizons. These correlations are greater for homogeneous as compared to differentiated goods, and vary across countries. For most of these European economies and goods, price advantage is typically revealed to be more persistent than price disadvantage. Then, we analyse cross-sectional LOP deviations for the case of Cyprus relative to the EU in 2005 and 2010 in order to understand the role played by the process of monetary unification for this particular economy. We infer that Cyprus became significantly more integrated with EU economies between 2005 and 2010, and relatively cheaper during this period. By 2010, the empirical distribution for Cyprus becomes statistically indistinguishable from that of core EZ economies like Germany, implying a fast pace of relative price adjustment for Cyprus during the process of euro adoption and indicative of the high degree of flexibility characterizing the Cypriot economy. Finally, we investigate the existence of convergence clubs in the cross-country price mechanism for 96 individual goods retail price levels across 40 countries available semi-annually for 1990-2010, using a nonlinear factor model and threshold regression tools. This is the first paper to find strong evidence for club convergence of retail prices. We find that countries that are physically closer to potential trade partners converge faster than countries in the high distance regime if they have low initial labor productivity or low initial income, and countries with low initial productivity converge faster than those in the high productivity regime if characterized by low average distance from trade partners. We interpret our findings as evidence of a local law of one price due to barriers to price convergence that influence the duration of the effect of price shocks.

I initiated the Kalaiselvi Project in spring 2012, with a vision to plan and execute a project to revitalize the outdoor environment of a children ́s home in India. The outdoor area of Angel House Children's Home in Chennai was previously in a very poor condition, and it was not safe for the children to play there. Through four years of work, with fundraising, visits to India with registrations and participation work, it has been an educational and exciting process, up until the outdoor environment was finished built in March 2016. The thesis deals with the question of the challenges and opportunities that I, as a landscape architect, had when I was planning the outdoor area of the children ́s home. The thesis also examines the question of how the residents of the children ́s home could be included in the planning process.Participatory planning is a valuable tool that is becoming more and more used in landscape planning. Landscape democracy is promoted through participation, through giving the people you plan for a voice, and enabling them to affect their own surrounding landscape. In the first part of the thesis, a literature study is presented, where I wanted to gain knowledge on how to use participation in the planning process. The literature part reflects on what participation is, and why we should use participation in landscape planning. The benefits and challenges of participation are presented, along with a selection of reference projects that have been an inspiration to the Kalaiselvi Project. Throughout the process, I tried to connect the literature study to the project. I realized that much of the literature might be better suited for planning in bigger communities, but I could still draw parallels to the Kalaiselvi project and make use of the knowledge. In the second part of the thesis, a full report of the Kalaiselvi Project ́s process is presented, divided into five stages: 1. Listen, 2. Plan, 3. Design, 4. Build and 5. Maintain. In the first step, participation is taken from theory to practice, where the children and staff at the children ́s home contribute to the planning. In the planning and designing part of the process, the material from the participation part is considered for the plan proposals, to ensure a plan solution that satisfies the desires and needs of the children and staff at the children ́s home. During the process I ran into a number of challenges and opportunities, and I could immerse in exciting materials and a wide range of plants. In the actual building process, there were challenges of cultural differences regarding perception of time, division of labor and gender roles, delay of materials and concerns regarding maintenance. Despite the challenges, the building process went relatively smoothly, and the project was realized within the time limit. The children and staff at the children ́s home participated actively throughout the whole project implementation, and has done an outstanding job with the maintenance of their new outdoor area after completion. ; Jeg startet opp Kalaiselvi prosjektet våren 2012, med en visjon om å planlegge og utføre et prosjekt om å revitalisere uteområdet til et barnehjem i India. Angel House Children ́s Home i Chennai hadde tidligere et uteområde som var lite givende og utrygt for barna å oppholde seg i, og dette ønsket jeg å gjøre noe med. Gjennom et flerårig arbeid med innsamlingsaksjon, befaringer til India med registreringer og medvirkningsarbeid, har det vært en lærerik og spennende prosess, frem til uteområdet stod ferdig bygget i mars 2016. Oppgaven tar for seg spørsmålet om hvilke utfordringer og muligheter jeg som landskapsarkitekt hadde, når jeg skulle planlegge uteområdet til barnehjemmet. Oppgaven tar også for seg spørsmålet om hvordan beboerne på barnehjemmet kunne inkluderes i planleggingsprosessen, for å sikre at de følte eierskap til prosjektet og ønsket å vedlikeholde det nye uteområdet sitt. Medvirkning i planleggingsprosesser er et nyttig verktøy som blir mer og mer tatt i bruk i landskapsplanlegging. Ved medvirkning blir landskapsdemorkratiet fremmet, gjennom at de en planlegger for, får en stemme, og med dette en sterkere tilknytning til prosjektet. I den første delen av oppgaven blir et litteraturstudie presentert, der jeg ønsket å tilegne meg kunnskap om hvordan en benytter medvirkning i planleggingsprosesser. Litteraturen svarer på hva medvirkning er, og hvorfor man burde bruke medvirkning i landskapsplanlegging. Både fordeler og utfordringer ved medvirkning blir presentert, sammen med et utvalg av referanseprosjekter som har vært til inspirasjon for Kalaiselvi prosjektet. Gjennom hele prosessen forsøkte jeg å koble litteraturstudiet opp mot prosjektet, og jeg innså at mye av litteraturen kanskje var bedre egnet for planlegging i større bosamfunn, men at jeg likevel kunne trekke paralleller til Kalaiselvi prosjektet. I den andre delen av oppgaven blir en fullstendig rapport for selve prosjektet presentert, der prosessen er delt inn i fem steg: 1. Lytt, 2. Planlegg, 3. Utform, 4. Bygg og 5. Vedlikehold. I første steg blir medvirkning tatt fra teori til praksis, der barna og de ansatte blir engasjert til å bidra i planleggingsprosessen av det nye uteområdet sitt. I planleggingen og utformingen blir materialet fra medvirkningen vurdert og tatt i bruk i planforslagene, for å sikre et løsningsforslag som tilfredstilte ønskene og behovene til barna og de ansatte ved barnehjemmet. Utfordringene og mulighetene var mange, og jeg kunne fordype meg i spennende materialer og et mangfoldig planteutvalg. Jeg støtte på utfordringer angående kulturforskjeller, oppfatning av tid, arbeidsfordeling og kjønnsroller, forsinkelse av materialer og bekymringer angående vedlikehold. Til tross for utfordringene gikk byggeprosessen relativt problemfritt, og prosjektet ble realisert innen tidsfristen med god margin. Barna og de ansatte ved barnehjemmet deltok aktivt gjennom hele prosjektrealiseringen, og har i ettertid av prosjektet gjort en fremragende jobb med vedlikeholdet av det nye uteområdet sitt. ; M-LA

The European electricity system is currently facing a major transformation, with renewable energy (RE) technologies being expected to constitute an important part of the future generation mix. In light of the recent debate on the European Union's (EU) energy and climate policy until 2030, this thesis contributes both to the academic and public discourse about RE targets and infrastructure needs, and to the methodological advancement of power system models. In particular, I focus on two major aspects: (i) the efficient representation of the RE's temporal variability in large-scale power system models, and (ii) the explicit consideration of uncertainty in analyzing investment strategies for the future European power system. In the first part of this thesis, I present the long-term investment model for the European electricity system LIMES-EU. The model constitutes the methodological basis of the thesis; it facilitates the analysis of technically feasible and economically viable investment pathways for individual countries and for Europe on aggregate. LIMES-EU simultaneously optimizes investment and dispatch decisions for generation, storage and transmission technologies in an intertemporal way from 2010 to 2050. Despite the model's long-term focus until 2050, it effectively accounts for the short-term variability of electricity demand and infeed from wind and solar power plants. The fluctuations are reflected by modeling the operation of technologies for a set of representative days. These days are selected with a novel and computational efficient approach that is suitable for input data with a large number of different fluctuating time series (i.e. multiple different RE technologies and/or regions). With the approach that has been developed for this thesis it is possible to reflect the characteristic fluctuations of the input data already with a small number of model days. To enable its applicability for other models, it is based on an established clustering algorithm and transparently documented. The second part of the thesis provides an in-depth analysis of cost-efficient future investment strategies for the European power system in order to reach the EU's long-term decarbonization targets until 2050. The analysis includes an explicit consideration of uncertainty and comprises both