European Union/South Africa trade, development and co-operation agreement : decision-making, participation and perceived economic impacts

The European Union-South Africa Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (EU/SA TDCA), signed in October 1999, is viewed by some in South Africa as not only one of the most important trade and development agreements entered into by the 'new' South African goverrunent, but also a significant agreement for setting precedents for other bi-lateral trade and development pacts between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific group of states. This thesis considers two major issues related to the EU/SA TDCA. First, it describes and evaluates the structures that supported the South African side of the TDCA decision-making process. Second, it discusses the potential economic impact of the agreement on South Africa and part of southern African. Prior to the election of the 'new' South African government in 1994, the majority of South Africa's population was excluded - both in terms of access to decision-making structures and from economic prosperity. By exploring the TDCA, the thesis provides a window through wl-dch to examine contemporary access to decision-making processes in South Africa and the likelihood of the TDCA promoting economic prosperity for sections of southern African society, particularly the 'traditionally excluded'. Interviews with key actors who helped formulate the TDCA provide information that enabled the evaluation of the TDCA decision-making process and highlighted potential economic 'winners' and 'losers'. Interviewing representatives of the South African wine and textile sectors provided an opportunity to examine in more detail the likely impact of the agreement and decision-making processes, associated to the TDCA, within South Africa. The results indicate that an overriding message of this thesis is one of complexity. The description of the structures that underpinned the EU/SA TDCA portrayed complex relationships between decision-making 'actors'. In evaluating the inclusivity of the policy formulation process, there was a lack of consensus over who had been included or excluded. Likewise, the identification of potential economic 'winners' and 'losers' proved to be somewhat problematic.Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Plymouth

Deriving and using future weather data for building design from UK climate change projections: an overview of the COPSE Project

Climate change has increasing implications for the economic and social life of the UK, as the reports of the UKCIP1 and the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 20122 make clear. In particular, it will impact on the performance of our built environment – our buildings and the civil infrastructure that supports our urban communities and our communications networks. Recognising this, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has funded successive programmes of research aimed at improving understanding of the impact of climate change on the built environment and into means of improving its adaptability and resilience. A recent phase of this research brought together a number of research projects, including COPSE, under the umbrella of the Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (ARCC) Co-ordination Network (CN)3. The ARCC CN has sought to develop close links between those directly involved in the research, who are principally in universities, and prospective users of the outputs, such as policy-makers, architects and engineering consultants. To that end, it has held conferences and technical events, published summaries of the research programmes and issued regular newsletters, with the aim of promoting the outputs of the research and facilitating their application. This publication further contributes to that overall aim. Academic research is, rightly, first published in peer-reviewed journals where it can be subject to the scrutiny of other researchers, and the findings compared with those of similar studies. Journal publications are often, though, not easily accessible for practitioners who will be principally concerned with the findings and their implications rather than the methods through which they were obtained. By contrast, short non-technical summaries do not provide a suitable basis for application of the findings. This publication seeks to fill that gap, in that it offers an overview of the COPSE project which, while summarising the research undertaken, gives most attention to the outputs and their relevance for practitioners. By also providing full details of the publications from COPSE research, it facilitates further investigation by those who wish to take advantage of latest research findings

Deriving and using future weather data for building design from UK climate change projections – an overview of the COPSE Project. Manchester University, UK.

Climate change has increasing implications for the economic and social life of the UK, as the reports of the UKCIP1 and the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 20122 make clear. In particular, it will impact on the performance of our built environment – our buildings and the civil infrastructure that supports our urban communities and our communications networks. Recognising this, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has funded successive programmes of research aimed at improving understanding of the impact of climate change on the built environment and into means of improving its adaptability and resilience. A recent phase of this research brought together a number of research projects, including COPSE, under the umbrella of the Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (ARCC) Co-ordination Network (CN)3. The ARCC CN has sought to develop close links between those directly involved in the research, who are principally in universities, and prospective users of the outputs, such as policy-makers, architects and engineering consultants. To that end, it has held conferences and technical events, published summaries of the research programmes and issued regular newsletters, with the aim of promoting the outputs of the research and facilitating their application. This publication further contributes to that overall aim. Academic research is, rightly, first published in peer-reviewed journals where it can be subject to the scrutiny of other researchers, and the findings compared with those of similar studies. Journal publications are often, though, not easily accessible for practitioners who will be principally concerned with the findings and their implications rather than the methods through which they were obtained. By contrast, short non-technical summaries do not provide a suitable basis for application of the findings. This publication seeks to fill that gap, in that it offers an overview of the COPSE project which, while summarising the research undertaken, gives most attention to the outputs and their relevance for practitioners. By also providing full details of the publications from COPSE research, it facilitates further investigation by those who wish to take advantage of latest research findings