Measuring the Distributional Impact of Public Health Spending on Poverty in Nigeria

Author(s): Olawale Ibrahim Olateju,Oludare Tolulope Adeyemi,Mustapha Abiodun Okunnu / Language(s): English Issue: 09/2009

Most African health systems are replicas of what was inherited from the colonial era and are therefore unevenly weighted toward privileged elites and Urban centers. Improved health status leads to increased productivity, educational performance, higher life expectancy, savings and investments, and decreased debts and expenditure on health care. Ultimately this would lead to greater equity, economic re-turn, and social and political stability. The health impacts of climate change can occur through a number of direct and indirect causal pathways, and the severity is in part determined by the adaptive capacity of the population. Those groups particularly at risk include poorer countries and communities, those geographically vulnerable to extreme weather events, and those highly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.The paper examines the impact of public health expenditure, and poverty among the general populace. The trend of the country human development index and public expenditure on health were analyzed using correlation coefficient and regression analysis and simple descriptive analysis. The findings reveal that the variations in the human development index could be traced to the budget estimates.

Ungarn - Es grünt so grün, wenn Donausaurier blühen

Author(s): Herrmann Dworczak / Language(s): German Issue: 23/1986

Ungarn erlebte im Jänner eine unabhängige, öffentliche Versammlung: Der Versuch, im Februar den Protest gegen das Kraftwerk Gahcikovo-Nagymaros auf die Straße zu tragen, scheiterte allerdings am Widerstand der Behörden.

Hasła ekologiczne – od ulicznego transparentu do viralu

Author(s): Agnieszka Anna Niekrewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2022

The article presents the results of a linguistic and stylistic analysis of 500 Polish-language slogans used during street protests of the Youth Climate Strike in years 2019-2020. The primary goal of the study was to show the treatments that transform street slogans into viral content and internet memes spread on social media. The analysis determined the constructs of the sender and receiver used, types of speech acts, rhetorical figures, mechanisms of language games and intertextual references.

Labour Law in the 20th Century as a Response to the Climate Crisis in Poland. Pro-climate Attitudes Versus the Obligations of the Parties to the Employment Relationship

Author(s): Michał Barański,Katarzyna Jaworska,Anna Piszczek / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2023

The starting point for further consideration is that climate change and humanity’s contribution to this process is an indisputable global fact. The article puts forward the thesis that certain provisions of the Labour Code—either existing since its enactment (i.e. since 1974) or introduced later but before 2000 (the title labour law of the 20th century)—show a visible “pro-climate potential”. This potential should be understood in that they can become an effective instrument in the fight against climate change.The analysis examines: 1) the employer’s obligation to respect the dignity and personal rights of employees, 2) the employee’s duty to respect the interest of the work establishment and 3) the employer’s obligation to contribute to shaping the principles of social coexistence in the workplace and the related employee’s obligation to respect these principles. The option to use multiple legal constructions and protective mechanisms in parallel when determining the responsibility of the employee or the employer reinforces the importance of pro-climate behaviour in the workplace. Nevertheless, not all of the mentioned legal instruments will always be able to be applied when categorising a specific event.

Idea miasta zielonego – analiza porównawcza miast Europy Środkowej (przykład Warszawy, Pragi i Budapesztu)

Author(s): Anna Hulicka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1-2/2022

The main aim of the article is to compare the implementation of the green city concept in capital cities above 1 million population in Central Europe, i.e. Warsaw, Prague and Budapest in order to evaluate the degree to which each of these cities implement the assumptions of the abovementioned concept to achieve urban sustainability. An analysis of strategic documents on urban planning as well as data bases of the three cities was carried out. The results allowed for measuring the progress and effectiveness of the environmental policies of these cities and determining their achievements and shortcomings when it comes to realizing the green city model. Additionally, for the purpose of this research, an attempt at elaborating the definition of a ‘green city,’through determining four phases of its development, was made. Thus, the article is solution-specific, in that it points at possibilities of the development of Central European cities as regards the implementation of the green city concept.