aggregate European and national results. Thereby, the work adds important aspects to the European Commission's official impact assessment on the 2030 policy framework as this impact assessment completely disregards the existence of uncertainties and provides only few results on national level. A major focus of the analysis is on the cost-efficient RE expansion until 2030. Their optimal share in the 2030 generation mix varies considerably across the studied scenarios that account for various uncertainties about future techno-economic developments, for example with regard to fuel prices and investment costs. The national results show a strong difference in optimal RE deployment across countries, which is caused by the unequal distribution of RE sources. A cost-optimal RE expansion would result in large international transmission needs and would make some countries importing a large share of their electricity demand from foreign power plants. In addition to determining cost-efficient investment pathways for different future scenarios, the thesis provides an analysis of investment strategies that help to increase the robustness of the power system, i.e. result in a system that performs reasonably well for a large variety of possible futures. The performance of different systems under short-term shocks is tested in a total of more than 40,000 model runs. The analysis shows, that despite the benefits of a further integration of the European electricity system, strategies promoting the capability of countries to produce at least 95% of their electricity demand domestically significantly help to increase the robustness of the European power system. ; Das europäische Stromsystem befindet sich zurzeit in einer Transformation; es wird erwartet, dass Technologien auf Basis erneuerbarer Energien (EE) einen bedeutenden Anteil am zukünftigen Stromerzeugungsmix ausmachen werden. Vor dem Hintergrund der jüngsten Debatte über die Energie- und Klimapolitik der Europäischen Union (EU) bis 2030, trägt diese Arbeit sowohl zum akademischen und öffentlichen Diskurs über EE-Ziele und Infrastrukturbedarf als auch zur methodischen Weiterentwicklung von Stromsystemmodellen bei. Der Schwerpunkt liegt insbesondere auf zwei Aspekten: (i) der effizienten Abbildung der zeitlichen Variabilität von EE in großskaligen Stromsystemmodellen und (ii) der expliziten Berücksichtigung von Unsicherheit in der Analyse von Investitionsstrategien für das zukünftige europäische Stromsystem. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit stelle ich das langfristige Investitionsmodell für das europäische Stromsystem LIMES-EU vor. Das Modell bildet die methodische Basis der Arbeit; es ermöglicht die Analyse von technisch machbaren und wirtschaftlich sinnvollen Investitionspfaden für einzelne Länder und Gesamteuropa. LIMES-EU optimiert gleichzeitig Investitions- und Einsatzentscheidungen für Erzeugungs-, Speicher- und Übertragungstechnologien in einem intertemporalen Ansatz von 2010 bis 2050. Trotz des langfristigen Fokus bis 2050 berücksichtigt das Modell auf wirksame Weise die kurzfristige Variabilität der Stromnachfrage und der Produktion aus Wind- und Solarkraftwerken. Die Schwankungen werden durch die Modellierung des Technologieeinsatzes für eine Reihe repräsentativer Tage widergespiegelt. Die Auswahl dieser Tage basiert auf einem neuen und recheneffizienten Ansatz, der für Eingangsdaten mit einer hohen Anzahl an schwankenden Zeitreihen geeignet ist (also mehreren verschiedenen EE-Technologien und/oder Regionen). Mit dem Ansatz, der für diese Arbeit entwickelt wurde, ist es möglich die charakteristischen Schwankungen der Eingangsdaten bereits mit einer kleinen Anzahl von Modelltagen widerzuspiegeln. Um die Anwendbarkeit des Ansatzes für andere Modelle zu ermöglichen, basiert dieser auf einem etablierten Clusteralgorithmus und ist transparent dokumentiert. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit bietet eine eingehende Analyse von kosteneffizienten zukünftigen Investitionsstrategien für das europäische Stromsystem zur Erreichung der langfristigen EU-Dekarbonisierungsziele bis 2050. Die Analyse beinhaltet eine explizite Berücksichtigung von Unsicherheit und umfasst sowohl gesamteuropäische als auch nationale Ergebnisse. Damit ergänzt die Arbeit die offizielle Folgenabschätzung der Europäischen Kommission zur Rahmenpolitik bis 2030 um wichtige Aspekte, da diese Folgenabschätzung die Existenz von Unsicherheiten völlig unbeachtet lässt und nur wenige Ergebnisse auf nationaler Ebene bietet. Ein wesentlicher Schwerpunkt der Analyse liegt auf dem kosteneffizienten EE-Ausbau bis 2030. Deren optimaler Anteil am Stromerzeugungsmix von 2030 variiert beträchtlich zwischen den untersuchten Szenarien, welche verschiedene Unsicherheiten über zukünftige technisch-wirtschaftliche Entwicklungen, etwa in Bezug auf Brennstoffpreise und Investitionskosten, berücksichtigen. Aufgrund der ungleichen Verteilung von erneuerbaren Energieträgern zeigen die nationalen Ergebnisse starke Unterschiede in der optimalen EE-Nutzung zwischen den Ländern. Ein kostenoptimaler EE-Ausbau würde einen großen Bedarf an internationalen Übertragungskapazitäten zur Folge haben und dazu führen, dass einige Länder einen großen Anteil ihres Strombedarfs von ausländischen Kraftwerken importieren. Neben der Bestimmung von kosteneffizienten Investitionspfaden für verschiedene zukünftige Szenarien bietet die Arbeit eine Analyse von Investitionsstrategien zur Steigerung der Robustheit des Stromsystems, die also dazu führen, dass das System für eine große Bandbreite möglicher Zukünfte angemessen funktioniert. Die Leistung von verschiedenen Systemen unter kurzfristigen Schocks wird in mehr als 40.000 Modellläufen getestet. Die Analyse zeigt, dass trotz der Vorzüge einer weiteren Integration des europäischen Stromsystems Strategien, die dazu führen, dass Länder in der Lage sind mindestens 95% ihres Strombedarfs im Inland zu produzieren, deutlich dabei helfen die Robustheit des europäischen Stromsystems zu steigern. ; EC/FP7/308481/EU/Economic Instruments to Achieve Climate Targets in Europe/ENTRACTE

Journal of High Energy Physics 2015.11 (2015): 189 reproduced by permission of Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) ; Artículo escrito por un elevado número de autores, solo se referencian el que aparece en primer lugar, el nombre del grupo de colaboración, si le hubiere, y los autores pertenecientes a la UAM ; The first search for supersymmetry in the vector-boson fusion topology is presented. The search targets final states with at least two leptons, large missing transverse momentum, and two jets with a large separation in rapidity. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at √ s = 8 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The observed dijet invariant mass spectrum is found to be consistent with the expected standard model prediction. Upper limits are set on the cross sections for chargino and neutralino production with two associated jets, assuming the supersymmetric partner of the τ lepton to be the lightest slepton and the lightest slepton to be lighter than the charginos. For a so-called compressed-mass-spectrum scenario in which the mass difference between the lightest supersymmetric particle χe 0 1 and the next lightest, mass-degenerate, gaugino particles χe 0 2 and χe ± 1 is 50 GeV, a mass lower limit of 170 GeV is set for these latter two particles ; In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the computing centres and personnel of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid for delivering so effectively the computing infrastructure essential to our analyses. Finally, we acknowledge the enduring support for the construction and operation of the LHC and the CMS detector provided by the following funding agencies: the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy and the Austrian Science Fund; the Belgian Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique, and Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek; the Brazilian Funding Agencies (CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP); the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science; CERN; the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, and National Natural Science Foundation of China; the Colombian Funding Agency (COLCIENCIAS); the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sport, and the Croatian Science Foundation; the Research Promotion Foundation, Cyprus; the Ministry of Education and Research, Estonian Research Council via IUT23-4 and IUT23-6 and European Regional Development Fund, Estonia; the Academy of Finland, Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, and Helsinki Institute of Physics; the Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules/CNRS, and Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives/CEA, France; the Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren, Germany; the General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Greece; the National Scientific Research Foundation, and National Innovation Office, Hungary; the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Science and Technology, India; the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, Iran; the Science Foundation, Ireland; the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Italy; the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, and National Research Foundation (NRF), Republic of Korea; the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences; the Ministry of Education, and University of Malaya (Malaysia); the Mexican Funding Agencies (CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI); the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, New Zealand; the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission; the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the National Science Centre, Poland; the Funda¸c˜ao para a Ciˆencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal; JINR, Dubna; the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Federal Agency of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation, Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research; the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia; the Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación and Programa Consolider-Ingenio 2010, Spain; the Swiss Funding Agencies (ETH Board, ETH Zurich, PSI, SNF, UniZH, Canton Zurich, and SER); the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taipei; the Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics, the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology of Thailand, Special Task Force for Activating Research and the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand; the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, and Turkish Atomic Energy Authority; the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and State Fund for Fundamental Researches, Ukraine; the Science and Technology Facilities Council, U.K.; the US Department of Energy, and the US National Science Foundation. Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council and EPLANET (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A.P. Sloan Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office; the Fonds pour la Formation `a la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture (FRIA-Belgium); the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT-Belgium); the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic; the Council of Science and Industrial Research, India; the HOMING PLUS programme of the Foundation for Polish Science, cofinanced from European Union, Regional Development Fund; the OPUS programme of the National Science Center (Poland); the Compagnia di San Paolo (Torino); the Consorzio per la Fisica (Trieste); MIUR project 20108T4XTM (Italy); the Thalis and Aristeia programmes cofinanced by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF; the National Priorities Research Program by Qatar National Research Fund; the Rachadapisek Sompot Fund for Postdoctoral Fellowship, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand); and the Welch Foundation, contract C-1845

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported licence.-- et al. ; The standard model of particle physics describes the fundamental particles and their interactions via the strong, electromagnetic and weak forces. It provides precise predictions for measurable quantities that can be tested experimentally. The probabilities, or branching fractions, of the strange B meson (B-s(0)) and the B-0 meson decaying into two oppositely charged muons (mu(+) and mu(-)) are especially interesting because of their sensitivity to theories that extend the standard model. The standard model predicts that the B-s(0)->mu(+)mu(-) and B-0 ->mu(+)mu(-) decays are very rare, with about four of the former occurring for every billion B-s(0) mesons produced, and one of the latter occurring for every ten billion B-0 mesons(1). A difference in the observed branching fractions with respect to the predictions of the standard model would provide a direction in which the standard model should be extended. Before the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN2 started operating, no evidence for either decay mode had been found. Upper limits on the branching fractions were an order of magnitude above the standard model predictions. The CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) and LHCb(Large Hadron Collider beauty) collaborations have performed a joint analysis of the data from proton-proton collisions that they collected in 2011 at a centre-of-mass energy of seven teraelectronvolts and in 2012 at eight teraelectronvolts. Here we report the first observation of the B-s(0)->mu(+)mu(-) decay, with a statistical significance exceeding six standard deviations, and the best measurement so far of its branching fraction. Furthermore, we obtained evidence for the B-0 ->mu(+)mu(-) decay with a statistical significance of three standard deviations. Both measurements are statistically compatible with standard model predictions and allow stringent constraints to be placed on theories beyond the standard model. The LHC experiments will resume taking data in 2015, recording proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 teraelectronvolts, which will approximately double the production rates of B-s(0) and B-0 mesons and lead to further improvements in the precision of these crucial tests of the standard model. ; We express our gratitude to colleagues in the CERN accelerator departments for the excellent performance of the LHC. We thank the technical and administrative staff at CERN, at the CMS institutes and at the LHCb institutes. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the computing centres and personnel of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid for delivering so effectively the computing infrastructure essential to our analyses. Finally, we acknowledge the enduring support for the construction and operation of the LHC, the CMS and the LHCb detectors provided by CERN and by many funding agencies. The following agencies provide support for both CMS and LHCb: CAPES, CNPq, FAPERJ and FINEP (Brazil); NSFC (China); CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG and HGF (Germany); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NASU (Ukraine); STFC (UK); and NSF (USA). Agencies that provide support for CMS only are BMWFW and FWF (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CAS and MoST (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES and CSF (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); MoER, ERC IUT and ERDF (Estonia); Academy of Finland, MEC, and HIP (Finland); CEA (France); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NIH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); NRF and WCU (Republic of Korea); LAS (Lithuania); MOE and UM (Malaysia); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); MBIE (New Zealand); PAEC (Pakistan); MSHE and NSC (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Dubna); MON, RosAtom, RAS and RFBR (Russia); MESTD (Serbia); SEIDI and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); MST (Taipei); ThEPCenter, IPST, STAR and NSTDA (Thailand); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); SFFR (Ukraine); and DOE (USA). Agencies that provide support for only LHCb are: FINEP (Brazil); MPG (Germany); FOM and NWO (The Netherlands); MNiSW and NCN (Poland); MEN/IFA (Romania); MinES and FANO (Russia); MinECo (Spain); SNSF and SER (Switzerland). Individuals from the CMS collaboration have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council and EPLANET (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A. P. Sloan Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office; the Fonds pour la Formation a la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture (FRIABelgium); the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT-Belgium); the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic; the Council of Science and Industrial Research, India; the HOMING PLUS programme of Foundation for Polish Science, cofinanced from European Union, Regional Development Fund; the Compagnia di San Paolo (Torino); the Consorzio per la Fisica (Trieste); MIUR project 20108T4XTM (Italy); the Thalis and Aristeia programmes cofinanced by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF; and the National Priorities Research Program by Qatar National Research Fund. Individual groups or members of the LHCb collaboration have received support from EPLANET, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and ERC (European Union), Conseil general de Haute-Savoie, Labex ENIGMASS and OCEVU, Region Auvergne (France), RFBR (Russia), XuntaGal and GENCAT (Spain), Royal Society and Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (UK). LHCb is also thankful for the computing resources and the access to software R&D tools provided by Yandex LLC (Russia). The CMS and LHCb collaborations are indebted to the communities behind the multiple open source software packages on which they depend. ; Peer reviewed

The recent terror attacks on Army Public School and Imam Bargah in Hayatabad, Peshawar once again highlighted the continuing fragile law and order situation that the country is facing in general and the province of KPK in particular. The civilian emergency response mounted to these events and those of a similar nature in the past can at best be described as grossly insufficient and well below the desired standards. Having been at the heart of 'war on terror", and faced with numerous bomb blasts and other forms of militant activities over successive years in the recent past, one would expect a mature and systematic approach inculcated in the country's response to emergency. Sadly this has not been the case and the same chaos and indifference by the concerned authorities is seen at the site of occurrence, during transportation and in the hospitals as was the case before these events were a regular feature. To add to the spectrum of these woes is the lack of any coordinated efforts to rehabilitate the victims either psychologically, physically or financially. As I searched for an effective system globally adopted for disaster management of various scales, I came across the existence of various national and international organizations tasked to ensure preparedness and swift response in event of any such eventualities. International organizations such as Red Cross, The International Emergency Management Society(TIEMS), The International Recovery Platform (IRP)and United nations organization help reduce vulnerability and assist cope with natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, industrial sabotage and other incidences of significant humanitarian crisis. While some of these organizations may help creating awareness and offer technical guidance in managing manmade disasters, they have a very limited role in practically addressing incidents related to localize events of terrorism. This responsibility is borne by respective governments in light of the prevailing law and order situation and resource availability. Different countries then have other umbrella organizations overlooking management of emergency