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This largely conceptual study aims to draw from the author’s experience of conversations with Svalbard’s educators, lessons for international higher education institutions’ engagement with climate change education and thinking for non-specialists.

In situ discussions with Svalbard’s educators informed the theoretical work of the author towards the development of conceptual conclusions. The theoretical frame used – “Red Biocentrism” – draws on both radical left and green thought to posit an emplaced, materialist understanding of author’s, participants’ and place’s intra-related contributions.

That, insofar as universities represent nodes in an ethical ecology, they have a capacity to realise that which is obvious in Svalbard – their role as embassies for their learning places, generative of spokespeople or ambassadors.

There is sparse published research into the work of Svalbard’s climate educators, as a pedagogical project undertaken under such extreme and rapidly changing environmental conditions. This study represents the first to reflect on what can be learnt from the educators of Svalbard by Universities elsewhere.

Through examination of the Library Reference Model (LRM) specifications for nomen and the potential challenges visual nomen might present for their description and use in information systems, the purpose of this study was to investigate two questions: (1) how do nonlinguistic or nonalphanumeric signs or symbols act as nomen to identify entities? and (2) what details or attributes are relevant to describe and classify such nomen to integrate them into information systems?

This research was built on an exploratory, qualitative instrumental case study design using multiple (or comparative) cases. Using the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions LRM conceptualization of nomen as the basis, this research explored the similarities and differences between the LRM definition, its attributes and the use of nonlinguistic and nonalphanumeric “strings” for visual nomen to represent a res, moving iteratively between the LRM documentation, visual nomen identified in previous research and additional examples. This study used a constant comparative method to conduct a structured, focused comparison across different cases found in the source survey.

A close review of the history of the development of the nomen entity was made to understand the semiotic relationship between entities and their symbolic representation, how those symbols are then reified to be further classified and described and how such definitions in the LRM offer a path forward for better understanding the role and function of visual nomen. Based on the foundation of the nomen entity and its attributes established in the LRM, this research then looked at visual representations of concepts and entities to suggest a nascent framework for describing aspects of visual nomen which may be relevant to their use and application

This exploratory study of the use of supralinguistic ways of referencing entities delineates novel insights into a potential framework for describing and using visual nomen as a way of labeling or naming entities represented in information systems. By examining the specifications of the nomen entity and its attributes as delineated by the LRM, this study reinforces the applicability of LRM-defined attributes in the use of visual nomen in addition to offering other attributes or dimensions.

This study explores the socioeconomic benefits and challenges of smock dealership in Tamale. Despite the relevance of the African traditional garment sector in the socio-cultural and economic development of local and national economies, the industry is bedeviled with a plethora of challenges. Empirical evidence also confirms that African management practices have been largely dependent on western ideologies without taking cognisance of the unique features of indigenous practices. This case study provides an account of successful indigenous business practices among smock dealers in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana, employing mainly qualitative descriptive research methods. Manual thematic analysis was utilised on the qualitative data. Findings showed that smock businesses offer economic/financial benefits such as income generation, family up-keep, trade, serves as wedding attires, social networks, projects northern cultures, sources of income and livelihood. We also found various advantages of deploying technology in smock business and these include efficiency, productivity, fraud prevention, financial benefits to the producers, competitiveness and globalisation via social media, and customer relationship building. It is recommended that the government make wearing made-in-Ghana clothing a policy and enforce its use. Also, the Ghanaian government and NGOs should make industrial sewing machines available to encourage the business, thereby increasing smock production.

Thailand has seen waves of youth-led protests over the past three years. Pro-democracy youth activists have vociferously criticised authority figures: teachers, parents and political leaders, especially the king. Drawing on vignettes assembled over a 14-year ethnographic work with young people in Thailand, as well as on current research on youth (online and offline) activism in Bangkok, I examine the multi-layered meaning of kinship in Thai society. The chapter reveals the political nature of childhood and parenthood as entangled modes of governance that come into being with other, both local and international cultural entities. I argue that Thai youth activists are attempting to rework dominant tropes that sustain “age-patriarchy” in the Buddhist kingdom. Their “engaged siblinghood” aims to reframe Thailand's generational order, refuting the moral principles that establish citizens' political subordination to monarchical paternalism and, relatedly, children's unquestionable respect to parents. As I show, Thai youth activists are doing so by engaging creatively with transnational discourses such as “democracy” and “children's rights,” while simultaneously drawing on K-pop icons, Japanese manga and Buddhist astrology. In articulating their dissent, these youths are thus bearers of a “bottom-up cosmopolitanism” that channels culturally hybrid, and politically subversive notions of childhood and citizenship in Southeast Asia's cyberspace and beyond. Whatever the outcome of their commitment, Thai youth activism signals the cultural disarticulation of the mytheme of the Father in Thailand, as well as the growing political influence of younger generations in the region.

The aim of this research is to analyze the territorialization strategy developed by the Spanish brewing company Cruzcampo through its campaign #ConMuchoAcento (#With a strong accent) launched in January 2021.