Effects of National Easing Monetary Policy on Chinese Enterprises’ Investment

Author(s): Xing WANG,Ximing SUN / Language(s): English Issue: 83/2023

Enterprise investment is closely related to cost of capital, and cost of capital is affected by lending rate driven by national monetary policy. For instance, the retail interest rate (including deposit, loan interest rates) of a bank would rise during the practice of tight national monetary policy. Excessively high loan interest rate would reduce enterprises’ investment due to increasing cost of capital. In this case, corporate investment behavior could be understood from national monetary policy. Taking listed companies publicly offered by Shanghai Stock Exchange and Taipei Exchange as the research samples, the open annual information from the database are acquired. Industry peculiarities, financial, securities, and insurance industries applicable to special accounting standards, as well as construction industry are excluded, and samples with incomplete or omitted data are deleted. The research results show that 1.the practice of easing policy in national monetary policy allows Chinese enterprises holding higher free cash flow, 2.Chinese enterprises with positive free cash flow appear higher investment behavior, and 3.the practice of easing policy in national monetary policy results in higher investment behavior of Chinese enterprises. According to the results, it is proposed to discuss the evaluation basis for impacts on industrial development during monetary policy. The results could assist policy makers in better understanding impacts of national monetary policy adjustment on enterprise investment effect as well as provide business managers for evaluating the effectiveness of national monetary policy.

„Člověk pokouší krajinu“

Author(s): Mariana Machová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 6/2023

This study explores the possibilities of an ecocritical reading of the work of the Czech poet Jiřina Hauková (1919–2005). Despite the position of Jiřina Hauková’s poetry in the canon of modern Czech poetry, her poetry has not yet been analysed from this perspective. The starting point for the study is contemporary Anglo-American thinking on “ecopoetry” and “ecopoetics”, which emphasizes the exploration and systematic revision of our intimate yet ambiguous relationship with the natural world and a complex grasp of the otherness of this world.

Myšlení a psaní jsou vždy vtělené

Author(s): Tereza Dědinová,Petr Bubeníček,Timothy Morton / Language(s): Czech Issue: 6/2023

Female activists in environmental movements on Instagram: An ecofeminism perspective in the Indonesian context

Author(s): Bruce Dame Laoera / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2023

Social media has become an essential instrument for activists and organisations to campaign and share their activism in the digital sphere. In Indonesia, many activists utilise social media to create and interact with the audience; and expand their networks, including in environmental activism. Numerous studies have analysed the importance of environmental organisations and activists in combating the climate issue; however, only a few have examined how female activists depict and discuss environmental activism on social media from an ecofeminist viewpoint, particularly on Instagram. The contributions of female activists may provide broader and more critical views that link environmental challenges with other issues. Therefore, the growth of online networks not only opens the chance to participate in transnational activism and movements but also may lead to a rise in the number of female activists who can voice their opinions and campaign on environmental concerns, particularly in the Indonesian context.

Study of Air and Surface Temperatures in the City of Rouen (France) in Order to Evaluate the Characteristics of the Urban Heat Islands

Author(s): Zeineddine Nouaceur,Ovidiu Murărescu,George Murătoreanu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2023

Due to its concave topography, the climate in the Rouen region is affected by the impact of urbanization. The urbanized area occupies the bottom of the Seine Valley and extends onto slopes and plateaus. These topographic conditions contribute to the formation of well-differentiated local climates. To better understand the urban heat island, an expeditionary measurement campaign was carried out from 25 June to 11 August 2020. This campaign is based on the knowledge of the spatial distribution of temperatures in the city. These measurements were carried out according to different profiles and a specific programme. During this period, the region was affected by three heatwaves.. In this study, we present the results regarding the air temperatures obtained on 25 June 2020. The study also relies on the analysis of “Landsat 8” channel 11 satellite images, with a spatial resolution of 30 m to define surface temperatures. The results obtained during the measurement campaign show the importance of the differences between vegetated and built spaces. They also highlight hotspots (at traffic intersections and on main transport corridors – boulevards). The results obtained from the processing of satellite images show significant temperature differences between the industrial area and the rest of the city. There is an important thermal contrast between green spaces and asphalt squares in the city centre. There is a thermal lag between the “west” plateau, Cailly Valley, and the rest of the city.

