Mapping the trickle out benefits of social and environmental enterprises: a pilot study of an East African eco business

• Objectives The objective of this paper is to propose a framework for mapping the sustainable development and poverty alleviation impacts of social and environmental enterprises in Africa. This framework is then piloted with reference to an East African Ecobusiness. • Prior Work This paper is based on data collected as part of a wider research project examining social and environmental enterprises across the 19 countries of Southern and Eastern Africa. In total, the sustainable development and poverty alleviation impacts of 20 in-depth case studies in 4 countries are being examined. • Approach Data was collected using in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders associated with the case study business. Secondary materials were also analysed and a quantitative survey of customers undertaken. • Results In addition to their impacts on the environment, African eco businesses can also have substantial social, economic and wider poverty alleviation impacts. This paper maps the impacts of a case study East African ecobusiness, as part of developing a social and environmental enterprise impact framework for Africa and the wider developing world. In our case study, positive and negative impacts are identified, while questions are raised in relation to tradeoffs between social and environmental objectives and temporal dimensions of impact. The usefulness of existing frameworks for understanding the social, environmental and development impacts of these kinds of organisations are also considered. • Implications This paper outlines the necessity of building an African-centric impact map to capture the multi-level poverty alleviation and sustainable development impacts of social and environmental enterprise activity in developing world environments. The framework proposed also offers guidance to businesses operating in Africa about the factors that might be considered as part of their wider social and environmental responsibilities. • Value Assessing the impact of social and environmental enterprises, especially as a route to development within low income countries, is receiving increasing attention in academia and beyond. This paper presents a useful contribution to the scarce literature on social and environmental enterprises in Africa.

Social entrepreneurship in South Africa: exploring the influence of environment

The influence of environment on social entrepreneurship requires more concerted examination. This paper contributes to emerging discussions in this area through consideration of social entrepreneurship in South Africa. Drawing upon qualitative case study research with six social enterprises, and examined through a framework of new institutional theories and writing on new venture creation, this research explores the significance of environment for the process of social entrepreneurship, for social enterprises, and for social entrepreneurs. Our findings provide insights on institutional environments, social entrepreneurship, and the interplay between them in the South African context, with implications for wider social entrepreneurship scholarship.

Behavioral suites mediate group-level foraging dynamics in communities of tropical stingless bees

Competition for floral resources is a key force shaping pollinator communities, particularly among social bees. The ability of social bees to recruit nestmates for group foraging is hypothesized to be a major factor in their ability to dominate rich resources such as mass-flowering trees. We tested the role of group foraging in attaining dominance by stingless bees, eusocial tropical pollinators that exhibit high diversity in foraging strategies. We provide the first experimental evidence that meliponine group foraging strategies, large colony sizes and aggressive behavior form a suite of traits that enable colonies to improve dominance of rich resources. Using a diverse assemblage of Brazilian stingless bee species and an array of artificial ""flowers"" that provided a sucrose reward, we compared species` dominance and visitation under unrestricted foraging conditions and with experimental removal of group-foraging species. Dominance does not vary with individual body size, but rather with foraging group size. Species that recruit larger numbers of nestmates (Scaptotrigona aff. depilis, Trigona hyalinata, Trigona spinipes) dominated both numerically (high local abundance) and behaviorally (controlling feeders). Removal of group-foraging species increased feeding opportunities for solitary foragers (Frieseomelitta varia, Melipona quadrifasciata and Nannotrigona testaceicornis). Trigona hyalinata always dominated under unrestricted conditions. When this species was removed, T. spinipes or S. aff. depilis controlled feeders and limited visitation by solitary-foraging species. Because bee foraging patterns determine plant pollination success, understanding the forces that shape these patterns is crucial to ensuring pollination of both crops and natural areas in the face of current pollinator declines.

