Integrating scientific guidance into marine spatial planning

Marine spatial planning (MSP), whereby areas of the ocean are zoned for different uses, has great potential to reduce or eliminate conflicts between competing management goals, but only if strategically applied. The recent literature overwhelmingly agrees that including stakeholders in these planning processes is critical to success; but, given the countless alternative ways even simple spatial regulations can be configured, how likely is it that a stakeholder-driven process will generate plans that deliver on the promise of MSP? Here, we use a spatially explicit, dynamic bioeconomic model to show that stakeholder-generated plans are doomed to fail in the absence of strong scientific guidance. While strategically placed spatial regulations can improve outcomes remarkably, the vast majority of possible plans fail to achieve this potential. Surprisingly, existing scientific rules of thumb do little to improve outcomes. Here, we develop an alternative approach in which models are used to identify efficient plans, which are then modified by stakeholders. Even if stakeholders alter these initial proposals considerably, results hugely outperform plans guided by scientific rules of thumb. Our results underscore the importance of spatially explicit dynamic models for the management of marine resources and illustrate how such models can be harmoniously integrated into a stakeholder-driven MSP process.     

The bi-national road to immigrant rights mobilization: states,social movements and Chicago's Mexican hometown associations

Although immigrant hometown associations (HTAs) are most often recognized as important for sustaining transnational ties to sending societies, Chicago HTAs took a leadership role in the 2006 marches for US immigrant rights. Employing a binational historical framework focused on the influence of political opportunities and threats on social movement activism, we argue that the involvement of Chicago HTAs in US-oriented mobilization resulted from an evolving series of organizational responses to state actors in both Mexico and the USA. We find that these interactions conferred growing levels of organizational capacity and political legitimacy upon CONFEMEX, the Chicago-based HTA confederation, and played a key role in its embrace of US-centred strategies of popular mobilization in 2006. These findings suggest the utility of a long-term, binational focus on multiple state actors in order to understand the complex political evolution of HTAs and the emergence of the US immigrant rights movement.     

Evidence-Based Health Care Policy in Reimbursement Decisions: Lessons from a Series of Six Equivocal Case-Studies

Context

Health care technological evolution through new drugs, implants and other interventions is a key driver of healthcare spending. Policy makers are currently challenged to strengthen the evidence for and cost-effectiveness of reimbursement decisions, while not reducing the capacity for real innovations. This article examines six cases of reimbursement decision making at the national health insurance authority in Belgium, with outcomes that were contested from an evidence-based perspective in scientific or public media.

Methods

In depth interviews with key stakeholders based on the adapted framework of Davies allowed us to identify the relative impact of clinical and health economic evidence; experience, expertise & judgment; financial impact & resources; values, ideology & political beliefs; habit & tradition; lobbyists & pressure groups; pragmatics & contingencies; media attention; and adoption from other payers & countries.

Findings

Evidence was not the sole criterion on which reimbursement decisions were based. Across six equivocal cases numerous other criteria were perceived to influence reimbursement policy. These included other considerations that stakeholders deemed crucial in this area, such as taking into account the cost to the patient, and managing crisis scenarios. However, negative impacts were also reported, in the form of bypassing regular procedures unnecessarily, dominance of an opinion leader, using information selectively, and influential conflicts of interest.

Conclusions

‘Evidence’ and ‘negotiation’ are both essential inputs of reimbursement policy. Yet, purposely selected equivocal cases in Belgium provide a rich source to learn from and to improve the interaction between both. We formulated policy recommendations to reconcile the impact of all factors identified. A more systematic approach to reimburse new care may be one of many instruments to resolve the budgetary crisis in health care in other countries as well, by separating what is truly innovative and value for money from additional ‘waste’.     

