Search

As humanity reaches the 5.0 industrial revolution, education plays a critical role in boosting the quality of human resources. This paper reports bibliometric research on emerging TiP during 1993-2022 in the educational field to analyse its development on any level of education during the last three decades. This study employed a Scopus database. The findings are that the trend of TiP publication in educational fields has tended to increase every year during the past three decades and conference paper became the most published document type, the USA is the country which produces the most publications; "Students" being the most occurrences keyword and total link strength. The publication of the TiP is ranked to the Quartile 1, which implies that a publication with the cited performance is a publication with credibility because the publisher has a good reputation. Researchers can find the topics most relevant to other metadata sources such as Web of Science, Publish, and Perish.

The aim of this study is to describe, in a historical and philosophical context, the foundations and developmental lines of a tradition defined as curriculum science or "didactic" in Continental Europe, particularly in Germany and Scandinavia. The principal aim here is introducing a theoretical approach based on a different philosophy, in addition to the techno-scientific Anglo-American theoretical approach. Didactic tradition has been of particular interest for curriculum researchers especially in the past two decades. With such an interactive focus, this paper is divided into four sections. Because this paper traces historical and philosophical pathways of inquiry, its research method is purely qualitative, based on document analysis. The findings of this analytical study are expected to contribute to the wider recognition of a philosophical-pedagogical tradition, which has not hitherto been paid much attention in Turkey.

The growing numbers of mobile students over the years made the provision of student services a key topic of interest for higher education institutions. In order to offer a better experience for international students, it is important to be aware of and assess their needs in relation to different sets of support services. The data used in this paper were gathered through the ESNsurvey 2016 project, a research venture focused on the experiences of participants in short-term student mobility in Europe. Responses were collected from 12,365 international students, who have participated in a short-term (3-12 months) study period abroad mostly through Europe's most promoted mobility program called ERASMUS+. For the purpose of this paper, the focus was only on the aspect of host university support services. The comments of 2,012 students about their experiences were analyzed using a probabilistic methodology known as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). The findings reveal that some international students' concerns are not fully addressed by higher education institutions. The main problem areas identified with respect to host support services were admission, living costs, including accommodation and money concerns, and IT and bank issues. It is strongly recommended that universities address the problematic areas through student support services by assessing international students' opinions and needs.

This paper discusses the representation of resource exploitation and consumption in German geography textbooks. The aim of the paper is to contribute to a critical and reflective understanding of the representation of resource-related issues in textbooks by analyzing two scientific debates (resource curse and actor analysis). The paper shows that all studied geography textbooks contribute to a certain degree to awareness raising in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), but references to the everyday life of students are rare. There are only few action-orientated tasks in the frame of resource exploitation and consumption in the studied textbooks. As real-world examples help develop students' critical thinking skills and shape their ideas of sustainable development, these aspects reflect a pedagogical shortcoming.

The competition of civilizations forced the European universities to adapt to the competition with the Chinese and American universities. European integration cannot advance without the collaboration between European universities. An answer to these challenges is the CIVICA project, the European University of Social Sciences, a consortium of the following universities: Bocconi University (Italy), Central European University (Hungary), European University Institute (European Intergovernmental Organization), Hertie School of Governance (Germany), The National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania), Sciences Po (France) and the School of Economics in Stockholm (Sweden). This experiment aims to become one of the European pilot universities, in the first round of applications for Erasmus+ in February 2019. The experiment takes into consideration the most important resource of a country: the human resource. The network of universities that are part of the CIVICA consortium will group approximately 38,000 students, 7,000 teachers and 3,000 people from the administrative apparatus. The London School of Economics is part of the CIVICA consortium, as an associate partner. At the Bucharest conference, the public presentation of the consortium and its objectives, the rectors of the seven universities set out to educate the future generations of professionals in social sciences, in order to solve the most pressing problems of the world. Creating a European identity is essentially the long-term, fundamental objective of the CIVICA consortium. In the context of this conference, we interviewed a few representatives of CIVICA, and their answers will be analyzed in this paper's section dedicated to the results of the research.

