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Copyright of Cadernos de Gestão Pública e Cidadania is the property of Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Escola Brasileira de Administracao Publica e de Empresas 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.)

This paper reviews one of the main controversies in public policy, the concept of city competitiveness and how it responds to the issue of urban decline, accentuating the contribution of urban regeneration to competitiveness of cities through theoretical and case study review (Mashhad’s central historical urban fabrics). Following a review of four main urban regeneration themes within the conditions of competitiveness, a classification of the key considerations to each theme is presented in three comprehensive dimensions. Furthermore, urban interventions in historical contexts is the issue explored in Mashhad, a city envisioned to become the cultural-religious center within the Islamic world. The research seeks to explore whether the physical-spatial interventions in Mashhad’s central fabrics (considering the local existing potentials) have paved the way to the vision of a cultural-religious competitive city in the Islamic world or not. For this purpose, interventions through the city’s central historical urban fabrics within the last few decades are explored in an analytic-adaptive comparison with urban regeneration’s key considerations. It is finally revealed that urban decision-makers’ simplistic understanding towards urban competitiveness besides specialists’ negligence of the city’s local context as a competitive advantage and the conversion of pilgrimage culture to pilgrimage industry has led to a top-down bulldozing authoritative approach that not only sacrifices “socio-spatial values” for “commercial values” but also makes a distance between people and their living environment in the long run. It is highlighted that offering appropriate and possible regenerative strategies for the realization of suitable urban spaces should vary based upon given contextual capabilities and talents of each part of the city which may not be equally feasible in different cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In real life, the processing of an incoming event is continuously influenced by prior information at multiple timescales. The present study investigated how harmonic contexts at both local and global levels influence the processing of an incoming chord in an event-related potentials experiment. Chord sequences containing two phrases were presented to musically trained listeners, with the last critical chord either harmonically related or less related to its preceding context at local and/or global levels. ERPs data showed an ERAN-like effect for local context in early time window and a N5-like component for later interaction between the local context and global context. These results suggest that both the local and global contexts influence the processing of an incoming music event, and the local effect happens earlier than the global. Moreover, the interaction between the local context and global context in N5 may suggest that music syntactic integration at local level takes place prior to the integration at global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bali's subak cultural landscape, with its ancient and extensive paddy-fields and irrigation system, is a valuable resource for place-based education. However, this landscape is threatened by various problems. Here we analyze the relationships among Balinese teachers, student teachers, and students, and review their knowledge, attitudes, and experiences toward subaks. This study finds that most of the Balinese teachers, student teachers, and students had limited knowledge and experiences regarding subaks, although their overall attitudes were positive. We conclude by discussing the study's implications for relocating environmental education into the local context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Africa, despite decades of campaigns to restrict child marriage through legislation and the adoption of minimum age laws, the practice is still very common and the continent is predicted to have the largest global share of child brides by the year 2050. This begs the question whether human rights law, as it stands, is the appropriate strategy against child marriage. On the one hand, law can create an "enabling environment" and strengthen those who seek the elimination of child marriage; but, on the other hand, vigorous enforcement of such legislation may result in counter-intuitive effects, leaving the girls more vulnerable instead of the law fulfilling its protective role. This article uses a socio-legal approach to argue that the solution to child marriage might lie in a form of translation and enforcement of human rights. It makes a case for the need for human rights to be translated according to local conditions in order to deal effectively with child marriage in Africa. In this case, "translation" refers to the reinterpretation and reframing of human rights in line with specific local conditions, leading towards assimilation and acceptance while maintaining its core foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-turn response selection is an important branch in the field of natural language processing, which aims to select the most appropriate response based on multi-turn dialogue. Most state-of-the-art models adopt pre-trained language models (PrLMs) and multiple auxiliary tasks to enhance their ability to understand the semantics in multi-turn dialogue. However, some critical challenges still remain to be addressed. Optimizing multiple auxiliary tasks simultaneously may significantly increase the training cost. Meanwhile, the semantic gap between the optimization objectives of the main and auxiliary tasks may bring noise to pre-trained language models. To address