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1 – 10 of 39Hugo Rosa da Conceição and Helen Finlay
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly seen as a holistic approach to a wide array of environmental and societal problems. Crucially, much of its appeal stems from its…
Abstract
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly seen as a holistic approach to a wide array of environmental and societal problems. Crucially, much of its appeal stems from its potential to address multiple challenges at once, being not only valuable for their positive impacts toward sustainability and human welfare but also their cost-effectiveness when compared to some engineered solutions. This helps to explain the growing awareness of the private sector of the market opportunities arising from the introduction of NBS to their operations. This chapter presents some of the opportunities for businesses in implementing NBS, such as the risk and cost reductions, compliance with regulatory requirements, reputational and financial gains, among others. I will also introduce some of the challenges they might face, such as the difficulties for companies to fully internalizing all benefits generated by investing in NBS, the need for long-term planning in adapting NBS in a company's operations, possible hindrances in financing innovative NBS, among others. The chapter will also showcase NBS being implemented by companies in urban contexts, based on the responses of local governments that disclose to CDP's cities questionnaire. This concluding section of the chapter provides policy recommendations for public entities to incentivize the uptake of NBS by the private sector.
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There are many actions‐at‐law in which chemical problems come up incidentally for consideration; there are other cases in which they are the very essence of the matter in dispute…
Abstract
There are many actions‐at‐law in which chemical problems come up incidentally for consideration; there are other cases in which they are the very essence of the matter in dispute. Especially does this apply to proceedings under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. There the main, if not the whole, question at issue is purely chemical in its nature; and yet the tribunal sitting in judgment need not have, and generally has not, any chemical training or knowledge. Of necessity, this leads to decisions of an unsatisfactory nature, and which are not infrequently at variance with the obvious and generally admitted deductions from chemical analysis. Another consequence is that on practically the same set of facts, diametrically opposite decisions may be given. This is well exemplified in the two following cases of alleged adulteration of ginger‐wine and lime‐juice cordial respectively with salicylic acid.
Leah Tomkins and Virginia Eatough
The purpose of this paper is to offer a more integrative and inclusive conceptualisation of reflexivity as a way of identifying, understanding and managing some of the risks…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a more integrative and inclusive conceptualisation of reflexivity as a way of identifying, understanding and managing some of the risks associated with reflexivity's potentially solipsistic “inward turn”.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on the authors' experience of empirical qualitative research with working carers. This experience is grounded within the traditions of interpretative phenomenology and critical epistemology.
Findings
Two reflexive risks: an unintended focus on researcher rather than participant; and process at the expense of substance are discussed and the first of these, reflexive narcissism, is associated with the recognition of biographical similarity between researcher and participant, and the second, a kind of reflexive “process‐ism”, with certain research designs involving meta‐reflection with participants on the research experience. The paper advocates the use of multiple reflexivities and an intrinsic sensibility to reflexive possibility throughout the duration of a research programme.
Research limitations/implications
The paper offers an alternative model of reflexivity and some practical guidelines, which may be of value to researchers working across a range of different qualitative methodologies.
Practical implications
The paper makes some preliminary observations about the phenomenon of the working carer, which may be of value to organisational practitioners.
Originality/value
The approach to reflexivity outlined in this paper helps to clarify some of the issues and difficulties associated with the reflexive thesis, and in particular, will help less experienced qualitative researchers to avoid some common pitfalls of reflexive practice.
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This paper aims to explore the scope of fiction writing in academic research as a way of studying “messier” aspects of the process, such as emotion.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the scope of fiction writing in academic research as a way of studying “messier” aspects of the process, such as emotion.
Design/methodology/approach
The author reflects on her “lived experience” of conducting doctoral research, five years earlier and re‐searched for the paper, by composing a fictional narrative that aims to capture some of the emotional and other complexities of the process.
Findings
The author demonstrates that fictionalisation opens possibilities for a deeper probing of the emotional aspects of the research experience. Her conclusion is that this method can help researchers to think about the processes of writing, reflexivity, and emotion. It can also be useful to academic writers more widely, by showing how fiction writing techniques can convey some of the more complex aspects of their day‐to‐day activities.
Practical implications
The paper can act as a model for extending academic writing skills in the area of fiction, by introducing characterisation, plot and dialogue.
