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From project to place: conceptualising place-based factors leading to successful social innovation in sport
Get PDFResearch question
Although social innovation has recently received some interest in the sport management field, extant studies have predominantly focused on the organisational factors leading to innovations in the Sport-for-Development and Peace (SDP) context. There is limited understanding of the context – and place-specific factors affecting social innovation in sport in rural areas. This research aims to unveil the key factors that lead to successful social innovations in sport in rural areas.
Research methods
This study adopts a Constructionist Grounded Theory approach to explore how sport has been anchored for a social innovation project to revitalise an impoverished rural area through the case of Village Super League (VSL) in China. A total of 28 open interviews have been conducted with stakeholders involved in the social innovation process.
Results and findings
The main result of this study is the empirically grounded identification of five place-based factors, namely, domain (football), local context, institutional support, individual agency and empowerment, and community engagement, as well as digital technology as a catalyst, which jointly contributed to the success of the VSL. The result is strengthened by providing a conceptual framework that depicts these factors and their interplay in leading to successful social innovation in sport.
Implications
The conceptual framework provides a theoretical basis for future empirical research on social innovation in the sport context and practical implications for practitioners and policymakers on how best to design and leverage localised sport-based social innovation projects for community and/or rural area development
Misconceptions about variance comparisons for exploring the presence of treatment response heterogeneity in randomized controlled trials
Get PDFLetter to the Editor. To the editor: Regarding treatment response heterogeneity (TRH), we contest claims in Ref. 1 about variance difference statistics, especially the standard deviation of individual responses (SDIR)
Relational and Feminist Pedagogic Approaches for Developing Engagement and Inclusion of Girls at Risk of Exclusion in England
Get PDFThis paper highlights the inclusive potential of relational and feminist pedagogic strategies in education, focusing on girls at risk of exclusion. Girls in England are less likely than boys to be suspended or permanently excluded from school, but numbers are increasing. Excluded girls often experience long-term challenges with wellbeing, skills, and support networks. In 2022, the National Literacy Trust launched their Represent programme to address the comparatively lower educational achievement of girls at risk of exclusion. The independent evaluation of the programme generated data from 263 girls and 60 facilitators and found that Represent improved students’ communication skills, wellbeing, resilience, and understanding of forming positive relationships. The programme’s small group teaching, and resources curated to enable reflection upon ‘lived experiences’, provided a different space within educational institutions and facilitated an ethic of care through relational pedagogies. Focusing on these aspects, this paper critically analyses data from the evaluation using a feminist lens. We argue that Represent inadvertently utilised feminist praxis, contributing to the positive outcomes reported by participants. As such, pedagogical aspects of the programme such as dialogical approaches and a social justice-orientation, could be adopted by the education system at a structural level to reduce exclusions of girls; changing the system rather than individual girls
Implementation of dementia communication skills training in acute hospitals: a longitudinal, mixed-methods case study evaluation
Get PDFObjectives
Acute hospital staff identify that supporting patients with dementia is challenging. This study implemented a communication skills training programme for preventing and responding to distress in patients with dementia in acute hospitals and assessed its impact.
Method
A mixed-methods, multiple case study in six wards across three English acute hospitals. Observational, interview, and staff survey data was collected immediately pre, post and 1–3 months post training. The 7-h training programme consisted of two half-days separated by a reflective period of 2–4 wk. It was delivered face-to-face by local clinical educators, and comprised interactive content and discussion-based learning including multi-media PowerPoint presentations, video resources, a reflective diary and skills practice.
Results
145 staff attended the training. Delivery was feasible, however challenges with training organisation and releasing staff occurred. Staff reported the training as engaging, relevant to their role, and valued opportunities for reflection and skills implementation between sessions. A statistically significant improvement was found immediate post-training on staff communication knowledge (CI 0.01–1.2) and confidence in caring for people with dementia (CI 4.9–7.3). Staff reported a range of learning which most planned to implement in practice. Some reported challenges applying specific communication principles to wider practice situations. Evidence of impacts on observed patient agitation and staff communication practices was challenging to provide.
Conclusion
Although challenging, it is feasible to deliver dementia communication skills training in acute hospital settings Communication training can lead to perceived increases in staff knowledge and confidence to support distress in this population
The evolving mission and responsibility of statistics education
No full textIn this issue, we congratulate and celebrate the winners of two statistics education prestigious prizes that have demonstrated excellence in the teaching and learning of statistics, selected from papers in Teaching Statistics issues 1–3 in 2025
Young Muslim Women's Self-Styling: A Decolonial Research Architecture
No full textWhat is valued as “fashion” has been historically structured through racial–colonial power, including within fashion studies. This article challenges the epistemological Eurocentrism of fashion scholarship through a decolonial research design. First, the project is co-led by a Muslim woman with expertise in counter-epistemologies, securing non-Eurocentric epistemic and interpretive authority within Muslim womanhood from project inception. Second, we undertake a theoretical reparation of Erving Goffman’s Eurocentric “body idiom,” reworking it through Black feminist intersectionality to develop the “intersectional body idiom”—a framework that renders Muslim women’s self-styling analytically legible beyond Eurocentric interpretive limits. Third, we deploy fashion as method, a participant-centred approach that fortifies participants’ interpretive authority. Drawing on visual and narrative material generated by nine young Muslim women in the UK, we identify three themes visible only through a decolonial research architecture: navigating intersectional embodiment, custodianship of precious and precarious dress heritages, and the joy of the dual wardrobe. We demonstrate what becomes knowable when epistemic sovereignty is designed into research, offering academia a decolonial architecture that restores authority to racialised publics usually studied by those insulated from racial–colonial harm
Increased C-reactive protein is associated with corneal nerve loss and painful neuropathic symptoms in Type 2 diabetes mellitus
Get PDFAims/Introduction
To investigate the association between C-reactive protein (CRP) with sensory symptoms and deficits and measures of small fiber damage.