Circadian Pattern of Wheel-Running Activity of a South American Subterranean Rodent (Ctenomys cf knightii)

Circadian rhythms are regarded as essentially ubiquitous features of animal behavior and are thought to confer important adaptive advantages. However, although circadian systems of rodents have been among the most extensively studied, most comparative biology is restricted to a few related species. In this study, the circadian organization of locomotor activity was studied in the subterranean, solitary north Argentinean rodent, Ctenomys knightii. The genus, Ctenomys, commonly known as Tuco-tucos, comprises more than 50 known species over a range that extends from 12S latitude into Patagonia, and includes at least one social species. The genus, therefore, is ideal for comparative and ecological studies of circadian rhythms. Ctenomys knightii is the first of these to be studied for its circadian behavior. All animals were wild caught but adapted quickly to laboratory conditions, with clear and precise activity-rest rhythms in a light-dark (LD) cycle and strongly nocturnal wheel running behavior. In constant dark (DD), the rhythm expression persisted with free-running periods always longer than 24h. Upon reinstatement of the LD cycle, rhythms resynchronized rapidly with large phase advances in 7/8 animals. In constant light (LL), six animals had free-running periods shorter than in DD, and 4/8 showed evidence of splitting. We conclude that under laboratory conditions, in wheel-running cages, this species shows a clear nocturnal rhythmic organization controlled by an endogenous circadian oscillator that is entrained to 24h LD cycles, predominantly by light-induced advances, and shows the same interindividual variable responses to constant light as reported in other non-subterranean species. These data are the first step toward understanding the chronobiology of the largest genus of subterranean rodents.

Science Teacher Education in Brazil: 1950-2000

This paper analyzes the most significant events occurring in Brazil`s educational, social and political areas over the last half century, viewed against a background of relevant worldwide events. The hypothesis presented here is that the relations between the country`s educational policies, the demands of the various segments of academia, and the public school system have always been strained. This strain has contributed positively to the evolution of academic knowledge and production, to the design of more modern curricular projects by institutional authorities, and to the initial recognition of the specific construction of school knowledge by the school system itself. However, the interaction of these major institutions lacks a crucial element-one that would lead to an effective change in the education of science teachers and produce a positive impact on Brazil`s schools-namely, the wholehearted participation of science teachers themselves. With this analysis, we intend to contribute by offering some perspectives and proposals for science teacher education in Brazil.

Marketing Social Change: A Comparative Historical and Methodological Analysis of Anti-Smoking Endeavors

Even though assessing social marketing endeavors proves to be challenging, evaluators can learn from previous campaigns and identify which facets of social marketing events, programs and campaigns need to be improved. Additionally, by analyzing social movements and evaluating how they connect to social marketing, we can gain a clearer view on ways to ameliorate the field of social marketing. As social marketing becomes increasingly sophisticated and similar to commercial marketing, there is hope that social marketing can yield higher rates of success in the future. Friend and Levy (2002) claimed that it was nearly impossible to compare social marketing endeavors using quantitative criteria and advocate the use of qualitative methods. However, if social marketing scholars developed a more systematic paradigm to assess events, programs and campaigns employing a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods, then it would be easier to establish which social marketing efforts generated more success than others. When there are too many confounding variables, conclusions cannot always be drawn and evaluations may not be viewed as legitimate. As a result, critics become skeptical of social marketing’s value and both the importance and credibility of social marketing decline. With the establishment of proper criteria and evaluation methods, social marketing can progress and initiate more social change.

Responsabilidade social na cadeia produtiva automotiva: estudo de caso

O objetivo da dissertação é compreender a responsabilidade social das organizações, tomando-se como estudo de caso duas empresas pertencentes à cadeia produtiva do setor automotivo. No intuito de manter o anonimato das empresas estudadas, elas foram denominadas: Empresa A, elo forte desta cadeia, e Empresa B, fornecedora de produtos críticos à produção industrial da Empresa A. O objetivo, então, foi pesquisar como a responsabilidade social é percebida pelos diferentes atores dentro de uma mesma cadeia produtiva. Dentro desta linha, foi verificado até que ponto a prática da responsabilidade social interna da Empresa A se reproduz na Empresa B. Isto implicou medir práticas de responsabilidade social interna. Para tanto, foi utilizada com o instrumento de pesquisa a norma Social Accountability (SA) 8000 considerada como a materialização de um consenso ético-normativo de políticas e de sistemas de Gestão da Qualidade Social. A norma apresenta-se como um sistema de auditoria similar ao ISO 9000 e 14000, sendo um sistema de implementação, manutenção e verificação de condições dignas de trabalho, constituindo-se num padrão social auditável, passível de certificação e verificação por terceiros. Entretanto, quando se fala de experiências aplicadas à causa da responsabilidade social deve-se minimizar as tentações em relação à implementação de sistemas de gestão como, por exemplo, o proposto pela SA 8000. Esta norma comporta-se como um aperfeiçoamento das práticas flexíveis de gestão fazendo com que a qualidade de vida no interior das empresas seja suscetível de se tomar mais um critério de desempenho para vencer nos mercados mais competitivos. Sob o ponto de vista desta pesquisa a responsabilidade social interna ocorreria dentro do mundo do trabalho se houvesse uma interação consensual entre o modelo de Gestão da Qualidade Social proposto pela norma e a cidadania. Esta interação denomina-se 'Gestão Social'. O objetivo maior do estudo, desta forma, é aumentar o entendimento acerca das práticas do exercício da responsabilidade social interna voltadas para a emancipação do trabalhador-cidadão.

