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Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore (Quality of Life in Asia #18)
by Joseph Cho-Yam LauThis book focuses on the influence of socio-economic and land-use policies on the commuting problems and quality of life of the poor in Singapore and Hong Kong. It considers the influence of self-organisation: how the mobility of an individual is constituted by structures such as transport systems or socio-economic structural factors, as well as influenced by individual decisions. Where most transport studies focus on the influence of factors such as income inequality, the gender gap, and the built environment, this book fills a gap in paying particular attention to the influence of individual decisions on commuting. Given the prevalence of the former in research, government decision-makers are often constrained by these approaches and fail to understand the commuting problems of the poor. This book argues that the self-organisation approach provides some ideas that are outside the common conceptual framework in conventional transport planning and looks to improve mobility of lower-income commuters. Relevant to social science researchers working in areas such as urban planning and transport, mobility deprivation, and poverty, this book breaks new ground in quality of life studies in the Singapore and Hong Kong contexts.
The Theory of Practice Architectures: Researching Practices (SpringerBriefs in Education)
by Peter Grootenboer Christine Edwards-GrovesThis book provides an overview of the Theory of Practice Architectures (TPA), and the associated Theory of Ecology of Practices, in a manner accessible for a broader audience. The authors are part of the authorial team that developed the Theory of Practice Architectures from a strong empirical base, with its initial publication in 'Changing Practices, Changing Education' (Kemmis et al., Springer, 2014). This book follows on from that publication with a singluar focus on the Theory of Practice Architectures, and shows how it can be used as a theoretical framework for a range of empirical research projects. It first outlines and describes both the Theory of Practice Architectures and the Theory of Ecology of Practices, illustrating them with a range of relevant practical examples. Then, it focuses explicitly on designing and undertaking empirical research, analyzing data and reporting findings using the Theory of Practice Architectures. In this way, this book shows specifically and overtly explicate ways that research can be designed, and how data can be collected and analyzed, drawing on the Theory of Practice Architectures as a foundational framework. It also showcases a range of specific examples to allow readers to see the ideas as they have been employed in practice.
The Games of Land Dispossession: Urban Governance and Sports Mega-Events (Marx, Engels, and Marxisms)
by Erick OmenaThis book offers a comparative study of state strategies in relation to urban redevelopment projects associated with sports mega-events in Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It examines urban governance strategies employed to dispossess working-class communities of their land and counteract the subsequent emergence of discontent in various national contexts, offering an intricate analysis of the mechanisms of class dominance operating across diverse regions of the globe. This is based on the application of Gramscian theory concerning the capitalist state and its fluid interplay between coercion and consent. Juxtaposing historical trajectories in the execution of redevelopment initiatives linked to large-scale sporting events, the book offers an in-depth examination of the state-civil society relations shaping the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Parks, alongside the regeneration initiatives concerning the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro and the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg – respectively earmarked for the 2014 and 2010 FIFA World Cups. Drawing on insights from a range of disciplines and an explicitly Gramscian analytical framework, this book will appeal to students and scholars in urban planning, sport sociology, development studies, and human geography.
Bridging Peace and Sustainability Amidst Global Transformations (World Sustainability Series)
by Ayyoob Sharifi Dahlia Simangan Shinji KanekoThis book is the sequel to a well-received book titled ‘Integrated Approaches to Peace and Sustainability’ that aims to further advance the understanding of the dynamic interactions between various components of peace and sustainability. How are peace and sustainability linked to each other, and what are the key parameters that define the nexus between them? This book addresses those questions through a combination of theoretical studies and empirical research that contextualize peace and sustainability issues amid global transformations. The conceptual and empirical linkages between peace and sustainability are widely recognized in academic and policy circles. The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development confirms this recognition. However, many of the initiatives on peace and sustainability operate in silos, undermining the positive and mutually reinforcing relationship between them. Enhanced integration of peace and sustainability components is imperative for addressing complex challenges that come with global transformations that are manifested environmentally, socially, politically, and economically across levels. It is, therefore, crucial to identify the pathways that enhance the peace-promoting potential of sustainability and the sustainability-promoting potential of peace. The contributions in this edited book elaborate on such pathways by offering insights related to different social, economic, and environmental aspects of the peace-sustainability nexus. Given its inter- and trans-disciplinary focus, the book is of interest to policymakers and researchers working in different areas of peace and sustainability. It contributes to ongoing academic and policy discussions surrounding the outcomes of and challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions.
