Governing policy evaluation? Towards a new typology

As policy evaluation matures, thoughts are turning to its governance. However, few scholars have combined insights from the evaluation and governance literatures to shed new light on this matter. In order to address this important gap, this article develops a new typology of ways to comprehend and perhaps ultimately govern ex-post policy evaluation activities. The article then explores its validity in the context of climate policy evaluation activities, a vibrant policy area in which the demand for and practices of evaluation have grown fast, particularly in Europe. The analysis reveals that the typology usefully guides new thinking, but also highlights important gaps in our empirical knowledge of the various modes of governing policy evaluation. The article identifies a need for a new research agenda that simultaneously develops a fuller understanding of these evaluation practices and the options for governing them

An impact assessment for urban stormwater use

The adoption of stormwater collection and use for a range of non-potable applications requires that the perceived risks, particularly those associated with public health, are addressed. Pollutant impacts have been assessed using E. coli and a scoring system on a scale of 0 to 5 to identify the magnitude of impacts and also the likelihood of exposure to stormwater during different applications. Combining these identifies that low or medium risks are generally predicted except for domestic car washing and occupational irrigation of edible raw food crops where the predicted high risk would necessitate the introduction of remedial action

Measuring and predicting soil temperature and moisture content beneath Nova Scotia's highways: A report and preliminary results from a recently installed network

Abstract The passage of heavy vehicles (high per axle weight) during the spring thaw causes faster degradation of the pavement and leads to increased maintenance costs. To reduce the damage, most provinces in Canada implement spring load restrictions for heavy vehicles. Given that conditions often veer from climatology and that regional climatology is changing, imposing load restrictions at fixed dates every year is not optimal: it can lead to increased road damage and/or increased costs to the transportation industry. The main goal of this project was to develop an objective guidance to help departments of transportation determine the beginning and end of the seasonal load adjustment periods, long enough in advance for the road transportation industry to adjust their plans. A soil energy and mass balance model driven by atmospheric conditions from numerical weather prediction models to predict soil temperature and moisture content was selected since it offers a complete physical deterministic approach. With funding from the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, six probes capable of measuring both soil temperature and moisture to a depth of 150 cm were installed at various locations around Nova Scotia in 2010. Using data from these sensors, AMEC then initialized a point subsurface model to produce a five day prediction of subsurface temperatures. Results to date are promising and indicate that it is possible to provide advance warning of the spring thaw in roads. Research is ongoing to better incorporate moisture data, review other existing subsurface models, and investigate driving the models with different sources of forecast data

Pedestrian and Bicycle Data Collection: Task 2 - Assessment

DTFH61-11-F-00031This document contains the results of a literature review and series of stakeholder conversations via webinar and individual calls undertaken for DTFH61-11-F-00031, "Pedestrian and Bicycle Data Collection." This document contains two sections: (1) Pedestrian Data Collection, and (2) Bicycle Data Collection. Each section contains a summary of the state-of-the-practice as it existed in Fall 2011 based on available literature and practitioner input

Emergency response plans: panacea for emergency preparedness and control in university libraries in Nigeria

The study examined library personnel awareness of the availability of emergency response plans, their forms and roles in safety routine preparedness and control in federal and state university libraries in Southwest Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The survey research design alongside a multi‐stage sampling procedure comprising purposive, randomisation and total enumeration techniques guided the study. The population consisted of 327 library personnel drawn from 12 federal and state university libraries (i.e., six each). The questionnaire and structured interview methods were used for data gathering. Of the 327 copies of the questionnaire administered, 249 copies, representing 76.1%, were duly completed and found valid for analysis. Whereas the acceptance threshold of ≥90% response rate and a criterion mean of 2.50 were adopted for making judgements regarding the research questions, while the hypothesis was tested using chisquare statistics with cross‐tabulation

The Local Economic Impact of Shale Gas Extraction

Advocates of UK shale gas expansion have focused upon predicted national economic benefits, but local and/or regional impact has been largely neglected. This paper seeks to address this deficit by creating a unique dataset, combining industry data with consumer and supply chain surveys, thereby overcoming the current absence of suitable secondary data. Local economic impact in the Bowland field is estimated via a simple Keynesian local income multiplier model. Results emphasize the importance of facilitating local employment opportunities, through skills initiatives, and development of regional supply chain clusters, to anchor economic benefits within the local economy. Policy implications are discussed

Waste and decommissioning

This paper is the fifth in a series of 8 that make up the evidence base for SDC report 'The role of nuclear power in a low carbon economy'.This document is an extensive review of the nuclear waste issue, covering radioactive waste management in both practice and policy.Publisher PD

Safety and security

This paper is the sixth in a series of 8 that make up the evidence base for SDC report 'The role of nuclear power in a low carbon economy'.The document covers accident risk in plants (including a historical review of accidents), threats from design faults and terrorism, the implications of nuclear proliferation, and health impacts.Publisher PD