The Quality of their Education: School Leavers’ Views of Educational Objectives and Outcomes. ESRI General Research Series Paper No. 153, October 1991

Modern educational systems have very important and complex objectives. Socialisation into the highly complicated cultural, and ever evolviilg "technical-rational", characteristics of the economic, social and political arrangements of their societies are amongst the most important objectives. But individual and personal development, preparation for work and aduh life, and the classification and certification of individuals’ attainments are ahnost equally important. This study investigates the success of the Irish educational system in achieving some of its more important stated objectives, as measured b)’ school leavers’ assessments of the effectiveness of their own education

A review of selected neighbourhood sustainability assessment frameworks using the Bellagio STAMP

Purpose The neighbourhood sustainability assessment frameworks through which a proposed neighbourhood development can be evaluated against an array of sustainability indicators began to gain prominence in the first decade of the twenty-first century. However, how these frameworks align with the Bellagio STAMP is an area yet to be examined by existing studies to inform their better development and usage in the delivery of sustainable neighbourhoods. The purpose of this paper is to review selected neighbourhood sustainability assessment frameworks using the Bellagio STAMP with the aim of identifying areas for improvement, while also exploring the possibilities of adopting the Bellagio STAMP as a consensus approach and reference to sustainability assessment at the neighbourhood level. Design/methodology/approach Adopting document analysis as a data collection method, the paper reviews BREEAM communities, LEED Neighbourhood Development, Pearl community rating system and Green Star communities using the Bellagio STAMP. Findings Findings from the study revealed that some of the selected assessment frameworks align partially with the Bellagio STAMP in their development, while areas for improvement were identified. Research limitations/implications The study recommends that the Bellagio STAMP could offer helpful guidelines and procedure in conceptualising sustainability assessment at the neighbourhood level especially in developing countries where such a framework is yet to be conceived. Originality/value This study adds to the sustainability assessment literature by operationalising the Bellagio STAMP leading to its better understanding and application in sustainability assessment either in practice or in theory

Time to go global: a consultation on global health competencies for postgraduate doctors

BACKGROUND: Globalisation is having profound impacts on health and healthcare. We solicited the views of a wide range of stakeholders in order to develop core global health competencies for postgraduate doctors. METHODS: Published literature and existing curricula informed writing of seven global health competencies for consultation. A modified policy Delphi involved an online survey and face-to-face and telephone interviews over three rounds. RESULTS: Over 250 stakeholders participated, including doctors, other health professionals, policymakers and members of the public from all continents of the world. Participants indicated that global health competence is essential for postgraduate doctors and other health professionals. Concerns were expressed about overburdening curricula and identifying what is 'essential' for whom. Conflicting perspectives emerged about the importance and relevance of different global health topics. Five core competencies were developed: (1) diversity, human rights and ethics; (2) environmental, social and economic determinants of health; (3) global epidemiology; (4) global health governance; and (5) health systems and health professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Global health can bring important perspectives to postgraduate curricula, enhancing the ability of doctors to provide quality care. These global health competencies require tailoring to meet different trainees' needs and facilitate their incorporation into curricula. Healthcare and global health are ever-changing; therefore, the competencies will need to be regularly reviewed and updated

Power and culture: Understanding EU policies on agriculture and gender equality

\ua9 2024 The Authors. Sociologia Ruralis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society for Rural Sociology. In this article, we examine how the European Union (EU) acts as an international organisation, developing policies to be implemented by national governments. We focus on agriculture and gender equality. We examine the relationship between the EU and Member States regarding the construction and delivery of policies. It is a complex process, with differential levels of power and other actors in the process, notably lobby groups. We examine how agricultural policies and gender equality policies are developed. We examine the 2014–2020 Rural Development Regulation and carried out research in four member states. Interviews were undertaken with people who have experience of implementing the Common Agricultural Policy measures at a national level. We find the power of key players to be very strong in the agricultural context and weak in the gender context. When the two fields are ‘married’, we find there is little scope or interest to advance gender equality measures in agricultural policy

The mirage of research and research expertise: Reflections on leading Horizon Europe bids

\ua9 2024 The Author(s). Sociologia Ruralis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society for Rural Sociology. This article offers critical reflections on the process of leading Horizon Europe research bids, drawing from the authors’ experiences with two funded projects: GRASS CEILING and SafeHabitus. It highlights the challenges and opportunities presented by multi-actor research, which brings together researchers, policymakers, stakeholders and end users. We discuss strategies for developing and managing these partnerships, including approaches to participant compensation and engagement. We address the complexities of fitting research into the EU framework, noting how prescriptive call texts can sometimes limit innovative approaches. It raises questions about the role of academics in these projects, highlighting concerns about the potential for an instrumental approach to research that prioritises funding acquisition over intellectual curiosity. The authors provide recommendations for future co-ordinators, emphasising the importance of clear communication, early deliverables to build team cohesion and showcasing participants from living labs or communities of practice. The article concludes with a call for honest debate about the significance of research within multi-actor projects and suggests the development of mentoring systems for co-ordinators