Mapping Civilizations Across Eurasia
by H. K. ChangThis book is a history reader and cultural primer for students and aspiring scholars of past and contemporary interactions among civilizations over the Eurasian landmass. Tracing a human journey that spans several million years, this general survey of civilizations comprises seven sections: Studies on Civilization, Silk Road, Survey of Greater Central Asia, Portrait of India, Persian Cultural Sphere, Caucasus, and Turkish March. The first section introduces methodologies and perspectives for civilization studies. The second focuses on the concept and connotations of the ancient Silk Road as well as China's 21st-century strategic Belt & Road Initiative. In the remaining five sections, the trilingual, peripatetic author, based on his experiences and reflections, provides introductions to and comments on the history, literature, art, social tensions, and future development of five key areas along the Silk Road, i.e., Central Asia, India, Iran, Caucasus, and Turkey.
From Digital Divide to Digital Inclusion: Challenges, Perspectives and Trends in the Development of Digital Competences (Lecture Notes in Educational Technology)
by Łukasz Tomczyk Francisco D. Guillén-Gámez Julio Ruiz-Palmero Akhmad HabibiThis book offers an expert perspective on two key phenomena in the development of the information society, namely digital inclusion and digital exclusion. Despite the intensive digitalization of various areas in human activity, the lack of proper information and communications technology (ICT) literacy, the lack of access to high-speed Internet, and the still unsatisfactory level of e-services are a reality in many regions and countries. This edited book presents a unique overview of research related to the dynamics of digital exclusion and the development of digital competences, as well as an analysis of the most effective educational solutions to foster the digital inclusion of disadvantaged groups. This book is particularly useful for educators dealing with the topic of digital exclusion and inclusion and who are looking for knowledge on enhancing digital competences in disadvantaged groups. It is also helpful for social policy makers involved in designing solutions to minimize various forms of digital exclusion. Finally, this book serves as a reference for academics and students from the disciplines of pedagogy, social policy, new media psychology, media sociology, and cultural anthropology.
Knowledge Management and Acquisition for Intelligent Systems: 19th Principle and Practice of Data and Knowledge Acquisition Workshop, PKAW 2023, Jakarta, Indonesia, November 15-16, 2023, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14317)
by Shiqing Wu Wenli Yang Muhammad Bilal Amin Byeong-Ho Kang Guandong XuThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 19th Principle and Practice of Data and Knowledge Acquisition Workshop, PKAW 2023, held in conjunction with the 20th Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (PRICAI 2023), in November 2023, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The 9 full papers and 2 short papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 28 initial submissions. They are organized in the topical section such as machine learning, natural language processing, and intelligent systems.
Leveraging Generative Intelligence in Digital Libraries: 25th International Conference on Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries, ICADL 2023, Taipei, Taiwan, December 4–7, 2023, Proceedings, Part I (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14457)
by Dion H. Goh Shu-Jiun Chen Suppawong TuarobThis two-volume set LNCS 14457 and LNCS 14458 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries, ICADL 2023, held in Taipei, Taiwan, during December 4-7, 2023. The 15 full, 17 short, 2 practice papers and 12 poster papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 85 submissions. Based on significant contributions, the full and short papers have been classified into the following topics: include information retrieval, knowledge extraction and discovery, cultural and scholarly data, information seeking and use, digital archives and data management, design and evaluation of information environments, and applications of GAI in digital libraries.
Leveraging Generative Intelligence in Digital Libraries: 25th International Conference on Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries, ICADL 2023, Taipei, Taiwan, December 4–7, 2023, Proceedings, Part II (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14458)
by Dion H. Goh Shu-Jiun Chen Suppawong TuarobThis two-volume set LNCS 14457 and LNCS 14458 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries, ICADL 2023, held in Taipei, Taiwan, during December 4-7, 2023. The 15 full, 17 short, 2 practice papers and 12 poster papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 85 submissions. Based on significant contributions, the full and short papers have been classified into the following topics: include information retrieval, knowledge extraction and discovery, cultural and scholarly data, information seeking and use, digital archives and data management, design and evaluation of information environments, and applications of GAI in digital libraries.
