European Citizens' Initiative The main core of the thesis is the problematics of the European Citizens' Initiative, a tool relatively new that was put in place by the Lisbon Treaty and allows one million citizens from at least seven EU Member States to ask the European Commission to propose legislation in areas that fall within its competence. This thesis provides a detailed description of this instrument of participatory democracy, its historical foundations, its development and also the recent proposal for a regulation on the European citizens' initiative that aims to fill the gaps discovered during the period of its existence. It describes the formal and procedural requirements required for the successful submission of the initiative to the European Commission, particularly for registration, and thus the official launch of the initiative. It focuses on the forms of statements of support and the complication that it brought. The thesis also introduces some of the initiatives that have been organised since 2012, both successful and unsuccessful, including those that the Commission has refused to register. There is also an evaluation of the initiatives, the experiences and challenges that the organizers have met and especially the impact of the successful ones. The thesis points out particular...

No description available.

"This thesis presents learning and interaction algorithms to support a human teaching hierarchical task models to a robot using a single or multiple examples in the context of a mixed-initiative interaction with bi-directional communication. Our first contribution is an approach for learning a high level task from a single example using the bottom-up style. In particular, we have identified and implemented two important heuristics for suggesting task groupings and repetitions based on the data flow between tasks and on the physical structure of the manipulated artifact. We have evaluated our heuristics with users in a simulated environment and shown that the suggestions significantly improve the learning and interaction. For our second contribution, we extended this interaction by enabling users to teaching tasks using the top-down teaching style in addition to the bottom-up teaching style. Results obtained in a pilot study show that users utilize both the bottom-up and the top-down teaching styles to teach tasks. Our third contribution is an algorithm that merges multiple examples when there are alternative ways of doing a task. The merging algorithm is still under evaluation. "

Målet med examensarbetet var att utvärdera hur Gustavsberg AB i Vårgårda arbetar för en hållbar utveckling och identifiera utvecklingsmöjligheter. Lönsamhetsanalysen som även gjordes hade som syfte att utröna om företagets miljöinsatser inneburit kostnadsbesparingar. Målet var också att genom intervjuer med personer på företaget och genom rapporten tydliggöra begreppet hållbar utveckling. Rapporten innehåller även en diskussion kring hållbara utvecklingsstrategier och metoder för att utarbeta dessa. Utvärderingen hur företaget arbetar för en hållbar utveckling ur ett socialt och ekologiskt perspektiv var övergripande och utgick från de kriterier Folksam använder i sin årligt återkommande studie, Folksams Index för ansvarsfullt företagande. Kriterierna baseras på Global Compacts tio principer och OECD:s riktlinjer för företag samt Global Reporting Initiative´s (GRI) direktiv. Hur företaget arbetar för en ekonomisk hållbar utveckling har också utvärderats på en övergripande nivå, uteslutande baserad på valda delar i GRI:s direktiv. Gustavsberg AB i Vårgårda har länge och engagerat arbetat för att minska företagets negativa miljöpåverkan. Det har lett till betydande vinster i miljöprestanda. Flera nyckeltal till exempel som kontinuerligt följs upp visar på minskad förbrukning. Inte minst har miljöarbetet lett till utveckling av produkterna. Beräkningen som gjordes i detta arbete med avseende på två av nyckeltalen, vatten och propan, visade att kostnadsbesparingar kunnat göras, exklusive de investeringar företaget gjort för att minska förbrukningen. Utvärderingen visade att Gustavsberg AB i Vårgårda förutom miljöarbetet också enligt det sociala och ekonomiska perspektivet bidrar till en hållbar utveckling. Förbättringar är dock möjliga att göra. Speciellt kan företagets sociala bidrag utvecklas. Men framförallt kan företaget behöva värdera värdet i en hållbarhetsinriktad strategi och se till alla tre dimensionerna av hållbar utveckling. Hållbarhetsarbetet bör behandlas som en del i affärsverksamheten i strävan mot ökad försäljning och minskade kostnader samt ett ansvarsfullt företagande. / <p>Uppsatsnivå: D</p>

Diplomová práce je zaměřena na problematiku přeshraniční spolupráce, která je v Evropské unii stále velmi aktuální. Popisná část práce osvětluje její souvislost s regionální politikou, ze které přeshraniční spolupráce vychází. Věnuje se také ostatním iniciativám Společenství v EU a detailně popisuje iniciativu INTERREG IIIA. České republice se v oblasti přeshraniční spolupráce otevřely nové obzory a možnosti právě se vstupem do EU. Cílem práce je demonstrace těchto nových možností na konkrétním způsobu podpory prostřednictvím programu Iniciativy Společenství INTERREG IIIA v Euroregionu Nisa. Euroregion Nisa se nachází v příhraniční oblasti na severu republiky, sousedí s Německem a Polskem, a proto úzce spolupracuje s přilehlými regiony právě těchto dvou zemí. Předmětem analýzy jsou projekty vycházející z programu Iniciativy Společenství INTERREG IIIA ČR ? Svobodný stát Sasko a ČR ? Polsko.

A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to identify and analyze issues in the implementation of one-to-one computing initiatives and provide solutions for improvement. An understanding of the implementation process was developed through the analysis of data collected through 27 interviews with teacher experts in the field who have worked with the implementation of one-to-one programs. Teachers were purposely selected from the following groups: those who were completing their first year of teaching, those who had between two and ten years of teaching experience, and those who had eleven plus years of total teaching experience. This study distinctly addresses one-to-one initiatives from both placing importance on the utilization of negative knowledge and in simultaneously treating teacher perceptions as a valid reality. Issues associated with the implementation of one-to-one initiatives develop at a faster speed than traditional school structures are accustomed to respond to. Successful one-to-one management requires a responsive, interconnected, and efficient organizational structure. This research has significance for the improvement of one-to-one initiative implementation efforts. The findings contained in this research have the potential to benefit teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders associated with the implementation of one-to-one initiatives.

Farmers’ markets are increasingly promoted for their potential to improve access to healthful foods. University campuses are strategic settings for farmers’ markets, because they could improve access to fresh, local produce for large and diverse communities—including college students, who are at risk for poor dietary intake. Universities also offer resources that facilitate farmers’ markets, such as built-in communication channels, common areas, and student volunteers. However, literature describing how to establish campus-based farmers’ markets is limited. We describe the process of developing and operating a student-driven, campus-based farmers’ market at a public university in the Appalachian region of the United States.

No description available.

This paper proposes a new ideation technique for how to ideate using sketching and a generative design system based prototype tool. The technique is aimed to support ideation through the exploration of design shape deviations. The tool generates 3D model artifacts with variations in their shapes. The overall shape and deviations are based on a design concept specified by the user of the tool. These design artifacts are then used as a means to rediscover one's own design concepts through the theory of estrangement. A study was conducted where university-level design students tested the technique in a scenario where they were tasked with ideating product design solutions. The performed study (along with post-study interviews) revealed promising results where participants of the study described their experiences as fun and interesting. The design outcomes of the study display how participants worked and iterated on their conceptual artifacts. They explored different and new angles of the design space relative to their concepts by using the generated design artifacts. This may suggest that this technique, using computer-generated concept deviations can be a successful way of supporting ideation by expanding on one's design concepts, rediscovering concepts, moving beyond obvious solutions and iterating design concepts.

No description available.