Entrepreneurial sons, patriarchy and the Colonels' experiment in Thessaly, rural Greece

Existing studies within the field of institutional entrepreneurship explore how entrepreneurs influence change in economic institutions. This paper turns the attention of scholarly inquiry on the antecedents of deinstitutionalization and more specifically, the influence of entrepreneurship in shaping social institutions such as patriarchy. The paper draws from the findings of ethnographic work in two Greek lowland village communities during the military Dictatorship (1967–1974). Paradoxically this era associated with the spread of mechanization, cheap credit, revaluation of labour and clear means-ends relations, signalled entrepreneurial sons’ individuated dissent and activism who were now able to question the Patriarch’s authority, recognize opportunities and act as unintentional agents of deinstitutionalization. A ‘different’ model of institutional change is presented here, where politics intersects with entrepreneurs, in changing social institutions. This model discusses the external drivers of institutional atrophy and how handling dissensus (and its varieties over historical time) is instrumental in enabling institutional entrepreneurship

Developing and enhancing biodiversity monitoring programmes: a collaborative assessment of priorities

1.Biodiversity is changing at unprecedented rates, and it is increasingly important that these changes are quantified through monitoring programmes. Previous recommendations for developing or enhancing these programmes focus either on the end goals, that is the intended use of the data, or on how these goals are achieved, for example through volunteer involvement in citizen science, but not both. These recommendations are rarely prioritized. 2.We used a collaborative approach, involving 52 experts in biodiversity monitoring in the UK, to develop a list of attributes of relevance to any biodiversity monitoring programme and to order these attributes by their priority. We also ranked the attributes according to their importance in monitoring biodiversity in the UK. Experts involved included data users, funders, programme organizers and participants in data collection. They covered expertise in a wide range of taxa. 3.We developed a final list of 25 attributes of biodiversity monitoring schemes, ordered from the most elemental (those essential for monitoring schemes; e.g. articulate the objectives and gain sufficient participants) to the most aspirational (e.g. electronic data capture in the field, reporting change annually). This ordered list is a practical framework which can be used to support the development of monitoring programmes. 4.People's ranking of attributes revealed a difference between those who considered attributes with benefits to end users to be most important (e.g. people from governmental organizations) and those who considered attributes with greatest benefit to participants to be most important (e.g. people involved with volunteer biological recording schemes). This reveals a distinction between focussing on aims and the pragmatism in achieving those aims. 5.Synthesis and applications. The ordered list of attributes developed in this study will assist in prioritizing resources to develop biodiversity monitoring programmes (including citizen science). The potential conflict between end users of data and participants in data collection that we discovered should be addressed by involving the diversity of stakeholders at all stages of programme development. This will maximize the chance of successfully achieving the goals of biodiversity monitoring programmes

Pregnant and seeking asylum; exploring experiences ‘from booking to baby’

YesPregnant women seeking asylum in the UK may be particularly vulnerable with poor underlying health, more complex pregnancies and an increased risk of maternal and perinatal mortality. Studies have shown that some women seeking asylum have poor experiences of maternity care. This is despite the implementation of NICE guidelines to improve care for women with complex social factors. This article reports on a phenomenological study undertaken in West Yorkshire, aiming to explore the maternity care experiences of local pregnant asylum seeking women, to inform service development. Six women were interviewed over a three-month period. The findings focused more broadly on their experiences of living in the UK whilst being an asylum seeker and pregnant rather than focusing on maternity care, although this was included. Five key themes emerged: ‘pre-booking challenges’, ‘inappropriate accommodation’, ‘being pregnant and dispersed’, ‘being alone and pregnant’ and ‘not being asked or listened to’. These findings could be used as the basis for training midwives to understand how the difficulties women experience can impact on their health and social needs

Long‐term trends in migrating Brassicogethes aeneus in the UK

BACKGROUND The pollen beetle (Brassicogethes aeneus) causes significant yield loss in oilseed rape (Brassica napus). Predicting population changes remains a scientific challenge, especially since its phenology and abundance varies dramatically over space and time. We used generalized additive models to investigate the long-term trends in pollen beetle annual, seasonal and monthly counts from Rothamsted 12.2 m suction-traps. We hypothesised that the beetle's abundance is positively related to the area of oilseed rape at a national and regional level. We used random forest models to investigate the inter-generational relationship within years. RESULTS Although B. aeneus annual counts and area of oilseed rape grown in the UK both increased by 162% and 113%, respectively, over the time period, they were not significantly related. The size of the immigrating pollen beetle population (up to June 1st) can be explained both by the size of the population in the previous summer and prevailing winter temperatures, indicating a positive feedback mechanism. CONCLUSION Currently, pollen beetle numbers continue to increase in the UK, meaning that control issues may persist, however the relationship between counts in spring, during the susceptible phase of the crop, and counts in the previous summer indicates that it may be possible to forecast the counts of the spring migration of B. aeneus a few months in advance using suction-trap samples, which could aid decisions on control options