Beyond the 2026 Winter Olympic Games: Sustainable Scenarios for the Valtellina Mountain Region (Mega Event Planning)
by Andrea Arcidiacono Stefano Di VitaThis volume offers a novel study of the Milan-Cortina's Winter Olympics 2026, with a focus on the mountainous region of Valtellina. It brings an up-to-date analysis of the complex interactions between mega-events and remote areas, both in terms of potentials for regeneration and risks for further segregation. Remote areas are traditionally characterized by socio-economic and spatial disparities. On the one hand, they benefit from attractive features, such as environmental and landscape resources, food and wine production, and energy production. On the other, they are by definition fragile environments, disrupted by the contradictions of international tourism, climate change, limited infrastructures and services, rural abandonment, and demographic decline.This book offers credible solutions for the sustainable development of mountainous regions as a legacy of Winter Olympics. It is an essential resource for scholars, professionals, and policy-makers in the fieldsof urban planning and design, architecture design, geography, sociology, and economics.
Affective Capitalism: For a Critique of the Political Economy of Affect
by Hangwoo LeeDrawing on Tarde's and Deleuze’s monadology, this book investigates the affective turn of contemporary capitalism. The concept of affect provides critical insight to overcome the limitations of social constructivism and cognitive capitalism. Affective capitalism transforms the population’s everyday bodily experiences into quantitative metrics that can be observed, measured, and processed on a non-conscious register, turning them into dividuals prepared to react and be affected by specific information at a given moment. In an era where social wealth increasingly relies on the 'social factory,' algorithms and big data constitute the living labor beyond employment. This book argues that affect also holds a potential for dismantling today’s real subsumption of life by capital. The network effect, mostly actualized as a company's market capitalization, is constantly traversed by the molecular becoming of affect, leading to new assemblages, such as free software movement, decentralized platforms, peer-to-peer networking, blockchain, and universal basic income.
Poverty Alleviation Via Forest Carbon Sequestration: Theory, Empirical Evidence, and Policy Implications (International Research on Poverty Reduction)
by Weizhong Zeng Fan YangThis book focuses on two issues: the creation of benefits and opportunities for the poverty-stricken people and the trade-off between FCS and poverty alleviation. At the theoretical level, it explains the essential characteristics of PAFCS, analyses the impact mechanism of FCS projects in poverty alleviation, clarifies the stakeholders and their interests and demands, and delineates the dynamic mechanism of FCS projects and poverty alleviation. Based on this theoretical framework, the current situation and challenges for PAFCS in southwest China's ethnic areas are examined in depth. Project performance was quantitatively measured both for projects themselves and for community farmers. The research emphasises that FCS projects in poverty-stricken areas are not the same as PAFCS, highlights the combination of poverty alleviation theory and ecological compensation theory, and considers PAFCS as an intersection of poverty research and ecological compensation research. Additionally, theresearch suggested that FCS projects are not general poverty alleviation projects, highlights the need for full respect to be granted to the subjective will and value judgement of farmers, including poverty-stricken farmers, takes the lead in focusing on the win–win goal of combating climate change and reducing poverty, and makes a breakthrough in researching some key issues that need to be solved in the practice of PAFCS in the ethnic areas of Southwest China. This book is helpful for global scholars in the field of sustainable development, anti-poverty and forest carbon sequestration, government officials, and organisations in developing countries concerned with agricultural development, forestry economy, and sustainable development, as well as all the people around the world who want to find innovative solutions in the climate negotiations.
Leading Organizations of the Future: A New Framework
by Olivier SerratThis book delves into uncharted territory, offering an extensive exploration of the future of organizations and how they should be led. In a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), traditional organizational paradigms no longer suffice. Instead, this book introduces a visionary framework for the leadership of tomorrow's organizations, one that adapts to the unique demands of each situation.Drawing on insights from interviews with 12 subject matter experts, this research-driven work challenges the relevance of twentieth-century leadership styles in the VUCA era. The experts highlight the importance of metagovernance, complexity leadership, and sense-making as essential components of navigating the ever-evolving landscape of modern organizations.Central to this exploration is the question of how to develop a context-specific leadership management framework capable of guiding organizations through simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic contexts. This book not only identifies the pressing need for such a framework but also provides a comprehensive blueprint for its creation.This book is a valuable resource for those who wish to understand the future of organizational leadership and how it can adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. It not only reshapes the current understanding of leadership but also offers practical insights that will shape the organizations of the future.
