Scenario planning as communicative action: lessons from participatory exercises conducted for the Scottish livestock industry

AbstractBased on Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action, this paper critiques the transparency and legitimacy of participatory scenario planning, considering a case study of scenario development for the livestock industry within Scotland. The paper considers the extent to which the case study approximates the conditions for ‘ideal speech situations’ and how these conditions could be applied more widely in participatory scenario planning. The authors explore the rationale for participatory scenario planning within the science–policy interface with critical reference to the corporate context in which scenario planning has evolved. The aim is to optimise the potential for its use in the context of socio-technical and environmental governance. Researcher co-reflections on the case study are mapped within a matrix of indices representing conditions for ideal speech situations. Further analytical categories highlight the extent to which ideal speech was approximated. Although many of the constraints on achieving ideal speech situations reflect intransigent, practical logistics of organising participatory exercises, our novel approach enables the systematic identification of some important issues and provides a conceptual framework for understanding how they interrelate that may prove useful to practitioners and theorists alike

The impact of maternal BMI status on pregnancy outcomes with immediate short-term obstetric resource implications : a meta-analysis.

Obesity is rising in the obstetric population, yet there is an absence of services and guidance for the management of maternal obesity. This systematic review aimed to investigate relationships between obesity and impact on obstetric care. Literature was systematically searched for cohort studies of pregnant women with anthropometric measurements recorded within 16-weeks gestation, followed up for the term of the pregnancy, with at least one obese and one comparison group. Two researchers independently data-extracted and quality-assessed each included study. Outcome measures were those that directly or indirectly impacted on maternity resources. Primary outcomes included instrumental delivery, caesarean delivery, duration of hospital stay, neonatal intensive care, neonatal trauma, haemorrhage, infection and 3rd/4th degree tears. Meta-analysis shows a significant relationship between obesity and increased odds of caesarean and instrumental deliveries, haemorrhage, infection, longer duration of hospital stay and increased neonatal intensive care requirement. Maternal obesity significantly contributes to a poorer prognosis for mother and baby during delivery and in the immediate post-partum period. National clinical guidelines for management of obese pregnant women, and public health interventions to help safeguard the health of mothers and their babies are urgently required

Disintegrated development at the rural–urban fringe: Re-connecting spatial planning theory and practice

The spaces where countryside meets town are often amongst society's most valued and pressured places which together form the rural–urban fringe (RUF). A ‘messy’ yet opportunistic space in policy and decision making processes, the RUF remains confused and ‘disintegrated’ lacking sufficient understanding and explicit attention for sustainable management as places in their own right. This paper exposes the scope, nature and reasons leading towards policy disintegration within the RUF with critical attention on the separate lenses of the Ecosystem Approach and Spatial Planning frameworks reflecting a marked natural and built environment divide. Using research funded by the Rural Economy and Land Use programme, three ‘bridging’ concepts were identified within which improved integration is explored: Time, Connections and Values. Using team member thoughtpieces and workshops, together with visioning exercises in two rural–urban fringes, a series of narratives are presented within which the RUF opportunity is re-discovered set within a hybridised theory of spatial and environmental planning. In so doing the paper challenges established economic and planning models of urban development and expansion with more holistic ideas and approaches. One size-fits-all solutions such as greenbelts, regionalism or localism are rejected within an approach that champions multi-scalar and sectoral perspectives set within a governance framework that achieves social and economic well-being through maintaining and enhancing ecosystem functions and services. We conclude by arguing that policy strands within environment and planning must be better connected allowing the RUF to be developed as an opportunity space for testing and experimentation