With schools and universities closing across Europe, the COVID-19 lockdown left actors in the field of education battling with the unprecedented challenge of finding a meaningful way to keep the wheels of education turning online. The sudden need for digital solutions across the field of education resulted in the emergence of a variety of digital networks and collaborative online platforms. In this joint article from scholars around Europe, we explore the COVID-19 lockdowns of physical education across the European region, and the different processes of emergency digitalization that followed in their wake. Spanning perspectives from Italy, Germany, Belgium, and the Nordic countries, the article's five cases provide a glimpse of how these processes have at the same time accelerated and consolidated the involvement of various commercial and non-commercial actors in public education infrastructures. By gathering documentation, registering dynamics, and making intimations of the crisis as it unfolded, the aim of the joint paper is to provide an opportunity for considering the implications of these accelerations and consolidations for the heterogeneous futures of European education.

Within the process of harmonizing and strengthening Europe as a competitive knowledge economy education is presented as a basic pillar of economic growth in a multitude of European policy papers. But how do individuals respond to incentives coming from European education politics? (How) are they appropriating given targets and how do they engage in making sense of them -- or not? This paper addresses the difference between the programme and the experience of European education politics. Based on a selected case study of experiences with European Social Fund project work, the model of an 'education entrepreneur', situated in the context of the German education system, will serve to reconstruct what happens with the European policy programme when it meets concrete lived experiences and will provide an insight into the gap between programme and practice of European education politics.

Teachers trained in one country are often not allowed to serve as teachers in another country because their teacher's license is not recognised as equivalent. The barriers these teachers have to overcome in order to work in their profession again are high and often require further (full) teacher training at the university. The paper provides insights into the conditions for teachers who participate in (re-)qualification programmes in Germany and Europe. By linking the theoretical concepts of a biographical approach to teacher professionalisation and transnationalisation in education, the results of an interview study with teachers who have participated in a programme for refugee teachers at a university in Germany are presented. The Grounded Theory analysis reconstructs the strategies of internationally educated teachers managing to keep up their hope to be able to work as teachers again and thus counter the formal de-professionalisation they are facing.

In this paper, we examine the conceptual understanding and experiences that students in German secondary schools have of boundaries. For our research we conducted qualitative interviews and surveys (interviews n=20; surveys n=21) with children (aged 14-17) born both in Germany and with refugee backgrounds. We asked for the children's conceptual understanding of the emergence and function of boundaries and their personal encounters with them. We studied the results of these interviews using qualitative content analysis to learn more about the conceptual understanding and experiences of students. Our findings on the emergence of borders show that students have limited understanding of boundaries and differing spatial concepts that exist for them. We also observed interesting distinctions between personal experiences of borders. The results may provide a base for further research and development in terms of conceptual-change-based methods for geography education on the topics of territories, borders and boundaries.

The increasing number of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe places new demands on European education systems. In this context, the role that free digital learning (FDL) could play in fostering inclusion has attracted renewed interest. While the existing literature highlights some general design principles for developing FDL for migrants and refugees, there is little information on the use of FDL at specific education levels, or for specific learning purposes. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study that was carried out as part of the Moocs4Inclusion project of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) between July and December 2016. The study, which has a European focus, disaggregates the analysis of FDL initiatives by what were identified as its three most common purposes: (a) language learning, (b) civic integration and employment, and (c) higher education. For each of these topics, the study sheds light on the approaches used by a wide sample of initiatives, users' levels of awareness of what is available and take up, and migrants' and refugees' perceptions of the current offer. In order to collect the information needed to cover different approaches and perspectives, semi-structured interviews with 24 representatives of 10 FDL initiatives and four focus groups with 39 migrants and refugees were carried out. The results show that there are indeed overlaps between the purposes of FDL initiatives and their design principles. Specific recommendations on how to better design FDL initiatives for migrants and refugees, taking into account their specific purposes, have also been identified.

