Impacts of national security and sustainable development, The: comparative study of shared protected areas

2012 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.National security and sustainable development paradigms shape national goals, priorities and policy in shared protected areas. The two paradigms define the physical, economic, social, and political infrastructure of shared protected areas through competing frameworks of national interests and environmental protections. This comparative study builds on international thinking about the relationship between sustainable development to answer the hypothesis that national security impacts most the environmental pillar of sustainable development. The research methodology is a triangulation of comparative document analysis with qualitative and quantitative interviews for a rich description of the two paradigms in two shared protected areas. Sustainable development is assessed in the four park conservation management plans using the Lockwood and Kothari traditional versus emergent sustainable development indicators as independent variables and the organizing framework. The impacts of national security doctrine, policy and projects are systematically assessed on sustainable development in the parks. This research formalizes one step toward the study of national security and sustainable development and the challenges of developing environmental protections in a national security environment

Exploring Agenda-Setting for Healthy Border 2010: Research Directions and Methods

Policy makers take action largely on issues that attain the pinnacle of the policy agenda (Pertschuck, 2001). As a result, how decision makers choose which issues are important has been the subject of much research. Agenda-setting conceptualizes the process of how issues move from relative unimportance to the forefront of policymakers’ thoughts (Dearing & Rogers, 1996). An area within agenda-setting research, Health Promotion Agenda-Setting, provides Health Promotion practitioners with an innovative framework and strategy to set agendas for sustained courses of action (Kozel, Kane, Rogers, & Hammes, 1995). In this interdisciplinary and bi-national exploratory study, funded by the Center for Border Health Research of the Paso del Norte Health Foundation, we examine agenda-setting processes in the Paso del Norte Region and evaluates how the public health agenda is determined within the U.S.-Mexico border population. Integrating both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, the current research is focused on identifying deficiencies in the public health infrastructure in the U.S.-Mexico border area, and identifying channels that exist for working toward the bi-national goals presented in Healthy Border 2010 (U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission, 2003). Research directions, design, and methodologies for exploring health promotion agenda-setting in applied settings, such as Healthy Border 2010, provide health practitioners and policy makers the potential to improve public health leadership by influencing the public health and policy agendas

A Precarious Paradigm: Seeking Alternatives to Public-Private Partnerships in Health, a Case for the Code

Background: Breastfeeding is an unparalleled source of nutrition for infants and young children and is recommended as the best practice universally by the World Health Organization (WHO). The benefits in human health and development that result from exclusive and sustained breastfeeding have enormous economic development potential. Because of the non-legally binding nature of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (the Code), and shifting socio-cultural norms, breastfeeding rates are at an alarming low. In order to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, breastfeeding practices must be protected, promoted, and supported worldwide. Objective: This research paper explores implementing strong measures of accountability to the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes as an alternative framework to the public private partnership model in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using the example of infant feeding as a case study in the detrimental effects of industry involvement in policy decisions. Method: An interactive research approach was used. Research was done through a literature and policy review, followed by the collection of primary data through interviews with experts in the field. Results/findings: This paper finds that the intimate involvement of corporations with the private sector is detrimental from the point of view of public health, and that Goal 17 in the SDGs has the potential to undermine the entire Sustainable Development Agenda for 2030. Conclusions: In progressing toward the Sustainable Development Goals, it is essential that alternative models to public-private partnerships be considered. Opting for more cost effective interventions, such as the implementation of the Code as national laws and the creation of a universal accountability mechanism have the potential to advance the Sustainable Development Agenda without compromising public interests. Further research must be done so as to establish a financing framework on a country-by-country basis

Ambition meets reality:Achieving GHG emission reduction targets in the livestock sector of Latin America

Livestock production is a very relevant source of income and agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Mexico, and Peru. Several management and technological options with enteric methane mitigation potential have been evaluated and their scaling is anticipated to contribute toward achieving GHG emission reduction targets in the framework of the Paris Agreement. Yet, widespread adoption of promising mitigation options remains limited, raising questions as to whether envisaged emission reduction targets are achievable. Using findings from local studies, we explore the mitigation potentials of technologies and management practices currently proposed to mitigate enteric methane emissions from cattle production systems in the higher emitting countries of Latin America. We then discuss barriers for adopting innovations that significantly reduce cattle-based enteric methane emissions and the major shifts in policy and practice that are needed to raise national ambitions in the high emitting countries. Using the latest science and current thinking, we provide our perspective on an inclusive approach and re-imagine how the academic, research, business and public policy sectors can support and incentivize the changes needed to raise the level of ambition and achieve sustainable development goals (SDG), considering actions from the farm to the national scale

Capabilities, networks, and directionality: innovation policy for sustainable development goals

Innovation is at the heart of policy discussions on how to achieve transformative change for sustainable development. Over the past decades, the systems of innovation approach has gained widespread use and is arguably the most influential framework guiding innovation scholars and policymakers today. Notwithstanding its explanatory power, the systems of innovation approach is mainly directed at optimising innovation systems to fulfil national economic policy objectives, such as growth, jobs, and competitiveness. The frame of reference has changed following the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and with it, the requirements for conceptual approaches that underpin innovation policy. It is increasingly understood that addressing societal challenges, such as poverty, inequality, and climate change, requires more than optimising innovation systems to fulfil economic policy objectives but also inducing directionality and processes of transformative change toward a broader range of societal and environmental objectives. This ‘normative’ turn towards transformative innovation policy is grounded in an understanding of system innovation of socio-technical systems towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption. The objective of this research is to conceptually refine the systems of innovation approach, and in particular revise the national innovation systems concept, thereby taking steps towards the development of a more integrative innovation policy framework that incorporates directionality and a strategic orientation of innovation systems to address contemporary societal challenges of the type of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Focussing mainly on the needs and challenges of developing countries to accumulate the capabilities needed to manage innovation and technological change, three separate case studies are used to validate central features of transformative innovation policy: capabilities, networks, and directionality. The first empirical chapter develops an understanding of how a Brazilian latecomer firm accumulated the capabilities needed to pursue innovation in new and different directions along more sustainable development pathways. The second empirical chapter furthers the understanding of how the formation of global innovation networks enhances interactive learning in national innovation systems, and in what way international technology cooperation complements creation and accumulation of innovation capabilities. A mapping of the growing number and variety of international cooperative initiatives in the context of climate change helps to illustrate the different forms of global innovation networks. The third empirical chapter integrates insights from the system innovation perspective and opens up the systems of innovation approach to incorporate directionality and a strategic orientation of innovation systems towards a broader range of societal and environmental objectives. The compatibility of the innovation policy framework is assessed with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals.Open Acces

