International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPRC)
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Item Mindful Communication for Sustainable Development(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Senarath, S.Now we are living in a very complicated world. We highly value economic development rather than moral development. Consequently, money has become a powerful tool when tackling social problems. Bribery, corruption, crime, mental depression of people, individualism, over-consumption, etc., have become common problems in all countries around the world. Today sustainable development has become a buss word when talking to solve the problems and issues of Asian, African and Latin American countries. Mindfulness may be a global movement today, especially in the West, where companies are offering mindfulness meditation courses for its employees to boost productivity. But this mindfulness quite far behind the concept of Mindfulness in Buddhist teachings. The mass media, including rapidly spreading social media, have become integral part of contemporary society. Although today’s advanced digital technology enables the media to reach the people rapidly, most media fail to target their content toward human development. It is quite evident that media-generated emotion has significant implications for actions and interactions within the larger social world and in practically media behavior of most countries are far behind the good development of the society. The Buddhist Majjama Patipada (Middle Path) offers a precious way to solve most of the problems. Also known as the Noble Eightfold Path, it provides a valuable roadmap to reach development goals. In the teaching of the Buddha, the Middle Path (Majjhima patipada) is not a condition between two extremes. In the teaching of the Buddha, the Middle Path (majjima patipada) is not a condition between two extremes like Daoist yin (feminine, earth, soft etc.) and yang (masculine, heaven, hard, etc) opposites or compliments. The middle path means choosing the correct one when two extremes exists, abandoning both of them. The Buddha’s Middle Path means the most effective way leading to the cessation of dukkha (un satisfactoriness) that lies between extremes of searching for happiness through the pleasures of the senses, and the other extreme searching for the same through self-mortification in different forms of asceticism. The Noble Eightfold Path is comparable to a road map. When we travel the roadmap is essential to find the correct routes to the place or places wish to visit. The Noble Eightfold Path also serves as a map that shows the path to reach the final goal in the life of a human being. One must progressively overcome all the roadblocks along the way by adhering to a disciplined set of three dimensions encompassing virtues of Sila(Morality), Samadhi(Concentration) and Panna(Wisdom). The Kalyanamitta should possess the through conviction that all universal phenomena have the mark of anicca, anatto and duke, those who belittle this understanding of reality cannot function as mindful journalistItem Social Work Intervention for Women Empowerment through Self-Employment(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Karandawala, K.“End poverty in all its forms everywhere’ is the first goal of the world 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Poverty is one of the greatest global challenges in contemporary world. It has been recognized that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions is required for sensible and appropriate society. Eradicating poverty is also aims to ensure social protection for poor and vulnerable communities. In current Sri Lankan society there are many poor males headed families without sufficient income for family expenses as well as to access to basic services. Women in such low income families should have the opportunity to assist their family income without violating their freedom as well as duties and responsibilities. This research expects to find out how Social Work Intervention is required in women empowerment for poverty eradication through Self-employment. The objectives of this research are to identify the opportunities and barriers for self employment of women in low income families as well as to identify the social work intervention for such barriers in order to step into poverty eradication. This study has been conducted using mix method. A questionnaire, in-depth interview methods were used for data collection. The results of the research indicated that some women run very small self-employments at their houses without knowing those are self-employments which can develop further with suitable advices, recourses as well as motivation to improve such employments. Study further revealed that many women are unaware of the opportunities as well as some women are reluctant to find out opportunities due to their family, social and economic barriers. It is important to empower them to determine opportunities by social work interventions through community and religious leaders etc for self employment for better lifeItem Sustainability and Sustainable Development: A Discourse Analysis on Understandings and Perspectives of Educated Society Beyond Their Fields of Study(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Isabella, A.A.J.M.; Arathiya, P.; Wanniarachchi, W.S.A.Sustainability and Sustainable development should not always define with incomprehensible terminologies with restricted fields and disciplines. Despite the popularity of Sustainability as a concept in almost all the fields of study, research and debates, only a little is known about the understanding of public especially educated people who deals with it. The understanding cannot be a matter of the fields they belong to but a matter of their general knowledge. “Sustainability” encompasses all the disciplines as the understanding is wide and depends on the crisis in the world. Accordingly, University of Peradeniya is selected to be the locale of study where haphazard (convenience) sampling method is used within each faculty of the university to collect data. Highly qualitative data is collected during the study. The data is analyzed using qualitative technique of critical discourse analyses using Microsoft office Macros and Microsoft office word. “Sustainable” is a word used in most of the literatures on development after the setting of goals for future development by United Nations Organization. 2015 – 2030 is the period for implementing Sustainable Development Goals in order to gain sustainability in all the fields. Thus, sustainability is understood in different ways. The understanding on sustainability and sustainable development of university staff and students is not more than their fields of study. Their discipline influences the way they have understood “Sustainability”. Rather than people who deal with wide range of disciplines others have restricted their understanding while less important is given to the fields with weak connection with sustainability concept. The educated society shows less common understanding thus creating gap in the understanding of less educated general publicItem Application of GIS in Construction Planning and Management towards Sustainable Development(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Jayasooriya, S.D.; Rupasinghe, A.R.; Weerasinghe, M.D.G.Geographic Information System (GIS) has been used in many fields of Science including construction industry. GIS is a Computer based tool which is used to solve engineering problems related to spatial data. The potential importance of GIS to construction planning and management in the construction industry has not been realized completely. GIS technologies have the potential to solve space related problems of construction planning and management involving, integration of information, urban planning, project site selection, soil studies, hydrology and environmental