This paper analyzed elementary teacher education (hereafter 'TED') programs in the top performing European (TIMSS) countries to help inform future elementary TED policy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methodological emphasis revolved around how much emphasis should be placed on general content knowledge (GCK), as opposed to general pedagogical knowledge (GPK), as opposed to methodological pedagogical knowledge (MPK). This study explored these questions while analyzing the elementary TED programs of Germany, Finland, and the U.K. relying mainly on peer-reviewed literature on these topics published between 2000 and 2016 in the English language. Three theoretical frames of reference, aside from TIMSS, were also analyzed during this process: whether the programs were consecutive or concurrent, the model of partnership followed between universities and institutions where field experiences took place, and the overall status and role of teachers in the society as categorized by career-based or position-based. It was found that the top performing European TIMSS countries usually: have consecutive and concurrent options; attract the top academic achievers into their programs; have strict filters for admission; provide very intensive TED experiences to their students focusing on practical and diverse field experiences; enforce students to major in at least one academic subject and place more emphasis on academic subject expertise than pedagogy; have challenging criteria (including exams and portfolios) for graduation from the program; have national accreditation institutes for unifying standards; their sponsor countries enforce various types of induction and professional development once in the field; and lastly these countries offer salaries competitive with other professions that require the same amount of years and training since they are usually career-based positions.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) initiatives in schools have become widespread across Europe and beyond in the last decade or so. Drivers for this include the role of English as the language of international economic activity, media and culture, belief in the value of early start and meaning-focussed instruction in foreign language learning, and a policy position which promotes a multilingual Europe. In many contexts, CLIL initiatives are local: teachers and educational leaders with assistance from teacher educators and experts in universities establish programmes, which are then shaped by available resources, human and material. While the commitment, enthusiasm and energy for CLIL at classroom and school levels are essential requirements for educational innovation, they may not, in the longer term be enough for sustainability and ongoing development. This paper examines the implementation of CLIL as an innovation and identifies some issues where wider policy support and coordination may be useful. It draws on the findings of an evaluation study of a CLIL project implemented in four countries, and identifies issues and ways forward for an effective strategy for CLIL in terms of foreign language learning, subject learning, and positive learning experiences for every child.

The 1980s and 1990s have been decades of quite good economic growth in North America and much of Western Europe. But how have the fruits of growth been shared? This paper reviews changing income distributions in the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands. These three countries may be taken as exemplars and leading economic performers in "the three worlds of welfare capitalism" (Esping-Andersen, 1990). The U.S. is a liberal welfare-capitalist state, Germany a corporatist state, and the Netherlands (less clearly) a social democratic welfare-capitalist state. The paper focuses particularly on income changes in the bottom, middle and top quintiles and takes a ten year period into account. Previous analyses have shown that labor and market income dispersion are increasing, with increased returns to human capital. The potential impact of government through the tax-transfer system has been largely ignored. All three governments redistribute income from the rich to the poor. However, the paper shows that only the Dutch government has redistributed sufficiently to ensure that the bottom quintile has gained along with others. In Germany and the U.S. the poorest quintile was considerably worse off in absolute terms at the end of the decade.than the beginning. The German government somewhat counteracted the trend towards greater income dispersion by redistributing to the poorest quintile, so the loss of market income was partly compensated. In the U.S. the impact of government on the poorest quintile stayed about the same, so this group ended up with about the same decrease in disposable income as market income. The U.S., Germany and the Netherlands are the only three countries for which ten or more consecutive years of panel data are available. The data come from the PSID-GSOEP Equivalent File 1980-97 and from a comparable file constructed from the Dutch SEP data.

The main focus of early foreign language learning in Europe is on the development of oral skills. In the classroom, speaking is usually reproductive and imitative and activities aim at the production of closely supported accurate output. Opportunities for young learners to experiment with the language and to use it productively outside of fixed dialogues are often rare. However, developing fluency and basic speaking competencies requires more than just producing memorized chunks of language. In order to progress in their acquisition of the target language and to become truly communicatively competent, learners also need to be able to use language spontaneously and creatively. This paper proposes an approach to creative speaking activities. It discusses communicative tasks and improvisation activities in relation to their potential to initiate language use that transcends formulae and reproduction. Finally, it develops a model of creative speaking that illustrates how young learners can be supported in gradually developing the skills for a more independent language use.

