scholarly journals A Taxonomy of Crisis Management Functions

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5147
Author(s):  
Todor Tagarev ◽  
Valeri Ratchev

The management of crises triggered by natural or manmade events requires a concerted effort of various actors crossing institutional and geographic boundaries. Technological advances allow to make crisis management more effective, but innovation is hindered by dispersed and often disconnected knowledge on the lessons learned, gaps, and solutions. Taxonomies enable the search for information of potential interest. This article presents a taxonomy of crisis management functions, designed on the basis of a conceptual model integrating the concepts of hazard, vulnerability, risk, and community, and the main consequence- and management-based concepts. At its highest level, the taxonomy includes ten functional areas: preparatory (mitigation, capability development, and strategic adaptiveness), operational (protection, response, and recovery), and common (crisis communications and information management; command, control, and coordination; logistics; and security management). The taxonomy facilitates the navigation of online platforms and the matching of needs and solutions. It has broader applications, e.g., for structuring the assessment of the societal impact of crisis management solutions and as a framework for a comprehensive assessment of disaster risk reduction measures. While the taxonomy was developed within a research and innovation project supported by the European Union, it reflects and is compatible with established international concepts and classification schemes, and is thus applicable by a wider international community.

Author(s):  
Ann Svensson

To improve and strengthen regional development is often subject of political decisions. This is the situation within the European Union, to increase innovation in SMEs. SMEs need access to knowledge, competence and collaboration, in order to increase their opportunities to develop competitiveness in products higher up in the value chain. The increasing rate of change in society also creates needs of decreasing the time from knowledge development to ready products to the market. Ongoing evaluation is prevalent in many research and development projects today in order to follow up the intended results. The ongoing evaluation could contribute to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of a specific innovation project by highlight areas of improvement and needs of development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1826
Author(s):  
Agata Gurzawska

This study derives from the results of the European Union (EU)-funded SATORI (Stakeholders Acting Together on the ethical impact assessment of Research and Innovation) project. It seeks to gain insights about, firstly, integration of the responsible innovation (RI) concept into companies’ practices; and secondly, various evaluation approaches to companies’ innovation practices that consider responsibility, ethics and sustainability. Twenty four interviews with companies and business experts were conducted to understand the ways in which companies apply principles, frameworks and evaluation practices related to RI. The results emphasize the confined character of companies’ RI practices in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability and ethics. Moreover, the results indicate two main types of RI evaluation and control among companies, namely assessment and guidance. This paper discusses theoretical and practical implications of discrepancies in understanding and evaluating RI for large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Consequently, new approaches to RI in business are proposed, calling for strategic and responsible innovation management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (0) ◽  
pp. 342-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukasz Nazarko

The concept of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has become a popular term as a result of making it a cross-cutting theme for the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union. RRI may be understood as a process by which societal actors and innovators become mutually responsive to each other with a view to the acceptability, sustainability and societal desirability of the innovation process and its products. The work presents a review of the state-of-art scientific literature on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) together with a synthesis of theoretical and practical challenges faced by this new concept. Mapping of RRI dimensions and its theoretical assumptions is performed. Bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on RRI is carried out. The analysis of RRI-related projects is conducted. The attempt is made to clarify what RRI means for an enterprise in practical terms and what makes an innovation project in an enterprise a responsible one. Finally, a proposal for a closer interchange between RRI and Technology Assessment discourses is made together with an argument for a more extensive use of future-oriented methods that increase epistemic horizons of an innovating organisation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Basta ◽  
Eva Kunseler ◽  
Christine Wamsler ◽  
Alexander van der Jagt ◽  
Francesc Baró ◽  
...  

The structural research programmes of the European Union dedicated to advance the sustainability sciences are increasingly permeated by the notion of transdisciplinarity (TD). A growing body of literature residing at the intersection of research methodology and sustainability studies can guide researchers to adopt appropriate research approaches in their projects. However, how to implement the transdisciplinary approach in multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder projects that develop in different countries for several years is still relatively undocumented. This study seeks to fill this gap by sharing the experience of a group of researchers and stakeholders involved in the Horizon 2020 research and innovation project Nature-Based Urban Innovation (NATURVATION). The article discusses the monitoring and evaluation strategy that employed four criteria of transdisciplinary research quality as “reflexive devices” to enable a systematic reporting on the project's most important collaborative activities. By examining how the four criteria captured transdisciplinary quality, new insights were produced for improving this monitoring and evaluation strategy for future transdisciplinary research, allowing a number of concrete recommendations to be formulated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Schröder-Bäck ◽  
T Schloemer ◽  
K Martakis ◽  
C Brall

