Impact assessment and quality analysis of corporate social responsability (CSR) programs of mining companies and their contribution to sustainable development in the communities they operate: case study Tenke Fungurume Mining SA in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Purpose – This case study presents an impact assessment of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs of the TFM Company in order to understand how they contribute to the sustainable development of communities in areas in which they operate. Design/Methodology/Approach - Data for this study was collected using qualitative data methods that included semi-structured interviews and Focus Group Discussions most of them audio and video recorded. Documentary analysis and a field visit were also undertaken for the purpose of quality analysis of the CSR programs on the terrain. Data collected was analyzed using the Seven Questions to sustainability (7Qs) framework, an evaluation tool developed by the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) North America chapter. Content analysis method was on the other hand used to examine the interviews and FGDs of the study participants. Findings - Results shows that CSR programs of TFM SA do contribute to community development, as there have been notable changes in the communities’ living conditions. But whether they have contributed to sustainable development is not yet the case as programs that enhance the capacity of communities and other stakeholders to support these projects development beyond the implementation stage and the mines operation lifetime need to be considered and implemented. Originality/Value – In DRC, there is paucity of information of research studies that focus on impact assessment of CSR programs in general and specifically those of mining companies and their contribution to sustainable development of local communities. Many of the available studies cover issues of minerals and conflict or conflict minerals as mostly referred to. This study addressees this gap.

The facility manager architect : the social responsability as an added value.

From the very first steps to execute a building, it is essential to analyze its life cycle. Similarly, we should consider the life cycle when projecting an urban intervention. Professionals of the Facility Management take part in construction projects, developing and managing DBFMO projects (Design, Build, Finance, Maintenance & Operate). Whatever the nature of the promoter is – private or public – promoters are leaders in projects of responsible management of spaces, whether these are work spaces, leisure spaces or residential spaces. They know and identify with the company and its performance, its values and its needs. These professionals give sustainable solutions in the life cycle of buildings (offices and housing), new ways to work and initiatives of innovations linked to current social changes: technology, social networks, and new habits. Concepts where innovation is essential should consider responsible values. Social, economic and sustainable aspects have to associate with the management performed by a Facilities Manager when considering the three groups of stakeholders with which it is linked: economic (shareholders), contractual (users), non-contractual (neighborhoods, organizations, etc.). Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, at the beginning of his book "The Ten Books on Architecture" describes and argues how the distribution in buildings must always adapt to their inhabitants. Let us build cities and buildings with responsible criteria, bearing in mind all its users and the needs of each one of them. Not to mention the need to adapt to future requirements with minimum cost and maximum profitability. These needs, under responsible management, are competencies developed by a Facilities Manager in his day to day. He cares and takes over the entire life cycle of buildings and their surroundings. This work is part of the PhD project whose main aim is to study the added value to the architectural profession when social responsibility criteria are applied in his/her role as Facility Manager.

Trilhos na floresta: imersões criativas no âmbito do design social

O Design Social assume-se cada vez mais como ferramenta de fortalecimento social e como uma arma na luta contra a fealdade do mundo, o inútil, o disfuncional e outros aspectos da desumanização. Mas não basta só produzir produtos para as pessoas, é preciso produzir com as pessoas. Após uma intervenção institucional da Universidade de Aveiro, em parceria com a Vista Alegre, sobre responsabilidade social corporativa e uma análise do caso paradigmático da Fiskers Village, desenhámos um modelo orientador para o Design Social e definimos directivas para intervir junto da comunidade local da Serra dʼArga, em Portugal: (1) o design como método de acção (2) do local para o global, (3) que identifica, partilha e intervém (4) com a comunidade, (5) em modo sistémico e com base no ciclo de vida, (6) visando construir para a integração máxima nos ciclos da natureza. Estas directivas serviram de pano de fundo à nossa intervenção e deram origem a uma oficina que pretendeu associar design, craft e natureza. Aí foram criados produtos e serviços sustentáveis que ligam produtores e consumidores ao território, sugerem uma outra forma de ocupação do tempo, e, finalmente, ajudam a comunidade a repensar a sua vida social e a sua relação com a floresta.

Corporate social responsability in advergames: Adjusting communication to the kids of today

Field lab: Consumer insights

People, management and social responsability. The team: the main asset of any management

People, management and social responsability. The team: the main asset of any management. En colaboración con Dña. Montserrat Castellanos Moreno. Profesora Asociada de la Universidad Europea. Journal of Management and Marketing. Thomson Reuters. Zilina. Slovakia

O designer interventivo

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Design de Comunicação, apresentada na Universidade de Lisboa - Faculdade de Arquitectura.

Privacy by design : Does it matter for social networks?

Privacy is an important component of freedom and plays a key role in protecting fundamental human rights. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that without appropriate levels of privacy, a person’s rights are diminished. Users want to protect their privacy - particularly in “privacy invasive” areas such as social networks. However, Social Network users seldom know how to protect their own privacy through online mechanisms. What is required is an emerging concept that provides users legitimate control over their own personal information, whilst preserving and maintaining the advantages of engaging with online services such as Social Networks. This paper reviews “Privacy by Design (PbD)” and shows how it applies to diverse privacy areas. Such an approach will move towards mitigating many of the privacy issues in online information systems and can be a potential pathway for protecting users’ personal information. The research has also posed many questions in need of further investigation for different open source distributed Social Networks. Findings from this research will lead to a novel distributed architecture that provides more transparent and accountable privacy for the users of online information systems.