Based on small case-study illustrations from a variety of European countries, this study aims to explore methodological aspects of the study of curriculum history by expanding its traditional research scope. In so doing, it is argued that sociolinguistic issues are essential to this discussion. The main argument is that sociolinguistics and curriculum history are more closely intertwined than has been proposed by previous academic literature. Under the examination are often two sides of the same coin which are viewed from different, albeit closely related, research angles. In effect, the curriculum's contextualisation is also structured and modified by sociolinguistic considerations. In the conclusion, it is maintained that citizenship education--understood here as the historical manifestation of the dominant cultural expectations towards the citizens as the bearers of a particular nation state during a specific timeframe--should be better informed by sociolinguistic literature, and by that, also placed against those language controversies that surround the curriculum. On this basis, by adding value to the study of the curriculum as part of educational history--and by blurring unnecessary academic boundaries--this paper provides interdisciplinary insights into the study of curriculum history vis-à-vis sociolinguistics, which have so far remained too separated.

Background Schizophrenia is a chronic disease associated with significant and long-lasting effects on health, and it is also a social and financial burden, not only for patients but also for families, other caregivers, and the wider society. It is essential to conduct the assessment of indirect costs, to understand all the effects of the disease on society. Our aim is to gain a better understanding of the indirect costs of schizophrenia in Europe. Methods We conducted a comprehensive systematic literature review covering EMBASE, Medline, and PsycINFO as well as reviewing Health Technology Assessment databases from different countries. We used a qualitative research synthesis for presenting information, as most of the studies were methodologically diverse, a quantitative analysis would have been impractical. Results Indirect cost adjusted to inflation ranged vastly between studies included in the review from 119 Euros to 62, 034 Euros annually. The average proportion of indirect costs of total costs was 44%. Studies highlighted important cost drivers as age, gender, and disease severity, explaining the variation in costs between treatment and patient groups. Conclusions Regardless of the methodological heterogeneity of the reviewed studies, there was an agreement about the significance of indirect costs of schizophrenia on the society. Considering the relatively high prevalence of schizophrenia in Europe, a need for more cost of illness studies especially from Central Eastern and Southern Europe is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Following the 2008 economic crisis many countries implemented austerity policies, including reducing public spending on health services. This paper evaluates the trends and equity in the use of health services during and after that period in Spain – a country with austerity policies – and in Germany – a country without restriction on healthcare spending. Methods: Data from several National Surveys in Spain and several waves of the Socio-Economic Panel in Germany, carried out between 2009 and 2017, were used. The dependent variables were number of doctor's consultations and whether or not a hospital admission occurred. The measure of socioeconomic position was education. In each year, the estimates were made for people with and without pre-existing health problems. First, the average number of doctor's consultations and the percentage of respondents who had had been hospitalized were calculated. Second, the relationship between education and use of those health services was estimated by calculating the difference in consultations using covariance analysis – in the case of number of consultations – and by calculating the percentage ratio using binomial regression – in the case of hospitalization. Results: The annual mean number of consultations went down in both countries. In Spain the average was 14.2 in 2009 and 10.4 in 2017 for patients with chronic conditions; 16.6 and 13.5 for those with a mental illness; and 6.4 and 5.9 for those without a defined illness. In Germany, the averages were 13.8 (2009) and 12.9 (2017) for the chronic group; 21.1 and 17.0 for mental illness; and 8.7 and 7.5 with no defined illness. The hospitalization frequency also decreased in both countries. The majority of the analyses presented no significant differences in relation to education. Conclusion: In both Spain and Germany, service use decreased between 2009 and 2017. In the first few years, this reduction coincided with a period of austerity in Spain. In general, we did not find socioeconomic differences in health service use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Although policymakers have put great efforts into the promotion of older workers' labour force participation, quantitative empirical knowledge about employers' views towards extension of working lives is limited. The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of employers' attitudes and actions towards extension of working lives, by examining recruitment and retention behaviour towards older workers, employers' views on the consequences of an ageing workforce, organisational policies, and what governments can do to extend working lives. