CESA
A prognostic of the impact of coronavirus on education in Europe: some evidence
In A prognostic of the impact of coronavirus on education in Europe: some evidence, Lúcia Oliveira highlights the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on student education and their perceptions corcerning the effect of distance learning on their lives as students. Thus, we conducted a survey to university students in Portugal, during the month of July, who composed a sample of convenience due to time constraints and at the end of the school year, which made the collection of information extremely important to evaluate the real impact at that very moment, taking also into account other external factors. We found out that students live difficult moments at the educational and private level due to the complex professional situation of their parents. All of these factors have a major impact in terms of mental health, as many of them reported experiencing anxiety and stress.
Abstract:
The spread of COVID-19 forced most countries to temporarily close educational institutions. It may cause not only short-term learning loss, but also an additional loss of human capital and reduced long-term economic opportunities. To mitigate this loss, many countries have opted for distance learning. However, issues of equity, participation and evaluation of results emerged as challenges. Universities have postponed or cancelled classes and are taking measures to protect all students and staff from highly infectious diseases. In this study, we highlight the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on student education and their perceptions corcerning the effect of distance learning on their lives as students. Thus, we conducted a survey to university students in Portugal, during the month of July, who composed a sample of convenience due to time constraints and at the end of the school year, which made the collection of information extremely important to evaluate the real impact at that very moment, taking also into account other external factors. Given the exploratory nature of this empirical research, data analysis is descriptive, measuring opinions, attitudes and perceptions that students have about the impact of the pandemic on their educational path. We found out that students live difficult moments at the educational and private level due to the complex professional situation of their parents. All of these factors have a major impact in terms of mental health, as many of them reported experiencing anxiety and stress. It will be a challenge for universities to deal with this new reality, to prepare an uncertain future not only for students, but also for professionals, who will need more preparation and training to face the new teaching methodologies.
Quotation:
“A prognostic of the impact of coronavirus on education in Europe: some evidence.” 4. International Seminar. Education, Territories and Human Development. Catolica, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Porto. pp. 550-557 https://www.fep.porto.ucp.pt/sites/default/files/files/FEP/eventos/Atas-SIETDH-2021.pdf https://www.repository.utl.pt/handle/10400.5/23273
Access the article here.
From Guangdong to Brazil: Itineraries of a sino-mozambican community
From Guangdong to Brazil: Itineraries of a sino-mozambican community by Lorenzo Macagno explores the itineraries and trajectories of a very specific Chinese community. First, it reconstructs the tenuous incorporation of this group into the colonial society of Mozambique in the 1950s. At the end of this article, I discuss the narratives of deception that emerged after the independence of Mozambique in 1975, when the Chinese had to abandon the possibility of a Portuguese future for their lives and decided to settle in Brazil.
Abstract:
This article explores the itineraries and trajectories of a very specific chinese community. First, it reconstructs the tenuous incorporation of this Chinese into the colonial society of Mozambique, an ex-Portugal overseas province in the 1950s. At the end of this article, I discuss the narratives of deception that emerged after the independence of Mozambique in 1975, when the Chinese had to abandon the possibility of a Portuguese future for their lives and decided to settle in Brazil. Indeed, once considered “good Portuguese” by the colonial authorities, the new context that emerged out of the independence of Mozambique forced these Chinese to “choose” the route of the diaspora. Many settled in Portugal, Canada, the United Sates, and Australia. But the majority, as we shall see, chose Brazil and, in particular, the city of Curitiba in the State of Paraná. Here they became engaged in commercial and professional activities, and in 1989 they founded the Associação Cultural Chinesa do Paraná (Cultural Chinese Association of Paraná).
Quotation:
Macagno, L. (2021). “From Guangdong to Brazil: Itineraries of a sino-mozambican community”, in: André Bueno & Daniel Veras (eds.) Studies in Chinese Migrations. Brazil, China and Mozambique, Rio de Janeiro: Projeto Orientalismo/UERJ, pp. 167-187.
Digitalization and Corporate Transformation: the case of European oil & gas firms
Digitalization and corporate transformation: The case of European oil & gas firms by Jorge Fernandez-Vidal, Reyes Gonzalez, Jose Gasco e Juan Llopis, leveraging the collective learnings from the eight companies studied, aims to help decision-makers with a conceptual guideline to select the most appropriate strategic tools when undergoing a transformation, based on four dimensions that are of high relevance across multiple strategic environments.
