EU CSR Policy Co-Design: A Shopping Basket Voluntary Approach

Purpose: The chapter aims to explore the corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy domain at EU decision-making level, aiming to understand the nature of the participation shaping the CSR policy agenda co-design. Design/methodology/approach: Building on a conceptual framework of participation, the chapter highlights the literature and policy views around the importance of EU CSR policy and how EU envisage the framework of the CSR policy co-design. By highlighting conceptual dimensions of the participatory governance, different levels of participation that shape the policy are evidenced. In particular, a case analysis emphasising the predominant role of the consultation approach in the decision-making process of the CSR policy is undertaken. Findings: The findings shed light on the shift from the traditional passive participation in EU CSR policy decision making, based on purely communications towards consultation and multi-stakeholders participation. From the multi-stakeholder perspective, the EU Multi-Stakeholder Forum’s strategic relevance is observed, however, with no clear mechanisms to enforce its aims. Although the CSR policy is a core priority on the policy agenda, its voluntary approach justifies its early stages of implementation and fragmented use. Research limitations/implications: The research is qualitative, based on literature review and policy view. Further research directions could enrich the chapter. Originality/value: The research contributes to the theoretical discussion around participation in a supranational context. Our insights shed light on the levels of participation and CSR policy goals and call for a critical debate on the EU policy co-design processes. Furthermore, through the lens of a case analysis, it sheds light on how EU CSR forum fits in with the current EU structure and its ‘principle of subsidiarity’, which states that decisions must be taken close to its citizens

Participatory Governance

“Participatory governance” widely refers to the democratic mechanisms which are intended to involve citizens in public policy-making processes. In other words, participatory governance is aimed to establish a bridge between public institutions and ordinary people, in an attempt to increase the effectiveness and responsiveness of public policy-making activities. Either an interest-based, integrative, or functional logic may variously inspire participatory governance initiatives. Apart from the inner logic inspiring these initiatives, the attempt to give a deliberative power to people distinguishes participatory governance

Urban-Planning Tactics and Strategies in New Decision-Making Process

The basis on which the main economic and social p institutions are situated, which until a few years ago we believed to be solid, began to waver dangerously, spreading in the public and scholars an atmosphere of uncertainty and concern that could hinder the seeking rigorous and convincing interpretations and therapies to deal with a particularly negative picture. According to Ulrich Beck, the systemic crisis triggered by the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. definitively immersed us in a “global capitalism of uncertainty” such that the climate we are experiencing is characterized by a widespread awareness that unmistakable changes are about to arrive. Their direction, however, is still unknown. In this clearly problematic state, the disciplines that contribute most to the development of urban-planning practices are suffering even more evidently from a crisis of visibility and legitimateness due to which the role of planning tools is subject to rapid objection and substantial resizing. Over the years of feverish growth that pre- ceded the economic collapse in 2008, local administrators increasingly restricted planners’ field of initiative, limiting them to ensuring the feasibility of transformation initiatives that were promoted by private operators. And now that urban dynamics have experienced an almost unprecedented setback, the tasks assigned to planners will be drastically marginalized even more. A survey of the most important writings dedicated to the current socioeconomic crossroads encountered in many Western countries indicates that this planning crisis is situated within a more general decline in the social sciences. Furthermore, this dual setback represents an important reflection on the extraordinary difficulty encountered, especially in Europe, by the welfare system and the system of representative democracy. Therefore, the proposal for a new planning paradigm cannot help but direct, at least in part, a more general reconsideration of the conditions under which, even before the market and society, the governmental functions of the territory are exercised along an analytical path that finds a particularly meaningful intersection in the operation of decision- making processes. Faced with the intensive research programme illustrated in this volume, the reflection presented below offers a restricted contribution. Its utility resides not so much in the presentation of an original, mature theoretical/critical apparatus but in indicating a promising line of reasoning that aims to investigate the existing connection between new decision-making processes, the ways in which it is possible to favour public participation in territorial government, and, finally, the changes in the market economy and social context. The latter inevitably constitutes the background to and reference for innovations introduced as much in participatory processes as in the practice of urban planning. In particular, the first part aims to highlight the presence of the common roots of the economic crisis, society, and the settlement formations that have been produced in this first glimpse of the third millennium. The second part instead examines the conditions presiding over the identification of integrated solutions, i.e. those capable of favouring the search for a common way out of this particularly difficult situation. Finally, the third part derives the main consequences for a change in the planning tools that allow their effectiveness to ultimately unfold

Microbial Community Dynamics and Response to Plant Growth-Promoting Microorganisms in the Rhizosphere of Four Common Food Crops Cultivated in Hydroponics

Plant growth promoting microorganisms (PGPMs) of the plant root zone microbiome have received limited attention in hydroponic cultivation systems. In the framework of a project aimed at the development of a biological life support system for manned missions in space, we investigated the effects of PGPMs on four common food crops (durum and bread wheat, potato and soybean) cultivated in recirculating hydroponic systems for a whole life cycle. Each crop was inoculated with a commercial PGPM mixture and the composition of the microbial communities associated with their root rhizosphere, rhizoplane/endosphere and with the recirculating nutrient solution was characterised through 16S- and ITStargeted Illumina MiSeq sequencing. PGPM addition was shown to induce changes in the composition of these communities, though these changes varied both between crops and over time. Microbial communities of PGPM treated plants were shown to be more stable over time. Though additional development is required, this study highlights the potential benefits that PGPMs may confer to plants grown in hydroponic systems, particularly when cultivated in extreme environments such as space