Spatial microsimulation encompasses a range of alternative methodological approaches for the small area estimation (SAE) of target population parameters from sample survey data down to target small areas in contexts where such data are desired but not otherwise available. Although widely used, an enduring limitation of spatial microsimulation SAE…

There is some doubt about the effect of creative class on economic development. There is also concern that the 3Ts index (Talent, Technology, and Tolerance) does not take into account two of the most important elements of creativity into its index: creative infrastructure and culture. The present study proposed a new creativity index called 3Ci…

This Report Card offers an assessment of child well-being in the context of sustainable development across 41 countries of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Specifically, this report seeks to bring the SDG [Sustainable Development Goal] targets for children in high-income countries into…

In Italy, data and information on prevalence and characteristics of elder abuse are very limited, and a specific legal and policy framework is lacking. Some articles of the Penal Code refer to the larger context of violence against disadvantaged groups, and some general support services not specifically dedicated to this issue are managed by local…

There is a broad consensus in international debates that the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services is inextricably linked to the professionalisation of its workforce. In particular, the importance of providing ECEC practitioners with continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities has been increasingly recognised in…

This article describes the Educational Quality Facilities project undertaken by Italy's Campania Region to provide quality facilities to all of its communities basing new spaces on the "Flexible Learning Module". The objectives of the five-year project are to: build and equip new educational spaces; improve the quality of existing…

According to the findings of a recent European study on competence requirement for the early childhood education and care workforce, competent systems that succeed in achieving high levels of professionalism are embedded in coherent public policies that build on consultation with key stakeholders, particularly at local level. In order to flourish,…

The paper presents the social capital as the essential element of success of the Reggio Emilia preschools known for their unique approach to the early childhood education. The collaborative effort is introduced through examples of the currently ongoing "Reggio Narrates" project of Reggio preschools, the "Dialogue with the…

This paper reports on a longitudinal ethnographic study of the language socialisation of a group of Moroccan adolescents who migrated to Italy in the late 1990s. The approach is based on the notion of language socialisation, which sees the process of acquiring a language as linked to that of becoming a member of a culture. The participants live in…

This article provided an account of the organization of cultural activities in the city of Bologna, Italy. It stressed the activities' significance in terms of the city's cultural policy by attempting to show obstacles encountered and efforts made to overcome them. (Author/RK)

One of the key factors for the success of development strategies in rural areas is the setting up of appropriate governance patterns, whose main outcome is a fluid communication between public and private organisations and an effective integration of objectives and policies. Through a "post-rural" approach, this paper aims to analyse an…

An educational pilot project on the bio-monitoring of air quality was carried out in the Umbria Region of Central Italy. It involved about 1000 young students (ages 4 to 16) from 42 schools of 16 municipalities in active biomonitoring of tropospheric ozone with bio-indicator sensitive tobacco seedlings. Some 6500 raw biological readings were used…

Three- to six-year-old children in the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, worked on a project called "The City: Images, Ideas, and Theories," in which teachers investigated the children's ideas, hypotheses, and theories about cities in general and their own city in particular. Children's knowledge about the city was surveyed in…

The papers in this collection were presented at an international symposium on improving the management of urban research, particularly through city-university collaboration. An introductory framework paper summarizes the range of research services available to local government, the types of urban research activity, and the problems of urban…

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. (Individual papers contain references.) [For the 2009 proceedings, see ED504973.]