Third Sector Experiences of Work Programme Delivery.

This paper explores the organisational experiences of governmental policy change and implementation on the third sector. Using a four-year longitudinal study of 13 third sector organisations (TSOs) it provides evidence based on the experiences of, and effects on, third sector organisations involved in the UK’s Work Programme in Scotland. The paper explores third sector experiences of the Work Programme during the preparation and introductory phase, as well as the effects of subsequent Work Programme implementation. By gathering evidence contemporaneously and longitudinally a unique in-depth analysis is provided of the introduction and implementation of a major new policy. The resource cost and challenges to third sector ways of working for the organisations in the Work Programme supply chain, as well as those not in the supply chain, are considered. The paper considers some of the responses adopted by the third sector to manage the opportunities and challenges presented to them through the implementation of the Work Programme. The paper also reflects on the broader context of the employability services landscape and raises questions as to whether, as a result of the manner in which the Work Programme was contracted, there is evidence of a move towards service homogenisation, challenging perceived TSO characteristics of service innovation and personalisation.

NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme.

Thomas, R., Spink, S., Durbin, J. & Urquhart, C. (2005). NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: Informing Healthcare, NHS Wales

NHS Wales e-library portal evaluation (For Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme)

Thomas, R. & Urquhart, C. NHS Wales e-library portal evaluation. (For Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme). Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth Follow-on to NHS Wales User Needs study Sponsorship: Informing Healthcare, NHS Wales

Evaluation of resources to support production of high quality health information for patients and the public. Final report for NHS Research Outputs Programme

Durbin, J., Urquhart, C. & Yeoman, A. (2003). Evaluation of resources to support production of high quality health information for patients and the public. Final report for NHS Research Outputs Programme. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: Department of Health

Lessons learned in an information skills training programme for a mental health Trust

Parker, R. & Urquhart, C. (2007). Lessons learned in an information skills training programme for a mental health Trust. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 24(1), 58-61.

The ‘Faust’ or ’Lucifer’ Sonata? On Liszt’s idea of programme music as exemplifi ed by his Piano Sonata in B minor

The musicological tradition places Liszt’s Sonata in B minor within the sphere of compositions inspired by the Faustian myth. Its musical material, its structure and its narrative exhibit certain similarities to the ‘Faust’ Symphony. Yet there has appeared a diff erent and, one may say, a rival interpretation of Sonata in B minor. What is more, it is well-documented from both a musical and a historical point of view. It has been presented by Hungarian pianist and musicologist Tibor Szász. He proposes the thesis that the Sonata in B minor has been in fact inspired by Milton’s Paradise Lost, with its three protagonists: Adam, Satan and Christ. He fi nds their illustrations and even some key elements of the plot in the Sonata’s narrative. But yet Milton’s Paradise Lost and Goethe’s Faust are both stories of the Fall and Salvation, of the cosmic struggle between good and evil. The triads of their protagonists – Adam and Eve, Satan, and Christ; Faust, Mephisto and Gretchen – are homological. Thus both interpretations of the Sonata, the Goethean and the Miltonian, or, in other words, the Faustian and the Luciferian, are parallel and complementary rather than rival. It is also highly probable that both have had their impact on the genesis of the Sonata in B minor.

Engaging with leadership development in Irish academic libraries: some reflections of the Future Leaders Programme (FLP)

Four librarians from Irish university libraries completed the U.K. Future Leaders Programme (FLP) in 2010. In this article they recount their experience and assess the effect of the programme on their professional practice and the value for their institutions. The programme is explored in the context of the Irish higher education environment, which is facing significant challenges due to the demise of the Celtic Tiger economy. A brief review of the literature relating to structured programmes to prepare librarians for senior positions, is presented. The structure and content of the FLP and the learning methodologies, theories, tools and techniques used throughout are discussed. The article suggests that the programme has real value for both individuals and institutions and that it can play a significant role in succession planning and the leadership development of librarians

