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The article discusses a November 2008 further education conference at the Carl von Ossietzky Provincial and University Library in Hamburg, Germany on the theme "So That Paper Persists... Experiences With Mass Deacidification." The rationale, methodology, scope, and evaluated results of paper deacidification projects in various German libraries were reviewed.

Background: The Syria crisis has forced more than 4 million people to leave their homeland. As a result, in 2016, an overwhelming number of refugees reached Germany. In response to this, it was of utmost importance to set up refugee camps and to provide humanitarian aid, but a health surveillance system was also implemented in order to obtain rapid information about emerging diseases. Objective: The present study describes the effects of using digital paper and pen (DPP) technology on the speed, sequence, and behavior of epidemiological documentation in a refugee camp. Methods: DPP technology was used to examine documentation speed, sequence, and behavior. The data log of the digital pens used to fill in the documentation was analyzed, and each pen stroke in a field was recorded using a timestamp. Documentation time was the difference between first and last stroke on the paper, which includes clinical examination and translation. Results: For three months, 495 data sets were recorded. After corrections had been made, 421 data sets were considered valid and subjected to further analysis. The median documentation time was 41:41 min (interquartile range 29:54 min; mean 45:02 min; SD 22:28 min). The documentation of vital signs ended up having the strongest effect on the overall time of documentation. Furthermore, filling in the free-text field clinical findings or therapy or measures required the most time (mean 16:49 min; SD 20:32 min). Analysis of the documentation sequence revealed that the final step of coding the diagnosis was a time-consuming step that took place once the form had been completed. Conclusions: We concluded that medical documentation using DPP technology leads to both an increase in documentation speed and data quality through the compliance of the data recorders who regard the tool to be convenient in everyday routine. Further analysis of more data sets will allow optimization of the documentation form used. Thus, DPP technology is an effective tool for the medical documentation process in refugee camps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide a first attempt towards analysis innovation ecosystems for cardiovascular pathologies in Germany through the use of a stakeholder model. We present essential stakeholders for the development and deployment of innovations in the field of cardiovascular research and medicine, and the primary functions they fulfill in the context of these innovation ecosystems. The adopted approach consists of the implementation of a multilevel system model for analyzing stakeholders in this particular field. Data acquisition transpired through systematic literature review of multiple articles and studies. Data analysis phases were executed until reaching a point at which the considerable amount of data was discovered, ensuring consistency across various sources. We demonstrate that innovation ecosystems in cardiovascular medicine involve interconnected networks of stakeholders across different fields. Moreover, through an investigation of innovation ecosystems of cardiovascular pathologies particularly in Germany, we present the functions undertaken by each stakeholder, which are essential for the participation in the innovation ecosystems. The findings presented in this paper hold the potential to bring better understanding of cardiovascular pathology innovation ecosystems in Germany. This assertion is substantiated through a comprehensive examination of relevant scientific literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the symposium "Fragment und Makulatur. Vom Einbandfund zur Internetpräsentation", a symposium on the question whether to restore manuscript fragments and to consider them as missing links, or if they are considered waste paper, held July 2, 2012 in Duisburg, Germany is presented. Other topics mentioned are the conservation of manuscripts, a special treatment of Jewish manuscript fragments, and an overview of recent studies is provided.

The article discusses a May 2007 ruling of the appellate court in Munich, Germany which held that sending copies of scientific journal articles via email violates copyright laws in effect. The alternatives explored are to send paper copies by post or to obtain licensing of the technical articles prior to their electronic transmission.

