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Nuclear energy is a contested topic, requiring trade-offs in energy independence, ethicality and uncertainty. Anthropogenic climate change complicates these decisions further, with nuclear energy competing with other low-carbon and sustainable energy sources. Decisions about nuclear energy’s role, as part of a sustainable energy system, must be made in cooperation with all stakeholders. However, it is unclear how the public is involved in these decisions in the UK. This study aims to address this gap, exploring the degree to which public participation has occurred in the UK.

This paper conducted a scoping review of public participation in UK nuclear energy decision-making in the context of sustainable energy transitions, where the government retains and promotes nuclear energy as part of a sustainable energy system. Following a systematic literary search, this paper reviewed 28 academic and grey literature documents.

Public participation has primarily been conducted as consultations rather than active participation. There is limited evidence that consultations have meaningfully contributed to politically and socially responsible (i.e. individuals and groups working together for community benefit) decision-making, with public opinion on nuclear energy’s role being divided and is influenced by how it is framed.

Social aspects of nuclear energy development have historically received less attention than environmental and economic elements; the role of engagement and participation is relatively rare. Modern literature reviews in this context are largely absent, a gap this paper originally contribute to. This paper suggest ways in which how effective, inclusive engagement process could contribute to a fairer, responsible decision-making process and energy system in the UK.

This chapter focuses on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) as a new approach for academic institutions, such as universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UASs) as organizations based on empirical evidence. A University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland was selected as a case. An analysis of the organization's most representative documents, extensive interviews with employees having expertise in the different RRI keys (public engagement, gender equality/diversity, science education, open access, ethics) and Anticipation, Inclusiveness, Reflexivity, Responsiveness (AIRR) dimensions, as well as a focus group produced interesting insights regarding the discourse and institutionalization of the RRI approach in the organization. Furthermore, the drivers, barriers, best practices, and monitoring of each of the RRI keys and AIRR dimensions were further described. The findings suggest that RRI could be a helpful policy framework at a time that universities are going through a systemic change.

The concept of “participation” has become a buzzword in contemporary public governance models. However, despite the broad and significant interest, defining participation remains a debated topic. The aim of the current study was to explore how participants perceived and interpreted the meaning and scope of participation.

This study is part of a four-year (2019–2022) longitudinal research project investigating stakeholder participation in the context of developing and establishing a strategic regional plan in Region Skåne in southern Sweden. The research project has a qualitative approach and uses interviews with different stakeholder groups such as municipal politicians and public officials and a survey as empirical material.

The authors developed a participation spectrum including eight types of participation: to be open, to be informed, to be listened to, to discuss, to be consulted, to give and take, to collaborate and to co-create. The authors also identified four different purposes of participation: creating a joint network, creating a joint understanding, creating a joint effort and creating a joint vision. The spectrum and the purposes were related through four characteristics of participation, i.e. involvement, interaction, influence and empowerment.

The study rests on a single case, and so the results have limited transferatibility.

Researching participation in terms of the participants' perceptions contributes a new perspective to the existing literature, which has commonly focussed on the organizers' perceptions of participation. Moreover, in order to clarify what participation meant to the participants, the study puts emphasis on untangling this from the why question of participation.

In this chapter, we purport that “excessive entitlement” is directly linked to concepts of self/identity with the belief that how we come to regard self in relation to the Other is implicitly and explicitly taught. We view excessive entitlement as a manifestation of the privilege and infallibility of educators who take for granted the correctness of their actions. Through a critical examination of personal stories, theoretical literature, and common school practices, we create a collage of thoughts that highlight some of the complex factors that intersect with excessive entitlement, albeit considering what may be determined “excessive” and by whom.

We use a dialogic format, in this chapter, but do not engage in an actual duoethnography. We address the following questions: How does one (a) create an ethical habitus, constantly being aware of one's responsibility toward the Other, (b) reflexively and humbly practice self-accountability in a manner that recognizes one's positionality and status that is grounded in historical privileged, personal power dynamics, and systems of oppression, (c) develop dialogic ways of being in a neoliberal ethos of systemic accountability within prescriptive curricula, and (d) as teacher educators, assist students in understanding and practicing such dispositions.