Materials and Methods
Adults with and without T2D underwent corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) and assessment of vibration perception threshold (VPT), DN4 symptom questionnaire, and fasting blood tests for CRP and metabolic markers.
Results
Of the 122 participants, 77 had T2D of whom 23 (29.9%) had DPN, and 45 were controls. CRP levels were significantly higher in those with T2D without and with DPN compared to controls (5.6 ± 2.9 and 5.4 ± 4.0 vs 3.8 ± 2.9 mg/L, P = 0.008 and P = 0.046, respectively), with no difference between those with and without DPN (P = 0.894). Higher CRP was independently associated with lower corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD) (β = −5.5 fibers/mm2 per 10 mg/L increase, P = 0.036), after adjusting for diabetes duration, BMI, HbA1c, and triglycerides. In the DPN group, those with positive symptoms (burning, painful cold, and electric shocks) had higher CRP levels compared to those with negative symptoms (6.5 ± 4.7 vs 3.8 ± 1.9 mg/L, P = 0.039).
Conclusions
Elevated CRP is associated with small nerve fiber loss and positive neuropathic symptoms in T2D. These findings suggest that CRP may help identify individuals with inflammation-driven DPN who could benefit from targeted interventions
Sport fandom and physical health orientation: the roles of group norms and team identification
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to examine the interrelationships between group norms related to sport fandom, team identification, and fans’ physical health orientations. We conceptualize physical health orientations as an aggregate construct comprising health consciousness, health behavior, and self-rated physical health. Drawing on the social identity approach to health and well-being, this study highlights how two types of group norms related to fandom – shared drinking norms and health norms within fanbases – are associated with such orientations and how team identification moderates these associations. To this end, we surveyed frequent sport consumers (n = 1,471) from the United States and United Kingdom, and analyzed data via structural equation modeling. The results showed fanbase drinking norms were negatively related to fanbase health norms, which were in turn positively associated with fans’ health consciousness and health behavior. Although fanbase health norms were not directly related to fans’ self-rated physical health, team identification strengthened their positive association with self-rated physical health, as well as with health consciousness. The present study’s findings advance theoretical understanding of the mechanisms through which group norms and team identification are linked with fans’ physical health orientations. Additionally, we outline actionable strategies for sport managers – such as health-oriented branding and fan experiences that encourage healthier consumption and movement – to foster health-positive outcomes among fans
Multinationals, sustainability, and the move to a circular economy in global value chains
No full textThe transition to a circular economy (CE) is reshaping economic and social
relations across global value chains, particularly those linking brands in the
Global North to suppliers in the Global South. Much of the existing international
business (IB) literature focusses on multinational enterprises (MNEs)
and privileges the economic and cost-saving aspects of a CE. In addition, studies
typically depict MNEs as the primary drivers of CE transformations. This
tends to downplay the importance and dynamism within and among MNEs and
a broad range of national and transnational actors. We draw on the notions
of transnational social spaces (TSSs) and transnational communities (TCs)
to study efforts to move to a CE in MNEs’ supply chains. Using two TSSs
in Bangladesh’s apparel industry, we reveal three important properties that
emerge from structured interactions among actors: (i) shared purpose,
(ii) shared cognition and logics, and (iii) symbolic change and transformation.
These properties simultaneously reflect and shape efforts to move to a CE.
The TSS and TC concepts facilitate a dynamic, embedded, and contextualized
view of MNEs. Rather than position MNEs as isolated agents of change we highlight how they collaborate – and at times, conflict – with other actors
in pursuit of circular goals. We supplement IB studies that offer a relatively
linear, MNE-centric view of CE transitions
Adapting Aviation to Climate Change: Global and Regional Perspectives
Get PDFThe global aviation sector faces escalating operational, infrastructure, and financial risks from climate change effects such as higher average and extreme temperatures, sea level rise, and stronger storms. Given the sector’s critical role in both the global economy and social connectivity it is imperative to understand these risks and take effective and timely action to adapt and build resilience. Yet, despite increasing recognition of potential impacts, adaptation action is lagging, a clear exposure-adaptation gap. This thesis investigates the reasons for this gap, the barriers preventing engagement and how adaptation can be promoted and accelerated.
A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining empirical analysis, a systematic literature review, stakeholder elicitation and policy evaluation. The research first synthesised industry then academic knowledge to establish a comprehensive understanding of climate impacts and adaptation measures, identifying significant thematic and geographical research gaps. Two case studies then provided contrasting regional perspectives, with one focused on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), a high-risk, low-information region, and the other on the United Kingdom, where a regulatory mandate for adaptation reporting is established. The LAC study highlighted a clear exposure–adaptation gap, identifying barriers such as limited data, resources, and regulatory support. Conversely, the UK study demonstrated the ability of mandates to drive adaptation action, although increasing consistency of reporting and broader airport engagement remain areas for enhancement.
The findings demonstrate the need to deepen understanding of impacts, expand research in high-risk regions, and increase capacity-building initiatives. A clear outline is presented for supporting and accelerating adaptation in the sector through a consolidated set of recommendations to (1) expand research and investigation of climate impacts; (2) accelerate work on climate risk assessment and adaptation action (3) enhance provision of data, guidance and support; (4) Strengthen collaboration and communication across the sector