Enterprise, Innovation and the Enviroment

This report aims to profile the activity of small and medium sized enterprises (SME) operating in the UK's environmental sector. The environmental sector is expected to be critical for the future economic development of the UK supporting a new low carbon economy. As many entrepreneurial and innovative firms require significant funding to support their innovative activities this report specifically investigates the innovation activity and financial requirements UK environmental companies. The survey report highlights the role of a variety of funding sources, including public investment for supporting these firms, particularly those active in R&D. Responding firms show a strong record of performance to date, particularly R&D active companies but also have expectations of additional finance being made available for the future in the form of loans, equity finance and government funding

Funding: Patterns and Guideposts in the Nonprofit Sector

Although funding is a pressing concern for nonprofit organizations across the United States, detailed information about how dollars flow within the sector is hard to come by. For example, are there distinct patterns to the ways in which nonprofit organizations are funded? If the answer to this question is "yes," those patterns could provide important "guideposts" for similar organizations planning their funddevelopment strategies.To begin answering this question, the Bridgespan Group researched the funding for three samples of nonprofit organizations using Form 990 returns, complemented by company-specific reports and personal interviews. 1. The largest organizations tend to rely on a single type of funding for the majority of their revenue, rather than having a balanced mix from a variety of funders. Among youth services and environmental advocacy organizations, there are distinct transition points across a spectrum ofrevenue sizes where organizations move from heterogeneous to singletypefunding.2. Among the largest organizations, the kind of work an organization does influences, but does not dictate, the identity of its dominant funding type.3. In the fields we selected for in-depth analysis -- youth services and environmental advocacy -- growth to a significant size is extremely rare, and the largest organizations control most of the resources.4. In youth services and environmental advocacy, there seem to be transition points in the typical funding mix used by organizations of different sizes, suggesting that the size of an organization influences its dominant funding type

Smoke and Mirrors: The National Lottery and the Non-Profit Sector

In a context of massive reductions in government consumption spending, the National Lottery is intended to provide a sustainable source of funding for non-profit organisations providing much needed sporting, arts, cultural, social and environmental services to the South African public. This funding, it is hoped, will help secure a better life for all citizens

Confluence and contours: reflexive management of environmental risk

Government institutions have responsibilities to distribute risk management funds meaningfully and to be accountable for their choices. We took a macro-level sociological approach to understanding the role of government in managing environmental risks, and insights from micro-level psychology to examine individual-level risk-related perceptions and beliefs. Survey data from 2,068 U.K. citizens showed that lay people's funding preferences were associated positively with beliefs about responsibility and trust, yet associations with perception varied depending on risk type. Moreover, there were risk-specific differences in the funding preferences of the lay sample and 29 policymakers. A laboratory-based study of 109 participants examined funding allocation in more detail through iterative presentation of expert information. Quantitative and qualitative data revealed a meso-level framework comprising three types of decisionmakers who varied in their willingness to change funding allocation preferences following expert information: adaptors, responders, and resistors. This research highlights the relevance of integrated theoretical approaches to understanding the policy process, and the benefits of reflexive dialogue to managing environmental risks.Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, EPSRC, NERC, ESR

Does it pay to play? How bargaining shapes donor participation in the funding of environmental protection

Multilateral funding for global environmental protection, such as biodiversity conservation, requires donor participation. When are donors willing to participate? We examine a game-theoretic model of multilateral funding for environmental projects in developing countries. Donors must first decide whether to participate in a multilateral institution. They do so in anticipation of a bargaining outcome that depends on their participation decisions. The multilateral institution then bargains with a recipient over the distribution of gains from project implementation. We find that the donors' and the recipient's vulnerability to negative environmental externalities have diverging effects on their participation behavior. As donors' vulnerability to negative externalities increases, their bargaining power decreases and fewer donors participate. But as the recipient's vulnerability increases, more donors participate because their bargaining power grows. These findings can illuminate bargaining over multilateral climate finance and inform the design of international institutions