studies. In sustainability concept through GIS the users can determine exact resource needs, efficient planning of usage of lands and conserve environment for future generations. It was found that the construction industry in Sri Lanka is reluctant to apply the GIS in the construction projects. Therefore, this study was aimed to analyze the implementation issues of the application of GIS in the field of quantity surveying as a part of construction planning and management to sustainable development. Interviews were conducted to gather data from the senior quantity surveyor and GIS specialists in the fields of construction and project management. The sample was 40 and the selection method was purposive sampling specially based on the direct involvement in the project under the capacity of decision making. The study was done by using only the primary data and the analysis was done by developing a comprehensive content analysis by gathering common solutions and prioritizing them. It was found that there are key issues in the implementation of GIS including the unawareness and the overlapping with other specific techniques. The respondents have proposed the possible ways of implementing GIS to the construction planning and management for enhancing the productivity of the projects to achieve sustainability specially by doing a proper benefit analysisItem The Global Politics of Sustainable Development: An Analysis of Political Challenges to Sustainable Development(In: Proceedings of the International Postgraduate Research Conference 2017 (IPRC – 2017), Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Udayangani, G.W.N.C.Sustainable development is a subject that has sparked debate in the arena of global politics at present. Global politics can be a determining factor that could enhance or diminish the prospects of sustainable development. Materialization of sustainable development goals has been confined due to many challenges. Among these challenges, the major challenge is posed by political challenges which arise from the lack of political will and the inability among participating members to arrive at consensus. Even though pressure groups and civil society can exert some pressure in the decision making process, the whole decision making power is vested in the hands of politicians and elites. Therefore, implementation of policies aimed at sustainable development is only an illusion in the absence of a political will. For changes to be taken place there should be a political will. These controversies have created motivation for this study to address how global political challenges hinder the prospects of effective policy planning in sustainable development at global level. Therefore, this study will be significant in assessing the effective role of global politics in addressing issues related to sustainable development. The key research finding is that; the achievement of sustainable development in the absence of a political will is only a utopian dream. A qualitative approach has been used to analyze the secondary data collected through data sources including books, government publications, policy papers, academic journals, conference proceedings, speeches, web information and previous research. Data triangulation method has been used in collecting secondary data from multiple sources while collected data was analyzed through deductive content analysis method. The intended outcome of the research aims at creating awareness among policy makers about the importance of their role in materializing sustainable development goals.Item Correlates of Employees‟ Psychological Contract Fulfillment: A Proposed Study Model(In: Proceedings of the International Postgraduate Research Conference 2017 (IPRC – 2017), Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Ariyaratne, B.S.K.Leader member exchange (LMX) theory (2016) provides a framework to understand the formation of vertical dyadic work place relationships between leaders and subordinates. The goal of LMX is to explain the effect of leadership on members, teams and organizations. Available literature acknowledges that multiple work-related consequences including psychological contract fulfillment which is understood as a relational and dynamic phenomenon that emerges and develops in every employment relationship would depend on the way employees are being treated by their leader. Meta analysis of the theory has outlined three categories of antecedents as leader characteristics, member characteristics and the nature of their inter-relationship and another category of situational variables as the determinants of leader-member exchange. For the proposed study, psychological variables of general self efficacy, culture orientation of the employees, transformative leadership style and the state of the leader-member relationship will be measured as LMX antecedents. It is hypothesized that these antecedents will positively impact the employees‘ psychological contract fulfillment. Afore mentioned hypothesis will be tested in relation to a population of three hundred executive and staff level employees at an apparel manufacturing company in Ragama, Sri Lanka using explorative research design and survey method. Data collection instruments will be tested for their psychometric properties using Cronbach‘s alpha test, correlation coefficient test and confirmatory factor analysis. MANOVA will be conducted for hypotheses testing. Research findings are stipulated to contribute to strategic decision making in workforce planning of the company in concern and literature on employees‘ psychological contract fulfillment in the Sri Lankan context. Simultaneously the research process is intended to create a platform for interdisciplinary approaches to collaborate and to help organizations make data driven business and workforce decisions in achieving sustainable development.Item Visual Arts for Sustainable Development: An Analysis on the Potentiality of Visual Arts in Contributing towards the Sustainable Development(In: Proceedings of the International Postgraduate Research Conference 2017 (IPRC – 2017), Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Bandara, N.M.S.R.; Perera, D.D.N.Visual Art is a medium used to impart the morals, values and new perspectives on the wellbeing of the society while the Sustainable Development focuses on the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It is obvious that the ‗Environment‘ becomes fundamental in visual artists in creation of their artistic works and thoughts. In order to blend the rational and emotional expressions of the human beings, visual arts act as the ideal medium to build the awareness of the sustainable development and inspire the people to act in a positive manner towards it. This research aimed to stress the potentiality of visual arts activities and programmes in contributing the sustainable development. It is recognized that sustainable development requires a balanced progress in four interdependent dimensions such as, Social, Economic, Environmental and Cultural. The engagement of the visual arts in those dimensions also is inevitably considerable. Therefore, the Visual Arts activities and programmes have the sole opportunity to lead the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the sustainable development policies and measures. This research provides suggestions and recommendations for effective Visual Arts activities and programmes in achieving the sustainable development. Throughout this research, the researcher discusses mainly about the field of Visual arts, ways of promoting sustainable development through visual arts activities and programmes, creation of art advocacy in building value and relevancy of visual arts in sustainable development and to create Visual artists and influencers in the world of art who are determined to reinstate the role of visual art in a context where their contributions will be a visible reflect for the sustainable development.