The generation of Points of Interest including capacities for travel demand models is usually costly and laborious. Recently, several methods have been developed to automate this process based on Volunteered Geographic Information data as well as to validate the corresponding results. The methodology presented in this paper takes on the task of setting up such a workflow on a large scale, including capacities and all common activity types, by making use of OpenStreetMap data. As a result, a Points of Interest dataset could be created for the whole of Germany, which maps around 24 million destinations including capacities divided into seven activity types. An exemplary validation based on the generated workplace and shopping locations as well as capacities indicates a varying quality of results depending on the respective regional type. The discussion additionally concludes that assignment of several activities to one location presents challenges that should be addressed in future approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent debate on megaprojects (MPs), greater attention is devoted to the functioning of the interorganizational and multiactor networks that are one of the most innovative features in recent years. The complexity of these structures brings out governability issues for an MP's management. Mutual recognition and consent become elements capable of inaugurating more collaborative processes and practices to reduce organizational and management criticalities in MPs. This paper focuses on a neglected relational dimension, namely legitimacy. We argue that legitimacy is instead the central dimension that attributes effectiveness and capacity for action to the organizations involved. Legitimacy regulates the relationship between various organizations--and especially--between organizations and the public sphere. Institutionalist theory assigns a central role to legitimacy in the construction of social processes, defining it as a generalized form of social acceptance toward an actor, an idea, or a project. In this paper, we hypothesize that the legitimacy attributed and "held" by the stakeholders is a crucial element in countering three critical aspects of MPs, namely the uncertainty, complexity, and conflict acting on the construction of public consensus and the quality of relationships between the participating stakeholders. We verify our hypothesis by analyzing a cross-border MP, the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link between Germany and Denmark. The paper concentrates on the mechanisms with which stakeholders can acquire legitimacy using the Eriksen discursive legitimation scheme. These mechanisms are different (evidence-based, public participation, and legislators' command) and produce different outcomes in terms of increasing or containing these three criticalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces that a position paper on library legislation was developed during the membership meeting of the Borromäusverein e.V. on September 13, 2007. In particular, the paper addresses issues pertaining to library standards and legislation. Additionally, the topic of church and library work in Germany is addressed in the paper.

Including disabled workers in value-creating work processes is a fundamental and guaranteed human right and is, therefore, an essential goal of society. In Germany, sheltered workshops create the conditions for this inclusion since they are essential to companies' value chains. A central challenge is the inclusion of disabled workers in the value-creation processes, such as in manufacturing or assembly areas. The skills of disabled workers vary since they have individual impairments. Therefore, this paper presents a digital human model, a Human Digital Twin (HDT), for disabled workers. The model maps their skills and supports the production planning and assembly processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines key debates within and regarding contemporary internationalist movements in Mexico and Germany. The starting point is the discussion on New Internationalism, originating in the practices and ideas of groups in solidarity with and anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements in the global South since the 1970s, which were subsequently discussed, expanded, and transformed within various social struggles. Employing a qualitative content analysis, we reconstruct common themes, similarities and divergences in texts authored by the EZLN and BUKO from 1996 to 2021. The findings reveal that common references to the contents of New Internationalism exist in the examined texts, yet are interpreted differently along situated struggles and experiences of oppression and marginalization. Connecting elements are forms of intersectional critique of domination, as well as the rejection of the idea of a revolutionary subject, an avant-garde, a principal contradiction, and the taking over of state power. Simultaneously, the analysed texts emphasize the necessity of transnational struggles and global networking against capitalism to counteract planetary destruction and exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the transformation of information sharing and multi-tier supply chain management (MSCM) from the perspective of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the context of Industry 4.0. SMEs are typically sharing less information digitally, are less active in conducting MSCM, but must be integrated in digital supplier networks to achieve supply chain transparency or traceability. For this purpose, this paper empirically analyzes SMEs from the manufacturing industry in Austria and Germany are investigated regarding information sharing and MSCM. The responses are analyzed to test three hypotheses, using 81 replies from manufacturing SMEs in Austria and Germany. The three hypotheses investigate the upstream and downstream MSCM practices of SMEs as well as which kind of information is shared with and by SMEs. The results help to understand and reveal potential barriers for information sharing besides technical possibilities to SMEs in order to be actively involved in MSCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tens of thousands of Romanian migrants work in the German construction sector. Their work is often characterized by unpaid wages, long workdays and by the withholding of sick or holiday payments. The risky and exploitative nature of the conditions under which Romanian migrants work on German construction sites is reflected in their negative evaluation of their engagements as “slave labor” by Romanian workers. Starting from such a clearly negative evaluation, the paper asks how Romanian construction workers in Germany classify their work and what role such classifications have within the context of labor exploitation. Based on qualitative interviews with and participant observation among Romanian construction site workers in Germany and in Romania, the article reconstructs four work classifications. Work may be interpreted as the fulfillment of obligations or as necessary for economic revenue; hard work itself can be a symbolic contribution to one’s own sense of identity or it can have the meaning of being part of everyday normalcy. Each of the work classifications offers a different reason to make hard work plausible in the eyes of the workers and employers actively turn such interpretations into a mechanism of vulnerability. Without direct physical coercion, these ideas motivate workers to take on work that they themselves criticize as ‘slave labor.’ The paper concludes by arguing that the recognition of such classifications and their social effects are crucial for an understanding of labor exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Asia Pacifi c War (1937-1945), the Japanese Imperial Army forced women in Japanese East Asian colonies to work as so-called “comfort women” (sex workers). The justice movement for these women is an international intersectional alliance of feminists from Japanese ex-colonies in East Asia, the former colonial power Japan, and other societies, such as Australia, Germany, and the USA. This long-term feminist justice movement has campaigned for an apology and compensation from the Japanese government, as well as for recognition of “comfort women‘s” suff ering and of sexual violence in war in cultural memory. Through researching this justice movement from a processual intersectionality perspective, this paper shows that it gained power and legitimacy from refl ecting and working on its internal intersectional inequalities. This included refl ecting on the class hierarchies between many former “comfort women”, who had power of defi nition, and intellectual feminist activists, as well as on the postcolonial divide between former Japanese colonies and the former colonial power Japan, leading it to develop horizontal cooperation and practices. Following an overview, the paper outlines the movements in South Korea, Japan, and Germany, and highlights the different postcolonial constellation between East Asia and Germany, the main actors, and their aims. While the Japanese government rejected the justice movement‘s demands and the right wing mobilised against it, has been able to infl uence cultural memory to widely recognize sexual violence in war and the dignity of the “comfort women”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When collecting, storing and providing research information, it should be taken into account whether and how the research information will be published. It is important under what framework conditions the data will be used further, what rights the researchers involved have to the research information, whether the research group or the project will leave and finally also whether and when the research information will be deleted again. With this in mind, our paper will consider two important aspects: From a data protection point of view, however, the processing of large amounts of data is one of the greatest conceivable challenges. The legal aspects depend on the legislation of the country where the CRIS system operates, the level at which CRIS operates and the type of data collected. Our paper will map legal aspects of processing and protection of research information in Slovakia and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a public relations campaign, started in August 2010, to advertise the book preservation and mass deacidification program at the library of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, which has been funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2005. It describes strategic planning, target audience analysis, marketing concept development, and execution of the campaign, with special emphasis on its Internet-based components.

Before politicians used refugees as a tool of interstate relations, refugees and asylum seekers were perceived only as a symbolic or realist threat in social perception. With the use of refugees as a tool of international politics, the phenomenon of threats felt in society has deepened with securitization and started to pose threats to human security. This dialectical relationship between society and the state also changes and transforms the direction and form of the threat. The study will investigate how symbolic or realistic threat perceptions in the public have evolved into securitization by governments, how these two phenomena strengthen each other, and what they mean in terms of human security. The quantitative data used in this study will be explained with integrated threat and securitization theories. This study aims to examine the variations in threat perceptions associated with refugees in Europe, employing an integrated threat theory framework. The focus will be on investigating questions such as "What types of threats are attributed to the presence of refugees and asylum seekers in European countries?" and "What factors contribute to the divergence in perceived threats?". Furthermore, the study will explore the implications of these divergent threat perceptions on national and regional migration governance within each country. This paper will focus on the refugee crisis and examine the cases of Turkey, Greece, and Germany, which are mainly on the refugee transit route and host the largest number of refugees in Europe. In order to describe which threat perception has a decisive impact on Europe, the 7th wave (2017-2020) datasets provided by the "World Values Survey (WVS)" from 2010-2022 will be examined in comparison with previous waves. The cases of Germany, Turkey, and Greece in these datasets will be the main focus of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the big pollution problems worldwide is air pollution with CO2. This pollution contributes to the evening effect and can cause major health problems. A solution for reducing the level of CO2 is the creation of Passive Houses. The passive house concept was first introduced in Germany. Passive buildings are buildings with low energy consumption. By reducing energy consumption, the CO2 pollution produced when obtaining electricity is reduced. In this paper, we do not propose to study the possibility of realizing such a case in the Municipality of Vulcan, Hunedoara and to determine the level of CO2 pollution reduction through the use of such buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In German primary schools, natural sciences and social studies are learned and taught in an integrative manner within a subject called Sachunterricht. To teach Sachunterricht in a high-quality manner, it is reasonable to assume that primary school teachers themselves require— among other things, such as knowledge about pedagogy, teaching Sachunterricht, and the various content areas of Sachunterricht—a distinct interest, academic self-concept, and sense of belonging regarding natural and social sciences. Furthermore, they should possess a solid interdisciplinary competence that enables them to teach natural and social sciences in an integrative way. In the present study, we conducted a longitudinal survey of pre-service primary school teachers from a German university over a period of 2 years to investigate the changes in their (self-evaluated) interdisciplinary competence; the changes in their interest, academic self-concept, and sense of belonging regarding natural and social sciences; and the correlations between these constructs. Our data analysis revealed a decrease over time in participants’ sense of belonging to natural and social sciences, as well as their (self-evaluated) interdisciplinary competence, while their academic self-concept in natural and social sciences remained stable. Participants’ interest in social sciences decreased, while their interest in natural sciences increased. Moreover, we found varying degrees of correlation between these constructs. In summary, the results of the present study provide important insights into the professional development of pre-service primary school teachers within university-based teacher education for teaching natural and social sciences in primary school. The implications of these findings are discussed in detail at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Family Research (JFR) is the property of University of Bamberg Press 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.)

