Making development co-operation fit for the future: a survey of partner countries

This paper provides insights into what partner country governments anticipate will be their main development challenges within five to ten years, and into how they expect their relationships with Development Assistance Committee development assistance providers to evolve in order to meet these challenges Abstract Based on results from an OECD-commissioned survey of 40 developing country governments, the paper finds that demand for development co-operation will remain strong given the economic and environmental challenges that lie ahead. However, the countries surveyed expect Development Assistance Committee (DAC) providers to shift to a more enabling role in the coming years: providing vital finance, but in support of government-led sector programmes; delivering more and better technical and policy support; and leveraging more private finance. This paper will inform the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate’s ‘Agency of the Future’ project, which seeks to identify how DAC members’ development administrations will need to adapt in order to be fit for purpose in a rapidly changing world

A petroleum source rock study of a Kimmeridgian section in Dorsetshire, England

Imperial Users onl

Aiding Global Public Policy: Rethinking Rationales and Roles

Traditional development agencies, emerging aid providers, and recipient countries are in strong agreement that the fundamental purpose of aid is to help achieve the development priorities of sovereign states in need. This agreement serves both aid effectiveness and national interest objectives. At the same time, a range of global problems is rendering development gains ever more precarious and making increasing calls on aid budgets. Such problems include instability in highly integrated global markets for food, fuel, and finance, natural resource depletion, the persistence or emergence of infectious diseases, and the increasing impacts of climate change. Moreover, after growing by some 60 percent over the previous decade, global aid peaked in 2010 and now looks set to decline or at best stagnate, as most donor countries pursue fiscal consolidation and public debt reduction strategies and as more and more countries graduate from low-income status

Release Planning for Successful Reentry: A Guide for Corrections, Service Providers, and Community Groups

Outlines the concept of release planning, identifies the fundamental needs released prisoners face in reentering society, and recommends ways for corrections agencies and community organizations to help meet those needs through improved release planning

Financing Long-Term Care for Elderly People

Last year’s report of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care (1) and the expected Government response have prompted fresh interest in the debate on how to fund long-term care. To inform this debate the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) has conducted a study, funded by the Department of Health, of long-term care demand and finance. This has involved the construction of a computer model to make projections of likely demand and expenditures to 2031. This article describes the model of long-term care demand and expenditure developed by the PSSRU. It then presents some of the results obtained and sensitivity analysis around them

Formulating competitive strategy in the UK housebuilding industry : executive summary

The UK housebuilding industry faces the challenge of meeting demands for higher quality and greater choice with a construction process that has not changed for many years and a diminishing pool of skilled labour. The situation is exacerbated by the difficulties of finding sufficient land for development. This has led to a strategic bias amongst housebuilding companies towards land acquisition and asset turnover which results in a lack of customer focus. The sector is therefore vulnerable to new entrants with new technologies and more professional customer care practices. These circumstances present an opportunity for a UK housebuilder to develop competitive advantage by pursuing a strategy of innovation leadership. Such a strategy has proved successful in other sectors such as the automotive industry. This thesis analyses industry trends and lessons from best practice to shape a new competition framework for the UK housebuilding industry of the future. This suggests that research and development, product design, process and project management, relationships with customers, quality and innovation will be of growing strategic importance. Techniques such as the Balanced Scorecard, Strategy Mapping and Technology Roadmapping can help firms to explore options and formulate strategies to compete effectively in changing competitive environments. These tools have been employed to create a strategy for a major UK housebuilding company, balanced across four perspectives: financial; customer; internal business processes; learning and growth. This strategy has been implemented principally through the launch of three new businesses that have stimulated change within the core housebuilding business. Progress has been made in enhancing the company's value proposition downstream of its core business and in improving quality and efficiency through the introduction of off-site manufacturing into upstream operations. Early results suggest that innovation leadership can be an effective strategy for a UK housebuilder but progressive culture change across the industry is a key driver for long-term success

