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The period of transition to democracy in which Generation Z members in Bulgaria grew up was characterised by profound changes in the economic and social system of the country, with frequent episodes of chaos and instability resulting in a long-term demographic decline. At the same time, the years of their adolescence have been marked by globalisation processes and the rapid development of digital technologies opening countless opportunities for work, study and travel to this group of young people.

Although research on Generation Z in Bulgaria is scarce, in this chapter, we have attempted to draw a portrait of the typical representative of the young generation based on the results of a couple of empirical surveys. Decreasing social orientation, less focus on sustaining interpersonal relationships and lower self-confidence and initiative are among our most remarkable observations making this generation of young people rather different than previous ones. Furthermore, Generation Z members were found to be quite demanding at work requiring stress-free working conditions, good work–life balance, opportunities for competency development and adequate pay from employers. This certainly creates a serious challenge for Bulgarian employers who might have to change their standard human resource practices in order to attract and retain the potential of this new group of employees. Generation Z members could be a source of innovation, meaningfulness and flexibility for the Bulgarian labour market and because of that they certainly need to be studied in more detail.

Writing is an important tool for content acquisition and for teaching analytical skills in economics. Students must be able to read and write in the economics with an understanding of how knowledge is produced and disseminated in the field. This study sought to understand how 12 secondary students enrolled in an economics course engaged in evaluating, critiquing, and studying a mentor text to learn how to craft a policy paper. A mentor text is a high-quality model text students can read and study to learn more about how to write in the field of economics. Results found students self-reported learning: the content of economics how to structure their paper, the discourse of economics. They further gained an understanding of why economists write.

The present study aims to examine the influence of emotional content and gender pertaining to victim impact statements (VIS) on sentencing outcomes.

The authors used a 2 (emotionality)×2 (participant gender)×2 (victim gender)×2 (statement gender) factorial design. Participants (n=715) read a crime vignette and corresponding VIS, and completed questionnaires pertaining to sentencing recommendations, legal attitudes, and levels of emotional empathy (counterbalanced).

Results indicated that participant gender was related to the emotional appeal of the VIS, and ratings of punishment severity. Emotional empathy was positively associated with perceptions of credibility and emotionality. Higher legal attitudes scores were positively correlated with higher minimum sentences, ratings of credibility, emotional appeal, as well as more severe punishments.

This study has important implications with respect to perceptions of VIS in relation to how emotional they are, who the victim is, who the statement is written by, and who hears the statement. Given the lack of previous research in this area, the study provides data that warrant further investigation.

This paper aims to discuss the development of two toolkits that were designed to help communities and households measure their level of disaster resilience and provide practical tools to help them increase and maintain these levels.

The toolkits were developed across two studies, with the community toolkit development being undertaken first. A literature review was conducted to develop a definition and model of community disaster resilience; and a Scorecard was designed to assess levels of existing community disaster resilience. The definition and Scorecard were reviewed and refined with the help of two communities before a final version was trialled in four communities across Australia. The household toolkit project followed a similar approach, with trialling being undertaken in conjunction with two non-government organisations that carry out outreach work in the community.

The development and trial of the Scorecards was extremely valuable. The conclusion voiced by communities and reached by the study project teams was that the user-friendly Scorecard is a workable tool for people to assess their household and community disaster resilience and to come together to plan what might further strengthen resilience. Critical to the Scorecards’ success was an understanding of the purpose of the assessment tool and the meaning of resilience.

The toolkits take an all-hazards approach and help community members, individuals and local policymakers to set priorities, allocate funds and develop emergency and disaster management programmes that build local community resilience.

Mental illness presents a huge individual, societal and economic challenges, currently accounting for 20% of the worldwide burden of disease. There is a gap between the need for and access to services. Digital technology has been proven effective in e-mental health for preventing and treating mental health problems. However, there is a need for cross-disciplinary efforts to increase the impact of e-mental health services. This paper aims to report key challenges and possible solutions for cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research teams within the domain of e-mental health.

The key challenges and possible solutions will be discussed in light of the literature on effective cross-disciplinary research teams.

Six topics have been key challenges in our cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research team: to develop a shared understanding of the domain; to establish a common understanding of key concepts among the project participants; to involve the end-users in the research and development process; to collaborate across sectors; to ensure privacy and security of health data; and to obtain the right timing of activities according to project dependencies.

This study focuses to increase knowledge and training in cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research, as this is often referred to as an important tool when developing sustainable solutions for major societal challenges.

This study needs to include theory and skills training in cross-disciplinary research in research training.

Cross-disciplinary teams have the potential to address major societal challenges, including more perspectives and more stakeholders than single disciplinary research teams.

Major societal challenges require complex and sustainable solutions. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research teams may work productively to solve these challenges. This paper shares experiences regarding the challenges and possible solutions for productive collaboration in cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research teams within the domain of e-mental health services.

The aim of this paper is to develop the idea of recognition in organizations, arguing that recognition is a fundamental building block of workplace dignity, and a key element of cultural respect in the workplace.

As a conceptual paper, the current work approaches discussions of human resource management through the lens of recognition theory, applying ideas of recognition and reification to workplace issues.

Workplace reification can be observed in diverse areas of human resource management, reflecting a “human capital” view of employees. The paper traces this view in terms of measurement and incentives, as well as individual and group diversity within the workplace.

The paper contributes to the literature on care in human resources by briding ideas from management and critical social theory, contributing to the former by couching workplace dignity in terms of social theoretic foundations of recognition, and contributing to the latter by showing how the workplace can form an important site for recognition.

Human sex trafficking is a global rights violation prevalent nationally and globally. This study aims to contribute to the limited research conducted directly with survivors with the goal of building sustainable aftercare from their feedback.

For this qualitative, retrospective study, 15 adult female survivors completed open-ended interviews, took photos and participated in online focus groups to explore identity, sexuality, relationships and factors of community reintegration. Data analysis included multi-level conceptual and thematic coding.

Participants identified with all aspects of complex trauma and domains of post-traumatic growth. Participants highlighted relationship development as the primary source of healing and growth, emphasizing the value of peer-based support and survivor leadership.

The findings affirm the need for ecological and relational perspectives in care of survivors and approaches using a trauma-informed, victim-centered lens. Findings affirm the value of understanding the nuances of complex trauma as well as celebrating the capacity for post-traumatic growth. Furthermore, while relationships are most significantly impacted from the trafficking experience, they are also considered the greatest instrument of healing, offering long-term commitment and belief in the individual. This research excluded males and international trafficking survivors. Participants were recruited through service organizations, and many participants are active in advocacy work, which may hinder generalizable data for all trafficking survivors. Finally, this study did not distinguish data between geographic location or range or length of time since exiting trafficking.

This study highlights the voices of survivors throughout research design and data findings. Their lived experiences provide key recommendations for interaction and intervention. Data include rich expression through photography.