An exploratory study on the impact of an early years' preschool intervention programme in the Republic of Ireland

Early years’ education has increasingly been identified as a mechanism to alleviate educational disadvantage in areas of social exclusion. Early years’ intervention programmes are now a common government social policy for addressing social problems (Reynolds, Mann, Miedel, and Smokowski, 1997). In particular, state provided early years’ programmes such as Head Start in the United States and Early Start in Ireland have been established to combat educational disadvantage for children experiencing poverty and socio-economic inequality. The focus of this research is on the long-term outcomes of an early years’ intervention programme in Ireland. It aims to assess whether participation in the programme enhances the life course of children at-risk of educational disadvantage. It involves an in-depth analysis of one Early Start project which was included in the original eight projects established by the Department of Education and Science in 1994. The study utilises a multi-group design to provide a detailed analysis of both the academic and social progress of programme participants. It examines programme outcomes from a number of perspectives by collecting the views of the three main stakeholders involved in the education process; students who participated in Early Start in 1994/5, their parents and their teachers. To contribute to understanding the impact of the programme from a community perspective interviews were also conducted with local community educators and other local early years’ services. In general, Early Start was perceived by all participants in this study as making a positive contribution to parent involvement in education and to strengthening educational capital in the local area. The study found that parents and primary school teachers identified aspects of school readiness as the main benefit of participation in Early Start and parents and teachers were very positive about the role of Early Start in preparing children for the transition to formal school. In addition to this, participation in Early Start appears to have made a positive contribution to academic attainment in Maths and Science at Junior Certificate level. Students who had participated in Early Start were also rated more highly by their second level teachers in terms of goal-setting and future orientation which are important factors in educational attainment. Early Start then can be viewed as providing a positive contribution to the long-term social and academic outcomes for its participants.

Supporting therapist engagement in evidence based practice: Developing a continuing education programme through participatory action research

Therapists find it challenging to integrate research evidence into their clinical decision-making because it may involve modifying their existing practices. Although continuing education (CE) programmes for evidence-based practice (EBP) have employed various approaches to increase individual practitioner’s knowledge and skills, these have been shown to have little impact in changing customary behaviours. To date, there has been little attempt to actively engage therapists as collaborators in developing educational processes concerning EBP. The researcher collaborated with seven clinical therapists (one occupational therapist, four physiotherapists and two speech and language therapists) enrolled in a new post-qualification Implementing Evidence in Therapy Practice (IETP) MSc module to monitor and adapt the learning programme over ten weeks. The participating therapists actively engaged in participatory action research (PAR) iterative cycles of reflecting→ planning→ acting→ observing→ reflecting with the researcher. Mixed methods were used to evaluate the IETP module and its influence on therapists’ subsequent engagement in EBP activities. Data were gathered immediately on completion of the module and five months later. Immediate post-module findings revealed four components as being important to the therapists: 1) characteristics of the learning environment; 2) acquisition of relevant EBP skills; 3) nature of the learning process; and 4) acquiring confidence. The two themes and sub-themes which emerged from individual interviews conducted five months post-module expanded on the four components already identified. Theme 1: Experiencing the learning (sub-themes: module organisation; learning is relational; improving the module); and theme 2: Enacting the learning through a new way of being (sub-themes: criticality and reflection; self agency; modelling EBP behaviours; positioning self in an EB work culture). The therapists’ perspectives had by then shifted from that of a learner to that of a clinician constructing a new sense of self as an evidence-based practitioner. Findings from this study underline the importance of the process of socially constructed knowledge and of empowering learners through collaboratively designed continuing education programmes. In the student-driven learning environment, therapists chose repetitive skill-building and authentic problem-solving activities which reflected the complexity of the environments to which they were expected to transfer their learning. These findings have implications for educators designing EBP continuing education programmes, during which students develop professional ways of being.

