Search results

The purpose of this paper is to assess the contribution of the UNESCO biosphere reserve concept to urban resilience.

The paper examines the challenges underpinning the problem of environmental degradation in cities. It then briefly considers available initiatives that can be implemented toward the realization of more sustainable cities. A case is made for the possible contribution of the UNESCO biosphere reserve concept as a useful urban management tool.

Urban administrators have a range of tools to select from to support the design and management of sustainable cities. It is argued that the UNESCO biosphere reserve concept is potentially a very valuable tool, although, apart from academic studies, not truly tested in an urban context.

Biological diversity is the very essence that sustains life on earth and forms the basis of quality living conditions, even within built‐up areas. Today, cities are facing the pressures of increasing populations and the effects thereof on the environment. The challenge facing cities is how to improve the quality of life of all city dwellers amidst the environmental challenge of dwindling natural resources. The paper looks at a number of initiatives available to city administrators in their quest to create liveable cities. It is perhaps timeous to research the potential applicability of the biosphere reserve framework as an urban tool toward more resilient, environmentally acceptable urban landscapes.

Purpose – To discover and unravel the contribution of women to innovation and invention. This chapter builds upon a book published in 2003, called, Ingenious Women. The purpose of the book was to discover the invisible women inventors and patent holders operating between 1637, when the first patent was awarded to a woman, and the outbreak of war in 1914. For the purpose of this essay, the time frame has been extended to the present.

Methodology – Historical patents are used as the main research base, supported by searches of other relevant databases, directories and specialist archives (census records, registered designs, company records, museum collections) as well as specialist literature.

Findings – The research illustrates that women and men were often part of a wide network of discoverers and innovators and were able, by using the latest technologies and materials available, to resolve problems both large and small.

Research limitations/implications – This categorisation on patent databases or directories and searches were by female first names or by object type. his categorisation highlights the historical assumption that women are not inventors. Although this search method highlighted hundreds of women, there must be many still undiscovered.

Practical implications – Not all the ideas went into production and some have now become obsolete. Others continue to be produced and have formed the basis of successful companies. Many women became entrepreneurs and developed businesses based on their inventions and some, as widows, successfully ran their deceased husbands' companies.

Social implication – The women in this hidden history often had to navigate a path through social attitudes and legislative frameworks. They are all an example to women today that anyone, regardless of gender, can be innovative and entrepreneurial. What is crucial is that the ideas being developed are unique and have a purpose.

High quality professional development and preservice teacher training should incorporate elements to help practitioners to integrate theory, research, and practice. Ideally, lessons and activities in early childhood classrooms would look like a kaleidoscope of dynamic approaches, infusing what is known about teaching into the context of that particular classroom with a diverse group of learners at that moment in time. It cannot be a “one size fits all” package. In the present chapter, vignettes from two schools in different parts of the world (South Africa and the United States) illustrate how digital media (photographs and video) provide powerful tools for bridging principles learned in professional development with ongoing classroom practice. The authors show how the use of digital tools helped teachers to: (1) see the consequences of their teaching decisions; (2) understand and value children's cultures; (3) meet the needs of all students (special needs or gifted) in their classroom; (4) increase family involvement; and (5) demonstrate their accountability. Using video and photographs provides a lens for ongoing reflection and observation of children in action. Digital tools allow teachers to discover their classroom from a different angle, see what children learned, or experience something the teacher missed while engaged in action. Digital tools create dialogue among teachers from diverse settings and provide new ways for everyone to view classroom experiences. They offer opportunities for brainstorming and for gaining different perspectives. Thus, digital tools enhance reflective practice. The authors realized everyone could be changed from the experience, including those who provided the professional development.

This chapter traces the early beginnings of schools and schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have drawn on archival evidence to identify shifting tensions between Māori and missionary, between Church and State and between local and national priorities. Despite its relative size, the history of New Zealand’s schools highlights their complex and competing origins. This educational landscape has been marked by emerging concerns and unresolved tensions regarding entry standards, academic and professional training, recruitment, and the knowledge, skills and dispositions a teacher ought to possess. There has been little consensus about how teachers should be prepared and where this training ought to occur. The absence of any uniform understanding or agreement about the effective professional training and preparation of teachers has induced a level of bureaucratization as competing interests sought to control the work of teachers.

The purpose of this paper is to propose optimization models for assisting in buyer‐supplier negotiations by effectively considering multiple factors and interrelationships among them.

The approach used in the paper involves a combination of data envelopment analysis and multi‐criteria decision models.

Categorizes suppliers into efficient and inefficient performers and identifies effective negotiation strategies with respect to cost, quality, and delivery performance.

This original contribution presents models, which buyers can utilize for effectively negotiating with suppliers across a variety of factors.

This narrative describes the author’s experience as an artist, author, and a humanitarian. She uses pictures, art, and collage to make connections between her past, present, and future.

Although fewer than 150 years have passed since Jacques Daguerre perfected the first photographic image in 1839, the flood of evolving equipment and applications has already generated a broad and richly varied field. Simultaneously one of the youngest arts and one of the newest technologies, photography is now used in medical research, space exploration, criminal investigations, agricultural production, design of industrial machinery, ad infinitum. At one extreme, it records family life and supplies the surest method of identification on drivers' licenses. At the other end of the spectrum, photography (once denounced in haute couture) has within the past five years not only become an “acceptable” art form, but has assumed centerstage in museums and exhibits throughout the United States and Europe.