Cross-Border Place Branding : The Case of Geneva Highlighting Multidimensionality of Places and the Potential Role of Politico-Institutional Aspects

Place branding is not a new phenomenon. The emphasis placed on place branding has recently become particularly strong and explicit to both practitioners and scholars, in the current context of a growing mobility of capital and people. On the one hand, there is a need for practitioners to better understand place brands and better implement place branding strategies. In this respect, this domain of study can be currently seen as 'practitioner led', and in this regard many contributions assess specific cases in order to find success factors and best practices for place branding. On the other hand, at a more analytical level, recent studies show the complexity of the concept of place branding and argue that place branding works as a process including various stakeholders, in which culture and identity play a crucial role. In the literature, tourists, companies and residents represent the main target groups of place branding. The issues regarding tourists and companies have been examined since long by place promoters, location branders, economists or other scholars. However, the analysis of residents' role in place branding has been overlooked until recently and represents a new interest for researchers. The present research aims to further develop the concept of place branding, both theoretically and empirically. First of all, the paper presents a theoretical overview of place branding, from general basic questions (definition of place, brand and place brand) to specific current debates of the literature. Subsequently, the empirical part consists in a case study of the Grand Genève (Great Geneva).

"It was hard to come to mutual understanding..." - Multidimensionality of social learning processes in natural resource use in India, Africa and Latin America

Sustainable natural resource use requires that multiple actors reassess their situation in a systemic perspective. This can be conceptualised as a social learning process between actors from rural communities and the experts from outside organisations. A specifically designed workshop oriented towards a systemic view of natural resource use and the enhancement of mutual learning between local and external actors, provided the background for evaluating the potentials and constraints of intensified social learning processes. Case studies in rural communities in India, Bolivia, Peru and Mali showed that changes in the narratives of the participants of the workshop followed a similar temporal sequence relatively independently from their specific contexts. Social learning processes were found to be more likely to be successful if they 1) opened new space for communicative action, allowing for an intersubjective re-definition of the present situation, 2) contributed to rebalance the relationships between social capital and social, emotional and cognitive competencies within and between local and external actors.

Taking the multidimensionality of democracy seriously: institutional patterns and the quality of democracy

Democracies come in all shapes and sizes. Which configuration of political institutions produces the highest democratic quality is a notorious debate. The lineup of contenders includes ‘consensus’, ‘Westminster’, and ‘centripetal’ democracy. A trend in the evaluation of the relationship between empirical patterns of democracy and its quality is that the multidimensional nature of both concepts is increasingly taken into account. This article tests the assertion that certain centripetal configurations of proportionality in party systems and government, and unitarism in the remaining state structure, might outperform all other alternatives both in terms of inclusiveness and effectiveness. Analyzing 33 democracies, the results of interactive regression models only partially support this claim. Proportional–unitary democracies have the best track record in terms of representation, but there are little differences in participation, transparency, and government capability compared with other models.

Understanding the multidimensionality of group development

This article presents a three-dimensional definition space of the group development literature that differentiates group development models on three dimensions: content, population, and path dependency. The multidimensional conceptualization structures and integrates the vast group development literature, enabling direct comparison of competing theories. The utility of this definition space is demonstrated by using the relative positioning of two seemingly competing group development models-the punctuated equilibrium model and the integrative model-to demonstrate their complementarity. The authors also show how organizational researchers and practitioners can use the three-dimensional definition space to select an appropriate theoretical model for the group or group process with which they are working.

Pedagogia do treinamento : metodo, procedimentos pedagogicos e as multiplas competencias do tecnico nos jogos desportivos coletivos

Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Educação Física

Class attainment among British men - A multivariate extension of the CASMIN model of intergenerational class mobility

The CASMIN Project is arguably the most influential contemporary study of class mobility in the world. However, CASMIN results with respect to weak vertical status effects on class mobility have been extensively criticized. Drawing on arguments about how to model vertical mobility, Hout and Hauser (1992) show that class mobility is strongly determined by vertical socioeconomic differences. This paper extends these arguments by estimating the CASMIN model while explicitly controlling for individual determinants of socioeconomic attainment. Using the 1972 Oxford Mobility Data and the 1979 and 1983 British Election Studies, the paper employs mixed legit models to show how individual socioeconomic factors and categorical differences between classes shape intergenerational mobility. The findings highlight the multidimensionality of class mobility and its irreducibility to vertical movement up and down a stratification hierarchy.

