Search

Background: The EAPC White Paper addresses the issue of spiritual care education for all palliative care professionals. It is to guide health care professionals involved in teaching or training of palliative care and spiritual care; stakeholders, leaders and decision makers responsible for training and education; as well as national and local curricula development groups. Methods: Early in 2018, preliminary draft paper was written by members of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) spiritual care reference group inviting comment on the four core elements of spiritual care education as outlined by Gamondi et al. (2013) in their paper on palliative care core competencies. The preliminary draft paper was circulated to experts from the EAPC spiritual care reference group for feedback. At the second stage feedback was incorporated into a second draft paper and experts and representatives of national palliative care organizations were invited to provide feedback and suggest revisions. The final version incorporated the subsequent criticism and as a result, the Gamondi framework was explored and critically revised leading to updated suggestions for spiritual care education in palliative care. Results: The EAPC white paper points out the importance of spiritual care as an integral part of palliative care and suggests incorporating it accordingly into educational activities and training models in palliative care. The revised spiritual care education competencies for all palliative care providers are accompanied by the best practice models and research evidence, at the same time being sensitive towards different development stages of the palliative care services across the European region. Conclusions: Better education can help the healthcare practitioner to avoid being distracted by their own fears, prejudices, and restraints and attend to the patient and his/her family. This EAPC white paper encourages and facilitates high quality, multi-disciplinary, academically and financially accessible spiritual care education to all palliative care staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposed paper seeks to add a different dimension to the educational borrowing, lending, and transfer literature by examining the consequences of educational reforms that are implemented under dictatorships and their lasting impacts. In using Tunisia as an example, we assess the effects of the 2008 Licence-Maitrise-Doctorat ([LMD] Bachelor-Master-PhD) reform under Tunisia's former dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (from 1987 to 2011). The use of coercive transfer and subsequent implementation of LMD reforms by Ben Ali's government were in response to the creation of the European Higher Education Area in 1999 under the Bologna Declaration, which was adopted by twenty-nine European countries. The justification for the indirect coercive transfer of the Bologna model was to ensure the quality of higher education, to encourage student and teacher mobility, to facilitate both the equivalence of diplomas and young people's integration into the labor market. In what follows, we seek to construct a typology of the consequence of wholesaling adopting a reform without tailoring it to the local needs. In this typology, we account for the processes of policy mobilization, local articulation and ownership, structural factors, and path dependency by discussing the power relations through which indirect coercive transfer occur. In doing this, methodologically, we use a comparative-historical approach to Tunisia's higher education policy discourse. Theoretically, we seek to advance the literature of indirect coercive transfer by concluding as to the different factors that should be considered in North-South policy borrowing and transfer.

In 2008, the first volume of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) journal Geoscientific Model Development (GMD) was published. GMD was founded because we perceived there to be a need for a space to publish comprehensive descriptions of numerical models in the geosciences. The journal is now well established, with the submission rate increasing over time. However, there are several aspects of model publication that we believe could be further improved. In this editorial we assess the lessons learned over the first few years of the journal's life, and describe some changes to GMD's editorial policy, which will ensure that the models and model developments are published in such a way that they are of maximum value to the community. These changes to editorial policy mostly focus on improving the rigour of the review process through a stricter requirement for access to the materials necessary to test the behaviour of the models. Throughout this editorial, "must" means that the stated actions are required, and the paper cannot be published without them; "strongly encouraged" means that we encourage the action, but papers can still be published if the criteria are not met; "may" means that the action may be carried out by the authors or referees, if they so wish. We have reviewed and rationalised the manuscript types into five new categories. For all papers which are primarily based on a specific numerical model, the changes are as follows: - The paper must be accompanied by the code, or means of accessing the code, for the purpose of peer-review. If the code is normally distributed in a way which could compromise the anonymity of the referees, then the code must be made available to the editor. The referee/ editor is not required to review the code in any way, but they may do so if they so wish. - All papers must include a section at the end of the paper entitled "Code availability". In this section, instructions for obtaining the code (e.g. from a supplement, or from a website) should be included; alternatively, contact information should be given where the code can be obtained on request, or the reasons why the code is not available should be clearly stated. - We strongly encourage authors to upload any user manuals associated with the code. - For models where this is practicable, we strongly encourage referees to compile the code, and run test cases supplied by the authors where appropriate. - For models which have been previously described in the "grey" literature (e.g. as internal institutional documents), we strongly encourage authors to include this grey literature as a supplement, when this is allowed by the original authors. - All papers must include a model name and version number (or other unique identifier) in the title. It is our perception that, since Geoscientific Model Development (GMD) was founded, it has become increasingly common to see model descriptions published in other more traditional journals, so we hope that our insights may be of general value to the wider geoscientific community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological and digital transformations of the steel industry intensify already existing skill shortages and create specific skill demands that are currently not being met. One of the main problems in this sector lies in the lack of sufficient information on which skills companies need and which skills trainings are suitable for today's challenges. In addition, more information is needed to provide more and better information for policy-making processes for getting the sector's workforce well-equipped for digitalisation and decarbonisation. This paper uses the framework of skills intelligence in the steel sector, reflecting on theoretical developments and the application of concrete tools in the European projects BEYOND 4.0 and ESSA. The main research questions guiding this work are: To what extent is the concept of skills intelligence useful in the steel sector, and how can it be applied in the steel sector in Europe? This paper provides empirical data based on qualitative and quantitative research carried out in the mentioned projects. The main contribution of this paper is the development of concrete reflections on the concept of skills intelligence based on tools in the steel sector. This work operationalises the skills intelligence approach at sectoral level, namely for the steel industry, and shows how this sector approach can be implemented at the European, national and regional levels. The main findings suggest that skills intelligence in the steel sector is not limited to the preparation and presentation of data but creates a governance structure to mitigate skills imbalances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activities of the European Educational Research Association (EERA) and the yearly European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) are mainly organised in standing