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The purpose of this paper is to reflect critically on environmentally friendly (“green”) practices at public health conferences.

The paper reviews key best practices and draws upon personal experience of attending conferences.

Although there have been efforts of integrating green practices at conferences, there is a greater range of practices that could be pursued. There is also a need to ensure that practices are the right ones: the case of reusable plastic water bottles is a case in point.

The paper clarifies best practices and encourages the promotion of further greening of public health conferences.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual comparative framework measuring the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the UK conference sector.

A self‐administered internet‐based survey was conducted to examine the implementation of ten environmental policy initiatives, expressed by the acronym “GREENER”, using a CSR response scale, expressed by the acronym “VENUE”.

The greatest proportion of UK venues can be classified as “Eager”, with a quarter of respondents being deemed as “Unmotivated” or in “Eternal denial” regarding their implementation of CSR. It was also found that both size of venue space and venue type have significant effects on the level of CSR implementation.

Environmental performance indicators are not the only components of CSR, there are others, including social, economic and ethical. Further research may expand the framework from a uni‐dimensional environmental framework to a multi‐dimensional framework, through the inclusion of some or all of these CSR components.

The GREENER VENUE framework contributes to two important areas hitherto overlooked in the CSR literature: first, it develops a framework with emphasis toward discretionary practices and illustrates the strength of this method through application to the sizeable and rapidly growing UK conference industry. Second, the framework exhibits conceptual and psychometric properties that enable its application to broad and diverse contexts. It is theoretically grounded but at the same time practical, easy to implement, easily understandable and highly relatable to organisational managers, frontline employees and many other key stakeholders of any industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine a multitude of motivators that facilitate the implementation of green practices (GP) in the context of Chinese manufacturing industry. Also, this study aims to explore the influence of GP on the environmental performance, operational performance, and financial performance of manufacturing firms.

This paper developed a conceptual model to investigate the stakeholder drivers and commensurate performance outcomes of GP. Statistical analysis was based on the data collected from 124 manufacturing firms across the Greater China. Finally, the hypotheses were empirically tested by partial least squares approach.

Of the ten proposed hypotheses, seven are considered valid. The statistic results reveal that pressures originate from employees, senior managers, and customers exert significant positive influence on firm’s decision to adopt GP, while the drivers generated from government and competitors is non-significant. More specifically, this study indicates that environmental performance partially mediates the relationship between GP and operational/financial performance.

The originality of this research is that it proposes a novel conceptual model, ascertains the primary drivers in promoting GP in Chinese manufacturing industry. This research provides policy insights for professional organizations, regulators, and legislators to further promote GP.

Micro-finance self-help groups empower caregivers to indulge in productive activities based on the local availability of resources to reduce their financial burden. The purpose of this paper is to assess the need for and feasibility of initiating micro-finance groups for the caregivers of persons with mental disability in a rural socio-economically backward community of Karnataka, India.

The design of the study was a cross-sectional survey, with mixed methodology design out of the eight localities where the Mental Health Public Health Centres (PHC) were running successfully in Konandur area, Thirthahalli Taluk, Karnataka, one PHC was selected using simple Random Sampling Design and a 5 kms radius from Konandur town was selected as the area of the survey (190 households). During door-to-door survey, if the family indicated that a particular member is mentally unwell, the GHQ-5 and Symptoms and Others checklist were administered on him/her and the women caregiver was interviewed using qualitative needs assessment schedule and Perceived Social Support Scale.

Ten persons/households with mental illness (5.26 per cent) were identified in the community. Themes of financial needs, capacity of the caregiver, community resources, need for the microfinance self-help groups, informational needs, social support, burn out, and stigma elicited in the interview were depicted in the form of a conceptual framework to understand the inter-connectedness between the various themes.

This study is the first initiative in the field of micro-finance self-help groups for the persons with mental illness and families. The design of the study was a cross-sectional survey, which is found globally to be the most suited in conducting prevalence studies, as it provides accurate results for future studies as well as it is the first step to obtain accurate baseline values to later plan a prospective follow up study. The study used mixed methodology design. Though the sample size was small, the information collected from the participants in qualitative and quantitative method was triangulated and conceptual frameworks were developed. As this study is one of the first of its kind in the country, the results of this study from the stated sample can be considered as an important pilot for future longitudinal and cross-sectional studies to be planned in the community.

There is hardly any scientific literature which talks about the need for Micro-finance self-help groups for Persons with Disability, especially with person with mental disability. In order to initiate any Micro-finance SHG activities, it is essential to first undertake the need for and feasibility of initiating such micro-finance group activities in any given area. This study will be an important milestone in initiating any self-help group activity for caregivers of persons with mental disability, as it would help us understand the financial needs of the community, based on which a draft proposal to initiate micro-finance self-help group activities can be drawn up.

Access to adequate housing represents a right entitled to any individual, as has been acknowledged by all states around the world. In Iran, despite the declaration of this right as per the Article 31 of Iran’s Constitution, it is yet to be realized. The purpose of this study is to developing a model for realization of the right to the adequate housing.

The present research was performed through a guided qualitative method. Structural-interpretative modeling was performed to present the model of right to adequate housing, and Mic Mac analysis was conducted for clustering the identified factors. Statistical population was composed of housing experts, with the samples taken via purposive sampling technique.

