Employment and the Social Economy. EU Funding Opportunities for Developing Human Resources

The paper examines the role of EU cohesion policy in the field of human resources development and improving conditions for employment. The main objective of the analysis is to present a comprehensive picture about funding opportunities in connection with financing the activities of organisations of the social economy. As a background, the study stresses that the success of the European integration process depends to a great extent on the strength of economic and social cohesion between EU member states and regions. In order to create conditions for sustainable and balanced growth with social inclusion, there is a need to enhance the competitiveness of less developed regions combating the difficulties of structural change, and to improve their development prospects. To achieve this aim, one of the most important fields is to improve human resources. The paper points out, that EU cohesion policy has a crucial role in reducing disparities. After a general introduction to the EU level regional policy funding, the study focuses on the activities supported by the European Social Fund (ESF). The next part of the study deals with the possible types of the social economy projects and problems of self-financing. The author emphasises that social innovation emerges where State and markets fail to deliver for society (theory of non-profit/third sector) but not just to fix or replace them. The author concludes that these projects require state subsidies (official grants) at the beginning, but at the same time they can generate income. In this respect they follow same economic goals as other market actors, however, the crucial difference is that their main goal is not to make high profits for the owners. In the last part, as a concrete case study, the paper concentrates on the priorities of the Hungarian development plan in relation to social renewal. The author explains the priorities and fields of interventions of the social renewal programme. Finally, the chapter deals with the recent changes in the Hungarian employment policy and related measures supported by the European Social Fund. The chapter concludes that several employment programmes, projects for the development of social economy and programmes assisting the spreading of voluntariness and the training of volunteers have been launched with the co-financing of ESF.

A szénlábnyom mérése – Fókuszban a közúti áruszállítás és raktározás (Measurement the carbon footprint – focus on road transport and warehousing)

Mai világunkban egyre több olyan erőforrást élünk fel, amelyek hatását az otthonunknak számító Föld egyszerűen már nem képes helyreállítani. Ebben számos jelenség mellett a gazdaság globalizációja, az élesedő versenyhelyzet, a fogyasztói társadalom további térnyerése, ebből adódóan pedig a logisztikai folyamatok intenzitásának növekedése kulcsszerepet játszik. A logisztikát érő kritikáknak ösztönözniük kell a vállalatok szakembereit arra, hogy változtassanak ezen. Ehhez elengedhetetlen a jelenlegi működés szénlábnyomának mérése. Csak a jelenállapot felmérése szolgálhat alapjául a fejlesztéseknek. A szerzők tanulmányának célja a szénlábnyomszámítás egy gyakorlati alkalmazásának ismertetése. Esettanulmány jelleggel bemutatják egy nagy nemzetközi vállalat hazai leányvállalatának a szénlábnyom-számítása során alkalmazott módszertanát. A számítások során a vállalat disztribúciós logisztikai folyamataira fókuszálnak, kiemelten vizsgálták a közúti szállítás és a raktározás széndioxid-kibocsátását. Számításaikban igyekeztek pontosak lenni, a hazai energiamixre számolt legfrissebb konverziós faktorokkal számoltak. Meggyőződésük, hogy az ilyen esettanulmányok hasznosak, hiszen a bemutatott módszertan mintául, útmutatásul szolgálhat további vállalatok számára. Reményeik szerint ezzel segíthetik, hogy minél több hazai vállalat kezdje el széndioxid-kibocsátásának szisztematikus és tudományos alapokon nyugvó mérését. ____ Due to globalization, intense competition and the consumer society logistics processes have been intensified during the last decades. This led to increased environmental strain generating intense criticism towards logistics profession. In order to decrease the environmental burden of logistics several professionals and companies have tried to make progress in this field and introduced techniques that are capable to measure the Carbon Footprint of logistics. Still public case studies are very limited. The paper presents the case of the Hungarian subsidiary of a big multinational FMCG firm. Calculations are built on the actual conversion factor developed for the Hungarian energy mix. A complex set of key performance indi actors usable to capture key characteristics of the present situation is presented. Not only the constructs of these KPIs are described in the paper but a detailed description of methodology used to calculate them is also given. The authors hope such detailed case study description will help other companies as well to initiate sustainable logistics programs.