networks. Through the example of the Policy Studies and Politics of Education network, this article takes a closer look at network activity and the ways in which it contributes to the development of educational research. Since most network activity is focused around the yearly conferences, the first part of the article discusses the conference session space, its forms and its links to the broader community of educational researchers. The second part of the article traces the origin and development of the Policy Studies and Politics of Education network, emphasising how the network has provided a space for critical analysis and discussion of education policies and forms of governance being pursued by national and trans-national actors in and beyond Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reviews research on education and childbearing in Europe over the last decade. Early demographic research attributed declining fertility in advanced economies in the second half of the twentieth century to increasing female educational levels. The twenty-first century has witnessed further increases in educational attainment coupled with trend reversals in fertility. The relationship between education and fertility has become more complex, sparking renewed interest in the interplay between the two life domains. We examine how educational enrolment and attainment influence individuals' fertility behaviour - both fertility timing and level - and how the relationship between education and fertility is shaped by contextual factors such as family policies, macroeconomic shocks, and normative changes in gender attitudes. We also summarise the recent literature on educational gradients in male fertility and review methodological developments to address issues of self-selection and unmeasured heterogeneity in the study of education and fertility. Finally, this paper identifies and discusses challenges and important areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing up in socio-economic disadvantage has important and long-lasting effects on children's lives. Children from disadvantaged households often fall behind in many areas of well-being and development, with effects that continue to limit their opportunities and outcomes – including their health and labour market outcomes – long after they reach adulthood. Drawing on Europe-wide survey data from 27 countries, this paper explores how childhood socio-economic disadvantage affects later adult labour market and health outcomes and evaluates the country-level GDP-equivalent cost of childhood disadvantage due to lost employment, lost earnings, and lost health, as well as the costs of lost government revenue and extra benefit spending. Results point to large costs for societies from childhood socio-economic disadvantage, totalling on average the equivalent of 3.5% of GDP annually. We also show that the labour market penalties linked to childhood disadvantage are often smaller in countries with lower absolute levels of disadvantage. While not causal evidence, these associations suggest much of the impact of childhood disadvantage in adulthood can be mitigated with the right environment and policy set up in childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterizes the social, political, and economic climate underlying educational dilemmas and visions in Czechoslovakia and other Eastern European countries after the fall of communism. Discusses the debate between state control of education and liberal educational approaches facing the area and stresses the importance of teachers in the shaping the education system. (MAB)

The paper explores the relationship between education, digitalization, and financial development between 1996 and 2019 with the aim of showcasing the differences between developed and emerging economies in Europe. We use a Bayesian VAR framework that includes variables related to education, digitalization, and financial development, as well as several endogenous variables to control for differences between countries in terms of nominal GDP growth, unemployment rate, and trade openness. Our findings clearly demonstrate the dynamic interdependence between financial development—including its two main components, financial institutions, and financial markets, digitalization, and education. Furthermore, we find that education is a leading variable in the financial development–education–digitalization nexus, whereas financial development and digitalization are laggard variables. These findings open possibilities for influencing joint policies on digitalization, education, and financial development, particularly in emerging European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Neurology residency programmes, which were first established at the beginning of the 20th century, have become mandatory all over Europe in the last 40–50 years. The first European Training Requirements in Neurology (ETRN) were published in 2005 and first updated in 2016. This paper reports the most recent revisions of the ETRN. Methods: Members of the EAN board performed an in depth revision of the ETNR 2016‐version, which was reviewed by members of the European Board and Section of Neurology of the UEMS, the Education and Scientific Panels, the Resident and Research Fellow Section and the Board of the EAN, as well as the presidents of the 47 European National Societies. Results: The new (2022) ETRN suggest a 5‐year training subdivided in three phases: a first phase (2 years) of general neurology training, a second phase (2 years) of training in neurophysiology/neurological subspecialties and a third phase (1 year) to expand clinical training (e.g., in other neurodisciplines) or for research (path for clinical neuroscientist). The necessary theoretical and clinical competences as well as learning objectives in diagnostic tests have been updated, are newly organized in four levels and include 19 neurological subspecialties. Finally, the new ETRN require, in addition to a programme director, a team of clinician‐educators who regularly review the resident's progress. The 2022 update of the ETRN reflects emerging requirements for the practice of neurology and contributes to the international standardization of training necessary for the increasing needs of residents and specialists across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper (my keynote talk from the 2006 ESPE conference), I discuss the recent upsurge in research on the economics of education that has occurred, especially in Europe. I discuss the reasons for the increased interest and present some examples from my recent research in the area. The paper concludes that the increased research interest seems likely to be sustained for some time to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stakeholder theory has thus far received limited attention in the context of entrepreneurship education and university management. This paper addresses this research gap by examining the collaboration of stakeholders from the entrepreneurial ecosystem in entrepreneurship education at European higher educational institutions (HEIs). We contribute to existing research by combining literature streams from the fields of entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial ecosystems and stakeholder theory. Empirical research is based on a cross-case analysis of 20 HEIs from 19 different European countries. Data sources include next to secondary data and observation a total 216 interviews with entrepreneurship education stakeholders at these 20 HEIs. The results of the case studies are further validated through an independent peer group and through 14 interviews with international experts in entrepreneurship education. Based on this data, an overview of the key external stakeholder groups of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of HEIs and their forms of involvement in entrepreneurship education is provided. Furthermore, the strength and coordination of stakeholder collaboration and the overall approaches to stakeholder management are discussed. This analysis results in the development of a set of propositions on stakeholder involvement in the context of entrepreneurship education at HEIs. The findings of this paper highlight the importance of stakeholder collaboration from the entrepreneurial ecosystem at HEIs. Implications of the findings for entrepreneurship educators and university management are ultimately discussed along with suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the status of education, mobility and poverty in Europe as of March 2000. Role of knowledge in its competition in the labor market worldwide; Importance of investment in human capital in preventing unemployment.

