From frustration to integration: Action strategies for a better fit between knowledge and policy on the Wadden Sea

How can knowledge help to produce better policy for the Wadden Sea? This is the question that our research projects have sought to answer. Although the Wadden region offers many fine examples of knowledge development that is effectively aligned with policy issues, we can see that the relationship between knowledge and policy is often far from optimal. By way of this document we hope to help bring about a better fit between knowledge and policy

HWBP: Kennisdoorwerking : Stand van zaken rondom het laten stromen van kennis vanuit POV's naar projecten toe

Op dit moment lopen er vier project overstijgende verkenningen (POVs) bij het Hoogwaterbeschermingsprogramma (HWBP). Deze POVs zijn kennisintensief en er wordt dan ook veel kennis ontwikkeld. Deze kennis is soms te vatten in documenten, maar soms betreft het ervaringskennis, welke moeilijker overdraagbaar is. Het leren tussen de betrokken partijen (overheden, kennisinstellingen en bedrijfsleven) wordt als een belangrijk aspect gezien om de overall ambitie van het HWBP te halen. De programmadirectie faciliteert en stimuleert het overstijgend leren tussen de verschillende projecten en POVs. Een belangrijk aspect hierbij is om aandacht te besteden aan het ontsluiten, borgen en toepassen van de in de POVs opgedane kennis/ervaring in de HWBP-projecten. Bij het voorliggende onderzoeksrapport staat dit centraal. De programmadirectie wil graag in kaart brengen op welke wijze de POVs en relevante projecten de ontwikkelde kennis gaan borgen - of dat al reeds hebben gedaan - opdat toekomstige HWBP projecten bij alle waterschappen hier gebruik van kunnen maken. Onderzoeksvraag hierbij is op welke wijze wordt de kennis en kunde uit de vier lopende POVs geborgd en hoe werkt het door in uitvoeringsprojecten van het HWBP, de daarbij betrokken organisaties en nationaal beleid (ontwerp- en toetsinstrumentarium)? In deze rapportage wordt per POV aangegeven welke activiteiten zijn ondernomen om de kennis door te laten stromen. Per POV worden enkele adviezen gegeven. Tevens zijn er generieke aanbevelingen voor de huidige POVs, nog op te starten POVs en op systeemniveau

Cell-Free RNA from Plasma in Patients with Neuroblastoma: Exploring the Technical and Clinical Potential

Neuroblastoma affects mostly young children, bearing a high morbidity and mortality. Liquid biopsies, e.g., molecular analysis of circulating tumor-derived nucleic acids in blood, offer a minimally invasive diagnostic modality. Cell-free RNA (cfRNA) is released by all cells, especially cancer. It circulates in blood packed in extracellular vesicles (EV) or attached to proteins. We studied the feasibility of analyzing cfRNA and EV, isolated by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), from platelet-poor plasma from healthy controls ( n = 40) and neuroblastoma patients with localized ( n = 10) and metastatic disease ( n = 30). The mRNA content was determined using several multiplex droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assays for a neuroblastoma-specific gene panel ( PHOX2B, TH, CHRNA3) and a cell cycle regulation panel ( E2F1, CDC6, ATAD2, H2AFZ, MCM2, DHFR). We applied corrections for the presence of platelets. We demonstrated that neuroblastoma-specific markers were present in plasma from 14/30 patients with metastatic disease and not in healthy controls and patients with localized disease. Most cell cycle markers had a higher expression in patients. The mRNA markers were mostly present in the EV-enriched SEC fractions. In conclusion, cfRNA can be isolated from plasma and EV and analyzed using multiplex ddPCR. cfRNA is an interesting novel liquid biopsy-based target to explore further

Strategic delta planning: launching new ideas on managing a Delta, and their travels along actor coalitions, participatory planning tools and implementation timelines

Guest Editorial. Strategic delta planning: launching new ideas on managing a Delta, and their travels along actor coalitions, participatory planning tools and implementation timelines

Responding to coastal problems: Interactive knowledge development in a US nature restoration project

Coastal decision-making is impacted by global climate change and region-specific changes related to population growth, economic activities and the natural environment. This results in complex and interdependent problems. Addressing these problems requires the involvement of decision-makers, researchers and other societal actors in knowledge production. However, such means of knowledge production are poorly understood when it comes to coastal regions. Using a conceptual framework that makes a distinction between project arrangements and knowledge arrangements, this paper analyses interactive knowledge development in a nature restoration project on the US West Coast. The project adopted a collaborative approach, and involved diverse organisations in developing knowledge for reaching its restoration solutions. The case study analysis results in seven causal mechanisms. The mechanisms are divided into two groups. One group discusses processes that affect interactive knowledge development, such as the need for public support. The other group explains how interactive knowledge development functions, for example through facilitation and the creation of safe environments for researchers and regulators. Through identifying these mechanisms, this paper contributes to an improved understanding of interactive knowledge development in coastal regions

Political agenda-setting for strategic delta planning in the Mekong Delta – Converging or diverging agendas of policy actors and of the Mekong Delta Plan?

This article uses the lens of the Multiple Streams Approach to explore whether the agendas set by political actors in Vietnam converged with the agenda set in the Mekong Delta Plan (MDP). The MDP presents policy choices for the development of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. The plan offers economically attractive, climate adaptive and environmentally sustainable paths forward in the face of climate change and economic uncertainties. We collected our data using qualitative techniques, including a literature review and interviews. We found convergence between the MDP’s agenda and political actors’ agendas, though divergences were also detected. Between the delivery of the MDP in 2013 and formal endorsement of its ideas in 2017, the problem stream, policy stream and politics stream were brought together by the actions of “policy entrepreneurs” (scientists and experts). Our findings suggest that agenda-setting and convergence were a crucial step towards endorsement of the strategic delta planning process for the Mekong Delta. Further research could explore issues of power mobilization in enabling or constraining decision-making. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group