Higher Education Pathways: South African Undergraduate Education and the Public Good

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In what ways does access to undergraduate education have a transformative impact on people and societies? What conditions are required for this impact to occur? What are the pathways from an undergraduate education to the public good, including inclusive economic development? These questions have particular resonance in the South African higher education context, which is attempting to tackle the challenges of widening access and improving completion rates in in a system in which the segregations of the apartheid years are still apparent.

Going to University: The Influence of Higher Education on the Lives of Young South Africans

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This accessible book brings together the rich life stories of 73 young people, six years after they began their university studies. It traces how going to university influences not only their employment options, but also nurtures the agency needed to chart their own way and to engage critically with the world around them. The book offers deep insights into the ways in which public higher education is both a private and public good, and it provides significant conclusions pertinent to anyone who works in – and cares about – universities.

Adoption and Impact of OER in the Global South

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Education in the Global South faces several key interrelated challenges, for which Open Educational Resources (OER) are seen to be part of the solution. These challenges include: unequal access to education; variable quality of educational resources, teaching, and student performance; and increasing cost and concern about the sustainability of education. The Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) project seeks to build on and contribute to the body of research on how OER can help to improve access, enhance quality and reduce the cost of education in the Global South. This volume examines aspects of educator and student adoption of OER and engagement in Open Educational Practices (OEP) in secondary and tertiary education as well as teacher professional development in 21 countries in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. The ROER4D studies and syntheses presented here aim to help inform Open Education advocacy, policy, practice and research in developing countries.

The Social Dynamics of Open Data

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The Social Dynamics of Open Data is a collection of peer reviewed papers presented at the 2nd Open Data Research Symposium (ODRS) held in Madrid, Spain, on 5 October 2016. Research is critical to developing a more rigorous and fine-combed analysis not only of why open data is valuable, but how it is valuable and under what specific conditions. The objective of the Open Data Research Symposium and the subsequent collection of chapters published here is to build such a stronger evidence base. This base is essential to understanding what open data’s impacts have been to date, and how positive impacts can be enabled and amplified. Consequently, common to the majority of chapters in this collection is the attempt by the authors to draw on existing scientific theories, and to apply them to open data to better explain the socially embedded dynamics that account for open data’s successes and failures in contributing to a more equitable and just society.

North-South Knowledge Networks: Towards Equitable Collaboration Between Academics, Donors and Universities

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Offering a range of perspectives on why academics should collaborate and what for, this book will be useful to anyone interested in how scholars are adapting to the realities of international networking and how research institutions are finding innovative ways to make North–South partnerships and collaborations increasingly fair, sustainable and mutually beneficial.

Open Data in Developing Economies: Toward Building an Evidence Base on What Works and How

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"Open Data for Developing Economies" features in-depth case studies on how open data is having an impact across the developing world-from an agriculture initiative in Colombia to data-driven healthcare projects in Uganda and South Africa to crisis response in Nepal. The analysis built on these case studies aims to create actionable intelligence regarding: (a) the conditions under which open data is most (and least) effective in development, presented in the form of a Periodic Table of Open Data; (b) strategies to maximize the positive contributions of open data to development; and (c) the means for limiting open data’s harms on developing countries.

Knowledge for Justice: Critical Perspectives from Southern African-Nordic Research Partnerships

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With the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, the purpose of development is being redefined in both social and environmental terms. Despite pushback from conservative forces, change is accelerating in many sectors. To drive this transformation in ways that bring about social, environmental and economic justice at a local, national, regional and global levels, new knowledge and strong cross-regional networks capable of foregrounding different realities, needs and agendas will be essential. In fact, the power of knowledge matters today in ways that humanity has probably never experienced before, placing an emphasis on the roles of research, academics and universities.

The Future of Scholarly Publishing: Open Access and the Economics of Digitisation

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"The Future of Scholarly Publishing" documents the materials and results of an interdisciplinary working group commissioned by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) to analyse the future of scholarly publishing and to make recommendations on how to respond to the challenges posed by these developments.

Effectivité des agences nationales anti-corruption en Afrique de l’ouest: Bénin, Libéria, Niger, Nigéria, Sénégal, Sierra Leone

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Avec plus de 100 milliards de dollars perdus chaque année, d’après certaines informations, à cause de la corruption et autres pratiques illicites, la lutte contre la corruption en Afrique fait face à d’énormes défis. Cependant, des lois et politiques aux niveaux continental, régional et national ont été promulguées et adoptées par les dirigeants africains. Au nombre de ces initiatives il y a la création d’agences spécialisées mandatées pour lutter contre la corruption au niveau national, ainsi que l’institution aux niveaux régional et continental des mécanismes pour assurer l’harmonisation des normes et l’adoption des meilleures pratiques dans la lutte contre la corruption.

La jurisprudence congolaise en matière de crimes de droit international: Une analyse des décisions des juridictions militaires congolaises en application du Statut de Rome

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En 2004, un tribunal de Mbandaka, dans la province congolaise de l’Equateur, a décidé que le statut de la Cour pénale internationale (CPI) répondait mieux que le code militaire congolais au cas qui lui était soumis. Cette décision a déclenché une avalanche d’autres décisions dans lesquelles, au cours des dix dernières années, les juges militaires à travers le pays ont systématiquement et délibérément écarté le code pénal militaire congolais auquel ils ont préféré les dispositions du Statut de Rome. L’importante jurisprudence née de ce mouvement compte parmi les expériences les plus innovantes d’application du statut de la CPI aux poursuites nationales des crimes graves.