these challenges, we propose an efficient BERT-based neural network model with local context comprehension (BERT-LCC) for multi-turn response selection. First, we propose a self-supervised learning strategy, which introduces an auxiliary task named Response Prediction in Random Sliding Windows (RPRSW). In a multi-turn dialogue, the RPRSW task takes utterances falling within a random sliding window as input and predicts whether the last utterance within the sliding window is the appropriate response for the local dialogue context. This auxiliary task can enhance BERT's understanding of local semantic information. Second, we propose a local information fusion (LIF) mechanism that collects multi-granularity local features at different dialogue stages and employs a gating function to fuse global features with local features. Third, we introduce a simple but effective domain learning strategy to learn rich semantic information at different dialogue stages during pre-training. Experimental results on two public benchmark datasets show that BERT-LCC outperforms other state-of-the-art models. • Propose a self-supervised learning strategy to enhance BERT's ability. • Design a local information fusion mechanism to fuse task-related local features. • Propose a gating function to fuse the global and local features. • Introduce an effective domain learning strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes findings yielded by the empirical study performed in the framework of an RGNF grant entitled “Image of a region as a communicative strategy for the authorities and mass media”. The methods of study included expert survey and formal survey (N=1000, July-September 2013), studying the opinion of respondents who were either internal experts residing in the Volgograd region (N=20; May-September 2013) or external experts who reside outside the region but maintain stable ties with the representatives of state and municipal authorities, regional mass media and business. The findings indicate that the Volgograd region has fallen behind other modernized Russian regions, that young people tend to leave it, that a negative image of the region as a declining territory persists. Answers to the open question “What is unacceptable for you in the existing image of the Volgograd region?” revealed major problems determining the local context of a declining region, and those were issues associated with inefficient regional/municipal administration: “the condition of the roads”, “constant replacement of people in the administration”, “politics as a whole”, “a destitute region without a good manager”, “unemployment”, “countryside is dying off”, “indifference of the authorities”, “roads, housing and public utilities and the administration”, “the authorities are not responsible for the people”, “the authorities do not solve the problems of the city or its people”, “thieving”, “dishonest authorities”, “the region goes to rack and ruin, no kindergartens or jobs”, “one cannot even walk in the streets”, “corruption”, “a stagnant region with low pay”, “no perspectives in the future”, “the region is stagnating due to corruption among officials”. According to the local Census Bureau, the Volgograd region can be classified as a declining territory where the population decline exceeds incoming migrants. Young people under 35 showed the highest rate of willingness to leave the region – 57.6 % of respondents, which arouses concern about the region’s future as this cohort capable of developing the region is the target of all plans about boosting the regional image, and these people are not going to cast in their lot with the Volgograd region. For the moment, we can point out that the region shows poor attractiveness for the main target groups in the region, which encumbers the formation of the region’s image and regional identity, indicates negative tendencies and implies great effort on the part of management entities if they want to change the situation in the Volgograd region. Our study revealed the main trends in building a positive image of the region and changing the local context; these are traditional (centre of war and history memorials – 38 % of respondents, industrial – 46.0 % of respondents, tourism – 26.8 % of respondents), and innovative (centre for training and education – 35.5 %, centre for culture – 37.9 % of respondents). The regional image and local context do not change spontaneously; they are rather a product of conscious, well-regulated conceptualization, a product of artificially organized public reflection and projection. According to the surveyed people residing in the region, the region’s development and change in local context can be helped along by such factors as “active cooperation of the authorities and business – 49.3 % of respondents; “honesty among regional and municipal officials – 38.6 % of respondents; “safety of business operations” – 34.3 % of respondents; “presence of a regional strategy that meets the region’s needs” – 33.9 % of respondents; “social and tax benefits” – 33.0 % of respondents; “the people should be informed about the project of regional development and take part in them” – 26.8 % of respondents. Revealing the factors that determine the local context the author suggests changing the trajectory of development, building a positive image of the Volgograd region, enhancing the investment attractiveness of the region, improving the quality of life, building on the advantageous geographic and historical situation (the region’s past, natural and climatic conditions, natural resources, economic and geographic situation, agrarian conditions, prestigious universities), building trust in the authorities due to the efforts on the part of regional and municipal administration and improving the reputation of public servants, which would promote the strategy of adjusting inter-regional inequality and a renaissance of a provincial region.

