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This paper aims to explore how the principles of participatory action research (PAR) articulate with questions of climate justice. Drawing on three qualitative case studies in Brazil, Fiji and Kenya, the paper explores university institutional capabilities, asking how the principles of mobilising PAR to support transformative outcomes can further climate justice. The paper argues that for participatory action research to become a pathway to build universities' capabilities, key considerations are needed. PAR needs to: (a) move beyond change in individual behaviour to respond to climate change and affect institutional norms, procedures and practices; (b) recognise and partner with marginalised groups whose voice and experiences are at the periphery of climate debate, enabling reciprocal flows of impact and knowledge between universities and wider societies; and (c) foster "relationships of equivalence" with actors within as well as outside university to influence university governance and wider climate-related policy-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the variables having impact on the student motivation have been analyzed based on the articles, conference papers, master's theses and doctoral dissertations published in the years 2000-2017. A total of 165 research papers were selected for the research material and the data were collected through qualitative research techniques through document review and content analysis. According to the research results, the most important factors affecting student motivation are the fields of teacher, teachers' classroom management skills and their teaching methods. In this research, factors having less influence on the student motivation are parental communication, student characteristics and study fields. In addition, relational search type was used more than others, mostly students were selected as the study group and most researches were conducted in USA and Turkey.

This paper examines the increasingly diverse range of roles played by the corporate sector in shaping education policy. While a growing body of scholarship has documented the deepening embeddedness of the corporate sector within policy-making processes, empirical research on the strategies mobilized by corporate actors remains unsystematised and fragmentary. Furthermore, existing categorizations of corporate policy-influence strategies are frequently restricted to a limited group of Anglo-Saxon countries and, consequently, are ill suited to capturing emerging policy dynamics globally. Building on the results of a literature review, this paper categorises four emerging strategies articulated by the corporate sector: knowledge mobilization, networking, engaging with grassroots, and leading by example. Each strategy is illustrated with examples from a selection of country case studies. These examples suggest that, in the education policy domain, the corporate sector operates not only as a policy influencer, but increasingly as a policy actor organically embedded within policy-making processes and spaces.

The qualitative community embraces transparent dialogue through sharing knowledge to improve rigour and develop new initiatives. In this paper, we recognise there are many complexities within qualitative research, leading to important debates. We explore the benefits and challenges, as well as the practicalities and technicalities, of conducting research that 1) employs multiple methods within the qualitative paradigm, 2) is interdisciplinary, and 3) examines a sensitive research topic 4) with a vulnerable group of participants. Specifically, when research is also 5) cross-cultural and 6) utilises participatory techniques. Through our discussion, we draw upon an existing project and examine the complexity of designing and completing intra-paradigmatic mixed methods research with children from different sociocultural contexts, underpinned by interdisciplinary perspectives, in a complex area like mental health.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a child psychosocial framework among stakeholders in areas of disadvantage in three low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), i.e. Kenya, Turkey and Brazil, and to capture their proposed recommendations through action plans according to this framework. Design/methodology/approach: Workshops were facilitated with a total of 54 participants from different disciplines. The framework addressed safety and child-centredness, quality of care, resilience-building in schools and communities, enhancing competencies within existing roles, counselling and psychological interventions, and access to mental health services. Stakeholders' perspectives were captured through a participatory action procedure. Findings: The emerging 33 categories across the framework dimensions and the three sites led to four overarching and inter-linked themes. These related to community awareness; empowerment and "mobilization" of children, young people and families; inter-agency policy and practice; and capacity-building on skills acquisition at different levels. Research limitations/implications: The next stage in this service research should be full implementation and evaluation in different LMIC contexts. Practical implications: It is feasible to implement such a child psychosocial framework in contexts of conflict and disadvantage, and in the absence of specialist mental health services. Active stakeholder engagement and co-production should be central to the next phase of service transformation in LMIC. Originality/value: This study captured the views and experiences of stakeholders in LMIC areas of disadvantage, and demonstrated their readiness to establish interdisciplinary networks and re-focus existing services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we argue that the success of mobile banking models represents an enigma in terms of their replicability to other countries. These models offer the opportunity to diminish the financial exclusion suffered by the poor by providing access to credit, savings, and transfers, which are key tools capable of transforming the livelihoods of the poor as well as the efficiency of the market. We show that mobile phones need a complete ecosystem that supports its application to a functioning mobile banking service. The aim of this paper is to contribute to existing knowledge of mobile money across the value chain by providing insight into the mechanisms of m-money and the value propositions