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Research has shown that Indigenous people suffer significant health inequalities in comparison to dominant colonising cultures. Evidence shows that these inequalities can be addressed by gaining a deeper understanding of the social and cultural determinants of health, applying Indigenous views of health and developing better definitions of the term wellbeing. The following chapter draws on research exploring the relationship between Indigenous culture, the landscape and the connection with health and wellbeing. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, consideration of Indigenous Māori is a national imperative, enshrined in the Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) which establishes it as a bicultural country. Exploring three Māori health models, the chapter examines the factors that play a significant role in shaping Māori people's health. It relates how landscape is a foundational therapeutic aspect of Māori wellbeing using the models to express the forces that impact both positively and negatively on this relationship. The chapter concludes that all three concepts, culture, health and landscape, are interconnected and must be balanced to reduce Māori health inequalities and to provide a more sustainable model for health and wellbeing for all New Zealanders.

This review scopes evidence on the use of social robots for older adults with depressive symptoms, in the scenario of smart cities, analyzing the age-related depression specificities, investigated contexts and intervention protocols' features.

Studies retrieved from two major databases were selected against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies were included if used social robots, included older adults over 60, and reported depressive symptoms measurements, with any type of research design. Papers not published in English, published as an abstract or study protocol, or not peer-reviewed were excluded.

28 relevant studies were included, in which PARO was the most used robot. Most studies included very older adults with neurocognitive disorders living in long-term care facilities. The intervention protocols were heterogeneous regarding the duration, session duration and frequency. Only 35.6% of the studies had a control group. Finally, only 32.1% of the studies showed a significant improvement in depression symptoms.

Despite the potential for using social robots in mental health interventions, in the scenario of smart cities, this review showed that their usefulness and effects in improving depressive symptoms in older adults have low internal and external validity. Future studies should consider factors as planning the intervention based on well-established supported therapies, characteristics and needs of the subjects, and the context in which the subjects are inserted.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

In this chapter I draw on the philosophical anthropology of Bruno Latour to propose an account of the work of research ethics. Through a consideration of research ethics as text, I explore the ways in which any such text needs to be accompanied – by people, by processes, by other voices or other texts – in order to become meaningful and then impactful for the ethnographer of education. Research ethics are thus positioned as the technological outcome of a dialogue that is prone to misunderstanding and misinterpretation, notwithstanding the strictures of the processes and policies that increasingly seek to codify the work that ethnographers do in the field. Through arguing for Latour's recent philosophical anthropology as a conceptual toolkit for the exploration of research ethics, I propose that it is research ethics as object that should be the focal point for ongoing ethnographic inquiry.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a comprehensive perspective on different facets of knowledge management and their effects on the performance of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial ventures.

The empirical setting involves small and medium-sized enterprises located in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Primary data for 223 knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE) firms was obtained through questionnaires applied to ventures which applied to the innovative research in small business program, a small business innovation research-like initiative run by the São Paulo Research Foundation. Econometric results assessed the drivers of competitiveness in terms of firm growth, research and development intensification and technology transfer.

Results highlight the complexity involved in establishing effective knowledge management processes in terms of driving KIE performance. Notwithstanding, some interesting insights on the moderation effects of strategic knowledge management (SKM) systems over technical skills could be identified with particular emphasis for the case of academic spin-offs. Ecosystem drivers present a good explanation power for technology transfer practices but fall short in providing answers for firm-level growth dynamics. It is also noteworthy that public and private investments in KIE firms are similarly associated with positive impacts – contrary to the view that private investors perform better than governmental sources in picking promising small ventures.

The assessment has provided novel evidence for a sample of KIE ventures concerning the appraisal of performance drivers associated with three dimensions of knowledge management, namely, technical knowledge, SKM and ecosystem features. Firms’ outcomes were addressed from a multidimensional perspective, thus providing a comprehensive perspective of the events under scrutiny.

This study aims to assess the online presence of three Portuguese low-density territories and analyze the communication strategies employed by public and private entities within each municipality. The alignment between public and private entities within each municipality is also examined as a potential factor that could impact the effectiveness of digital communication strategies.

A qualitative methodology that employed content analysis and interviews to gather data from selected public and private entities in each of the municipalities under study was used.

Despite the widespread availability of digital communication tools, the municipalities under study are yet to fully exploit their potential to promote and publicize their offerings. This could be attributed to several factors such as a lack of knowledge and/or resources and a defective strategic approach to digital communication.

The major obstacle in maximizing the potential of digital communication tools in low-density destinations was not solely a result of restricted access. Rather, it was largely due to insufficient knowledge and resources required for their effective utilization, coupled with a lack of aligned vision among various stakeholders.

The competitive landscape in which tourist actors operate has transformed significantly because of the widespread adoption of digital communication led by social networks. However, studies exploring digital communication in low-density territories are still scarce. This study adds new insights into the main factors that hinder the efficient use of digital communication in these regions.

This chapter elaborates on the perspectives of financial development of countries of Central Asia and China through cooperation with Russia. The authors determine financial resources for the development of the countries of Central Asia and China and figure out possible scenarios for attracting additional financial resources and conclude that financial resources have a decisive role in socioeconomic development. It is substantiated that the increase and expansion of cooperation with Russia are the preferable scenario for attracting additional financial resources. The authors recommend expanding cooperation with Russia within the implementation of the selected optimal scenario are given.

The purpose of the article is to study the recent tendencies of growth of Russia’s agro-industrial complex (AIC), determine the optimal scenario of its development, and develop recommendations in the sphere of state regulation for its practical implementation. While there are tendencies of growing production and increase in Russia’s export, against this background, there is a tendency of quicker increase of import of food – if it continues, positive balance of foreign trade of food products in 2018 will turn into negative balance in 2020–2024. Though efficiency of crop farming is peculiar for a tendency of quick growth, efficiency of animal breeding is stable, which does not allow overcoming the growing deficit of food in Russia, which grows under the influence of the tendency of wear of fixed funds and slow implementation of new fixed funds due to insufficient financing. Scenarios of mid-term (i.e., until 2024) growth of Russia’s AIC are compiled, of which the most optimal is scenario that requires technological advancements, due to which increase in the value of index of food security up to 85.00 points (27%) will be achieved and the set goals of growth and development of Russia’s AIC will be reached. For a successful optimal scenario of the growth of Russia’s AIC, we offer recommendations in the sphere of state regulation of its digital modernization: adoption of the national strategy of transition to AIC 4.0 within the program “Digital economy of the RF,” development of import substitution in the AIC with emphasis on B2B markets, preparation of the technological platform for transition to AIC 4.0, and sufficient financing for digital modernization of the AIC.