Worldwide, an increasing number of students seek private supplementary tutoring, known as ‘shadow education.’ Various studies report social class differences in the use of shadow education. High-SES families may invest in shadow education as a form of concerted cultivation, seeking to improve their children’s school achievement. In this study, we apply meta-analytic structural equation modeling to explore relationships between parental education, income, and the use of shadow education across nations and educational contexts. We find robust relationships between parental education, income and the use of shadow education. Moreover, we assess a mediating role of shadow education in the relationship between SES and achievement. Shadow education appears to fulfill a competitive function for privileged families who seek to secure advantage in educational competition. We conclude that educational research, particularly research concerned with inequality of opportunities, needs to take account of the progressively prominent position of shadow education in the educational landscape.
In human-controlled environments and in cultivated landscapes, the plants accommodate social, cultural and economic needs. This article will focus on the use of plants for agriculture, urban planning, forestry, environmental education and indoor decoration in The Netherlands. This exploration, based on literature review and observations, reveals mostly anthropocentric, instrumental and unsustainable practices. In urban landscapes, plants are pushed to the margins, if not entirely eradicated. This article shows that the moral recognition of plants is an ethical imperative, which is also critically important in order to achieve environmental sustainability. In line with ecocentric ethics and in the interest of long-term sustainability, this article suggests an alternative, more ethical and sustainable ways of relating to plants in The Netherlands and beyond. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in "Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability" on 10/11/18 available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2018.1527780 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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In human-controlled environments and in cultivated landscapes, the plants accommodate social, cultural and economic needs. This article will focus on the use of plants for agriculture, urban planning, forestry, environmental education and indoor decoration in The Netherlands. This exploration, based on literature review and observations, reveals mostly anthropocentric, instrumental and unsustainable practices. In urban landscapes plants are pushed to the margins, if not entirely eradicated. This article shows that moral recognition of plants is an ethical imperative, which is also critically important to achieve environmental sustainability. In line with ecocentric ethics and in the interest of long-term sustainability, this article suggests alternative, more ethical and sustainable ways of relating to plants in The Netherlands and beyond. This is the Author’s Original Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, on October 2018, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17549175.2018.1527780 https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2018.1527780
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The focus of this project is on improving the resilience of hospitality Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by enabling them to take advantage of digitalization tools and data analytics in particular. Hospitality SMEs play an important role in their local community but are vulnerable to shifts in demand. Due to a lack of resources (time, finance, and sometimes knowledge), they do not have sufficient access to data analytics tools that are typically available to larger organizations. The purpose of this project is therefore to develop a prototype infrastructure or ecosystem showcasing how Dutch hospitality SMEs can develop their data analytic capability in such a way that they increase their resilience to shifts in demand. The one year exploration period will be used to assess the feasibility of such an infrastructure and will address technological aspects (e.g. kind of technological platform), process aspects (e.g. prerequisites for collaboration such as confidentiality and safety of data), knowledge aspects (e.g. what knowledge of data analytics do SMEs need and through what medium), and organizational aspects (what kind of cooperation form is necessary and how should it be financed).
This pre-study anticipates to a SIA call focussing on circular and bio-based economy in Brazil. It is linked to the Living Lab Brazil managed by Avans University of Applied Sciences. Although the dairy value chain will benefit from both circular and bio-based principles, this pre-study will be limited to circular systems. There is a vast potential for investment by the Dutch and Brazilian private sector in the dairy value chain in Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. There is also ample room to improve production efficiency towards a more circular system. Notwithstanding the business opportunities in the Brazilian dairy sector, there are challenges in attracting and consolidating partnerships along the circular-based value chain. A better understanding of the demands, challenges and opportunities of the interested Dutch companies is highly relevant to develop sustainable circular-based dairy value chains. Therefore, the goal of our project proposal is the exploration of a potential Dutch business network that is interested to invest in the Brazilian circular dairy value chain, and an exploration of the potential business opportunities for the Dutch and Brazilian dairy sector. The consortium in our proposal is conformed as follows: (a) Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences (VHL). VHL is the leading knowledge institute. Vilentum University of Applied Sciences and the Federal University of Viçosa will participate through VHL. (b) Alta Genetics BV; (c) Groasis BV. To achieve our goal we focus on the following questions: What is the potential and what are the bottlenecks for the Dutch private sector (SME’s) to increase business opportunities in the dairy sector of MG? What are the business opportunities to develop and innovate circular-based dairy value chains through the Dutch and Brazilian private sector with dairy breeding and agro-silvopastoral farming as pilots? The outputs of this study will be: A list of potential Dutch private investors, both interested but hesitating and/or already successful. Basically we would like to identify “partners” and to build up a business network where we could match-make the Dutch companies with the Brazilian companies or clients; A pre-proposal including intentions for further collaboration; Three detailed reports with marketing and investment opportunities and/or research strategy in relation to circular-based economy in: general dairy chain, dairy breeding and agro-silvopastoral farming. The latter two topics must be considered as pilots for the entire dairy value chain.
Om de ambities te behalen zoals geformuleerd in de Sustainable Development Goals, is transdisciplinaire samenwerking nodig tussen overheden, bedrijfsleven, burgers en wetenschap. Dit vraagt om multi-stakeholderbenaderingen waarin leren van en met elkaar centraal staat. Dit onderzoeksvoorstel is een vertaalslag van bovenstaande ambitie zoals geformuleerd in samenwerking met hoger onderwijs partners in Bandung, Indonesië. Het Living Lab Upper Citarum biedt een context om onderzoek te doen binnen een bestaand Living Lab gekenmerkt door de multi-stakeholder setting en de complexiteit van duurzaam beheer van natuurlijke hulpbronnen. Het onderzoek beoogt inzicht te verkrijgen in essentiële ‘21st century skills’ voor deelnemers met faciliterende rollen in een Living Lab. De onderzoeksstrategie wil een bijdrage leveren aan de duurzaamheidsagenda van Living Labs met het ontwerpen, het ervaren, reflecteren en documenteren van praktische interventies in de lokale context. De keuze voor werken op locatie is een eerste benadering in het creëren van een realistische leerervaring voor Living Lab facilitators met diverse achtergronden en valt daarmee te beschrijven als ‘learning by doing’. De algemene onderzoekvraag is als volgt geformuleerd: Which contemporary skills and capabilities are present and which need to be developed to establish a widely shared mind set for trans- or interdisciplinary strategies so that communities and institutions in a Living Lab configuration increase their performance? De onderzoeksstrategie krijgt vorm in een ‘21st century skills exploration’ die een experimentele leerruimte biedt aan medewerkers van diverse instituten en (overheids-)organisaties die actief zijn in het Living Lab om kennis te maken met de creatieve methodes voor publieke participatie. Dit vindt vooral plaats in interactie met lokale gemeenschappen met nadruk op creatieve methodes zoals een poetry route, participatory mapping en film. Na presentatie op locatie worden de resultaten gepresenteerd tijdens een mini-symposium in Bandung.