Environmental Funding by European Foundations

This publication is the second volume published by the European Environmental Funders Group (EEFG), a Thematic Network of the EFC. The report features a detailed analysis of the environmental grants of 62 European public benefit foundations, as compared to 27 in the previous edition. These 62 foundations include many of Europe's largest providers of philanthropic grants for environmental initiatives, although there are undoubtedly additional foundations that could be included in a report of this kind. It should be noted that only foundations that have a defined environmental programme or mission were contacted for this project. The report focuses on the 2011 calendar year as this is the latest year for which comprehensive grants data could be obtained for all 62 foundations

Towards better integration of environmental science in society: lessons from BONUS, the joint Baltic Sea environmental research and development programme

Integration of environmental science in society is impeded by the large gap between science and policy that is characterised by weaknesses in societal relevance and dissemination of science and its practical implementation in policy. We analyse experiences from BONUS, the policy-driven joint Baltic Sea research and development programme (2007–2020), which is part of the European Research Area (ERA) and involves combined research funding by eight EU member states. The ERA process decreased fragmentation of Baltic Sea science and BONUS funding increased the scientific quality and societal relevance of Baltic Sea science and strengthened the science-policy interface. Acknowledging the different drivers for science producers (academic career, need for funding, peer review) and science users (fast results fitting policy windows), and realising that most scientists aim at building conceptual understanding rather than instrumental use, bridges can be built through strategic planning, coordination and integration. This requires strong programme governance stretching far beyond selecting projects for funding, such as coaching, facilitating the sharing of infrastructure and data and iterative networking within and between science producer and user groups in all programme phases. Instruments of critical importance for successful science-society integration were identified as: (1) coordinating a strategic research agenda with strong inputs from science, policy and management, (2) providing platforms where science and policy can meet, (3) requiring cooperation between scientists to decrease fragmentation, increase quality, clarify uncertainties and increase consensus about environmental problems, (4) encouraging and supporting scientists in disseminating their results through audience-tailored channels, and (5) funding not only primary research but also synthesis projects that evaluate the scientific findings and their practical use in society – in close cooperation with science users − to enhance relevance, credibility and legitimacy of environmental science and expand its practical implementation

The Farm Act's Regional Equity Provision: Impacts on Conservation Program Outcomes

The 2002 and 2008 Farm Acts increased funding for conservation programs that provide financial assistance to farmers to implement conservation practices on working farmland. Along with seeking cost-effective environmental benefits, these programs have a goal of spreading conservation funding equitably across States. The 2002 and 2008 Farm Acts strengthened this allocative goal by setting a minimum threshold for conservation funding for each State—one that exceeds historical funding for some States—for enrolling agricultural producers in specified conservation programs. This study uses conservation program data to examine evidence of the impacts of the Regional Equity provision of the 2002 Farm Act, and explores the tradeoffs that can occur among conservation program goals when legislation gives primacy to fund allocation. The study found that cross-State shifts in funding reduced the acres receiving conservation treatment for many resource problems, but increased the net economic benefits from treatments on some of them. Overall impacts on the types of producers enrolled were small.Conservation program outcomes, working-land, land protection programs, state funding levels, regional equity provision, cost & benefits, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The effect of amino acid deprivation on the transfer of iron through Caco-2 cell monolayers

Funding Source Rural and Environmental Scientific and Analytical Services, the Scottish Government Acknowledgments We thank Dr Helen Hayes for her technical support during this project. We also thank Dr Christine Kennedy for her involvement at the beginning of this project. This study was funded by Rural and Environmental Scientific and Advisory Service of Scottish Government.Peer reviewedPostprin

Nanotechnology Oversight: An Agenda for the New Administration

Identifies how current laws can be applied or modified to provide needed oversight of nanotechnology and materials for public health and environmental protection. Calls for more funding for risk research, coordinated regulation, and public involvement