Why cities need economic intelligenceThe economies of Europe’s cities are changingfast, and it is not easy to predict which segmentsof the local economy will grow and which oneswill decline. Yet, cities must make decisions as towhere to invest, and face a number of questionsthat are difficultto answer:Where dowe putour bets? Should we go for biotech, ICT, or anyother sector that may have growth potential?Do we want to attract large foreign companies,or rather support our local indigenous smallerfirms, ormustwe promotethestart-up scene?Or is it better not to go for any particularindustry but just improve the quality of lifein the city, hoping that this will help to retainskilled people and attract high tech firms?
BackgroundPeople from lower and middle socioeconomic classes and vulnerable populations are among the worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, thus exacerbating disparities and the digital divide.ObjectiveTo draw a portrait of e-services as a digital approach to support digital health literacy in vulnerable populations amid the COVID-19 infodemic, and identify the barriers and facilitators for their implementation.MethodsA scoping review was performed to gather published literature with a broad range of study designs and grey literature without exclusions based on country of publication. A search was created in Medline (Ovid) in March 2021 and translated to Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus and CINAHL with Full Text (EBSCOhost). The combined literature search generated 819 manuscripts. To be included, manuscripts had to be written in English, and present information on digital intervention(s) (e.g. social media) used to enable or increase digital health literacy among vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. older adults, Indigenous people living on reserve).ResultsFive articles were included in the study. Various digital health literacy-enabling e-services have been implemented in different vulnerable populations. Identified e-services aimed to increase disease knowledge, digital health literacy and social media usage, help in coping with changes in routines and practices, decrease fear and anxiety, increase digital knowledge and skills, decrease health literacy barriers and increase technology acceptance in specific groups. Many facilitators of digital health literacy-enabling e-services implementation were identified in expectant mothers and their families, older adults and people with low-income. Barriers such as low literacy limited to no knowledge about the viruses, medium of contamination, treatment options played an important role in distracting and believing in misinformation and disinformation. Poor health literacy was the only barrier found, which may hinder the understanding of individual health needs, illness processes and treatments for people with HIV/AIDS.ConclusionsThe literature on the topic is scarce, sparse and immature. We did not find any literature on digital health literacy in Indigenous people, though we targeted this vulnerable population. Although only a few papers were included, two types of health conditions were covered by the literature on digital health literacy-enabling e-services, namely chronic conditions and conditions that are new to the patients. Digital health literacy can help improve prevention and adherence to a healthy lifestyle, improve capacity building and enable users to take the best advantage of the options available, thus strengthening the patient’s involvement in health decisions and empowerment, and finally improving health outcomes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to pursue research on digital health literacy and develop digital platforms to help solve current and future COVID-19-related health needs.
Indonesia’s peat forests remain severely threatened by forest fires, oil palm plantation development and extractive industries, which leads to biodiversity loss, increased emissions of greenhouse gases, and the marginalization of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. In 2008 the Government of Indonesia introduced the Social Forestry Programme under which Indigenous Peoples and local communities can acquire a 35-year management permit. Since then, about 10 percent of Indonesian State Forest has been designated for community-based forest conservation and restoration initiatives. The devolution of authority to the local level has created a new playing field. The Social Forestry Programme reverses more than a century of centralistic forest policy, and requires a fundamental re-orientation of all actors working in the forestry sector. The central question underlying this proposal is how Dutch civil society organizations (applied universities and NGOs) can effectively support Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the protection and restoration of peat forests in Indonesia. This project aims to set up a Living Lab in Ketapang District in West Kalimantan to study, identify and test novel ways to work together with a variety of stakeholders to effectively conserve and restore peat forest. In Ketapang District, Tropenbos Indonesia has assisted three Village Forest Management Groups (Pematang Gadung, Sungai Pelang and Sungai Besar) in securing a Social Forestry Permit. Students from three Dutch Universities (Van Hall Larenstein, Aeres Hogeschool and Inholland) will conduct research in partnership with students from Universitas Tanjungpura on the integration of local ecological knowledge and technical expertise, on the economic feasibility of community-based forestry enterprises, and on new polycentric governance structures. The results of these studies will be disseminated to policy makers and civil society groups working in Indonesia, using the extensive networks of IUCN NL and Tropenbos Indonesia.