The work is framed within the case study methodology. Semiotics will be the discipline used to establish the set of cultural units or signs that the company puts into play in its campaign #ConMuchoAcento.

Cruzcampo beer makes use of place branding by highlighting the Andalusian accent as a way of creating a unique positioning strategy. By doing so, the brewing company faces the issue of being associated with the negative Andalusian stereotype, sometimes regarded as if it were uneducated and low class. The use of dialectic must be seen as a step further in place branding strategy since it brings locality to the commercial message.

The social effects of the cultural units brought into play by the #ConMuchoAcento campaign remain to be analyzed, that is, the political dimension of this exercise of signifying agency of Andalusian culture. In other words, it remains to be seen how the accent represents that romantic Andalusian ideal of “authenticity” as that form of subjectivity at the margins of the cultural and rational organization of modern global capitalism.

This study is one of the first to be conducted on the multi-award-winning #ConMuchoAcento campaign. Furthermore, it will analyze the place branding strategy carried out by the brand from a semiotic perspective.

This paper aims to inform the discussion on why and how non-profit organizations can experience a hybridization process to address the criticism that would assume hybridity as an intrinsic characteristic of all organizations. Specifically, by referring to the academies of intellectuals as the non-profit setting in which investigating the emergence of hybridity takes place, this paper aims at exploring, first, to what extent this emergence could be induced by institutional conditions, and, second, which structural innovations could sustain the academies’ “motion” towards hybridity.

This paper relies on the institutional logics perspective and adopts the case study method applied to a historical context. The case under analysis is the Academy of “the Immobili”, which, in spite of its name, experienced a hybridization process in 1720 because of the decision to involve an impresario in the management of its theatre.

The findings highlight the significant role played by institutional conditions in inducing the emergence of hybridity, even in presence of internal resistance to any “motion” from the non-profit setting. Moreover, the analysis of the innovations associated with this emergence detects the intertwined action of the different decision makers involved in the hybridization process, in spite of their formal separation. These findings strengthen the conceptualization of hybridity within non-profit organizations.

Besides referring to a historical period that is still little explored in terms of hybridity within organizations, the paper focuses on an original context, i.e. academies, representing an ancient typology of cultural organizations. Therefore, the paper also provides the first insights into the hybridization process of cultural organizations from a historical perspective.

Micro-credentials, which have been widely used in re-skilling and skills development, provide advantages for improvement in the professional career. As a complementary approach to career and professional development in formal education, it can be said that micro-credentials are preferred for supporting professional development and/or to acquiring new skills to find a job in a new field (Fisher and Leder, 2022). This study aims to provide a detailed perspective on conceptual framework and the use of micro-credentials in higher education.

Many questions have arisen regarding micro-credentials, applicability, quality assurance, inclusion in formal educational settings and how to include them in traditional education systems, especially in higher education institutions. Oliver (2019) emphasizes that there is little research on micro-credentials or their derivatives in the literature. There is still uncertainty on micro-credential on behalf of students, employers or employees. In addition, although there are studies on micro-credentials in the USA, Europe and Australia, there is very little research around countries such as Turkey (Yilik, 2021). This study discusses the use of micro-credentials in the world and their reflections on higher education.

As it is shown in this article, micro-credentials have the potential to challenge or complement traditional ways of how learning is taking place, understood, recognized and certified. Research on micro-credentials is still in its infancy and could benefit a lot from more research. Especially research on employers' recognition and appreciation of digital credentials needs to be studied. Also, empirically confirming propositions of literature on micro-credentials could be beneficial.

This study is original in terms of discussing the use of micro-credential in the world and their reflections on higher education and presenting suggestions on this subject.

The overall aim of this research is to interpret Ikenga and Ofo creativity as it is revered in Igbo societies. Igbo creativity, especially interpreted through material culture, suffers the threat of extinction resulting from the forces of modernity. Forces of modernisation, which appear in the personae of Christianity, education, urbanisation and industrialisation, denigrated indigenous creativity, brandishing them as devious, fetish and primitive. Ironically, in most cases, the drivers of such narratives keep these “fetish” items in their museums and will give a lot to preserve them.

This study centred mostly on several communities in the Nsukka area of Igboland, Nigeria. It relied on both primary and secondary sources of historical enquiry. This qualitative research discussed the nuances of the subject matter as it relates to Igbo cosmos. These approaches involved visiting the study area and conducting personal interviews.

Archaeologists do often rely on material culture to study, periodise and date past human societies. In this study, it is found that material culture, an expression of indigenous creativity, best interprets how society survived or related with their environment. This paper examined two Igbo sculpted artefacts – Ikenga and Ofo – while unearthing the intricacies in Igbo cosmology as regards creativity, spirituality and society.

The shapes, motifs, patterns and designs depict an imaginary history, the intellectualism of the past and even the present. This serves as an objective alternative to the twisted colonial narrative on Igbo material culture and consequently contribute to ongoing efforts to preserve, protect and promote cultural heritage resources in this part of the world.