When the American cartoonist George Evans stated that every student can learn, just not on the same day and in the same way, he probably did not imagine the despair of pupils trying to access an e-learning platform during a national lockdown period. With the COVID19 crisis, online learning became an everyday commodity almost overnight. However, not all schools were prepared to swiftly switch from in class to distance teaching. Concerns were raised with regard to data protection and cybersecurity, which in some cases led to the implementation of "home-made" solutions. Taking the example of the federalist state of Germany where education is within the sole competence of the Länder, this paper will explore the functioning and technical implementation of several e-learning platforms and address the data protection challenges. In terms of cybersecurity, this paper also analyses the applicability of the NIS Directive to the various platforms and outlines the consequences for platform providers. In light of the acceleration of the revision of the NIS Directive due to the COVID-19 crisis, we take the example of learning platforms to outline the flaws of the 2016 Directive before we critically evaluate selected aspects of the NIS 2.0 proposal of December 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the topic exhaustion and motivation when working from home. It is the first study from Germany to apply the job demands-resources model of Demerouti and Bakker [1] in the context of home office. By so doing, a deductive approach is followed, and a conceptual model is formed based on a comprehensive literature review with the inclusion of relevant publications up to April 2022. Subsequently, the model is exploratively adapted according to the results and a recommendation for practical action as well as suggestions for future studies are presented. The study was able to provide significant evidence that the communication climate has a positive influence on motivation, the perceived support, the connectedness and the trust between employee and supervisor. Further, trust is influenced by the perceived connectedness with the company. Finally, work pressure in the home office and the lack of segmentation have a positive impact on exhaustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the notion of integration through formal education by focusing on immigrant families in Germany. The article focuses on the predominant discourse that persists in reiterating the binary code of the formal education system, which encompasses educational success or failure as a synonym for the migration policy code of integration or disintegration. This equation is made even stronger by a meritocratic philosophy that doesn't consider the othering processes and ignores all the restrictions that migrant youth face in education, the labour market, and the market for vocational training. The ambiguity between the actual possibilities and the attainable goals, embodied in the predominant imperative of “social mobility through education”, creates resistance within the group of immigrant parents and youth. The article argues that under these conditions, the family system may provide alternative ways of recognition for young people, which can be taken as a counter-concept with its own values that reject media-mediated narratives of integration and their symbolic representatives. By utilizing empirical data, the article provides insight into the past and present experiences of family members and the factors that contribute to the resistance of immigrant families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, various revelations about government malfeasances have highlighted the vulnerability of civil society actors who work on surveillance by intelligence agencies. Simultaneously, new technologies and overburdened state oversight bodies clarify how relevant citizen scrutiny of intelligence is. Both of these factors have led to the emergence of scrutiny by civil society actors as a research subject. This paper contributes to such scholarship by presenting data collected through surveys addressed at journalists and professionals from civil society organisations (CSOs) in France, Germany, and the UK to comparatively characterize the forms, scope, and constraints of the scrutiny they perform. Indicated differences across countries highlight variances in the practices of civic intelligence oversight. These variances indicate that there is room to manoeuvre for civic forms of holding intelligence agencies to account, counteracting the primacy of security and the secrecy of intelligence. Yet, similarities of civic oversight practitioners’ perspectives across all three countries are also distinct and informative; in particular, across all three countries, journalists and CSO professionals who work on surveillance by intelligence agencies worry they are under surveillance themselves and express dissatisfaction with safeguards at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THE PAPER AIMS TO ANALYZE AND PRESENT THE SECURITY IMPACT OF THE MIGRATION PHENOMENON, REFERRING TO ITS TWO MAIN REASONS, THE NEED FOR SAFETY AND SECURITY AND THE NEED FOR FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY. IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MIGRATION PHENOMENON, THE ANALYSIS WILL FOCUS ON ITS IMPLICATIONS IN TWO DIFFERENT CONTINENTS AND COUNTRIES WITH STRONG ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WHICH NOT ONLY HAVE A DIFFERENT CULTURE AND SYSTEM OF VALUES AND BELIEFS BUT ALSO A DIFFERENT ECONOMIC SYSTEM. THE MODELS OF NOMAD INTEGRATION IN THE UNITE ARABS EMIRATES AND GERMANY WILL BE SUBJECT TO THE CURRENT ANALYSIS AND WILL REVEAL THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC POLICIES AND UNDERTAKEN MEASURES ON REFUGEES AND THE PRESERVATION OF INTERNAL SECURITY. MOREOVER, THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TWO MODELS WILL HIGHLIGHT BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE READER A CLEAR AND CONCISE IMAGE OF THE MIGRATION PHENOMENON. THE EMPIRICAL DATA USE TO ANALYZE THE IMPLICATION OF THE MIGRATION PHENOMENON WILL INCLUDE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, SPECIALIZED PAPERS AND PRESS ARTICLES THAT PROVIDES RECENT AND RELEVANT INFORMATION REGARDING THIS ISSUE. AS WE NOTICED THE INCREASING LEVEL OF COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCIES AND THE EMERGENCE OF ASYMMETRIC THREATS HAVE PLAYED A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE RECENT DYNAMICS OF PEOPLE MOVEMENTS, LEADING TO MASSIVE DISPLACEMENT OF POPULATION FROM WAR THEATERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST TO SAFE AND DEVELOP COUNTRIES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Two Homelands / Dve Domovini is the property of Scientific Research Centre of Slovenian Academy of Sciences & Arts 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.)