This study examines the international development frameworks of two non-governmental organisations and discusses how the activities they are involved with fit the local context of Bangladesh. The study considers two community empowerment projects, Proshika and Practical Action Bangladesh who work with local blacksmiths and goldsmiths. There is clear evidence that nongovernmental organisations in Bangladesh are practicing global development frameworks which do not fit with the local context. This study was based on a qualitative approach and data were collected using a number of qualitative data collection methods, such as semi-structured interviews, in-depth case study, focus group discussions and community mapping. Results showed a number of gaps and challenges such as low level of socio-economic and cultural conditions among both smith communities, unknown and unfamiliar development tools, lack of consultation with the local people, lack of space and development ownership in the development process. Each of challenges inhibits the smiths' access and involvement in the development activities. While the study focuses on Bangladesh, the implications are international in scope and argue for approaches that better consider local needs more specifically. Findings from this research suggest important guidelines for international development organisations, policymakers, donors, development practitioner and non-governmental organisation workers to consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the differential sensitivity young and older adults exhibit to the local context of items entering memory. We examined trial-to-trial performance during an item directed forgetting task for positive, negative, and neutral (or baseline) words each cued as either to-be-remembered (TBR) or to-be-forgotten (TBF). This allowed us to focus on how variations in emotional valence (independent of arousal) and instruction (TBR vs. TBF) of the previous item (trial n-1) impacted memory for the current item (trial n) during encoding. Different from research showing impairing effects of emotional arousal, both age groups showed a memorial boost for stimuli when preceded by items high in positive or negative valence relative to those preceded by neutral items. This advantage was particularly prominent for neutral trial n items that followed emotional items suggesting that, regardless of age, neutral memories may be strengthened by a local context that is high in valence. A trending age difference also emerged with older adults showing greater sensitivity when encoding instructions changed between trial n-1 and n. Results are discussed in light of age-related theories of cognitive and emotional processing, highlighting the need to consider the dynamic, moment-to-moment fluctuations of these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an exploration of challenges arising in the interplay between a standardised peace education curriculum and a localised post-conflict setting. Drawing on interview data from two Kenyan schools, the paper explores the reception of peace education initiatives implemented in Kenya following the post-election violence of 2007/2008 through the voices of teachers and pupils. The analysis identifies two patterns emerging from the pupils' point of view; firstly an engagement with narratives of conflict addressing what happened during the outbreak of violence, and secondly an awareness of collective narratives of the past, centred on the question of why the conflict broke out. The data identifies a gap between the knowledge and perspectives of the pupils, and the level of engagement by the curricula and teachers in the same issues. Finally, the paper explores some implications of these diverging needs and perspectives in relation to the design and implementation of peace education curricula, particularly in relation to providing sufficient support for the teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This current study examines how MNE subsidiaries constitute "knowing" in their ongoing practices in local context, with a focus on the Chinese cultural context in which the subsidiary is embedded. From a dynamic system perspective, it provides a framework to further discuss learning of organizations with particular relevance to the Asian business context. This study complements the current understanding of learning by highlighting the essential role of context in enacting knowledge in practice. We conducted 48 in-depth interviews with managers in MNE subsidiaries located at three cities in China, including: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which captured a broad picture of the Chinese geographic variations and the cultural context. It has practical implications for managers working in China and Asian emerging markets. This study explains the dynamic process of learning in MNE subsidiaries, and the interactions between employees and the local cultural context. Firstly, it reveals the learning nature of daily practices in subsidiaries from a practice view, which further confirms that the "knowing" process of organizations is a continuous, circular process of change characterized as systems dynamics. Second, it discusses that knowing and meaning are embedded in specific contexts of subsidiaries, which are across boundaries and faced with navigating a local cultural