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IJERPH
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Promoting Well-Being, Health Equity, and Citizenship through Inclusive Democratic Innovation
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Promoting Well-Being, Health Equity, and Citizenship through Inclusive Democratic Innovation

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2021) | Viewed by 14071

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ottar Ness

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
WellFare: Nordic Research Centre for Wellbeing and Social Sustainability, Department of Education and Lifelong Learning, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Noway
Interests: wellbeing; recovery; mental health; substance abuse; citizenship; relational welfare; social justice
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Dina von Heimburg

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Nord University/Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Noway
Interests: health promotion; well-being; health equity; social justice; public value; co-creation; democratic innovation; community; sustainable development; participatory research
Dr. Johan Vamstad

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Civil Society Research, Ersta Sköndal Bräcke University College,Stockholm, Sweden
Interests: civil society; co-production; welfare state; welfare mix; social policy; citizenship; participatory democracy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is an urgent need for political consensus to achieve sustainable development of societies. This includes the quest for equal opportunities for citizens to achieve wellbeing. However, political parties and political views are becoming more polarized, people are becoming more disengaged, and those affected by low levels of wellbeing tend to be excluded from democratic processes. The voices of excluded citizens need to be included and recognized if democracy is to pursue wellbeing for all. The inclusion of such groups is a promising approach to reducing inequities and to building strong foundations for more sustainable development of societies and deepening of democracy, aligned with social justice and wellbeing of societies. Democratic innovation is needed—the question is, how?

This Special Issue welcomes papers examining democratic innovation aiming to promote well-being, health equity, and citizenship for all.

For this Special Issue, we invite you to submit articles on high-quality original research, reviews or perspective articles that provide new and robust discoveries that broaden current knowledge. The relevance for practice should be emphasized.

Prof. Dr. Ottar Ness
Dr. Dina von Heimburg
Dr. Johan Vamstad
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • democratic innovation
  • social justice
  • well-being
  • public value
  • human rights
  • co-creation
  • citizenship
  • social inclusion
  • participatory democracy
  • deliberation