Development and the G20

This publication examines what role the G20 can play in international development. Key findings: Development is a key component of the G20, but there are concerns over the effectiveness of the current development agenda. The criticism includes that the development agenda is too diffuse and mostly distant to the G20’s main activities. But the G20 development agenda has made progress in some important areas, including increasing the resources of the international financial institutions, infrastructure, food security, financial inclusion and reducing the cost of remittances. However development and global economic issues cannot be treated in isolation; development must be ‘mainstreamed’ and clearly seen as part of the G20’s core agenda. To the extent that Australia can help strengthen the G20 when it assumes the chair in 2014, and make tangible progress in such areas as - economic growth, financial regulation, trade, financial inclusion, infrastructure and climate change financing – it can make a significant contribution to promoting development and reducing poverty. Authored by Mike Callaghan AM, Annmaree O’Keeffe AM, Robin Davies, Susan Harris Rimmer , Steve Price-Thomas, Sabina Curatolo, Julia Newton-Howes and Michelle Lettie

A Low Carbon Defrost System

A new system for defrosting the air coils of freezers is described - the patented Frigesco(TM) system. The net energy consumption of this system is close to zero and so it effectively reduces the overall energy consumption of a freezer system by the amount of energy normally used by electrical or hot gas defrost systems. The principal of operation is that heat available from the hot liquid refrigerant leaving the condenser (normally wasted) is stored in phase change material and then used when a defrost is needed. The subcooling of the liquid refrigerant by passage through the heat store increases the refrigeration effect to the extent that the post-defrost re-chilling of the freezer body, circulating air and contents is virtually energy neutral. Results of applying this system to a walk-in frozen food store and also a frozen food retail display cabinet under laboratory conditions will be presented. For example in the case of the RDC which was normally electrically defrosted 6 times a day we have shown a 40% reduction in energy consumption when the Frigesco system was introduced into the refrigeration circuit. It is anticipated that results from in-store trials (currently about to start) of the walk-in store application will be available for inclusion in the paper

Light structures phototroph, bacterial and fungal communities at the soil surface

The upper few millimeters of soil harbour photosynthetic microbial communities that are structurally distinct from those of underlying bulk soil due to the presence of light. Previous studies in arid zones have demonstrated functional importance of these communities in reducing soil erosion, and enhancing carbon and nitrogen fixation. Despite being widely distributed, comparative understanding of the biodiversity of the soil surface and underlying soil is lacking, particularly in temperate zones. We investigated the establishment of soil surface communities on pasture soil in microcosms exposed to light or dark conditions, focusing on changes in phototroph, bacterial and fungal communities at the soil surface (0–3 mm) and bulk soil (3–12 mm) using ribosomal marker gene analyses. Microbial community structure changed with time and structurally similar phototrophic communities were found at the soil surface and in bulk soil in the light exposed microcosms suggesting that light can influence phototroph community structure even in the underlying bulk soil. 454 pyrosequencing showed a significant selection for diazotrophic cyanobacteria such as Nostoc punctiforme and Anabaena spp., in addition to the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus. The soil surface also harboured distinct heterotrophic bacterial and fungal communities in the presence of light, in particular, the selection for the phylum Firmicutes. However, these light driven changes in bacterial community structure did not extend to the underlying soil suggesting a discrete zone of influence, analogous to the rhizosphere

Peer mentoring works! How peer mentoring enhances student success in Higher Education:evaluation toolkit

This toolkit, published by the HEA, provides colleagues across the Sector with the practical and methodological tools to empirically evaluate peer mentoring and tutoring. This evaluation kit provides two data collection tools that may be adopted and adapted to meet institutional requirements. The first of these is a survey, developed out of the original survey used in the Peer Mentoring Works Project. Some questions have been added as a result of reflexive application of colleagues and students input as the project has progressed. The second part of the toolkit comprises a qualitative interview guide. This guide is similar to the one used in the research, but again it has been further developed as a result of the project. It may be adapted for use in focus groups or one-to-one interviews. The final document within the kit is a sample consent form