Participatory crop improvement: the challenges of and opportunities for institutionalisation in the Indian public research sector

This thesis considers Participatory Crop Improvement (PCI) methodologies and examines the reasons behind their continued contestation and limited mainstreaming in conventional modes of crop improvement research within National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS). In particular, it traces the experiences of a long-established research network with over 20 years of experience in developing and implementing PCI methods across South Asia, and specifically considers its engagement with the Indian NARS and associated state-level agricultural research systems. In order to address the issues surrounding PCI institutionalisation processes, a novel conceptual framework was derived from a synthesis of the literatures on Strategic Niche Management (SNM) and Learning-based Development Approaches (LBDA) to analyse the socio-technical processes and structures which constitute the PCI ‘niche’ and NARS ‘regime’. In examining the niche and regime according to their socio-technical characteristics, the framework provides explanatory power for understanding the nature of their interactions and the opportunities and barriers that exist with respect to the translation of lessons and ideas between niche and regime organisations. The research shows that in trying to institutionalise PCI methods and principles within NARS in the Indian context, PCI proponents have encountered a number of constraints related to the rigid and hierarchical structure of the regime organisations; the contractual mode of most conventional research, which inhibits collaboration with a wider group of stakeholders; and the time-limited nature of PCI projects themselves, which limits investment and hinders scaling up of the innovations. It also reveals that while the niche projects may be able to induce a ‘weak’ form of PCI institutionalisation within the Indian NARS by helping to alter their institutional culture to be more supportive of participatory plant breeding approaches and future collaboration with PCI researchers, a ‘strong’ form of PCI institutionalisation, in which NARS organisations adopt participatory methodologies to address all their crop improvement agenda, is likely to remain outside of the capacity of PCI development projects to deliver.

Healthcare-associated infections: challenges to public health in Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Comunicação pública e democracia digital nos processos de participação cidadã: uma análise do Portal Brasil, sob os princípios de E-engagement

This article conducted an analysis of Portal Brazil, specifically in the areas of “Education” and “Economy and Employment”, by according to the principles of e-engagement defined by the Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD). For understanding of this work, were elucidated concepts such as public communication - trajectory, principles and relations -, digital democracy, e-government and engagement and civic participation. Through this analysis was realized the importance of public communication in the processes of opinion formation and stimulus to citizen participation, as well as the performance of the internet as a facilitator instrument in the processes of relationship between State and Society

The Right to Voice: Its Realization by Estonian and American Parents in Public Schools

Investigating parents’ formal engagement opportunities in public schools serves well to characterize the relationship between states and societies. While the relationship between parental involvement and students’ academic success has been thoroughly investigated, rarely has it been seen to indicate countries’ governing regimes. The researcher was curious to see whether and how does parents’ voice differ in different democracies. The hypothesis was that in mature regimes, institutional opportunities for formal parental engagement are plenty and parents are actively involved; while in young democracies there are less opportunities and the engagement is lower. The assumption was also that parental deliberation in expressing their dissatisfaction with schools differs across democracies: where it is more intense, there it translates to higher engagement. Parents’ informedness on relevant regulations and agendas was assumed to be equally average, and their demographic background to have similar effects on engagement. The comparative, most different systems design was employed where public middle schools last graders’ parents in Tartu, Estonia and in Huntsville, Alabama the United States served as a sample. The multidimensional study includes the theoretical review, country and community analyses, institutional analysis in terms of formal parental involvement, and parents’ survey. The findings revealed sizeable differences between parents’ engagement levels in Huntsville and Tartu. The results indicate passivity in both communities, while in Tartu the engagement seems to be alarmingly low. Furthermore, Tartu parents have much less institutional opportunities to engage. In the United States, multilevel efforts to engage parents are visible from local to federal level, in Estonia similar intentions seem to be missing and meaningful parental organizations do not exist. In terms of civic education there is much room for development in both countries. The road will be longer for a young democracy Estonia in transforming its institutional systems from formally democratic to inherently inclusive.

Relationships Past and Present: Examining the Impact of One's Relationship with His/her Opposite-sex Parent on His/her Attitudes Toward and Engagement in Hookup Culture

Hooking up has become a common and public practice on university campuses across the country. While much research has determined who is doing it, with whom they are doing it, and what they are hoping to get out of it, little work has been done to determine what personal factors motivate students to participate in the culture. A total of 407 current students were surveyed to assess the impact of one’s relationship with his/her opposite-sex parent on his/her attitudestoward and engagement in hookup culture on campus. Scores were assigned to the participants to divide them into categories of high and low attachment with their parent. It was hypothesizedthat heterosexual students who do not perceive themselves as having a strong, close, positive relationship with their opposite-sex parent would be more likely to engage in or attempt to engage in casual sexual behavior. This pattern was expected to be strongest for women on campus. Men and women differed in their reasons for hooking up, with whom they hook up, to what they attribute the behaviors of their peers, and what they hope to gain from their sexual interactions. Effects of parent-child relationships were significant only for women who reported hooking up because “others are doing it,” men’s agreement with the behavior of their peers, and women’s overall satisfaction with their hookups. Developmental, social, and evolutionary perspectives are employed to explain the results. University status was determined to be most telling of the extent to which a student is engaged in hookup culture.

