Sustainability Reporting Ecosystem: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Overhaul during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The preparation of sustainability reports, which a negligible number of organisations had been doing until recently, will soon be the new reality for many more organisations. This research aims to present changes during the COVID-19 pandemic in the ecosystem of sustainability reporting pronouncements, especially those used by organisations. In our research, we compare important information about two different periods and the content demands in reporting on sustainability. Changes in the ecosystem are fundamental and unique. Based on the analysis of events and documents, the current research shows the changes in the ecosystem and the future dynamics in the ecosystem, including the principle standard setters (i.e., International Sustainability Standards Board and European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, EFRAG). The research shows that although the changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, they did not significantly impact the ecosystem's development or slow down or stop their development. The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect the speed or dynamics of changes. In the last few years, EFRAG and the European Union established their position and gained a significant influence in sustainability reporting, with EFRAG at the forefront. The European Sustainability Reporting Standards will be mandatory for organisations doing business in the European Union. At the same time, we do not expect that the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards will be directly endorsed for use in the European Union. The paper presents a new perspective on examining sustainability via developing organisations' reporting demands within the framework of the uncertain environment caused by COVID-19. In this context, our research also contributes to the literature. The study also has a potential practical impact on organisations and management since it illuminates a wide range of selected sustainability viewpoints and their reporting.

Public diplomacy in an age of perpetual crisis: assessing the EU's strategic narratives through six crises

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the EU's public diplomacy – towards both domestic and external audiences – during times of crisis. The EU's public diplomacy is examined across six major crises: the Eurozone crisis (2008), the Ukrainian crisis (2014), the migrant crisis (2015), the Brexit referendum (2016), the new transatlantic relationship (2017) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2019). The goal of examining these crises in conjunction is to derive policy-relevant insights.Design/methodology/approachThis article adopts a problem-driven approach – the problem being how successful is the EU at public diplomacy during times of crisis – that draws theoretical and empirical insights from Communication Studies, International Relations and EU studies via a "strategic narratives” framework. It situates the EU as a unique public diplomacy actor, one which is becoming more prominent due to the mediatisation of diplomacy, especially driven by the advent of cyberspace.FindingsThe article finds that the EU has been experiencing a cycle of crises that have affected the political, economic, symbolic and social foundations of the common project. The EU has had some notable success – such as restoring confidence at the height of the Eurozone crisis – and some notable challenges – such as effectively combatting disinformation. Regardless, the EU has the potential to better manage these and future crises by engaging in an effective public diplomacy strategy that tells a shared European story that informs and inspires people, both domestically and externally.Originality/valueThe article offers an original examination of the EU's public diplomacy response to six different crises. It looks at different types of crises and utilises concepts from different social science perspectives. It offers novel strategic and policy recommendations.

SOME COMMENTS ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF DICHOTOMIES IN THE CURRENT ARENA OF IDEOLOGICAL CONFRONTATIONS

The history of the development of human communities opens up a large number of chapters of the alliance of rationality and power. The determining power of the implementation of elements of purposeful rationality at the political level is almost always represented by the legitimation of a certain type of interest associated with the greatest power to enforcing them. The primary goal of this paper is in an endeavour to place the normative nature of current (democratic) political regimes where we encounter the need for a more fundamental theoretical argument that would enable us to respond to their dynamic, often contradictory development. We focus on the productivity of dichotomies in the theory and practice of rationalism, irrationalism and liberal democracy. Their interaction in fact defines and creates the conditions for experimenting with different forms of political structures in the search for a better human and the world. At the same time, its performance not only defines the conditions for the theoretical justification of the idea of power, but also becomes a tool for its implementation. The theoretical background of this approach develops monitoring the content turbulences in the political systems of liberal democracies, with an emphasis on political life in Slovakia. Hence, in the present study, in the context of possible effects of the infectious disease COVID-19 on the activities of individual political actors, we point to a unique experience that contributes to addressing the issue of the way of establishing "softer" forms of political communication instead of political struggle, especially at the level of relations between the conservative, socialist, and liberal party-political communities not just in Slovakia, but also in other countries around the world.