小尺度海域空间评价单元划分技术研究——以福建省东山湾为例

科学合理的海域空间评价单元划分是各类海洋空间监测、评价、规划和管理的基础工作,对于保护海洋生态环境,实现海洋资源的可持续开发利用具有重大现实意义。然而,海洋的流动性、开放性、边界模糊性等特征,导致海洋空间评价单元划分较陆地而言更为复杂、困难。以福建省东山湾为例,提出一种适用于小尺度海域的空间评价单元划分技术方案,通过从化学属性、物理属性、生物学属性三个方面构建海域空间生态属性划分指标体系,进行空间分类评价,运用插值、叠加分析等GIS技术将东山湾划分为67个基本空间评价单元。研究结果不仅能为进一步划定东山湾海洋空间规划提供技术支持,同时为其他小尺度海域生态监测、评价、规划和管理提供科学参考。     

Types of Integration in Risk Assessment and Management,And Why They Are Needed

Risk-based decision making requires that the decision makers and stakeholders are informed of all risks that are potentially significant and relevant to the decision. The International Programme on Chemical Safety of the World Health Organization has developed a framework for integrating the assessment of human health and ecological risks. However, other types of integration are needed to support particular environmental decisions. They are integration of exposure and effects, of multiple chemicals and other hazardous agents, of multiple routes of exposure, of multiple endpoints, multiple receptors, multiple spatial and temporal scales, a product's life cycle, management alternatives, and socioeconomics with risk assessment. Inclusion of all these factors in an integrated assessment could lead to paralysis by analysis. Therefore, it is important that assessors be cognizant of the decision process and that decision makers and those who will influence the decision (stakeholders) be involved in planning the assessment to ensure that the degree of integration is necessary and sufficient.     

On the state of the public ill health: premature mortality in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Recently published data on mortality in the European Economic Community and Scandinavia convincingly showed that mortality among men and women aged 45-64 was considerably higher in the United Kingdom than elsewhere. This applied to deaths due to circulatory and respiratory disease, cancer, and all causes. For example, in 1980 in Scotland twice as many, or more, women aged 55-64 per 100 000 died of heart disease than in Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, West Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Reductions in mortality from all causes during 1950-80 in the United Kingdom did not match those in other countries, such as Finland and France. Whether the public in the United Kingdom knows about its relatively poor mortality state is doubtful. To secure improved funding of appropriate preventive and treatment services directed at reducing premature mortality, public awareness should be raised urgently so that politicians and political parties will respond quickly in a way that the problem demands.     

The role of the social sciences and economics in understanding and informing tree biosecurity policy and planning: a global summary and synthesis

Increased global biosecurity threats to trees, woods and forests have been strongly linked to the upsurge in worldwide trade and the expansion of tourism. A whole range of social, economic and political actors are implicated and affected by the movement of pests and diseases along these international pathways. A number of factors affect the actions of stakeholders, and wider public, including their values and motivations, how risks are perceived and acted upon, their ability to act, as well as the existing regulatory and economic environment. Understanding these factors is key to any future attempts to improve biosecurity policy and practice, and we present available evidence on six key dimension: (1) the role of different stakeholders and the broader public within tree health; (2) levels of knowledge and awareness of tree pests and diseases amongst the variety of end-user ‘stakeholder’ groups, and influences on their attitudes and practices; (3) social acceptability of management approaches; (4) the impact of formal and informal governance arrangements; (5) risk communication; (6) economic analyses on the impact of tree pests. We conclude by identifying evidence gaps and emphasising the need for better integration within the social sciences and between the social and natural sciences to promote effective interdisciplinary and policy-relevant contributions to tree health.     

