The impact of the Bologna Declaration on European engineering education

The Bologna Declaration will lead to fundamental changes of the architecture of European higher education. The paper analyses possible consequences for Engineering Education and describes some of the different ways in which European countries have implemented the Declaration. How the application-oriented shorter engineering education should fit into the Bologna scheme remains a major problem.     

Training for Service in Developing Countries

In June 1979, the Swedish Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry to look into the total training requirements for Swedish personnel in contact with the developing countries. This action was taken against a background of increased Swedish involvement in the development countries, in aid, industry and a large number of voluntary organisations, and in the light of the demands made on Swedes serving in developing countries due to living and working in an alien environment.

The Commission commenced its work in September 1979* and worked closely with a reference group consisting of representatives drawn from the Swedish administration, the business world, the missionary societies and the trade union movement. This article summarises those parts of the Commission's report which are relevant to the theme of this issue.     

Ground level ozone exposure and distribution over the historical Peninsula of Istanbul

In this study, passive samplers were used to measure ozone exposure distribution maps over the historical peninsula of Istanbul, Turkey. The study area is partially important due to the presence of cultural and historical buildings and structures distributed all over the peninsula. Unesco's World Heritage list covers four zones located in this historical peninsula in Istanbul. It is necessary to evaluate the pollution distribution in high resolution to construct effective risk management strategies. For this purpose, 50 sampling stations were installed within the study area. Three sampling campaigns within different seasons (summer, winter and fall) showing different ozone distribution characteristics were carried out. Seasonal measurements of ozone exposure values were used to obtain a yearly exposure level, which is an important part of risk characterization. Seasonal ozone exposure maps over the historical peninsula were obtained using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) based interpolation models with high resolution. Risk maps including five regions, based on ozone exposure levels were created. Structures and historical regions located within these risk zones were identified. Based on the defined exposure regions, we found that the Archaeological Park, one of the items on UNESCO's list, is located within the most risky region.     

Mapping innovation dynamics in hospitals

This article draws on a notion of the hospital as a complex service provider and healthcare system hub in order to examine the question of innovation in hospitals. It puts forward a relatively simple framework for analysing hospital output, in which the medical function is incorporated into a complex system of other constituent services that make use of different types of technologies. This analytical framework is used to reveal the multiple sources of innovation and the main organising principles driving innovation within hospitals.     

Knowledge of the natural and the social: how are they different and what do they have in common?

Knowledge of the natural and the social are irreducibly different yet have much in common. The differences lie at the levels of complexity they engage, modes of explanation they adopt, investigation aims they allow and whether they assert a ‘double hermeneutic’ effect to the behaviour of the studied objects. Knowledge are in common in that they are all construed out of available resources, justified based on the consequences of acting upon them, settled until better alternatives emerge, and serving as walking sticks for beating unknown paths in human life. Because of this, there can be no hierarchy of knowledge or unity of methodology, and dialogical encounters guided by situational ethics, not professional deafness driven by ontological/instrumental fallacies, are a viable strategy for morally and practically wise actions, including knowledge management projects.