within the business of m-banking. We develop a taxonomy of the key drivers of the business model to help assess the replicability of these models in other countries. We focus on models developed in Kenya, the Philippines, and Brazil, and explore if some of the conditions present in these models are lacking for a widespread adoption in others. We conclude, however, that there appears to be no set of clearly identifiable variables that serve as a basis for success and that those necessary conditions for the replication of mbanking models identified by the existing literature to other countries around the world do not guarantee results. Moreover, we find that some of these conditions are not present in countries where m-banking models have been successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to detail quality award initiatives in Kenya and to propose an integrated national quality award. Design/methodology/approach - This paper discusses sectoral quality initiatives and award schemes operational in Kenya. The KQA and COYA schemes' objectives, procedures, examination criteria, principles and frameworks are discussed and lists of respective award recipients presented. A national quality award scheme integrating these initiatives and awards modelled on the Brazilian national quality award is then proposed for adoption. Findings - While the quality revolution is increasingly being felt in several sectors of the Kenyan economy, courtesy of several sectoral quality initiatives and award schemes, nonetheless, these seem inadequate and cannot keep pace with global competition; hence the need for a national quality award with an expanded mandate, thrust and appeal beyond the narrow sectoral confines. Originality/value - The paper brings to the attention of practitioners the need for integration of quality initiatives and awards into a national quality award. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terrestrial biosphere is an important global carbon (C) sink, with the potential to drive large positive climate feedbacks. Thus a better understanding of interactions between land use change, climate change and the terrestrial biosphere is crucial in planning future land management options. Climate change has the potential to alter terrestrial C storage since changes in temperature, precipitation and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations could affect net primary production (NPP), C inputs to soil, and soil C decomposition rates. Climate change could also act as a driver for land use change, thus further altering terrestrial C fluxes. The net balance of these different effects varies considerably between regions and hence the case studies presented in this paper (the GEFSOC project countries Kenya, Jordan, Brazil, and India) provide a unique opportunity to study climate impacts on terrestrial C storage. This paper first presents predicted changes in climate for the four case study countries from a coupled climate-C cycle Global Circulation Model (HadCM3LC), followed by predicted changes in vegetation type, NPP and soil C storage. These very coarse assessments provide an initial estimate of large-scale effects. A more detailed study of climate impacts on soil C storage in the Brazilian Amazon is provided as an example application of the GEFSOC system. Interestingly in the four cases studied here precipitation seems to control the sign of the soil C changes under climate change with wetter conditions resulting in higher soil C stocks and drier conditions in lower soil C stocks, presumably because increased NPP in wetter conditions here will override any increase in respiration. In contrast, globally, it seems to be temperature that controls changes in C stocks under climate change. Even if there is a slight increase in precipitation globally, a decrease in C stocks is predicted—in other words, the regional response to precipitation differs from the global response. The reason for this may be that whilst temperature increases under climate change were predicted everywhere, the nature of precipitation changes varies greatly between regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Various slum upgrading interventions have been implemented by numerous institutions to improve conditions of slum residents. It however remains unclear the extent to which the social diversity of slum residents is integrated in slum interventions. This paper thus assesses different slum upgrading approaches and methodologies to ascertain the extent to which they consider residents' diversity. Undertaking comprehensive desk review of relevant literature and adapting Fraser's 'tripartite' approach to social justice, the paper analyses three slum upgrading interventions in Kenya, Brazil and Thailand. The paper revealed that interventions in Kenya and Brazil implicitly aimed at ensuring spatial order and hence, focused majorly on physical projects with minimal focus on identifying and incorporating the diverse needs of residents. This resulted in the non- or minimal use of delivered projects. Contrary to this, the diverse needs of residents were considered and adequately reflected in the case of Thailand. The consideration of diversity in the slum upgrading interventions was observed to fundamentally stem from project objectives set by the implementing institutions. The paper concludes that policy interventions to improve conditions of slums should acknowledge the diverse needs of residents and the intersectional nature of the different social identities. • Various slum upgrading interventions have been implemented by various institutions. • Slum upgrading interventions are aimed at promoting wellbeing and societal development. • Interventions however largely fail to integrate social diversity of dwellers. • Consideration of diversity in the slum upgrading interventions is key to promoting overall development and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial inclusion, defined as the adequate access and usage of formal financial services to improve people's lives, is a crucial area for the economic development of a country through its various angles. This paper analyzes the impact of selected FinTech companies on financial inclusion in their respective countries to obtain lessons of their business models and country environments that can help Peruvian financial inclusion. The selected FinTechs are M-PESA in Kenya, Nubank in Brazil, GCASH in the Philippines, and Easypaisa in Pakistan, which revolutionized the financial sector in their