1,720,993 research outputs found
Just nature recovery: a framework for centring multispecies and multi-dimensional justice in land management
Full text linkA rising interest in nature recovery has expanded the focus of conservation beyond
protected areas to encompass a range of terrestrial and marine areas, from forests,
fields, and farms to cities, coasts and oceans. These expansions create new practical
and theoretical contestations regarding how, why, and for whom nature recovery
projects should be pursued. Such contestations are particularly pronounced in
Scotland, a country with a long history of struggles over land rights, widespread loss of
natural habitats, and highly unequal land ownership patterns. This paper examines
how different framings of justice, and different approaches to nature recovery, interact
to either retrench or redress past and present injustices in a range of Scottish
examples. We argue that multispecies conceptions of justice that eschew humancentric framings provide a normative basis for recovering nature, while multidimensional framings of justice as distributive, procedural and recognitional help
specify a range of requirements for social change. Both frames highlight injustices in
current trajectories and the need for alternative approaches to deliver a just transition
in nature recovery. We outline a three-step process for further research on justice
issues and for developing policy recommendations. This entails 1) historicising
contexts, 2) considering both multispecies and multi-dimensional understandings of
justice, and 3) uncovering alternative nature recovery strategies that might more
explicitly foreground justice considerations
What factors are linked to people feeling able to influence decisions affecting their local area?
Full text linkThis report outlines some factors linked to whether or not adults in Wales feel that they can influence
decision-making in their local area, for example decisions made by a local authority.
This report is based on National Survey interviews carried out in 2018-19. It provides an update of previous
analysis based on the 2014-15 survey
Embedding an evidence-led, best-practice culture of engagement: learning from the evidence
Full text linkPublic engagement is key for making better quality decisions for more sustainable outcomes. Through effective and inclusive engagement, we can work to empower voices which are often marginalised in scientific and policy decision-making and access the evidence we need to understand what works. This review provides the evidence behind what engagement is and why it is important, what the benefits are, the potential risks of ‘poor’ engagement and how to mitigate them, how different ‘types’ of engagement can provide useful classifications for practitioners, and how practitioners can use theory (different ways of thinking and knowing) to inform best practice. This includes consideration of the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on how we engage in an increasingly digitised world.
This report outlines how the available evidence can be used to inform the creation of an evidence-led, best-practice engagement culture. It outlines a series of recommendations which consider engagement strategies, frameworks, standards, models, methods, toolkits (and so forth). One central message in this review is that ‘best practice’ engagement and its outcomes will vary between different situations. Practitioners should recognise that the quality of the process and outcomes will change depending on the purpose and objectives for engaging, as well as organisational cultures of engagement, institutional capacity, wider socio-economic and political contexts, and the characteristics of participants
Key themes linked to a selection of national indicators for the well-being of Wales
Full text linkThis report provides a summary of the key themes that were found to be linked with each of seven national
indicators for well-being. It is based on 2018-19 results from the National Survey for Wales. The report
looks at similarities and differences between the individual factors linked to these seven national indicators.
For each of the seven indicators (listed below), a more in-depth report was also produced on the key
factors for the indicator
Engagement in the digital age: practitioners’ perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for planning and environmental decision-making
Full text linkEffective engagement is crucial for making better quality decisions for more sustainable, equitable, and resilient outcomes. The involvement of members of the public and other stakeholder groups has been increasingly promoted in research, policy, and practice from local to international scales. However, whether engagement achieves its goals is highly variable between different social and institutional contexts. In the digital age, there are still many unanswered questions regarding the benefits of digital tools and their effectiveness at addressing the goals of engagement. These questions became increasingly urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic which placed technology-related disparities into the spotlight. This thesis explored practitioners’ perspectives of the challenges and opportunities for public and stakeholder engagement in the digital age, focusing on planning and environmental decision-making processes in the UK. The research was interdisciplinary, participatory and action-oriented, driven by an impact goal and co-produced with practitioners to produce relevant and useful outcomes for policy and practice. This approach was agile and adaptive in responding to the needs of potential users and beneficiaries of the research.