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyse surveys administered to employers in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK in 2009. Findings – It is found that a minority of employers have applied measures to recruit or retain older workers, and employers rather retain than hire older workers. A considerable share of employers, albeit to different degrees per country, associate the ageing of their staff with a growing gap between labour costs and productivity. Employers expecting a larger gap do not apply more organisational measures to either increase productivity or adjust the cost-productivity balance. Employers may think the cost-productivity issue is partly for governments to solve; employers expecting a larger cost-productivity gap consider wage subsidies to be an effective measure to extend working lives. Originality/value – The paper addresses the employers' perspective, one that is often neglected compared to attitudes and behaviour of older workers themselves and research on institutional arrangements. This paper is also among the first to report on employers' policies and practices from a cross-national perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine employers' perceptions of changes in the labour cost-productivity gap due to the ageing of the workforce, the effects of tenure wages and employment protection on the perceived gap, and whether a perceived labour cost-productivity gap affects employers' recruitment and retention behaviour towards older workers. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyse surveys administered to employers in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. Findings – Approximately half of employers associate the ageing of the personnel with a growing gap between labour costs and productivity. Both the presence of tenure wages and employment protection rules increase the probability of employers perceiving a widening labour cost-productivity gap due to the ageing of their workforce. A counterfactual shows that even when employment protection and tenure wage systems are abolished, 40 percent of employers expect a net cost increase. The expected labour cost-productivity gap negatively affects both recruitment and retention of older workers. Originality/value – In this paper, the wage-productivity gap is examined through the perceptions of employers using an international comparative survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Editech 2011 conference identified that publishers need to follow new paths and experiment more rapidly in all the areas of business related to a growing number of new digital publishing activities. Most important they need to rethink all the relationships actually in place with all the other factors in the publishing value chain and then radically reinvent their role in the quickly changing digital and ebook businesses. It is clear that now most of the changes are driven by the big three Google, Amazon, Apple and the publishers are following. However, especially in Europe the publishers have different approaches based on a brief review of selected key papers presented from different countries and sectors of the digital publishing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to study the determinants of naturalization of non-EU immigrant household heads with a fresh look at the role of integration and ethnicity. Design/methodology/approach -- Employing data on immigrant household heads from the German Socioeconomic Panel differentiation is made among those who already have been naturalized, those who plan to take citizenship, and those who do not have citizenship and do not want it, using multinomial probit models. The subject scope includes literature on naturalization, ethnicity, and integration. Findings -- A robust finding is that German citizenship is very valuable to female immigrant household heads and the generally better educated, but not to those educated in Germany. The degree of integration into German society has a differential effect on citizenship acquisition. While a longer residence in Germany has a negative influence on actual or future naturalization, arriving at a younger age and having close German friends are strong indicators of a positive proclivity to citizenship acquisition. Likewise, ethnic origins and religion also influence these decisions. Muslim immigrants in Germany are more willing to become German citizens than non-Muslim immigrants, but there are also fewer German citizens among Muslims than among non-Muslims. Research limitations/implications -- Future research should also investigate the second-generation naturalization proclivities and those of illegals. Practical implications -- Allowing for dual citizenship helps generate more naturalizations among Muslims. Originality/value -- The paper provides a test of the relative importance of the integration approach in comparison with the ethnicity model; demonstrating that integration in German society has a stronger effect on naturalization than ethnic origin and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are major drivers of environmental change at all scales and are especially at risk from the ensuing effects, which include poor air quality, flooding and heat waves. Typically, these issues are studied on a city-by-city basis owing to the spatial complexity of built landscapes, local topography and emission patterns. However, to ensure knowledge sharing and to integrate local-scale processes with regional and global scale modelling initiatives, there is a pressing need for a world-wide database on cities that is suited for environmental studies. In this paper we present a European database that has a particular focus on characterising urbanised landscapes. It has been derived using tools and techniques developed as part of the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT) project, which has the goal of acquiring and disseminating climate-relevant information on cities worldwide. The European map is the first major step toward creating a global database on cities that can be integrated with existing topographic and natural land-cover databases to support modelling initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to show directions for promoting alternative modes of transport in Europe and Poland in order to limit the dynamic growth of road transport. The recommendations of the European Commission in relation to the development of intermodal transport are discussed. The structure and size of intermodal transport in Europe are presented. An attempt is made to determine the forecast of intermodal transport in Poland. The basic undertakings determining the development of intermodal transport in Poland are indicated. On the basis of the experience of selected Western