Navigating Complexity: Understanding Human Responses to Multifaceted Disasters
by Yibin Ao Homa BahmaniThis thought-provoking book unravels the intricate interplay between human behavior and disasters, weaving a rich narrative that transcends traditional boundaries. Embark on a captivating exploration of human responses to multifaceted disasters with this book. Unveiling the human psyche and the intricate web of emotions that intertwine with disaster events, this book offers a profound understanding of human responses to multifaceted disasters.Written with precision and meticulous research, this book captivates scholars, practitioners, and policymakers alike. Its multidimensional perspectives offer valuable insights for disaster management, urban planning, sociology, and public health, transcending disciplinary boundaries.
Critical Factors for Adoption of Customer Relationship Management: A Study of Palestine SMEs (SpringerBriefs in Business)
by Omar Hasan Salah Zawiyah Mohammad Yusof Hazura Mohamed Nur Fazidah EliasThis book explores the challenges in adopting customer relationship management (CRM) models in developing countries, with a focus on Palestine. Examining the cultural, organizational, and technological contexts, it reveals how these factors create adoption gaps, impacting customer pressure, employee engagement, and security. The narrative, enriched by real-world examples from Palestine, underscores the unique hurdles faced by firms in such environments. Emphasizing the central role of customers in business, the book delves into the initiatives many firms take to enhance customer services, target profitable segments, and improve acquisition and retention. However, in developing nations, these efforts encounter distinctive challenges. The book offers a practical CRM model tailored to the specific needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), illustrating how technology can elevate competitiveness. With a strategic perspective, it positions CRM as a catalyst for SMEs to navigate the complexities of the dynamic economy, providing actionable insights for professionals, scholars, and business management students. This comprehensive guide encapsulates the nuances of CRM adoption, making it an invaluable resource for those seeking sustainable growth in developing country contexts.
Women Scholars in Hong Kong: In Pursuit of Intellectual Leadership
by Nian RuanThis book depicts the diverse approaches of established women professors in perceiving and developing intellectual leadership in Hong Kong. It analyzes the combined influences of various disciplines, different higher education institutions, and gender on the careers of female scholars in the East Asian region. The complexity and interaction of academic careers for women, disciplinary contexts, higher education systems, and socio-cultural environments may present a relatively holistic landscape for readers interested in academic life and leadership. Scholars, administrators, managers, and policymakers in higher education-related fields may gain comprehensive ideas to facilitate faculty and institutional development through a cultural and sociological lens. This may empower female academics and students, while also providing benefits for doctoral students and early-career researchers seeking insights into the evolving advantages and disadvantages in women's academic careers. Audiences interested in gender issues may find it intriguing to compare women scholars with women in other professions and in different cultural contexts.
Employee Uncertainty Over Digital Transformation: Mechanisms and Solutions (Future of Business and Finance)
by Masaki MatsunagaThis book delves into the psychological and behavioral impact of the advent of digital transformation (DX) on white-collar employees in the modern organizational context. It uncovers how DX-driven uncertainty affects these workers' professional identity, self-efficacy, and job performance from a communication-centered perfective. While effective leadership can serve as a buffer, the intricate dynamics of these relationships await further exploration.To unravel these complex issues, the book employs an array of theoretical frameworks that have been tested against large, time-separated, dyadic datasets collected in Japan. In so doing, the studies introduced in this book illuminate how employees make sense of and communicate the uncertainties they face. Furthermore, it highlights a vision-driven leadership style and scrutinizes its unique attributes and limitations for addressing team members' uncertainty.This book is indispensable for executives and managers; it is a roadmap to steering digital transformation efforts without igniting resistance or conflict among frontline staff. For researchers, it's an invaluable resource for analyzing the mechanism of uncertainty management in today's fast-paced, tech-centric environments. Moreover, the book bridges the gap between interpersonal communication studies and other pivotal disciplines, such as leadership, management, organizational behavior, and social psychology in the context of stress and coping with uncertainty.
