Experimentation with, and the implementation of, circular business models (CBMs) has gained rapid traction within the textiles and fashion industry over the last five years. Substitution of virgin materials with bioderived alternatives, extending the lifecycle of garments through resale, and rental services and the recycling or upcycling of garments are some of the strategies being used to reduce the 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and 92 million tonnes of waste associated with the sector in 2017. However, whilst CBMs demonstrate environmental and economic benefits, low consumer acceptance is considered by business professionals and policymakers to be one of the main barriers to the transition towards a circular economy. Digitisation is widely acknowledged as a catalyst for innovation in many sectors and digital technologies are driving new ways to exchange and share goods and services, enabling companies to match the supply, and demand for, otherwise underused assets and products. Online platforms, in particular, have played a crucial role in driving the growth of used goods and resale in other consumer goods markets, such as consumer technology. A mixed methods approach, including a review of 40 organisations operating second hand fashion models, a consumer survey of over 1200 respondents and in-depth interviews with 10 organisations operating second hand fashion models, is adopted to reveal (a) the barriers to consumer acceptance of reuse models in the fashion industry, and (b) how digital technologies can overcome these barriers. Findings highlight the significant progress that organisations have made in using digitalisation, including data analytics, algorithms, digital platforms, advanced product imagery and data informed customer communications, to address barriers associated with convenience, hygiene, trust and security. Furthermore, the study identifies opportunities for the development of more sophisticated digital technologies to support increased transparency and address concerns associated with the quality, authenticity and sourcing of materials. Positioned at the interface of digitisation and consumer acceptance of circular business models, this study makes an important contribution to understanding consumer barriers and how to address them and concludes with a set of recommendations for practitioners.
Objective We ask whether framing U.N. actions in terms of institutional origins or multilateral support has differential effects on attitudes toward environmental sustainability policy. Methods A survey experiment exposed individuals to different descriptions of U.N. Agenda 21, a 1992 sustainable development policy document. Results Individuals who learned about Agenda 21 in terms of the international consensus behind the document at its inception were significantly more likely to support it and find it important. Conservative individuals who learned Agenda 21 was a U.N. document were significantly less likely to believe it was important and to want the federal government to incentivize implementation. Conclusions Framing U.N. action in terms of international consensus may be a gateway toward building support among Americans in general. Framing U.N. action in terms of the institution behind the action has little effect on opinion, except in some instances when it turns conservatives against said action.
Introduction: While short-term cognitive impairment following electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) is well described and acknowledged, the relationship between ECT and persistent memory impairment, particularly of autobiographical memory, has been controversial. Methods:We describe the case of a 70 year old consultant neurophysiologist, AW, who developed prominent, selective autobiographical memory loss following two courses of ECT for treatmentresistant depression.Results: His performance on standard measures of IQ, semantic and episodic memory, executive function and mood was normal, while he performed significantly below controls on measures of episodic autobiographical memory. Conclusions:Explanations in terms of mood-related memory loss and somatoform disorder appear unlikely. We relate AW's autobiographical memory impairment, following his ECT, to reports of similar autobiographical memory impairment occurring in the context of epilepsy, and emphasise the importance of using sensitive approaches to AbM assessment.
When added together, there are currently 1000 federal advisory committees with over 60,000 participants. In one U.S. city of more than one million people there are over 700 citizens serving on advisory boards. Yet, this form of citizen participation receives scant attention in the public administration literature (Lavertu & Weimer, 2010). We use the foil of the 2008 recession to reduce the gap in our knowledge. Advisory boards offer the potential for giving citizens power since they provide direct input into decision-making. Results from interviews of 25 citizen advisory board members suggest this does occur. However, the way in which the board leverages its power is novel. The experiences of citizen advisory board members can inform attempts to increase the legitimacy of participation, especially during fiscal stress.
Notwithstanding the importance of winnowing, scholars have devoted little attention to deciphering and systematically explaining the effects that gender may have on determining which small proportion of bills ultimately receive committee attention from the thousands that are introduced every legislative session. Building on past research evincing gendered differences in legislative behavior and effectiveness, this study analyzes the 111th and 112th Congresses in order to ascertain the extent to which gender affects winnowing in the U.S. House of Representatives. The findings suggest that female lawmakers are working hard to achieve legislative success by sponsoring a greater number of bills than their male colleagues, but that their efforts are not being similarly rewarded. Female sponsored bills fail to progress past the winnowing stage at rates comparable to male sponsored bills. Thus, policymaking may be skewed toward the preferences of male lawmakers despite the numeric and positional gains of women in the U.S. Congress.
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