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Based on qualitative research on training experience of automation technology apprentices in Switzerland, this paper analyses the relationship between workplace guidance and the development of agency. The case study of four industrial companies shows that guidance has an influence on the form of agency that young people in VET develop on the workplace. In a context of guidance characterized by a strong relationship with the training person, expansive participation in company's activities and adapted structuring interventions, apprentices engage directly in the optimization of learning processes and take on responsibilities within the community of practices. Apprentices who experience poorly adapted or insufficient guidance feel that they are not learning their trade well and fear failure in exams. Nevertheless, these young people also develop intentionality and reflection towards the optimization of learning, whereas their action is focused on improving learning conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide some insight into the problem that French speakers face when it comes to what is referred to in English as "human rights." The use of the generic masculine droits de l'Homme (literally translated by "Man's rights"), to designate the whole of humanity is now being challenged by advocates of inclusive language, who seek to make women more visible so that they can benefit more fully from the said human rights. The author reviews the reasons and historical circumstances that led the expression droits de l'Homme to be used as a "neutral" masculine, before focusing on contemporary expressions (in France, Quebec and Switzerland) of the denunciation of the universality of the droits de l'Homme advocated by supporters of linguistic conservatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper evaluates the use of auxiliary insects, the parasitoid wasp Trichogramma evanescens, to counter an infestation of clothes moths Tineola bisselliella in the reserves of the Geneva Ethnographic Museum. After two seasons of deployment of the auxiliaries and monitoring of pest numbers using pheromone traps it was concluded that the parasitoids failed to be efficient because of their limited mobility. Also, the distribution of auxiliary insects made a major cleaning campaign necessary to remove the dead parasitoids from the entire collection involved. The infestation was finally ended by traditional means of hygiene, thorough inspection of the objects, and anoxic treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various factors oblige today's parents to entrust their children to a child-care worker (CCW), providing services in the domestic sphere, either at the child's parental house or at the day-care worker's (DCW's) own home. Taking this into account, this paper examines job offers and applications for DCWs published in a regional Swiss newspaper as well as other job offers and applications published on a website called bestnounou.ch. The parents often tend to use a variety of terms, which do not point to the child-caring or rearing activity itself, but rather emphasise sociological characteristics of the CCW (age, gender, civil status), requesting, for example, a 'lady', a 'grandmother', a 'student'. Thereby, the parents present the child-care work as: (1) a secondary and temporary activity in relation to another major stable activity (motherhood, apprenticeship, retirement); and (2) an activity that does not require professional skills but inborn aptitudes. Moreover, employers use as synonyms distinctive terms, which refer to various categories of CCW and domestic workers, whose schedules of conditions and salaries are regulated and differ. The parents' inclination to use terms designating the most precarious and underpaid CCW underscores the importance of child-care in the domestic sphere. It leads also to a public image of child-care workers as being a fragmented, unstable, little qualified and economically inconsistent workforce, in contrast to the stable and structural need for their specific services, allowing parents to face their familial and professional responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floodplains are a complex environmental "object" which reveal the cultural, economic and ecological as well as safety stakes nowadays to be taken into account in river management. This paper is based on the results of a recent interdisciplinary research involving scientists in sociology, hydrology and soil ecology. Taking three case studies it examines the changes in the river management paradigm in Switzerland. This new paradigm pays growing attention to environmental protection issues and complementarily articulates safety and biodiversity conservation principles. Its application is nevertheless faced with various ecological, hydrological and socio-cultural constraints that limit public action. Floodplains represent a multidimensional ecosystem whose natural dynamic is crucial for maintaining the richness of its biodiversity. In this perspective, the new paradigm aims to reconcile ecological concerns with modern hydrological techniques and public acceptance. Complex social negotiations govern the implementation of the new revitalization measures. Public and private actors are the main pivots of these processes. New communication, collaboration and mediation procedures are enabling a process of social collective training. This process could facilitate in the future a deeper change in the values, the social representations of nature and risks, and the principles of value-based action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]