Legalising Prostitution in Thailand: A Policy-Oriented Examination of the (De-)Construction of Commercial Sex (SpringerBriefs in Sociology)
by Jason HungThis book problematises the socioeconomic and institutional construction of prostitution in Thai contexts, identifying the root causes that propel underprivileged, discriminated and deprived women and girls to enter the sex industry. The author considers Thailand’s tolerance of prostitution and sex trafficking, despite criminalising prostitution since 1960. In doing so, they explain how criminalising prostitution does not lower the odds of women and girls engaging in commercial sex, but rather, legally marginalises them from receiving the necessary social and healthcare support. The book highlights that neither can Thailand pragmatically practice a zero-tolerance stance against prostitution - primarily due to severe police corruption and its heavy reliance on the sex tourism economy to support the national economic growth - nor is Thailand willing to fully crack down on the domestic sex industry. Engaging in an evaluation of how legalising and decriminalising prostitution, along with continuing to implement policies and interventions that alleviate the root causes of prostitution, can help Thailand build a more inclusive society and less-prostitution-reliant economy in the long term, the book provides a nuanced understanding of the relationships between society, inequality, governance, criminality, and policy in Southeast Asian contexts. It is relevant to students and researchers in sociology, socio-criminology, public policy, government and Southeast Asian studies.
Multidimensional Aspects of Occupational Segregation: Time Series and Cross-National Comparisons (Behaviormetrics: Quantitative Approaches to Human Behavior #18)
by Keiko NakaoOne of the strengths of this book is that it expresses occupational segregation from multidimensional viewpoints using correspondence analysis. Through a quantitative approach, the book examines occupational segregation by education and gender in response to industrial transformation in Japan and other countries. The transformation of industrial structure, such as post-industrialization, demands a reconsideration of traditional perspectives in sociology, especially in social stratification. In other words, it is a shift from the attribute to the achievement principle. Higher technological innovations will create higher levels of industries, and those industries will require jobs that need greater human capital. In short, the meritocracy will be promoted. Meritocracy is certainly considered persuasive. In fact, previous researchers have looked primarily at a person’s occupation as a measure of social status. In Japan, jobs are normally acquired after completing education; thus, one’s educational achievement plays an important role. Especially in recent years, however, education alone has not been enough to explain social status. This book, therefore, focuses on occupational segregation by gender in addition to education in post-industrial society. Can occupational segregation by gender be weakened in the highly educated group? Is this a universal story in modern society? Because post-industrialization is part of the larger story of modernization, international perspectives are needed to examine the linkage between education and gender occupational segregation. This book explores occupational segregation by gender in response to industrial transformation in Japan and other countries.
Smart Grid Economics: A Field Experimental Approach to Demand Response (Advances in Japanese Business and Economics #32)
by Takanori Ida Makoto Tanaka Koichiro ItoThis book aims to report on a cutting-edge research project of the smart grid in Japan, resting on the three pillars of field experiments, behavioral economics, and big data. The field experiments on the smart grid were conducted in four regions in Japan—Yokohama city, Toyota city, Keihanna Science City, and Kitakyushu city—over a three-year period from 2012 to 2014 after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and the subsequent accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants. Our focus here is on demand response in the smart grid environment, which we also discuss in the context of power system reforms. The book is intended for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, policy makers, and business leaders.
Internal Migration and Health in China: Choices, Constraints and Implications
by Yan LiThis book focuses on the multifaceted reality of social and health constraints and health services access among migrants in China, by originally exploring the social strata, social networks, and the understanding of health and health services among migrants. Furthermore, this book investigates the health constraints and health services access of rural-urban migrants in the absence of equal social protection by the government. It argues that the main obstacles to access health services are not only the shortage of financial resources among rural-urban migrants, but also lie in the institutional blindness regarding health security provision, rural-urban dualism and the household registration system in China. The book highlights the key function that social networks play in health and health services access among migrants in China, which has rarely been discussed in previous studies. And it also discusses the understanding of health among migrants, and further analyses that although many migrants have not formed proper understanding of the connotation of health and have limited knowledge of health, prime responsibility should not be put on the migrants because their poor understanding of health mainly results from their rural perspective while health and health services access depend on the social-economic environment in which they live and work.This book would be of interest to people in migration studies, social exclusion and social welfare studies and to people interested in rural-urban migration and health in China.