A multidimensional approach to the group cohesion-group performance relationship

This study (a) examined the multidimensionality of both group cohesion and group performance, (b) investigated the relationship between group-level task and social cohesion and group effectiveness, and (c) examined the longitudinal changes in cohesion and performance and the direction of effect between cohesion and performance. First, the authors hypothesized that both task and social cohesion would predict positively all dimensions of group performance. Second, that a stronger relationship would be observed between task cohesion and task effectiveness and between social cohesion and system viability. Third, that all dimensions of cohesion and performance would increase over time. Finally, that cohesion would be both the antecedent and the consequence of performance but that the performance-cohesion relationship would be stronger than the cohesion-performance relationship. Results supported the hypothesized one-to-one relationship between specific dimensions of group cohesion and group performance. Task cohesion was the sole predictor of self-rated performance at both Time 1 and Time 2, whereas social cohesion was the only predictor of system viability at Time 1 and the stronger predictor at Time 2. Social cohesion at Time 2 predicted performance on group task. However, no longitudinal changes were found in cohesion or performance. Finally, group cohesion was found to be the antecedent, but not the consequence, of group performance.

Um olhar sociológico sobre a fibromialgia: vivências e representações

Dissertação de Mestrado, Sociologia, 25 de Março de 2014, Universidade dos Açores.

Qualidade de vida das famílias apoiadas por intervenção precoce: identificação de fatores mais valorizados pelas famílias

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de mestre em Intervenção Precoce

Validity of the Brazilian version of WHOQOL-BREF in depressed patients using Rasch modelling

OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity of the Brazilian version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument - Abbreviated version (WHOQOL-BREF) in adults with major depression, using Rasch modelling. METHODS: Study analyzing data from the baseline sample of the Longitudinal Investigation of Depression Outcomes in Brazil, including a total of 208 patients with major depression recruited in a primary care service in Porto Alegre (Southern Brazil), in 1999. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale was used to assess intensity of depression; the WHOQOL-BREF to assess generic quality of life; and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 2.1 for the diagnosis of depression. RESULTS: In the Rasch analysis, the four domains of WHOQOL-BREF showed appropriate fit to this model. Some items needed adjustments: four items were rescored (pain, finances, services, and transport); two items (work and activity) were identified as having dependency of responses, and one item was deleted (sleep) due to multidimensionality. CONCLUSIONS: The validation of the WHOQOL-BREF Brazilian version using Rasch analysis complements previous validation studies, evidencing the robustness of this instrument as a generic cross-cultural quality of life measure.

Construção de um dispositivo de autoavaliação com a colaboração dos docentes

Na atualidade, face à emergência de políticas educacionais influenciadas pela globalização, a avaliação das instituições escolares tem vindo a constituir-se como um instrumento para regular, garantir e acompanhar a melhoria da qualidade nos sistemas de ensino. A Lei nº31/2002 de 20 de dezembro implicou nas escolas o desenvolvimento de dispositivos, instrumentos e processos diversos de avaliação tendo como um dos seus objetivos a promoção da melhoria de qualidade do sistema educativo. Não é qualquer forma ou modalidade de avaliação institucional e de autoavaliação que pode responder à multidimensionalidade e complexidade das escolas públicas enquanto organizações educativas específicas. Pelo facto de não existirem escolas iguais, a avaliação da escola deverá ser diferenciada e ajustada às realidades organizacionais para constituir um efetivo instrumento de desenvolvimento. O estudo empírico realizado no agrupamento X pretendeu recolher as perceções dos docentes do agrupamento em relação aos mecanismos de autoavaliação para a posterior elaboração de um dispositivo de autoavaliação. Este estudo permitiu reconhecer a importância atribuída aos processos de autoavaliação na promoção da melhoria da organização e do sucesso educativo dos alunos, bem como os constrangimentos associados a estes processos, sendo também apresentadas propostas para que este instrumento seja eficaz. Os resultados deste estudo foram as linhas orientadoras para a construção de um dispositivo de autoavaliação para o agrupamento X com a colaboração dos docentes, desenvolvendo um plano de ação com atividades definidas. Espera-se dar um contributo para implementar mudanças significativas, com vista à promoção de uma cultura de autorreflexão, de autoavaliação e de desenvolvimento sustentado da escola.

Dengue in Brazil and Colombia: a study of knowledge, attitudes, and practices

Introduction This study was conducted in Brazil and Colombia,where dengue is endemic and vector control programs use chemical insecticides. Methods We identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices about dengue and determined the infestation levels of Aedes aegypti in one Brazilian and four Colombian communities. Results The surveys show knowledge of the vector, but little knowledge about diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Vector infestation indices show Brazil to have good relative control, while Colombia presents a high transmission risk. Conclusions Given the multidimensionality of dengue control, vertical control strategies are inadequate because they deny contextualized methods, alternative solutions, and local empowerment.