The development and analysis of a field project model curriculum and its impact on achievement and attitude toward science and the environment with at-risk eleventh and twelfth grade students

This study was an evaluation of a Field Project Model Curriculum and its impact on achievement, attitude toward science, attitude toward the environment, self-concept, and academic self-concept with at-risk eleventh and twelfth grade students. One hundred eight students were pretested and posttested on the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, PHCSC (1985); the Self-Concept as a Learner Scale, SCAL (1978); the Marine Science Test, MST (1987); the Science Attitude Inventory, SAI (1970); and the Environmental Attitude Scale, EAS (1972). Using a stratified random design, three groups of students were randomly assigned according to sex and stanine level, to three treatment groups. Group one received the field project method, group two received the field study method, and group three received the field trip method. All three groups followed the marine biology course content as specified by Florida Student Performance Objectives and Frameworks. The intervention occurred for ten months with each group participating in outside-of-classroom activities on a trimonthly basis. Analysis of covariance procedures were used to determine treatment effects. F-ratios, p-levels and t-tests at p $<$.0062 (.05/8) indicated that a significant difference existed among the three treatment groups. Findings indicated that groups one and two were significantly different from group three with group one displaying significantly higher results than group two. There were no significant differences between males and females in performance on the five dependent variables. The tenets underlying environmental education are congruent with the recommendations toward the reform of science education. These include a value analysis approach, inquiry methods, and critical thinking strategies that are applied to environmental issues. ^

The development, application, and implications of a strategy for reflective learning from experience

The problem on which this study focused was individuals' reduced capacity to respond to change and to engage in innovative learning when their reflective learning skills are limited. In this study, the preceding problem was addressed by two primary questions: To what degree can mastery of a strategy for reflective learning be facilitated as a part of an academic curriculum for professional practitioners? What impact will mastery of this strategy have on the learning style and adaptive flexibility of adult learners? The focus of the study was a direct application of human resource development technology in the professional preparation of teachers. The background of the problem in light of changing global paradigms and educational action orientations was outlined and a review of the literature was provided. Roots of thought for two key concepts (i.e., learning to learn from experience and meaningful reflection in learning) were traced. Reflective perspectives from the work of eight researchers were compared. A meta-model of learning from experience drawn from the literature served as a conceptual framework for the study. A strategy for reflective learning developed from this meta-model was taught to 109 teachers-in-training at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Kolb's Adaptive Style Inventory and Learning Style Inventory were administered to the treatment group and to two control groups taught by the same professor. Three research questions and fourteen hypotheses guided data analysis. Qualitative review of 1565 personal documents generated by the treatment group indicated that 77 students demonstrated "double-loop" learning, going beyond previously established limits to perception, understanding, or action. The mean score for depth of reflection indicated "single-loop" learning with "reflection-in-action" present. The change in the mean score for depth of reflection from the beginning to end of the study was statistically significant (p $<$.05). On quantitative measures of adaptive flexibility and learning style, with two exceptions, there were no significant differences noted between treatment and control groups on pre-test to post-test differences and on post-test mean scores adjusted for pre-test responses and demographic variables. Conclusions were drawn regarding treatment, instrumentation, and application of the strategy and the meta-model. Implications of the strategy and the meta-model for research, for education, for human resource development, for professional practice, and for personal growth were suggested. Qualitative training materials and Kolb's instruments were provided in the appendices.

A comparison of the academic performance of students with General Educational Development credentials and high school diplomas at a selected community college

This study compared the performance of students who earned GED credentials in Florida with that of graduates of Florida high schools, when members of both groups enrolled for the first time in fall 1992 at an urban multicultural community college in south Florida. GED's and HSD's were matched on gender, race, age range, placement levels, and enrollment in college preparatory courses (reading, English, mathematics). The paired samples t-test compared course grades, first semester GPA, and total college GPA for the groups and subgroups of matched students at a probability level of .05. The McNemar test compared how many students in each group and subgroup re-enrolled for a second and third term, or ever; how many were placed on special academic status during their college enrollment; and how many graduated within 16 semesters. Differences between groups were found only for placement on probation—with HSD's on probation in significantly higher proportion than GED's. ^ Additional findings among subgroups revealed that male and Caucasian HSD subjects earned higher math grades than their GED counterparts. Male HSD's were more likely than male GED's to return to the college at some point after the first term. However, male HSD's were placed on probation in greater proportion than the GED's with whom they were matched. ^ Female GED's earned higher English grades and higher first semester and cumulative GPA's and returned to the college in greater proportion than their HSD counterparts. Black GED's earned higher first-semester GPA's, re-enrolled in terms 2 and 3 and graduated from the college in higher percentages than Black HSD's. Black HSD's were placed on probation in higher proportion than Black GED's. Lastly, greater percentages of HSD than GED subjects in the lowest age range (16–19) were placed on probation. ^ Results connected to the performance of Black GED subjects are likely to have been affected by the fact that 50% of Black study subjects had been born in Jamaica. The place of the GED in the constellation of methods for earning credit by examination is explored, future implications are discussed, and further study is recommended. ^