context. It highlights the effects of cultural context in enacting knowledge in practice by discussing contextual dynamics of knowing practices in MNE subsidiaries. In particular, the Chinese local context of learning has been examined with support of empirical data. Third, it finds that expatriates serve as channels and storehouse of tacit knowledge in subsidiaries considering the characteristics of Chinese cultural context. It suggests managers working in subsidiaries take advantages of local cultural context. It also has practical implications for MNE headquarters to expand into Asian emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video stitching fuses multi-camera videos with differing centers of projection into a single panoramic video. Image registration and video fusion is the key of video stitching. In this paper, a robust and real-time video stitching method based on iterative hashing and best dynamic seam-line with local context model is proposed, which can eliminate ghosting and ensure real-time in video stitching. Firstly, the iterative hashing algorithm is proposed to improve the speed and precision of image registration. Image feature points are matched by constructing a multi-table, extracting candidates and refining candidates with iteration, which enhances the local sensitivity of hashing and speeds up the process of feature points matching. Secondly, the method of finding the best seam-line dynamically and blending with local context is proposed to improve the quality of video fusion. The proposed video fusion method is able to eliminate ghosting and illumination variation during video stitching. In addition, the speed of video stitching can be enhanced. Experimental results on several scenes show the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed video stitching method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the responses from frontline social work practitioners, administrators and educators in Trinidad to the recently published Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development. In acknowledging the significance of the Global Agenda, it became apparent that there was a need to solicit and channel the views of the local practitioners on this declaration. This article is based on a study carried out by the social work unit of the University of the West Indies. The study was intended to facilitate the articulation of the perceptions of key constituents about the Global Agenda and to critically analyse and respond to the Global Agenda within the context of a developing region. This article draws on the data that were collected from a focus group discussion among key constituents in the profession of social work in Trinidad. The findings support the Global Agenda as culturally relevant to the social realities facing Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region at this time. The prevailing view was that notwithstanding the responsibility to institutionalise the currency of the profession to influence social policy development on critical human rights and social justice issues, country-specific mandates and jurisdictions must be maintained as the primary determinants of social work practice, education and policy development. The potential value, applicability and advancement of the four commitments put forward in the Global Agenda are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reviews the literature on multinational corporations’ headquarters–subsidiaries relationships, focusing on the role of the local context and its influence on subsidiaries in developed and emerging markets or countries. The author searched the literature using several terms directly related to these issues. The findings demonstrate that subsidiaries can only operate successfully in foreign locations by adjusting their policies to fit into the local environment because there are multiple contexts. Multinational corporations manage the local context by integrating their home behavior and that of the subsidiaries’ operating environments. A framework for identifying and managing different local contexts is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One outcome of the globalization process is the growing influence and dominance of American popular culture. The speed with which American music, films, and goods have flooded the markets worldwide is remarkably high, thanks to the advancement of telecommunication technologies and the Internet. Increased cultural transfer or, more precisely, internationalization of American culture has posed both fear and fascination to other cultures. How do people in the academia respond to this conundrum of cross-cultural contacts? What do we teach when we teach popular culture? What viable research in American popular culture is encouraged so as to result in impartially beneficial impacts for society at large? This paper is to argue that one can become an avid learner or critic of a certain culture when s/he finds meaningful connections between that culture and life itself. The teaching of American popular culture in the English Department, for instance, has to be locally contextualized, learner-participant oriented, and socially self-actualized. In this way, American Studies outside the U. S. may in turn become less centralized as the interchange of cross-cultural understanding takes place concurrently.

