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Employee networking behavior: sources, challenges, and support
No full textNetworking behavior helps enhance employees’ success in work and career domains, but importantly, it may be helpful for organizations in improving their ability to coordinate, internally and externally, and innovate. Based on existing literature, critical factors that serve as antecedents of employee networking within organizations, including individual and organizational factors, are identified. Next, potential challenges employees may encounter in networking are highlighted. To conclude, several actions human resource development (HRD) practitioners can take to promote networking behavior within organizations and its associated benefits are discussed
The role of migration in women entrepreneurship and empowerment: evidence from Nigeria
Get PDFThe research examines the relationship between the migration of men and the empowerment of women who remain in the households. The study looks at Nigeria – a Sub-Saharan African country with the highest migration outflows and prevalent gender inequality. The core research question is to examine whether the migration of men affects the entrepreneurship and empowerment of Nigerian women. For the purpose of this study, private entrepreneurship will state the employment status of women from both migrant and non-migrant households while the amount of housework and degree of decision-making power will constitute empowerment. The data is obtained from Nigerian General Household Survey 2018-2019. The sample used in the current analysis consists of 12,199 women, 15 years and older. The Ordinary Least Squares model is applied to assess the changes men’s migration might bring to housework of women who remain in the household. Logit regression addresses the entrepreneurship and decision-making power of Nigerian women. Probit regression serves as a robustness check for Logit, and as a separate econometric model. The findings generally support the pre-experiment expectations: migration of men decreases the amount of housework of Nigerian women, encourages them to run businesses, but reduces their decision-making power
Hampering teaching excellence? Academics making decisions in the face of contradictions
No full textUniversities might aspire to teaching excellence, but do they enable academic teachers to make good teaching decisions? Using a critical realist perspective, a qualitative interview study in England and Australia explored academics’ experiences of teaching decisions and their responses to strategic, institutional and departmental teaching policy and planning. Complex and contradictory conditions that challenged academics’ experiences of teaching and prevented effective decision-making were found. The paper identifies aspects of university functioning that act to prevent the achievement of teaching excellence. It argues that excellence in teaching requires coherent and integrated approaches and commitment right across the institution. For this to happen, universities need to consider how stated strategic learning and teaching ambitions are communicated, implemented, supported and, importantly, how they are understood and enacted throughout all levels and areas of the organisation, including many that hitherto do not consider they have a role in learning and teaching
PUBLIC SPACES, PUBLIC WORDS: towards the making of a pro-localist theatre in Newham, East London
No full textThe Newham Plays are a series of localist-focussed plays rooted in Newham’s history, culture and people, that I have created, produced and written over a 12-year long period whilst living in Newham.
The series has originated an approach to cultural engagement that I describe as Pro-Localist, in which the plays are partnered and supported by a nexus of local funders, partners and stakeholders.
Performed in site-sympathetic locations in Newham, East London, they feature a ‘mixed economy’ casting of young people and professional actors.
It has given young people living in Newham and from diverse backgrounds, the opportunity to engage in the arts and enhanced cultural provision in the area; playing a role in addressing historically low levels of cultural engagement in the borough.
Additionally, the plays have benefited local organisations, raising awareness of key sites/ venues in Newham and the work of local charities.
Photographic work included in 'L'enfance dans la collection agnès b.' La Fab, Paris
No full textPhotographic work from Billingham's series about his children was exhibited in the group show 'L'enfance dans la Collection Agnès b.' La Fab, Paris (24th Feb - 30th June 2022). The exhibition focused on the theme of childhood. Other participating artists included Martine Barrat, Florence Chevallier, Denis Dailleux, Simon English, Hibino Katsuhiko, Annabelle Hubaut, Daniel Johnston, Seydou Keïta, Harmony Korine, Helen Levitt, Dmitry Markov, Jonas Mekas, Claire Tabouret, Martin Parr, Luna Picoli-Truffaut and Andy Warho
Photographic work exhibited in 'Trilogie de cendres #1: "Ta langue une allumette qui craque"', Frac à Carquefou, France
No full textTrilogie de cendres (“Trilogy of ashes”) was an exhibition conceived in three stages based on the collection of the FRAC Pays de la Loire.
The exhibition comprised 63 artists, 89 works including 74 from the Frac collection and 10 guest artists. It offered a multi-entry reflection on what makes home through the notions of identity, language and memory relating to individuals as well as to collective dynamics. The exhibition was conceived by Marion Duquerroy and Thomas Fort, and accompanied by students from the History of Art degree at the UCO of Angers, it was supplemented by a programme of encounters and performances.