situations arising from terror related disasters in addition to natural calamities eg the Civil Contingencies secretariat in UK, the Federal emergency management authority in US and the National disaster response force in India. In Pakistan unfortunately there is no concept of an organized response to events resulting in multiple or mass casualties, be it a result of any major accident or an act of terrorism. Organizations such as APDMA and PDMA have limited roles dealing mainly with natural disasters. Need of the hour is for an organization or team to cater for manmade disasters given the recent frequency of these events. In the absence of any responsible organization taking the lead and developing protocols as well as providing guidelines, the workforce available for pre hospital and hospital-based critical care varies enormously. Every major city of the country and specially Peshawar should have a disaster control management plan involving security agencies, paramedic and ambulance services and all major hospitals who should develop an effective strategy to facilitate management of injured patients. An effective approach would depend on the ability of the concerned team to anticipate, assess, prevent, prepare, respond and recover from an incident. Security agencies must cordon off the site of incident allowing only emergency vehicles and personnel to approach the site once secured. The hospital nominated to receive the brunt of casualties should be informed well in time for emergency preparedness. If possible all unnecessary traffic flow in the vicinity of the hospital should be diverted according to a predetermined plan. The Accident and Emergency departments should have a viable communication system of summoning their trauma team and any additional staff needed according to the nature and magnitude of the calamity on a very short notice. Within the hospital all visitors and well wishers as well as media personnel and politicians should be restricted to nominated zones with facilities of a public address system and an information centre updating the list of injured and dead at regular intervals. A spacious TRIAGE hall with designated triage officers (doctors or nurses) should be at hand to sort out the patients and prioritize their treatment according to the nature of their injuries and resources available. The major hospitals must build up their capacity in terms of skilled manpower and equipment/medicine and be ready for any major incident in its catchment area besides being able to receive a spill over in case of any major disaster in adjoining vicinities. Doctors and other support staff in ER should be familiar with the basic principles of Emergency life saving measures. It should be mandatory for the aforementioned to have attended trauma management courses such as Advanced Trauma Life Support, Primary Trauma Care or Emergency Room Trauma Care. There is considerable evidence to show that properly trained staff can make a marked difference when it comes to saving precious lives. There should also be appropriate arrangement for dealing with bodies of dead victims and counseling their near and dear ones. No doubt, considerable effort and commitment is needed if the above goals have to be achieved. To ensure a well organized and coherent response to any major incident there has to be a lead body running the show. All those involved in emergency management from the scene of the incident to the hospital receiving and managing the injured patients should be part of a team and should be allowed to interact on a regular basis through seminars and conferences framing and developing their own standard operating procedures and guidelines. Effective emergency management has been and will always be the crunch requirement of any civilized society and it is imperative that the government should take practical steps in addressing this issue in the best interest of the public.

This anthropological research on field drainage and canal dredging in Vietnam aims to understand local arrangements for irrigation practices and how they are shaped and negotiated by stakeholders. As well, a research aim is to redefine the Vietnamese state's position in the interactions and negotiations concerning these arrangements at the local level. Empirical data are subjected to abductive analysis and conceptualised within the institution process and the three dimensions of state power. In this ethnographic case study observation, semi-structured interviews, and random, purposive sampling are employed, while the data are reduced and analysed by open, axial and selective coding. The Mekong Delta presents a diverse landscape divided into 6 zones which differ from each other and have internally diverse natural conditions, infrastructure and agricultural patterns. Differences also appear among areas in the same zone, contributing to the great diversity of the Delta. A review of hydraulic interventions over different periods demonstrates that the complex history of human migration, colonisation and nation building in the Mekong Delta over 2,000 years has been a work in progress, with new developments built on top of older ones and continuity maintained as past investments and innovations remain fully or partly visible in the landscape. I argue that the transformation of agriculture and rural livelihoods in the Delta has been a process in which practices, rules and norms have been formed, negotiated and adapted through the interactions of interventions, natural conditions (i.e. water, rain, flood), the existing infrastructure (i.e. canal networks, pumps, dredges) and social arrangements (i.e. the open society of the South). Thus, the history of the making of the Delta's water landscape is an institutional process that connects past and present, old and new, traditional or existing and imported arrangements. In the contemporary Mekong Delta, the local governance of agriculture and irrigation management is the joint work of state agencies, with their de-concentrated and decentralised structure, and other stakeholders, including semi-state agencies, farmer organisations and farmers. Complex interdependence and inter-influence exist amongst the stakeholders and, under natural, physical and socio-economic changes, drive the evolution of state management and the characteristics of other actors over time. While the decentralised state structure combined with local centralisation illustrates the persistent structural barriers to sharing power and benefits, the interaction between the state and various actors creates local dynamics which can both pose difficulties to state control and complement the inconsistent, uncertain state structure, as illustrated in budget management for canal dredging. The involvement of local movers is simply part of the Vietnamese structure and the negotiation and co-adaptation processes through which institutions and arrangements are introduced, evaluated and legitimated. Local involvement does not necessarily indicate weakness in the state's command-and-control management, nor does it prove local success in leveraging political power through resistance. Empirical accounts of field drainage and canal dredging at the commune and hamlet levels support the following arguments: - Although the Vietnamese hierarchical structure imitates that of a so-called authoritarian regime, the dense structure of agencies from the central level to the hamlet level that employs a top-down system of policy and mandates is not necessarily inflexible. Rather, based on empirical evidences from the cases of field drainage and canal dredging, this research illustrates the full, complex picture of the relations or interaction and negotiation between the government and other actors in the Mekong Delta in which a hierarchical state management structure and the space of local flexibility co-exist. Today, the state, in finding and maintaining a balance between its retreat from certain responsibilities and its need to be present and gain legitimacy, decides the threshold at which it no longer tolerates local deviation. - This research moves beyond the local negotiation of institutions and the bargaining of individual decision-making behaviour to argue that irrigation management at the local level is guided by the co-evolution or mutual learning between state and local actors, including local cadres. From this process of interaction, local governance officially and unofficially refines and decides the current practices of local irrigation management. While exploring the classic state–society theme, I approach the state as part of society. Building on the concept of the of state–in–society and the blurred boundaries between formal and informal in Vietnam, as contended by such scholars as Kerkvliet (2001), Gainsborough (2010), Reis (2010), Heinrich Böll Foundation (2005), and Hicks (2005), this research on the interaction between the state and local actors at the bureaucratic–informal interface reveals the nature of the everyday dialogue from which institutions are negotiated in the process of forming bricolage. The negotiation process is guided by the bargaining of individual behaviour. - Within this dialogue, the state is not the primary driver but is a strong party in bargaining favourable institutional conditions. Considering the present state's success in penetrating social processes, both consciously and unconsciously, through the application of infrastructure and discursive power (legislation and mobilisation), the local irrigation case of the Mekong Delta demonstrates the nature of local responses, or the so-called local resistances, which are far from either rebellion or silent fence-breaking. In the competitive negotiation to make one's own regulations and targets accepted by others, the state and other actors have evolved into a learning process, as illustrated in their overlapping interests and agreement on flexibility and deviation in certain places. That process of learning or negotiation has shaped the institutional bricolage from the various rules and norms that are valued and accepted differently by the state, local state cadres, semi-state actors and farmers.