The paper examines the progress made regarding the development of small irrigation dams in Malawi with the view of establishing their significance in improving rural livelihoods in the country. The paper adopts a political economy theory and a qualitative research approach. Evidence from Mzuzu Agricultural Development Division (ADD), where small reservoirs acquire specific relevance, shows that despite the efforts made, the development of small dams is making little progress. The paper highlights that problems of top-down planning, high investment costs, negligence of national and local interests, over-dependency on donors, and conflicts over the use of dams – which made large-scale dams unpopular in the 1990s – continue to affect the development of small irrigation dams in Malawi. The paper argues that small irrigation dams should not be simplistically seen as a panacea to the problems of large-scale irrigation dams. Like any other projects, small dams are historically and socially constructed through interests of different actors in the local settings, and can only succeed if actors, especially those from formal institutions, develop adaptive learning towards apparent conflicting relations that develop among them in the process of implementation. In the case of Mzuzu ADD, it was the failure of the government to develop this adaptive learning to the contestations and conflicts among these actors that undermined successful implementation of small irrigation dams. The paper recommends the need to consider local circumstances, politics, interests, rights and institutions when investing in small irrigation dams.

International mindedness is considered by many educational researchers and organizations as a determining feature in international education. This article used data as part of a PhD case study inquiry to explore how international mindedness is developed by two students in an IB school in an Indian Ocean Island Nation. Through a qualitative approach within an interpretivist paradigm, it provides insights into the complexities of the students' development of international mindedness through the following questions: Why do the students aspire to develop international mindedness? What are the tensions they experience in developing it through the theory of knowledge programme in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP)? Using socio-cultural frameworks, the article discusses theories on knowledge development, identity and post-colonialism. Data were collected through a survey, journal entries and interviews. The analysis was conducted using theoretical sampling, categorization and coding. The findings revealed that students' cultural backgrounds and identities are critical factors determining their sense of engagement with the development of international mindedness in the IBDP. They indicated also that the Diploma Programme (DP) knowledge content needs to be carefully addressed by the International Baccalaureate (IB) host school, which also must consider the socio-cultural and historical factors of the country in which it is found, in negotiating a locally meaningful implementation of the IB's international mindedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares perspectives for low-carbon electricity production in two EU member states – Poland and Portugal until 2030. Electricity production capacities, carbon emissions of electricity production, and production cost of electricity (COE) of Poland and Portugal are analyzed. The dilemmas of investments into low-carbon electricity production technologies relying on: (i) renewable energy sources (RES), (ii) nuclear fuel, and (iii) fossil fuels integrated with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) are discussed. Roadmap 2050 recommends about 40% decarbonization of electricity generation by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Based on electricity production mix forecast for 2030, carbon emissions of electricity are estimated at 163 GgC TWhe−1in Poland and at 93.2 GgC TWhe−1in Portugal. Therefore, both compared countries must implement energy policies aimed at carbon emissions reduction through expanded utilization of RES (Poland – bioenergy, wind; Portugal – hydro, wind, solar), advanced CCS options (using local synergy opportunities), and optionally nuclear power (Poland). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resident perceptions and actions related to wildfire management are influenced by a complex set of factors that are often tied to a specific local context. We conducted in-depth case studies in two diverse communities to better illustrate how elements of local social context collectively influence wildfire perspectives and behaviors in a given locality. Our results suggest that the influence of commonly cited predictors for wildfire mitigation actions, including homeowners’ associations, vegetation preferences, and previous experience with wildfire, can vary based on their interaction with other elements of local context such as residents’ desire for privacy, preferences for wildland or ornamental vegetation, identification as “suburbanites” or “country residents,” and willingness to collectively organize. We compare our results to existing wildfire social science findings and argue for a more holistic view of local social context as a way to design tailored strategies for increasing resident responsibility for wildfire. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this focus feature, David Trubek and Michael Trebilcock present an assessment of the past forty years of the law and development movement and map the challenges that lie ahead. While law and development research today seems to be on more solid ground than it was in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it is still at risk of facing a second demise. The recent revival of the law and development movement has been marked by a research agenda increasingly attuned to the importance of local context. On the one hand, contextualization has countered the ethnocentric analysis produced in the Global North and exported to developing countries in the 1960s. On the other hand, attention to context has caused a severe fragmentation of the academic dialogue, as the concern with adaptation to particular circumstances defies any attempt to somehow connect these research efforts in one single conceptual framework. The new generation of law and development scholars is thus left with the challenge of maintaining contextualization, while avoiding letting the movement break down into a 'series of self-referential silos.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]