Reducing defects through organizational learning within a Housing Association environment

Housing Associations (HAs) contribute circa 20% of the UK’s housing supply. HAs are however under increasing pressure as a result of funding cuts and rent reductions. Due to the increased pressure, a number of processes are currently being reviewed by HAs, especially how they manage and learn from defects. Learning from defects is considered a useful approach to achieving defect reduction within the UK housebuilding industry. This paper contributes to our understanding of how HAs learn from defects by undertaking an initial round table discussion with key HA stakeholders as part of an ongoing collaborative research project with the National House Building Council (NHBC) to better understand how house builders and HAs learn from defects to reduce their prevalence. The initial discussion shows that defect information runs through a number of groups, both internal and external of a HA during both the defects management process and organizational learning (OL) process. Furthermore, HAs are reliant on capturing and recording defect data as the foundation for the OL process. During the OL process defect data analysis is the primary enabler to recognizing a need for a change to organizational routines. When a need for change has been recognized, new options are typically pursued to design out defects via updates to a HAs Employer’s Requirements. Proposed solutions are selected by a review board and committed to organizational routine. After implementing a change, both structured and unstructured feedback is sought to establish the change’s success. The findings from the HA discussion demonstrates that OL can achieve defect reduction within the house building sector in the UK. The paper concludes by outlining a potential ‘learning from defects model’ for the housebuilding industry as well as describing future work.

Pedagogy of the flesh : artaud and pedagogical fault lines

In the form of an installation, this panel will question the problems of combining the fleshiness of our bodies and the technologies of (re-)presentation in the production of knowledge that is contemporary teaching in a material environment. Do the aesthetics and methods of the performing arts open up new, dynamic approaches towards teaching practices? Conversely, how do traditional approaches to classroom management and learning undermine the performativity of our disciplinary concerns? We wish to challenge in the strongest possible terms the appropriateness of the traditional format for academic conferences with their monologic presentation of research outcomes. We crave new and unimagined formats for conferences that rely upon the very theatrical devices that we study, master, enact, and live through. This installation will express each participant's response to these provocations and will provide an interactive environment with many dialogic elements. Participants will use video images, live performers, and other theatrical devices to create an installation that deconstructs the experience of teaching. Signalling though the flames, should our teaching be any less?

The installation will be available for perusal as five simultaneous events occur in over-lapping space. This will last approximately 45 minutes and will be followed by a round-table discussion for the remainder of our time.

Genetic research in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities : continuing the conversation

Genetics is at the forefront of medical research, but it is rarely used in Indigenous health research projects. This discussion paper is the outcome of the first ever national discussion of the conduct of genetic research in Indigenous communities in Australia convened by the Lowitja Institute in 2010. It reviews the ethical issues relevant to genetic research in an Australian Indigenous context; existing guidelines for genetic research in indigenous communities internationally; and literature on genetic literacy in Indigenous contexts. Finally, the discussion paper presents a summary of the productive and challenging conversations at the round table.

Development of national statistical systems and the responsibilities of national statistical offices

Includes bibliography

Conflitos socioambientais, educação ambiental e participação social na gestão ambiental

This is synthesis of the debates held during the round-table “Socioenvironmental conflicts, environmental education and social participation on environmental management”, at the V ENANPPAS (2010), which has focused on the discussion of four main themes: Socioenvironmental conflicts and the myths of social participation; Socioenvironmental conflicts and the uncertainty of conditions to environmental education immersed in problems and conflicts; Solution of Socioenvironmental conflitcts – actions mediated by instrumental rationality and emancipatory interest; Positive actions as dialogical-problematizing practice on concrete reality. From an initial provocative text, each member has brought his first contribution, followed by new questions as consequence of these speeches. The hole debate was recorded, transcripted and made a synthesis to present in this manuscript form.

Gramática: reflexões sobre um percurso de elaboração de manuais

As part of a round table entitled “Construction of descriptive grammars”, with authors of descriptive grammars of the Portuguese language, this text presents a personal refl ection that seeks to recover the key issues that have challenged me in this kind of work. In order to do this, I recover the historical route of the decisions I took in the construction of two manuals of Portuguese grammar and, at the same time, I gather, in other works I have written, information that can explain the guidelines adopted. Being consistent with my background and with my praxis, I offer some thoughts towards the fundamental proposition I have always considered such works to have, which is the school destination, something I can summarize in the question of what should constitute a work with the “grammar” at school.

Práticas de governo das crianças e dos adolescentes propostas pelo UNICEF e pela UNESCO: inquietações a partir das ferramentas analíticas legadas por Foucault

O artigo em pauta é resultante de fala em mesa-redonda proferida no Colóquio Internacional Michel Foucault, a judicialização da vida, realizado, em outubro de 2011, na Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro. O texto ora descrito é parte de análises realizadas há anos em pesquisas documentais, com as ferramentas de Michel Foucault, com relatórios de agências multilaterais ligadas ao sistema Nações Unidas, em especial, UNICEF e UNESCO, no Brasil. Buscamos interpelar estas práticas e descrever como as mesmas são prescritivas de conduta e são estratégias de governo neoliberal, articulando a promoção, defesa e garantia de direitos à economia política, em nome da defesa da vida e da construção da paz e segurança mundial.

ARTHUR: A Collaborative Augmented Environment for Architectural Design and Urban Planning

Projects in the area of architectural design and urban planning typically engage several architects as well as experts from other professions. While the design and review meetings thus often involve a large number of cooperating participants, the actual design is still done by the individuals in the time in between those meetings using desktop PCs and CAD applications. A real collaborative approach to architectural design and urban planning is often limited to early paper-based sketches.In order to overcome these limitations, we designed and realized the ARTHUR system, an Augmented Reality (AR) enhanced round table to support complex design and planning decisions for architects. WhileAR has been applied to this area earlier, our approach does not try to replace the use of CAD systems but rather integrates them seamlessly into the collaborative AR environment. The approach is enhanced by intuitiveinteraction mechanisms that can be easily con-figured for different application scenarios.

On the Role of Copyright Protection in the Information Society

In January 2012, Poland witnessed massive protests, both in the streets and on the Internet, opposing ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which triggered a wave of strong anti-ACTA movements across Europe. In Poland, these protests had further far-reaching consequences, as they not only changed the initial position of the government on the controversial treaty but also actually started a public debate on the role of copyright law in the information society. Moreover, as a result of these events the Polish Ministry for Administration and Digitisation launched a round table, gathering various stakeholders to negotiate a potential compromise with regard to copyright law that would satisfy conflicting interests of various actors. This contribution will focus on a description of this massive resentment towards ACTA and a discussion of its potential reasons. Furthermore, the mechanisms that led to the extraordinary influence of the anti-ACTA movement on the governmental decisions in Poland will be analysed through the application of models and theories stemming from the social sciences. The importance of procedural justice in the copyright legislation process, especially its influence on the image of copyright law and obedience of its norms, will also be emphasised.