Building Smarter Cities through Social Entrepreneurship

The objective of the present study is to examine the extent to which social ventures are able to increase the smartness of the cities. To achieve this goal, we adopt a qualitative approach, based on the case study method to obtain valuable insights about different characteristics and strategies of Cais (a non-profit association dedicated to help disadvantaged people in urban areas). By focusing on the analysis of the Cais activities, we assess whether its social intervention match the dimensions proposed by Giffinger et al. (2007) to rank smart cities’ performance, namely if it has smart: (i) economy; (ii) people; (iii) governance; (iv) mobility; (v) environment; and (vi) living. The research shows that the action pursued comprises elements from all the above mentioned dimensions. Further, the analysis reveals that Cais reinforces the smartness of the city where it acts (attributes such as living, economy, people, and environment).

A relevância da participação dos stakeholders na gestão das organizações do terceiro setor

Dissertação de Mestrado em Gestão das Organizaçoes de Terceiro Setor

Business planning in a prowactive

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Non–profit and investment attractiveness – best practices under a national perspective

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Acredita Portugal: How to improve the implementation rate of entrepreneurial projects?

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

A+ grandparents at school

Facing an aging society, where there is a large gap between generations and where the elderly are neglected, the Portuguese Red Cross – Delegation of Vila Nova de Gaia – created the project A+: grandparents at school, which encourages intergenerational work. After observing the positive results of the pilot project, the A+ team decided that the project has the potential to be scaled at a national level to enable it to contribute to the integration of the older people in the society, as well as for positive changes of individuals with regard to the elderly. This work project proposes a method to determine whether A+ can be scaled and what is the most efficient way to do it, establishing a process of scale that can be used by every non-profit organization

A importância da comunicação estratégica na alteração de comportamentos na sociedade : o caso Sociedade Ponto Verde

A comunicação estratégica poderá ser entendida como a comunicação alinhada com a estratégia global de uma organização para alcançar o seu posicionamento estratégico. Ou seja, para alcançar o sucesso, uma organização precisa de ter uma comunicação consistente com a sua identidade e, ao mesmo tempo, adequada ao seu público-alvo e ao tipo de sector onde se insere. Só desta forma consegue conquistar a confiança e fidelidade dos consumidores, essenciais para o alcance dos objectivos. Em relação à alteração comportamentos, é essencial que as empresas costruam uma estratégia de comunicação coerente e consistente, adaptando as mensagens e os públicos-alvo escolhidos. Neste âmbito da alteração de comportamentos, estudou-se neste trabalho a Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV), uma associação portuguesa sem fins lucrativos, que actua no âmbito da gestão e reciclagem de resíduos de embalagens. Procurou estudar-se a evolução da sua comunicação ao longo dos anos e a forma como adaptou as suas mensagens, de forma a conseguir incutir na sociedade portuguesa a importância do comportamento de reciclagem de resíduos. Neste estudo, procedeu-se a uma análise individualizada de cada uma das campanhas de comunicação da SPV e, posteriormente, aplicou-se um inquérito por questionário, para verificar a eficácia das mesmas campanhas perante o público-alvo. A metodologia utilizada neste trabalho consistiu na distribuição de um inquérito por questionário online, que permitiu recolher uma amostra probabilística por conveniência. Em seguida, recolhidos e tratados os dados referentes às 482 respostas recebidas, utilizou-se o programa SPSS (Stastitical Package for the Social Sciences) para analisar, tratar e discutir os resultados obtidos. Estes resultados demonstraram que, de facto, não houve uma grande percentagem de inquiridos que se lembram das campanhas da SPV. Os resultados são positivos e não desmentem a qualidade e coerência das mensagens, mas a verdade é que a percentagem de indivíduos que não se lembra de algumas campanhas chega a ser elevada (em especial nas campanhas iniciais da organização, quando existia falta de uma estratégia coerente). Justifica-se este facto, em parte, pelo excesso de informação e estímulos a que as pessoas estão sujeitas, pelo que a informação que retêm não fica para sempre, acabando por dar lugar a outras informações. Os indivíduos são inconscientemente selectivos com a informação que processam e guardam, pois não seria possível guardar toda a informação que lhes é transmitida. No que diz respeito à comunicação estratégica que visa alterar uma atitude e, posteriormente, um comportamento, conclui-se que, no geral, o comportamento das pessoas inquiridas aparenta ter sido influenciado pela comunicação da SPV, caso contrário, as respostas afirmativas quanto à reciclagem e de concordância com algumas das afirmações teriam sido inferiores. Ou seja, mesmo reconhecendo o carácter um pouco enviesado da amostra (não deverá ser considerada representativa da população portuguesa), é possível dizer que a estratégia de comunicação da SPV (em especial a partir de 2005) foi eficiente. Palavras-

Understanding impact readiness in Portugal’s social sector and designing a framework for capacity-building for social impact

This project is based on the theme of capacity-building in social organisations to improve their impact readiness, which is the predictability of delivering intended outcomes. All organisations which have a social mission, non-profit or for-profit, will be considered to fall within the social sector for the purpose of this work. The thesis will look at (i) what is impact readiness and what are the considerations for building impact readiness in social organisations, (ii) what is the international benchmark in measuring and building impact readiness, (iii) understand the impact readiness of Portuguese social organisations and the supply of capacity building for social impact in Portugal currently, and (iv) provide recommendations on the design of a framework for capacity building for impact readiness adapted to the Portuguese context. This work is of particular relevance to the Social Investment Laboratory, which is a sponsor of this project, in its policy work as part of the Portuguese Social Investment Taskforce (the “Taskforce”). This in turn will inform its contribution to the set-up of Portugal Inovação Social, a wholesaler catalyst entity of social innovation and social investment in the country, launched in early 2015. Whilst the output of this work will be set a recommendations for wider application for capacity-building programmes in Portugal, Portugal Inovação Social will also clearly have a role in coordinating the efforts of market players – foundations, corporations, public sector and social organisations – in implementing these recommendations. In addition, the findings of this report could have relevance to other countries seeking to design capacity building frameworks in their local markets and to any impact-driven organisations with an interest in enhancing the delivery of impact within their work.