"Os bárbaros estão chegando": o processo de democratização do governo Richa no Paraná

O presente trabalho de pesquisa acadêmica abrange a análise da conjuntura política do processo de transição democrática no Brasil e no Paraná, ocorrida no final da década de 1970 e inícios dos anos 80. No capítulo introdutório examino os elementos teórico-metodológicos, que são as categorias de análise que utilizo no estudo da situação concreta brasileira, como contexto amplo, e da conjuntura das eleiçôes de 1982 e do governo de José Richa no Paraná. Era necessário examinar a concepçâo "ampliada" de Estado, o conceito de estrutura e de superestrutura do bloco histórico e a concepção da vertente da democracia liberal e da vertente da democracia popular, no enfoque da literatura do materialismo histórico-dialético, de autores clássicos e modernos. No segundo capítulo examino o projeto de transição democrática dos generais presidentes Geisel e Figueiredo: um plano dos militares e das elites brasileiras para salvar as elites no poder, na travessia pelo alto. O projeto não ia além da legitimação do regime e do modelo econômico pela passagem do governo militar aos civis, por um processo eleitoral duvidoso. No Paraná, objetivo principal da pesquisa, examino o projeto liberal do governo do PMDB de Richa, desde a organizaçâo partidária, a elaboraçâo das diretrizes de governo, a campanha eleitoral, a participaçâo de intelectuais de ponta na campanha, as alianças do PMDB com os setores populares da sociedade até a composição e a "direitização" do governo. "OS BÁRBAROS ESTÃO CHEGANDO", título principal da dissertação, era a denominação que a aristocracia (elite) curitibana atribuiu a José Richa, quando o mesmo ganhou as eleições ao governo do Paraná, pelo fato de ser do interior do Estado e não fazer parte do mundo civilizado da Curitiba cosmopolita. No terceiro capítulo examino a questão da democratização da escola pública do Estado pela instituição das eleições para diretor e vice-diretor da escola, pelos professores, servidores, alunos e pais de alunos. Digo que a democracia vai além do decreto governamental que estabelece as eleições. Digo ainda que o discurso na prática é outro, no caso do governo Richa e da educação. A questão básica da pesquisa é trabalhar a idéia de que a educação é um campo de disputas e confrontos de classes pela hegemonia do poder, em que a classe dominante luta para manter-se no poder como classe dirigente e as classes subalternas ora se mantém aliadas e como classes auxiliares à classe dominante, ora consentem e raras vezes rebelam-se contra a dominaçâo da classe dirigente.

For profit social entrepreneurship: milestones to develop an efficient social venture

