atria.us

The book Cataloging the World - Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age describes the work and vision of Paul Otlet - (one of) the first advocates for a world wide web.

Paul Otlet was also active for the creation of the first precursor of the United Nations.

The United Nations recently launched the Sustainable Development Goals - #SDGs in which a Mundaneum style utility would be very helpful.

Such a utility can now be co-created by all the willing, just by smart tagging their content when sharing it via social media. This page lists supporting tools.

Second Global Report on Adult Learning and Education highlights key role of lifelong learning for all.
Access and read it at New UNESCO report highlights the challenge of measuring literacy (published December 2013).

This page has been cited in a comment to Evaluation of World Bank Group Support to Youth Employment (SlideShare, Sept. 25, 2012):

As a former lecturer at a university, this presentation would not have earned me a high student satisfaction mark… had to look up TVET in the report Youth Employment Programs An Evaluation of World Bank and IFC Support, TVET stands for Technical and Vocational Education and Training - very important indeed.
Are the recommendations actionable? For Whom?

Current practice in this area: The National Literacy Mission of India provides a large number (371) of vocational training programmes in the Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) institutes, e.g. with list of courses http://janshikshanpune.com/courses.html

Regarding skill development, vocational training builds upon literacy and (in the information age) digital competence, and development of the self is also linked to the community's development (civic participation). The confluence is explained in more detail at http://www.atria.us/sect:preface-skills

The key challenge is how to provide TVET for an as broad spectrum of ISIC classes (from UNSD) as feasible/fit within the context of each and every municipality or district, where for most classes there is insufficient teaching capacity (locally, in the suitable language,…). The solution direction, imho, is to educate/train vocational core (ref. ISIC class) alongside the autonomy, Monitoring&Evaluation& Changes dimensions of the civic participation skill (ref. http://www.atria.us/sect:5-civic-participation ). International community should focus at providing the learning content (OER) organised by the skill levels, and navigatable by ISIC class. Learner's target careers in terms of ISIC class in their community. In virtual learning communities of the same ISIC class (regional, national,…), peer learning can occur (ref. the guilds in medieval European cities).

The blog 23 Things for Professional Development lists and explains a mixture of twenty three web 2.0 and/or social media gadgets and gizmos, and ways of developing your career by more 'traditional', less technology-focussed, means.

Typically these tools and practices can be useful at the levels 2 and 3 of Digital Competence.

This page is referenced in a brief article explaining the collaborative use of CiteULike (or at Scribd).

The executive’s guide to better listening (Feb. 2012, by Bernard T. Ferrari, McKinsey Quarterly) explains how senior executives can cultivate their listening skills.

This report covers the ''open government plans'' that US Federal agencies have developed in response to an early directive by President Obama.

The report also offers a series of specific recommendations for what next steps the White House and agencies might take to spread these best practices across the government.

International Society for Technology in Education defines NETS, a compendium of skills required for students to be competitive and successfull in a global and digital world.

NETS are defined for:

• students
• educators
• school administrators
• coaches
• administrators with technology director profile
• computer science educators

Further details at http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx

See the Nov. 3, 2011 article by Vigno Hounkali of the World Food Programme.

More on development and aid initiatives in Niger in the Niger Initiative Book (Actor Atlas).

In his Endangered Virtues essay on Civic Knowledge Russell Muirhead summarizes in four elemental points the kind of constitutional knowledge good citizens should have:
1. an understanding of the reasons for a separation of powers and what this means for the presidency and the courts;
2. it is fundamental to understand federalism, or the vertical division of power between the national government, the states, and the localities;
3. citizens should know the difference between representative democracy and direct democracy; the former inserts some kind of distance or deliberative space between the sovereign people and the laws;
4. individual rights, including awareness of the controversy of exactly what should count as a "right".

According to the author, a superb example is the Curriculum developed by the Center for Civic Education.

See the report: Towards more equitable value chains: alternative business models in support of the right to food”, Report presented at the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (A/66/262).

See also Olivier De Schutter | United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.

This policy brief summarizes the ways in which investments in democratic institutions and in education are mutually supportive in a virtuous circle. For example, well-functioning democratic institutions require an educated citizenry. Educated citizens are supportive of democratic ideals and institutions, and they play active roles in civic life and public decision making. Democratic regimes invest in education, and investments in better quality universal primary education lead to equitable growth.

Also posted at Zunia.

By Muhle Masuku Bulawayo, 19/08/2011: http://www.radiovop.com/index.php/blogs/6929-are-extension-and-advisory-services-meeting-the-needs-of-farmers.html, … A rural development expert, Mr Ngwiza Khumalo, programme manager of Zinyangeni Christian Church (ZCC) believes the creation of a ‘primary locus of integration’ comprising of line ministries, NGOs, CBOs and the Rural District Councils at district level and the creation of an ‘amalgamated resource envelop’ will kill-off current discord caused by multiplicity of improperly coordinated extension service providers. The current setup is wasteful and unsustainable.

See the McKinsey Quarterly April 11 article.

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The Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GCARD2010

For the viewpoint of UNAC (http://www.actor-atlas.info/national-actor:mz-unac )on these protests, see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/38304154/UNAC-Mozambique-food-protest-document…

The document calls for improved attention to peasant farming as a more sustainable and equitable alternative that makes (the poor in) developing countries less vulnerable to global (prize) shocks and speculation.

GM Crops are being designed to be mainly used with Roundup so as to eradicate weeds but what is happening is that the weeds are adapting. So now what?

Fertilizers are unsustainable and deteriorate soil structure.

Let's compare GM Crops & Fertilizers and the use of EM•1® and EM Technology® (which is showing it's worth in agriculture and many other fields) with Bio-char.

By using EM•1® prior to planting crops really helps sprout most of the weed seeds which are then removed or turned back into the soil. impregnating Bio-char with EM•1® has been studied and is proving to be very sustainable.

Hi Arturo, this is just to signify that you have support from those of us involved in Geomite biomineral agriculture. There is no doubt here that your project presents best approach and both Mario and I offer wholehearted support.