Political Economy of International Climate Finance: Navigating Decisions in PPCR and SREP

This working paper explores how countries can build their own 'climate finance readiness' by understanding their internal political economy and use that understanding to steer consensus-based decisions on climate finance investments. For climate finance to be effective, national leaders must build shared commitments. This involves considering the arguments, incentives and power dynamics at play to ensure priorities are more equitable and representative of a broader group of stakeholders. Doing so will also help to reduce the risk of implementation delays. This paper uses case studies from Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Nepal to explore how narratives and incentives within the political economy drive climate investment outcomes under the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) and the Scaling up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP). It draws from broader analysis of the discourses around these investments, including 80 interviews with government; multilateral development banks (MDBs) and other stakeholders

Learning from the World: Good Practices in Navigating Cultural Diversity. Bertelsmann Stiftung Study 2018

The Reinhard Mohn Prize 2018 “Living Diversity – Shaping Society” focuses on diversity in German society, that is the plurality of cultural, religious and linguistic identities found among the people who live in the country. With this focus, the RMP 2018 highlights a variety of successful strategies for living peacefully in diversity. In historical terms, cultural diversity is nothing new or unique for Germany. In fact, though we are often unaware of it, cultural diversity has been a feature of our daily life for a long time. Indeed, religious differences have shaped German society since the Reformation. And Judaism has always been present in the area we now call Germany

The importance of ‘goodness of fit’ between organizational culture and climate in the management of change: a case study in the development of online learning

This paper explores the nexus between organizational culture and organizational climate in the management of change by presenting a case study wherein an Australian regional university is currently undertaking the development of online courses. Important consideration is given to the complementary roles of culture and climate in managing organizational change. The single most important determinant of success is strong, committed senior management whose task is to articulate the organization's new vision and the manner in which it reshapes the organization's culture. At another level the climate of the organization as reflected in the systems that facilitate people's work (including policies, procedures, rewards and communication) must mesh with the new culture if organizational change is to proceed smoothly. This paper discusses the interactive nature of these two powerful organizational variables. The case study draws on the experiences of a school of academics acting as developers and deliverers of online initiatives and a number of concerns are raised that threaten the goodness of fit between the culture and climate of the organization. Policy issues requisite to the successful delivery of online courses are identified and discussed. The most contentious issue revolves around the question of ownership. Many academics, accustomed to exercising autonomy with respect to determining appropriate learning strategies, openly resisted the role the Information Technology department of the university assumed in making decisions that are often seen as having pedagogical overtones. To the extent that transactional issues such as these detract from the climate of the organization, they prevent academics from performing to their full potential. It is concluded that the climate of the organization, if properly managed, contributes to an enduring organizational culture which in turn is better able to deal with the inevitability of change and face the challenges that initiatives such as online education bring

Navigating the Stars: Norway, the European Economic Area and the European Union. CEPS Paperback. February 2002

This study expertly assesses the evolving relationship between Norway and the European Union, the centrepiece of which is the European Economic Area (EEA). Faced with an increasingly outdated network of relationships with the EU, Norway finds itself marginalised from policy-making and subject instead to policy-taking. This report evaluates Norway’s position in relation to the ‘future of Europe’ debate as well as a range of hypothetical options that Norway may contemplate, focusing on several key policy areas including the single market, the macroeconomic agenda, justice and home affairs, and foreign security and defence policies

A list of websites and reading materials on strategy & complexity

The list has been developed based on a broad interpretation of the subject of ‘strategy & complexity’. Resources will therefore more, or less directly relate to ‘being strategic in the face of complexity’. Many of the articles and reports referred to in the attached bibliography can be accessed and downloaded from the internet. Most books can be found at amazon.com where you will often find a number of book reviews and summaries as well. Sometimes, reading the reviews will suffice and will give you the essence of the contents of the book after which you do not need to buy it. If the book looks interesting enough, buying options are easy

Collaboration in the Semantic Grid: a Basis for e-Learning

The CoAKTinG project aims to advance the state of the art in collaborative mediated spaces for the Semantic Grid. This paper presents an overview of the hypertext and knowledge based tools which have been deployed to augment existing collaborative environments, and the ontology which is used to exchange structure, promote enhanced process tracking, and aid navigation of resources before, after, and while a collaboration occurs. While the primary focus of the project has been supporting e-Science, this paper also explores the similarities and application of CoAKTinG technologies as part of a human-centred design approach to e-Learning

The rhetoric of “science diplomacy": Innovation for the EU's scientific cooperation? EL-CSID Working Paper Issue 2018/16 • April 2018

In the recent years, the EU policy discourse has endorsed the notion of “science diplomacy” that points to the interaction between scientific research and foreign policy as instrumental in the societal and political progress. Commissioner for science, research and innovation Carlos Moedas is particularly keen on seeing “the EU play an increasingly active and visible role in international science diplomacy” (Moedas, 2016). In doing so, the EU is part of, and perhaps leading among, those global actors that have jumped on the “science diplomacy” bandwagon, where the activities concerned with scientific cooperation (such as part of the work by UNESCO or The World Academy of Sciences – TWAS) are framed as “science diplomacy”