Abstract:
Digital technologies have had a tremendous impact on the world and have forced companies to adapt their business models, strategies and management practices. There is a scarcity of research about digital transformation in the energy sector, so this paper aims to analyze this phenomenon in the Oil & Gas sector through a comparative case analysis of eight market leading European Oil & Gas companies. To ensure an adequate methodological approach, the authors have applied Eisenhardt’s framework to build theories from case study research. This article relies on multiple data collection methods. 26 interviews with 18 senior executives from the sample energy firms and two global consulting firms were completed in two separate phases. To complement these interviews, information and data were collected from a range of public sources, such as newspapers, video interviews, business magazines and analyst reports, as well as public information from the eight companies under analysis, such as annual and financial reports, company presentations, regulatory filings and announcements and company news. Our research highlights several transformational moves in the firms under study that bring substantial new capabilities and allow them to achieve market-leading positions in new and digitally native business areas -although modest in size. The sample firms mainly opt for combinations of small transformational strategies to achieve their large transformation goals. However, in many organizations, digital and business transformation initiatives suffer from poor governance and are typically just a collection of unconnected activities, piecemeal strategies and pilot projects. Developing a coherent transformation strategy, with the right structure and governance, remains a challenge for most organizations. This paper, leveraging the collective learnings from the eight companies studied, aims to help decision-makers with a conceptual guideline to select the most appropriate strategic tools when undergoing a transformation, based on four dimensions that are of high relevance across multiple strategic environments.
Quotation:
Jorge Fernandez-Vidal, Reyes Gonzalez, Jose Gasco, Juan Llopis, Digitalization and corporate transformation: The case of European oil & gas firms, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 174, 2022, 121293, ISSN 0040-1625
Itinéraires de Kamba Simango: dialogue entre un Mozambicain apprenti ethnographe et Franz Boas
Itinéraires de Kamba Simango: dialogue entre un Mozambicain apprenti ethnographe et Franz Boas by Lorenzo Macagno explores the dialogue between anthropologist Franz Boas and Kamba Simango. It also analyses the ethnographic relationship between them and Simango’s cosmopolitan trajectory.
Abstract:
This paper explores the dialogue between anthropologist Franz Boas and Kamba Simango. Simango was born in 1890, in Machanga District, on the coast of present-day Mozambique. In 1914, under the auspices of missionaries of the American Board of Missions, he was sent to the United States to study at the Hampton Institute. Kamba Simango and Franz Boas met for the first time in 1919 at Columbia University. Boas did not want Simango to become a mere “informant,” but a native ethnographer. Based on an exchange of unpublished letters and a series of documents published mainly by missionaries, this article analyzes the ethnographic relationship between Boas and Simango as well as his cosmopolitan trajectory. Kamba Simango’s life and career help us to understand the colonial experience par le bas, and to understand the construction of subjectivities and specific historicities from a less nation-centered perspective.
Quotation:
Lorenzo Macagno, « Itinéraires de Kamba Simango : dialogue entre un Mozambicain apprenti ethnographe et Franz Boas », Cahiers d’études africaines, 244 | 2021, 831-858. URL: https://www.repository.utl.pt/handle/10400.5/22949
Common Causes in Grassroot Development: a case for community-based and communitydriven response in the postpandemic era
The purpose of Common Causes in Grassroot Development: a case for community-based and communitydriven response in the postpandemic era by Vincent Agulonye is to determine the impact of community-based and driven approaches during the lockdowns and early periods of the pandemic. The study examines the impact and perceptions of the state-led intervention. This would help to discover a better approach for postpandemic interventions and policy responses.
Abstract:
The purpose of Common Causes in Grassroot Development: a case for community-based and communitydriven response in the postpandemic era is to determine the impact of community-based and driven approaches during the lockdowns and early periods of the pandemic. The study examines the impact and perceptions of the state-led intervention. This would help to discover a better approach for postpandemic interventions and policy responses. This article used the inductive method and gathered its data from surveys. In search of global opinions on COVID-19 responses received in communities, two countries in each continent with high COVID-19 infection per 100,000 during the peak period were chosen for study. In total, 13 community workers, leaders and members per continent were sampled. The simple percentile method was chosen for analysis. The simple interpretation was used to discuss the results. Findings – The study showed that poor publicity of community-based interventions affected awareness and fame as most were mistaken for government interventions. The study found that most respondents preferred state interventions but preferred many communities or local assessments of projects and interventions while the projects were ongoing to adjust the project and intervention as they progressed. However, many preferred community-based and driven interventions. Research limitations/implications – State secrecy and perceived opposition oppression limited data sourcing for this study in countries where state interventions are performed in secret and oppression of perceived opposition voices limited data collection in some countries. Thus, last-minute changes were made to gather data from countries on the same continent. An intercontinental study requires data from more countries, which would require more time and resources. This study was affected by access to locals in remote areas where raw data would have benefited the study.