European countries, general conclusions regarding the development of intermodal transport in our country are formulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Alternative Politics / Alternatif Politika is the property of Alternatif Politika and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The issue of creating spaces dedicated to religious activities and that of the establishment of particular sections for Muslims at public cemeteries might be viewed as a single one. While researching mosques, one needs to accent the multi-functionality of the premises. The final shape of the interior and the exterior of the buildings can be understood as a result of internal and external influences. In the case of the establishment of cemetery fields, the observation of the processes of expert solutions is important. In both issues the need of community organisation is displayed. Furthermore, the long-term construction of "otherness" in the European public space is in question. The discipline of Comparative Religious studies retains the possibilities to analyse the results of the research of Muslim communities and compare them with other examples (e.g., Jewish communities, small Christian churches or new religious movements). Thus issues concerning Islam can become a part of the wider discourse concerning secularisation and the deprivatisation of religion in Europe. The paper contributes to this discussion by pointing out the interconnection of needs of the Muslim population and manifestation of uniqueness in public space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship among the presence of illegal immigrants on national soil and the risk of increase of infectious diseases for the native-born populations has been accurately analyzed in recent years, stimulating the debate about the opportunity of granting health care services to illegal immigrants for reasons of common safety. This paper analyzes the regulation of health care services for illegal immigrants in three different European countries: Germany, Italy and Spain, chosen because they represent three different models of decentralized State. Even if they are due to observe the same international conventions and to respect the same dispositions issued by the European institutions on health care services, every country developed its own strategy on the matter. After a description of the specific strategies adopted in the three countries on national level, the paper examines policies and plans implemented at local level by German, Italian and Spanish local institutions. These policies resulted in many cases to be extremely efficient in achieving the final goal of health care services: to ensure a general “right to existence" for all members of a community, without difference between citizens, legal or illegal immigrants. Considering the increasing number of immigrants and refugees present on European soil, the paper suggests therefore in its final part that also other European countries should adopt similar policies at local level in the next future, as well as to consider the opportunity to assure the access to the same health care services to both illegal immigrants and native-born individuals without restrictions, in order to grant safer health conditions to the whole resident communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Natura 2000 appropriate assessment for impacting projects or plans under Article 6(3) HD is the central statutory instrument for the protection of Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and the Special Protection Areas (SPA). The decisive factor in whether or not an appropriate assessment is required depends on the question of whether a project or plan is present within the meaning of Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC1 (HD). The Habitats Directive does not define these terms in any more detail, which is why they must be specified more closely through interpretation. This paper will present the definitions given by the European Court of Justice (ECJ)2 case law and national courts like the German Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG)3 and discuss the consequences and practical scope of the terms. The focus of the following investigation will be on the term "project". This is because for "plans", the envisaged projects are essentially also decisive, given that only these can have significant adverse effects on the conservation objectives. There are a variety of questions regarding when a human activity constitutes a project and under which conditions Member States could exempt activities from the requirement for an assessment. This article will start with an outline of the temporal scope of the appropriate assessment and, following this, briefly explore the scope of plans or projects directly connected with or necessary to the management of the site, as they are not the subject of an assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legality of ritual circumcision of male infants is a subject not regularly discussed under European or international Human Rights Law, let alone national law. In Germany, this changed dramatically in 2012, when a regional court declared ritual circumcision of a male infant illegal, even if performed at the parents' request and according to current medical standards. After a fierce public discussion, the German parliament voted towards the end of the year in favour of a bill that explicitly permits male infant circumcision. The discussion on whether this new law is in line with European human rights law and international law is expected to continue. This paper takes no position on whether infant male circumcision should be legal and takes no position on the medical questions attached to the subject. It argues for the legality of infant male circumcision in Western democracies like Germany for historic reasons: Jewish emancipation in the 18th and 19th century throughout Europe meant an incorporation of Jewish laws and customs into the legal fabric of European countries. Taking into account the relatively wide acceptance of the practice of infant male circumcision in communities worldwide, the paper suggests that arguments from