ESPON project 2.3.2. Governance of Territorial and Urban Policies from EU to Local Level. Third Interim Report

ESPON research repor

June 24, 2005, Ohio University Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

Meeting minutes document the activities of Ohio University\u27s Board of Trustees

Monitoring and evaluation as tools for enhancing public expenditure management in Ukraine

There are reasons to think that key elements of a performance-based budgeting methodology have already become a part of the mechanism for public expenditure management in Ukraine. At the same time, there still remains the issue of linking budget expenditures to the specific results achieved by specific budget programs. This defines the necessity of applying modern approaches to managing monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This study presents an analysis of the current state of M&E in Ukrainian public expenditure program management and offers some solutions which could improve its utilization.performance-based budgeting, monitoring, evaluation, budget program, major spending unit, state special-purpose program, Ukraine

Refining self-propelled particle models for collective behaviour

Swarming, schooling, flocking and herding are all names given to the wide variety of collective behaviours exhibited by groups of animals, bacteria and even individual cells. More generally, the term swarming describes the behaviour of an aggregate of agents (not necessarily biological) of similar size and shape which exhibit some emergent property such as directed migration or group cohesion. In this paper we review various individual-based models of collective behaviour and discuss their merits and drawbacks. We further analyse some one-dimensional models in the context of locust swarming. In specific models, in both one and two dimensions, we demonstrate how varying the parameters relating to how much attention individuals pay to their neighbours can dramatically change the behaviour of the group. We also introduce leader individuals to these models with the ability to guide the swarm to a greater or lesser degree as we vary the parameters of the model. We consider evolutionary scenarios for models with leaders in which individuals are allowed to evolve the degree of influence neighbouring individuals have on their subsequent motion

HR: A System for Machine Discovery in Finite Algebras

We describe the HR concept formation program which invents mathematical definitions and conjectures in finite algebras such as group theory and ring theory. We give the methods behind and the reasons for the concept formation in HR, an evaluation of its performance in its training domain, group theory, and a look at HR in domains other than group theory

Towards re-visioning the technical and vocational curriculum of a selected Zimbabwean juvenile correctional training centre: a program evaluation.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.This study was designed to evaluate the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curriculum offered at a selected juvenile offender correctional training centre in Zimbabwe by exploring the quality of the TVET curriculum, in terms of its effectiveness, relevance, value and its ability to produce employable youths or youths endowed with self-help skills. Specifically, the study aimed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the TVET curriculum offered at the selected juvenile correctional training centre through a SWOT analysis of the technical courses being offered at the centre to proffer solutions to any possible challenges impeding programme implementation. An overview of the methodological approaches and qualitative case study research design selected for the evaluation of the curriculum were provided in which perceptions of stakeholders were also investigated. The study was undertaken at a mixed group state-assisted juvenile correctional training centre in Zimbabwe and was based on Stake‟s Countenance model. Research participants were selected using purposive sampling. The theoretical framework of this study is entrenched in the principles of curriculum evaluation and was developed by adapting the critical approaches to curriculum review framework theories proposed by Vygotsky (1978) and Freire (1972). The theoretical frameworks were used to answer research questions and design the data collection instruments. Relevant curriculum documents were analysed, questionnaires, semi-structured interview schedules and an observation schedule aided in collecting data during tuition activities. The most significant finding of this study is that the TVET curriculum of the selected correctional training centre was failing to empower juvenile offenders with employable and self-help skills. This is because of several impediments that were discovered to beset the TVET curriculum implementation processes emanating from institutional, infrastructural, curricula, pedagogical, policy issues and other associated barriers. Based on these findings the study recommends that the TVET curriculum for the selected juvenile offender correctional training centre be revised and rebranded to respond to current socio-economic demands, adopt a problem-solving approach with the ability to apply scientific, and technological concepts, and be aligned to employment opportunities and self-help projects. This recommendation is in line with the changing needs of the industry which increasingly demands creativity and innovation rather than just mastery of specific craft skills that would soon be outmoded due to technological advancements, spurred by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution that has engulfed all sectors globally. Additional policy and practice recommendations are also proposed as possible corrective measures

Cooperative game theory and its application to natural, environmental, and water resource issues : 3. application to water resources

This paper reviews various applications of cooperative game theory (CGT) to issues of water resources. With an increase in the competition over various water resources, the incidents of disputes have been in the center of allocation agreements. The paper reviews the cases of various water uses, such as multi-objective water projects, irrigation, groundwater, hydropower, urban water supply, wastewater, and transboundary water disputes. In addition to providing examples of cooperative solutions to allocation problems, the conclusion from this review suggests that cooperation over scarce water resources is possible under a variety of physical conditions and institutional arrangements. In particular, the various approaches for cost sharing and for allocation of physical water infrastructure and flow can serve as a basis for stable and efficient agreement, such that long-term investments in water projects are profitable and sustainable. The latter point is especially important, given recent developments in water policy in various countries and regional institutions such as the European Union (Water Framework Directive), calling for full cost recovery of investments and operation and maintenance in water projects. The CGT approaches discussed and demonstrated in this paper can provide a solid basis for finding possible and stable cost-sharing arrangements.Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Water Supply and Systems,Water and Industry

The Philosophical Foundations of PLEN: A Protocol-theoretic Logic of Epistemic Norms

In this dissertation, I defend the protocol-theoretic account of epistemic norms. The protocol-theoretic account amounts to three theses: (i) There are norms of epistemic rationality that are procedural; epistemic rationality is at least partially defined by rules that restrict the possible ways in which epistemic actions and processes can be sequenced, combined, or chosen among under varying conditions. (ii) Epistemic rationality is ineliminably defined by procedural norms; procedural restrictions provide an irreducible unifying structure for even apparently non-procedural prescriptions and normative expressions, and they are practically indispensable in our cognitive lives. (iii) These procedural epistemic norms are best analyzed in terms of the protocol (or program) constructions of dynamic logic. I defend (i) and (ii) at length and in multi-faceted ways, and I argue that they entail a set of criteria of adequacy for models of epistemic dynamics and abstract accounts of epistemic norms. I then define PLEN, the protocol-theoretic logic of epistemic norms. PLEN is a dynamic logic that analyzes epistemic rationality norms with protocol constructions interpreted over multi-graph based models of epistemic dynamics. The kernel of the overall argument of the dissertation is showing that PLEN uniquely satisfies the criteria defended; none of the familiar, rival frameworks for modeling epistemic dynamics or normative concepts are capable of satisfying these criteria to the same degree as PLEN. The overarching argument of the dissertation is thus a theory-preference argument for PLEN