Social service provision, efficiency labor and economic development

This dissertation provides a theory of the effects and determinants of an economy's level of social services. The dissertation focuses on how the provision of social services will affect the effort decisions of workers, which will ultimately determine the economy's level of output. A worker decides on how much effort to contribute in relation to the level of social services he/she receives. The higher the level of social services received, the lower the cost—disutility—from providing effort will be. The government provides public infrastructure and social services (i.e. health services) in accordance with the economy's endowment of effort. In doing so, the government takes the aggregate effort endowment as given. Since, with higher individual work effort the higher the economy's total level of effort, failure by workers to coordinate effort levels will result in possible instances of low effort, low social services and low output; and, other instances of high effort, high social services and high output. Therefore, this dissertation predicts that in the context of social services, coordination failures in effort levels can lead to development traps. ^

Venezuela and Chile: Two Opposite Paths of Democratic Consolidation and Economic Development.

In the past 20 years, Chile and Venezuela have followed divergent paths of democratic and economic development. When the Cold War ended, Venezuela was one of the few Latin American countries where democracy had survived the authoritarian wave of the 1960 and 1970s. Heralded in the late 1980s as the most stable democracy and one of the most developed and globalized economies in the region, Venezuela has since experienced deterioration of democratic institutions, political polarization, economic stagnation, and instability. In contrast, Chile has experienced a democratic renaissance since 1990. Rapid economic growth, an increasingly efficient public sector, significant reductions in poverty, and improvements in social programs have all made Chile a regional leader in democratic consolidation and sustainable development. Chile emerges as a success story and Venezuela as a country lagging behind in terms of making progress in economic development and poverty reduction. While Chile has developed a democratic system based on institutions, Venezuela has seen its democracy evolve towards increasing concentration of power on the hands of President Hugo Chávez.

Participation in a positive youth development program and multi -problem alternative high school students' transformative goals: An investigation of the theoretical and methodological utility and validity of the Transformative Goal Attainment (TGAS)

There is a growing body of literature that provides evidence for the efficacy of positive youth development programs in general and preliminary empirical support for the efficacy of the Changing Lives Program (CLP) in particular. This dissertation sought to extend previous efforts to develop and preliminarily examine the Transformative Goal Attainment Scale (TGAS) as a measure of participant empowerment in the promotion of positive development. Consistent with recent advances in the use of qualitative research methods, this dissertation sought to further investigate the utility of Relational Data Analysis (RDA) for providing categorizations of qualitative open-ended response data. In particular, a qualitative index of Transformative Goals, TG, was developed to complement the previously developed quantitative index of Transformative Goal Attainment (TGA), and RDA procedures for calculating reliability and content validity were refined. Second, as a Stage I pilot/feasibility study this study preliminarily examined the potentially mediating role of empowerment, as indexed by the TGAS, in the promotion of positive development. ^ Fifty-seven participants took part in this study, forty CLP intervention participants and seventeen control condition participants. All 57 participants were administered the study's measures just prior to and just following the fall 2003 semester. This study thus used a short-term longitudinal quasi-experimental research design with a comparison control group. ^ RDA procedures were refined and applied to the categorization of open-ended response data regarding participants' transformative goals (TG) and future possible selves (PSQ-QE). These analyses revealed relatively strong, indirect evidence for the construct validity of the categories as well as their theoretically meaningful structural organization, thereby providing sufficient support for the utility of RDA procedures in the categorization of qualitative open-ended response data. ^ In addition, transformative goals (TG) and future possible selves (PSQ-QE), and the quantitative index of perceived goal attainment (TGA) were evaluated as potential mediators of positive development by testing their relationships to other indices of positive intervention outcome within a four-step method involving both analysis of variance (ANOVA and RMANOVAs) and regression analysis. Though more limited in scope than the efforts at the development and refinement of the measures of these mediators, the results were also promising. ^

Regional Magma Plumbing and emplacement mechanisms of the Faroe-Shetland Sill Complex : Implications for magma transport and petroleum systems within sedimentary basins

Peer reviewed

Regional Magma Plumbing and emplacement mechanisms of the Faroe-Shetland Sill Complex : Implications for magma transport and petroleum systems within sedimentary basins