international human rights law make simple equations difficult to sustain. Gender and children's rights-based approaches may be utilized to develop a deeper sensibility for the issues related to circumcision, but must not obscure the fact that minority rights sometimes rightfully allow a minority to do things the majority does not understand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review good practice examples which promote recruitment and retention of older workers and/or the employability of workers as they age and to examine pathways of practice. Design/methodology/approach – Analysis of qualitative data, drawing on a cross-section selection of 83 good practice case studies in labour organisations in eight European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK. Findings – The study presented good practice examples and pathways of practice for the four most frequently found dimensions in the sample (training, lifelong learning and knowledge transfer; flexible working; health protection and promotion and job design; career development and mobility management) as well as examples from small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (construction) and the public sector (transport) adopting strategies that fall within these dimensions. These examples show that innovative solutions to the challenge of an ageing workforce have been developed with good outcomes, often combining a number of measures, e.g. mobility management, health promotion and knowledge transfer. However, there is an uneven profile of age management debates and company strategies across Europe (with countries such as Germany and the Netherlands being more advanced). There is also some evidence of a standstill or roll-back of measures during an economic crisis. Originality/value – The paper reviews organisational measures facilitating the extension of working lives, of which many are longstanding and include sectors previously underrepresented in good practice databases (SMEs, public sector). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the main evolutions and the current situation of the 50-74 year olds on the labour market in eight European countries (Denmark France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and the UK). Design/methodology/approach – Based on a cross-country comparative approach, this overview draws on detailed analysis of the situation of older workers and public policies in each of the selected countries but also on a wide range of available studies and statistics on employment and welfare outcomes. Findings – The eight selected countries display similarities: a u-shaped pattern of employment rates of older workers (55-64 years old) over the last 40 years, with an increase since the mid 1990s, the later exit of higher educated workers and the higher prevalence of non-standard employment contracts among older workers. On the other hand, considerable disparities can be observed regarding the gender gap in employment rate, current employment rates, self-employment and part-time employment among older workers. Social implications – Specific questions will be more acute with the effective postponement of retirement: increasing inequalities between groups of older workers, increasing uncertainty about the age of retirement, the way to keep lower educated workers in their jobs, sustainable working conditions, increasing risks of age discrimination, and impact of care of older relatives. Originality/value – This paper offers a synthetic overview with a special attention paid to the main features of the countries' exit patterns at the end of the working life, the prevailing public policies and the specificity of the different national employment and societal models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Population is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: European countries, and especially Germany, are currently very much affected by human migration flows, with the result that the task of integration has become a challenge. Only very little empirical evidence on topics such as labor market participation and processes of social integration of migrant subpopulations is available to date from large-scale population surveys. The present paper provides an overview of the representation of the migrant population in the German Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) sample and evaluates reasons for the under-coverage of this population. Methods: We examine outcome rates and reasons for nonresponse among the migrant population based on sampling frame data, and we also examine para data from the interviewers' contact protocols to evaluate time patterns for the successful contacting of migrants. Results and Conclusions: This is the first time that results of this kind have been presented for a large-scale assessment in educational research. These results are also discussed in the context of future PIAAC cycles. Overall, they confirm the expectations in the literature that factors such as language problems result in lower contact and response rates among migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil sealing has negative impacts on ecosystem services since urban green and soil get lost. Although there is political commitment to stop further sealing, no reversal of this trend can be observed in Europe. This paper raises the questions (1) which strategies can be regarded as being efficient toward ecologically sustainable management of urban soil sealing and (2) who has competences and should take responsibility to steer soil sealing? The analyses are conducted in Germany. The assessment of strategies is carried out using indicators as part of a content analysis. Legal-planning, informal-planning, economic-fiscal, co-operative, and informational strategies are analyzed. Results show that there is a sufficient basis of strategies to secure urban ecosystem services by protecting urban green and reducing urban gray where microclimate regulation is a main target. However, soil sealing management lacks a spatial strategically overview as well as the consideration of services provided by fertile soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]