Response to the review of the white paper on Irish aid. The urbanisation of poverty: drawing on the skills and techniques of spatial planning to support the aid programme

Submission on behalf of UCC to the Government Consultation on the White paper on Irish Aid

Diphtheria, the public health response and the origins of the childhood immunisation programme in Ireland

In common with most countries, the childhood immunisation programme in Ireland was founded on a successful public health response to diphtheria. The success of the antidiphtheria public health intervention in Ireland has meant that no case of the disease has been recorded in the state for almost fifty years. This is a significant achievement considering that diphtheria continues to appear annually in many European states, albeit in much reduced numbers on former years. For parents and children of nineteenth, and early twentieth-century Ireland, diphtheria represented the ‘most dreaded disease of childhood’, however, for their modern day counterparts diphtheria is no more than an obscure disease mentioned in leaflets promoting the benefits of childhood immunisation. In Ireland, diphtheria has been consigned to history, and so too have the horrors and mass fatalities once associated with it. But how was this achieved? Was active immunisation received with open arms by public health authorities, the wider medical community, and the general public? This study tackles these questions by undertaking the first historical examination of the issues which underpin the origins of active immunisation in Ireland. It explores the driving forces that shaped the national childhood immunisation programme, and those that opposed them. In addition, it examines the complex social implications attendant on the introduction of this mass public health intervention in an Irish context.

Estudio del maíz blanco gigante del Cuzco (MBGC) con denominación de origen bajo la nueva economía institucional : situación actual, limitantes y estrategias

La producción mundial de maíz en general tiene carácter de ser un producto commodity, con grandes volúmenes, precios altos y homogéneos. Pero en Perú hoy en día surge la necesidad de competir globalmente, con productos especiality, con pocos volúmenes y altamente diferenciados. Dicha estrategia es aplicada por el Perú con el Maíz Blanco Gigante, presentando ventaja comparativa a nivel de otras variedades de maíz, al poseer características únicas en relación al lugar de origen y prácticas culturales que se han mantenido en su cultivo a través del tiempo. Es por ello que se da reconocimiento y certificación como DO en el año 2005, como Maíz Blanco Gigante del Cusco, presentando tendencias de exportación a partir de dicho año. La investigación se enfoca al estudio de la situación actual del MBGC como DO bajo la Nueva Economía Institucional (NEI). Los resultados del estudio indican que la conexión institucional presenta desatinos, los organismos que dieron inicio al proceso de la DO se encuentran descoordinados, con ausencia de medidas de control. Ello ha ocasionado un débil enforcement en las reglas de juego y por ende en el marco institucional, afectando la imagen, posicionamiento y falencias a nivel de la cadena del MBGC. Se recomienda definir políticas y estrategias de uso de la DO, con miras a establecer mesas de diálogo sobre la participación (promoción, normativa y/o fiscalizadora), de los entes públicos como INDECOPI, Gobierno Regional, Gobierno Local con respecto a la DO del MBGC y sus características particulares como bien público a fin de dinamizar las inversiones, comercio y mantener la ventaja competitiva.

Impacto del cambio en el ambiente institucional sobre el subsistema de pesca para producción de harina de pescado en Perú : caso Hayduk