The development and production of cell gene and tissue (CGT)-based therapies requires a specialized workforce. Entering the CGT arena is complex because it involves different scientific and biomedical aspects (e.g., immunology, stem cell biology and transplantation), as well as knowledge of regulatory affairs and compliance with pharmaceutical quality standards. Currently, both industry and academia are facing a worldwide workforce shortage, whereas only a handful of educational and training initiatives specifically address the peculiarities of CGT product development, the procurement of substances of human origin, the manufacturing process itself and clinical monitoring and biovigilance. The training offered by traditional Master's and PhD programs is not suited for training a skilled workforce ready to enter the increasingly fast-growing CGT field. Indeed, typically these programs are of long duration and only partially cover the required competencies, whereas the demand for a specialized workforce relentlessly increases. In this paper, we (i) present and discuss our understanding of the roots of current growth acceleration of the CGT field; (ii) anticipate future workforce needs due to the expected increase of marketed CGT-based therapies and (iii) evaluate potential solutions that seek to adapt, develop and implement current educational and training initiatives. Importantly for these solutions, we call for scientific societies, such as the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy, to play a more active role and act as catalysers for new initiatives, building bridges between academia and Industry to establish effective educational and training programs that will engage and prepare a new generation of qualified professionals for entry into the CGT field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pedagogy Studies / Pedagogika is the property of Vytautas Magnus University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper acts as an editorial of the thematic issue «Education in Southeastern Europe: From Empires to Nation-States», in which is included. It explores the constructions/reconstructions of collective national identities within the Ottoman Empire, for the period of the 1840s until the end of the 19th century, focusing on the Ottoman Greek case. Given that women's education emerges as an ethnic/national project in the discourses throughout the period under research, the study based on the works of three women intellectuals concerning women and women's education, examines the conceptualizations of «nation» and the changing images of national «selves» and «others». The concepts of «East»/«Orient»/«Ottoman» and «West» are also studied as connected with the nation and its position in the respective imagined communities. The women whose works are studied as representative of the different discourses and multiple conceptualizations of the notions aforementioned are: Eufrosyne Samartzidou (1820-1877), editor of the first women's journal published in the Ottoman territories [Kypseli (1845)], Sappho Leontias (1830-1900), and Kalliope Kehagia (1839-1905), both celebrated educators, writers and intellectual. The paper concludes by associating its analyses and conclusions with the topic of the issue, and presenting the papers included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With populations rapidly aging, the development over time in the cognitive function among the elderly approaching or reaching retirement is important for successful aging at work and planning pension policies. However, few studies in this field focus on this age group. This study characterizes time trends in cognitive function among 55-69-year-old Europeans from 2006 to 2015, and compares these trends by region, gender, and education. This study analyzes 40,689 subjects in Waves 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) covering ten countries. Cognitive function was measured by Recall and Verbal Fluency. Educational levels were classified by quartiles. A Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) model was used to explore the association between cognitive function and development over time after controlling for confounders. Further stratification analysis using GEE models was conducted, stratified by region, gender and education. Cognitive function improved significantly in southern and central Europe over the observed timeframe, whereas it did not in northern Europe. Those with relative low levels of formal education displayed the most rapid increases in cognitive function in southern and central Europe. Among those with lower education in southern Europe, males' cognitive function improved more quickly than females'. The improvement of cognitive function at ages 55-69 in southern and central Europe may contribute to continuing engagement with productive activities in old age. Educational interventions for people with lower levels of education may be most effective in achieving such engagement. This paper extends the literature on the development over time in the cognitive function among the elderly close to retirement age in Europe by analysing southern, central and northern Europe, as well as differences by region, gender and education. The results may provide evidence for planning pension policies and educational interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of outlaw bikers is growing globally. Despite this, little research exists on these groups and their alleged violent tendencies. To address this, the current paper uses unique data to examine whether gang violence causes outlaw biker violence. The period examined runs from mid-2008 until early 2012 during which violent clashes occurred between outlaw bikers and street gang members involved in an alleged conflict in Copenhagen, Denmark. A precise description of each individual act of violence would make it possible to identify whether specific acts were carried out in furtherance of the alleged conflict. This would allow one to determine whether outlaw bikers commit violence on behalf of their club. However, such knowledge is unavailable. The paper therefore takes a different approach by examining whether acts of violence committed by the two groups are statistically associated. In other words, it considers whether one or more acts can be described as retaliatory during the observation periods. The sample consists of 640 individuals involved with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club or with non-biker street gangs–both of which are present in Copenhagen. Statistical models are used to predict 143 violent events committed by 196 outlaw bikers. The results suggest that violence committed by gang members predicts violence committed by outlaw bikers. This indicates that violent acts committed by outlaw bikers are at least partly a form of retaliation carried out on behalf of their club. The paper expands the literature on the kinds of inter-group, micro-level processes that can lead to reciprocal violence by including outlaw bikers in a literature that has previously focused on non-biker street gangs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technologies are awakening in recent years the interest of different actors in various sectors and, among them, the education field, which is studying the application of these