The Moncloa in Twitter: a quantitative analysis in the post-COVID era

Introduction: The end of the acute phase of the pandemic, begins a return to normality in coexistence with the Coronavirus. Thus, a period of transition and social, political and economic uncertainty begins that, for WHO and WEF, could imply a global reset from more balanced principles. The objective of this work is to identify the keys that mark the relational behavior of the Government of Spain on Twitter from its official account @DesdelaMoncloa, in relation to these principles and the interests of the population. Methodology: multivariate quantitative analysis (content analysis) is performed in SPSS SPSS (Krippendorff alpha coefficient = 0.867) over a corpus of 2735 tweets issued between April 1, 2021 and March 30, 2022. Results: the results show a higher prevalence of content with an institutional and economic character, the use of a formal/solemn language, and regularity in broadcast frequency by date and time (Jordan, 2017;Acebes and Montanera, 2019). Discussion and conclusions: Twitter is consolidated as a powerful relationship management tool in the institutional field (Marcos-García, 2021;Castillo-Esparcia et al., 2020a) aimed at building trust in public opinion (Greenhill, 2020;Hucker, 2020), but it is observed: a) a significant mismatch between the themes of the messages issued and the interests of the population in this period of transition and, b) consolidates the theses that highlight an institutional underutilization of its interactive potential (Rivas-de-Roca et al., 2021).Alternate :Introducción: El fin de la fase aguda de la pandemia, inicia una vuelta a la normalidad en convivencia con el Coronavirus. Así, se inicia un periodo de transición e incertidumbre social, política y económica que, para la OMS y el FEM, podría implicar un reinicio de carácter mundial desde principios más equilibrados. El objetivo de este trabajo es identificar las claves que marcan el comportamiento relacional del Gobierno de España en Twitter desde su cuenta oficial @Desdelamoncloa, en relación con estos principios y los intereses de la población. Metodología: se realiza un análisis cuantitativo (análisis de contenido) multivariable en SPSS (coeficiente alfa de Krippendorff = 0,867) sobre un corpus de 2735 tuits emitidos entre el 1 de abril de 2021 y el 30 de marzo de 2022. Resultados: los resultados muestran una mayor prevalencia de contenido con carácter institucional y económico, el empleo de un lenguaje formal/solemne, y regularidad en la frecuencia de emisión por fecha y hora (Jordan, 2017;Acebes y Montanera, 2019). Discusión y conclusiones: Twitter se consolida como una poderosa herramienta de gestión de las relaciones en el ámbito institucional (Marcos-García, 2021;Castillo-Esparcia et al, 2020a) orientada a generar confianza en la opinión pública (Greenhill, 2020;Hucker, 2020), pero se observa: a) un relevante desajuste entre las temáticas de los mensajes emitidos y los intereses de la población en este periodo de transición y, b) consolida las tesis que destacan una infrautilización institucional de su potencial interactivo (Rivas-de-Roca et al, 2021).

Communicating COVID-19 on Twitter at supranational and national levels: The European Union and Portugal with "the ball in their court": An International Journal of Pure Communication Inquiry

This article focuses on COVID-19 communication on Twitter at supranational and national levels, namely by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Portuguese prime minister, António Costa. A mixed-method approach, based on content, discourse, and rhetorical analysis, was employed. The results show that von der Leyen's tweets focused on measures to combat COVID-19, while Costa's tweets focused mainly on responsibility. In both cases, economic support and recovery was the second most frequently mentioned theme, while frames relating to solutions, causal relations, moral judgments, and problems were also emphasized. Von der Leyen tended to highlight the importance of vaccination, while Costa tended to highlight scientific expertise. Ethos was employed by the two leaders mainly through references to responsibility and fulfilment of duty. Pathos was employed to inspire mainly positive emotional responses-such as the impulse to action, feelings of support, desire for unity, and confidence, optimism, or calm-but also negative emotional responses, such as anxiety, apprehension, or concern and disappointment. Logos was employed mainly through reference to the numbers and science of COVID, use of stylistic devices, and exemplification.

EU Public Procurement Policy During Covid-19: A Turning Point for Legitimate EU Governance?

Public procurement is a policy area located between two contradictory tendencies. On the one hand, the European Commission strives for greater competition to widen procurement markets. On the other hand, the boosting of competition encounters resistance among the member states. This article investigates how these colliding tendencies played out during the initial stages of the Covid-19 crisis and, more specifically, how changes in the field of procurement affected legitimate governance in the EU. Based on institutionalist and EU governance theories, the study contributes to the literature with three principal findings. First, it demonstrates that the pandemic enabled exogenously driven changes in the field of public procurement with new policies and guidelines, while the EU’s overall aims in this field were upheld. Second, the study demonstrates that the Commission was the main driver of change and that it enhanced the harmonisation of procurement rules and supranational integration despite the crisis. Third, while these changes strengthened the role of supranational actors, the study demonstrates that the changes introduced allow member states increased flexibility when it comes to the implementation. In practice, however, this flexibility has the potential to undermine the EU’s initial aims, thereby jeopardising the EU’s legitimacy.

