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To determine whether to entrust the European Union (EU) to create a new nonfinancial reporting framework or endorse the extant reporting framework developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), this study aims to explore whether the mandatory implementation of the EU Directive positively impacted the GRI-based environmental disclosure.

The authors compared the pre- and post-EU Directive environmental disclosure of 16 Italian environmentally sensitive companies. The authors used an extended coding scheme and developed a unique scoring system to compare the quantitative and qualitative changes in environmental disclosure.

The analysis showed that the quantity of environmental disclosure increased after the mandatory EU Directive adoption. The most significant change was observed regarding the disclosure topics explicitly required by the Italian legislature. Additionally, disclosure of soft information continued to prevail over that of hard information in the post-Directive period. While the Directive boosted the level of adherence to GRI standards, Italian companies disclosed information that could be easily mimicked (soft) instead of objective measures that could be verified (hard). In light of this evidence, the endorsement of extant GRI standards could be a valuable option for enhancing the comparability and transparency of environmental disclosure.

This study used an original extended coding system and proposed related environmental disclosure indexes that allow monitoring changes in environmental disclosure over time. To the authors’ best knowledge, this study is one of the few that justifies the significant impact of regulation (here the EU Directive) on the increase in environmental disclosure and that uses hard and soft information typology to examine the quality of environmental disclosure.

Persons with intellectual disability and/or low-functioning autism spectrum didorder are with high support need (ID/ASD-HSN) are among the people who are most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific vulnerability and the protective factors for persons with ID/LF-ASD attending residential and rehabilitative facilities have however received little attention. This paper aims to describe how two facilities located in the Italian COVID-19 red zone faced the risks associated with the spread of the pandemic and the results they have achieved so far.

Interventions to contrast the spread of the pandemic and preserve clients’ health conditions have been systematically monitored and recorded since the very beginning of the pandemic.

26/138 clients had to undergo clinical screening and laboratory tests for COVID-like symptomatology, but only one resulted affected by COVID-19 and survived. Considering that Lombardy had 89,595 cases and 16,262 deaths (January–May 2020), one COVID-19 case/138 clients is a good result. Temporarily limiting physical contacts with friends/family in favor of reducing the burden of risk and adopting a system of prevention/safety strategies directed for persons with ID/LF-ASD attending and their caregivers have been useful measures.

Structured or semi-structured interviews (using professional caregivers as informant) to confirm behavioral and emotional changes in the clients could not be carried out because of lack of time and resources (which were captured by the management of the pandemic) and could be the next goal for our residential facilities to implement the management of epidemic acute phases in a research-oriented view.

This study is a service evaluation report about facing COVID-19 pandemic. Only few such studies are present in medical literature about ID/ASD.

The purpose of the paper is to present a service design (SD)-based methodology developed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) undertake organisational change.

This research used the design science research methodology, which enabled the creation of the Service Design for Organisational Change (SD4OCh) methodology. A real case study of a small service company specialised in neuropsychological disorders was used for the definition and validation of SD4OCh.

The main outcome of this study is the SD4OCh methodology, which is based on three key stages: diagnosis (knowing where to begin by detecting the organisation's strengths and weaknesses), innovation (improving the structure/processes and designing/redesigning services by employing a customer-centric approach), and implementation (enabling the definition of the route towards organisational change). There is also a transversal evaluation stage, which quantifies the organisational changes.

This study adds valuable knowledge to the service science research field and contributes to the awareness of the usefulness of SD theory within companies, especially those which are small and medium-sized, since those companies lack the tools and methods required to tackle organisational change, signifying that the challenges the companies confront are different to those of larger companies.

Although this is a SD-based research, the SD4OCh methodology was developed in order to enable companies to make holistic changes, namely, to innovate their services, structure, and processes, thus supporting and guiding organisational change.

The study aims to analyze the relationship between tourists' satisfaction and their sense of belonging in a specific cultural destination by also investigating the moderating role of their on-site involvement, both offline (on-site activities at the destination) and online (social media activities). A further objective lies in exploring the relationship between tourists' sense of belonging and their adoption of environmentally responsible behavior while at the destination. Finally, the paper attempts to determine whether said behavior can predict tourists' pro-environmental behavior and recommendation intention.

To reach these objectives, a survey and a structural equation model, based on a sample of 647 visitors of an important world Heritage site UNESCO (i.e. Urbino), have been adopted.

