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Sustainability assessment (SA) is a complex appraisal method. It is conducted for supporting decision-making and policy in a broad environmental, economic and social context, and transcends a purely technical/scientific evaluation...
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Sustainability assessment (SA) is a complex appraisal method. It is conducted for supporting decision-making and policy in a broad environmental, economic and social context, and transcends a purely technical/scientific evaluation. This paper focusses on the systematisation of knowledge on technical/scientific sustainability evaluation, by addressing critical decision-making elements focussed on by domain experts. We make a distinction between integrated assessment and SA. Our systemic approach outlines how to move from integrated assessment to SA. The fundamental differences involved concern three levels: ontological, methodological and epistemological. We present a novel methodological framework for SA, based on a literature meta-review of multi-scale and multipurpose appraisal methodologies, models and indicators. SA is essentially a structured procedure encompassing different field-specific analytical methods and models, for specific applications and decision contexts. External inputs to the methodology are "values" considered in the analysis and boundaries defined, including the relevant sustainability framework. Internal methodological elements comprise approach to be adopted (e.g. "what-if' vs. "what-to"), scenario design and analytical models and measurable indicators for an operational analysis. Methods to quantify uncertainty are key ingredients of the assessment framework. The paper highlights the relevance of and policy challenges for SA development, with due attention for applicability in real-world decision contexts. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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The article introduces a design process for policy packaging, combining a heuristic approach with a real world example of European policymaking. The policy packaging process is divided into six stages, starting with (1) the defini...
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The article introduces a design process for policy packaging, combining a heuristic approach with a real world example of European policymaking. The policy packaging process is divided into six stages, starting with (1) the definition of goals and objectives, (2) the creation of an inventory of measures, (3) the formulation and assessment of the initial package, (4) the modification of the initial package through adding, adjusting or removing measures, (5) package implementation, and finally (6) the monitoring and evaluation of the package. The process stands as a generic, comprehensive framework developed as a means of guiding policy formulation and increasing the likelihood of efficient, effective and acceptable policy interventions. The approach is compared to practice, examining whether it can support policy formulation in relation to the EU 2011 White Paper on transport. It shows that several principles of the design process are already reflected by the White Paper, with some important differences also observed. While objectives, targets, and an inventory of measures are part of the White Paper, policies recommended for implementation are treated separately as discrete interventions. The White Paper hence lacks examples or recommendations as to how various measures might be combined in order to achieve the policy objectives. Based on a policy example from the White Paper, it is attempted to apply the heuristic framework and offer recommendations on how to best construct a policy package.
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Policy assessment has spread rapidly around the world in the last few decades providing an opportunity for further innovation and understanding in the way in which assessment is conceived, practised and researched. The extension o...
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Policy assessment has spread rapidly around the world in the last few decades providing an opportunity for further innovation and understanding in the way in which assessment is conceived, practised and researched. The extension of assessment from project and programme level to policy level was in part intended to improve its effectiveness by moving the focus of study upstream in the policy-making process. This paper reflects on the state of the art in policy assessment. It illustrates how the diffusion of policy assessment has led not to one standard 'correct' way of conducting policy assessment but to a great deal of diversity in how policy assessment is practised as well as researched and even theorized. Although the 'textbook' concept and everyday practices of policy assessment are based on a traditional rational linear concept of policy making, policy assessment has become the latest arena for post-positivist conceptions of policy-making and assessment to resurface. This paper suggests that the future agenda for both research and practices could - indeed should - attempt to straddle these two theoretical approaches.
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This article explores the potential of a target analysis method in acting as a link between policy objectives, targets, measures and their implementation in order to intensify the policy process. The context is the information-abu...
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This article explores the potential of a target analysis method in acting as a link between policy objectives, targets, measures and their implementation in order to intensify the policy process. The context is the information-abundant policy environment where feasibility conditions keep constantly changing. The policy process frameworks for bounded rationality and experiential incrementalism are used as a basis for exploration and complemented with our target analysis, which is tested with a case of Finnish transport policy targets. We argue that by studying synergies and conflicts as well as other dependencies between the targets presented in policy statements and also by examining the possible support or opposition of main stakeholder groups for the policy measures to meet the targets, we can appraise the potential success of the transport policy implementation. Our case study, the Finnish transport policy, presented targets with quite a clear direction, with a lot of weak synergies and only a few serious conflicts. The implementation of the policy measures, presented to meet these targets will, however, be demanding because of several reasons related to the challenges to governance that are emerging from the complex and continually changing linkages between and among transport (policy) problems, targets and their consequences. The method we presented and tested proved to be useful in bringing transport policy targets closer to policy implementation by considering policy measures to meet the targets and their acceptance as a part of the target or objective analysis process. The findings suggest that linking these often detached parts of the policy process together the co-ordination will be improved and the process hence intensified. The target analysis presented could act as an originator for a more open, interactive and particularly systematic process in transport policy formulation, leading through social learning into a more successful implementation of policies.
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The assessment of health risks of policies is an inevitable, although challenging prerequisite for the inclusion of health considerations in political decision making. The aim of our project was to develop a so far missing methodo...
