Form,function, fiction – translations of technology and design in product development

This article is a case study of the design and development of a Norwegian crockery series for institutional households – the 1962 Figgjo 3500 Hotel China. It investigates how this product represented a decisive break with the conventions of postwar Norwegian design and manufacture. The onset of international free trade meant export or die for the manufacturing industry. The elitist aestheticism so prevalent in the so‐called Scandinavian Design movement was abandoned in favour of an ideology remarkably akin to what was at the German Ulm School of Design called scientific operationalism. The paper also analyses how the manufacturer sought to portray this product: first, it was inscribed as science incarnated, and the material morality reigned supreme. But as society's faith in science took some serious blows in the course of the 1960s and modernist design idioms were partly forsaken in the 1970s, the engineered tableware became the fashioned tableware as trends tamed technology. These translations of technology, design, identity and consumption tell the story of how an artefact is constantly in a state of transformation – on both sides of the factory gate.     

Strengthening Innovation Through Closer Bilateral Integration

While the Canadian economy has outperformed the US economy over the past decade by several macroeconomic indicators, both economies have been characterized by relatively slow real economic growth and relatively high unemployment rates. One focus of bilateral cooperation that could promote improved economic, social, and environmental conditions in both countries over time is scientific and technological (S&T) innovation. It is widely acknowledged that technological change associated with innovation has been the single most important contributor to productivity growth, and it is also the likely source of success in meeting major public policy challenges facing both countries in areas such as renewable energy and health care.     

Spatial cooperation patterns and their impact on innovation outcomes: lessons from firms in a low-technology region

This paper examines cooperation patterns of firms in the German low-technology region of Lower Bavaria. Particular emphasis is placed on the interplay among the spatial scale of cooperation, the form of cooperation and the type of innovation. Generic results show that overall, firms with a spatially more diverse set of cooperation linkages have a higher likelihood of innovating. However, the innovation outcomes differ depending on the spatial scale of cooperation. While cooperation with regional partners positively correlates with low-threshold innovations, cooperation with spatially distant partners positively correlates with product innovations. Surprisingly, it is application-oriented cooperation that channels the relation in both cases. The findings support the view that innovation of firms in low-technology regions is driven by ‘development’ rather than ‘research’. It also suggests that innovation-driven growth may even be possible in regions with limited values on the traditional innovation-supporting factors.     

Federal intellectual property policy and the history of technology: The case of NASA patents

This essay explores two closely entwined issues in recent history of federal R&D policy: (a) the disposition of the US government intellectual property (IP), and (b) how to best assess the effectiveness of federal patenting and licensing policies. It does so by examining two decades of patenting policy and practice at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The essay concludes with observations on the limits of our current approach to collecting data on the disposition of federal IP, and an alternative framework for examining the role of IP in the history of modern technology.     

澳门经济发展与产业结构特征的初步研究

葡萄牙入侵占我国澳门后,400多年来,它曾是东西方贸易的商埠。澳门经济真正发展起来是20世纪70年代至80年代初的10年中。中对澳门经济发展过程与三次产业结构特征以及主要产业部门进行了分析,并提出了澳门优势与经济发展中存在的问题。     

改革开放以来甘肃经济发展动态分析——基于产业结构演进的角度

改革开放以来,甘肃经济发展与全国各省市的差距逐渐扩大,产业结构不合理是重要原因之一,本文运用一系列衡量产业结构状况、产业结构演变、产业结构对就业、城镇化促进作用等方面的相关指标,定量分析了1978-2006年期间甘肃产业演进的动态特征,并与江苏、全国同期水平进行比较,结果表明甘肃在产业结构方面存在很大差距,进一步用偏额分量分析法分三个阶段评价了产业结构、产业竞争力对甘肃经济增长的影响,综合前面分析,找出甘肃产业结构演进中存在的问题及原因,并提出了相关建议。     

老工业基地振兴战略下城市开发区功能定位研究--以葫芦岛经济技术开发区为例

论文以葫芦岛经济技术开发区为例,重点对开发区的功能定位进行了研究。提出要以临港经济和临海产业为突破口,加速推动再工业化,将开发区打造成为以造船、冶金、医药化工为主,兼顾休闲旅游渡假的生态型工业开发园区和港口工业综合体。     

Mixed-use ‘regeneration’ of employment land in the post-industrial city: challenges and realities in London