Inúmeras questões terríveis e alarmantes são ainda mal resolvidas, apesar da mobilização de ONGs para aliviá-los. Por muito tempo, o setor privado deu as costas a preocupações tal qual estas. Ate que um novo tipo de empreendedor revolucionário apareceu com um novo conceito para combater a pobreza. Mohamed Yunus desbravou empreendedorismo social quando criou a Grameen Bank 36 anos atrás: ele desafiou regras convencionais e estritas alugando dinheiro para Bengalis desmerecidos de credito, tudo isso obtendo lucro no mesmo tempo. Hoje, empreendedorismo social esta um fenômeno mas a maioria dos empreendedores do setor dos e meia ainda enfrentam dificuldades. A pesquisa acadêmica sobre o empreendedorismo social com fins lucrativos ainda está hesitante. O presente trabalho é uma modesta tentativa de analisar quais são os desafios que um empreendedor social com fins lucrativos enfrentará ao longo do caminho para criar seu empreendimento e sustentar os seus objetivos. O exame da literatura mostra que as dificuldades enfrentadas pelos empreendedores são devido a vários fatores, compreendo questões diretamente relacionadas a incerteza do mercado e o contexto local, questões organizacionais, de financiamento, de ética e questões relacionadas a resistência do modelo de negocio. As proposições derivando do exame da literatura foram confrontadas a casos concretos através de entrevistas com empreendedores sociais, investidores de impacto e instituições de apoio. Resultados da pesquisa corroboram as proposições do inicio mas enfatizam necessidade de resolver, com consideração cuidadosa, as questões relacionadas a incerteza do mercado e ao desenho duma governança adequada. A respeito da incerteza do mercado, a identificação das partes interessadas no empreendimento social e a adoção duma mentalidade eficaz para ajustar suposições iniciais para a realidade local, são um padrão chave de sucesso para o empreendimento social. No nível organizacional, a constituição dum time perito e comprometido junto com o desenho duma governança certa para equilibrar o desejo de obter lucro e a necessidade de sustentabilidade financeira é uma garantia de sucesso para o empreendedor social.

As distintas percepções sobre o empreendedorismo social

This dissertation is a literature review with exploratory and descriptive purposes, which aims to compile the different perceptions of the term Social Entrepreneurship, but not propon-being of an epistemological analysis on the topic. The main objectives of this research were: 1) to identify the convergences and divergences in the various perceptions of the Social Entrepre-neurship, from the perspectives: American, European and Brazilian; 2) identify whether Social Entrepreneurship can be considered as a new theoretical trend, or can be understood as a sub-category of an existing theory; 3) identify whether Social Entrepreneurship can be considered as practice of Social Management; 4) identify whether the "Social Business", proposed by Yunus (2010), can be considered as a completely new type of organization, as the author says. For this research were studied literary works available in the physical environment and elec-tronic database. The main concepts studied in this research were: Entrepreneurship; Social Management; Third Sector; Business Management and Social Entrepreneurship. The conclu-sions reached by this study were: 1-a) the main theoretical convergence is the Social Entrepre-neur ability to apply methods and process typically used in for-profit companies, in business that aimed social value creation; 1-b) the main difference is the different perceptions that the United States, Europe and Brazil have about what is Social Entrepreneurship. In the American perspective, these are private sector organizations operating according to market logic and that somehow generates social value. In the European perspective, closer to the social economy, emphasizes the activities of civil society organizations with public functions. In Brazil empha-sizes market initiatives aimed at reducing poverty and transform the social conditions of mar-ginalized or excluded individuals; 2) Social Entrepreneurship is an activity that incorporates much all the practices, methods and processes of commercial entrepreneurship and, as such, should not be considered as a new theoretical trend, but a subcategory of Entrepreneurship theory. 3) Social Entrepreneurship cannot be considered as a practice of Social Management, being much closer to the commercial entrepreneurship practices; 4) the "Social Business" pro-posed by Yunus (2010), closely resembled in its modus operandi with the Social Enterprises in Western Europe, thus, not supporting the author's claim.

As escolhas das carreiras minimizam o impacto da política de cotas? O caso do estado do Rio de Janeiro