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2366 KiB  
Article
The School as an Arena for Co-Creating Participation, Equity, and Well-Being—A Photovoice Study from Norway
by Camilla Ihlebæk, Camilla Castellan, Jenny Flobak and Jo Ese
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(16), 8252; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18168252 - 04 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2959
Abstract
Schools may play an essential role as an arena for co-creating community activities that enhance well-being, equity, and citizenship. Still, there is limited knowledge about physical and non-physical factors that contribute to well-being within such approaches. The aim of this study was to [...] Read more.
Schools may play an essential role as an arena for co-creating community activities that enhance well-being, equity, and citizenship. Still, there is limited knowledge about physical and non-physical factors that contribute to well-being within such approaches. The aim of this study was to identify important factors for well-being as perceived by pupils, school employees, and parents in a community school in Norway. The participatory method photovoice was used, and seven pupils, six employees, and four parents participated by taking photos used as the basis for six focus group discussions. Transcripts of the discussions were analyzed using Systematic Text Condensation. The analysis showed that the participants experienced that the school’s built and natural environment, the activities happening there, and the human resources and organization at the school facilitated perceptions of safety, inclusion, and cohesion, which in turn contributed to well-being. Furthermore, the results showed that co-creating schools as a community arena could be an innovative way of ensuring participation, equity, and well-being in the community. Such an approach might be especially important in deprived areas or in multi-ethnic communities. An important prerequisite to succeed is the openness of the school’s staff to engage in co-creation with other stakeholders in the community. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Well-Being, Health Equity, and Citizenship through Inclusive Democratic Innovation)
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12 pages, 510 KiB  
Article
A Cross-Cultural and Trans-Generational Study: Links between Psychological Characteristics and Socio-Political Tendency amongst Urban Population in Afghanistan
by Hossein Kaviani and Sayed-Jafar Ahmadi
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(12), 6372; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18126372 - 12 Jun 2021
Viewed by 1825
Abstract
Aim: This study examined how psychosocial characteristics might relate to adherence to democratic values among young and older people within two different cultural contexts in Afghanistan. Method: Self-report questionnaires were employed to measure empathy, theory of mind, gender role equality, openness to experiences, [...] Read more.
Aim: This study examined how psychosocial characteristics might relate to adherence to democratic values among young and older people within two different cultural contexts in Afghanistan. Method: Self-report questionnaires were employed to measure empathy, theory of mind, gender role equality, openness to experiences, suggestibility, authoritarianism and support for democracy. A sample of 669 people from younger (18–25 years) and older (45 years and above) age groups from different cultural backgrounds in Afghanistan participated in the study. A series of MANOVAs were conducted to examine the cultural (Dari, Pashto), generational and gender differences on the study variables. Dari and Pashto speakers showed equal degrees of support for authoritarianism regardless of age difference. Results: The findings reveal that Dari speakers scored more highly on empathy, theory of mind, openness, gender role equality, democratic values and lower on suggestibility than Pashto speakers. Older Pashtun participants had lower scores on theory of mind than their younger counterparts. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis yields that gender role equality, openness and suggestibility predict support for democracy with gender role equality being the strongest predictor. Conclusion: The knowledge gained here would potentially be incorporated into the development of practical guidelines to be used by policy makers, education systems and the media to facilitate the process of democratization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Well-Being, Health Equity, and Citizenship through Inclusive Democratic Innovation)
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24 pages, 351 KiB  
Article
Bridging or Bonding: An Organizational Framework for Studying Social Capital in Kindergartens
by Berit Irene Vannebo and Elin Birgitte Ljunggren
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(5), 2663; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18052663 - 06 Mar 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2453
Abstract
The article develops our understanding of social capital by analyzing social capital as an organizational phenomenon. The analysis is based on qualitative data consisting of interviews and documents obtained from six different kindergartens in Norway. Kindergartens are used as a “prism” through which [...] Read more.
The article develops our understanding of social capital by analyzing social capital as an organizational phenomenon. The analysis is based on qualitative data consisting of interviews and documents obtained from six different kindergartens in Norway. Kindergartens are used as a “prism” through which we can understand how social capital is formed—and the mechanisms that shape the development of various forms of networks within welfare organizations. More specifically we look at drop-in kindergartens. The specific purpose of these kindergartens is to provide open and inclusive arenas that promote integration and community. We find that the kindergartens vary in the degree to which they succeed in building bridging forms of networks and communities. Using concepts from organizational theory and Wenger’s (1998) theory of communities of practice, we find that formal organizational factors such as ownership, organizational goals, profiling, location, and educational content impact the formation of bridging forms of social capital. The composition of the user groups and the user groups’ motivation for participating most clearly affect the conditions for community formation. The composition of the user groups is the result of a number of organizational factors and organizational mechanisms. Kindergartens that have a heterogeneous user group, and a user group with a community orientation (Morse 2006), are more successful at creating bridging types of social networks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Well-Being, Health Equity, and Citizenship through Inclusive Democratic Innovation)
20 pages, 718 KiB  
Article
Globalization, Work, and Health: A Nordic Perspective
by Steffen Torp and Jon Reiersen
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(20), 7661; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17207661 - 21 Oct 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5440
Abstract
The Nordic countries are among the world’s leading countries in international rankings on prosperity, productivity, social equity, trust, and health. Such positive results may be linked to how these countries have organized their working life. The aim of this article is to describe [...] Read more.
The Nordic countries are among the world’s leading countries in international rankings on prosperity, productivity, social equity, trust, and health. Such positive results may be linked to how these countries have organized their working life. The aim of this article is to describe core elements of the Nordic working life model (emphasizing Norway) and discuss how globalization may challenge the model, and thereby influence public health. Based on an extensive review of relevant research, we show that the Nordic working life model with a coordinated wage bargaining system between well-organized employers and employees results in productive enterprises, small wage differences, good working environments, and a high level of well-being. Global trends of liberalization of working life, increased labor migration, the platform economy, reduced unionization, and more precarious work challenge the Nordic working life model and its reliance on standard working contracts. Such a trend may result in increased inequity, reduced generalized trust, and poorer public health. Politicians and other stakeholders in the Nordic countries should cope appropriately with globalization and technological changes so that the Nordic countries will uphold their well-organized working life and good societal achievements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Well-Being, Health Equity, and Citizenship through Inclusive Democratic Innovation)
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