The impact of mitigation policies on economic activities is a longstanding controversial issue justifying the large strand of literature analysing the effect of climate change policies in terms of environmental and economic costs. From the Kyoto Protocol to the current climate policy agenda approved by the European Union (EU) in October 2014, mitigation of climate change still constitutes a challenging long term objective at the global level, and it is particularly relevant for the EU. Besides the cost-effectiveness issue, and considering the global scope of environmental policies in an open economy, further aspects to carefully account for are the regional distribution of those costs and the impacts on the economic, energy and industrial competitiveness. In this context, it is not surprising the comprehensive use of applied models representing the global economy and the relations between the economic and technological dimension, across countries and the economic sector. In the light of the challenging abatement targets and the assessment of mitigation costs, the current work is organised in three parts. The first part focus on a specific issue under investigation in applied energy economics that is energy substitution and the role of behavioural parameters in influencing cost assessment results. This analysis specifically addresses the computation of energy-output and capital-energy substitution elasticity, which is a measure of the energy-related technological flexibility. Energy-output elasticities are computed for 10 manufacturing sectors for a long time span (1970-2008) for a panel of 21 OECD countries while energy-capital substitution elasticity is estimated at aggregate level for the whole manufacturing industry for the same longitudinal dataset as well for 10 manufacturing sectors, also for separate sub-periods and comparing alternative econometric estimation methods. Results show that the energy long-run elasticity values for specific manufacturing sectors are highly heterogeneous, while the heterogeneity in the energy-capital substitution elasticity shows that the distinction between energy-intensive and non-energy-intensive sectors behaviour is less clear. Consequently, energy intensive sectors may require specific complementary energy conservation policies in order to be compliant with emission targets, hence this heterogeneity in the energy relationships should also be reflected in energy applied models. These results constitute the basis for the second part of the study that is a sensitivity analysis based on a dynamic climate-economy CGE model (GDynE) by computing abatement costs and competitiveness impacts of different climate change policies. In fact, CGE models including energy and CO2 data are particularly suitable to analyse the effect of carbon-abating policies considering they can capture the linkages between regulated and non-abating countries through trade channel and investment dynamics in the long-run. However, these models need to be improved and validated, to increase the reliability of the results, including detailed information on the technological and energy systems, which are represented by elasticities or behavioural parameters. In particular, the energy substitutability is here analysed by taking into account the nest structure and the input mix in the production function, tested for the relationship between capital and energy and among different fuels mix, distinguishing different manufacturing sectors. The simulation exercise reveals that the model produces highly differentiated results when different sets of elasticity parameters are adopted. In general, the reduction in the flexibility of the energy substitution possibilities makes the abatement efforts more expensive at the aggregate level. Moreover, such restriction generates changes in the distribution of the costs associated with the abatement efforts across regions. The direct implication derived by this work is that in order to use energy forecasting models to evaluate costs and feasibility of climate policies, it is necessary to enhance them with empirically estimated behavioural parameters at the highest possible disaggregation level. Finally, the third part focus on the European climate strategy to 2030 recently agreed in October 2014. This framework combines three objectives (GHG abatement, energy efficiency and renewable energy) thus the assessment of the mitigation costs need also to consider the potential trade-offs among simultaneous policies. Hence, in the light of the debate around effectiveness, timing of the abatement targets and optimality of policy mix, the EU approach to climate change represents an interesting case study to be investigated using GDynE model, improved with the sectoral elasticity parameters and including a mechanism to finance technical progress from green investment. Considering the policy mix, the comparison between a pure ETS mechanism and a climate strategy also including RD investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy (financed through a levy on the carbon tax revenue) is analysed. As the results show, in this second case the economic losses are lower and, as the percentage levy increases, reduce up to the point where increasing efficiency gains turn losses into economic gains. Moreover, when focusing on the sectoral differences, manufacturing sectors, and energy-intensive activities in particular, are negatively influenced by the emissions reduction in ETS scenario, however, if a proper policy mix with RD in clean energy technologies is implemented, losses are consistently reduced. When considering different timing of abatement targets, a first evidence is that the choice on whether preferring or not to delay more stringent targets in the future also depend on the selected policy mix. Indeed, if the market-based instrument was the only policy in place, postponing the achievement of more stringent CO2 reduction could seem preferable, however when fostering also energy efficiency and renewable energy support in a well-functioning ETS, the relative suitability of anticipating more challenging target seems to increase.

The present thesis uses original survey data from a national-scale government job training program to provide empirical microeconomic evidence on the functioning of firms, labor markets, and program targeting in low income countries. The program, apprenticeship training in informal sector Ghana, and the corresponding multi-tiered evaluation are ongoing. In the first two chapters, I utilize the random match between treatment apprentices and training firms to estimate the effects of access to labor on firms and of firm quality on apprentices. In the final chapter, I study the unusual implementation scenario in which we observe a sample of apprentices selected for the program by government officials alongside the entire pool of applicants eligible for the larger randomized controlled trial. Each of the three essays addresses, more or less directly, private enterprise development in low-income countries, an area of development economics that I believe is deeply in need of more research.Small firms in developing countries are typically modeled as facing a frictionless market for workers, characterized by low search costs, full information, and a lack of regulation. In the first chapter, we report the results of a field experiment documenting that firms find it costly to hire workers on the open market, that the marginal revenue product of labor is positive and quite large in small firms, and that there is substantial heterogeneity in these returns as a function of (unobserved) worker ability. We study the impact of the program that randomly placed unemployed young people as apprentices with small firms in Ghana. The program provided a novel worker screening technology to firms (in addition to simply reducing search costs), as (voluntary) participation included non-monetary costs for unemployed young people applying to the program. We find that firms that were offered apprentices by the program hired and retained them for at least six months (the end of our study window). Secondly, treatment firms experience increases in revenues and profits of about seven to ten percent per assigned apprentice. Together, these findings suggest the presence of economically significant search costs in our context. Moreover, revenue and profit gains are particularly large for firms treated with high cognitive ability apprentices. This result highlights the importance of worker screening in firms' hiring decisions, and echoes the widespread use of a sophisticated bond posting mechanism to hire apprentices in our baseline labor market. A simple model in which productivity differences associated with worker ability necessitate costly screening can predict the impacts of our program. In sum, our findings have implications for our basic understanding of labor markets in low-income settings and in particular suggest that high youth unemployment in developing economies is the result, at least in part, of substantial labor market frictions.Apprenticeships and other types of on-the-job training are important sources of human capital development in low-income countries. In the program we study, as in most of West Africa, this training is typically undertaken by very small firms and by firm owners with relatively little formal education. In the second chapter, I study firm-level determinants of apprenticeship training quality in this context using the same program feature exploited in the first chapter: that apprentices were randomly matched with small firms conditional on their stated preferences. I find that larger and more profitable firms cause better apprentice performance, as measured by firm owner reported apprentice competency on ten craft-specific skills. Firm owner performance on a cognitive test and past experience training apprentices are also positively associated with apprentice competency. In an effort to understand the channels by which these firm-level characteristics drive apprentice performance, we also investigate the relationship between baseline firm size, baseline firm sales, baseline firm profits, whether the firm employed any non-family workers at baseline, firm owner cognitive performance, and firm owner training experience on apprentice time use and apprentice attendance. We find broadly positive trends. These characteristics are associated with more working hours, better attendance, and less time spent doing errands unrelated to the craft.In the final chapter, I study the direct selection by district officials of a portion of the ap- prentices who would ultimately be offered a space in the training program. These "priority" applicants were guaranteed admission, while the remainder of eligible applicants entered a randomization that assigned them to treatment or control status (after which randomized treatment and priority applicants were invited to participate in placement meetings that led to random assignment to firms, as noted above). I find that district officials select better educated applicants, who come from wealthier and better educated families, and who have more relatives working in local government, relative to the entire pool of eligible applicants. The results are strongest in the most urban region of the country, Greater Accra. Using the same firm-level follow-up data employed in chapters one and two, I estimate the relationship between priority status and apprentice-level outcomes. Priority applicants are more likely to attend a placement meeting, and ultimately to enroll in apprenticeship training through the program. They do not, however, appear to perform better once in the apprenticeship. Point estimates on their craft-specific skill competency are negative.The essays in this dissertation, and particularly chapters two and three, will benefit from additional planned data collection. An independent assessment of apprentice skill is scheduled for later this year, and an apprentice-level survey on labor market outcomes for 2016/2017. Additional firm-level data collection with the entire sample we study in chapter one will take place this year as well.

