Participatory systems mapping for sustainable consumption: Discussion of a method promoting systemic insights

The paper describes our usage of and experience with the method of participatory systems mapping. The method, developed for the purpose of facilitating knowledge brokerage, builds on participatory modelling approaches and applications and was used in several events involving both researchers and policy makers. The paper presents and discusses examples of how different types of participatory interaction with causal loop diagrams ("system maps") produced different insights on issues related to sustainable consumption and enabled participatory reflection and sharing of knowledge. Together, these insights support a systemic understanding of the issues and thus the method provides instruments for coping with complexity when formulating policies for sustainable consumption. Furthermore the paper discusses the ability of the method - and its limits - to connect mental models of participants through structured discussion and thus bridge boundaries between different communities

Für eine breitere Perspektive auf Projekte

Im Projektmanagement hat bisher keine substantielle Auseinandersetzung mit den Prinzipien nachhaltiger Entwicklung stattgefunden. Derzeit arbeiten Expert(inn)en aus Nachhaltigkeitsforschung und Projektmanagement gemeinsam an einem konzeptionellen Rahmen, neuen Instrumenten und ersten Fallstudien

Nachhaltigkeit und Projektmanagement: Für eine breitere Perspektive auf Projekte

Im Projektmanagement hat bisher keine substantielle Auseinandersetzung mit den Prinzipien nachhaltiger Entwicklung stattgefunden. Derzeit arbeiten Expert(inn)en aus Nachhaltigkeitsforschung und Projektmanagement gemeinsam an einem konzeptionellen Rahmen, neuen Instrumenten und ersten Fallstudien

The long-term health and wellbeing impacts of Healthy New Towns (HNTs): protocol for a baseline and feasibility study of HNT demonstrator sites in England.

Background: Increasing levels of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), mental health problems, high rates of unhealthy behaviours and health inequalities remain major public health challenges worldwide. In the context of increasing urbanisation, there is an urgent need to understand how evidence that living environments shape health, wellbeing and behaviour can be used to design and deliver healthy environments in local urban settings. The Healthy New Town (HNT) programme implemented in England from 2015 consists of ten major housing developments that aim to improve population health through healthy design principles, new models for integrating health and social care and the creation of strong and connected communities. The programme provides a natural experiment in which to investigate the effects on health, wellbeing and inequalities of large-scale interventions targeting the wider social determinants of health. Methods: The research described in this protocol aims to examine the feasibility of a larger study to assess the longer-term health impacts of HNTs, by addressing two research questions: (1) what are the similarities and differences in the HNT programme developments, processes, contexts and expected impacts and outcomes across HNT sites? and (2) how feasible is the use of data from routine sources and existing HNT evaluations and as the baseline for a definitive study to assess impact on health, wellbeing, behavioural and economic outcomes and programme processes? The research will consist of (a) participatory systems mapping with stakeholders to produce a theoretical framework for a longer-term study on the HNT programme, (b) synthesis of existing qualitative data from local HNT evaluations to understand local processes and intervention mechanisms, (c) scoping local and routinely available data to establish a baseline and feasibility for a longer-term study of health and economic outcomes, and (d) building relationships and recruiting HNT sites into the proposed research. Discussion: The proposed research will produce a theoretical framework and assess the feasibility of a definitive study of outcomes of the HNT programme. This research is necessary to understand how longer-term health, wellbeing, behavioural and economic outcomes can be measured, and to inform a definitive study to generate evidence on the effectiveness of the HNT programme

What kind of science is useful for public managers - and for what purpose? On the possibilities of a transformative role of science in the public sector 131 -Social Competence in Action: Inter-und transdisziplinäre Erkundungen im Dreieck Praxis-Lehre-Fors

Abstract Purpose: The paper questions the current perception of low relevance and demand for scholarly (scientific research) competence on the part of civil servants through identifying practical and transformative uses of scientific knowledge in professionals' practice, thus arguing for scholarly competences in professional degree programs. Design/methodology/approach: The paper conceptually develops a theory of practitioners' knowing in action that reframes the use of scientific knowledge as a part of practical inquiry. Findings: The paper formulates the notion of extended 'scientific temper' to open up space for reflection in action in the context of everyday professional practice and to avoid the pitfalls of technical rationality. It argues for an ontological -as opposed to mere epistemological -dimension of knowing in action. It suggests that changes in practitioners' stance in line with the extended 'scientific temper' enables specific uses of (post-structuralist) scientific knowledge. Practical implications: The paper sketches principles of didactics in training scholarly competence on the part of civil servants in line with the notion of extended 'scientific temper' and post-structuralist paradigms in science. Keywords: scientific competences, research methods, professional degree programs, public administration, public management, social practice, epistemology Science and public administration: demand for scholarly competence on the part of civil servants Modern liberal democracies have been resting for quite some time on the marriage between "more or less formalized bodies of knowledge and specific administrative mechanisms" (Rutherford 1999, p. 50) -a marriage in which science and a new type of societal steering in the form of governing of populations and their territories along the principles of scientific management. Nevertheless, the demand for scientific (scholarly) competence on the part of civil servants remains quite low. This holds true despite the current calls for evidence-based decision making, and an increasing preoccupation with tasks that might benefit from scholarly competence (policy analysis and advice, institutional and 2 administrative design, commissioning and conducting evaluations and external research studies, involving scientists through participatory arrangements). Some scientific competencies are typically understood to be part of the civil servants' general skill portfolio. Yet the focus lies on use rather than production of expert or scientific knowledge. In the UK, the competence to undertake research through literature reviews across a variety of sources and the ability to analyse and interpret information is required as a skill even at the lowest pay grade level, i.e. administrative assistant or equivalent (UK CSHR 2015). With the exception of 'science and engineering professions', research is understood as collecting expert findings and opinions (as opposed to acting as an expert by producing said findings), nevertheless including the acknowledgement of the plurality of scientific debates as well as quality control (UK GOS 2010)