Working with Complexity: a Participatory Systems-Based Process for Planning and Evaluating Rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services

Individuals working within the water, sanitation and hygiene for development (WASH) sector grapple daily with complex technical, social, economic, and environmental issues that often produce unexpected outcomes that are difficult to plan for and resolve. Here we propose a method we are calling the ‘Participatory Systems-based Planning and Evaluation Process’ (PS-PEP) that combines structural factor analysis and collaborative modeling to guide teams of practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders through a process of modeling and interpreting how factors systemically and dynamically influence sustained access to WASH services. The use and utility of the PS-PEP is demonstrated with a regional team of water committee members in the municipality of Jalapa, Nicaragua who participated in a two-day modeling workshop. Water committee members left the workshop with a clear set of action items for water service planning and management in Jalapa, informed by the analysis of systemic influences and dependencies between key service factors. In so doing, we find that the PS-PEP provides a powerful tool for WASH project or program planning, evaluation, management and policy, the continued use of which could offer unprecedented growth in understanding of WASH service complexity for a broad spectrum of service contexts

Synapse

This is the Spring, 2000 edition of the ALHeLa newsletter - Synapse. Contents include: 2001 Joint Meeting in the Works Manual for Medical Informatics CDC Workshop News from NLM ALHeLA Executive Committee Members (2000) Executive Committee Meeting (April 7, 2000

A match made in EAHIL+ICAHIS+ICLC 2015 – experiences of a research-minded initiative at the Workshop in Edinburgh

A match made in EAHIL+ICAHIS+ICLC 2015 - a combination of handouts, a bulletin board and some post-it-notes, announcements in Facebook and Twitter, and a workshop session - was an initiative at the EAHIL+ICAHIS+ICLC 2015 Workshop in Edinburgh. As members of the International Programme Committee (IPC) the authors formed a sub-group that organized a possibility for the workshop delegates to find partners for their research projects

Report of the NGO Committee to the CGIAR Mid Term Meeting 1997

Report of the activities of the CGIAR NGO Committee made orally to the CGIAR MTM meeting in May 1997 by the Chairman, Miguel Altieri, and circulated later in written form. The Committee reported on visits by its members to various centers, participation in a genetic resources workshop, and meetings with various other CGIAR committees. It was also represented at the steering committee of GFAR, and endorsed a paper by its chairman on the CGIAR and biotechnology. The Committee described the role it planned to take in the CGIAR System Review

Why Do This and What Do I Need?: A Workshop for Preparing SWCA Certification Proposals

In this workshop, participants will gain a detailed sense of the benefits for writing center certification via SWCA. After reviewing the process for certification design, current SWCA Research & Development committee members will guide workshop participants through a series of brainstorming activities to help directors begin to develop materials for application packets. The goal of this workshop is to help demystify the process of application, to prompt reflection on materials that centers might already have, and to encourage participation in the SWCA certification program

PICES-GLOBEC International Program on Climate Change and Carrying Capacity

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WORKSHOP OVERVIEW Introduction Goals and objectives of the workshop Organizing committee, participants, sponsors and venue Workshop activity NEMURO.FISH COUPLED WITH A POPULATION DYNAMICS MODEL (SAURY) Introduction One cohort case with no reproduction Two (overlapping) cohort scenario with no reproduction Two-cohort case with no reproduction and body size-dependent mortality Two-cohort case with reproduction and KL-dependent mortality Conclusions and future perspectives LAGRANGIAN MODEL OF NEMURO.FISH Tasks and members Description of model and preliminary results Future tasks COUPLING NEMURO TO HERRING BIOENERGETICS Overview Details of the NEMURO_Herring model Example simulation of NEMURO_Herring Future plans REFERENCES APPENDICES Workshop participants Workshop schedule Lagrangian model (FORTRAN program) (55 page document

Space robotics: Recent accomplishments and opportunities for future research

The Langley Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technical Committee (GNCTC) was one of six technical committees created in 1991 by the Chief Scientist, Dr. Michael F. Card. During the kickoff meeting Dr. Card charged the chairmen to: (1) establish a cross-Center committee; (2) support at least one workshop in a selected discipline; and (3) prepare a technical paper on recent accomplishments in the discipline and on opportunities for future research. The Guidance, Navigation, and Control Committee was formed and selected for focus on the discipline of Space robotics. This report is a summary of the committee's assessment of recent accomplishments and opportunities for future research. The report is organized as follows. First is an overview of the data sources used by the committee. Next is a description of technical needs identified by the committee followed by recent accomplishments. Opportunities for future research ends the main body of the report. It includes the primary recommendation of the committee that NASA establish a national space facility for the development of space automation and robotics, one element of which is a telerobotic research platform in space. References 1 and 2 are the proceedings of two workshops sponsored by the committee during its June 1991, through May 1992 term. The focus of the committee for the June 1992 - May 1993 term will be to further define to the recommended platform in space and to add an additional discipline which includes aircraft related GN&C issues. To the latter end members performing aircraft related research will be added to the committee. (A preliminary assessment of future opportunities in aircraft-related GN&C research has been included as appendix A.