Po przemyśle. Humanistyka wobec bioruin i biogruzów

Author(s): Marta Tomczok / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2023

The article is a proposal to apply the concepts of biorubbles and bioruins in relation to post-industrial sites. On the basis of field observations and critical analysis of concepts such as post-industrial places, technofact, ruin or indunatura, the author tries to propose an approach closer to the non-anthropocentric understanding of landscape, in which the emphasis is primarily on the vital nature of destruction and waste.In the detailed part, the article proposes an analysis of artistic projects, e.g. Marcin Doś, Mona Tusz and Diana Lelonek, as well as revitalized or abandoned post-industrial sites (including the Grodziec cement plant and the site of the Orzegów coking plant in Ruda Śląska). The author presents the natural overgrowing of post-industrial rubble as an alternative to planned revitalization, which from the point of view of nature’s needs seems to be a much more successful action than the planned reconstruction of the ecosystem.

Powrót do przeszłości V: pandemia. Nostalgia a świat postpandemiczny

Author(s): Olga Kosińska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2023

One of the phenomena which scope expanded during the period of restrictions related to COVID-19 was a social turn towards the past, observed especially in social media, identified as a nostalgia trend. Understood as a sentimental longing for something that has already passed that causes sadness or pleasure by remembering something and wishing it could be experienced again, nostalgia was one of the tools for dealing with the hardships and uncertainty of the pandemic times. Individual users of social media willingly undertook communication focused around memories, expressing regret for times long gone that had been seen in their idealized form as easier and happier. This trend has been effectively used in marketing focused on nostalgia. It was only effective when it evokes positive memories and evokes good feelings in the recipients that encourages the more to reach for the product or service offered. This specific turn towards this period of time was used as a tool that allowed not having to face terrifying moments and often difficult present, and even more so the unknown future. Thus, uncertain of the future and terrified of the present, the pandemic consumer was all the more susceptible to peaceful and happy images from the past, which both algorithms and commercial entities gave him. In these circumstances, one can point to a specific management of pandemic nostalgia by entities that are essentially external to the individual user.

Phenomenological structuralism: a structurationist theory of human action

Author(s): Paul C. Mocombe / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

Building on Structurationist sociology, this work explores Paul C. Mocombe’ssynthesis of phenomenology and structural Marxism, phenomenological structuralism,as an essay in Structurationist theory and the phenomenological ontology of EdmundHusserl, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau–Ponty, and Jean–Paul Sartre in order toresolve the structure/agency problematic of the social sciences.

CASE STUDY OF RURAL ECUADORIAN REGION AND THE COMPARISON BETWEEN HUNGARIAN RURAL SECTOR

Author(s): Maria LOURDES ORDONEZ,Pető Károly / Language(s): English Issue: 27/2021

The review article aims to know the reality of the rural sector of one of the essential productive territories of Ecuador. Manabi province is in the center of the country's coastal area on the most relevant part of the South American continent over the Pacific Ocean. It is in a strategic position for trade and agro productive activities. The document will analyze the three dimensions (social, ecological, and economic) in which the rural development of the territories is focused and compare the region described with the Hungarian rural economy. Additionally, it will identify some similarities and differences in the rural sector, particularly the strong relationship between the agricultural activities and the situation of the farmers in this context. This case study serves as an instrument of analysis of a settlement within which rural development works at a general level. Also, it will contemplate a series of statistical information that evidence the territorial reality of the regions that can determine future sustainable rural development strategies.

Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale Validation Study of the English Version in an Online Gig Work Context

Author(s): Lucian Sfetcu,Daniela Cojocaru / Language(s): English Issue: 84/2024

The self-determination theory (SDT) is a macro theory of human motivation and personality that focuses on people’s innate psychological needs and their desires for growth and development. The Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (MWMS) is grounded in the SDT and was extensively researched and tested on different cultures, in different languages and in different contexts. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the applicability of the MWMS in a different and relatively new type of work, namely on online gig work. A sample of workers on the Clickworker.com platform (N=542) voluntarily answered the questionnaire. The result shows that, while most subscales are applicable in this context, the Introjected regulation subscale might need some adjustment for online work environments.

Research Outlines of the Sustainable Profile of Believers in Croatia

Author(s): Ivana Brstilo Lovrić,Miriam Mary Brgles,Damir Mravunac / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

The topic of this paper are sustainable habits and attitudes of the religious population in Croatia regarding the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’. Empirical work is based on CRO Laudato Si' project using survey method on a non-probabilistic sample of the religious population in Croatia, which in this paper are operationalized as active and occasional believers according to their regularity of attending religious ceremonies (N=1305). The analysis showed that active believers have a more pronounced sustainable profile (as they throw away less food, separate waste more, show greater readiness for saving water, electrical energy and have a more pronounced critical attitude about the need for greater application of the Laudato Si' within the Church and society) than the occasional believers. Given the nonrepresentative sample, the presented data cannot be generalized to the religious population in Croatia, shaping its fundamental contribution in stimulating future scientific analyses and reflections on the Church's relationship with religious practices, and emphasizing active believers as potential social leaders of sustainable lifestyles. Therefore, the sustainable habits of the surveyed believers represent a relational good and serve as the basis for building a culture of moderation that respects key principles of Catholic Social Teaching. In that perspective, we conclude that it is important for the Church to speak more often about the socio-environmental crisis and encourage strong responses to the crisis at all social levels, from households and families to the macro level.

Assessing cultural ecosystem service potential for green infrastructure planning in a peri-urban landscape: An expert-based matrix approach

Author(s): Vita Žlender / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

With the encroachment of urban areas into peri-urban landscapes, the requirement for effective green infrastructure (GI) planning has become increasingly important for maintaining ecological integrity and human wellbeing. An expert-based matrix approach is proposed as a method for evaluating the potential of cultural ecosystem services (CES) in making informed GI planning decisions in a peri-urban landscape. Experts from various disciplines and areas of work were consulted to systematically evaluate various types of land-use and land-cover classes, as well as protection regimes characteristic of a peri-urban landscape across the CES categories. In addition to CES provision potential, experts also evaluated the possible potential to cause cultural ecosystem disservices. These scores are aggregated to generate spatially explicit maps that highlight areas with high CES provision potential and those with the potential to cause disservices. This approach was then applied to three case study areas, demonstrating its effectiveness in identifying priority areas for GI planning and management interventions. The results highlight the importance of integrating CES considerations into GI planning processes to enhance landscape resilience, social wellbeing, and cultural heritage preservation in dynamic peri-urban environments. Using scoring, validation exercises, and spatially explicit presentation on case studies, the utility and applicability of the expert-based matrix approach as a valuable tool for sustainable GI planning on a landscape scale is demonstrated.

Proučevanje potenciala za zagotavljanje kulturnih ekosistemskih storitev pri načrtovanju zelene infrastrukture v obmestni krajini: pristop z matriko strokovnih ocen

Author(s): Vita Žlender / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1/2024

