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Perceiving the world as a global village has never been a more acceptable and realistic notion than nowadays. The COVID-19 pandemic has – beyond a reasonable doubt – united the world as never before into the one human community striving to achieve the one goal: survive and go back to “normal” life. Educationally, there is a true demand to set effective approaches, initiatives, and programs that would promote and prompt intercultural citizenship and global citizenship for students, particularly tertiary students, Generation Z, who will be leading the world or the global village post-COVID-19. In response to such a demand, the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) and Phoenicia University (PU), Lebanon, planned and implemented a joint intercultural program: The Global Cultural Village. The Village connected and brought together 20 students (10 Afghani and 10 Lebanese) from two different cultures at a time of social and physical distancing all over the world. Over a period of five months, virtual, fortnightly meetings (discussions and presentations) were led by the students themselves and facilitated by three conveners from both universities. This chapter evaluates the effectiveness of the intercultural experiences and competencies acquired by the students throughout this program and the subsequent impact on students’ intercultural citizenship and global citizenship knowledge and skills. The methodology adopted was a mixed methods one, entailing a pre-test questionnaire (76 candidates), observational field notes (3 conveners), and post-test semi-structured interviews (14 participants). The study found that the Global Cultural Village created a safe and pleasant virtual environment that stimulated sufficient curiosity, a genuine desire to learn about the other culture, and mutual respect among both the Afghani and Lebanese students. The Village has succeeded in developing students’ intercultural competencies and intercultural communication skills. Students’ intercultural citizenship knowledge, skills, and capabilities have significantly developed as a result. Such a significant development has positively impacted students’ global citizenship knowledge and skills, where they started authentically connecting and practically engaging in global issues and discussions amid COVID-19 and are equipped to do so post the pandemic. This case study will inform higher education institutions (executives, faculty, and staff) in meeting their commitments toward internationalization and contribute to the developing literature about intercultural citizenship and global citizenship amid and post-COVID-19.

A popular narrative connects craft breweries with revitalisation of cities, neighbourhoods or communities, particularly in locations that have suffered from deindustrialisation. Research, too, associates craft breweries with job creation, development of local economies, and with entrepreneurship, crafts production, and do-it-yourself culture. Human geographers link craft breweries with contemporary place-making and neolocalism. Neolocalism, a revived appreciation of local ingredients and production, has become both a societal phenomenon and a business proposition. Based on key indicators for neolocalism, this chapter evaluates to what degree the narrative linking craft breweries with revitalisation, neolocalism and community-building holds for seven studied Finnish craft breweries. The cases presented herein offer a more nuanced view of the phenomenon and open the narrative to variations and richer interpretations. The chapter takes a critical view on narratives that enable, maintain and create societal phenomena such as the craft beer revolution, and it adds to the growing literature on the context and consequences of craft breweries.

Thomas Reid (1710–1796) was the originator of the Scottish philosophy of common sense, an approach that claims reality is objective and knowable, made up of material objects, and understandable by ordinary men. Common sense philosophy developed in opposition to the pervasive skepticism of the period, best exemplified by David Hume. A professor of philosophy at King’s College, Aberdeen, Reid was chosen to be the successor to Adam Smith as the chair of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. From that position, Reid played an important role in the Scottish Enlightenment as professor, scholar, and correspondent. While Reid was not an economist, he did write on important theoretical and philosophical issues in moral philosophy, the natural sciences and mathematics. Reid may prove additionally interesting to economists for his insightful critique of Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments.

Scotland has geographical, economic and social extremes which combine to create its distinct identity within the United Kingdom. The country also has a vibrant civil society which includes sport. The devolved Scottish parliament has, in recent years, been delivering a progressive legislative gender equality agenda. This includes leading the world in 2020 on mandating the widespread availability of free menstrual products for women and girls, an initiative which began as a campaign led by Celtic Football Club fans. Sport occupies an important position in Scottish civil society and this chapter draws on feminist standpoint theory to examine the extent to which gendered power relations have supported an over-romanticisation of progress on gender equality and impeded the implementation of good governance in Scottish sport. The lived experiences of citizens in relation to sport paint a picture of participation rates remaining static, sports fields sold off by councils and sport governing bodies being slow to implement policies and practices on gender equity issues which include leadership, media coverage and investment. This chapter explores how governance structures can be an instrument for gender equality transformation in sport by drawing not just on related legislation, but the governance principles of leadership, accountability, integrity, effectiveness, transparency, and sustainability.

The language of resilience is increasingly used by International organizations that seek to respond to contemporary social, economic, and environmental crises. This paper focuses on the World Bank’s World Development Reports, and its uses of resilience. By deploying a quantitative critical discourse analysis, this paper shows how in the recent years resilience has gained traction within the Bank’s discourse. It further analyses the evolution of the genre, the style, and the ideational content of the Bank’s discourse related to resilience. Resilience is now depicted as something that can be built and not just observed. Furthermore, it is increasingly reified in these reports and ascribed to a whole gamut of entities. The ontological indistinction of resilience reinforces its fit with contemporary neoliberal governance.

Relational autonomy proposes that persons are socially embedded, with decisions being made within social relationships. Through this theoretical lens, this article explores how the healthcare professional–patient relationship can affect pregnant women’s decisions to accept pertussis and influenza vaccines.

Hackney was chosen as the study site as it has very low vaccine uptake rates. In-depth interviews were conducted with 40 pregnant and recently pregnant women, as well as 10 healthcare professionals. Interviews explored experiences of the UK's National Health Service (NHS) health care and views towards vaccination in pregnancy. An observation of a consultation between a pregnant patient and her General Practitioners (GPs) was also conducted in order to understand how the vaccination discussion takes place.

The findings of this study indicate that advice from friends and family can greatly influence a pregnant woman’s vaccination decisions. The patient’s social context, including influences on her decisions, must be understood by healthcare professionals, so that discussions about concerns can take place. If close relationships with patients are formed, healthcare professional advice is more likely to be trusted. With support from healthcare professionals, patients feel competent, empowered to make the right decision for them, and are more likely to vaccinate.

This research will help to inform contextualised policies aimed at increasing vaccination acceptance and reducing inequality in access to vaccination during pregnancy in Hackney.

To the author’s knowledge, this chapter is the first to apply the theory of relational autonomy to views towards maternal vaccination and decision making. It provides valuable insights into how healthcare professionals’ interactions with their pregnant patients can influence vaccination acceptance. The chapter contains advice on how both healthcare professionals and policy-makers can include mothers in vaccine decision-making processes in more personalised ways, by adopting a dialogue that appreciates and understands the social processes around vaccination concerns.