Engineering plays a pivotal role in tackling the grand societal challenges humanity is facing. It is essential that engineers understand these challenges and realize the impact their solutions have. This means that higher education's task in fostering future engineers as transformation agents is key. In this paper we introduce initial arguments about why engineering programs need to include both sustainability and entrepreneurship as core elements for students to obtain a holistic approach towards humanity's grand societal challenges, along with specific skills, including for example critical thinking and reflection, systemic thinking, building partnerships, and collaborations An overview of the literature shows that independent sustainability and entrepreneurship have been recognized as important for engineering programs, even though the integration of both has yet to be achieved. Furthermore, a first analysis of a sample of engineering programs in Germany confirms what we observed in the literature. It would appear that the time for a transformation of engineering programs has arrived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the search for solutions for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), decision-makers frequently face governance-related challenges such as the fragmentation of institutions, the interconnection with other essential services and overlapping competences. In many cases, solutions to these challenges involve strengthening coordination between different actors and sectors. Today different digital tools and resources are available to support related decision-making processes. These tools can (1) offer a context-specific assessment of the water governance system ("Diagnosis") and (2) provide, in some cases, context-specific recommendations to tackle identified deficits ("Therapy"). In this paper, we aim to advance the understanding of the potential of digital tools for water governance and management assessments. After reviewing relevant tools, we introduce the Diagnostic Water Governance Tool (DWGT) that builds on a clear diagnosis-therapy-logic. After presenting the empirical basis and functional logic of the DWGT, we test the DWGT in two case studies: the Guadalquivir river basin in Spain and the Emscher river basin in Germany. We find that the DWGT provides context-specific, evidence-based instrument recommendations that can enhance water governance and management, albeit accompanying suitability evaluations by governance experts remain critical. We conclude by discussing the limitations of digital tools for water governance and management assessments and sketch out fields of future research. • Most water governance online tools do not allow for case-specific assessments. • Diagnostic Water Governance Tool identifies context-specific coordination deficits. • The Tool gives case-sensitive recommendations for governance instruments. • Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis provides sound methodological framework. • The Tool's analysis can supplement but not replace expert evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental catastrophes, including the increased severity and frequency of climate extremes, can act as "windows of opportunities" that challenge citizens' mental models and motivate them to engage in reflective processes, challenging their pre-conceived ideas. Less well understood is whether experiencing changing weather conditions, common in mid-latitudes, can have a similar effect and increase the citizens' concerns about climate change and their willingness to accept more stringent climate policies. In this paper, we investigate the effects of changing seasonal temperature on the perceived seriousness of climate change and willingness to mitigate climate change. We use data from four yearly waves of a spatially explicit representative population survey in Germany and weather records from the postal code areas in which they live. To our knowledge, this study is the first analysis to link individual perceptions towards climate change and different mitigation options with seasonal temperature changes at specific locations in Europe. The analyzed perceptions were strongly influenced by socio-demographic characteristics and broader societal changes, as well as individual experiences of seasonal temperatures. The results show that experienced seasonal temperature change influences personal climate change concerns as well as the willingness to mitigate climate change, although with a weaker effect. The results indicate that it is the absolute temperature variation experienced that is important, rather than whether it is getting colder or warmer than usual. Considering the influences identified in this study can offer a window of opportunity for more stringent and targeted climate change policy. • Seasonal temperature changes influence climate change perception. • Effects can offer a window of opportunity for more stringent climate change policy. • Governmental mitigation policy solutions less supported than self-determined options. • Perceptions influenced by broader societal changes as well as individual experiences. • Need for targeted climate change communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-governance is essential for migrants to ease access to various administrative services in their home and destination countries. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed novel facets of inequality in the accessibility of these facilities, the lack of personnel during lockdowns being not the only impediment for foreigners. This paper aims to research the unequal access of the Romanian diaspora in Germany to digital solutions provided by authorities and the unprecedented circumstances that occurred during the medical emergency. The data analysis revealed how people built their e-governance networks on social media groups, providing alternative solutions to their issues and needs. Diaspora’s relationships with governmental bodies are often priorly mediated via online communication in diasporic groups, where people ask for advice or present their approaches. Data collection has been done mainly on Facebook groups of Romanian migrants in Germany between 2020 and 2022. Methodologically wise, this research used digital field research to understand how people interact in these groups and what consequences could arise from their digital behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study estimates how much of the differences by socioeconomic status (SES) in children's language development are mediated by parenting styles, parenting practices, and parental investments. Background: There are large differences in children's language development by parental socioeconomic status (SES). According to some studies, SES gaps in language skills among preschoolers could be reduced substantially by intervening in the parenting styles, practices, and parental investments of low-SES parents. However, the extent to which parenting mediates the effects on language skills of growing up in low-SES contexts is still unknown. Method: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study starting cohort 1, a random sample of children born between 2012 and 2013 in Germany and employs interventional causal mediation analysis to estimate the mediated share of the total effect of SES on children's language that goes through parenting, broadly understood. Results: Parenting explains around one-third of the total effect of SES on early language skills, but close to nothing of the effect on later language skills. Conclusion: Although a share of the SES effect operates through parenting, and all parenting dimensions affect children's language skills, interventions in parenting would be limited in their ability to reduce the gap in substantial ways. Alternative pathways, through which inequality in language skills is reproduced, could potentially explain a larger share of this effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water governance systems have evolved around the exploitation of provisioning ecosystem services. The overexploitation of provisioning and the degradation of regulating services have led to a decline in the capacity of ecosystems to provide any services at all. Decisions affecting water-related ecosystem services are often not made in the water sector. Governance that does not take into account ecological interdependencies lead to unsustainable use of resources. In such situations, one can speak of a misfit between interdependencies of ecosystem services and coordination processes that would allow addressing them. The article introduces an approach to identify such misfits and potential solutions to overcome them and applies the approach to case studies in Germany, South Africa and Iran. The context-sensitive analyses highlight factors that contribute to or even determine prevailing practices in water management. The fit with the pattern of ecosystem service uses was found to be higher for governance processes in practice (formal and informal) than for formal coordination instruments on paper. Actors may not lack opportunities to exchange but these are not translated into tangible coordination outcomes. To reduce trade-offs between the uses of ecosystem service, improved synergies are needed between formal and informal institutional settings. Instruments need to be tailored to local circumstances. Scope and effectiveness of local action may be limited by higher governance levels. The analyses have demonstrated that the path from improving social-ecological fit to achieving sustainability is long. Addressing institutional deficits requires transformational change rather than short-term measures for addressing isolated problems or crisis situations. • New approach to identify misfits between ecosystem services uses and coordination and potential solutions to overcome them. • Results from case studies in Germany, South Africa and Iran. • Synergies needed between formal and informal institutional at local level to reduce trade-offs between ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the importance of social media in the recruitment of Generation Z, with a focus on their expectations towards social media recruiting. In a qualitative analysis, nine interviews were conducted with members of Generation Z, as well as a focus group discussion with six HR managers. Based on our research sample, both members of Generation Z and recruiters attach great importance to social media recruiting. Members of Generation Z can be characterized by their willingness to use social media, active sourcing, and the talent pool to actively support their job search. The social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, XING, and LinkedIn are identified as potential contact points for the generation. However, a discrepancy was uncovered between what HR managers expect in relation to the usage of social media for job searches and the actual passive use of social media for this purpose by Generation Z. In addition, a positive candidate journey and attention to various (passive) touch points are important for successful recruitment of Generation Z members. Due to the open attitude of the generation towards social media recruiting, they