S širjenjem mestnih območij v obmestne krajine postaja potreba po učinkovitem načrtovanju zelene infrastrukture čedalje pomembnejša za ohranjanje ekološke celovitosti območij in človekovega dobrega počutja. V članku je predstavljena matrika strokovnih ocen kot metoda vrednotenja potenciala območij, da zagotavljajo kulturne ekosistemske storitve (KES), pri načrtovanju zelene infrastrukture (ZI) v obmestni krajini. Strokovnjaki z več področij so sistematično ovrednotili različne vrste rabe zemljišč in pokrovnosti tal ter varstvene režime, značilne za obmestne krajine, in to glede na kategorije KES. Poleg potenciala za zagotavljanje kulturnih ekosistemskih storitev so ovrednotili tudi potencial za povzročanje kulturnih ekosistemskih nevšečnosti. Njihove ocene so bile združene in na tej podlagi so bile izdelane karte, na katerih so razvidna območja z visokim potencialom za zagotavljanje KES in tista, na katerih bi lahko ekosistemi povzročili nevšečnosti. Opisani pristop je bil nato uporabljen v treh študijah primera, pri tem je bila dokazana njegova učinkovitost pri določanju prednostnih območij za načrtovanje ZI in izvedbo upravljavskih posegov. Izsledki raziskave opozarjajo na pomen upoštevanja KES pri načrtovanju ZI, saj lahko to izboljša odpornost krajin, družbeno blaginjo in ohranjanje kulturne dediščine v dinamičnih obmestnih okoljih. S presojo, vrednotenjem zbranih strokovnih ocen in jasno prostorsko predstavitvijo rezultatov za posamezno proučevano območje je bila potrjena uporabnost matrike strokovnih ocen kot uporabnega orodja za načrtovanje trajnostne ZI v krajinskem merilu.

Challenges Impeding Technology Education Teachers in Delivering Lessons to Raise Students’ Awareness About Littering

Author(s): Tsebo Kgoto Matsekoleng / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2023

Background/purpose – Technology education (TE) offers hands-on activities through a design process to be an environmentally-oriented subject. TE can be used to reduce littering, an environmental problem that also has health implications for modern-day society. This research study sought to explore the challenges that impede TE teachers in delivering lessons to raise students’ awareness of littering through the application of the participatory paradigm. Materials/methods – TE teachers of Grade 8 students were selected using purposive sampling in this qualitative participatory action research (PAR) study. The use of PAR was chosen in order to develop relevant action research-based methods of intervention that can be implemented to address gaps in the literature. Chaos theory was used to ground the study. Interviews were used to generate data from the study participants, which were then analyzed using the content/textual analysis method. Results – The study identified issues, challenges, and obstacles that impede TE teachers from delivering lessons that raise students’ awareness about littering. Lack of understanding environmental education and subject relevancy were found to be some of the major challenges facing TE teachers in conscientizing students about littering. Conclusion – The author concludes that TE teachers need to be equipped with environmental pedagogies through inservice training in order that they can incorporate littering issues into their lessons.

ПРЕДШКОЛСКА УСТАНОВА КАО ЗНАЧАЈАН ФАКТОР У РАЗВОЈУ ЕКОЛОШКЕ СВЕСТИ ДЕЦЕ

Author(s): Sanja Zejak / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2021

Preschool age is defined by a number of authors as an ideal time for the beginning of the development of environmental awareness. Precisely accelerated development, great emotionalism and curiosity are the characteristics of preschool age which are also ideal for the beginning of ecological education of children. Although family is the first and important factor in developing ecological awareness in children, the influence of educational institutions is irreplaceable in that area. A preschool institution, in that sense, is a number one place where planning ecological education of children should begin. Having in mind this, it was deemed necessary to research the ways in which teachers in their work with children of preschool age apply ecological education. Within this research, a survey of teachers employed in preschool institutions in the territory of Belgrade was conducted. Based on the results, it can be concluded that there is an awareness on the importance of ecological education in teachers, as well as on possibilities provided by preschool age when it comes to this type of work with children. Also, teachers assess project approach as very favorable in terms of an approach whose application can significantly contribute to improving the ecological education of children. The importance of these data is reflected in the fact that they lead us to a conclusion that teachers show competencies also for the implementation of this kind of work with children. Of course, it is important to apply all of this in practice because everyday situations in the kindergarten open many opportunities for the implementation of ecological education whereby it is up to the teacher to identify those opportunities and use them in a creative and quality manner to successfully encourage the development of ecological education in children.