technologies to improve information traceability, accountability, and integrity, while guaranteeing its privacy, transparency, robustness, trustworthiness, and authenticity. Different interesting proposals and projects were launched and are currently being developed. Nevertheless, there are still issues not adequately addressed, such as scalability, privacy, and compliance with international regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe. This paper analyzes the application of blockchain technologies and related challenges to issue and verify educational data and proposes an innovative solution to tackle them. The proposed model supports the issuance, storage, and verification of different types of academic information, both formal and informal, and complies with applicable regulations, protecting the privacy of users' personal data. This proposal also addresses the scalability challenges and paves the way for a global academic certification system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Following the 2008 economic crisis many countries implemented austerity policies, including reducing public spending on health services. This paper evaluates the trends and equity in the use of health services during and after that period in Spain – a country with austerity policies – and in Germany – a country without restriction on healthcare spending. Methods: Data from several National Surveys in Spain and several waves of the Socio-Economic Panel in Germany, carried out between 2009 and 2017, were used. The dependent variables were number of doctor's consultations and whether or not a hospital admission occurred. The measure of socioeconomic position was education. In each year, the estimates were made for people with and without pre-existing health problems. First, the average number of doctor's consultations and the percentage of respondents who had had been hospitalized were calculated. Second, the relationship between education and use of those health services was estimated by calculating the difference in consultations using covariance analysis – in the case of number of consultations – and by calculating the percentage ratio using binomial regression – in the case of hospitalization. Results: The annual mean number of consultations went down in both countries. In Spain the average was 14.2 in 2009 and 10.4 in 2017 for patients with chronic conditions; 16.6 and 13.5 for those with a mental illness; and 6.4 and 5.9 for those without a defined illness. In Germany, the averages were 13.8 (2009) and 12.9 (2017) for the chronic group; 21.1 and 17.0 for mental illness; and 8.7 and 7.5 with no defined illness. The hospitalization frequency also decreased in both countries. The majority of the analyses presented no significant differences in relation to education. Conclusion: In both Spain and Germany, service use decreased between 2009 and 2017. In the first few years, this reduction coincided with a period of austerity in Spain. In general, we did not find socioeconomic differences in health service use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the gender specific private returns on education (RE) in Europe in a comparative perspective. The authors extend the model of de la Fuente (2003) by estimating the parameters by gender and introducing maternity leaves and benefits. The paper analyses the impact of the public policy variables evaluating the elasticities with respect to unemployment benefits, marginal and average tax rates, maternity leave and childcare benefits. Design/methodology/approach – The authors estimate the Mincerian coefficients, with the Heckman’ selection model, for 12 West European countries using the EU-SILC data. The authors then use them as input to calibrate the decision model. Findings – The RE of females tend to be higher than those of males in all the Europeans countries but Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The gender gap can be explained mainly by the wage premia and labour income taxes which more than compensate the negative effects on females’ returns triggered by higher unemployment rates and maternity-related benefits. Practical implications – The tax system has the most pronounced effect on RE. An increase in the marginal tax rates has a negative impact. An increase in the average tax rates can have a negative or positive impact, depending on the progressivity of the tax system. An increase in unemployment benefits and maternity or child-care benefits has a negative but fairly small impact. Social implications – The analysis considers just one dimension of maternity related policies: the effect on RE and differences across gender. These policies may have aims which are beyond the scope of this paper, for instance to increase fertility. From this viewpoint, the small values of the elasticities presented are reassuring in that they suggest that they can be implemented at a fairly small cost in terms of investment in human capital. Originality/value – The authors compute the RE using a model which allows us to take into account and assess the significance of relevant variables: wage premium, income tax, some public transfers and benefits, costs of the investments. Moreover, the authors estimate the wage premia using relatively recent EU-SILC data. Finally, the paper compares 12 EU countries spanning quite different labour market conditions and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ljetopis Socijalnog Rada / Annual of Social Work is the property of Pravni Fakultet Sveucilista u Zagrebu, Studijski Centar Socijalnog Rada and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Innovation has become a very popular concept over the twentieth century. However, few have stopped to study the origins of the category and to critically examine the studies produced on innovation. This paper conducts such an analysis on one type of innovation, namely technological innovation. The study of technological innovation is over one hundred years old. From the early 1900s onward, anthropologists, sociologists, historians, and economists began theorizing about technological innovation, each from his own respective disciplinary framework. However, in the last forty years an economic and 'dominant' understanding of technological innovation has developed: technological innovation defined as commercialized invention. This paper documents the origins of this representation and the tradition of research to which it gave rise: 'innovation studies.' More specifically, it analyzes what distinguishes this tradition from that concerned with technological change as the use of inventions in industrial production, and looks at why such a tradition originated in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the social dimension of the EU's Europe 2020 Strategy in two EU candidate countries (Croatia and Macedonia). The text outlines both the positive attributes of the new Strategy and addresses criticisms it has received. The two countries analysed show diverging trends, but also face similar challenges, in relation to the incorporation of Europe 2020 indicators and targets in employment, education, and poverty and social inclusion. The new indicators and targets may promote greater influence of the European Union in the creation of social policy at national level. At the same time, there is a