The Linguistic Landscape in China: Commodification, Image Construction, Contestations and Negotiations
by Yanmei Han Guowen ShangThis book explores the linguistic landscape of various cities in China, systematically examining the intricate relationship among language policy, language ideologies, and visible multilingualism in the public space. Framed in the spatial triad encompassing spatial practice, conceived space and lived space, this study conceptualizes linguistic landscape practices, language policy and residents’ perception as three interconnected dimensions of linguistic landscape to unpack the motives, manipulations, contestations and negotiations behind the language display in China, a highly regulated society that attaches great significance to language planning. Taking the linguistic landscape of key cities as cases, this book demonstrates how linguistic landscape mediates city governance and image/identity construction, ontestations and negotiations in language ideologies, and in what ways the agency of linguistic landscape contributes to the harmony of language life in the multilingual society. The book is unique in three aspects. First, it is the first book with a keen focus on mapping the linguistic landscape in the Chinese contexts. Second, it uncovers the relationship between linguistic diversity on display and macro issues concerning city image construction, language politics and language ideologies. Third, it provides a lens to look into China’s governance of the public space and instrumentalization of multiple languages in the globalized era.
Artificial Intelligence: Third CAAI International Conference, CICAI 2023, Fuzhou, China, July 22–23, 2023, Revised Selected Papers, Part I (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14473)
by Lu Fang Jian Pei Guangtao Zhai Ruiping WangThis two-volume set LNAI 14473-14474 constitutes revised selected papers presented at the Third CAAI International Conference, CICAI 2023, in Fuzhou, China, in July 2023. CICAI is a summit forum in the field of artificial intelligence and the 2023 forum was hosted by Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence (CAAI). The 100 papers were thoroughly reviewed and selected from 376 submissions. CICAI 2023 conference covers a wide range of of AI generated content, computer vision, machine learning, nature language processing, application of AI, and data mining, amongst others.
Dhat Syndrome: Medical, Psychological and Sociocultural aspects
by Sujita Kumar Kar S. M. Yasir Arafat Vikas MenonDhat Syndrome is known as a culture-bound syndrome in South Asia. People with Dhat Syndrome often present with anxiety and distress related to semen loss. Multiple somatic and sexual symptoms often accompany this. The symptoms of Dhat Syndrome closely resemble other neurotic and stress-related disorders. Myths related to sexuality are often the core phenomenon in dhat syndrome, which is responsible for the generation of psychopathology—addressing the myth's preliminary results in resolving psychopathology. However, many patients require pharmacological and psychological management. Due to strong cultural beliefs and associated myths, patients with Dhat Syndrome often reach out to traditional healers before getting the proper psychiatric consultation, further consolidating their myths and poor attitude toward treatment. However, Dhat Syndrome resembles a male entity; a similar entity is reported in females, where females attribute their non-pathological vaginal discharge to psychological distress. The pattern of symptoms has a significant resemblance with Dhat Syndrome in males. There is no standard book that exclusively discusses various aspects of Dhat Syndrome. This book examines the evolution of Dhat Syndrome to the current understanding of the disease and its management. Hence, this book will be unique and helpful for this disorder.
Universities with a Social Purpose: Intentions, Achievements and Challenges (Sustainable Development Goals Series)
by Kerry Shephard V. SanthakumarThis book is a narrative of conversations between two professors, with different backgrounds, academic disciplines, life experiences, and from different continents. It shows how their discourse has brought them to a single destination defined by a mutual interest in the social purposes of universities, and a hope in common that their academic efforts will somehow do good in the world. The seventeen internationally-agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide focus for aspirations and plans regarding sustainability, but notably, the SDGs’ targets and indicators rarely provide detailed accounts of who is expected to enact change. This book addresses the role of higher education in this context and explores the social purposes of universities and their relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. It presents an academic analysis of this complex situation, based on insights from published literature on higher education, and the personal but very different experiences of two professors with this shared interest.