Based on the findings, the following factors were found to impose the largest effects on the realization of the right to adequate housing: alignment with ideology and beliefs of society; governance structure related arrangements; social structure related arrangements; improving security of tenure; justice in tenure; and local requirements.

Findings of this research contributes to increasing the awareness of the housing officials about their policies, reminding them the necessity of revisiting their routines for policy-setting. Indeed, they must switch from centralized policymaking to localized (provincealization) policymaking.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to investigate the right to adequate housing in Iran, elaborating on the relationship between relevant theories and practical issues.

This paper considers the specific opportunities and challenges of engaging in ethnographic research with organisations in which the researcher participates as a volunteer ethnographer.

The findings in this paper are based on four years of ethnographic research within a social enterprise.

This paper finds that there are significant benefits of the role of the volunteer ethnographer and suggests ways to address some of the challenges.

As the field of social enterprise and ethnography grows and researchers engage with methodological discussions about participant observation, the authors suggest that attention should also be paid to the specifics of the role of the volunteer ethnographer.

There is growing interest in the use of ethnography in social enterprises. This paper offers unique insight into how this methodology has been applied in the context of self-reliant groups and the importance of the engaging with discussion about the specific role of the volunteer ethnographer.

This paper aims to consider if an initial driver of the cross-country global coronavirus pandemic was trade openness with China.

The authors estimate simple, seemingly unrelated and zero-inflated count data specifications of a gravity model of trade between China and its trading partners, where the number of human coronavirus infections in a country is a function of the number of distinct good/services exported and imported from China.

Parameter estimates reveal that the number of early cross-country human coronavirus infections increased with respect to trade openness with China, as measured by the number of distinct Chinese exported and imported goods/services, and can account for approximately 24% of early infections among China's trading partners. The findings suggest that one of the costs of trade openness and globalization is that they can be a driver of cross-country human disease pandemics.

This inquiry constitutes a first approach at embedding the possible disease pandemic costs of free trade, trade openness and globalization within a trade gravity model.

Scholarly and general interest in sustainable careers is flourishing. Sustainable careers are focused on the long-term opportunities and experiences of workers across dynamic employment situations, and are characterized by flexibility, meaning and individual agency. The current paper analyzes and challenges the underlying ideological assumptions of how sustainable careers are conceptualized and advocates the inclusion of the ecological meaning of sustainability and the notion of dignity into the sustainable careers concept.

Using Slavoj Žižek's (1989, 2001) conceptualization of ideology as fantasy-construction, the authors explore how the use of sustainable careers is influenced by fantasies about the contemporary workplace and the role of the individual in the workplace. This is a conceptual method.

The authors argue that the concept of sustainable careers is grounded in the neoliberal fantasy of the individual. The paper concludes by presenting an alternative concept of sustainable careers grounded in a dignity-perspective on sustainability, which offers an alternative theoretical understanding of sustainable careers in the contemporary workplace, sharpening its contours and usefulness in theorizing careers.

This paper is the first to systematically analyze the use and conceptualization of sustainable careers in the literate and to expose the ideological underpinnings of the concept. Propositions are developed to be explored by future research.

Although India has a number of health issues, the healthcare facilities in India are insufficient due to poor quality of care. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors affecting the structural quality of healthcare facilities in India.

This study used the medical facility data from the India Human Development Survey-II, 2011–2012 (ICPSR 36151) (n=4,218). Logistic regression was conducted to predict structural quality of healthcare facilities.

The results suggest that it is difficult to have all standard resources available at health care facilities in India. Surprisingly, having a drinking water source inside the health facility appears to be an indicator of poor structural quality of health care facilities. Having a water source inside a health care facility is associated with not having a separate exam room and not having a sink to wash hands. A higher registration fee was associated with good structural quality and with having a separate exam room and having a sink to wash hands.

This study shows the complexity of providing quality health care to the poor, particularly in developing countries. Research on quality of healthcare facilities in India is needed to improve the health of the population. Little research has been done on the factors influencing the structural quality of the healthcare facilities in India. This study is an important contribution to the current knowledge of structural healthcare facility standards and its influences in India.

Nutrition is a widely known determinant of health and well-being of individuals. Adequate nutrition is dependent on food availability and optimal dietary intake. Rural communities are known to be disadvantaged in comparison with their urban counterparts This study therefore assessed food security and dietary diversity among adults in a rural community in Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Data for the cross-sectional study were collected using a semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire and a 24-h dietary recall. Data were analyzed with SPSS 20. The relevant descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated. Participation was fully voluntary.

The mean age of respondents was 46.7 ± 19.0 years. Only 43.6 per cent of the respondents were food secure; 43.4 per cent were severely food insecure; 30.3 per cent were moderately food insecure, while 26.3 per cent were mildly food insecure. Low dietary diversity was reported among 55.2 per cent of respondents; 41.0 per cent had medium dietary diversity, while 3.8 per cent had high dietary diversity.

This study was entirely quantitative and facility-based, so could not explore some themes to a greater depth. It however adds to the body of knowledge on dietary diversity and food security among patients accessing primary care services at Ode-Remo and its health implications.

Food security among respondents was low and dietary diversity was sub-optimal, a risk factor for both hidden hunger and multi-nutrient under-nutrition. Dietary diversity was significantly different between food secure and food insecure respondents. Community-directed efforts at improving residents’ food security status and dietary diversification efforts will be most appropriate and sustainable, thereby promoting self-reliance and wellbeing.