Masern, Mumps und Röteln sind virale Infektionskrankheiten, die schwere und verheerenden Komplikationen bei den erkrankten Personen verursachen können. Die weltweite Krankheitslast dieser Infektionskrankheiten ist hoch und könnte durch erfolgreiche Impfstrategien merkenswert reduziert werden. Die WHO hat daher das Ziel der globalen Eliminierung von Masern und Röteln sowie der Kontrolle der oft simultan geimpften Mumps Erkrankung gesetzt. Im Jahr 2010 einigten sich die WHO-Mitgliedstaaten der europäischen Region, gezielte Strategien zu verfolgen, um Masern und Röteln bis Ende des Jahres 2015 in Europa zu eliminieren. Analysen bezüglich des aktuellen Fortschrittes werden daher zunehmend relevanter. Als Teil dieser systematischen Literaturrecherche wurden die Immunisierungsstrategien, Impfraten und Krankheitsinzidenzen von elf europäischen Ländern untersucht und ihre Fortschritte im Hinblick auf die Krankheitseliminierung bewertet. Eine erfolgreiche Prävention der endemischen Übertragung von Masern, Mumps oder Röteln Viren konnte in mehreren Ländern erreicht werden, darunter Schweden, Kroatien, Griechenland und Spanien. Den Ländern Österreich, Frankreich, Deutschland, Italien, Polen, Türkei und dem Vereinigten Königreich von Großbritannien und Nordirland ist es trotz verbesserter Immunisierungsraten bisher nicht gelungen, die Eliminierungsziele zu erreichen. In der Türkei, Italien und Polen, kam es in den letzten Jahren zu starken Anstiegen der Fallzahlen, welche die Masern, Mumps und Röteln Kontrolle in Europa deutlich erschweren und das zeitnahe Erreichen der Eliminationsziele gefährden. Unzureichend immunisierte Bevölkerungsgruppen, die zu einer Aufrechterhaltung der Infektionserkrankungen im europäischen Raum beitragen können, wurden identifiziert. Dazu zählen Säuglinge und Kleinkinder, Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene, Männer, kürzlich eingewanderte Personen und Flüchtlinge, sowie reisende ethnischer Minderheiten. Die Gründe für das erhöhte Risiko einer Masern, Mumps oder Röteln Infektion unter diesen Personengruppen sind vielfältig und ein Ergebnis von verschiedenen historischen und aktuellen Impfstrategien, kulturellen, politischen und religiösen Unterschieden, sowie persönlichem Glauben und Ansichten. Das Reisen und die Migration von infizierten Personen nach und zwischen den verschiedenen europäischen Ländern spielt auch eine wesentliche Rolle bei der kontinuierlichen Übertragung der Erkrankungen in Europa. Nur durch eine ausreichend hohe Immunität der Bevölkerung kann das Auftreten von größeren Ausbrüchen trotz der Einfuhr viraler Erreger verhindert werden. Bestrebungen sollte daher die Immunisierung aller impffähigen Personen umfassen, sowie die Erweiterung spezifischer Impfstrategien für unzureichend immunisierte Bevölkerungsgruppen, die nur schwer durch Routineimpfungen zu erreichen sind. Europäische Länder, in denen die WHO Eliminierungsziele bisher nicht erreicht wurden, könnten möglicherweise von alternativen Impfstrategien profitieren. Ein einheitlicher, europaweiter MMR-Impfplan basierend auf den erfolgreichen Immunisierungsverfahren der Länder, die Masern, Mumps und Röteln erfolgreich bekämpft haben, stellt ein wirksames Instrument zur Verbesserung der allgemeinen Bevölkerungsimmunität und Kontrolle der drei Infektionskrankheiten dar. Ein Entwurf solch eines Impfplanes wurde im Rahmen dieser Dissertation erstellt und enthält Strategien für das Erreichen ungeschützter Bevölkerungsgruppen, unabhängig von Alter, Geschlecht oder Migrationshintergrund. Die Umsetzung einheitlicher Impfempfehlungen bringt mehrere Herausforderungen mit sich. Die vielen Vorteile im Hinblick auf die verbesserte Immunisierung, Überwachung und Bekämpfung der Erkrankungen lassen die Aufwände jedoch als berechtigt erscheinen. Die endemische Eliminierung von Masern, Mumps und Röteln Viren innerhalb der europäischen Region ist durchaus erzielbar. Die aktuelle epidemiologische Situation deutet jedoch darauf hin, dass das Ziel nicht bis zum Ende des Jahres 2015 erreicht wird, sondern weitere Bestrebungen auf internationaler Ebene notwendig sind, um eine wirksame Krankheitsbekämpfung in der näheren Zukunft zu erreichen. Durch nationale und internationale Verbesserungen der Immunisierungsstrategien und gezielten Impfkampagnen sowie Erkrankungs-Meldesystemen und laborchemischen Erregerbestätigungen kann eine weitgefächerte Bevölkerungsimmunität erzielt und Krankheitseliminierung unter adäquatem Monitoring des Fortschritts im gesamten europäischen Raum erreicht werden. ; Measles, mumps and rubella are viral infectious diseases that may cause severe and devastating complications among affected individuals. The disease burden of all three diseases is high, but could be reduced entirely through successful vaccination strategies. As such, the WHO has established the goal of globally eliminating measles and rubella and concomitantly controlling the frequently co-vaccinated mumps. In 2010, the WHO European Region member states agreed to strengthen efforts to eliminate measles and rubella from Europe by the end of 2015. As this date draws closer, progress analyses become increasingly relevant. In this systematic literature review, the immunization strategies, vaccination coverages and disease incidences of eleven European nations were assessed and their progress towards disease elimination evaluated. Successful prevention of the endemic transmission of measles, mumps, or rubella could be achieved in several nations, including Sweden, Croatia, Greece and Spain. Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Turkey and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, though having improved their overall immunization rates, have not yet been able to reach the elimination goals. In Turkey, Italy and Poland, sharp increases in case numbers during recent years are potentially threatening the successful measles, mumps and rubella control in Europe. Pockets of susceptible population groups that may contribute to the perpetuation of the diseases have been identified. They include infants and young children, adolescents and young adults, adolescent and adult males, recent immigrants and refugees,and traveling ethnic minority groups. Reasons for the increased risk of infection among these groups are manifold and a result of various historic and current vaccination practices, cultural, political and religious differences, as well as individual believes and concerns. Travel and migration of infected individuals to and between the various European nations also play an essential role in the continual transmission of measles, mumps and rubella in Europe. Only an adequate population-wide immunity can prevent the occurrence of major outbreaks due to viral importation. Efforts should therefore be made to immunize all population members able to receive vaccinations and to offer additional immunization opportunities to those susceptible population subgroups that are difficult to reach through routine vaccination programs. In countries struggling to meet the WHO elimination goals, alternative immunization practices may be necessary. A uniform, European-wide MMR vaccination schedule based on the successful immunization methods of countries that have eliminated measles, mumps and rubella may be an effective tool for improving the overall population-wide immunity and controlling the three diseases. A model for such a schedule was created and includes strategies for reaching population members regardless of age, gender or migratory background. The implementation of uniform immunization recommendations is challenging, but the advantages in terms of improved vaccination, surveillance and disease control methods may be worth at least considering such a strategy in Europe. Measles, mumps and rubella elimination may be attainable in the WHO European Region. The current epidemiological situation suggests that the goal is unlikely to be reached by the end of 2015, but through continued international efforts and collaboration, effective disease control could be achieved in the near future. In the meantime, improvements in immunization strategies, vaccination coverages, supplementary campaigns as well as disease notification systems and confirmations should be made on a national and international level, so that an adequate population-wide immunity can be established and the disease elimination progresses effectively monitored within the entire European region.