Toward the Equitable Distribution of Enriching Educational Experiences: Faculty Engagement with Racial Minority Students

Peña, Bensimon, and Colyar (2006) noted: “Not only do African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans have lower graduation rates than [do] Whites and Asian Americans, they also experience inequalities in just about every indicator of academic success – from earned grade point average to placement on the dean’s list to graduation rates in competitive majors” (p. 48). While these and other racialized outcomes disparities cannot be attributed to a narrow set of explanatory factors, one thing is known for sure: College students who are actively engaged inside and outside the classroom are considerably more likely than are their disengaged peers to persist through baccalaureate degree attainment. Furthermore, engaged students typically accrue the desired outcomes that are central to liberal education. This is especially true for engagement in what Kuh (2008) refers to as “high-impact” educational experiences – study abroad programs, learning communities, undergraduate research programs, service learning opportunities, and summer internships, to name a few. Unfortunately, racial minority undergraduates are considerably less likely than are their White peers to enjoy the educational benefits associated with these experiences.

Governmentality in higher education : a critical analysis of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

In this dissertation, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) serves as a nodal point through which to examine the power relations shaping the direction and practices of higher education in the twenty-first century. Theoretically, my analysis is informed by Foucault’s concept of governmentality, briefly defined as a technology of power that influences or shapes behavior from a distance. This form of governance operates through apparatuses of security, which include higher education. Foucault identified three essential characteristics of an apparatus—the market, the milieu, and the processes of normalization—through which administrative mechanisms and practices operate and govern populations. In this project, my primary focus is on the governance of faculty and administrators, as a population, at residential colleges and universities. I argue that the existing milieu of accountability is one dominated by the neoliberal assumption that all activity—including higher education—works best when governed by market forces alone, reducing higher education to a market-mediated private good. Under these conditions, what many in the academy believe is an essential purpose of higher education—to educate students broadly, to contribute knowledge for the public good, and to serve as society’s critic and social conscience (Washburn 227)—is being eroded. Although NSSE emerged as a form of resistance to commercial college rankings, it did not challenge the forces that empowered the rankings in the first place. Indeed, NSSE data are now being used to make institutions even more responsive to market forces. Furthermore, NSSE’s use has a normalizing effect that tends to homogenize classroom practices and erode the autonomy of faculty in the educational process. It also positions students as part of the system of surveillance. In the end, if aspects of higher education that are essential to maintaining a civil society are left to be defined solely in market terms, the result may be a less vibrant and, ultimately, a less just society.

Vom gesellschaftlichen Engagement für den Islam zum islamischen Engagement für die Gesellschaft – Verschiebungen In Tariq Ramadans Plädoyer für eine ganzheitliche Moderne

Tariq Ramadan (born 1962) is not only a leading thinker of Islamic Reformism, but also the most prominent Muslim actor in the ongoing reconfiguration of secularity in Europe. As a guiding back- ground, the introduction to this paper establishes that by now a public role for religion in secular societies is widely accepted, albeit attached to conditions (1). After an insight into the self-posi- tioning of Ramadan, followed by a comprehensive overview of secondary literature (2), I argue for two – discernible rather than clear-cut – phases to be identified within his discourse over 16 years: Considering secular societies as devoid of values, Ramadan promotes a distinct Islamic alternative that grounds its (modern) principles (allegedly) in revelation only, and also includes specific norms of Islamic law (3). Later, the Islam to be realized consists almost exclusively of ethics – of which the basic values are shared by, and even to be established with, all members of society (4). Ramadan’s continuous plea for a holistic modernity is elaborated on at the end of this paper (5).

Exploring the association of children's engagement in nature and outdoor activity with physical activity: A systematic review

The natural environment and green spaces are settings that may facilitate physical activity and, as a result, combat childhood obesity and benefit children's physical health. A systematic review was conducted to assess the effect of children's engagement in outdoor activity on children's physical activity levels. A total of 169 articles were initially identified, of which 11 were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review. Studies were heterogeneous: cross-sectional, RCT, cohort, and direct observation. Study participants were between the ages of 3-15 years, and physical activity was measured by accelerometers, pedometers, direct observation or surveys. A majority of the studies (9/11) found a positive association between time spent outdoors and physical activity in children and adolescents. Of these 9 studies, 5 found this association specifically between time spent outdoors in greenspace and physical activity. Despite limitations, the findings of this review support the positive association between time spent outdoors and physical activity in children and adolescents, and the notion that children and adolescents who spend more time outdoors are more physically active. This demonstrates the need to use outdoor environments as settings for children's and adolescents' physical activity.^

The framework for post-accident preparedness in Europe. The IRPA guiding principles for stakeholder engagement

To provide public and private actors at local, regional, national and European levels with methodologies to: – Create the conditions for them to gradually appropriate the problematic of long term rehabilitation following a situation of long‐lasting radioactive contamination; – Develop in their context appropriate means and tools for rehabilitation strategies; – Foster innovation and experimentation at territorial and national levels.