Getting Listeners Involved: Rádio Ás, a Community Web Project

[Excerpt] The idea of community is usually associated with radio today in the context of what Bart Cammaerts (2009,635) classifies as a "third type of broadcast, namely participatory radio, complementary to both commercial and public media". Following Ellie Rennie (2006, 3), community radio corresponds, as all other forms of community media, to non-profit media that provide "community members with an opportunity to participate in the production process". For the International Association for Media and Communication Research, which supports a research group on Community Communication, this area includes media that originate from, circulate and resonate with the sphere of civil society.

Experimental evidence that quorum rules discourage turnout and promote election boycotts

Many democratic decision making institutions involve quorum rules. Such rules are commonly motivated by concerns about the “legitimacy” or “representativeness” of decisions reached when only a subset of eligible voters participates. A prominent example of this can be found in the context of direct democracy mechanisms, such as referenda and initiatives. We conduct a laboratory experiment to investigate the consequences of the two most common types of quorum rules: a participation quorum and an approval quorum. We find that both types of quora lead to lower participation rates, dramatically increasing the likelihood of full-fledged electoral boycotts on the part of those who endorse the Status Quo. This discouraging effect is significantly larger under a participation quorum than under an approval quorum.

Desenvolvimento e validação de uma solução construtiva em BTC

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Perspetivas de casais e de diretores de biobancos face à criopreservação do sangue do cordão umbilical em Portugal

Dissertação de mestrado em Crime, Diferença e Desigualdade

Avaliação de desempenho no Theatro Circo: criação de um Balanced Scorecard

Projeto de mestrado em Estudos de Gestão

Changes of overweight and obesity in the adult Swiss population according to educational level, from 1992 to 2007.

In many high income developed countries, obesity is inversely associated with educational level. In some countries, a widening gap of obesity between educational groups has been reported. The aim of this study was to assess trends in body mass index (BMI) and in prevalence of overweight and obesity and their association with educational level in the adult Swiss population. Four cross-sectional National health interview surveys conducted in 1992/93 (n = 14,521), 1997 (n = 12,474), 2002 (n = 18,908) and 2007 (n = 17,879) using representative samples of the Swiss population (age range 18-102 years). BMI was derived from self-reported data. Overweight was defined as BMI > or = 25 and <30 kg/m(2), and obesity as BMI > or = 30 kg/m(2). Mean (+/- standard deviation) BMI increased from 24.7 +/- 3.6 in 1992/3 to 25.4 +/- 3.6 kg/m2 in 2007 in men and 22.8 +/- 3.8 to 23.7 +/- 4.3 kg/m(2) in women. Between 1992/3 and 2007, the prevalence of overweight + obesity increased from 40.4% to 49.5% in men and from 22.3% to 31.3% in women, while the prevalence of obesity increased from 6.3% to 9.4% in men and from 4.9% to 8.5% in women. The rate of increase in the prevalence of obesity was greater between 1992/3 and 2002 (men: +0.26%/year; women: +0.31%/year) than between 2002 and 2007 (men: +0.10%/year; women: +0.10%/year). A sizable fraction (approximately 25%) of the increasing mean BMI was due to increasing age of the participants over time. The increase was larger in low than high education strata of the population. BMI was strongly associated with low educational level among women and this gradient remained fairly constant over time. A weaker similar gradient by educational level was apparent in men, but it tended to increase over time. In Switzerland, overweight and obesity increased between 1992 and 2007 and was associated with low education status in both men and women. A trend towards a stabilization of mean BMI levels was noted in most age categories since 2002. The increase in the prevalence of obesity was larger in low education strata of the population. These findings suggest that obesity preventive measures should be targeted according to educational level in Switzerland.

Swiss clinical practice guidelines for skin cancer in organ transplant recipients.

Patients with a solid organ transplant have increased in numbers and in individual survival in Switzerland over the last decades. As a consequence of long-term immunosuppression, skin cancer in solid organ recipients (SOTRs) has been recognized as an important problem. Screening and education of potential SOTRs about prevention of sun damage and early recognition of skin cancer are important before transplantation. Once transplanted, SOTRs should be seen by a dermatologist yearly for repeat education as well as early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of skin cancer. Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (SCC) is the most frequent cancer in the setting of long-term immunosuppression. Sun protection by behaviour, clothing and daily sun screen application is the most effective prevention. Cumulative sun damage results in field cancerisation with numerous in-situ SCC such as actinic keratosis and Bowen's disease which should be treated proactively. Invasive SCC is cured by complete surgical excision. Early removal is the best precaution against potential metastases of SCC. Reduction of immunosuppression and switch to mTOR inhibitors and potentially, mycophenolate, may reduce the incidence of further SCC. Chemoprevention with the retinoid acitretin reduces the recurrence rate of SCC. The dermatological follow-up of SOTRs should be integrated into the comprehensive post-transplant care.