123,469 research outputs found

    Quality and Effectiveness Framework for post-16 learning in Wales : delivering Skills that Work for Wales

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    Market-based Approaches to Environmental Management: A Review of Lessons from Payment for Environmental Services in Asia

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    Market-based approaches to environmental management, such as payment for environmental services (PES), have attracted unprecedented attention during the past decade. PES policies, in particular, have emerged to realign private and social benefits such as internalizing ecological externalities and diversifying sources of conservation funding as well as making conservation an attractive land-use paradigm. In this paper, we review several case studies from Asia on payment for environmental services to understand how landowners decide to participate in PES schemes. The analysis demonstrates the significance of four major elements facilitating the adoption and implementation of PES schemes: property rights and tenure security, transaction costs, household and community characteristics, communications, and the availability of PES-related information. PES schemes should target win-win options through intervention in these areas, aimed at maintaining the provision of ecological services and improving the conditions for local inhabitants

    Two cheers for the Pension Credit?

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    On 6 October 2003, the pension credit replaced the minimum income guarantee as the principal means-tested benefit for families containing an individual aged 60 or over. This Briefing Note examines the impact of this reform. A finding is that with regards to the government's objectives of giving more resources to low- to middle-income pensioners, rewarding pensioners for having saved in the past and encouraging people of working age to save for the future, the pension credit is likely to achieve the first two but not the third. This Briefing Note is set out as follows. Section 2 describes how the pension credit operates and why the problems that occurred with the Inland Revenue's administration of the new tax credits for families with children in April 2003 should not occur with the pension credit. The distributional impact of the reform is shown in Section 3. Section 4 discusses the inevitable problem of incomplete take-up of the new payment. Section 5 discusses the likely impact of the pension credit on saving and Section 6 discusses some of the longer-term issues that it raises. Section 7 concludes

    Making Evaluation Work in the Nonprofit Sector: A Call for Systemic Change

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    ThisĀ position paperĀ is a call for systemic changes that will create an ecosystem within which it is straightforward, efficient, and rewarding for nonprofits and funders to invest in evaluation work. It is also intended to further critical conversations to build a nonprofit sector that is more responsive, accountable, and focused on the best ways to support the communities in which they work

    Empowering Conservators of Biodiversity and Associated Knowledge Systems: An Intellectual Property basedframework

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    Biotechnological and other value adding options provide an opportunity for valorising the biodiversity and associated knowledge systems. In the absence of this value addition, the erosion of biodiversity as well as traditional knowledge and contemporary creativity is inevitable. An argument is made for reforming the current IPR system so as to provide incentives for local communities and other innovators. The reforms are suggested in the field of definition of prior art, reduction of transaction cost, disclosure of source of knowledge and material, developing international registry, modifying plant varieties registration process. Finally, suggestions are made for improving the overall institutional framework at national and international level.
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