Abstract Background The outbreak of SARS in 2002 lead to a public health ethics discourse. The crisis management of that time was ethically analysed and lessons to be learned discussed. Scholarship and WHO, among others, developed an ethics of pandemic preparedness. The current “corona crisis” also faces us with ethical challenges. This presentation is comparing the two crises from an ethical point of view and a focus on Europe. Methods An ethics framework for pandemic preparedness (Schröder et al. 2006 and Schröder-Bäck 2014) is used to make a synopsis of ethical issues. Ethical aspects of 2002 and 2020 that were discussed in the literature and in the media are compared. For 2020, the focus is on interventions in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Results Topics that emerged from the 2002 crisis were, among others, revolving around aspects of stigmatisation and fair distribution of scarce resources (esp. vaccines, antivirals). Currently, most urgent and ethically challenging aspects relate to social distancing vs. autonomy: Isolation and quarantine are handled differently across Europe and the EU. Questions of transferability of such interventions prevail. Contexts vary vertically over time (2002 vs. 2020) and horizontally (e.g. between Italy and Germany at the same time). Furthermore, trust in authorities, media and health information is a key issue. Conclusions Ethical aspects are key for good pandemic preparedness and management. The context of the crises between 2002 and 2020 has slightly changed, also based on “lessons learned” from 2002. This has implications on ethical issues that are being discussed. New lessons will have to be learned from the 2020 crisis. Key messages Pandemic preparedness and outbreak management entail many ethical tensions that need to be addressed. Currently, questions of trust and transferability are key to the crisis management, further ethical issues could still emerge.


Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Laura Pérez ◽  
Juan Espeche ◽  
Tatiana Loureiro ◽  
Aleksandar Kavgić

DRIvE (Demand Response Integration Technologies) is a research and innovation project funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Program, whose main objective is unlocking the demand response potential in the distribution grid. DRIvE presented how the use of digital twins de-risks the implementation of demand response applications at the “Flexibility 2.0: Demand response and self-consumption based on the prosumer of Europe’s low carbon future” workshop within the conference “Sustainable Places 2020”. This workshop was organized to cluster and foster knowledge transfer between several EU projects, each developing innovative solutions within the field of demand response, energy flexibility, and optimized synergies between actors of the built environment and the power grid.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232098451
Author(s):  
Steven Van Hecke ◽  
Harald Fuhr ◽  
Wouter Wolfs

Despite new challenges like climate change and digitalization, global and regional organizations recently went through turbulent times due to a lack of support from several of their member states. Next to this crisis of multilateralism, the COVID-19 pandemic now seems to question the added value of international organizations for addressing global governance issues more specifically. This article analyses this double challenge that several organizations are facing and compares their ways of managing the crisis by looking at their institutional and political context, their governance structure, and their behaviour during the pandemic until June 2020. More specifically, it will explain the different and fragmented responses of the World Health Organization, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund/World Bank. With the aim of understanding the old and new problems that these international organizations are trying to solve, this article argues that the level of autonomy vis-a-vis the member states is crucial for understanding the politics of crisis management. Points for practitioners As intergovernmental bodies, international organizations require authorization by their member states. Since they also need funding for their operations, different degrees of autonomy also matter for reacting to emerging challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The potential for international organizations is limited, though through proactive and bold initiatives, they can seize the opportunity of the crisis and partly overcome institutional and political constraints.


Author(s):  
Luciano César PC Leonel ◽  
Lucas P. Carlstrom ◽  
Christopher S. Graffeo ◽  
Avital Perry ◽  
Carlos Diogenes Pinheiro-Neto ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective This study was aimed to provide a key update to the seminal works of Prof. Albert L. Rhoton Jr., MD, with particular attention to previously unpublished insights from the oral tradition of his fellows, recent technological advances including endoscopy, and high-dynamic range (HDR) photodocumentation, and, local improvements in technique, we have developed to optimize efficient neuroanatomic study. Methods Two formaldehyde-fixed cadaveric heads were injected with colored latex to demonstrate step-by-step specimen preparation for microscopic or endoscopic dissection. One formaldehyde-fixed brain was utilized to demonstrate optimal three-dimensional (3D) photodocumentation techniques. Results Key steps of specimen preparation include vessel cannulation and securing, serial tap water flushing, specimen drainage, vessel injection with optimized and color-augmented latex material, and storage in 70% ethanol. Optimizations for photodocumentation included the incorporation of dry black drop cloth and covering materials, an imaging-oriented approach to specimen positioning and illumination, and single-camera stereoscopic capture techniques, emphasizing the three-exposure-times-per-eye approach to generating images for HDR postprocessing. Recommended tools, materials, and technical nuances were emphasized throughout. Relative advantages and limitations of major 3D projection systems were comparatively assessed, with sensitivity to audience size and purpose specific recommendations. Conclusion We describe the first consolidated step-by-step approach to advanced neuroanatomy, including specimen preparation, dissection, and 3D photodocumentation, supplemented by previously unpublished insights from the Rhoton fellowship experience and lessons learned in our laboratories in the past years such that Prof. Rhoton's model can be realized, reproduced, and expanded upon in surgical neuroanatomy laboratories worldwide.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110211
Author(s):  
Arabella Castro ◽  
Marisol Lila ◽  
Enrique Gracia ◽  
Maria Wemrell

The aim of this study was to understand the reasons why Spain has one of the lowest prevalence rates of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in the European Union. Using a qualitative and inductive research approach, a total of five focus groups ( n = 19) and 10 unstructured interviews with key informants were conducted. Three main categories were identified as possible explanations of the relatively low prevalence of IPVAW in Spain: law and policy, social awareness, and cultural patterns. Lessons learned and implications to improve future macrolevel intervention and prevention strategies are discussed.


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