need to support candidate countries where there are gaps in statistical data for evidence-based policies, a lack of strategic capacity, significant fiscal constraints, and a lack of political will. The paper concludes by addressing implications in relation to the identification of the poor and impacts on social protection systems and overall public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper uses a unique survey of Roma and non-Roma in South Eastern Europe with the aim of evaluating competing explanations for the poor performance of Roma in the labour market. Design/methodology/approach -- Following a descriptive analysis, econometric models are employed to identify the determinants of educational achievement, employment and wages for Roma and non-Roma. Limited information maximum likelihood (LIML) methods are employed to control for endogenous schooling and two sources of sample selection bias in the estimates. Non-linear and linear decomposition techniques are applied in order to identify the extent of discrimination. Findings -- The key results are that: the employment returns to education are lower for Roma than for non-Roma whilst the wage returns are broadly similar for the two groups; the similar wage gains translate into a smaller absolute wage gain for Roma than for non-Roma given their lower average wages; the marginal absolute gains from education for Roma are only a little over one-third of the marginal absolute gains to education for majority populations; and, there is evidence to support the idea that a substantial part of the differential in labour market outcomes is due to discrimination. Research limitations/implications -- The survey data employed do not include information on hours worked. In order to partially control for this, the analysis of wages is limited to employee wages excluding the self-employed. Practical implications -- Explanations of why Roma fare so badly tend to fall into one of two camps: the "low education" and the "discrimination" schools. The analysis suggests that both of these explanations have some basis in fact. Moreover, a direct implication of the lower absolute returns to education accruing to Roma is that their lower educational participation is, at least in part, due to rational economic calculus. Consequently, policy needs to address both low educational participation and labour market discrimination contemporaneously. Originality/value -- This is the first paper to attempt to econometrically distinguish between discrimination and educational explanations of Roma disadvantage in the labour market in Central and Eastern Europe. The survey data employed are unique and appropriate for the task. Unusually for analyses dealing with returns to education, the LIML econometric approach employed controls for both endogenous schooling and two sources of sample selection bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the role of higher education institutions within the framework of the knowledge triangle between academic education, scientific research and innovation, as it has gained importance in recent years as a framework for innovation policies especially in the OECD and Europe. First, complementary concepts of universities' outreach activities and extended role model such as 'third mission', 'triple helix', 'entrepreneurial or civic university' models and 'smart specialization' are reflected against their fit with the concept of the knowledge triangle, also with respect to new requirements for university governance. Second, a new understanding of spillovers between public sectors research and the business sector according to knowledge triangle is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual Europe is a web-based European community from which health education scenarios may be accessed for learning and teaching purposes. Featuring a map giving access to country specific resources, it is populated with different cultural case studies allowing contrasts between cultures to be examined. For example, a student could evaluate the differences between UK, Belgium and Dutch approaches to the care of a patient in a particular situation. The project is initially funded by the Consortium of Institutes of Higher Education in Health and Rehabilitation In Europe (Cohehre). This paper offers a unique view on the benefits and limitations surrounding the development and implementation of a European health based virtual community. How will it facilitate the elimination of barriers for international mobility of students and staff? How easy is it to integrate into differing European health curricula? How does it compare to the experiences offered by new virtual environments? During the first year, the pilot version of Virtual Europe was created incorporating cardiac and burns case studies. During the second year of the project, the aim is to refine the pilot and incorporate further case studies. During the third year of the project, Virtual Europe will be utilised within partner institutions as a learning and teaching tool. The project team are working to evaluate the user-friendliness of the system on an on-going basis encouraging feedback from the students and academics that will use it. Tutorials will be used to evaluate how successfully lecturers are able to utilise and integrate it within their curriculum. Evaluation will be iterative and formative, with feedback used to identify potential changes that will be incorporated into subsequent pilots, group sessions and system enhancements. The paper presents a cogent and stimulating analysis of an e-Learning virtual health education project which is interprofessional in outlook; interdisciplinary in approach; intercultural in background; interactive in design and international in scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The substantial increase in the complexity of breast cancer care in the last few decades has resulted in significant improvements in survival rates and also in the quality of life of breast cancer survivors. However, across Europe there are variations in outcomes and access to the latest techniques. Whilst much of this variance is due to differences in health economies between European member states, training variation may also play a part. Training in breast cancer surgery varies greatly across Europe, not only in its basal discipline (general surgery, gynaecology or plastic surgery) but also in the length of training and whether there is any requirement for specialist training. Several countries have been leading the way in training breast specialist surgeons (the USA, the UK, Australia and New Zealand) with dedicated 1- or 2-year fellowships either within or in addition to standard training. Access to such training is limited and consequently many women in Europe are still treated by generalists, potentially denying them access to the best care. This paper reviews the issues surrounding training provision in breast surgery and some of the challenges which need to be addressed to improve the current situation. Summary: Breast surgery training in Europe is of variable quality and duration, which may result in variations in the quality of care received by patients with breast cancer. Specialist training standards are urgently required which should be adopted by all European member states. Excellent models