Gemma Burford

Can values be measured? Significant contributions from a small civil society organization through action research

A collaborative partnership is developing a values-based indicator framework for use by civil society organizations (CSOs). A key sub-study on the relevance and usability of such indicators was carried out through an action research process with a CSO and it was found that: 1) it was, indeed, possible to develop useful and relevant indicators for the presence of CSO values; 2) it was not useful to tie each indicator to only one value; 3) the indicators were more ‘universal’ than the values for which they had been derived; 4) these indicators were not considered valid by the user CSO without being ‘localized’; 5) the use of our values-based framework caused substantive transformational learning within this CSO. The importance of these findings to studies on values and to design issues central to formal values-based measurement work, such as face validity and catalytic validity, is drawn out. The principles of emancipatory action research used are shown to be key to the results, which themselves form foundational elements that led to key and significant understandings and modifications of the values-based framework.

Indigenous Participation in Intercultural Education: Learning from Mexico and Tanzania

Intercultural education seeks to create a forum for integrating Western scientific knowledge and indigenousknowledge to address local and global challenges such as biocultural diversity conservation, natural resource management, and social justice for indigenous peoples. Intercultural education is based on learning together with, rather than learning about orfrom, indigenous communities. In the best examples, problem-based learning dissolves the dichotomy between indigenous and nonindigenous, resulting in full partnerships in which participants share expertise to meet mutual needs. With reference toliterature and two illustrative examples of intercultural education initiatives in Mexico and Tanzania, we present an originalconceptual framework for assessing indigenous participation in intercultural education. This incorporates a new ladder of participation depth (in relation to both curriculum content and decision making) alongside separate considerations of breadth, i.e., stakeholder diversity, and scope, i.e., the number of key project stages in which certain stakeholder groups are participating.The framework can be used to compare intercultural education initiatives in differing contexts and might be adaptable to other intercultural work.

What Is Participation? Design Leads the Way to a Cross-Disciplinary Framework

In this paper we present a way of thinking which clarifies concepts of participation across not only diverse design areas but across other disciplines, allowing clearer comparisons and cross-referencing. It should facilitate more productive building of a knowledge base around participation concepts. We suggest that Design is the best field to lead on this.

The Forest Retreat of Orpul: A Holistic System of Health Care Practiced by the Maasai Tribe of East Africa

The orpul healing retreat practiced by the Maasai of East Africa, in which decoctions of medicinal plants are taken with large quantities of meat, provides an example of a holistic indigenous system of primary health care. Most of the plants utilized in orpul medicines by the Maasai of Eluwaii, northern Tanzania, have already been empirically demonstrated to possess pharmacologic activities in vitro and/or in vivo. In addition, the songs, meditation, and prayers that form part of the orpul experience are likely to contribute significantly to recovery, particularly in the case of psychosomatic and stress-related illness. This community-based health practice should be preserved and evaluated.

Institutional heterogeneity in globalization: Co-development of western-allopathic medicine and traditional-alternative medicine

Are globalized social interactions accompanied by homogeneous or heterogeneous institutions? Which social factors are at work in each case? As an investigation of this cultural-institutional aspect of globalization, this article reflects on relationships between traditional-alternative medicine (TAM) and western-allopathic medicine (WAM) through a quantitative cross-national analysis. First, it is found that the global scene of medical institutional developments is characterized by institutional heterogeneity in which locally diverse TAMs develop simultaneously with WAM. This co-development relationship supports the heterogeneity thesis over the homogeneity thesis regarding the global character of national institutional developments. Second, this heterogeneous institutional arrangement is found to be stronger with a rising mortality burden. Third, this medical institutional heterogeneity is yet open to an antithetical development toward homogenization, depending on the extent to which the world polity pressure for WAM develops. However, the authors suggest a qualification of any notion of the unconditional significance of the world polity’s homogenizing force.

Values as a Bridge between Sustainability and Institutional Assessment: A Case Study from BOKU University.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that values-focused assessment can provide a useful lens for integrating sustainability and institutional performance assessment in universities. Design/methodology/approach – This study applies a values elicitation methodology for indicator development, through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and a stakeholder workshop, in a pilot project at BOKU University, Vienna. Findings – This case highlights that many of the values held by university staff and students are pro-sustainability values. Starting from these values may be a useful way of engaging university stakeholders in sustainability dialogues. The paper illustrates how values-based indicators can be integrated into university performance assessments, providing a novel way of thinking about sustainability assessment in universities. Research limitations/implications – The exploratory pilot was carried out in a university with a focus on natural sciences. Further research could repli...

Making the Invisible Visible: Designing Values-Based Indicators and Tools for Identifying and Closing ‘Value-Action Gaps’

It has often been observed that even when people publicly espouse certain values, they do not inevitably perform the actions or behaviours that one would expect to be associated with these values. This has been termed a ‘value-action gap’. Academic research on the barriers to pro-environmental behaviour has served primarily to highlight the complexity of this area; but a problem-centred approach to learning, led by civil society organizations, has been shown to generate effective solutions. One example is the design and use of values-based indicators—statements that link generic or specific ‘values vocabulary’ to specific real-world referents such as behaviours or perceptions. In this chapter, we discuss the application of values-based indicators for the twofold purpose of reflection (inspiring teaching and learning) and evaluation (guiding organizational development). We first describe the EU-funded project within which values-based indicators were initially developed, and provide an overview of the processes leading to the initial design of a project evaluation toolkit (‘WeValue’) and the evidence of its usefulness for identifying and bridging value-action gaps in civil society organizations providing education for sustainability. The central section of this paper reports on a co-design project to develop a toolkit of values-based indicators for secondary schools, primarily for teaching and learning purposes. Finally, in the discussion section, we suggest a theoretical grounding for the use of values-based indicators to close value-action gaps; identify a new kind of gap that has not previously been described in the literature; and reflect on some of the wider implications of our work.

Integrative, Traditional and Complementary Medicine

Traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) and integrative medicine (IM) are practiced worldwide, and are used by over half of the population in many industrialized countries and by 80% or more of many developing countries. This article discusses contexts for evaluation and integration of these types of medicine based on social and cultural dimensions, scientific evidence, economic factors, ecological dimensions and priority disease management. Equity, intellectual property rights, regulation, financing, knowledge generation, capacity building, research environments, methods and ethics are all discussed based on current knowledge and the status of traditional medicine in various countries. In view of the current growth in the use of IM in industrialized countries and the widespread use of traditional medicine in developing countries and by ethnic groups residing in industrialized countries, understanding this field is vital for health practitioners in knowing more about patient health-seeking behavior, self-care, and evidence on safety and efficacy as the basis for guiding patients and working within an integrative healthcare practice and research model.