This article explores the relationships between land-use planning, property and economic development, with a focus on the changing attitudes towards employment land in post-industrial cities. Drawing on case study data from two London local authorities, it finds that planning authorities are moving away from protecting employment land to actively promoting the mixed-use redevelopment of employment sites, even when there are thriving businesses on these sites and a shortage of supply of employment premises and land, relative to demand. We examine the drivers for changing policy including the national and regional policy contexts, housing targets, the influence of austerity measures, rise of Neighbourhood Planning and changing conceptions of regeneration and the role of housing therein. The article highlights the complex task faced by local planners and the tensions involved in simultaneously finding sites for housing, fostering economic development and promoting mixed-use redevelopment in planning policy and decisions. We find that changes in policy are fuelling speculation for housing development on sites occupied by viable businesses, supporting rather than responding to deindustrialization. This is leading to a gap between aspirations for delivering mixed-use environments on hitherto employment sites and realities on the ground.     

中国西部开发研究评述

本文在改革开放以来我国东西部经济发展差距日益扩大的地区经济发展格局下,在充分吸收前人研究成果和参阅大量文献的基础上,对改革开放二十年以来我国学术界对西部开发的研究著作、西部开发中关于东西部经济发展差距拉大的原因、西部经济开发战略、西部产业结构调整、西部开发的经济布局、西部开发中对外开放和区际贸易等问题一一做了评述,指出了西部开发研究工作中取得的成绩和今后研究中可资注意的有关问题。     

中日经贸关系发展的特点及展望

中日恢复邦交正常化以来,经贸关系出现较快的发展态势。虽然在发展过程中受到政治因素的影响,出现一些波折,但总的趋势是向前发展的。中日进出口贸易从建交时的10.9亿美元,扩大到2006年的2073.6亿美元,日本为中国第三大贸易伙伴。随着中日贸易规模的不断扩大,进出口商品结构也在不断发生变化,机电产品已经成为双方贸易的第一大商品,产业内贸易越来越活跃,中日贸易正在向水平化的方向发展;日本对华直接投资也在不断的增长,截至2006年12月底,日本对华直接投资实际使用金额累计达到580.4亿美元,仅次于香港、台湾省,位居第三位。展望未来,中日经贸关系仍将以较快的速度发展。     

What role for culture in the age of sustainable development? UNESCO’s advocacy in the 2030 Agenda negotiations

ABSTRACT

The article presents the nuanced role of culture in the sustainable development agenda of the United Nations, highlighting the contribution of UNESCO. While UNESCO has been engaged in the intersections between culture and development since 1980s, when the World Decade for Cultural Development was proclaimed, it was only with the negotiation of post-2015 development framework that culture began to enter the mainstream development discourse. It is argued that this process, influenced by both external and internal factors, has led to the reconceptualisation of the culture-development nexus. While the role of culture in the human development paradigm was focused on poverty alleviation and other human needs, including identity, education, and health, the sustainability agenda significantly widens the possible roles for cultural factors. UNESCO’s three approaches are discussed: culture as a unique dimension of sustainable development, and culture as a driver and enabler of sustainability.     

发挥网络环境优势 提高美术教学质量

在美术教学中结合网络环境,利用网络资源与技术,能够引导学生进行探究性学习,同时可以大幅度提高教学质量。l网络技术是高中生学会学习和学会终生学习、自主学习的坚强后盾,也为所有高中美术教师提高教育教学质量提供了方便。     

The end of cultural policy?1

ABSTRACT

The article discusses whether we are approaching the end of public cultural policy in Western democracies, because contemporary cultural policy is not adapted to major transformation processes in contemporary societies. I discuss seven different challenges/scenarios that public cultural policy has to confront today: (1) It appears to be very difficult to democratise culture. (2) Public authorities consistently continue to support cultural institutions that may be obsolete. (3) Professional artists are still poor, despite public support schemes. (4) Public cultural policy is still predominantly national, despite the globalisation of cultural production and distribution. (5) Public authorities increasingly justify subsidies to culture with reference to the beneficial effects that art and culture could have outside the cultural field. Therefore, one might argue that other public bodies could take better care of cultural affairs. (6) A specific public cultural sector may appear to ‘imprison’ culture in a bureaucratic ‘iron cage’. (7) Finally, one might argue that a public cultural policy has no sense in a period of stagnating public finances. In addition, I discuss several counterarguments to these challenges, without coming to a definite conclusion. I have based the analysis on available comparative research about the public cultural policies of Western democracies, predominantly Norwegian cultural policy.