Peer reviewed

Interface of the Environment and Occurrence of Botrytis cinerea in Pre-symptomatic Tomato Crops

Botrytis cinerea (Grey mould) is a necrotrophic fungus infecting over 230 plant species worldwide. It can cause major pre- and post-harvest diseases of many agronomic and horticultural crops. Botrytis cinerea causes annual economic losses of 10–100 billion US dollars worldwide and instability in the food supply (Jin and Wu, 2015). Grey mould losses, either at the farm gate or later in the food chain, could be reduced with improved knowledge of inoculum availability during production. In this paper, we report on the ability to monitor Botrytis spore concentration in glasshouse tomato production ahead of symptom development on plants. Using a light weight and portable air sampler (microtitre immunospore trap) it was possible to quantify inoculum availability within hours. Also, this study investigated the spatial aspect of the pathogen with an increase of B. cinerea concentration in bio-aerosols collected in the lower part of the glasshouse (0.5 m) and adjacent to the trained stems of the tomato plants. No obvious relationship was observed between B. cinerea concentration and the internal glasshouse environmental parameters of temperature and relative humidity. However the occurrence of higher outside wind speeds did increase the prevalence of B. cinerea conidia in the cropping environment of a vented glasshouse. Knowledge of inoculum availability at time periods when the environmental risk of pathogen infection is high should improve the targeted use and effectiveness of control inputs.

Essays on cultural and institutional dynamics in economic development using spatial analysis

This thesis seeks to research patterns of economic growth and development from a number of perspectives often resonated in the growth literature. By addressing themes about history, geography, institutions and culture the thesis is able to bring to bear a wide range of inter-related literatures and methodologies within a single content. Additionally, by targeting different administrative levels in its research design and approach, this thesis is also able to provide a comprehensive treatment of the economic growth dilemma from both cross-national and sub-national perspectives. The three chapters herein discuss economic development from two broad dimensions. The first of these chapters takes on the economic growth inquiry by attempting to incorporate cultural geography within a cross-country formal spatial econometric growth framework. By introducing the global cultural dynamics of languages and ethnic groups as spatial network mechanisms, this chapter is able to distinguish economic growth effects accruing from own-country productive efforts from those accruing from interconnections within a global productive network chain. From this, discussions and deductions about the implications for both developed and developing countries are made as regards potentials for gains and losses from such types and levels of productive integration. The second and third chapters take a different spin to the economic development inquiry. They both focus on economic activity in Africa, tackling the relevant issues from a geo-intersected dimension involving historic regional tribal homelands and modern national and subnational administrative territories. The second chapter specifically focuses on attempting to adopt historical channels to investigate the connection between national institutional quality and economic development in demarcated tribal homelands at the fringes of national African borders. The third chapter on the other hand focuses on looking closer at the effects of demarcations on economic activity. It particularly probes how different kinds of demarcation warranted by two different but very relevant classes of politico-economic players have affected economic activity quite distinguishably within the resulting subnational regions in Africa.

Economic well-being and poverty among the elderly: an analysis based on a collective consumption model

We apply the collective consumption model of Browning, Chiappori and Lewbel (2006) to analyse economic well-being and poverty among the elderly. The model focuses on individual preferences, a consumption technology that captures the economies of scale of living in a couple, and a sharing rule that governs the intra-household allocation of resources. The model is applied to a time series of Dutch consumption expenditure surveys. Our empirical results indicate substantial economies of scale and a wifeís share that is increasing in total expenditures. We further calculated poverty rates by means of the collective consumption model. Collective poverty rates of widows and widowers turn out to be slightly lower than traditional ones based on a standard equivalence scale. Poverty among women (men) in elderly couples, however, seems to be heavily underestimated (overestimated) by the traditional approach. Finally, we analysed the impact of becoming a widow(er). Based on cross-sectional evidence, we find that the drop (increase) in material well-being following the husbandís death is substantial for women in high (low) expenditure couples. For men, the picture is reversed.

Between the centre and the margins: Services location, economic (re)structuring and quality of life in metropolitan periurban areas.

This paper aims to discuss the specificities of the role of services in the economic structuring and in the social liveliness and attractiveness of periurban areas. Drawing upon on the result of an empirical work developed in 5 different parishes of Lisbon Metropolitan area, which represent five categories of periurban spaces previously identified, it is analysed the role of services in these “in-between” territories and the way they are important in the spatial economic structuring of these areas and in the quality of life and well-being of their inhabitants and users. A tentative typology for framing the analysis of the role of services on periurban metropolitan spaces is suggested and some policy implications are pointed out.