Risk for engagement in nonsuicidal self-injury in children and adolescents

Although NSSI engagement is a growing public health concern, little research has documented the developmental precursors to NSSI in longitudinal studies using youth samples. This study aimed to expand upon previous research on groups of NSSI engagement in a population-based sample of youth using multi-wave data. Moreover, this study examined whether chronic peer and romantic stress, the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), parenting behaviors, and negative attributional style predicted the NSSI group membership as well as the role of sex and grade. Participants were 549 youth in beginning in the 3rd, 6th, and 9th grades at the baseline assessment. NSSI was assessed across 7 waves of data. Chronic peer and romantic stress, 5-HTTLPR, parenting behaviors, and negative attributional style were assessed at baseline. Growth mixture models, conducted to test the latent trajectory of NSSI groups did not converge. Three NSSI groups were manually created according to classifications that were determined a priori. NSSI groups included: no NSSI (85.1%), episodic NSSI (8.5%), and repeated NSSI (6.4%). Chronic peer and romantic stress, sex, and grade differentiated the no NSSI vs. repeated NSSI groups and the episodic NSSI vs. repeated NSSI groups. Specifically, higher levels of stress, being female, and being in higher grades related to repeated NSSI. 5-HTTLPR differentiated the no NSSI vs. repeated NSSI groups, such that carrying the short allele of 5-HTTLPR related to repeated NSSI. Exploratory analyses revealed that the relationship between attributional style and NSSI group was moderated by grade. This study suggests chronic interpersonal peer and romantic stress is an important factor placing youth at greater risk for repeatedly engaging in NSSI.

The Study of the Public Space

Except for the "practical exercises" section, this work is registered under the following ISBN numbers: 978-84-15768-61-6 and 978-84-15768-62-3

DG CONNECT’s Stakeholder Engagement Strategy. IES Policy Brief Issue 2013/03 • April 2013

Summary. How do we ensure that public policy represents the interests of all, rather than a select few? How will we ensure it draws upon the best insights and talents of key stakeholders? The European Commission’s DG CONNECT recently announced the results of its Stakeholder Engagement Survey, which is designed to ‘provide empirical results and feedback about existing practices and signal gaps and challenges for action in the area of stakeholder engagement.’ (Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, Stakeholders Unit D4, 2013, p.4). The survey launched a new round of reflection on the Commission’s relations with its stakeholders by asking respondents to reflect on the way in which they interact with DG CONNECT. The strategic objective is to see how ICTs can be used in novel ways to enhance support for policymaking from stakeholders in the EU. The Stakeholder Engagement Survey makes a start at answering critical questions about use of ICT as a tool to build ‘smarter policy’ as part of DG CONNECT’s wider step toward defining a strategy for stakeholder engagement. This IES Policy Brief welcomes this current work-in-progress, and outlines some of the challenges that may await the European Commission as it seeks to exploit the full potential of ICT in stakeholder engagement. It provides an initial analysis of the results of this first Stakeholder Engagement Survey, and concludes that whilst many things have changed with regards to tools that policymakers can use to elicit input into policymaking, certain challenges have remained very much the same.

TTIP and Public Procurement: Going beyond the tip of the iceberg. CEPS Policy Brief No. 339, March 2016

Trade negotiations involving international public procurement rules are on the rise, stimulating a growing interest in having a clear picture of the economic stakes involved, including the current level of international openness. A recent paper published by the European Centre for International Political Economy (Messerlin, 2016) made an attempt to provide a range of estimates for the EU and the US and found relatively low rates of import penetration. This analytical approach, however, looked only at the ‘tip of the procurement iceberg’, as the data used covered primarily only one modality of international procurement (direct cross-border), which is not the main avenue for international government procurement. Other modalities, such as procurement from foreign subsidiaries established in Europe, account for much more. Such an approach therefore ignores the main modalities through which foreign firms win EU contracts. Once these other main procurement modalities are taken into account, EU openness in procurement is much higher. Comparable data across all modalities do not yet exist for the US, but we do have clear evidence that the US has introduced the largest number of protectionist procurement measures since 2008 affecting all modalities for international procurement. Against this background, this Policy Brief makes four basic points: i. Public procurement is a key area of trade negotiations, and TTIP is no exception to this rule. ii. The existing levels of openness in procurement markets need to be assessed across all three main procurement modalities and not based only on direct cross-border procurement, which is not the main procurement avenue. According to this comprehensive metric, the EU market already has a high foreign participation rate, including by US companies. iii. Unfortunately, similar data do not exist for the US market. But there is growing evidence of discriminatory measures introduced in recent years, which impede the ability of EU firms to compete on a level-playing field in US procurement markets. iv. The importance of procurement as a key negotiating area requires better data and a greater analytical engagement.