Organizing Science Society Collaborations: Coordination for Social Relevance and Scientific Excellence

Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2011In 2003 the Netherlands introduced 37 consortia to increase the social relevance of its science system. The consortia were given a double objective of scientific excellence and social relevance. The question is raised how consortia from different disciplines have dealt with this potential area of tension in their coordination strategy

Societal Impact of Academic Research Through Networks

Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2011This paper is about influence of governance of research networks on societal impact. We have studied two Dutch national research consortia of universities, governments and industry. Through comparison, we learn i) how research in networks has societal impact and ii) which factors determine societal impact of research in networks

MADFORWATER. WP2 and WP3 Adaptation of wastewater treatment technologies and technologies for efficient water management and treated wastewater reuse in agriculture. Life-Cycle Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of the tested technologies

This data set includes data produced by FHNW and PNO in collaboration with research partners in the framework of the MADFORWATER project. In particular, the data set contains qualitative and quantitative data about different MADFORWATER wastewater treatment technology and irrigation & water reuse technologies, collected by means of surveys and interviews with MADFORWATER project partners. Data were gathered and processed into comparable data types for the purpose of life-cycle assessment (LCA) and cost-benefit analysis (CBA). LCA data includes technology-specific data (description, environmental benefits, and inventory of processes) and the resulting LCA analysis, that contains environmentally relevant indicators for each technology. CBA data includes various performance categories (capital; operating; maintenance and additional costs, such as training and overheads; social/environmental costs imposed on third parties by each wastewater treatment technology and irrigation & water reuse technology, such as noise or carbon impacts; health benefits related to irrigation with treated instead of untreated WW; health/environmental benefits), with specific data for each technology. Data and evaluation results can potentially be used by researchers active in similar research areas in their experiment designs, as well as by companies as a means for innovation decisions and business development

The role of knowledge users in public-private research programs : An evaluation challenge

Many contemporary science systems are witnessing the rise of public-private research programs that aim to build capacity for research and innovation in strategic areas. These programs create a significant policy challenge: how to select - based on ex ante evaluations - a consortium that will carry out public-private research activities that will contribute to the overall policy goal of capacity-building in the science and innovation system? And how to make sure that knowledge users are involved in the research program in a meaningful way? The aim of this article is to explore the possibilities for ex ante evaluation of public-private research programs in a systematic comparison of 37 Dutch programs funded by the 'Investment Grants for Knowledge Infrastructure' (Besluit Subsidies Investeringen Kennisinfrastructuur) in 2004. Our research question is as follows: to what extent can involvement and commitment of knowledge users in the stage of drawing up the program proposal serve as a predictor of their later involvement and financial contribution? Using available archival data on the programs, we show that on average there is a close association between user involvement in the proposals of public-private research consortia and their eventual involvement during the implementation, but that there are substantial differences between plans and implementation in individual cases. Our analysis suggests that selecting consortia for funding based on their program proposals is possible and legitimate, but that strict rules are necessary to safeguard the financial contributions of knowledge users

LCA and CBA of the lab-scale WW treatment technologies

This report is part of the European Horizon 2020 project MADFORWATER, which aims to develop solutions to enhance wastewater treatment, reuse treated wastewater for irrigation and water efficiency in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are used together with considerations about the technological performance and social acceptance of the technology in the target country, in order to select technologies that will be optimized and scaled up for the field pilots. The CBA provides insight into the economic performance of the different technologies for the field pilots, the LCA into the environmental burdens and benefits. In particular, this deliverable focuses on the WP2 technologies for wastewater (WW) treatment, whereas D3.2 focuses on the WP3 irrigation technologies

LCA and CBA of the lab-scale irrigation technologies

This report is part of the European Horizon 2020 project MADFORWATER, which aims to develop solutions to enhance water efficiency in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are used together with considerations about the technological performance and social acceptance of the technology in the target country, in order to select technologies that will be optimized and scaled up for the field pilots. The CBA provides insight into the economic performance of the different technologies for the field pilots, the LCA into the environmental burdens and benefits. In particular, this deliverable focuses on the WP3 technologies for irrigation

Differences between LCA for analysis and LCA for policy: A case study on the consequences of allocation choices in bio-energy policies

Purpose - The increasing concern for adverse effects of climate change has spurred the search for alternatives for conventional energy sources. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has increasingly been used to assess the potential of these alternatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The popularity of LCA in the policy context puts its methodological issues into another perspective. This paper discusses how bio-electricity directives deal with the issue of allocation and shows its repercussions in the policy field. Methods - Multifunctionality has been a well-known problem since the early development of LCA and several methods have been suggested to deal with multifunctional processes. This paper starts with a discussion of the most common allocation methods. This discussion is followed by a description of bio-energy policy directives. The description shows the increasing importance of LCA in the policy context as well as the lack of consensus in the application of allocation methods. Methodological differences between bio-energy directives possibly lead to different assessments of bio-energy chains. To assess the differences due to methodological choices in bio-energy directives, this paper applies three different allocation methods to the same bioelectricity generation system. The differences in outcomes indicate the importance of solving the allocation issue for policy decision making. Results and discussion - The case study focuses on bioelectricity from rapeseed oil. To assess the influence of the choice of allocation in a policy directive, three allocation methods are applied: economic partitioning (on the basis of proceeds), physical partitioning (on the basis of energy content), and substitution (under two scenarios). The outcomes show that the climate change score is assessed quite differently; ranging from 0.293 kg to 0.604 kg CO2 eq/kWh. It is argued that this uncertainty hampers the optimal use of LCA in the policy context. The aim of policy LCAs is different from the aim of LCAs for analysis. Therefore, it is argued that LCAs in the policy context will benefit from a new guideline based on robustness. Conclusions - The case study confirms that the choice of allocation method in policy directives has large influence on the outcomes of an LCA. With the growing popularity of LCA in policy directives, this paper recommends a new guideline for policy LCAs. The high priority of robustness in the policy context makes it an ideal starting point of this guideline. An accompanying dialog between practitioners and commissioners should further strengthen the use of LCA in policy directives.Multi Actor SystemsTechnology, Policy and Managemen