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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 November 2023

Lindani Myeza, Marianne Kok, Yvette Lange and Warren Maroun

This study aims to examine how governing bodies demonstrated stakeholder engagement during the time of the COVID-19 crisis in South Africa.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how governing bodies demonstrated stakeholder engagement during the time of the COVID-19 crisis in South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with 18 participants, comprising of preparers of financial statements, board members and management consultants/advisors. The study also relied on the analysis of articles on corporate webpages and publications produced by professional bodies on the economic, social and environmental impact of COVID-19.

Findings

The results of this study indicated that governing bodies demonstrated stakeholder engagement during times of crisis through transparent reporting, corporate social responsibility initiatives and active stakeholder inclusivity.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the body of research on stakeholder engagement during a crisis and provides evidence of the role stakeholder inclusivity can play in responding to a crisis. The findings will be useful in understanding the importance of stakeholder engagement during times of crisis. The study is one of the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to evaluate how stakeholder engagement principles can be followed by governing bodies during a crisis.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 20 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 August 1999

561

Abstract

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 February 2023

Marianne Paimre, Sirje Virkus and Kairi Osula

The purpose of the article is to introduce the outcomes of a study analyzing the relationships between willingness to use technology for health purposes, health information…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the article is to introduce the outcomes of a study analyzing the relationships between willingness to use technology for health purposes, health information behavior (HIB), health behavior (HB) choices, readiness for COVID-19 vaccination, socioeconomic indicators and self-reported health among older adults aged = 50 years living in Estonia.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 501 people aged = 50 in Estonia in 2020, a month after the end of lockdown.

Findings

The results of the study indicate that the more recurrent the need for HI was (rho = 0.11, p < 0.05) and the more regularly one searched for it (rho = 0.14, p < 0.01), the more willing a person was to get vaccinated. Also, interest in digital applications corresponded to vaccination readiness (rho = 0.25, p < 0.001). However, this relationship did not emerge in the case of other HBs such as healthy eating and exercise. Differences in HIB should be taken into account when developing effective means of health communication designed especially for crisis situations.

Originality/value

Estonia is known as one of the digital front runners in the world. However, social welfare and the well-being of disadvantaged groups among the population (e.g. older people) have not yet caught up with the more developed Western countries. Thus, learning more about the health-related information behavior of older adults, e.g. the kind of health information they are seeking and using in Estonia, allows policymakers, health information providers and libraries in Estonia to plan and carry out more effective interventions and help them to improve the existing systems so as to furnish older adults with relevant information.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 79 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2005

Marianne Wind, Stef Kremers, Carel Thijs and Johannes Brug

To assess the impact of a school‐based toothbrushing intervention aimed at encouraging primary school children to brush their teeth daily at school, on cognitions, toothbrushing…

1458

Abstract

Purpose

To assess the impact of a school‐based toothbrushing intervention aimed at encouraging primary school children to brush their teeth daily at school, on cognitions, toothbrushing behaviour and habit strength.

Design/methodology/approach

The effects of an intervention were examined in a quasi‐experimental trial among 296 fifth‐graders in seven schools. The schools were randomly assigned to be an intervention group or a control group. Children in the intervention schools brushed their teeth at school under supervision. Effects on toothbrushing behaviour were assessed with written questionnaires before, during, immediately after, and one year after the intervention period. Effects on cognitions and habit strength were assessed one year after the intervention period. Analyses of variance were conducted to detect differences in frequency of toothbrushing, cognitions about toothbrushing, and habit strength.

Findings

During the intervention period, brushing teeth at school resulted in a significant increase in frequency of toothbrushing. However, these effects had not been maintained at one‐year follow‐up. No effects on cognitions about toothbrushing or on habit strength were found.

Research limitations/implications

When supports that facilitate healthy behaviour are implemented we recommend evaluating effects on habit strength, by assessment both before and after the intervention.

Originality/value

This paper suggests that when habit‐inducing supports and cues cease then people find it hard to sustain change. This may be of importance when designing and evaluating health‐promoting interventions.

Details

Health Education, vol. 105 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-4283

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 September 2023

Annelies Heijmans and Rik Eweg

This study aims to investigate how Living Labs of Van Hall Larenstein UAS perform as sustainability-oriented, transdisciplinary learning environments. It shows how the sustainable…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how Living Labs of Van Hall Larenstein UAS perform as sustainability-oriented, transdisciplinary learning environments. It shows how the sustainable development goals (SDGs) can be used as a compass and debates the sustainability impact of applied research.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach was adopted, including a literature review, scoping visits, online workshops and peer-to-peer inter-vision/learning, using the SDGs as a compass and framework for analysis.

