A Transactive Energy Approach to Distribution System Design: Household Formulation

A household model is formulated to facilitate careful development and performance testing of bid-based transactive energy system (TES) designs with voluntary customer participation. The optimal general bid-function form for households with thermostatically controlled loads is derived from dynamic programming principles, based solely on general household thermal dynamic and welfare attributes. Quantitative forms are determined for these optimal bid functions, given quantitative forms for these attributes. These quantitative attributes are used to construct representative household types based on clusterings of correlated parameter values. Bid comparison, peak-load reduction, and load-matching test cases conducted for a 123-bus distribution system operating under a generic bid-based TES design illustrate the usefulness of our methods for ensuring TES designs are aligned with local customer goals and constraints

THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ACTIVITIES FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN LIBONG ISLAND, TRANG PROVINCE, THAILAND

The purpose of this research, firstly, aimed to develop integrated environmental education activities for solid waste management in Libong Island, Thailand. The activities were built on an integrative research approach which consisted of four elements: inquiry process, participatory process, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Appreciation-Influence-Control (AIC). Secondly, the research aimed to compare achievement of knowledge, attitude, awareness, skill and participation in solid waste management between an experimental group (32 participants) and the control group (32 participants). Participants were selected using voluntary non-random and purposive methods from village representatives, students, teachers, religious leaders, government and local community authorities. The research used the Pretest - Posttest Control Group Design. The research tools were an instructional plan of activities and achievement tests. Data were described in percentages, with normally distributed data described by mean and standard deviation. A t-test was also used to test the research hypothesis. The research results found that the integrated environmental education activities consisted of four learning units and 13 activities. In addition, participants in the experimental group performed significantly better in achievement tests on knowledge, attitude, awareness, skill and participation at 0.05 level. This indicated that the activities succeeded in imparting knowledge, increasing skill and participation as well as creating a positive attitude and raising awareness in solid waste management. The finding can be applied to developing best practices in solid waste management for other municipalities under similar circumstances

A review of bovine Johne's disease control activities in 6 endemically infected countries

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is endemic in the bovine populations of many countries and can cause a significant reduction in animal welfare and production efficiency making control desirable. Effective control has proved very difficult to achieve despite multiple regionally coordinated programmes being in existence since the 1920s. The international community increasingly recognises the value in learning from the collective experiences of existing programmes to improve the effectiveness of control. The aim of this review is to outline key aspects of bovine Johne's disease control activities across 6 endemically infected countries to facilitate comparison of current international practice. The background, control activities and monitoring components of programmes in Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States of America were individually reviewed. Factual accuracy of each review was checked by individuals involved in the respective programmes before the reviews were condensed and combined into a single document presented here, with the complete reviews of each programme available as supplementary material. There was considerable heterogeneity in key aspects of control activity design including goals, responses to declining participation, herd classification, recommended control measures and associated test requirements. The data presented will be of interest to organisations that are involved in developing new or existing regionally coordinated BJD control activities

Robust, Recognizable and Legitimate: Strengthening India's Appliance Efficiency Standards and Labels Through Greater Civil Society Involvement

Residential use accounts for 14 percent of global energy consumption. Appliance standards alone could achieve 17 percent energy reductions in the residential sector. Although appliance efficiency standards and labeling programs (AES&L) aim to influence consumer behavior, consumers and civil society often play a limited role in the design, implementation, and monitoring of these programs. This report considers the contribution that civil society organizations can make at each stage of an appliance efficiency standards and labeling program (AES&L), based on experiences in 10 developed and developing countries

Measuring the Impact of Youth Voluntary Service Programs

Summary and Conclusions of a meeting of international experts hosted by the World Bank and Innovations in Civic Participation to discuss evaluation of the impact of youth civic engagement on development

Attainable and Relevant Moral Exemplars Are More Effective than Extraordinary Exemplars in Promoting Voluntary Service Engagement

The present study aimed to develop effective moral educational interventions based on social psychology by using stories of moral exemplars. We tested whether motivation to engage in voluntary service as a form of moral behavior was better promoted by attainable and relevant exemplars or by unattainable and irrelevant exemplars. First, experiment 1, conducted in a lab, showed that stories of attainable exemplars more effectively promoted voluntary service activity engagement among undergraduate students compared with stories of unattainable exemplars and non-moral stories. Second, experiment 2, a middle school classroom-level experiment with a quasi-experimental design, demonstrated that peer exemplars, who are perceived to be attainable and relevant to students, better promoted service engagement compared with historic figures in moral education classes

Designing a Voluntary Beef Checkoff

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether the mandatory fees imposed by the beef checkoff violates the First Amendment. As a precaution, many states began forming voluntary beef checkoffs, where funds would be raised through voluntary contributions. This study conducted a survey of Oklahoma cattle producers to determine what type ofvoluntary checkoff design would receive the greatest support. The most popular checkoff placed a large emphasis on advertising and a slightly lower checkoff fee. The survey also tested the ability of a provision point mechanism to limit free-riding. The mechanism was not as effective as in other studies which used laboratory experiments.beef marketing, checkoff, free-rider, provision point mechanism, public good, Agricultural and Food Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Social Integration of Deserted Mothers

The social problems which deserted mothers who are in receipt of Family Benefits experience has been a major concern of personnel in the Ontario Department of Social and Family Services for several decades. Their primary concern of the past has been that of ensuring the mothers adequate financial resources with which to purchase the necessities of life. Changes in legislation have reflected this concern, and with the recent passage of the Family Benefits Act, 1967, deserted mothers are assured of adequate finances with which to purchase their basic needs. With the basic requirements of food, shelter and clothing being assured to deserted mothers we can turn to other fundamental needs which have, in the past, often been obscured by the mother herself in her concern for material needs. The practitioner also, often by necessity, has concentrated on obvious needs. Rosow comments: “Hence, by concentrating on concrete material problems, practitioners can avoid thinking about subtler social needs that are less apparent and harder to manage, but equally compelling.” Deserted mothers’ problems are quite diverse and in contrast to some of the more obvious problems are the social problems they face. These problems primarily concern their social participation in their community, and the consequences of their present circumstances which are loneliness, isolation and alienation. The primary concern of this research design is that of social integration of deserted mothers

Towards a participatory evaluation methodology: the Southern African pilot learning process

This is draft of a paper by Boston University professor Ann Seidma