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The work of E.F. Schumacher is addressed in the broad context of economic philosophy. His economics present a frontal attack on neo‐classical economics. He likewise rejects a Marxist analysis of society. And while he shares some of the concerns of the institutionalists, he nonetheless stands apart from them in his questioning of the moral and philosophical foundations of the discipline. Schumacher can be considered a member of a fourth school – philosopher/economists.

Blending sensor theory and practice, and with a commercial market reckoned to be huge, robotic vision is currently a ‘hot topic’. Here, Professor Mike Brady, explains the advanced research being pursued.

Kulicke & Soffa announce the promotion of Kevin Setters (28) to Technical Support Manager from Senior Service Engineer. He is responsible for special engineering applications and field service in the UK and Ireland. He heads a team of ten specialist engineers.

One of the crucial elements of addressing global climate challenges through urban tourism is the continuing existence of urban forests. The reasoning is that the ecological attraction of urban forests can impact visitors’ intention to conduct pro-environmental behavior, including low-carbon actions. Thus, more visitors to urban forests will positively affect enhancing the quality of the urban environment. However, the extent to which ecological attraction can influence pro-environmental behavior warrants further investigation due to the complexity of psychosocial factors that impact behavioral intention. The main objective of this research is to examine the effects of the ecological attractiveness of urban forests on the pro-environmental behavior of visitors by exploring motivation, ecological experience, perceived value and knowledge as mediators. Moreover, whether the nature of the urban forest and facilities attract visitors simultaneously is also studied.

Data were collected from 615 respondents who visited three urban forests in Bandung, the second-most populous city in Indonesia, by five-point Likert questionnaires. As an analytical tool, SEM PLS was applied to establish the effect of the ecological performance of the urban forest on the increase in environmentally conscious behavior among urban forest visitors.

The findings demonstrate that the attractiveness of an urban forest affects the growth of environmentally responsible behaviors. Nonetheless, the attractiveness of urban forests is dictated more by their infrastructure than their ecological function. On the contrary, the visitors’ knowledge level can improve their motivation, environmental experience and perceived environmental value. These findings show the significance of developing educational programs with an emphasis on the experience of the visitors so that their ecological performance can contribute to improved low-carbon behavior. In conclusion, this work contributes to the management of sustainable urban tourism.

This work also has some limitations. First, the medium R-square on intention behavior to low-carbon action suggests investigating other influential factors to produce a more robust conscious behavior. Mkono and Hughes (2020) mention that many complex factors that cause positive intention do not necessarily lead to environmental action. Thus, many psychosocial variables need to be explored in different models. Second, the convenient sampling used here does not represent the whole population, making generalization difficult. Thus, further work needs to apply more rigorous sampling techniques to validate the findings. Further investigations may also need to be conducted in other urban forests in another Asian country with a similar and different social context for benchmarking, as this study found that the type of attractive urban forest design is a more dense forest, which differs from other studies based in Europe. Exploring more influencing behavioral factors of pro-environmental action in the model is also suggested. Thus, we could contribute more to support recreational activities in urban forests.

As an implication for planning an urban forest to increase its recreational function, the authors illustrate the importance of producing educational programs. Although the improved knowledge of visitors has been shown to strengthen their commitment to perform pro-environmental actions, the mediating role of motivation, experience and perceived value reveals that some activities are required to achieve visitor motivation to actual behavior. Consequently, designing an urban forest requires not only the enhancement of eco-attractions and artificial elements for the convenience of visitors but also the development of an environmental education program that can improve visitors’ environmental experience and perception of ecological value. The designed educational program may use an experiential education approach incorporating objective knowledge of Earth’s current state. The urban forest education program must encourage visitors’ connection and participation with nature. Moreover, knowledge and information about Earth’s environmental quality can increase visitors’ perceived value, ensuring that their activities in the urban forest contribute to improved health, environmental quality and social environment. Thus, with well-managed and provided education, they are encouraged to adopt low-carbon action because it complements their contribution to a better quality environment.

The theoretical contribution of this research is generated through the role of urban forest attractiveness in the intention to conduct low-carbon action, which influences solutions to existing urban environmental problems. This work exhibits that both ecological attractiveness and attractiveness of artificial elements in urban forests can attract visitors and subsequently boost their outdoor recreation motivation, ecological experience and perceived value and then turn them to boost their intention to conduct low-carbon action. The physical characteristics of a site are behavioral stimuli that can increase a person’s motivation, experience and perception of the value of the environment, thereby increasing their intention to engage in low-carbon actions. This environment behavioral construction is fundamental in understanding that urban forests offer ecological benefits and influence the social quality of urban communities. Nevertheless, without visitor activity, urban forests are merely physical entities that become increasingly demanding to maintain. Due to this, an urban forest that is socially active and has an influence on promoting environmentally conscious behavior is needed, and its presence is becoming ever more crucial. This work shows the significance of integrating psychosocial approaches into managing tourism in urban forests.

One of the reasons for confusion over the exact nature of the “Information Society” is that it is a moving target. The paper aims to elaborate a view of information society as involving the transformation of the social world through the use of new information technologies. This has evolved through a number of quite distinctive stages, over just a few decades. Understanding this is important for thinking about future prospects – whether we are interested in what technologies will be commercially successful, or in what the policy challenges of new systems are liable to be.

The study reviews major trends. It illustrates the analyses of evolving information society by use of some historical narrative and vignettes of future possibilities, alongside the more conventional analysis. It presents a context within which these emerging issues may be examined.

Three distinctive stages of information society evolution are identified, and future prospects discussed. Critical problem areas are identified.

The approach demonstrates the limits of simple extrapolation from one stage to the next.

Elements of a future stage of information society, and some of the key problems of transition to this stage are outlined. The innovation, social action and political choices that are aimed at these problems will shape many key features of this society. To date, information technology has been fairly free of the controversies that have flared up around other technologies. But it remains to be seen how far privacy (and other) concerns will be outweighed by consumer and social benefits, and security applications, that can be realised through the new technology. Opportunities to counter terrorism and crime may be stacked up against the vulnerability of complicated systems.

Articulating a fresh perspective on information society, this paper is relevant to analysis of commercial, social and political dimensions of emerging information technologies.

The ability to develop and manage effective networks is a crucial entrepreneurial competence, allowing entrepreneurs to share experiences, ideas and knowledge to improve business performance. Despite growing recognition of the value of networks and networking, there has been little comparative research performed to explore ways in which male and female entrepreneurs develop and utilise networks. This chapter considers the development and use of networks in technology-based sectors, seen as important for wealth and employment creation, where women represent an underutilised source of entrepreneurial potential. An enhanced understanding of the issues surrounding male and female venturing, particularly within this sector, could offer opportunities to identify how levels of both genders’ entrepreneurial engagement might be increased. Also, if, for example, research identified that men and/or women network in ways which could limit enterprise development, this is of importance at both the micro and wider macro-policy levels. A qualitative methodology is used to explore the nature and dynamics of male and female entrepreneurial networks. Discussion of the findings focuses on the aspects of network quality where it has the potential to impact upon its value to the entrepreneur and his/her business. Patterns identified in the networks developed by male and female entrepreneurs are explored, and implications for policy and practice are considered.

A reference stand among regular stalls offering fruit and vegetables was to be seen in the market‐place of a small town during the library week in Sweden last October. The local public library was marketing its reference service, using reference books as well as a terminal for on‐line searching.