Developing a multi-level governance framework for sustainable forest landscapes: the prospects for REDD-plus

This dissertation is a grounded theoretical analysis of the REDD-plus programme, the multi-level system of forest governance that is being developed since 2007 under the international legal regime on climate change. It examines REDD-plus’ main elements, seeks to preliminarily assess its likely impact and suggests measures to improve its design. The focus is on effectiveness, intended as the ability to address the causes of forest loss in developing countries. The research is divided in two parts. The first part concentrates on REDD-plus at the international level. It explores the programme’s innovative but still fragmented and contradictory use of ‘policy approaches’ and ‘positive incentives’, and assesses its strengths and weaknesses in the context of the broader trend towards the ‘neo-liberalisation’ of international environmental policy. The second part examines REDD-plus at the national and sub-national levels. It uses sustainable landscape governance as the overarching conceptual and physical framework for the effective implementation of REDD-plus activities and suggests three areas of public policy that should be prioritised by participant countries: tenure, spatial planning and financial intermediation. The dissertation examines each policy area in detail and provides specific recommendations on the measures available to overcome current problems. It argues that the programme’s effectiveness would be magnified by combining public policy and market instruments in such a way as to facilitate the negotiation of trade-offs between multiple environmental and development objectives and between diverse stakeholders. Building on this analysis, the conclusions advance some considerations on the possible significance of REDD-plus for the development of international environmental law

Text and data mining in HE and public research - Annex 1 – Full case studies

Annexes de l\u27étude comparative inédite d’impact de la fouille de textes (TDM) sur la compétitivité de la recherche en France et en Grande Bretagn

Text and data mining in higher education and public research

This study uses case studies from researchers in the UK and France to assess the value of a copyright exception for text and data mining, and identify the steps needed to realise its potential. It was commissioned by the ADBU, the French association of directors and senior staff in university and research libraries, and delivered by Research Consulting, a UK consultancy specialising in the management and dissemination of research

Developing a multi-level governance framework for sustainable forest landscapes: the prospects for REDD-plus

This dissertation is a grounded theoretical analysis of the REDD-plus programme, the multi-level system of forest governance that is being developed since 2007 under the international legal regime on climate change. It examines REDD-plus’ main elements, seeks to preliminarily assess its likely impact and suggests measures to improve its design. The focus is on effectiveness, intended as the ability to address the causes of forest loss in developing countries. The research is divided in two parts. The first part concentrates on REDD-plus at the international level. It explores the programme’s innovative but still fragmented and contradictory use of ‘policy approaches’ and ‘positive incentives’, and assesses its strengths and weaknesses in the context of the broader trend towards the ‘neo-liberalisation’ of international environmental policy. The second part examines REDD-plus at the national and sub-national levels. It uses sustainable landscape governance as the overarching conceptual and physical framework for the effective implementation of REDD-plus activities and suggests three areas of public policy that should be prioritised by participant countries: tenure, spatial planning and financial intermediation. The dissertation examines each policy area in detail and provides specific recommendations on the measures available to overcome current problems. It argues that the programme’s effectiveness would be magnified by combining public policy and market instruments in such a way as to facilitate the negotiation of trade-offs between multiple environmental and development objectives and between diverse stakeholders. Building on this analysis, the conclusions advance some considerations on the possible significance of REDD-plus for the development of international environmental law

A Study on mm-Wave Propagation In and Around Buildings

mm-waves are envisaged as a key enabler for 5G and 6G wireless communications, thanks to the wide bandwidth and to the possibility of implementing large-scale antenna arrays and advanced transmission techniques, such as massive MIMO and beamforming, that can take advantage of the multidimensional properties of the wireless channel. In order to analyze in depth the peculiar characteristics of mm-wave propagation, joint measurement and simulation campaigns in indoor and outdoor microcellular environments have been carried out. The investigation highlights that the assumption that mm-wave NLoS connectivity is hardly feasible is not necessarily true as significant reflections, scattering and even transmission mechanisms can provide good NLoS coverage in the considered indoor and outdoor scenarios. This is also reflected in the limited angle-spread differences between LoS and NLoS locations in some cases. Finally, the contribution of different propagation mechanisms (reflection, diffraction, scattering and combination of them) to the received signal is analyzed in the paper with the help of ray tracing simulations. These outcomes can be helpful to predict the performance of mm-wave wireless systems and for the development of deterministic and geometric-stochastic mm-wave channel models

The economic case for prioritizing governance over financial incentives in REDD+

This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the role of public policies and financial incentives in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+). It argues that the subordination of policies to results-based payments for emission reductions causes severe economic inefficiencies affecting the opportunity cost, transaction cost and economic rent of the programme. Such problems can be addressed by establishing sound procedural, land and financial governance at the national level, before REDD+ economic incentives are delivered at scale. Consideration is given to each governance dimension, the entry points for policy intervention and the impact on costs. International support must consider the financial and political cost of governance reforms, and use a pay-for-results ethos based on output and outcome indicators. This can be done in the readiness process but only if the latter’s legal force, scope, magnitude and time horizon are adequately reconsidered. In sum, the paper provides ammunition for the institutionalist argument that UNFCCC Parties must prioritise governance reform between now and the entry into force of the new climate agreement in 2020, and specific recommendations about how this can be done: only by doing so will they create the basis for the programme’s financial sustainability

Insights into European Research Funder Open Policies and Practices

This report summarises the results of a survey of European research funders on Open Access (OA) and Research Data (RD) policies, commissioned by SPARC Europe, in consultation with representatives from the following organisations: ALLEA, the European Foundation Centre and Science Europe and a wider advisory group.Launched in the spring of 2019, the survey, which targeted about 400 funders, garnered just over 60 responses from 29 countries. The cohort includes important national funding agencies (almost 50%), pan-European funders, national and regional academies, foundations and philanthropic organisations and research charities.

OpenAIRE FP7 Post-Grant Pilot - Survey of Beneficiaries

The OpenAIRE FP7 Post-grant OA Pilot was launched by the European Commission (EC) for the period May 30th, 2015 to April 30th, 2017 in the context of the OpenAIRE2020 project. The survey of the Pilot's beneficiaries was comprised of 21 multiple choice and open text questions. It was distributed to the 547 recipients of pilot funding by email and received a total of 322 responses (59% response rate). The results were analysed by Research Consulting, on behalf of the OpenAIRE consortium

Effective practice resources in knowledge exchange for UK universities

<div>This dataset provides an overview of sources of effective practice and reference materials relevant to Knowledge Exchange within UK universities. It has been prepared by Research Consulting as part of a project commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).</div><div>For a graphical representation of this data, please see the link provided.</div><div><br></div