Esta pesquisa busca verificar se a política de cotas, incluída na legislação federal brasileira por meio da Lei nº 12.771 de 2012, ao tornar obrigatória a reserva de vagas no ensino superior numa combinação de cor/raça, renda e origem em rede pública de ensino médio, tem caminhado para alcançar seu objetivo de forma a minimizar as dívidas racial e social brasileiras, causadas, entre outras, pela escravidão que por décadas se perpetuou no país. Para isso a pesquisa focou na escolha das carreiras dos estudantes cotistas e não cotistas de uma forma geral, além de por sexo e turno. Buscará evidenciar a hipótese de que o público-alvo da política de cotas ao escolher carreiras menos prestigiadas ou com menor retorno financeiro, finda por minimizar o impacto da mesma e sugere que política complementar seria necessária. Para classificar e agrupar as carreiras, o trabalho utilizou a base de dados do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE que lista as carreiras pela remuneração média percebida. Após contextualização da desigualdade racial e social, da educação como promotora do desenvolvimento econômico e social, das experiências americana e brasileira com ações afirmativas, da exposição da legislação que dispõe sobre o tema e de estudos já realizados, e da importância da avaliação das políticas públicas, são analisados os dados do Censo Escolar do Ensino Superior, do ano de 2013, do Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Anísio Teixeira – Inep, no que tange a escolha de carreira dos cotistas e não cotistas, além de por sexo e turno. A abrangência da pesquisa se restringiu às universidades, centros e institutos públicos situados no estado do Rio de Janeiro que, em diferentes graus e épocas já adotaram a política de cotas, a fim de verificar a hipótese. Ao final a pesquisa demonstra que o modelo de regressão que inclui as IES e o tempo de vigência da política se mostrou estatisticamente significativo sinalizando a forte influência das IES e do tempo sobre a razão de cotista e que, ao contrário do que se pensava, os cotistas escolhem as carreiras mais bem remuneradas ou de mais prestígio. Além disso, demonstra que o sexo feminino, da mesma forma que os estudantes de turno noturno, de uma forma geral, cotistas e não cotistas, optam por carreiras menos remuneradas indicando a necessidade de política complementar que: fomente a participação do sexo feminino nessas carreiras, avalie as carreiras e vagas oferecidas no turno noturno e corrija distorções que ampliem o leque de possibilidades para os alunos de ensino superior.

Juventude e vulnerabilidade social :no contexto intra-urbano de Natal, RN

The use of the term social vulnerability in the study of the reproduction of the social inequalities in Brazil, still, is recent. The social vulnerability is linked to the indicators of social risk. The work approaches the youth's social vulnerability and your relationship with the education, considering the youth a, among other groups socially excluded, vulnerable, in the Brazilian metropolises. It is guided by the methodological theoretical formulations on this thematic one developed by the Rede Metrópoles in the ambit of the project, " Observatory of the Metropolises: territory, social cohesion and democratic governability ( Project Millennium CNPq) and your unfoldings in the Natal group. Empirically, forehead a methodological proposal - still in construction - and it accomplishes a " pilot " study for the city of Natal with base in the data of the Census of IBGE 2000, that proposes mensurar the importance of the social characteristics of the neighborhood on the considered youths' educational acting those that are in the strip from 15 to 24 years. It considers that the youths' educational " earnings as being influenced not only for the social context of the family, also, for your space location in the city - social context of the neighborhood. With base in the results can verify that the youths of the city of Natal present situations of social vulnerability so much in the ambit of the family as expresses in the social space of the neighborhood. Such vulnerability are verified in the low educational indexes, in the high unemployment rates and in the presented social conditions of the researched areas. The youths, residents of those neighborhoods, they are considered vulnerable socially because original of a precarious source of " assets " and opportunities. There is in Natal a low " structure of assets and opportunities " - accessible to the youth

Bioética e biodireito: interfaces e confluências

This thesis addresses the development of technoscience in times of transnational globalization and highlights the vulnerability of the discourse of social progress, which may be replaced by evidence of social risk before the artificiality of nature and humanity. That demands an ethical and legal responses to events that impose the necessity of an ethical control in biotechnology research involving human beings contributing to the rise of Bioethics and Biolaw as fields of knowledge. This theme is studied from a multidisciplinary perspective seeking a dynamic dimension in the interpretation of research data reconnecting Social Sciences to Legal Sciences (Biolaw) and to Philosophy (Bioethics), in order to obtain answers to the problems posed. The objective delimited is to examine the interfaces between Biolaw and Bioethics, in order to observe the confluence of these areas of knowledge. Biolaw is considered as a new legal branch derived from the paradigmatic transition of Law and wonders how it will stand before questions resulting of social transformations caused by biotechnological development that endangers humans and society. It is concluded that the relationship between Bioethics and Biolaw is recursive and inseparable and it contributed to the "unthink" of traditional legal model of linear view/reductionist allowing that the "certainties" will be replaced by "possibilities", which comes to enable Biolaw to confront the issues caused by the development of biotechnology that violates physically and morally the human person. It is perceived, therefore, that Biolaw is driven and aided by bioethical reflections and it positions itself before the dilemmas caused by biotechnology in creating, interpreting and applying coercive rules which aims to protect the human being, his offspring and society