Findings

Most Living Labs use a “silo-approach” on the SDGs and are designed from a technological-expert perspective. This results in blind spots, particularly on SDGs related to reducing socio-economic inequality and just institutions. Debating unsustainable systems, cultures and practices is avoided. To contribute to sustainability transitions, universities need to invest in developing transformative capacity. This refers to SDG-transition competences such as collaborative communication, constructively engaging with diversity and conflicts, discussing values, norms and ethics and encouraging reflexivity.

Research limitations/implications

Mainly lecturer-researchers were involved in the study. COVID-19 travel restrictions hindered the research at the grassroots level in India and Indonesia.

Originality/value

The study revealed the importance of creating Living Labs as safe and brave inter- and transdisciplinary learning environments to practice reflexivity: encouraging students, researchers and stakeholders to look at sustainability issues from plural perspectives and questioning unsustainable practices, which combined lead to changing perceptions, practices and relations and a deeper understanding of how change happens. The SDGs as a compass method supports reflexivity among stakeholders and in redirecting strategies towards a sustainable future.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 24 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2010

Audrey Seezink and Rob F. Poell

The purpose of this article is to help schools for vocational education determine teachers' continuing professional development needs associated with implementing competence‐based…

1976

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to help schools for vocational education determine teachers' continuing professional development needs associated with implementing competence‐based education programs, so that these schools can develop better attuned HR policies. It investigates which elements from the cognitive apprenticeship model and from the acquisition and participation metaphors can be identified in the individual action theories of their teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study was conducted in one school for vocational education, where 12 teachers engaged in an innovation project around the development of a new competence‐based education program for pupils. They participated in concept mapping, cued interviews (based on video recordings), semi‐structured interviews, and a joint feedback session. These four sources were used for an in‐depth content analysis of teachers' action theories.

Findings

No distinctive, crystallized action theories about competence‐based vocational education emerged at the individual teacher level; let alone individual teachers' action theories well in line with the two normative frameworks on competence‐based education. The case study shows the struggle that individual teachers are going through to get their every‐day teaching repertoire more in line with new ideas on competence‐based education.

Research limitations/implications

Only qualitative data are gathered, in one school, representing one school type, in one country only, limiting the statistical generalizability of the results. Not all respondents are able to participate in all four data sources.

Practical implications

Schools should develop HR policies that offer teachers CPD activities in the crucial area of competence‐based education; the frameworks presented in the study can be used to this end, by teacher educators as well as by HRD professionals interested in combining training programs with informal employee learning.

Originality/value

The study draws on literature from various disciplines (especially educational psychology and HRD), which traditionally have remained mostly separate. It combines insights from four separate data sources.

Details

Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 34 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0590

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

The aim was to identify the competencies professionals need to promote co-creation engagement within communities.

Design/methodology/approach

Co-creation could contribute to building community capacity to promote health. Professional development is key to support co-creative practices. Participants were professionals in a position to promote co-creation processes in health-promoting welfare settings across Denmark, Portugal, France and United Kingdom. An overarching unstructured topic guide was used within interviews, focus groups, questionnaires and creative activities.

Findings

The need to develop competencies to promote co-creation was high across all countries. Creating a common understanding of co-creation and the processes involved to increase inclusivity, engagement and shared understanding was also necessary. Competencies included: How to run co-creation from the beginning of the process right through to evaluation, using feedback and communication throughout using an open action-oriented approach; initiating a perspective change and committing to the transformation of co-creation into a real-life process.

Practical implications

Overall, learning about underlying principles, process initiation, implementation and facilitation of co-creation were areas identified to be included within a co-creation training programme. This can be applied through the framework of enabling change, advocating for co-creative processes, mediating through partnership, communication, leadership, assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation and research, ethical values and knowledge of co-creative processes.

Originality/value

This study provides novel findings on the competencies needed for health promoting professionals to embed co-creative processes within their practice, and the key concerns that professionals with a position to mediate co-creation have in transferring the abstract term of co-creation into a real-world practice.

Details

Health Education, vol. 122 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-4283

Keywords

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