Connectivity and Dispersal Patterns of Protected Biogenic Reefs: Implications for the Conservation of Modiolus modiolus (L.) in the Irish Sea

Biogenic reefs created by Modiolus modiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) (horse mussel reefs) are marine habitats which support high levels of species biodiversity and provide valuable ecosystem services. Currently, M. modiolus reefs are listed as a threatened and/or declining species and habitat in all OSPAR regions and thus are highlighted as a conservation priority under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Determining patterns of larval dispersal and genetic connectivity of remaining horse mussel populations can inform management efforts and is a critical component of effective marine spatial planning (MSP). Larval dispersal patterns and genetic structure were determined for several M. modiolus bed populations in the Irish Sea including those in Wales (North Pen Llŷn), Isle of Man (Point of Ayre) and Northern Ireland (Ards Peninsula and Strangford Lough). Simulations of larval dispersal suggested extant connectivity between populations within the Irish Sea. Results from the genetic analysis carried out using newly developed microsatellite DNA markers were consistent with those of the biophysical model. Results indicated moderately significant differentiation between the Northern Ireland populations and those in the Isle of Man and Wales. Simulations of larval dispersal over a 30 day pelagic larval duration (PLD) suggest that connectivity over a spatial scale of 150km is possible between some source and sink populations. However, it appears unlikely that larvae from Northern Ireland will connect directly with sites on the Llŷn or Isle of Man. It also appears unlikely that larvae from the Llŷn connect directly to any of the other sites. Taken together the data establishes a baseline for underpinning management and conservation of these important and threatened marine habitats in the southern part of the known range.     

Landscape liveability spatial assessment integrating ecosystem and urban services with their perceived importance by stakeholders

In recent years, landscape liveability has become a leading objective in policy and strategic planning. In the anthropocentric view of landscape, ecosystems fulfil important societal needs similarly to urban systems. Urban systems can meet a variety of such needs through Urban Services, which are historically and typically provided within cities. In this view, Ecosystem Services (ES) and Urban Services (US) influence landscape liveability in a comparable manner, so that liveability assessments based on both ES and US can be effective for landscape planning and policy-making purposes. As liveability is strongly dependent not only on objective landscape features, but also on the subjective perception of stakeholders, their involvement becomes essential for a coherent liveability assessment. The present study aims to develop a LIveability Spatial Assessment Model (LISAM) capable of considering both the local accessibility of services and their perceived relevance as expressed by stakeholders. To this end, a conceptual framework to detangle the spatial relationships between service sources, sinks, and delivery points was developed. From this base, consistent and comparable ES and US indices were calculated using GIS spatialisation techniques and then aggregated hierarchically through a Spatial Multicriteria Decision Making Analysis approach. Results include relevant maps showing explicit spatial indices of liveability that integrate, at various hierarchical levels, the local accessibility of ES and US, along with their local perceived relevance. By calculating complex indices able to highlight both the agri-natural and urban system roles on landscape liveability and by taking subjective and objective aspects into account, the model proved to be effective for spatial decision-making. In future applications, indicator and weight uncertainties should be considered and adequately analysed to assess reliability of the final output. The integration of ecosystem and urban disservices would also be relevant for including those landscape factors that reduce the overall level of place liveability.     

Transnational Corporations as ‘Keystone Actors’ in Marine Ecosystems

Keystone species have a disproportionate influence on the structure and function of ecosystems. Here we analyze whether a keystone-like pattern can be observed in the relationship between transnational corporations and marine ecosystems globally. We show how thirteen corporations control 11-16% of the global marine catch (9-13 million tons) and 19-40% of the largest and most valuable stocks, including species that play important roles in their respective ecosystem. They dominate all segments of seafood production, operate through an extensive global network of subsidiaries and are profoundly involved in fisheries and aquaculture decision-making. Based on our findings, we define these companies as keystone actors of the Anthropocene. The phenomenon of keystone actors represents an increasingly important feature of the human-dominated world. Sustainable leadership by keystone actors could result in cascading effects throughout the entire seafood industry and enable a critical transition towards improved management of marine living resources and ecosystems.     