A Crying Economy in a Bleeding State: effects of religious and ethnic militia in Nigeria
A Crying Economy in a Bleeding State: effects of religious and ethnic militia in Nigeria by Vincent Agulonye and Daniel Adayi analyses the factors behind the emergence of these militias and the consequences their activities have on local economies in their regions and the national economy.
Abstract:
Nigeria’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-ideological nature is a complexity that should spur a synergy for development in all spheres. The theory of dissipative structures employed suggests that. Contrarily, the pursuit of individual group interests to the detriment of others leads to entropy that dissipates development and economic growth that its population needs. Ethnic and religious militia emerged in response to such problems and threats that has brought in consistent loss of lives and properties which whip the economy and country leaving the state bleeding. Militia internationalisation are important factors discussed as well. A Crying Economy in a Bleeding State: effects of religious and ethnic militia in Nigeria looks at the factors behind the emergence of these militias and the consequences their activities have on local economies of their regions and the national economy.
Quotation:
Agulonye, Uzoma Vincent Patrick e Daniel Adayi (2022). “A crying economy in a bleeding state : effects of religious and ethnic militia in Nigeria”. In Handbook of research on ethnic, racial, and religeous conflicts ans their impact on state and social security, Emilia Alaverdov, Muhammad Waseem Bari (eds), 273-297. Hershey: IGI Global. URL: https://www.repository.utl.pt/handle/10400.5/22739
The future of international development cooperation: fragmentation, adaptation and innovation in a changing world
The future of international development cooperation: fragmentation, adaptation and innovation in a changing world, by Ana Luísa Silva, Luís Mah and Luís Pais Bernardo, stemmed from the need perceived by the Portuguese Platform of NGDOs (PPNGDO) to produce knowledge that will help its members carry out a more informed analysis of the changes in International development cooperation (hereafter, development cooperation). Understanding the transformation underway and the challenges it presents is fundamental for the PPNGDO and its members to jointly outline possible paths into the future, setting out the future direction of action, their priorities and their options.
Abstract:
This study stemmed from the need perceived by the Portuguese Platform of NGDOs (PPNGDO) to produce knowledge that will help its members carry out a more informed analysis of the changes in International development cooperation (hereafter, development cooperation). Understanding the transformation underway and the challenges it presents is fundamental for the PPNGDO and its members to jointly outline possible paths into the future, setting out the future direction of action, their priorities and their options. The study was conducted with three goals in mind: 1) tracing the progress of development cooperation over the past 20 years, while reflecting and discussing the ongoing changes in a multiplex world; 2) addressing the challenges faced by key public and private development cooperation actors view of the ongoing change; 3) contributing to the discussion on this new configuration of development cooperation by offering guidelines based on adaptation and innovation for thinking and acting in a complex, fragmented and fragile multiplex world. This study sought to review the available academic and grey literature (reports from development cooperation organisations, blog posts, online discussions and interviews), and where possible, interviews with professionals from international organisations – both governmental and non-governmental – were used. In the introduction of the study, we contextualise development cooperation in a changing world and describe the framework for discussion applied to each of the following sections: In Part I, changes in development cooperation and ODA are addressed, based on three issues that are crucial for the sectors: quantity, quality and legitimacy. Part II highlights the challenges faced by key public and private actors of development cooperation – either ‘“traditional’” or ‘“new’” ones. Finally, Part III outlines a few guidelines on complexity, fragmentation, and fragility, which can provide useful tools for analysis in the new context. To conclude, we offer civil society organisations some points for reflection.
Quotation:
Silva, Ana Luísa, Luís Pais Bernardo e Luís Mah (2021). The future of international development cooperation : fragmentation, adaptation and innovation in a changing world. Lisboa: Plataforma Portuguesa das ONGD. URL: https://www.repository.utl.pt/handle/10400.5/21214
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O Mecanismo Europeu de Apoio à Paz no Reforço da União Europeia como Ator Securitário
Authored by Melissa Fonseca Vieira, student of the Masters in Development and International Cooperation, Inês Marques Ribeiro and Pedro Seabra, O Mecanismo Europeu de Apoio à Paz no Reforço da União Europeia como Ator Securitário reflects on the European Union and how it has sought to strengthen its capabilities to promote conflict prevention.