A contribuição de Diké na formação do Emílio ou o papel da jurisdição constitucional na concretização do direito social à educação

The fundamental social right to education has a lengthy constitutional argument, having been declared as a right to everyone in the Title dedicated to the fundamental rights and warrants and, later, scrutinized in the Social Order Chapter exclusively devoted to this theme, where specific rights are guaranteed and fundamental duties are imposed to family, society, and state. In that which concerns education, the 1988 Constitution is the result of a historical-normative process which, since the days of the Lusitanian Empire wavering between distinct levels of protection warrants in some way the educational process. Nevertheless, not even the State s oldest commitment to education has been fully achieved, namely, the annihilation of illiteracy. Even as other fundamental social rights, education is inflicted with the lack of effective political will to reach its fulfillment, and this is reflected in the production of doctrine and jurisprudence which reduce the efficacy of these rights. The objective of this work is to analyze what part is to be played by the constitutional jurisdiction in the reversal of this picture in regards to the fulfillment of the fundamental social right to education. Therefore it is indispensable to present a proper conception of constitutional jurisdiction its objectives, boundaries and procedures and that of the social rights in the Brazilian context so as to establish its relationship from the prism of the right to education. The main existing obstacles to the effective action of constitutional jurisdiction on the ground of social rights are identified and then proposals so as to overcome them are presented. The contemplative and constructive importance of education in the shaping of the individual as well as its instrumental relevance to the achievement of the democratic ideal through the means of the shaping of the citizen is taken into account. The historical context which leads to the current Brazilian educational system is analyzed, tracing the normative area and the essential content of the fundamental right to education aiming to delineate parameters for the adequate development of the constitutional jurisdiction in the field. This jurisdiction must be neither larger nor narrower than that which has been determined by the Constitution itself. Its activity has been in turns based on a demagogic rhetoric of those fundamental rights which present a doubtful applicability, or falling short of that which has been established showing an excessive reverence to the constituent powers. It is necessary to establish dogmatic parameters for a good action of this important tool of constitutional democracy, notably in regards to the fundamental social right to education, for the sake of its instrumental role in the achievement of the democratic ideals of liberty and equality

Habitus, representações sociais e construção identitária dos professores de Maracanaú

In the last three decades, the subject of the teacher's social identity has been discussed under various theoretical focuses, not only in Brazil, but also beyond our borders. In this thesis, the theme is approached starting from the theoretical proposal that has been developed by Domingos Sobrinho (1994), which is strongly based in the epistemological approach between Pierre Bourdieu’s praxiology and the Theory of the Social Representations formulated by Serge Moscovici. It presupposes that this would make it easier to apprehend the process of construction of social identity of the investigated social group. The universe of the research is constituted by teachers of the fundamental teaching of the municipal district of Maracanaú, state of Ceará, that were active in class-room work there during at least three years, and were registered or had concluded the Course of Educational Formation promoted by UECE in that municipal district. Taking into account that the teacher's social identity is a process in permanent construction, resulting of their daily experiences and of the interferences originated from of the social context, the investigative tasks were implemented in two different stages, although they complement each other. Initially, with the objective of putting in evidence the genesis of the formation of that group’s habitus, an analysis of the family and school lives of eleven teachers who participated in the course was made, using as main sources of data: thematic memorials, semi-structured interviews and observations - inside and out of the class-room – during four school semesters. In the second stage a test of free association of words was applied to 426 teachers, seeking to apprehend the structure of the social representations of family and school – a methodological strategy considered necessary to enhance and identify certain outlines of the habitus in study, besides being in agreement with the theoretical model followed. It became evident from the results that the identity of Maracanaú’s teachers is molded and transformed into a multifaceted dynamic unit that shows successes and mistakes, certainties and doubts. For instance, besides an innovative speech seeking to reassure that teaching is a profession and not a simple vocation or mission, some discourse and attitudes are identified that point to the opposite direction, extolling the school as extension of the family, defending a parental relationship with the students, and looking at certain aspects of daily school life as “sacramental”. However, in the light of science such ambiguities and incoherences are inherent to common sense discourse, where the influences of the patterns and cultural references are present in the process of identity construction of the group, which was confirmed by the research of their social representations of family and school