European Constitutional Courts Towards Data Retention Laws, edited by Marek Zubik, Jan Podkowik, and Robert Rybski, [ Springer, Switzerland, 2021, 384pp, ISBN: 978-3-030-57188-7, £109.99 (h/bk), £59.99 (ebook)]

[...]data retention can seriously interfere with privacy and rights of data protection, engaging the delicate balance between rights and freedoms, on the one hand, and security, on the other, which in turn impacts the very foundations of democracy. [...]data retention—and surveillance in general—engages a third ‘actor’ in the rights–security relationship, this being technology. After setting out the domestic legislation implementing the 2006 EU data retention directive in each State, the authors consider whether such national measures had already been the subject of any constitutional or supreme court decisions before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled the data retention directive invalid in 2014. [...]there is no doubt that this book provides a valuable overview of the evolution of European surveillance law (and related case law) in the first two decades after the 9/11 attacks.

Towards reimagined technical assistance: the current policy options and opportunities for change: [version 2;peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]

Technical assistance has been at the heart of development assistance provided to country governments by donor agencies over the past several decades. The current debates on reimagining technical assistance focus on the existing challenges of the different types of technical assistance and the (re)construction of an ideal model for delivering this type of support, with little discussion about the dilemmas involved in making day-to-day decisions and trade-offs in implementation. This article presents technical assistance as a policy option for governments and details the existing models of delivering technical assistance, their limitations, and the required enabling conditions. The models presented focus on the type of role for the technical advisers- as doers (performing government functions), partners (working with the government to perform a specific role) and facilitators (enabling and facilitating change programmes to address wicked problems). Finally, the paper provides a practical account of the implications of the programme design and suggests potential opportunities for change particularly in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. It complements an open letter on the practical account of the current challenges in the design and implementation of technical assistance programmes.

Influences of Covid-19 Crisis on Resilience Theories: An analysis of Community, Societal and Governance Resilience

Background: The present article addresses the theories on resilience among the various areas of analysis and research: community, societal and governance. Objectives: As we challenge the third year of the pandemics, the study exposes the theoretical and conceptual approaches to resilience demanding a multisystemic response and participation from all areas of the society: community, society, institutions etc. Methods: Further, the study uses the role of theories during the COVID-19 pandemic by presenting a comprehensive review of how resilience is built through the community and societal mechanisms and processes. We have also employed a quantitative analysis using the search engine provided by the Google Ngram Viewer (Google Ngram) on the digitalised literature prior the COVID-19 pandemic. Results and findings: Additionally, the study provides an in-depth analysis of the theories on resilience as the results emphasize the selected word frequencies of the "resilience" concept and related topics before the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: The research addressed the quantitative and qualitative approaches of content analysis revealing the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis on the theoretical framework of "resilience" and related terms.

Factors of uneven progress of the European Union countries towards a circular economy

The increased final consumption exacerbates the problem of the scarcity of natural resources and leads to environmental pollution. The concept of circular economy, which implies the formation of closed-loop chains of production and consumption with maximum regeneration and recycling of materials, is considered as an alternative to the firmly established “linear economy” (take-make-dispose). As a part of sustainable development strategy, the European Union adopted a general policy on the transition to a circular economy. However, for objective reasons, such transition is quite uneven at the level of member countries, which adversely affects the total progress. Therefore, the need arises to assess the positions of individual countries and identify major reasons for the uneven transition to support the countries that are lagging. The goal of the study is to identify the factors of uneven progress of the EU countries towards a circular economy. For that reason, a set of empirical data (20 indicators) has been compiled;cluster, classification, and parametric analyses have been conducted. As a result, three clusters of the EU countries have been obtained and six indicators, included into combinations that make all clusters different, have been identified. These indicators can be interpreted as the key factors contributing to the uneven progress of the EU countries towards a circular economy. The difference in harmonic means by clusters allowed quantitatively estimating a “circular gap”. It is of practical value for the EU policy aimed at bridging the gaps between member countries during the transition to a circular economy.

White Apocalypses, Global Antiblackness, and the Art of Living through and against Death-Worlds

Wooten and Alves talks about white apocalypses, global antiblackness, and the art of living through and against death-worlds among others. As Black studies scholars, we understand all too well how our work--our existing and breathing and writing and teaching and researching--gets called to constantly do the labor of protecting the memory of those who came before us. We are tasked with not only protecting these memories but also narrating the conditions of their erasure. That is, our work often becomes just as much about Black people as it is about antiblackness, sometimes with the two so tightly interwoven that one cannot discern when we mean Black life and when we mean white supremacy as a condition that structures Black life. Global antiblackness provides ontological, geological, economic, and sanitary security to the world. It does so not only in terms of the all-too-familiar plundering of strategic natural resources from the so-called Global North but also through the continuous rearticulation of a supranational color line well-pronounced in the medical apartheid exposed by the enduring and currently intensified global health crisis.