Originality/value
This paper offers an original account of the emotions of the doctoral writer, situated within current discourses on emotion, fiction writing and methodology. It will be of value to scholars of arts, humanities and social sciences.
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Elizabeth Meggetto, Fiona Kent, Bernadette Ward and Helen Keleher
Healthcare systems are increasing in complexity, and to ensure people can use the system effectively, health organizations are increasingly interested in how to take an…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthcare systems are increasing in complexity, and to ensure people can use the system effectively, health organizations are increasingly interested in how to take an organizational health literacy (OHL) approach. OHL is a relatively new concept, and there is little evidence about how to successfully implement organizational health literacy interventions and frameworks. This study, a literature review, aims to explore the operationalization of OHL.
Design/methodology/approach
A realist literature review, using a systems lens, was undertaken to examine how and why the operationalization of OHL contributed to changes in OHL and why interventions were more effective in some contexts than others. Initial scoping was followed by a formal literature search of Medline, CINAHL plus, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase and PsychINFO for original peer-reviewed publications evaluating OHL interventions until March, 2018.
Findings
The search strategy yielded 174 publications; 17 of these were included in the review. Accreditation, policy drivers, executive leadership and cultures of quality improvement provided the context for effective OHL interventions. The dominant mechanisms influencing implementation of OHL interventions included staff knowledge of OHL, internal health literacy expertise, shared responsibility and a systematic approach to implementation.
Research limitations/implications
This study outlines what contexts and mechanisms are required to achieve particular outcomes in OHL operationalization. The context in which OHL implementation occurs is critical, as is the sequence of implementation.
Originality/value
Health services seeking to implement OHL need to understand these mechanisms so they can successfully operationalize OHL. This study advances the concept of OHL operationalization by contributing to the theory underpinning successful implementation of OHL.
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Helen M. Aucote, Anthony Miner and Peter Dahlhaus
The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the public's beliefs, attitudes and knowledge regarding rockfalls, and to see whether these variables could predict…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the public's beliefs, attitudes and knowledge regarding rockfalls, and to see whether these variables could predict whether a person is likely to enter high‐risk rockfall areas.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was developed to measure beliefs (informed by the health belief model), knowledge, and previous behaviour in relation to rockfalls. Questions were also included to measure attitudes regarding rockfall caution signs. In total, 138 members of the general public completed the questionnaire.
Findings
High‐risk behaviour was more likely if the person was male and if the person had the belief that sign‐posted high‐risk areas were not dangerous. Further, believing that the sign‐posted areas were not dangerous was more likely among people who held negative attitudes towards cautionary signs; specifically, these participants were more likely to doubt the validity of the warning signs.
Research limitations/implications
The research was exploratory in nature. Further research should be conducted with a larger sample size and a more random selection of the general population. Ways of improving measurement of the variables are discussed.
Practical implications
Efforts should be made to increase the public's perception of the validity of rockfall cautionary signs. Doing so may decrease injury and death as a result of rockfalls. Suggestions on ways to increase the validity of signage are made.
Originality/value
It is presumed that this study is the first to attempt to gain an understanding of the beliefs and attitudes that may lead a person into engaging in high‐risk behaviour in relation to rockfalls.
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Steve McDonald, Amanda K. Damarin, Jenelle Lawhorne and Annika Wilcox
The Internet and social media have fundamentally transformed the ways in which individuals find jobs. Relatively little is known about how demand-side market actors use online…
Abstract
The Internet and social media have fundamentally transformed the ways in which individuals find jobs. Relatively little is known about how demand-side market actors use online information and the implications for social stratification and mobility. This study provides an in-depth exploration of the online recruitment strategies pursued by human resource (HR) professionals. Qualitative interviews with 61 HR recruiters in two southern US metro areas reveal two distinct patterns in how they use Internet resources to fill jobs. For low and general skill work, they post advertisements to online job boards (e.g., Monster and CareerBuilder) with massive audiences of job seekers. By contrast, for high-skill or supervisory positions, they use LinkedIn to target passive candidates – employed individuals who are not looking for work but might be willing to change jobs. Although there are some intermediate practices, the overall picture is one of an increasingly bifurcated “winner-take-all” labor market in which recruiters focus their efforts on poaching specialized superstar talent (“purple squirrels”) from the ranks of the currently employed, while active job seekers are relegated to the hyper-competitive and impersonal “black hole” of the online job boards.
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