Privacy by Design : Does it matter for social networks?

Privacy is an important component of freedom and plays a key role in protecting fundamental human rights. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that without appropriate levels of privacy, a person’s rights are diminished. Users want to protect their privacy - particularly in “privacy invasive” areas such as social networks. However, Social Network users seldom know how protect their own privacy through online mechanisms. What is required is an emerging concept that provides users legitimate control over their own personal information, whilst preserving and maintaining the advantages of engaging with online services such as Social Networks. This paper reviews “Privacy by Design (PbD)” and shows how it applies to diverse privacy areas. Such an approach will move towards mitigating many of the privacy issues in online information systems and can be a potential pathway for protecting user’s personal information. The research has posed many questions in need of further investigation for different open source distributed Social Networks. Findings from this research will lead to a novel distributed architecture that provides more transparent and accountable privacy for the users of online information systems.

Improving the design of online applications for social benefit through a behaviour change model

Community support agencies routinely employ a web presence to provide information on their services. While this online information provision helps to increase an agency’s reach, this paper argues that it can be further extended by mapping relationships between services and by facilitating two-way communication and collaboration with local communities. We argue that emergent technologies, such as locative media and networking tools, can assist in harnessing this social capital. However, new applications must be designed in ways that both persuade and support community members to contribute information and support others in need. An analysis of the online presence of community service agencies and social benefit applications is presented against Fogg’s Behaviour Model. From this evaluation, design principles are proposed for developing new locative, collaborative online applications for social benefit.

Historical timelines : analyzing multimodal text design

The recent focus on literacy in Social Studies has been on linguistic design, particularly that related to the grammar of written and spoken text. When students are expected to produce complex hybridized genres such as timelines, a focus on the teaching and learning of linguistic design is necessary but not sufficient to complete the task. Theorizations of new literacies identify five interrelated meaning making designs for text deconstruction and reproduction: linguistic, spatial, visual, gestural, and audio design. Honing in on the complexity of timelines, this paper casts a lens on the linguistic, visual, spatial, and gestural designs of three pairs of primary school aged Social Studies learners. Drawing on a functional metalanguage, we analyze the linguistic, visual, spatial, and gestural designs of their work. We also offer suggestions of their effect, and from there consider the importance of explicit instruction in text design choices for this Social Studies task. We conclude the analysis by suggesting the foci of explicit instruction for future lessons.

Дизайнът на взаимодействията, масовата комуникация и предизвикателствата на споделеното експертно знание (Interaction Design, Mass Communication And the Challenge of Distributed Expertise)

This paper considers some of the implications of the rise of design as a master-metaphor of the information age. It compares the terms 'interaction design' and 'mass communication', suggesting that both can be seen as a contradiction in terms, inappropriately preserving an industrial-age division between producers and consumers. With the shift from mass media to interactive media, semiotic and political power seems to be shifting too - from media producers to designers. This paper argues that it is important for the new discipline of 'interactive design' not to fall into habits of thought inherited from the 'mass' industrial era. Instead it argues for the significance, for designers and producers alike, of what I call 'distributed expertise' -including social network markets, a DIY-culture, user-led innovation, consumer co-created content, and the use of Web 2.0 affordances for social, scientific and creative purposes as well as for entertainment. It considers the importance of the growth of 'distributed expertise' as part of a new paradigm in the growth of knowledge, which has 'evolved' through a number of phases, from 'abstraction' to 'representation', to 'productivity'. In the context of technologically mediated popular participation in the growth of knowledge and social relationships, the paper argues that design and media-production professions need to cross rather than to maintain the gap between experts and everyone else, enabling all the agents in the system to navigate the shift into the paradigm of mass productivity.

Mobile learning, social learning

Understanding the future development of interaction design as it applies to learning and training scenarios is crucial to effective development of curriculum and appropriate application of social and mobile communication technologies. As Attewell & Saville-Smith have recognised (2004), the use of mobile communication devices for improved literacy and numeracy is a desirable prospect among young people who represent the average age of undergraduate students. Further, with the growing penetration of broadband internet access, the ubiquity of wireless access in educational locations, the rise of ultra-mobile portable computers and the proliferation of social software applications in educational contexts, there are a growing number of channels for facilitation of learning. Nevertheless, there has been insufficient consideration of the interaction design issues that affect the effective facilitation of such learning. This paper contends that there is a clear need to design mobile and social learning to accommodate the benefits of these diverse channels for interaction. Additionally, there is a need to implement suitable testing processes to ensure participants in mobile and social learning are contributing effectively and maximising their learning. Through the presentation of case studies in mobile and social learning, the paper attempts to demonstrate how considered interaction design techniques can improve the effectiveness of new learning channels.