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-187). ; Number of sources in the bibliography: 263 ; Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Cyprus, Faculty of Social Sciences and Education, Department of Social and Political Sciences, 2013. ; The University of Cyprus Library holds the printed form of the thesis. ; Η παρούσα διατριβή εξετάζει την αποτελεσματικότητα της εφαρμογής της Κοσμοθεωρίας του Μετασχηματισμού «(ΚΜ)». σε ένα καινοτομικό πλαίσιο της εκπαίδευσης για την Ειρήνη (Danesh & Danesh 2002a, 2002b, 2004b). Η Κοσμοθεωρία του Μετασχηματισμού (ΚΜ) ως διαδικασία της παιδαγωγικής για την Ειρήνη, σε προηγούμενες έρευνες και μελέτες, έχει αποδειχθεί εξαιρετικά αποτελεσματική στη μετατροπή της αρνητικής και διχαστικής κοσμοθεωρίας σε θετικές και διαλλακτικές πεποιθήσεις. Συγκεκριμένα μετά την συμφωνία του Dayton στη Βοσνία-Ερζεγοβίνη εφαρμόστηκε ένα παιδαγωγικό πρόγραμμα για την Ειρήνη βασισμένο στις αρχές της ΚΜ με στόχο την επούλωση τραυμάτων του παρελθόντος και την προώθηση θετικών πεποιθήσεων μεταξύ Σέρβων, Βόσνιων και Κροατών. Η παρούσα διατριβή εξέτασε την αποτελεσματικότητα της ΚΜ στα πλαίσια μιας παρατεταμένης εθνοκοινοτικής σύγκρουσης: την περίπτωση της Κύπρου. Ένα πρόγραμμα ΕΓΕ, παρόμοιο με αυτό που χρησιμοποιήθηκε στη Βοσνία – Ερζεγοβίνη, αναπαράχθηκε και εφαρμόστηκε σε τέσσερεις Ελληνοκυπριακές τάξεις σχολείων πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης. Μια ομάδα εθελοντών δασκάλων επιλέχθηκε και στη συνέχεια εκπαιδεύτηκε με στόχο την κατανόηση των αρχών της ΚΜ, καθώς και το πώς αυτή η μέθοδος μπορεί να ενταχθεί στα προγράμματα των μαθημάτων τους. Το πρόγραμμα της ΚΜ υλοποιήθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ενός ακαδημαϊκού εξαμήνου από τον Ιανουάριο έως τον Ιούνιο του 2012. Οι τρείς βασικοί στόχοι της παρούσας μελέτης ήταν η αποτελεσματική αξιολόγηση των κοσμοθεωριών των μαθητών και μαθητριών, η καταγραφή πληροφοριών που επιβεβαιώνουν την πρακτική εφαρμογή αυτών των αντιλήψεων και η ακριβής επισήμανση οποιασδήποτε βελτίωσης στις κοσμοθεωρίες και εθνοτικές αντιλήψεις. Συνεπώς σχεδιάσαμε και χορηγήσαμε ερωτηματολόγια στους μαθητές/μαθήτριες καθώς και σε ομάδες ελέγχου πριν και μετά το πείραμα που αξιολογούν τους προαναφερθέντες στόχους. Τα αποτελέσματα του πειράματος δείχνουν ότι το πρόγραμμα ΕΓΕ ήταν πράγματι αποτελεσματικό στη βελτίωση των αντιλήψεων, αλλά τελικά ήταν ανεπαρκή για την επίτευξη σημαντικών μεταλλαγών. Η Ανάλυση Συνδιακύμανσης (Analysis of Covariance) χρησιμοποιήθηκε για να επισημάνει τις σημαντικές διαφορές μεταξύ της ομάδας παρέμβασης και της ομάδας ελέγχου. Συγκεκριμένα, οι μαθητές μεγαλύτερης ηλικίας παρουσίασαν σημαντικές αλλαγές στην αντίληψη της κοσμοθεωρίας τους, ενώ οι νεότεροι μαθητές επέδειξαν πιο θετική στάση απέναντι στον «άλλο » μετά την παρέμβαση . Όσον αφορά τη στάση τους απέναντι στη «σύγκρουση», η συμμετοχή στην παρέμβαση επέφερε μια μέτρια θετική αλλαγή. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι σε αντίθεση με τις αρχικές εικασίες, οι μαθητές δεν διατηρούσαν ισχυρές κοσμοθεωρίες βασισμένες στη σύγκρουση ή φανερά αρνητική στάση. Η συνεχιζόμενη παράταση της σύγκρουσης και η ελλιπής παιδαγωγική θεωρούνται ότι έχουν αρνητική επίδραση στην επιτυχή εφαρμογή της προσέγγισης ΚΜ. Περαιτέρω έρευνα απαιτείται για την απομόνωση και εξερεύνηση των προαναφερθέντων παραγόντων με μεγαλύτερη λεπτομέρεια. Η έλλειψη της κοσμοθεωρίας με βάση την επιβίωση ανάμεσα στα παιδιά συμπληρώνει τις πρόσφατες θεωρίες της κοινωνικής ψυχολογικής ανάπτυξης και, επομένως, αντιτάσσεται τη θεωρία του Danesh για την εξέλιξη της κοσμοθεωρίας. ; This dissertation explores the effectiveness of a particular approach to peace education, known as Worldview Transformation (WT) (Danesh & Danesh 2002a, 2002b, 2004b). The WT approach to peace education, in previous experiments, has been shown to be an effective pedagogical model. Following the cessation of violence in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), an educational program, based on the principles of WT was implemented to reconcile past traumas and foster positive attitudes between the Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. This research sought to test the applicability of the WT approach in the conflict of Cyprus While the cases of Cyprus and BiH retain many similarities, particularly in their ethno-nationalist origins, each conflict however, retains unique dynamics, characteristics and root causes. The results of this research are particularly significant due to the incredibly limited scientific evaluation of in-school peace education programs in Cyprus. While many studies have explored the effectiveness of peace education in overcoming nationalist narratives, increasing empathy, mutual tolerance and respect in the case of Cyprus, they have all been conducted in out-of-school contexts. Furthermore, this research also represents the first exploration of the effectiveness of WT in protracted conflicts generally. An EFP program, similar to that which was utilized in BiH was replicated and implemented in four Greek Cypriot primary school classrooms. Intrinsically motivated volunteer teachers were selected and subsequently trained to understand the principles of WT, as well as how it can be integrated into their classrooms. The EFP program was implemented over the course of one academic semester from January to June 2012. A total of 64 primary school students participated in the EFP program in the intervention group, with 42 students comprising the control groups. Pre and post intervention surveys were given to both groups which were designed to extract their worldviews in accordance with the principles and concepts of WT. Analysis of covariance was utilized to reveal significant differences between the intervention and control groups. Specifically, the older students reported significant change in the perception aspect of their worldview, while the younger students exhibited more positive attitudes toward the 'other' following the intervention. With respect to their attitudes toward 'the conflict', participation in the intervention resulted in a moderately positive change. The results showed that contrary to the initial assumptions, the students did not maintain strong conflict-based worldviews or overtly negative attitudes. The continued protraction of the conflict and a challenging pedagogy are assumed to have a negative effect on the successful application of the WT approach. Further research is needed to isolate and explore the aforementioned factors in greater detail. The lack of survival-based worldview amongst the children complements the recent theories of social psychological development and thus contradict Danesh' theory of worldview progression.