Institutions and incentives for biodiversity conservation

Incentive measures for biodiversity conservation cannot be evaluated and compared outside the context of institutional performance and relationships. The institutional framework for biodiversity incentives includes a variety of organizations operating on different spatial scales. The institutional actors with an impact on biodiversity include community groups, local and national governmental structures, NGOs, business enterprises and international organizations. But the positve influence of conservation-oriented organizations is often significantly outweighed by the negative influence of other sets of institutional actors who are largely unaware of biodiversity as a concept and not unduly concerned with its conservation. There are several options for improving the institutional framework for biodiversity incentives: (1) decentralization of resource management decision making to local levels; (2) engaging and reorienting government institutions; (3) establishing new national and international institutions; and (4) establishing functional linkages between key institutional actors. The role of local, national and international institutions in designing and implementing effective incentive measures for biodiversity conservation will be critical. But the dynamics within and between institutional actors influencing biodiversity conservation are complex, variable and insufficiently understood, somewhat like biodiversity itself.     

Destruction of public and governmental experiments of GMO in Europe

The purpose of this article is to compile the destruction of GMO trials from academic or governmental research institutes in Europe, in a factual manner and to highlight their main characteristics. About 80 acts of vandalism against academic or governmental research on GMOs are identified, mainly in 4 countries; namely France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Examples are also provided for Italy and Belgium. The general conclusions that can be drawn from these acts are also discussed.     

An indicator framework for assessing progress in land and marine planning in Colombia and Cuba

Achievement of environmental management goals and objectives in coastal areas, including how to measure success, remains a significant subject for discussion among scholars and practitioners, meanwhile four distinct management efforts potentially converge within the coastal zone: land-use planning (LUP), river basin management (RBM), marine spatial planning (MSP) and integrated coastal management (ICM). This paper examines the general lack of attention being paid to overlapping spatial boundaries within the landward and marine areas and proposes an indicator-based framework to measure the effectiveness of the individual planning instruments, as opposed to specific initiatives, in achieving management goals. The six indicators used in the framework (planning; participation; communication; integration; responsibility and balance) are based on a modified version of the Coastal Sustainability Standard methodology described by Gallagher (2010). The framework provides for four scenarios of progress in three geographical dimensions (river, municipality and marine area) to be assessed. For this study, the Caribbean coast of Colombia and Cuba were identified as the areas to test the feasibility and relevance of the indicator framework to monitor progress in the different management approaches established to achieve coastal sustainability. Several key observations and lessons from the indicator-based framework are discussed in order to analyze the overlapping of the four space-based instruments, identify areas for targeted intervention and improve their integration.     

Options for Managing Invasive Marine Species

Marine biological invasions are increasingly recognised as a threat to biodiversity and coastal industry, including fisheries. Globally, efforts are underway to contain, if not eradicate, several high-impact marine invasive species. However, working in a marine environment places unique social, political and technical constraints on options for pest control, which we explored in a series of stakeholder workshops. Results suggest that current efforts are low risk and publicly acceptable, but have a low probability of success against established invaders. However, techniques deemed likely to be successful and ultimately needed in a marine context are currently more contentious for social and political reasons. To control introduced marine pests, scientists and managers will need to overcome perceptual biases among marine stakeholders, develop a decision-making framework for what is perceived to be an open system, and focus on technologies likely to be both effective and publicly and politically acceptable.     

Challenges for biodiversity monitoring using citizen science in transitioning social–ecological systems

Biodiversity monitoring requires sound data collection over large temporal and spatial scales in order to inform policy and conservation management. Citizen science programmes, if designed appropriately, can make valuable contributions to data collection and analyses. Moreover, citizen science has potential for both environmental education and civic participation. Recommendations on effective citizen science are available in the literature, but most existing work has come from relatively rich, industrialized countries. By contrast, there is very little knowledge on citizen science projects in transitioning economic, social and cultural settings. This paper seeks to adjust this deficit by contributing insights from our attempt to initiate a new monitoring scheme in Romania. We draw on our experience of conducting workshops, training events and camps to strengthen citizen engagement in a butterfly monitoring scheme, and discussions with many stakeholders engaged in other monitoring programmes inside and outside of Europe. We highlight four general themes that are worth considering when initiating new citizen science projects in socio-economically challenging settings: (i) engaging citizens requires a combination of formal and informal support; (ii) a culture of volunteering requires education as well as building capacity and confidence; (iii) citizen science needs active integration of both national experts and local stakeholders; and (iv) successful monitoring schemes require effective leadership. We conclude that particular attention should be paid to the cultural legacies of the target area.     