Findings reveal a positive influence of sense of belonging on satisfaction and environmentally responsible behavior, which, in turn, influences pro-environmental behavior and Recommendation intention, thus triggering a virtuous process in the tourists' formation as responsible and loyal travelers. Moreover, results underline how the relationship between satisfaction and sense of belonging is significantly strengthened when tourists' on-site activity involvement increases. Conversely, the moderating role of social media involvement is not supported.

The present study offers important implications for different actors in the tourism sector, such as policy makers, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and tourism operators.

The present study explores the role of social media involvement, specifically during the tourist's holiday.

This study enriches the empirical evidence in the cultural tourism through an analysis focused on the tourists' perspective, especially by investigating the relationship between satisfaction and emotional constructs (i.e. sense of belonging) that are able to bring environmental and loyalty benefits to the destination. Moreover, although existing research has highlighted the positive influence of the tourists' involvement on their experience, there is a paucity of studies jointly analyzing the on-site and online activities in the sustainability field.

The purpose of this article is to investigate factors related to the time students spent on remote activities during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. Specifically, it analyzes whether the school’s relationship with the family and the guardians’ support are associated with longer study times for children and youth.

This was performed using an ordered logit model on data from two waves of the survey Remote Education in the Perspective of Students and Their Families (PENP) with a nationally and regionally representative sample of Brazilian public school students.

Results show the importance of contact between the school and the family and, to a greater extent, the direct support of parents or guardians. The odds of learners spending more hours studying increase 36% when schools provide guidance for parents and guardians; in turn, when they provide support for students during activities, these odds increase 144%.

Moreover, students spend more time doing school activities in the later years of elementary school, high school and when they attend a state school.

This paper aims to present the main results achieved in the frame of the TIVANO national-funded project which may anticipate, in a stepped approach, the evolution and the design of the enabling technologies needed for a hybrid/electric medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to perform persistent intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) military operations.

Different architectures of hybrid-propulsion system are analyzed pointing out their operating modes to select the more suitable architecture for the reference aircraft. The selected architecture is further analyzed together with its electric power plant branch focusing on electric system architecture and the selected electric machine. A final comparison between the hybrid and standard propulsion is given at aircraft level.

The use of hybrid propulsion may lead to a reduction of the total aircraft mass and an increase in safety level. However, this result comes together with a reduced performance in climb phase.

This study can be used as a reference for similar studies and it provides a detailed description of propulsion operating modes, power management, electric system and machine architecture.

This study presents a novel application of hybrid propulsion focusing on a three tons class MALE UAV for ISR missions. It provides new operating modes of the propulsion system and a detailed electric architecture of its powertrain branch and machine. Some considerations on noise emissions and infra-red traceability of this propulsion, at aircraft level.

Este artículo aborda la relación emergente entre la sociedad civil y el sistema de innovación en América Latina y el Caribe –la financiación de la innovación, en particular– con la intención de sugerir una perspectiva conceptual diferenciada y plantear algunos de los interrogantes más relevantes en la actualidad.

Existe una desconexión estructural entre la sociedad civil y el mundo de la innovación. Empero, la exploración de las divergencias entre las perspectivas neo-institucional y neo-evolucionista de la triple hélice permite plantear que la evolución de los financiadores en distintos contextos puede generar una articulación emergente. Los efectos sobre la “sistematicidad” existente, en particular en América Latina y el Caribe, dependerán en buena medida del enfoque conceptual adoptado y de su institucionalización en términos de reestructuración de la sistematicidad de los sistemas de innovación y su governance.

La evolución de las relaciones entre los mecanismos de financiación emergentes y los proyectos innovadores en América Latina y el Caribe constituye tanto una oportunidad como un peligro. Si se logra re-estructurar la “sistematicidad”, la región podría seguir una senda con altas expectativas; si persisten las sub-dinámicas tradicionales, el fenómeno emergente podría verse despojado de todo su potencial.

Se propone un análisis conceptual y práctico diferente del tema de la financiación de la innovación, con énfasis en el caso latinoamericano y caribeño. Adicionalmente, se sugieren vías de investigación que permiten reducir la incertidumbre sobre la relación entre los actores del sistema de innovación y la sociedad civil y su impacto potencial.

