Landelijke interactieve beleidsvorming: lessen voor de praktijk

Dit artikel is een voorpublicatie van het boek “Burgers als Beleidsadviseurs” dat zomer 2006 verschijnt bij de uitgeverij van het Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek. Het boek behandelt acht projecten van interactieve beleidsvorming bij drie departementen (VROM, LNV en V&W) en trekt lessen uit deze analyse voor de beleidspraktijk. De schrijvers van dit boek introduceren in deze voorpublicatie alvast hun eerste bevindingen

Burgers als beleidsadviseurs

Ervaringen met burgerparticipatie in het bestuur van gemeenten zijn al vaak beschreven, onderzocht en beoordeeld. Daarentegen is nog weinig bekend over de manier waarop beleidsmakers op ministeries, leden van de Tweede Kamer, ministers en staatssecretarissen d

Towards liveable volcanic cities: A look at the governance of lahars in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and Latacunga, Ecuador

The physical and governance challenges posed by urban planning and integrated water resources management (IWRM) are gaining momentum worldwide. Yet, the governance of Volcanic River Basins (VRB) remains vastly unexplored. There are at least 500 active volcanoes worldwide, with 600 million people living near them. Through a multiple-case study methodology, we aim to contribute to the understanding of how lahar risks management is being conducted in two distinct urbanized volcanic river basins: Yogyakarta in Indonesia, and Latacunga in Ecuador. Both are located in the “ring of fire” with recent eruption threats in the last decade. The two cases were conducted independently, both triangulated by international and national literature reviews, policy analysis, and in-depth interviews. The Indonesian case study focuses on the governance intricacies for water and disaster management after 2010 eruption during pre, onset, and post-eruption. The Ecuadorian case study looks at risk governance from the perspective of households after a volcanic eruption in 2015, highlighting how bottom-up risk management strategies interact with top-down governance policies. Based on both case studies, a synthesis framework for Volcanic River Basin Management (VRBM) is formulated. This framework can be used as the way forward to analyze disaster and resources management in urbanized volcanic areas

The CSU Accelerator and FEL Facility

The Colorado State University (CSU) Accelerator Facility will include a 6-MeV L-Band electron linear accelerator (linac) with a free-electron laser (FEL) system capable of producing Terahertz (THz) radiation, a laser laboratory, a microwave test stand, and a magnetic test stand. The photocathode drive linac will be used in conjunction with a hybrid undulator capable of producing THz radiation. Details of the systems used in CSU Accelerator Facility are discusse

Achieving sustainable construction within Private Finance Initiative (PFI) road projects in the UK

The construction industry is facing the challenge of increasing demands of its sustainability performance. The construction and maintenance of the built environment has substantial impact on the sustainability of the environment. Whist, public sector clients are increasingly asking for a sustainable approach in their specification and procurement decisions, sustainability is still seen as a novel concept within the construction industry in many parts of the world without a settled definition. The premise of this study is that the interaction between road projects realized by the private finance initiative and their delivery in the UK improve sustainability. The paper, based on case study research, explains the sustainability implementation in a PFI road project and demonstrates that the PFI mechanism facilitates sustainable implementation to a far greater extent than is achievable using traditional procurement methods

Democracy and governance networks: compatible or not?

The relationship between representative democracy and governance networks is investigated at a theoretical level. Four conjectures about the relationship are defined. The incompatibility conjectures rests on the primacy of politics and sees governance networks as a threat. The complementarity conjecture presents governance networks as a means of enabling greater participation in the policy process and sensitivity in programme implementation. The transitional conjecture posits a wider evolution of governance forms towards network relationships. The instrumental conjecture views governance networks as a powerful means through which dominant interests can achieve their goals. Illustrative implications for theory and practice are identified, in relation to power in the policy process, the public interest, and the role of public managers. The heuristic potential of the conjectures is demonstrated through the identification of an outline research agenda

Governance Conditions for Improving Quality Drinking Water Resources: the Need for Enhancing Connectivity

Realising the water quality objectives of the European Water Framework Directive have appeared to stagnate over the last decade all across Europe because of their highly complex nature. In the literature, interactive governance approaches tend to be regarded as the best way of dealing with complex water issues, but so far little empirical evidence has been reported on this perspective in regard to water quality issues. In this paper we have analysed how conditions of governance contribute to the realisation of water quality objectives at different types of drinking water resources in the Netherlands. The analysis demonstrates the importance of addressing different hydrological scales, institutional levels and sectors and thus enhance connectivity in order to improve water quality. The two other important conditions of governance approaches for water quality improvement which were identified are the use of joint fact-finding to gain a shared perception of risks, and the use of explicit decision-making and close monitoring of outcomes (re. water quality improvement), both of which contribute to this enhanced connectivity

Governing shipping externalities : Baltic ports in the process of SOx emission reduction

This paper analyses the debate which has unfolded in the Baltic Sea Region regarding the reduction of sulphur content in vessel fuels, in order to illustrate how tightening environmental regulation challenges traditional forms of maritime governance. Using an interactive governance approach, this study reconstructs the process of sulphur emission reduction as a complex multi-stakeholder interaction in multiple contexts. The empirical investigation has drawn on documentary material from around the Baltic region, including Russia, and has applied the method of qualitative content analysis. The empirical study focuses on two interlinked questions: (1) How sulphur emission reduction policies are being anticipated by maritime industry, in particular by Baltic ports and (2) How port adaptation strategies are tied into Baltic local and energy contexts. Addressing these questions highlights the role of polycentricity in shipping governance and explains how the same universal international regulations can produce varying patterns of governance. The paper concludes that policy-making shall take an account of the fact that the globalized shipping industry is nevertheless locally and sectorally embedded.Peer reviewe