need to be made aware of this topic during their candidate journey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the students' perception of STACK tasks is vital for optimizing the students' learning. Questionnaires are a common method to learn about their experiences, but they are time-consuming for teachers and students. Plus, they are usually answered with a certain delay after students have completed the task. To solve these problems, we developed STACKrate, a JavaScript-based tool that allows teachers to easily integrate a collection of evaluation questions directly into STACK questions. Thus, the evaluation is done directly after the students completed their work on the tasks. The tool uses a star rating principle and is designed to be intuitive and easy to use for students. In this paper, we describe the features and benefits of STACKrate and tell about the use of the tool in a course at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. We then discuss the added value of STACKrate in evaluation over the use of questionnaires alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goals of the study were, on the one hand, to develop and validate an instrument to measure students' perceptions of the use of ICTs and educational technologies in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, and on the other hand, to know about the participants' attitudes towards the educational use of ICTs and other educational software. Some specific objectives of the research were (i) to identify the disposition of the students towards the use of ICTs, (ii) to characterize the Interaction with others through the use of ICTs, (iii) to identify the interaction of the students with LMS and ICTs, and to (iv) validate the instrument to measure students' perceptions about the use of ICTs and educational technologies, among others. An in-depth theoretical review allowed the authors of this paper to construct an instrument to measure students' perceptions about the use of ICTs and educational technologies in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerning the statistical analysis, descriptive techniques were used to find out the perceptions of a group of Chilean university students about the online learning process through the use of ICTs, and then, the characteristics of the instrument itself were examined in-depth with exploratory factor analysis. Finally, in order to make the factor analysis more complex and to find proposals for improving the instruments for future research, the percentages of the variables grouped into factors were analyzed, as well as the reliability of each one of them. This research was financially supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as part of the project "Praxispartnerschaften zwischen Hochschulen und Unternehmen in Deutschland und in Entwicklungsländern ab 2017" (Project Nr. 57334905). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is used in many contexts to compare the monetary costs and benefits of taking different actions. It has thus been advocated as a suitable method for analysing environmental policy making as well as decisions about projects and their effects on societal welfare. Despite the valuable use in principle, its actual use in policy processes seems to be limited. The paper presents an empirical case study in the city of Bremen, Germany and contributes to the literature on the use of CBA in policy making related to climate adaptation. We interviewed municipal actors involved in a participatory workshop series dedicated to supporting the use of CBA for deciding whether to implement specific climate adaptation measures. The municipal actors were asked about their perception of the usefulness of CBA, particularly in formulating policy options, and about the success factors and constraints connected to integrating cost-benefit results in policy making. The findings suggest that CBA is, above all, perceived as useful in raising awareness of environmental goods and in increasing the transparency of the policy-making process. Here, CBA was confirmed as useful for spurring a systematic discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of different adaptation measures. However, the municipal actors adopted a relatively critical stance towards using CBA as a decision criterion for prioritising measures. We conclude that, in this context, the participatory process of conducting the CBA, which takes municipal actors' knowledge seriously into account, is important for the perception of the usefulness of its results in policy making. • Policy makers were asked about their perception on the usefulness of cost-benefit analysis results. • Cost-benefit analyses are perceived as useful in raising awareness and increasing the transparency. • Use of cost-benefit analysis as a decision criterion for prioritization of measures is viewed critically. • A participatory process of conducting the cost-benefit analysis is important for improving the perception of the usefulness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research information management (RIM) and reporting is an emerging, heterogeneous field of work for which there is currently no systematic overview of the performed tasks and required competencies. Such an overview would be valuable for training, further education and recruiting. This paper presents data on task areas and competency requirements from a national survey of personnel responsible for RIM, CRIS management and reporting in Germany (N =224). With the help of a factor-analytical design, we were able to identify task profiles, such as System development & data modeling and Communication with stakeholders. The task profiles were then compared with a competency model which we developed to support further education and recruiting in research information management. Implications for further development of the competency model are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej is the property of Redakcja Przegladu Socjologii Jakosciowej 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.)