Abstract:
In a volatile global context, the European Union has sought to strengthen its capabilities in order to promote conflict prevention, peace-building and the strengthening of international security. However, although it currently has mechanisms for crisis management and conflict prevention, these have not been sufficient or fully effective. The European Peace Facility (EPF) has emerged as an attempt to consolidate the EU’s role as a global security actor, through the direct financing of military operations. O Mecanismo Europeu de Apoio à Paz no Reforço da União Europei analyses its creation and the role it is expected to play in the context of the CSDP, providing the necessary framework within the framework of previous similar experiences. Despite the challenges imposed by its creation, the APRM represents a strong commitment by the EU to consolidate peace and strengthen security at global level.
This article was published in ISCTE-IUL’s repository. To access, click here.
Professor Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco was the keynote speaker at the IESE Conference Mozambique
Professor Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco was the keynote speaker at the IESE Conference “Extractive Industry in Mozambique: Challenges, Successes and Perspectives”, which took place online on 3 and 4 August 2021, along with a wide range of participants from Mozambique, South Africa, Brazil, Portugal, Denmark, Netherlands, and Canada, who met with the common objective of debating the extractive industry sector with a particular focus on the Mozambican case (full program).
The Conference was organized by the Institute of Social and Economic Studies (IESE), in partnership with the Civil Society Training and Training Center (CESC).
For those who are interested but were unable to attend, here are the links to the interventions:
Click here to access the opening of the event and the keynote speaker’s speech of the IESE conference. For a better follow up of the speech, we also provide the link to the text of the keynote speech.
Interview at STV – focus on the extractive economy and the paradoxes of the accumulation system
Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco Mozambican economist (born in Maputo, 1960). PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in Economics (School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS, University of London), MSc (Master of Sciences) in Development Economics (University of Oxford), MA (Master of Arts) in Industrial Development (University of East Anglia), P-GD (Post-Graduate Diploma) in Development Economics (University of East Anglia), GD (Graduate Diploma) in Development Studies (Eduardo Mondlane University). Visiting Associate Professor at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management, ISEG/ULisboa and at the Nova University of Lisbon, lecturing on macroeconomics II (economic growth), globalization & development, theories of development, development policies and politics, development economics and political economy. Researcher at CEsA/CSG/ISEG/ULisboa. He is a member of the Mozambican Academy of Sciences, of the Mozambican Association of Economists, of the Portuguese Association of Political Economy, and an editorial board member of the Journal of Southern African Studies and of the Review of African Political Economy. Research focus: paradoxes and limits of processes of capital accumulation in Africa in postcolonial contexts of uneven development of capitalism in the era of financialization. Of this broader research project emerged two research lines currently under way, one on financialization and premature de-industrialization in the African context, and another on international private finance and the dynamics of capital accumulation in Mozambique.
Impact of emergency cash assistance on gender relations in the tribal areas of Pakistan
The most recent article by Asif Igbal Dawar with Marcos Ferreira, Impact of emergency cash assistance on gender relations in the tribal areas of Pakistan (2021), is one of six articles he published throughout his doctoral research.
Abstract:
Impact of emergency cash assistance on gender relations in the tribal areas of Pakistan seeks to make a contribution to the discussion on the consequences of social change brought about by relief programs in humanitarian contexts. It examines the extent to which the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) program (2014–2016) in the Pakistani tribal district of North Waziristan (NW) has influenced patriarchal gender norms in the region, in transforming perceptions about what men and women can do and on changing gender relations. Through interviews conducted in the field between 2017 and 2019, we examine the positive, albeit limited, impact on society and conclude that our study enabled a better understanding of micro practices and processes that challenge the patriarchal structure of society and the norms that sustain it. We illustrate how such processes have started to influence patriarchal norms by improving women’s status both at home and in the community, eventually leading to a shift in traditional perceptions and constructions of gender relations. Although these changes do appear significant, gender equality will continue to face tough challenges in the region and its consolidation depends on the collective efforts of development stakeholders to support unconditional, gender sensitive relief programs that transcend immediate humanitarian and post-humanitarian concerns.
