Community Development Evaluation Storymap and Legend

Community based organizations, funders, and intermediary organizations working in the community development field have a shared interest in building stronger organizations and stronger communities. Through evaluation these organizations can learn how their programs and activities contribute to the achievement of these goals, and how to improve their effectiveness and the well-being of their communities. Yet, evaluation is rarely seen as part of a non-judgemental organizational learning process. Instead, the term "evaluation" has often generated anxiety and confusion. The Community Development Storymap project is a response to those concerns.Illustrations found in this document were produced by Grove Consultants

The Pace of Decarbonization: Can the Power System Transition Meet Climate Policy Goals?

To reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the United States will need to simultaneously expand and decarbonize its electricity supply. Aggressive clean energy policies are necessary for the pace of the transition to meet this goal. Policymakers rely on computer modeling to inform decarbonization policies, even though the models were not developed for this purpose. This paper investigates the role of electricity modeling in climate policy design through a case study of Massachusetts. The analysis compares modeling results with recent energy projects in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of power sector modeling as a tool to inform policy making. The results show that modeling is useful for identifying technically feasible options and for comparing them based on quantifiable indicators. Models are incapable of identifying socially optimal solutions and estimating achievable pace of decarbonization, because they omit social factors that affect decarbonization goals

An Assessment of PIER Electric Grid Research 2003-2014 White Paper

This white paper describes the circumstances in California around the turn of the 21st century that led the California Energy Commission (CEC) to direct additional Public Interest Energy Research funds to address critical electric grid issues, especially those arising from integrating high penetrations of variable renewable generation with the electric grid. It contains an assessment of the beneficial science and technology advances of the resultant portfolio of electric grid research projects administered under the direction of the CEC by a competitively selected contractor, the University of California’s California Institute for Energy and the Environment, from 2003-2014

USE OF SIMULATION IN PLANNING

Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Climate change adaptation and vulnerability assessment of water resources systems in developing countries: a generalized framework and a feasibility study in Bangladesh

Water is the primary medium through which climate change influences the Earth’s ecosystems and therefore people’s livelihoods and wellbeing. Besides climatic change, current demographic trends, economic development and related land use changes have direct impact on increasing demand for freshwater resources. Taken together, the net effect of these supply and demand changes is affecting the vulnerability of water resources. The concept of ‘vulnerability’ is not straightforward as there is no universally accepted approach for assessing vulnerability. In this study, we review the evolution of approaches to vulnerability assessment related to water resources. From the current practices, we identify research gaps, and approaches to overcome these gaps a generalized assessment framework is developed. A feasibility study is then presented in the context of the Lower Brahmaputra River Basin (LBRB). The results of the feasibility study identify the current main constraints (e.g., lack of institutional coordination) and opportunities (e.g., adaptation) of LBRB. The results of this study can be helpful for innovative research and management initiatives and the described framework can be widely used as a guideline for the vulnerability assessment of water resources systems, particularly in developing countries

Analytical Study on Building a Comprehensive Big Data Management Maturity Framework

Harnessing big data in organizations today realizes benefits for competitive advantage. Generated profound insights are reflected in informed decision making, creating better business plans, and improved service delivery. Yet, organizations are still not recognizing how mature their big data management capabilities are. However, there is no structured approach to assess and build necessary capabilities for valuable big data utilizing, which draws a clear improvement pathway. Existing solutions lack a consistent perception of big data management capabilities, a reliable assessment, and a rigid improvement scheme. This paper contributes in building an analytical study on existing key works in assessing and building big data management capabilities. Drawing upon the results and gaps revealed from this analytical study, the main requirements for building a comprehensive big data management maturity framework are defined. This framework will enable organizations to assess and improve their current capabilities towards effective big data management.https://dorl.net/dor/ 20.1001.1.20088302.2022.20.1.13.

Improved Methods and Metrics for Assessing Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation

Over the course of the MEDIATION project, Work Package 2 was tasked with "develop[ing] and apply[ing] a toolbox, defined as a set of models, methods, and metrics for the assessment of impacts and vulnerability and adaptation options." As highlighted in Deliverable 2.2, many frameworks and methods for assessing adaptation have been developed over the last 20 years, yet these often have not been adopted in the context of formal adaptation policies in Europe and elsewhere. Reasons and problems include: (i) a fragmentation of methods and tools, (ii) a lack of linkages to actual policy needs, (iii) a lack of understanding and communication of uncertainties, (iv) the often expert-based nature and complexity of methods used versus actual user demands, and (v) a lack of consistent data, definitions and metrics. Deliverable 2.2 put forward a rough prototype for a toolbox of methods for studying impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation. In this deliverable, we discuss subsequent work on the MEDIATION toolbox, and report on application and testing of the improved methods and metrics in selected key European sectors and regions. We present feedback and improvement to methods and metrics based on input from case studies, stakeholders, and focus groups, as well as an overview of case study work and contribution to an improved MEDIATION toolbox. This input resulted in a number of conclusions relating to the development and use of methods and metrics, reducing uncertainty in CCIAV, and led to a number of changes, including the creation of a novel typology for classifying methods and models relating to CCIAV analysis. We provide an overview of the new typology, as well as the final toolbox, and summarize case study contributions towards improved methods and metrics

Invited and Selected Paper Abstracts; WAEA Annual Meetings, Denver, Colorado, July 11-15, 2003

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,