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In this chapter, we analyze the contribution of two Iberian Foundations to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; Global Goals). In particular, we studied the case of Eugénio de Almeida Foundation, from Portugal, and Yuste Foundation, from Spain, between 2016 and 2018. To achieve the main objective, three specific objectives were defined: the first one is to understand if sustainability is present in the Foundations Mission, Vision and Values; the second one is to analyze how the activities developed by each Foundations contribute to the SDGs and relate these activities to the SDGs targets and finally to do a comparative analysis of the results of the two foundations. To reach these objectives, we use the case study method based on the analysis of annual reports and websites of the two Foundations and cross-referenced information about the mission, objectives, values and activities developed since 2016 with the specific targets of Global Goals.

This chapter shows that Iberian Foundations contribute to the SDGs, since its mission fits the SDGs as its activities have a strong social nature and aim at sustainable development in the regions where they operate and beyond. However, we do not find the reporting evidence because the Foundations do not provide sustainability reports, nor do they provide sustainability information in their annual reports and accounts, or on their websites.

The study will present contributions at several levels: literature and practice. It makes contributions to the literature on relationships between sustainability practices and sustainability report and the regulation and institutionalization of sustainability practices and reporting for SDGs. Also, our study contributes to a better understanding of the role of Iberian Foundations as partners in achieving the Global Goals and their contribution to the effective, responsible and transparent development of institutions for United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This chapter provides a cross-cultural look at the intersection of religion and the state with a focus on social control, social movements, political authority, and legitimacy. To better understand the complexities of governance, this chapter examines state social control of religion with a specific focus on the effects of that control on society. State leaders often seek to control and use the power of religion to gain legitimacy, authority, and control over citizens. Conversely, religious leaders sometimes seek to engage and even control the power of the state. This chapter highlights some of what happens when religious leaders directly engage in politics and challenge the social control mechanisms of political authority.

At times religious majorities seek not only to participate in the public square, to make policy, but also to exercise complete control of political and cultural institutions. In many nations, from Christians in the United States to Buddhists in Myanmar, some religious and government leaders share the goal of complete religious control over their societies. What happens to the religions and to the society when these religious and government leaders are successful? What happens to the religion when a state controls, supports, and promotes that religion? This chapter uses the case histories of the repression of the Muslim minority by the Buddhists nationalists in Myanmar and the desires of the United States Christian Dominionists goals to illustrate and highlight the way that the twin powers of the state and religion serve as direct agents of social control by transmitting values of each institution through law, policy, and by punishing those who deviate.

The present study explores gender inequalities in the entrepreneurial landscape in Romania, based on Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data, highlighting similarities and differences between women and men entrepreneurs. Even if the GEM reports include data on entrepreneurship since 1999, Romania has been among the participating countries only since 2007 for the Adult Population Survey (GEM, APS). Thus, to include Romania in the analysis, the data from this study were selected for nine years, namely from 2007 to 2015. Our results indicate that among Romanian men and women, similar drivers influence the odds of engagement in entrepreneurial activities relative to not being involved in businesses. For both men and women, having confidence in their knowledge and skills had the highest odds ratio values. Also, identifying opportunities proved to be positive and significant for both genders, while fear of failure had the opposite effect. Knowing other entrepreneurs can lead to great benefits generated through social exchange. Findings reveal that the external knowledge that an entrepreneur’s environment gives rise to can prove to be supportive in the discovery of opportunities and their exploitation.

In this chapter, we evaluate the employment effects of job-creation schemes (JCS) on the participating individuals in Germany. JCS are a major element of active labour market policy in Germany and are targeted at long-term unemployed and other hard-to-place individuals. Access to very informative administrative data of the Federal Employment Agency justifies the application of a matching estimator and allows us to account for individual (group-specific) and regional effect heterogeneity. We extend previous studies for Germany in four directions. First, we are able to evaluate the effects on regular (unsubsidised) employment. Second, we observe the outcomes of participants and non-participants for nearly three years after the programme starts and can therefore analyse medium-term effects. Third, we test the sensitivity of the results with respect to various decisions that have to be made during implementation of the matching estimator. Finally, we check if a possible occurrence of a specific form of ‘unobserved heterogeneity’ distorts our interpretation. The overall results are rather discouraging, since the employment effects are negative or insignificant for most of the analysed groups. One exception are long-term unemployed individuals who benefit from participation at the end of our observation period. Hence, one policy implication is to address the programmes to this problem group more closely.

Over the summer of 2007, Greek forest wild fires made international news. In June, the flames consumed a large part of the Mt Parnitha's National Park, close to Athens, sending thousands of Athenians out into an unprecedented demonstration, demanding immediate protective measures and tougher legislation. By early September, the blazing infernos around the country had destroyed 670,000 acres of forest, olive groves and farmland while the death toll stood at 77 people.

Age has not received much attention in the literature on social movements, but it is an important part of human identity. Like other people, activists engage in age-related “identity work.” By studying age dynamics – cooperation and conflict between and among age-based groups – we can learn about collective identity and conflict. This chapter examines age-related discourse and interaction in the feminist movement in Argentina. As the movement has grown and gained momentum over the past 15 years, younger women have joined movement pioneers. Drawing on data from interviews with activists and participant observation in Buenos Aires during three periods (1998, 2001–2003, and 2011), the study examines narratives as an aspect of age-related identity work. While discourse about distance and conflict were common in the earlier periods, when the movement’s pioneers dominated, narratives about cooperation and respect surfaced in the later period as young women shared the movement with older ones. In movements with multiple age-based cohorts, age gains salience with interaction.

Most institutions around the world provide opportunities for students to study outside of their own country for short- or long-term educational experiences. There is a gender imbalance for those seeking these experiences, with more women than men applying to study outside of the United States and only slightly more men than women are looking to study abroad in the United States. A qualitative study was conducted in the United States with American men who had studied abroad and male international students studying in the United States. Understanding what motivates men to take advantage of these learning opportunities will lead to greater promotional efforts to attract more men to these experiences.

The connectivity provided by full-service network carriers under the umbrella of airline alliances is increasingly challenged by the services of Middle Eastern airlines via their own hubs, and the rise of new passenger strategies like self-connectivity. While these two developments can potentially benefit consumers with more services and lower fares, the rise of Middle East carriers has been met with opposition by EU and US airlines that call for increased protectionism. In addition, only a few airports in the world actively support self-connections. In this context, this study aims to investigate (1) the markets in which Middle East carriers exert a stronger dominance in terms of the number of passenger connections, (2) whether EU, US, or Asian hubs provide a competitive quality of connectivity in terms of travel time, and (3) whether a significant potential for self-connections is hidden at major airports worldwide. To that end, several datasets of passenger bookings (MIDT), airline schedules, and minimum connecting times between 2012 and 2015 are combined in a connections-building methodology that delivers six market-specific airport connectivity indicators for our benchmarking exercise. Our findings show that although European and some Asian hubs have lost traffic in global markets, they remain competitive from a quality perspective. US hubs have maintained their market share and competitive position. Finally, we identify the airports and airlines with the highest potential to provide self-connecting travel options, which can become an attractive new source of revenue for the parties involved.