Sustainability And Canada\u27s National Parks: Suitability For Policy, Planning And Management

As a term, sustainability has often come to be adopted as the \u27panacea\u27 for many problems without any clear understanding that the solutions will vary given the nature of the problem, the scale involved and the goals and objectives set out. As a result, what has emerged in the literature has been many different \u27pictures\u27 of sustainability, all of which may be relevant in certain contexts. This research examined the potential of the concept within the context of Canadian national parks. Emphasis was directed toward understanding, through the perceptions of \u27expert\u27 groups knowledgeable about parks, the key elements needed to promote parks as sustainable landscapes.;The methodology used consisted of the implementation of self-administered questionnaires to policy makers and park superintendents, the development and testing of a model of sustainability applicable to parks, and the use of a modified-delphi process to establish areas of consensus between the responses of park superintendents and academics. Key aspects of sustainability for policy makers and superintendents included a suitable definition with goals that emphasized ecological aspects, landscape/resource characteristics which stressed resilience, stability and sensitivity in parks, a management focus on protection and preservation, and an involvement process including managers who were accountable and the general public. Perceptions on a myriad of themes, ranging from nature preservation to development issues showed there was much consensus between policy makers and superintendents. The results of the model suggested that the majority of themes examined fell within the same approximate level of sustainability. As a result, considerable variation was found to exist between the model in theory as compared to its form after testing. A sustainability framework was produced from consensus statements between \u27expert\u27 groups, and included attributes of sustainability identified for the national park system as a whole, against which individual park superintendents could make comparisons with the specific nature of characteristics in each park.;Overall, the results of the thesis represent a starting point to address sustainability within the context of parks, and offer some understanding of what sustainability in national parks involves, which is a modified version of ecological sustainability accepting a certain amount of use in the form of recreation and tourism

Smart School Budgeting: Resources for Districts

In an era of aggressive public education reform, school districts face increasing pressure to produce higher levels of student performance with increasingly limited resources. The economic downturn has forced many districts to tighten their belts, and careful thought must be given to how each and every dollar is spent. Optimally, district leaders should work with stakeholders in their communities to set goals, analyze current spending, provide transparency in their budgeting, and consider cost-saving and reallocation strategies. The Rennie Center has created a toolkit, Smart School Budgeting: Resources for Districts, aiming to assist district leaders in decision-making about school budgeting. Smart School Budgeting is intended to push school leaders to take a more deliberative approach to school budgeting. The resources presented in the toolkit act as a starting point for districts examining their own budgeting processes. The document is designed as a user-friendly summary of existing literature and tools on school finance, budgeting, and resource allocation that directs district leaders and school business officials to practical and useful information to shape resource decisions. Each section includes an overview of a critical topic in school budgeting, summaries of useful documents and resources, relevant case studies (if available), and a resource list with hyperlinked documents for easy access. The toolkit is organized around the following topics: introduction and context for school budget analysis; setting goals; types of budgets; strategies for analyzing spending; tools for budget analysis; and cost-saving strategies.This toolkit was released at a public event on October 3, 2012

Market correctives, market palliatives and the new politics of European industrial and regional development

This paper argues that the New Economy paradigm and the interests of the more advanced EU Member states dominate current thinking on EU industrial and regional policy. European integration is driving a political economy of regionalism that—far more than traditional divisions between labour and capital—decisively defines the contours of “economic interests” in the New Europe and has the most significant impact on EU, national and subnational policy approaches. The New Economy paradigm is driving a radical shift in EU policy from cohesion or redistribution toward innova-tion promotion and affects distributional struggles at the EU, national and subnational levels. This shift has important implications for future EU in-dustrial and regional development policy goals. On the one hand, shifting strategies pose significant challenges at the national and subnational levels. While political decentralization dominates current discourse, national gov-ernments—in particular perhaps in the New Member states (NMS’s)—are more likely to favour centralized control over national and regional spend-ing priorities. On the other hand, seemingly at the expense of the NMS’s, the increasing concentration of EU funding on a large number of less ad-vanced economies is eroding the policy’s traditional support basis

A National Veterans Strategy: The Economic, Social and Security Imperative

This publication details the foundational logic supporting a call to action, related to a broad-based effort to articulate and institutionalize a National Veterans Strategy. We argue that coordinated, "whole-of-government" action toward this end is essential to meet the nation's most important economic, social, and security obligations. Furthermore, we contend that the second Obama administration, working in close collaboration with executive agencies, Congress, and the private sector, is well-positioned to act on what we perceive to be a historic opportunity -- capitalizing on both the foundations of veteran-focused policy and progress enacted over the past decade and the overwhelming public support for returning veterans and military families -- to craft and institutionalize a National Veterans Strategy.Our purpose is to provide a researched and logically-developed case for action that is grounded in this nation's social and cultural traditions and attuned to the practical realities of our contemporary economic and political climate