We discuss how developing dialogic ways of being, treating others with respect, practicing humility in the face of other people, and learning to respect and build on difference disrupt excessive entitlement. We also explore complexities around the attempt to create “safe spaces” for students, given risks of self-deception and appropriation of students' meaning-making.

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing public servants’ anxiety and general public’s opposition toward the implementation of digital participatory platforms (DPPs) and municipal digital transformation (DX) in Japan. By addressing these factors, the research seeks to provide insights for policymakers to facilitate smoother transitions to digital governance and increase public acceptance and engagement.

The study uses surveys conducted with both general public and public servants. The surveys were designed based on previous research and collected data through Web-based questionnaires. General public’s data were collected from 366 valid responses over four days in July 2022, while public servants’ data were gathered from 197 valid responses over eight days. Statistical analysis was used to identify key factors influencing anxiety and opposition.

Public servants’ anxiety is influenced by self-perceived creativity, openness to innovation, international collaborations, work-life balance and gender equality reforms. The general public’s opposition stems from dissatisfaction with current digital tools, social media use and political engagement. Both groups could benefit from targeted training, improved usability and inclusive engagement strategies.

The findings suggest that targeted training to enhance public servants’ creativity and digital literacy, fostering an innovative organizational culture and promoting work-life balance can reduce anxiety about DPPs. For general public, improving the usability of digital tools, engaging them in the design process and leveraging social media for communication and feedback can increase acceptance of digital initiatives.

Understanding the concerns of both public servants and general public regarding DX can lead to more inclusive and effective governance. By addressing these concerns, policymakers can foster greater public trust and engagement, ultimately enhancing the effectiveness and transparency of municipal governance.

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors contributing to resistance to DX in public governance. By examining both public servants’ and general public’ perspectives, it offers valuable insights for designing and implementing strategies to facilitate smoother transitions to digital participatory governance.

This study examines the impact of perceived human resource management practices on talent turnover intention, with work engagement mediating and self-efficacy moderating the relationship. It examines how employees' perceptions of pay satisfaction, empowerment, participation and communication are related to their turnover intentions.

A total of 283 valid questionnaires from UAE government employees were used for data analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the proposed hypothesis.

The results reveal that employees' perceptions of pay satisfaction, empowerment, participation and communication are significant contributors to work engagement. The findings further demonstrate that work engagement significantly negatively affects talent turnover intention and acts as a mediator between employees' perceptions of individual human resource management practices and talent turnover intention. However, the results contradict the hypothesis that self-efficacy moderates the association between work engagement and talent turnover intention.

This study focuses on the impact of perceived human resource management practices on talent turnover intention, an area that has received limited attention in literature. By focusing on perceived human resource management practices, this study illuminates employees' subjective experiences and how they perceive human resource management practices intended to reduce talent turnover intention. The inclusion of the mediating effect of work engagement offers a more profound understanding of how employees' perceptions of human resource management practices influence their turnover intentions. This comprehensive approach to understanding the interplay between these variables provides valuable insights for organizations seeking to improve their human resource management practices and talent turnover intention.

Citizen engagement (CE) in public policy is increasingly considered to be an important feature of governance worldwide. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of e-government usage (EGU) on citizens’ engagement. In addition, the study investigates the mediating effect of government reputation (GR) and the moderating role of digital divide (DD) in EGU and citizens' engagement relationship.

Data were collected from 938 respondents in Vietnam with a random method. This study used the partial least squares – structural equation modeling method to examine hypotheses.

The results show that e-government and GR are critical determinants of CE. Furthermore, GR plays a mediating role in the relationship between e-government and CE. The results also show how DD moderates this nexus.

The findings of this study provide valuable evidence and implications. Public officials must improve the GR and administrative capacity as the determination for the CE. Moreover, the government should continually carry out policies to reduce the DD.