are available in the USA, the UK and Australia and New Zealand on which to base this training. Key Messages: The quality of training in breast surgery needs to be upgraded and harmonised across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the view of many students, business and engineering education in Europe today do not sufficiently take into account complex problems, tendencies of chaos and uncontrollable business behaviour, and the lack of mutual trust in business transactions. Additionally, universities seem to fail in creating leaders, instead focusing on educating future managers. Therefore, the student-run international organisation the European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management (ESTIEM) offers a whole series of educational activities and programmes in parallel to their own university courses. It is based on the concept of experiential learning. Through ESTIEM, we, students of Industrial Engineering Management, learn and practise working in teams with shared and rotating leadership among ourselves. These experiences are to be described in the paper in some more detail, as a model for university education in industrial engineering and management. Furthermore, the following questions will be tackled: What does leadership mean today? How are problems handled by leaders and managers in industry nowadays? How can leadership to solve complex problems be taught in the university? As a consequence, it is suggested to develop out of the ESTIEM programmes, a series of university-equivalent ESTIEM courses. In the long term, the goal might be to realise the vision of a genuine Europe-wide 'ESTIEM University' in its own right, similar to normal universities which will help in shaping new leadership generation in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper looks at the empirical evidences (factual data), that unemployment in the young generation in the European Union in 2016 the life of citizens, the welfare and state of national economies, as well as the supra-national aggregations (the markets). In June 2016, the youth unemployment in EU was at 18.5% while this average points that in some countries like Greece and Spain, 1 out of 2 people under 25 years old is still unemployed(Eurostat, 150 and 155/2016). The paper looks at the relationship between youth unemployment and European economic policies, as people aged below 25 in 2008-2009 and that are below 35 today need to have a long term and productive job. I will point out some solutions that come in a wide consensus to address the problem. For this reason, to create jobs today is a must for economies. The article analyses statistical data from official EU publications, synthesizes the main findings, employing methodologies such as CBA ("cost-benefit analysis") from social and economic viewpoint and "as is - to be" analysis, looking at empirical evidence of social trends, demographics and social statistics methods (i.e. EU unemployment). In regards to policy implications, interlink between financial and labour markets should point to the need for structural reforms and the possible solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current opinion on undergraduate studies has led to a reformulation of teaching methodologies to base them not just on learning, but also on skills and competencies. In this approach, the teaching/learning process should accomplish both knowledge assimilation and skill development. Previous works demonstrated that a strategy that uses continuous evaluation is able to meet both objectives. However, those studies did not evaluate and quantify the additional effort required to implement such strategies. This paper evaluates the additional instructor effort required when implementing continuous evaluation in a first-year Computer Fundamentals course in the Computer Engineering degree program at the Technical University of Valencia, Spain. The experiment quantifies how instructor workload increases under different continuous evaluation strategies and how this affects the overall student grade. Both the “standard” continuous evaluation method and the intensive continuous evaluation method are analyzed, the latter being a proposal that builds upon the standard method by increasing the number of tests and examinations. The results obtained reveal that continuous evaluation improves student grades but that intensive continuous evaluation is liable to generate an excessive instructor overload without having a significant impact on student scores. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Ricerche di Pedagogia e Didattica is the property of Universita di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Educazione and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background Type-2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension (HTN) are two of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases (NCDs): they both cause a relevant number of premature deaths worldwide and heavily impact the national health systems. This study illustrates the impact of HTN and T2D in four European countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Spain) and compares their policies towards the monitoring and management of HTN and T2D and the prevention of NCDs as a whole. This analysis is conducted throughout the DigiCare4You Project (H2020)—which implements an innovative solution involving digital tools for the prevention and management of T2D and HTN. Methods The analysis is implemented through desk research, and it is enriched with additional information directly provided by the local coordinators in the four countries, by filling specific semi-structured forms. Results The countries exhibit significant differences in the prevalence of HTN and T2D and available policies and programs targeted to these two chronic conditions. Each country has implemented strategies for HTN and T2D, including prevention initiatives, therapeutic guidelines, educational programs and children's growth monitoring programs. However, patient education on proper disease management needs improvement in all countries, registries about patients affected by HTN and T2D are not always available, and not all countries promoted acts to contain the increasing rates of risk factors related to NCDs. Conclusions While political awareness of the risks associated with HTN, T2D and NCDs in general is growing, there is a collective need for countries to strengthen their policies for preventing and managing these chronic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This systematised review aimed to examine European literature reporting data about adaptative skills and global external functioning of unaccompanied minors (UAMs). Methods: We conducted a systematised screening of four databases (APA PsycINFO Ovid, Medline Ovid ALL, Embase.com and Web Of Science Core Collection) using a research strategy including social, scholarly and behavioural abilities as well as externalising problems associated with the target population of UAMs. Thirty articles were included using pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Our review showed that despite high levels of internalising disorders, socio-behavioural and educational adjustment of UAMs remained positive. It demonstrated how this population displays a strong desire for academic success