本文通过比较的视角来探索中共政权对中国天主教会包括官方与地下教会的特殊控制及其原因。自中共建国后,对比与其同宗同源,同为近代外来宗教的基督新教,中国天主教会长期以来受到中共严厉的控制。同时,近三十年来,基督新教在中国发展迅猛,成为当代中国发展最快的宗教,而在晚清和国民党政权下,基督新教在中国的发展一直远远落后于天主教。本文试图对这两个特殊现象进行研究。 ; 对于中共的严厉控制,学界的普遍观点是将其归结为天主教会强大的外国背景和与梵蒂冈的关系; 而近三十年来基督新教在华迅猛发展的原因被认为是它改良的教义和积极的传教模式。然而,基督新教同样具有强大的外国背景,它改良的教义和传教模式自晚清起在中国并没有本质改变,为何只在中共政权下得到迅速发展?本文试图通过对比天主教与基督新教在教义与组织结构、在华传播模式与发展速度、在华对政治的参与等方面的差异,以及天主教会在中国与中共政权在意识形态与组织结构上的异同,来探索中共对天主教会的特殊对待是否存在更深层次的原因,并探讨两者之间是否存在不可调和的矛盾。 ; 笔者认为,作为一个意识形态与组织高度合一的政权,中共害怕任何有严密统一全国性组织的宗教,不管它是否有外国背景。而作为有全国性统一严密组织的宗教组织,天主教会在中国之所以没有像"一贯道"和"法轮功"一样被中共消灭掉,是因为其与梵蒂冈的关系。作为"国际性合法宗教",天主教得以在中国生存。与基督新教相比,天主教会在中国,作为一种保守的,不倾向于革命或改良的宗教组织,在主观上从未试图挑战政权,但是其政教合一的严密组织以及建立在儒家伦理和宗族(家族)基础上的稳定的网络结构,在客观上构成对中共政权的有力竞争与潜在威胁,因此受到中共严密控制。中共利用"自选自圣"的策略,保持天主教会在中国的分裂, 从而达到"分而治之"的目的。同时,中共保持天主教地下教会在中国有限度的存在,以维持其对中国天主教会的有效控制。 ; My research focuses on church-state relations in contemporary China, to explore whether or not the Catholic Church in China constitutes a threat to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime. I am undertaking a comparative study of the CCP's religious control over the Catholic and Protestant churches in mainland China through the approach of state-society relations, as well as a macroscopic view of political science with quantitative and qualitative analysis. ; As they are both foreign-originated parts of Christianity, the Catholic Church has been subjected to much stricter controls from the mainland CCP since 1949 than the Protestant Churches. Furthermore, the Protestant churches have been the fastest growing religion in China in past three decades, but it had once grown relatively very slowly under late Qing and the KMT regimes, compared with the Catholicism. This research tries to explore these two strange phenomena, to study why the CCP has been so highly attentive towards the Catholic Church but has not eliminated it in mainland China. ; Through expounding the differences between the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches in religious doctrines, organizational structures, propagation models, as well as development ...

The International Scientific Conference Ohrid 2014 through scientific articles should contribute to the 100th anniversary from the World War I, through a debate to offer answers to the questions that were current a century ago and to make the intersection of what and how changes are made in this part of Europe. Therefore the Faculty of Security-Skopje determined to organize an International Scientific Conference from the 3rd of June till 5th of June 2014 in Ohrid by the theme Macedonia and the Balkans 100 years from the World War I – Safety and Euro-Atlantic integrations. Thuscontinuing the orientation with organizing international conferences in the field of security so it can contribute to the development of scientific thought and for the decision makers of the regional, national and local level helps using the knowledge and research results for faster, simpler and timely overcome the practical problems that they are facing.This scientific meeting will be attended by over 100 scientific and educational workers from Albania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia. The conference will present papers on the following topics: 1. The Balkans and Macedonia in the geostrategic concepts of the European countries and interests:  The Balkans through its historical perspective - is the "candlewick" still existent?  What are the consequences of the military and police conflicts after the World War I and what are their contemporary consequences?  What is different in the geostrategic position of Macedonia and the Balkans after the World War I?  Is the resolving of the "Macedonian issue" achieved or is it an open process?  What are the reasons of the prolonged integrations of Macedonia into the European Union and the Euro-Atlantic structures? What is the position of the Balkan countries in relation to the Euro-Atlantic countries?  Is the Western Balkan the "appendix" of Europe?  The Balkans - intersection of cultures and traditions – security implications;  The cultural and religious differences on the Balkans - security challenges;  The contemporary position of the Balkans - European or Western;  Are there any concepts and strategies of the influential subjects in the international relations of the position of the Balkans, i.e. towards the Balkan countries – the Balkans as a strategic interest of the influential countries and subjects?  The Ohrid Framework Agreement - a model for resolving of ethnical conflicts  The Balkans and Republic of Macedonia in the Geostrategic concepts of European countries and interests 2. The Balkans, the National Countries and European Integrations:  The concept of the national countries and hegemonic concepts and ideologies on the Balkans;  The reestablishment of the nationalism and nationalistic absoluteness - accelerator of the Balkan conflicts; VIII  Is the era of Balkan collisions and conflicts terminated?  Europeanization of the Balkans and Balkanization of Europe;  Security issues related to the national borders;  The consequences of the visa liberalization over the Balkan countries and the member states of EU 3. The Police and the inter-police collaboration on the Balkans  The legal position of the Police and the other law enforcement organizations on the Balkans;  Forms of collaboration among the Police and the other law enforcement organizations;  Structure of the inter-police collaboration;  Contents of the inter-police collaboration;  Forms of ad hoc institutionalization of the inter-police collaboration;  The educational systems and the profile of the police profession in the Balkan countries;  Forms of bilateral and multilateral collaboration on the Balkans in the area of crime management, human traffic, narcotics and psychotropic substances;  Institutionalization of the regional collaboration in the management of crises and other security issues.  Is the formation of joined Balkan police forces possible?  Is the formation of a Balkan net of criminalists as well as a net of individuals in certain expert fields possible?  Western Balkan outside the European Union?  Police and crime - public opinion, public confidence 4. Economic and Commercial exchange on the Balkans:  Contemporary forms of trade, law regulations and relations among the countries;  Collaboration among the economic subjects between the legal reliability and the security threats and risks;  Regional collaboration and regional economic policy 5. Democracy, legal state and human rights; their promotion and forms of protection:  International standards for protection of the human freedoms and rights and the policy of the Balkan countries;  Forms of protection of the freedoms and rights - experiences and perspectives;  Strengthening of the rule of law and the responsibleness of the institutions;  The role of the international organizations in promotion and implementation of the international benchmarks for protection of the human rights of the people on the Balkans;  Democracy, stabilization, integration;  The interstate and inter-institutional collaboration in protection of the human freedoms and rights; 6. Criminal Justice, Criminal Policy and Victimization  Contemporary forms of computer crime (electronic: frauds, procuring, threats, stealing of personal data and other forms of electronic frauds and crime);  Forms of crime related to the internet and cyber services and modes for their detection;  Criminal experiences, achievements, methods, means and modes of suppression of the contemporary forms of criminality  War and crime;  War and victims of crime;  War crimes;  War v.v. reconciliation;  International aspects of crime and punishment;  Risk and criminal justice;  Modernization of Criminal Justice;  Contemporary challenges of criminology;  Reform of the criminal and procedural law; 7. Geopolitics in the 21st century and the appearance of new socio-criminological types of crime  Extra-institutional approach to new forms and types of crime The foreign policy of great powers and factors that cause forms of terrorism and organized crime in the 21st century