respective countries. However, a comparative study of their impact on financial inclusion in their respective country has not been conducted yet; therefore, the lessons obtained are helpful for the Peruvian situation due to their practical implications and because they raise possible areas for further and deeper research. The approach of this study considered a qualitative and quantitative method (to find a Pearson correlation between the percentage of the population of Country (A) that are users of FinTech (a) and the six selected demand-side indicators per country retrieved from the Global Findex Database) analysis to understand the results obtained. The results obtained indicate that M-PESA and GCASH, companies specialized in providing basic mobile money transactions such as remittances and withdrawals, did not impact the provision of other financial services such as savings or credit cards. In Easypaisa's case, this company positively impacts the studied indicators, probably due to its original partnership with a microfinance institution. Regarding Nubank, despite its remarkable growth in the last years, the company does not affect financial inclusion in Brazil yet. Nonetheless, after its recent expansion to provide more financial services, future research could assess the impact of this company on Brazilian financial inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little evidence is available about the utility of web-based health education for students in low resource settings. This paper reports results from an evaluation of the TeenWeb project, a multi-year, web-based health education intervention implemented in two urban settings: Nairobi, Kenya (N =1178 school students) and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (N =714 school students). A quasi-experimental, school-based pre-test/post-test design was implemented at each study site to determine if easy access to web-based reproductive health information, combined with intellectual “priming” about reproductive health topics, would result in improved knowledge and attitudes about topics such as condom use, access to HIV testing, emergency contraception and abortion laws. Students in web-access schools completed one web-based module approximately every 6–8 weeks, and in return, had access to the Internet for at least 30min after completing each module. Although students were encouraged to access project-supplied web-based health information, freedom of web navigation was an incentive, so they could choose to access other Internet content instead. Most measures showed statistically significant differences between students in “web” and “comparison” conditions at post-test, but only about half of the differences were in the hypothesized direction. Results of an embedded experiment employing more directed feedback tripled the likelihood of correctly reporting the duration of emergency contraception effectiveness. Review of URL logs suggests that the modest results were due to inadequate exposure to educational materials. Future intervention should focus on teen's purposeful searching for health information when they are in personal circumstances of unmet health needs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The last decade has witnessed a steady reduction of the malaria burden worldwide. With various countries targeting disease elimination in the near future, the popular parasite infection or entomological inoculation rates are becoming less and less informative of the underlying malaria burden due to a reduced number of infected individuals or mosquitoes at the time of sampling. To overcome such problem, alternative measures based on antibodies against specific malaria antigens have gained recent interest in malaria epidemiology due to the possibility of estimating past disease exposure in absence of infected individuals. This paper aims then to review current mathematical models and corresponding statistical approaches used in antibody data analysis. The application of these models is illustrated with three data sets from Equatorial Guinea, Brazilian Amazonia region, and western Kenyan highlands. A brief discussion is also carried out on the future challenges of using these models in the context of malaria elimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports from a comparative study on systems of quality assurance in 19 countries around the globe, and how these systems function as accountability mechanisms. Based on a theoretical framework for assessing how accountability mechanisms can contribute to build trust in the higher education sector, the analysis of the quality assurance systems underline the dominant role of quality assurance systems as the prime accountability mechanism in the sector, often accompanied by semi-autonomous agencies emphasising various forms of accreditation. Based on an assessment of the quality assurance systems it is still suggested that the current forms of accountability are not stimulating the up-building of trust in and of the sector. In the conclusion, some reflections are offered as alternatives to the current situation.

Although a great deal of time, resources and effort goes into the education of potential or existing entrepreneurs, our knowledge of the effects of this education is still rather limited. It can be argued that an imbalance exists between the substantial amount of finance and manpower invested in entrepreneurship education programmes and the very limited amount of resources invested in the evaluation of these programmes (that is, in analyses of their impact). Based on intercultural research and the personal experiences of the author in the evaluation of entrepreneurship education programmes (EEPs) in developing countries, this paper analyses competing approaches of entrepreneurship education; develops a methodological framework for evaluating these approaches; discusses the main findings of EEP evaluation studies carried out in Brazil, Chile, Kenya, the Philippines and Vietnam; presents "lessons learned" with respect to theoretical and methodological foundations of EEP evaluations and practical problems concerning their implementation; and draws general conclusions for future research and practice. The intercultural evaluations are based on a "most different systems" approach, applying a mix of quantitative (questionnaires with open and closed questions) and qualitative (in-depth interviews, on-site-visits, focus-group discussions) tools of social research. (Contains 1 note, 5 tables, and 3 figures.)