and prosocial behaviours instead of aggressivity in everyday life. Nevertheless, our review drew attention to the strong tendency of UAMs to internalise their disorders and display chronic distress and problematic behaviours which increased with time spent in the host country. Conclusion: Our study draws attention to the risk of underestimating the real mental health needs of refugees, due to preserved external functioning combined with significant settlement pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Botanic gardens are increasingly important agents of plant research and conservation. A large number of botanic gardens have been established throughout the globe since the mid-20th century to pursue new socio-environmental missions. Others, with histories that span centuries, have also undergone a deep transformation in the context of growing attention to matters of sustainability. Bridging key aspects of the scholarly literature on the genesis of the botanical garden institution in Europe and its legacy, this article presents the re-invention of these gardens as institutions of conservation, sustainability, and social engagement as they renew their relevance in the contemporary world. This article proceeds by covering three focal points. First, it summarizes the scholarly literature on the emergence of botanical gardens in Europe and their association with the rise of modern science, the nation-state, colonialism, and empire-building. Second, it presents accounts of current scientific and biodiversity conservation endeavours as reflexive engagements with these historical legacies, decolonization initiatives, and new socio-environmental missions. Third, this article points beyond its focus on the historical transformation of the European botanical garden institution, by identifying a more widely encompassing body of scholarship that puts forth frameworks for understanding the current role of botanic gardens on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a complex, progressive, and often debilitating disease. Despite recent advances in treatment, numerous unmet needs in patient care persist. Rheumacensus is a multistakeholder, pan-European initiative designed to identify ways to elevate the standard of care (SoC) and treatment ambition for patients with PsA, using the perspectives of three key stakeholder groups: patients, healthcare professionals (HCPs) and payors. Methods: Rheumacensus followed three phases: an insights-gathering workshop to identify current unmet needs in PsA and an area of focus for the project, a modified Delphi process to gain consensus on improvements within the agreed area of focus, and a Consensus Council (CC) meeting which used consensus statements as inspiration to generate 'Calls to Action' (CTA)—practical measures which, if implemented, could elevate the SoC for patients with PsA. Results: The Rheumacensus CC consisted of four patient representatives, four HCPs and four payors. All 12 members completed all three Delphi e-consultations. The shared area of focus that informed the Delphi process was "patient empowerment through education on the disease and treatment options available, to enable patient involvement in management". Four key themes emerged from the Delphi process: patient empowerment, patient knowledge and sources of education, patient–HCP consultations, and optimal initial treatment. Statements within these themes informed 12 overarching CTA, which focus on the need for a multistakeholder approach to implementing a paradigm shift towards patient-centred care and improved outcomes for patients with PsA. Conclusion: Rheumacensus has identified shortcomings in the current SoC for patients with PsA and provides a foundation for change through practical CTA. It is hoped that all stakeholders will now take practical steps towards implementing these CTA across Europe to elevate the SoC for patients with PsA. Plain Language Summary: Inequalities in the care patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) receive can be mainly explained by poorly coordinated management due to a lack of disease and treatment knowledge. This report is about a programme called Rheumacensus which has the overall aim of improving the standard of care (SoC) for patients with PsA. Rheumacensus brings together the points of view of three key groups involved in the care of people with PsA: patients, payors and healthcare professionals (HCPs) from across Europe. Together, these three groups agreed to focus on patient empowerment through education on the disease and treatment options as a way to raise the SoC. Through a series of exercises—to agree on the current SoC and what needs to be improved—and group discussions, four themes were established which were used by the groups to help them suggest 'Calls to action' (CTA). The CTAs were ideas of how improvements could be made or what needs to be done to improve the care patients receive. The four themes were (1) patient empowerment, (2) patient knowledge, (3) patient–HCP consultation and (4) optimal initial treatment. In total, 12 CTAs were developed across these themes that provide direction and practical next steps which patients, payors and HCPs could take to drive change and make a real difference to patients by improving their care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: NEETs (young people not in employment, education or training) are at higher risk for poorer mental and physical health. In France, the Missions locales (MLs) are the only social structures dedicated to this population. We sought to determine whether the systematic offer of a social and preventive medicine consultation at a ML might increase NEET participants’ access to training in the 12 months following the intervention. Methods: This intervention research was a parallel randomised controlled interventional study conducted at five MLs in mainland France in 2011–2012. It included 976 NEETs aged 18 to 25 years who attended one of the five MLs. At inclusion, participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to three groups: those in the first group were invited to see a social worker (not studied in this paper), those in the second group were invited to see a doctor and a social worker (intervention group), and the third was a control group. The primary outcome was participation in at least one training session during the year following study inclusion. Results: Among the 976 participants, 504 were randomly assigned to the intervention group and 472 to the control group; 704 (72.1%) were included in the analyses. A significantly higher proportion of the participants in the intervention group participated in a training session in the 12 months following the intervention than of those in the control group (63.3% vs 55.6%; p = 0.04). This difference was significantly greater for women, those less than 21 years of age, those unstably housed and those with a lower level of education. Conclusions: Social and preventive medicine consultations that are fully integrated into the social services for NEETs have an impact on their access to training and contribute to changing some of their health-related behaviours. This may improve their access to the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have shown that childhood circumstances can have long term consequences