By investigating the mediating and moderating effects of GR and DD, this study has significantly contributed to advancing the body knowledge of e-government.

Citizen engagement can promote value creation in urban development projects. This potential stems from the granting of decision-making authority to citizens, labeled citizen enfranchisement in this study. Citizens are focal stakeholders of urban development projects and enfranchisement grants them an explicit say on such projects. Despite this potential for enhanced value creation, there remains limited understanding about how project organizations enfranchise stakeholders in the front end of urban development projects.

In this research, we designed a multiple-case study to analyze two novel citizen engagement processes in Northern-European cities. In these processes, citizens were enfranchised in ideating, designing, and making selections on urban development projects. We followed a multimethod approach to data collection. The collected datasets include document data, interview data and observation data.

Our findings demonstrated a distribution and redistribution of decision-making authority throughout the phases of the citizen engagement processes. Citizens’ voices were amplified throughout the project front end, although episodes of decision-making authority held by the cities took place periodically as well. By granting explicit decision-making authority to citizens, citizen enfranchisement facilitated a more democratic urban development process, promoting value creation.

In contrast to the earlier research, the findings of our study illustrate citizen engagement taking place at so-called higher levels of stakeholder engagement. In particular, our study reveals a granting of de facto decision-making authority to citizens, also known as citizen enfranchisement. These findings contribute to the earlier research on stakeholder engagement in projects, where the influence of stakeholder engagement has often been considered symbolic or limited.

Personal influence is one of the most powerful strategies to influence publics’ behaviours. Yet, there is scant attention on how personal influence is leveraged for different public relations purposes in different cultural contexts. This study empirically investigates the presence and use of personal influence among Italian public relations professionals.

A survey was conducted through a self-administrated, web-based questionnaire and was developed from earlier studies investigating personal influence in public relations literature. Survey participants included public relations professionals across public, non-profit and private sectors.

The findings empirically show the presence and regular use of personal influence by professionals from all sectors to cultivate interpersonal relationships. Personal influence is considered a personal resource and used to leverage own influencing power. The findings also document four major manifestations of personal influence, which were named: relational closeness strategy, engagement strategy, expertise strategy and added value strategy.

This study enhances our understanding of personal influence in a specific cultural context and offers strategic insights for international professionals seeking to leverage influence in the socio-political environment of Italy. It also offers elements to improve public relations education and training.

The study offers some preliminary understandings of how Italian professionals leverage their personal influence in their daily public relations activities contributing with empirical evidence to the body of knowledge in public relations.

The role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in stimulating economic growth and innovation underscores the crucial need to understand the factors that influence their participation in public sector markets. Drawing on network theory, this research delves into the interaction effect of innovation culture and collaborative relationships on SME participation in public procurement. It assesses how collaborative relationships can serve as a vital mediator, enhancing the impact of innovation culture on SME participation in public procurement.

The research was carried out with 248 SME suppliers in Ilala district, located in the Dar es Salaam region of Tanzania, utilizing a questionnaire survey and a stratified random sampling technique. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and the Hayes PROCESS macro were employed to analyze the data.

The study findings highlight collaborative relationships as a pivotal mediator between innovation culture and SME participation in public procurement. Although no direct link between innovation culture and SME participation in public procurement was established, the results indicate a noteworthy positive influence of innovation culture on collaborative relationships, subsequently affecting SME participation in public procurement.

The research underscores the significance of promoting an innovation-driven culture to support the participation of SMEs within public procurement activities. Additionally, the research offers valuable perspectives on the role of collaborative relationships in stimulating innovation and achieving success in public procurement, guiding SME managers, policymakers and industry stakeholders in cultivating productive relationships and partnerships.

The research enhances both theoretical and practical insights, adding to the literature that addresses the effects of innovation culture and collaborative relationships on SME participation in public procurement. These insights can be valuable to policymakers and SME managers in designing appropriate strategies that foster an innovative culture and explore the benefits of collaborative relationships for effective participation in public procurement.