The first part of the exhibition examined the idea of “what makes home” within the intimacy of four walls (functional or dysfunctional family) and language (mother, translation). Bodies invite us to the confrontation between melancholy, feverishness and resistance (ie - Richard Billingham, Rineke Dijkstra, Miriam Cahn, or Damir Ocko), while the family home lights up between shadow and light, faded or on the verge of being destroyed (ie - Patrick Faigenbaum, Béatrice Dacher, Marc Camille Chaimowicz or Lara Almarcegui)
The journey down the current of all those who were adrift
No full textThe journey down the current of all those who were adrift (2022)
A geodesic dome: Ø 500 cm x H296 cm, powder coated steel tube, canvas with PVC membrane. Carved Bursa Uludağ Black marble Ø 300 cm, soil, video wall 218 x 124 cm, single channel (1920x1080) HD video, sound, lights. Cinematography Engin Aygun.
‘The journey down the current of all those who were adrift’ is a large-scale spatial and multifaceted installation that reflects on the relatively intact yet out-of-sight and obscured ancient subterranean canal and water-bearing cistern structures sprawling under historic Istanbul. The project reflects on systems of exchange, liquidity, transparency, and endurance that are embodied by these interconnected conduits and vital neural networks that lie under Hagia Sophia and the Topkapı Palace among other historical sites. Video footage displayed flat on screens sunken in the ground represents a journey in this dark, sunken, and frozen-in-time world inaccessible to the millions crisscrossing the roads, palaces, and places of worship above. These are arterial structures that sprawl for miles under our feet, that have acted as life-saving delivery routes and hideaways for millennia.
The installation which resembles an excavation site is mounted within a large geodesic dome structure. On the floor, we see freshly unearthed soil that surround an emerging surface of the moon carved in stone. Embedded in the middle of this lunarscape, there is a monitor which shows the enthralling footage from under the ground in Istanbul.
The conceptual framework of ‘The journey down the current of all those who were adrift’ is defined by the deployment of signifiers from historical times and celestial forms such as the lunar surface. Çavuşoğlu threads through the ability of historical remnants to relay timeless concepts and tell universal and abstract stories that still resonate today. Çavuşoğlu’s complex and layered practice with its pattern of literary and scientific references unfolds a series of moral parables that have a notional relevance to contemporary art and the production of culture. His works blur the lines between the natural and man-made to generate eternal moral tales and universal commentaries on time, and temporality. Çavuşoğlu unearths the surrounding reality through multifaceted narratives, and each facet is revealed to us one at a time. This is particularly evident in another aspect of his practice where he works with anamorphic drawings emphasising the relationship between the shadows and the way the objects are projected: in time and space. The shadows in this case are
the invisible ‘blood’ vessels that connect under the ground or act as invisible highways between places and time. Across his repertoire, there is a fascination with the idea of perspective and seeing history through an anamorphic lens. Yet the work
is not just about revealing the past like in an archaeological excavation, or x-Rayed objects and surfaces, but also projecting these ideas into the future. Therefore, the representation of the lunar surface acts as a metaphor and an anchor. The work epitomises a utopian Jules Vernean “journey into the interior of the earth” idea, where the earth has been replaced by the surface of the moon. Therefore, extending the vantage point to the portion of the lunar surface acts as an aperture through which we see under the surface of the earth
Abode And Point To The Eye (Saygun Dura's exhibition at Millî Reasürans Art Gallery, Istanbul)
No full textWhile Dura puts emphasis on the concept of migration on the show “Abode And Point To The Eye”, his experiential engagement with his subject is also phenomenological. Migration is constituted of three phases, leaving the home, a liminal or transitional phase and finally, arrival. The wealth of Dura’s technical experience is evident in this body of complex, large-scale colour photographs taken underwater, at varying depts.
There are two distinct series of large-scale photographs in the show, looking at the frenzy of activities on the surface and the eery, otherworldly calmness at the bottom of the lake. One of the series represents the migration of the pearl mullet, known to be the only species to inhabit Lake Van in Eastern Turkey.
Whereas there is a plethora of subtexts in the depiction of this almost ritualistic act of survival, the images are primarily concerned with matters of urgency, presenting the universal codes of nature to reproduce, adapt and evolve.
The second body of works depicts microbialites, the pearl mullet’s natural habitat in the lake's shallow ends. Yet in this case, they are depicted as empty or abandoned by their tenants. Possessing the largest organosedimentary deposits (microbialites) reaching several meters in height, Lake Van is quite unique (Kempe et al., 1991). The scenes are eerie and ghostly. The images simultaneously capture the contrasting feelings of serenity, silence, and drama existing at the bottom of the lake
Children hybrid integration: learning dialogue as a way of upgrading policies of participation
No full textThe training package collates all modules and materials in a cohesive document that can be printed and kept in any professional working environment for ease of access.
