Fostering CHANGE: Lessons from implementing a multi-country,multi-sector nutrition-sensitive agriculture project

Using agriculture to improve nutrition is an approach growing in popularity, with programs becoming increasingly complex and multisectoral. While there is an active line of research assessing the impacts of such programs, little has been written about the process of successfully implementing them. As such, this paper uses a multisectoral nutrition-sensitive agriculture program implemented in four African countries as a case study to address key challenges in and lessons learned from implementation. We highlight the overall flexibility of nutrition-sensitive agriculture but also the need to adapt certain aspects to the particular context, as well as the opportunities for cross-context learning (and the limits to this). Integrating rigorous evaluation into such complex programs and forging diverse cross-sectoral partnerships offer both rewards and challenges, upon which we reflect. Main lessons learned from the program include the importance of carefully sequencing interventions, retaining flexibility in implementation, allowing for considerable time for cross-sector integration and coordination, and considering community impacts when designing research.     

语义场理论对科技术语翻译的启示从——“水资源管理”一词的英汉互译谈起

科技术语在不同语言之间的翻译是一个复杂的语义匹配过程，如何在考虑相关术语使用现状的基础上将新产生的科技术语准确翻译为其它语言是科技工作者和术语研究者关注的重要问题。以语义场理论为分析框架，通过分析以"水资源管理"及其相关术语为代表的英汉互译，结果发现：不同科技术语在同一语义场所涵盖的语义范围将会随着相关研究深化带来的术语界定细化而发生相应的动态变化；新兴科技术语的翻译要充分考虑其所在语义场其它相关科技术语的翻译先例和使用现状所带来的影响，在翻译准确性和解读便利性之间做出适当的平衡。这是造成"水资源管理"及相关术语英汉互译处理极为复杂的重要原因之一，需要科技翻译者在工作实践中多加注意。     

The practice of deliberative policy analysis in the context of political and cultural challenges: lessons from Thailand

ABSTRACT

This article draws upon insight from a study of those involved in introducing deliberative policy analysis in Thailand at the city scale and presents lessons for both policy practitioners and scholars. The design of each deliberative forum differed, depending on lessons learned from previous forums and the consensus that emerged as a result of deliberation amongst forum facilitators. The underlying principle of this kind of deliberative design is to make deliberative processes authentic, by avoiding coercion, inclusive, by engaging stakeholders who bring forth different ideas, and impactful. To make these forums more exciting, deliberative practices are often linked to other attractive discourses, such as those surrounding smart cities, creative spaces and inclusive development. The case of Thailand sheds light on emerging challenges involved in the practice of deliberative policy analysis in the context of both national political regimes that are not democracies and those in the East.     

Global adjustment to US disengagement from the world trading system

US trade policy in the Trump administration is protectionist, raising tariffs outside of WTO rules, threatening trade wars, withdrawing from existing trade agreements, and negotiating new bilateral trade deals rather than free trade agreements. The reaction of the rest of the world has been to support the WTO rules-based trading system and to pursue new and expanded regional trade agreements that do not include the US. The result may be US disengagement from the world trading system, with countries diverting trade around the US. We use a global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to analyze changes in trade and production patterns for a variety of scenarios, including US trade wars. We find that adjustment to US disengagement is feasible—the changes in trade shares as countries divert trade are modest and achievable, with very little impact on the volume of global trade. If the US engages in trade wars with major partners, the best response for other trade partners is to sit out the trade war, accept higher US tariffs, and gain markets from global trade diversion around the US. Finally, because of indirect effects, widespread tariffs fail to benefit the protected sectors—a fallacy of composition in a protectionist trade policy.     

Unsettling research versus activism: how might critical disability studies disrupt traditional research boundaries?

Abstract

This article responds to the call for producing activist-oriented scholarship by engaging with theoretical and methodological approaches that explore the inclusion of women and girls with disabilities in Vietnam. We consider possibilities for connecting different forms of knowledge and activism by reflecting on research practices designed to foster social change. Specifically, we ask: how can critical disability studies be more reflexive about knowledge which privileges particular ways of knowing from the Global North? What alternative possibilities can exist to foster more inclusive and transformative knowledge that tackles systemic forms of oppressions in colonial and postcolonial contexts? Reflecting on an ongoing collaborative project in Vietnam, we argue that critical disability studies which engages with different forms of activism through critical reflections on our privileges can tackle exclusion by opening a new platform for debating social justice transnationally.     

新时代高校国防教育隐性课程开发探究

新时代高校国防教育，在利用好军事理论教学这一显性课程基础上，还需要开发隐性课程。从国防教育隐性课程内涵谈起，阐述了开发国防教育隐性课程的必要性和可行性，进而对高校国防教育隐性课程开发的策略提出了几点看法，认为应该从开发以校园环境建设为基础的隐性课程、开发以制度建设为载体的隐性课程、开发以培育大学精神为核心的隐性课程三方面进行。     

Impact of competitive conditions on supplier evaluation: a construction supply chain case study

This research proposes a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework and demonstrates the impact of competitive conditions on supplier evaluation process for construction supply chains. The paper focuses on the supply chain of a large-scale housing project in order to illustrate the role of competitive capability and suppliers’ profile and its influence on supplier evaluation based on prevailing supply/market conditions. Various scenarios are investigated to demonstrate the impact of competition on supplier evaluation. The contribution of the study lies in highlighting the impact of supply/market conditions on MCDM decisions causing supplier evaluation ‘imbalance’ and MCDM usage. It is expected that the study will be useful for project management, construction, supply chain management, sourcing professionals. The findings of the study are generalisable to projects-based situations such as petroleum refinery and ship building where bill of materials typically consists of thousands of items and a large number of suppliers are involved.     

基于协调发展度的重大工程团队免疫系统健康评价研究

为评价重大工程团队免疫系统的健康和协调发展状况，本文提出了一种基于协调发展度的评价模型。首先通过文献查询和深度访谈，构建能够体现重大工程团队免疫系统特征的健康评价指标体系；其次利用改进的DEMATEL确定指标权重，然后采用多层次模糊综合评价将相关指标定量化，最终得出重大工程团队免疫系统的健康指数和协调发展度；再次确立重大工程团队免疫系统健康等级和协调发展度划分标准，同时提出免疫系统健康的跟踪评价策略；最后，利用本文模型对某跨国输气管道工程团队的免疫系统进行实证研究。结果表明，协调发展度模型既能反映重大工程团队免疫系统的整体健康程度，又能衡量固有性免疫和适应性免疫的协调发展状况，同时对免疫系统健康的跟踪评价也取得了良好效果。