La industria pesquera es un elemento importante para la economía peruana por ser una fuente generadora de divisas. El subsistema de pesca para consumo humano indirecto (CHI) representa el 80 por ciento en términos de volumen de desembarque de los recursos hidrobiológicos y, está basada únicamente en la explotación de la especie anchoveta (Engraulis ringens). En los sesenta años de existencia de la pesca para harina de pescado, se han dado varios episodios en los que el stock de anchoveta estuvo cerca de desaparecer producto del sobredimensionamiento de la industria, regulación inadecuada y fenómenos climáticos. En los últimos años se dictaron normas y leyes para regular el sector y proteger los recursos. El D.L. 1084 estableció los límites máximos de captura por embarcación perturbando en gran medida al subsector pesca para harina de pescado. Por ello, el objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar cómo una organización dedicada a la producción de harina de pescado se adaptó en el ámbito organizacional y tecnológico a las perturbaciones institucionales del sector. El abordaje de estudio fue la epistemología fenomenológica, mediante un análisis del tipo cualitativo y utilizando como metodología el estudio de caso aplicado a la empresa Corporación Hayduk. Identificando como la implementación de estas nuevas leyes disminuyó la incertidumbre e impulsaron innovaciones organizacionales y tecnológicas en Hayduk que permitieron eliminar capacidad ociosa y dosificar esfuerzos por una mayor producción de harinas Premium, orientando el negocio hacia una mayor productividad, creación de valor y apertura de nuevos mercados internacionales con mayores estándares de calidad y con mejor obteobtención de rentas por la venta de harina de pescado.

El mercado de carbono y el mecanismo de desarrollo limpio : caso Granja Tres Arroyos S.A. : un análisis desde la Nueva Economía Institucional

El calentamiento global consiste en el aumento de la temperatura de la tierra debido a la acumulación de los gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) en la atmósfera. Estos gases son producidos por actividades de generación de energía, el transporte, el uso del suelo, la industria y el manejo de los residuos. El aumento de GEI en la atmósfera provoca cambios climáticos e impactos en un sinfín de actividades humanas, en la productividad de la agricultura y ganadería, en la infraestructura y turismo, y también daños en la salud. La comunidad científica considera que el aumento de la temperatura para el fin del siglo debería ubicarse en los 2° C, para de esta forma poder limitar los impactos del cambio climático. Ello implicaría restringir las concentraciones de los GEI en valores cercanos a los 450 ppm (partes por millón). El problema económico del cambio climático subyace en que las emisiones de GEI constituyen una externalidad global. Una externalidad ocurre cuando la producción o consumo de un bien afecta a terceros que no participan directamente en su producción, venta o compra. Cuando hay presencia de externalidades, los precios de mercado no reflejan todos los costos ni beneficios sociales asociados a la producción de un bien. En el caso puntual del cambio climático, los emisores de GEI no asumen el costo de emitir gases a la atmósfera. Existen diferentes instrumentos de política ambiental que influyen en la percepción del recurso ambiental por parte del agente económico y que por ende, se reflejan en las decisiones económicas que ellos toman. Todos ellos tienen por objetivo asignar un precio/costo al recurso ambiental. El objetivo de los mercados de emisiones es asignar un precio al carbono. En ellos, se intercambian derechos a emitir cierta cantidad de GEI. El mecanismo de desarrollo limpio (MDL) es un instrumento de mercado definido en el Acuerdo de Marrakech bajo el marco institucional del Protocolo de Kyoto (PK). El MDL establece que un país Anexo I (país desarrollado), con compromisos de reducción de emisiones, invierta en proyectos de reducción o captación de emisiones en un país No Anexo I (país en desarrollo sin compromisos de reducción), mediante la compra de reducciones certificadas de emisiones (RCEs) generados a partir de la implementación de los proyectos. Argentina ratificó el PK a través de la ley nacional 25.438 en el 2001. Como el país se encuentra comprendido en las Partes No Anexo I, sólo puede participar como país anfitrión de un proyecto MDL y ser oferente de RCEs. Hasta la fecha, Argentina desarrolló 65 proyectos que se encuentran en distinta etapa de aprobación nacional o registro internacional. La mayoría corresponden a proyectos vinculados con rellenos sanitarios y energías. Bajo este marco de desarrollo en el país, resulta valiosa la exploración de un caso implementado en la Argentina. El objetivo de la investigación consiste en analizar el mercado de carbono a través del mecanismo de desarrollo limpio y su implementación en una empresa agroindustrial argentina, Granja Tres Arroyos S.A., bajo el enfoque teórico de la Nueva Economía y los Negocios Agroalimentarios.