Crowd-funding, América Latina y el Caribe, Cuarta hélice, Financiación de la innovación, Sistemas de innovación

Trabajo de investigación

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the emerging relationship between civil society and the innovation system in Latin America and the Caribbean – the financing of innovation, particularly – with the intention of suggesting a differentiated conceptual perspective and raising some of the most relevant questions presently.

There is a structural disconnect between civil society and the world of innovation. However, the exploration of the divergences between the neo-institutional and neo-evolutionist perspectives of the triple helix makes it possible to state that the evolution of funders in different contexts can generate an emerging articulation. The effects on the existing "systemness", particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, will depend to a large extent on the conceptual approach adopted and on its institutionalization in terms of restructuring the systemness of innovation systems and their governance.

The evolution of the relationships between emerging financing mechanisms and innovative projects in Latin America and the Caribbean constitutes both an opportunity and a risk. If "systemness" is restructured, the region could follow a path with high expectations; if traditional sub-dynamics persist, the emerging phenomenon could be stripped of its full potential.

A different conceptual and practical analysis of the topic of financing innovation is proposed, with emphasis on the Latin American and Caribbean case. Additionally, research paths are suggested that reduce uncertainty about the relationship between the actors of the innovation system and civil society and its potential impact.

This paper aims to provide empirical evidence on adopting artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI, in knowledge management (KM) processes and its impact on organisational decision-making. Specifically, the study addresses three key research questions: RQ1: How is (generative) AI adopted within KM processes in organisations? RQ2: What factors influence the adoption of AI in these processes, either facilitating or inhibiting it? RQ3: How does AI adoption in KM processes affect organisational decision-making?

An explorative investigation has been conducted through semi-structured interviews with KM and AI experts from a worldwide sample of 52 mostly private, large and for-profit organisations. Interviews have been analysed through a mixed thematic analysis.

The study provides an original framework in which the three investigated concepts are interconnected according to a dual relationship: linear and retroactive and 20 factors affecting AI adoption within KM processes.

The provided model guides managers in improving their organisational decision-making through AI adoption in KM processes. Moreover, according to the rational decision-making model, the authors propose a six-step systematic procedure for managers.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that simultaneously addresses AI, KM and decision-making and provides an integrated framework showing the relationships between them, allowing organisations to better and practically understand how to ameliorate their decision-making through AI adoption in KM processes.

The purpose of this commentary is to describe how Omni Nano has designed and implemented a model for teaching Nanotechnology to high school students.

This commentary describes the Omni Nano program and the approach taken to support high school science teachers to include Nanotechnology education in their STEM programs.

The program findings are determined from qualitative teacher and student program surveys and informal interviews. The strong positive comments indicate that Omni Nano is successful at sparking students’ interest in nanotechnology and teaching nanotechnology concepts effectively.

The Omni Nano model demonstrates how complex STEM topics such as Nanotechnology can be designed and implemented effectively to promote student learning.

As the field of nanotechnology continues to evolve, high schools will need to provide additional coursework to scaffold student development and meet the demand for nanotech careers. Omni Nano has developed the first nanotechnology curriculum for high school students.

The research problem in this study is how a client (as a project owner) should organise early stakeholder involvement and integration in the front-end phase of a project. This study aims to create normative managerial statements as propositions from the client's perspective and to combine them into a set of activities enabling efficient organisation in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project.

Action design research (ADR) was carried out in a large hospital construction project where the first author acted as an “involved researcher” and the other authors acted as “outside researchers”.

The authors created seven normative managerial propositions that were verified by the case project stakeholders and developed a managerial framework describing the client's essential stakeholder involvement and integration activities in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project based on these propositions. The authors have also depicted the subphases of the front-end phase: value definition phase in the client permanent organisation, value proposition phase in the client Programme Management Office (PMO) and finally development phase in the alliance organisation ending on the final investment decision.

The collaborative contract delivery model enables the early involvement and integration of stakeholders. It has been somewhat surprising to note the extent to which collaborative contracts change the client role in the project front-end. The results offer practical activities for how clients can manage front-end activities in collaborative contracts.

The case project offered a platform to analyse how the collaborative contract delivery model changes the emphasis of activities in the front-end of a project. One of the key benefits of collaborative contracts is that development, design and delivery occur partially in parallel, thereby enabling contributions from production to be included in the design and development. The benefit of having a real-life case under study provides the possibility to triangulate and analyse rich data, however limited by the qualitative case method.