The influence of fairness and ethical trade-offs on public support for road safety measures. An international and intercultural exploration

The research questions of this thesis are: ‘When is a road safety policy measure fair?’ and ‘Which factors influence the support for road safety policy measures?’. The core approach used to address these research questions was to present citizens, experts and policy-makers with contentious measures in road safety and identify the factors associated with their views on these measures. Three complementary methods were used: a global analysis of the associations between national indicators, in-depth interviews with experts and policy-makers in five countries, and an online survey of a representative sample of adults in ten countries. An original scheme has been developed for categorizing arguments in favour and against policy measures. The research undertaken has led to a better understanding and operationalisation of fairness. A (road safety) policy measure is perceived as fair if it is equitable, not restricting human liberties, relevant and feasible to implement. Perceiving a measure to be fair is indicative but not sufficient for supporting it. Many factors influence public support for policy measures. The level of support for policy measures in road safety differs strongly between countries, and is associated with the level of economic development and national culture. When road safety performance is relatively high and societies are individualistic, the opposition against new measures tends to be higher. Important factors influencing public support are beliefs concerning the importance of the problem which the measure is intended to address, the expected consequences, and the confidence that the measure can be implemented effectively. Individuals’ support for a policy measure is strongly associated with the social norm, i.e. the belief that their friends would support that measure. Recommendations are made for further research on fairness and support for measures, as well as for improvement of policy-making in road safety

Learning From Grantees: Survey of the Organisations and Individuals in Belgium that Received Support During the 2009-2011 Period

The "Learning from Grantees" study is based on a survey of the organisations and individuals in Belgium who received support from the King Baudouin Foundation in 2009, 2010 and/or 2011 - the period covered by the Foundation's previous strategic plan

Intercultural Differences in Road Safety Performance and Support for Road Safety Policy Measures

Road safety policy measures are meant to improve road safety, i.e., to reduce the number of people injured or killed in road traffic crashes. Despite the obvious benefits of such policy measures, often public support is low, because often such measures require road users to give up some of their freedom of movement. In this chapter, it is shown how differences in national culture are associated with differences in the level of public support for a range of policy measures. National culture can be operationalized into several dimensions. Using data from a recent update of two of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (labeled as “Independent” and “Confucianist”), it is first shown that these dimensions are strongly associated with economic indicators and road safety performance. Subsequently, it is illustrated that these dimensions can also be good predictors for public support for several road safety measures, in particular when these are perceived to restrict freedom of movement

The relational geometry of the port-city interface : case studies of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Ghent, Belgium

The aim of this paper is to operationalize a relational approach to the study of port-city interfaces. A relational approach allows for the analysis of how actors are connected, transact, and assign meaning and value to regional development. Much of the literature on port-city interfaces has primarily focussed on late 20th century transformation processes at the urban waterfront. This fails to appreciate the often-continued presence of port activity within cities and falls short in understanding how the development agendas of port cities are relationally constituted. In this paper, first we argue that the port-city interface is a relational geometry through which heterogeneous flows of actors, assets, and structures are coupled. Second, we present an analytical framework capable of operationalizing such relational approach. The contemporary relational geometries in the bio-based sectors within the port cities of Amsterdam and Ghent are taken as starting points. Analysing these reveal how different coupling mechanisms result in particular development trajectories of the port city, setting the scene for future coupling mechanisms. This paper concludes with a discussion on the value of a relational approach to the study of port-city interfaces

Quels usages pour les jeux électroniques en classe?

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 7 mai 2009)

Managing for Learning and Impact

Over the past three years, the King Baudouin Foundation has developed a more systematic approach for the evaluation of its projects, which FSG helped codify in the KBF Project Management Guide: 'Managing for Learning and Impact'. There is a growing interest of foundations in Europe to evaluate the intended impact of their projects and programs. Foundations invest in an impact-driven philanthropy and therefore develop specific strategies, activities and tools