Academic boredom is a complex and underestimated problem in schools in many countries. The research on this phebomenen is mostly from Germany and Northern America. During the last two-three decades several studies have highlighted some aspects of academic boredom and its relationship to motivation and school-based learning behavior and outcomes. This paper addresses and trys to clarify academic boredom as an important concept from several angles and highlights new and promising improvements in the field. A special emphasis is laid on preseting the extend and indentifying features, signs and antecedants. Furhermore the paper discusses academic boredom as a negative deactivating goal achievement emotion, and illuminate academic boredom as an antecedent and concequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Trabajo Social is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid 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.)

On December 12, 2015, 196 countries signed the Paris Agreement, including Germany and also Romania which has the purpose to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1,5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century. One of the goals is to encourage states with a low level of development, to grow economicaly from green power or green hydrogen, like will show in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How have differently institutionalized welfare regimes dealt with the Covid-19 crisis? In particular, how have they confronted the social and economic inequalities exposed by the virus? Taking three European countries--Germany, Sweden, and the UK, corresponding broadly to conservative-continental, social democratic, and liberal regime types--this paper tracks the virus response in the areas of income and employment protection and health and residential care. With attention paid to issues of "capacity" and the institutional arrangements in each case, we find that institutional histories in Germany and Sweden permitted a certain recidivistic reliance on established practices in the areas of employment and social protection. In sum, certain social and economic inequalities were mitigated as these countries set aside recent trends toward "liberalization" and mobilized longer-standing institutional capacities to protect some groups, although by no means all. Evidence of this trend is less clear in the health and residential care sectors, where Germany had existing capacity, allowing its older population to weather the crisis in better order than its counterparts in Sweden and the UK. In the UK, welfare liberalization has led to increased social and economic inequalities and funding reductions in health and residential care--all of which have reduced the country's ability to deal with severe crisis. The Covid response in this case was agile, but also chaotic, with little being done to ameliorate the positions of the most vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. 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.)

Automated and connected vehicles are assumed to have a major impact on road safety, traffic flow, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, as well as on future mobility. This paper aims to analyze, the impact of privately owned automated vehicles on travel behavior in the region covering the Test Bed Lower Saxony in Germany. The main focus is laid on the evaluation of long-distance trips in the entire study area as well as on commuter journeys to and from the city of Brunswick. An agent-based demand model in conjunction with a traffic flow model was used to simulate four scenarios with different penetration rates of fully automated vehicles. The results show a major shift in the mode share, an increasing of the daily mileage, and reduced travel time of the motorized individual transport, as well as minor changes in travel distance and total traffic volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The societal and policy transformations associated with the coronavirus disease pandemic are currently subject of intense academic debate. In this paper, we contribute to this debate by adopting a systemic perspective on policy change, shedding light on the hidden and indirect crisis effects. Based on a comprehensive analysis of policy agenda developments in Germany, we find that the pandemic led to profound shifts in political attention across policy areas. We demonstrate that these agenda gains and losses per policy area vary by the extent to which the respective areas can be presented as relevant in managing the coronavirus disease crisis and its repercussions. Moreover, relying on the analysis of past four economic crises, we also find that there is limited potential for catching up dynamics after the crisis is over. Policy areas that lost agenda share during crisis are unlikely to make up for these losses by strong attention gains once the crisis is over. Crises have hence substantial, long-term and so far, neglected effects on policymaking in modern democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]