The research followed a mixed-methods approach involving a survey questionnaire and in-depth interviews with practitioners in UK public, private, and third sectors organisations. The findings revealed a comprehensive range of technical and ethical debates around the use of digital tools for engagement and inclusion, digital literacy, power relations, social interaction and connection, trust and transparency, digital well-being, privacy and security, among other issues. Challenging attitudes of ‘digital by default’ and ‘digital first’, the findings demonstrated that there is no single digital, in-person, or hybrid approach which guarantees successful engagement in all situations. The research also responded to a gap in the evidence on the institutionalisation of engagement practices, delivering novel insights into the barriers and enablers for undertaking engagement across a range of different organisational settings from a practitioner perspective. This included considering a range of organisational constraints including available resources, skills and expertise, participant expectations, and practitioner agency. This research revealed that many of these issues are rooted in the cultures and governance structures of organisations and therefore may require a culture change to be successful in the long term. Overall, the findings support and contribute original and evidence-based insights to existing theories and frameworks understanding what works for engagement, including factors that are uniquely important for digital engagement. 10 thinking points for effective engagement in the digital age are suggested for policy and practice which can be used to enhance existing guidelines, models, and toolkits for effective engagement in an increasingly digitised world
Embedding an evidence-led, best-practice culture of engagement: learning from the evidence (NECR448)
No full textEXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
We define engagement for the purposes of this document as: A process whereby individuals, groups, and/or organisations choose to take an active role in decisions which affect them (after Reed 2008).
Public engagement is key for making better quality decisions for more sustainable outcomes. Through effective and inclusive engagement, we can work to empower voices which are often marginalised in scientific and policy decision-making. This report provides the evidence behind what engagement is and why it is important, what the benefits are, the potential risks of “poor” engagement and how to mitigate them, how different “types” of engagement can provide useful classifications for practitioners, and how practitioners can use theory (different ways of thinking and knowing) to inform best practice. This includes consideration of the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on how we engage in an increasingly digitised world.
This report shows how the available evidence can be used to inform best practice engagement strategies, frameworks, standards, models, methods, toolkits (and so forth). One central message in this report is that “best practice” engagement and its outcomes will vary between different situations. Practitioners should recognise that the quality of the process and outcomes will change depending on the purpose and objectives for engaging, as well as organisational cultures of engagement, institutional capacity, wider socioeconomic and political contexts, and the characteristics of participants.
Key tips:
1. Engagement is a process not just an activity.
2. Take time to understand the local context in which engagement is being carried out.
3. Engage stakeholders in dialogue as early as possible in the decision-making
process.
4. Recognise the importance of integrating local and scientific knowledge and
implement this in practice.
5. Manage power dynamics effectively, for example by using skilled facilitators who
can help marginalised voices be heard and build trust in the process.
6. Think about the length and time scale of the engagement process and how often it
might be necessary to engage with participants.
7. Recognise that different (digital/remote and in-person) tools and approaches for
engagement will work differently in different situations.
8. Engagement coordinators need to manage participants’ expectations of the
engagement process.
9. There are risks to engagement, some of which can be managed or mitigated.
10.Frameworks for engagement need to be institutionalised within organisations as a
culture of engagement
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
What factors are linked to people agreeing that their local area has a sense of community?
Full text linkThis report outlines some factors linked to whether people think their local area has a strong sense of
community. The National Survey for Wales measures a person’s experience of sense of community based
on three individual factors: feeling of belonging to the local area; whether they feel people from different
backgrounds get on well together in the area; and whether people in the area treat each other with respect
and consideration.
This report is based on National Survey interviews carried out in 2018-19. It provides an update of previous
analysis based on the 2013-14 results
What factors are linked to people being satisfied with the area that they live in?
Full text linkThis report outlines some factors linked to adults in Wales being overly satisfied with their local area as a
place to live. The National Survey for Wales includes a measurement of the extent to which a person feels
satisfied with their local area. This report is based on National Survey interviews carried out in 2018-19.
The aim of this report is to provide an updated overview of key factors linked to feeling satisfied with the
local area as a place to live
- …
