Mark Groulx, Nadia Nowak, Kristin Levy and Annie Booth
This paper aims to examine the broad concept of university–community partnerships as it applies to creating sustainability initiatives. The benefits of university–community…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the broad concept of university–community partnerships as it applies to creating sustainability initiatives. The benefits of university–community partnerships are increasingly recognized, and this paper offers direct insights from community stakeholders on the principles, functions and activities they see as foundational to effective university–community partnerships in northern British Columbia.
Design/methodology/approach
CommunityStudio was a co-learning partnership that sought to place students into the community and region to collaborate with community/government partners on interdisciplinary projects identified by the city, regional district or other community stakeholders. Through key informant interviews and a thematic analysis, the authors examine the expressed needs that CommunityStudio partners identified as key to ensuring such collaborations are mutually beneficial.
Findings
Within the community/regional development context of northern British Columbia, community experience highlights the importance of equity and inclusion, flexible programme design and an institutional culture that supports risk taking in teaching and learning as keys to the success of university–community partnerships.
Originality/value
This work contributes to calls for knowledge-based institutions such as universities to act as catalysts for social innovation within regional contexts outside of major metropolitan urban centres.
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Annie Booth, Sinead Earley, Kyle Aben, Barbara Otter, Todd Corrigal and Christie Ray
The purpose of this paper is to discuss an innovative course offered as a partnership between the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) (Canada), the Prince George…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss an innovative course offered as a partnership between the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) (Canada), the Prince George Chamber of Commerce (Canada) and local businesses: UNBC’s third-year undergraduate/graduate course, carbon and energy management.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have all participated in the development, design and/or delivery of the course and have provided their reflections on the experience. In addition, they sought insights from students and other interested people on the impact and significance of this course.
Findings
Carbon and energy management is an action learning-based co-created course initiated by the Chamber to address an interest in mitigating climate change amongst local businesses. Among businesses, the carbon economy is under considerable discussion. The increased awareness of climate change, and the need to better manage carbon, has led to local businesses eager to reduce greenhouse gases but lacking the expertise necessary. UNBC students (undergraduate and graduate) learn innovative and practical skills through creating carbon footprint analyses for small- to medium-sized business/non-profit clients, providing recommendations on reducing reliance on fossil fuels and formally presenting their findings to their clients. After five years, 46 businesses and non-profit organizations have participated in the course along with over 30 students and 5 separately hired student interns. The Chamber is now rolling out the program for Canadian Chamber of Commerce interested in similar community–university partnerships.
Originality/value
This paper describes a course that is a novel approach to university–community partnerships, both in approach and focus area. The linking, through the course, of small- to medium-sized businesses with the provision of plans for carbon reduction developed by university students is an unusual approach. However, there is significant value to all partners in the approach. Allowing the main community partner to serve as the lead in the project also offers an unusual experience and perspective for the university partner, as often such partnerships are largely driven by the post-secondary institution’s interests and needs, which can create a challenging power dynamic. Instead, the course offers a lesson in how a university can be clearly in service to the community at the community’s invitation. Finally, this paper offers reflections on the value of this type of project for creating sustainability initiatives from the perspective of all participants, students, faculty, university administration, city government, participating businesses and the Chamber of Commerce, demonstrating the critical need for understanding a project as an intersection of all participating actors.
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10. It has been represented to us that the Linley Process is not open to the recognised objections to the ordinary use of formaldehyde as a food preservative, on the ground that…
Abstract
10. It has been represented to us that the Linley Process is not open to the recognised objections to the ordinary use of formaldehyde as a food preservative, on the ground that owing to the special method of application only a small amount of formaldehyde is required and the quantity absorbed by the meat is negligible.
Donald W. Hendon and William F. Muhs
Enumerates the origins and early development of outdoor advertising in the USA, stating that in early times (pre‐newspapers) most signs or symbols over shops, or handbills, were…
Abstract
Enumerates the origins and early development of outdoor advertising in the USA, stating that in early times (pre‐newspapers) most signs or symbols over shops, or handbills, were copied from the UK. Goes on to identify the areas and years that newspapers began to appear and make an impression, and gives breakdowns of how and where they started and grew to become formidable forces in the media‐starved years back then. Furthers the point that outdoor advertising in the USA evolved at a similar, but much slower, pace than in the UK. Posits that large circuses had an impact with regard to outdoor advertising and in particular Phineas Taylor Barnum, who was the first to use large illustrated posters for effect, and this soon caught on.