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The assessment of health risks of policies is an inevitable, although challenging prerequisite for the inclusion of health considerations in political decision making. The aim of our project was to develop a so far missing methodological guide for the assessment of the complex impact structure of policies. The guide was developed in a consensual way based on experiences gathered during the assessment of specific national policies selected by the partners of an EU project. Methodological considerations were discussed and summarized in workshops and pilot tested on the EU Health Strategy for finalization. The combined tool, which includes a textual guidance and a checklist, follows the top-down approach, that is, it guides the analysis of causal chains from the policy through related health determinants and risk factors to health outcomes. The tool discusses the most important practical issues of assessment by impact level. It emphasises the transparent identification and prioritisation of factors, the consideration of the feasibility of exposure and outcome assessment with special focus on quantification. The developed guide provides useful methodological instructions for the comprehensive assessment of health risks of policies that can be effectively used in the health impact assessment of policy proposals.
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Environmental protection seems to be a very important social problem, associated with allocations of substantive amounts of social resources. Designs and implementation models of environmental policies have significant impacts on ...
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Environmental protection seems to be a very important social problem, associated with allocations of substantive amounts of social resources. Designs and implementation models of environmental policies have significant impacts on the effectiveness of such allocations. The authors have developed a novel methodology for ex-post environmental policy implementation assessment. The methodology has been approved as the one suggested for environmental policy assessment by the Czech Ministry of the Environment. It covers all three pillars of sustainable development and applies multicriteria analysis as its main methodological tool. The paper also presents two applications of the methodology - in Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and Solid Waste Management in the Czech Republic.
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Results of this paper indicate that the effectiveness of monetary policy may reflect changes in policy emphasis on inflation and output growth. The evolution of the unmanaged to managed short-term interest rate as a monetary polic...
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Results of this paper indicate that the effectiveness of monetary policy may reflect changes in policy emphasis on inflation and output growth. The evolution of the unmanaged to managed short-term interest rate as a monetary policy tool demonstrates a continuing correcting process of a biased sensitivity towards output growth in the gold standard era to a more balanced emphasis on price stability and output growth in the modern-Fed period. Evidence of this study suggests that the monetary policy with a more balanced emphasis on inflation and output can enhance the policy effectiveness measured by a simple assessment ratio which links GDP gap and standard deviation of inflation together so that the ratio can directly quantify the Fed's two top policy goals, promoting sustainable output growth and lowering price volatility.
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This article analyses the interactions between agricultural policy measures in the EU and the factors affecting GHG emissions from agriculture on the one hand, and the adaptation of agriculture to climate change on the other. To t...
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This article analyses the interactions between agricultural policy measures in the EU and the factors affecting GHG emissions from agriculture on the one hand, and the adaptation of agriculture to climate change on the other. To this end, the article uses Slovenia as a case study, assessing the extent to which Slovenian agricultural policy is responding to the challenges of climate change. All agricultural policy measures related to the 2007-2013 programming period were analysed according to a new methodological approach that is based on a qualitative (expert evaluation) and a quantitative (budgetary transfers validation) assessment. A panel of experts reached consensus on the key factors through which individual measures affect climate change, in which direction and how significantly. Data on budgetary funds for each measure were used as weights to assess their relative importance. The results show that there are not many measures in (Slovenian) agricultural policy that are directly aimed at reducing GHG emissions from agriculture or at adaptation to climate change. Nevertheless, most affect climate change, and their impact is far from negligible. Current measures have both positive and negative impacts, but overall the positive impacts prevail. Measures that involve many beneficiaries and more budgetary funds had the strongest impact on aggregate assessments. In light of climate change, agricultural policy should pay more attention to measures that are aimed at raising the efficiency of animal production, as it is the principal source of GHG emissions from agriculture.Policy relevanceAgricultural policy must respond to climate challenges and climate change impact assessment must be included in the process of forming European agricultural policy. Agricultural policy measures that contribute to the reduction of emissions and adaptation, whilst acting in synergy with other environmental, economic and social goals, should be promoted. The approach used in this study combines qualitative and quantitative data, yielding an objective assessment of the climate impact of agricultural policy measures and providing policy makers with a tool for either ex ante or ex post evaluations of climate-relevant policy measures.
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Increasing the level of integration is currently an important policy objective for European research. This brings to light issues regarding the meaning and nature of integration and integration in research; issues associated wit...
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Increasing the level of integration is currently an important policy objective for European research. This brings to light issues regarding the meaning and nature of integration and integration in research; issues associated with the mechanisms to enable and facilitate higher levels of integration in research as part of a policy process; and issues related to the assessment and evaluation of success or failure of policy instruments. The paper addresses these issues by introducing a nuanced conceptualisation developed with particular reference to the policy task for promoting integration and proposing a framework that captures essential features in integrative processes in research—both at the level of researchers and organisations. Furthermore, an empirical example of a Network of Excellence is used to illustrate how the proposed framework can be applied.
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Although fossil fuels are the main sources of power generation, they are losing their advantages because of their limitations and environmental and economic concerns. As an alternative, the development of renewable energy technolo...
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Although fossil fuels are the main sources of power generation, they are losing their advantages because of their limitations and environmental and economic concerns. As an alternative, the development of renewable energy technologies is one of the important strategies. Therefore, governments have been encouraging the deployment of renewable energy resources. However, there are gaps between achievements and targets. As most of the national renewable energy development policies are formulated in the entire country equally, the outputs and achievements are different depending on the geographical characteristics, social and economic capabilities of the regions. The purpose of the present study is the analysis and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the equal national renewable energy policy in the different regions of a country. This research focuses on the idea that whether the codification of energy policies according to the local circumstances of each region can result in a greater efficiency of such policies. An innovative framework is presented to categorize the government policies based on the geographical, technical and socio-economic indicators. To examine the presented framework, it is implemented as a case study.
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