The training package offers guidance for professionals who are familiar with the use of facilitation and want to train others. The training package supports change in practices led by professionals themselves. Sustainability is achieved when engagement with CHILD-UP training transcend enhancing one’s own practice to impact peers and beyond. The training package offers the opportunity to face-to-face (F2F) delivery.
Each module is presented and thoroughly explained in its aim and learning objectives. By showing ‘what is behind the scenes in each module’, the training package does not only promote critical reflection; it also enables users to internalise the methodology of the training, facilitating them in accessing the role of ‘trainer of facilitators’.
The training package empowers users as facilitators and possibly trainers of facilitators. The training package also empowers users as designers of facilitative activities. For this scope, resources provided include tools for SWOT Analysis, tools for Development Plans and transcripts of real adults-children interactions. SWOT Analysis is chiefly addressed to identify challenges/strengths of plans for facilitative activities. Development Plans offer reflective tools to act upon challenges identified via the SWOT Analysis.
Transcripts of real adults-children interactions during facilitative activities, collected in the CHILD-UP research, are available in the training package as a learning companion for the modules. An adequate number of transcripts across age ranges are provided to users to allow their independent evaluation of facilitative practices and their outcomes for the promotion migrant children’s agency. The same transcripts can also be accessed through the CHILD-UP archive (www.movio.CHILD-UP.EU) where they can be searched using search tags such as location, participants, most relevant facilitative actions shown in the transcript, age of children, and more. In the archive, transcripts are accompanied by analytical notes to support their contextualisation as examples of facilitative practices
Combining phytoremediation with bioenergy production; exploring options for sustainable remediation
Get PDFUncontrolled metal deposition in soil constitutes a serious concern for the environment due to associated risks of metal toxicity to the biota and consequently to humans. Since metals are non-biodegradable, mitigating exposure risks is reliant on either removing metals from soil, or altering their speciation in ways where their bioavailability and mobility is reduced to safer levels. The use of plants to extract metal contaminants from soil has been proposed as a cost-effective means of remediation, especially when augmented with plant growth promoting bacteria and utilizing energy crops for this process is a useful way of attaining sustainable added value from the process. The focus of this research was to examine phytoremediation as a sustainable biotechnology to remediate metal-contaminated soil, generate bioenergy and to explore the potential of using its by-products for contaminant stabilization and as adsorbents.
A multicriteria decision analysis, based on relevant criteria and key performance indicators was used to uniquely develop a mechanism for selecting plant species that satisfies the suitability criteria for both phytoremediation and biomass valorisation and silvergrass and sunflower emerged as the top performers as they incorporate important features beneficial for phytoremediation and bioenergy production. Greenhouse phytoextraction studies were carried out using sunflower plants in pots and the effect of plant growth promoting bacteria, Bacillus aryabhattai on growth and phytoextraction effectiveness was investigated. Sunflower plants were found to be largely effective in accumulating metal contaminants into its aboveground tissues (with bioconcentration factor and translocation factor ranging from 0.81 – 0.94), and this was enhanced significantly by the application of plant growth promoting bacteria, Bacillus aryabhattai (with bioconcetration and translocation factor > 1 for all metals, thus attaining hyperaccumulator status). Metal-rich post-remediation sunflower residues had calorific values ranging from 17.01 to 18.04 MJ/kg and these were converted thermochemically via pyrolysis producing an estimated 22.3 % bio-oil yield free of metal contaminants and biochars (51.6% yield) and the speciation of metals in biochar matrix was analysed. Speciation studies showed that about 73.69% - 86.04% of the metals were stably stored in the non-bioavailable F3 and F4 fractions of the biochar matrix following pyrolysis, thus significantly reducing their bioavailability and mobility. Metal-rich sunflower-derived biochar were further utilized to perform column and batch experiments to ascertain the feasibility of further attaining practical adsorbent-based remediation from metal contaminated aqueous solution using post-remediation sunflower biochar. The metal-enriched biochar was demonstrated to be highly effective adsorbent for the removal of metal contaminants in aqueous solution (91.66 – 93.67% removal in mono-metal conditions and 81 – 88.1% removal in multi-metals condition) in the order Pb > Cd > Zn. Phytoremediation offers a less intrusive, environmentally sustainable technology option for contaminant control and when combined with energy production, it opens opportunities to attain society’s economic and environmental goals in a sustainable manner. By-products attained from the process like biochars can potentially offer practical application in contaminant risk management schemes and soil improvement technologies