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Sinead Earley, Thomas Daae Stridsland, Sarah Korn and Marin Lysák
Climate change poses risks to society and the demand for carbon literacy within small and medium-sized enterprises is increasing. Skills and knowledge are required for…
Abstract
Purpose
Climate change poses risks to society and the demand for carbon literacy within small and medium-sized enterprises is increasing. Skills and knowledge are required for organizational greenhouse gas accounting and science-based decisions to help businesses reduce transitional risks. At the University of Copenhagen and the University of Northern British Columbia, two carbon management courses have been developed to respond to this growing need. Using an action-based co-learning model, students and business are paired to quantify and report emissions and develop climate plans and communication strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on surveys of businesses that have partnered with the co-learning model, designed to provide insight on carbon reductions and the impacts of co-learning. Data collected from 12 respondents in Denmark and 19 respondents in Canada allow for cross-institutional and international comparison in a Global North context.
Findings
Results show that while co-learning for carbon literacy is welcomed, companies identify limitations: time and resources; solution feasibility; governance and reporting structures; and communication methods. Findings reveal a need for extension, both forwards and backwards in time, indicating that the collaborations need to be lengthened and/or intensified. Balancing academic requirements detracts from usability for businesses, and while municipal and national policy and emission targets help generate a general societal understanding of the issue, there is no concrete guidance on how businesses can implement operational changes based on inventory results.
Originality/value
The research brings new knowledge to the field of transitional climate risks and does so with a focus on both small businesses and universities as important co-learning actors in low-carbon transitions. The comparison across geographies and institutions contributes an international solution perspective to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
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Bob Gates, Colin Griffiths, Paul Keenan, Sandra Fleming, Carmel Doyle, Helen L. Atherton, Su McAnelly, Michelle Cleary and Paul Sutton
Very little Australian literature looks at women as leaders ineducation. Using theoretical viewpoints emerging out of a biographicaland historical analysis, it is possible to…
Abstract
Very little Australian literature looks at women as leaders in education. Using theoretical viewpoints emerging out of a biographical and historical analysis, it is possible to construct a more inclusive model of leadership which includes both men and women in the past. Mapping such a process historically and biographically can give a detailed assessment of the social, historical and political dimensions of particular women leaders′ lives and also develop a theoretical framework, which gives equal status to the leadership experiences more common to women. Presents a historical narrative where recording lives raises critical questions at the same time as it unearths new evidence of the history of women educationists in Australia.
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the idea of getting lost during field studies as a point of departure for reframing the initial research question.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the idea of getting lost during field studies as a point of departure for reframing the initial research question.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents field notes and reflections to illustrate the process of tracing innovation in the field by means of a theoretical concept – “knot-working” as proposed by Engeström (2008). By paying attention to seemingly irrelevant empirical data and experiences of being lost, the author infuses another theoretical concept – “not-knowing” as proposed by Lather (2007).
Findings
By questioning research questions, it becomes possible to challenge conventional assumptions in the field under study as well as assumptions underlying existing theory. It is argued that good research questions evolve iteratively throughout a study and might be even more valuable than answers (Alvesson and Sandberg, 2013). The paper illustrates how not-knowing can serve as a methodological perspective from where ordinary held assumptions can be reconsidered, thus paving the way for novel research questions that can enhance established theory.
Originality/value
The paper questions the initial research question: “How is the elderly care sector affected by innovation imperatives,” and ends up posing the reverse question: How are innovation imperatives affected – or how could they be affected – by the notion of care.
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This paper aims to present a visually documented brand history of Winchester Repeating Arms through a cultural analysis of iconic Western images featuring its lever action rifles.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a visually documented brand history of Winchester Repeating Arms through a cultural analysis of iconic Western images featuring its lever action rifles.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies visual culture perspectives and methods to the research and writing of brand history. Iconic Western images featuring Winchester rifles have been selected, examined, and used as points of departure for gathering and interpreting additional data about the brand. The primary sources consist chiefly of photographs from the nineteenth century and films and television shows from the twentieth century. Most visual source materials were obtained from the US Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and the Internet Movie Firearms Database. These have been augmented by written sources.
Findings
Within a few years of the launch of the Winchester brand in 1866, visual images outside company control associated its repeating rifles with the settlement of the American West and with the colorful people involved. Some of these images were reproduced in books and others sold to consumers in the form of cartes de visite, cabinet cards and stereographs made from albumen prints. Starting in the 1880s, the live Wild West shows of William F. Cody and his stars entertained audiences with a heroic narrative of the period that included numerous Winchesters. During the twentieth century and into the present, Winchesters have been featured in motion pictures and television series with Western themes.
Research limitations/implications
Historical research is an ongoing process. The discovery of new primary data, both written and visual, may lead to a revised interpretation of the selected images.
Originality/value
Based largely on images as primary data sources, this study approaches brand history from the perspective of visual culture theory and data. The research shows how brands acquire meaning not just from the companies that own them but also from consumers, the media and other producers of popular culture.