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This article is based on a three‐year research project designed to improve the quality of life of people with profound and complex learning difficulties, particularly during periods of transition. Following a survey of post‐school opportunities, the project adopted an action research approach in four case study sites. The project concluded that it was important not only to support transitions but also to enable individuals to influence and direct change in their own lives. Commitment to increasing local opportunities, combined with a focus on staff development, is fundamental to enhancing the quality of the lives of people with profound and complex learning difficulties and those who support them.

THE enterprise of two London newspapers, the Tribune (for the second time) and the Daily Chronicle, in organizing exhibitions of books affords a convenient excuse for once again bringing forward proposals for a more permanent exhibition. On many occasions during the past twenty years the writer has made suggestions for the establishment of a central book bazaar, to which every kind of book‐buyer could resort in order to see and handle the latest literature on every subject. An experiment on wrong lines was made by the Library Bureau about fifteen years ago, but here, as in the exhibitions above mentioned, the arrangement was radically bad. Visiting the Daily Chronicle show in company with other librarians, and taking careful note of the planning, one was struck by the inutility of having the books arranged by publishers and not by subjects. Not one visitor in a hundred cares twopence whether books on electricity, biography, history, travel, or even fairy tales, are issued by Longmans, Heinemann, Macmillan, Dent or any other firm. What everyone wants to see is all the recent and latest books on definite subjects collected together in one place. The arrangements at the Chronicle and Tribune shows are just a jumble of old and new books placed in show‐cases by publishers' names, similar to the abortive exhibition held years ago in Bloomsbury Street. What the book‐buyer wants is not a miscellaneous assemblage of books of all periods, from 1877 to date, arranged in an artistic show‐case and placed in charge of a polite youth who only knows his own books—and not too much about them—but a properly classified and arranged collection of the newest books only, which could be expounded by a few experts versed in literature and bibliography. What is the use of salesmen in an exhibition where books are not sold outright? If these exhibitions were strictly limited to the newest books only, there would be much less need for salesmen to be retained as amateur detectives. Another decided blemish on such an exhibition is the absence of a general catalogue. Imagine any exhibition on business lines in which visitors are expected to cart away a load of catalogues issued separately by the various exhibitors and all on entirely different plans of arrangement! The British publisher in nearly everything he does is one of the most hopeless Conservatives in existence. He will not try anything which has not been done by his grandfather or someone even more remote, so that publishing methods remain crystallized almost on eighteenth century lines. The proposal about to be made is perhaps far too revolutionary for the careful consideration of present‐day publishers, but it is made in the sincere hope that it may one day be realized. It has been made before without any definite details, but its general lines have been discussed among librarians for years past.

PROPOSALS WHICH COULD have a devastating effect on the transport plans and costs of British industry are now being studied by the Environment Secretary.

The purpose of this paper is to use virtue ethics to explore the dilemmas arising for shipowners facing the piracy threat off the coast of Somalia.

The ethical issues arising for the shipowners in the face of the piracy threat off the coast of Somalia are explored using a virtue theory perspective. In particular, the ethical issues facing shipowners in routing vessels through the danger zones, as well as the dilemmas that can arise when a ship has been boarded by pirates, such as whether or not the shipowners should pay the pirates' ransom demands.

Although individual shipowners can take some matters into their own hands by various initiatives and security measures, the conclusion is that the scourge of piracy can only be reduced by international co‐operation between shipowners and nation states.

Piracy on the high seas is an old problem that has begun to resurface and become more frequent and widespread in recent years. Several important ethical dilemmas for shipowners are discussed. Should shipowners put absolute priority on protecting the lives of the crew by keeping the ship and its cargo away from the zone of attack? What measures should be implemented to inform and protect the crew, the ship and its cargo? And, if the ship is attacked by pirates and captured, what should shipowners then do, should they resist or should they pay a ransom?

In the COVID-19 era, where blended learning is gaining popularity, research-informed teaching could be one of the alternatives or options to assess students' progress in Higher Education institutions. In the past, educators have assessed students' research skills gained from research-informed teaching through coursework components or assignments. However, whether the assignments can be converted into peer-reviewed output acceptable in a reputable journal or conference has hardly been investigated. This study explores how research-informed teaching has been rolled out in undergraduate/postgraduate BIM related modules/programmes in the School of the Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University and which has culminated in high quality published outputs.

The method used is purely qualitative in-depth interviews, where students who have published were tracked and invited to share their experiences. In total, nine former students of the 12 invited, participated in the interviews. Inductive content analysis, a suitable qualitative data analysis technique was used in analysing the feedback from the interviews.

The main finding is that research-informed teaching can be done in a technical and complex BIM discipline and students' coursework components or assignments can further be converted into published outputs.

The main limitation of this study was that the sample was small. That notwithstanding, it has provided valuable insights into the understanding of student's ability to undertake research while studying and experiences of how educators can deliver research-informed teaching to students in Higher Education institutions.

The study adds to the existing body of literature about undergraduate and postgraduate research-informed teaching and goes further to provide strong evidence through published outputs thereby confirming that students at both levels can indeed conduct and publish peer-reviewed research articles while undertaking their studies.

This position chapter explains the importance of designing policies for smart cities. This chapter aims to provoke discussions that will allow further understanding of the smart cities policy agenda. It is inevitable for various smart cities actors to agree on ways to implement change in smartness. This is because of the different views on developing smart cities (or smart cities initiatives) that will ensure shared benefits for everyone. To achieve a wider understanding of how this might be achieved, the chapter raises the points of designing policy for smartness and the influence of governance on policy design. It explains what we mean by policy and governance and the link between them. Overall, the policy needs to be supported by a governance system, which is widely accepted – for example for truly smart cities, a governance system needs to evaluate the benefits through liveability; these are the environmental, societal, governance, and economic lenses. A liveability approach to the governance system can promote open and democratic processes to smartness.

Describes the conceptual meaning of the cost of capital (COC) and relates its use of COC in decisions that add value to a company. Illustrations provide the basis for an intuitive feel of the crucial role of COC in the pursuit of generating value. Explains the meaning of true economic value added (TEVA) and relates TEVA to COC and economic returns. Relates COC to the value generating cycle of a firm. Supplements the conceptual and intuitive notions of COC with pragmatic guidelines useful to the practising manager. Capital and the employment of capital have an especially crucial role in emerging and transition economies. Outlines the vital nature of COC in these economies and in decision making. Addresses issues at a level appropriate for professional managers regardless of their area of expertise and functional assignment.