that persist until old age. To better understand the transmission of early life circumstances, this paper analyses the effects of health and financial situation during childhood on quality of life after retirement as well as the mediating role of later life health, educational level, and income in this association. Moreover, this study is the first to compare these pathways across European regions. The analyses are based on data of 13,092 retirees aged ≥ 60 and ≤ 85 years from the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with full information on childhood and later life measures of health, educational level, financial situation, and quality of life as well as relevant covariates. Five European regions are studied: Central-Western Europe (Austria, Germany), Central-Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia), Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden), Southern Europe (Italy, Spain), and Western Europe (Belgium, France, The Netherlands). Path analysis is used to identify the direct and indirect effects of childhood measures on quality of life. We find retirees’ quality of life to be associated with childhood finances and health in all five European regions. While both the direct and indirect effects of childhood health are rather moderate and homogeneous across regions, especially the direct effects of childhood finances on quality of life after retirement display a distinct North-South gradient being strongest in Southern Europe. Potential explanations for the regional variations are differences in the countries’ welfare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overeducation describes the situation whereby workers are located in jobs for which they are deemed overqualified. This paper examines patterns in overeducation between countries using a specifically designed panel data set constructed from the quarterly Labour Force Surveys of 28 EU countries over a 12- to 15-year period. It is not the case that overeducation has been rising rapidly over time in all countries, and where overeducation has grown, the trend has been very gradual. Furthermore, overeducation rates were found to be static or falling in approximately 50% of the 28 EU countries. The evidence points towards convergence in overeducation at a rate of 3.3% per annum. In terms of the determinants of overeducation we find evidence to support policies aimed at improving effective female participation, labour market flexibility and the practical aspects of educational provision as a means of reducing the incidence of overeducation within countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an international study of industrial marketing communications spending. The study compares the results of data collected from 55 European companies on 80 products with a sample of 131 products from 29 companies representing the ADVISOR study sample in the United States. The results show that the overall relationship between the strategic variables and advertising and marketing spending levels is not different between the U.S. and Europe. Although some differences exist in the importance of individual strategic variables between the two regions, those differences are generally small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to a is presented in which the editor discusses various topics within the issue including section of the periodical related to on multilingualism in education in cosmopolitan cities, and activities of Languages in Urban Settings for Inclusion and Diversity in Europe (LUCID).

The paper presents the vision, strategy and goals set in the Guidelines for sustainable development of the region of North-East Bulgaria, North-West region of the Black Sea. In the focus of analysis are the requirements to the higher education in this region so that the goals set in the Guidelines can be accomplished. Issues concerning higher education at technical universities are raised and solutions suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the effect of recent technical change on the labor market and explains the observed differences in wage inequality among advanced countries. In particular, we focus on the difference between the inequality in the U.S. and in continental Europe. Many studies have indicated a rise in wage inequality in the U.S. over the past three decades. On the other hand, there has been little change in wage inequality in continental Europe. By introducing human capital investment into the model by Acemoglu (Am Econ Rev 89:1259-1278, ), we show that ex ante homogeneous economies would have distinct ex post wage distribution. The strategic complementarity between human capital investment and firms' hiring strategies yields the possibility that multiple equilibria exist, which explains the difference in wage distribution between the U.S. and Europe. In addition, we show that differences in tax or education systems can explain the difference in wage distribution between the U.S. and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The PHARMINE ("Pharmacy Education in Europe") project studied the organisation of pharmacy practice and education in the member states of the European Union (EU). The work was carried out using an electronic survey sent to chosen pharmacy representatives. The surveys of the individual member states are now being published as reference documents. This paper presents the results of the PHARMINE survey on pharmacy practice and education in Latvia. In the light of this, we examine the harmonisation of practice and education in Latvia with EU norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, agroecology has become the center of many debates that animate political and professional arenas, particularly regarding the definition and scope of the concept itself. This paper attempts to understand the ways that the term agroecology is conceptualized by different participantsparticipants and how these concepts circulate so as to explore the interests at stake in the institutionalization of agroecology within the research and education institutions of Europe. We address the core research question of: what dynamics emerge in the networks of European stakeholders of agroecology? By combining different approaches of institutionalization based on network and discourse analysis, we study the dynamics of research, education and training organizations. We identify 10 different concepts of agroecology, distributed among 103 organizations. The significant difference that has been observed between the agroecological concepts in research and those in education/training emphasizes the gap between these two disciplines. The latter support a more political, transdisciplinary and holistic view of agroecology when compared to the former. Moreover, collaboration among European agroecology stakeholders is limited in both research and education/training. We also found that in most cases, collaboration between scholars does not guarantee a shared notion of agroecology, and conversely, sharing the same notion of agroecology does not assure collaboration. This led us to question the feasibility of institutionalizing agroecology and the missing link between a shared vision and the collective mobilization of stakeholders around a strong agroecology programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]