Carbon sequestration potential in European croplands has been overestimated

Yearly, per‐area carbon sequestration rates are used to estimate mitigation potentials by comparing types and areas of land management in 1990 and 2000 and projected to 2010, for the European Union (EU)‐15 and for four country‐level case studies for which data are available: UK, Sweden, Belgium and Finland. Because cropland area is decreasing in these countries (except for Belgium), and in most European countries there are no incentives in place to encourage soil carbon sequestration, carbon sequestration between 1990 and 2000 was small or negative in the EU‐15 and all case study countries. Belgium has a slightly higher estimate for carbon sequestration than the other countries examined. This is at odds with previous reports of decreasing soil organic carbon stocks in Flanders. For all countries except Belgium, carbon sequestration is predicted to be negligible or negative by 2010, based on extrapolated trends, and is small even in Belgium. The only trend in agriculture that may be enhancing carbon stocks on croplands at present is organic farming, and the magnitude of this effect is highly uncertain. Previous studies have focused on the potential for carbon sequestration and have shown quite significant potential. This study, which examines the sequestration likely to occur by 2010, suggests that the potential will not be realized. Without incentives for carbon sequestration in the future, cropland carbon sequestration under Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol will not be an option in EU‐15.     

Harmonizing regulations for biomedical research: a critical analysis of the US and Venezuelan systems

This article aims to compare the national legal systems that regulate biomedical research in an industrialized country (United States) and a developing country (Venezuela). A new international order is emerging in which Europe, Japan and the United States (US) are revising common guidelines and harmonizing standards. In this article, we analyze - as an example - the US system. This system is controlled by a federal agency structured to regulate research funded by the federal government uniformly, either in the US or abroad. In contrast, in Venezuela, a developing country, the creation of a centralized system is a slow process. Different types of ethical committees review research projects using non-uniform criteria. Consequently, various parallel organizations that conduct biomedical research, such as universities, research institutes and private hospitals have diverse regulations operating at a local level. Thus, the most relevant difference between the Venezuelan and the US systems is the degree of standardization. In the US, the review process is performed by institutional review boards (IRBs), which have a similar organization and maintain relationships with a centralized agency, following standard regulations. Although new proposals for establishing national regulations are currently being considered in Venezuela, the success of these initiatives will depend on promoting governmental efforts to create a more structured centralized system supported by a national regulatory framework. This system will need governmental financial support at all levels. This article proposes an integrated system to regulate research with human participants in Venezuela and other developing countries.     

Conservation “identity” and marine protected areas management: A Mediterranean case study

Protection of natural environments sought through management plans varies greatly between countries; characterizing these differences and what motivates them can inform future regional and international conservation efforts. This research builds on previous work addressing the spatial distribution of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean Sea. Particularly, it examines the relationship between a “protection level” (PL) score and a set of variables pertaining to each country's conservation efforts, economic conditions and human impact along the coast using regression analysis. Four sets of models demonstrated country characteristics that correlate with higher protection levels within marine protected areas (MPAs). Certain contextual factors – economic dependence on the marine environment, efforts at terrestrial conservation and greater human impact – were found to be significantly associated with higher PLs among the northern littoral countries of the Mediterranean. Such findings can inform policy makers about where efforts and investments should be directed for marine conservation.     

Marine spatial planning (MSP): a first step to ecosystem-based management (EBM) in the Wider Caribbean

The rapid decline of coastal ecosystems of the Wider Caribbean is entering its fifth decade. Some of the best science documenting this decline and its causes has been done by the laboratories of the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean (AMLC). Alarmed at the trends, Caribbean conservation pioneers established marine protected areas (MPAs) which spread throughout the region. Unfortunately, many have little or no protection and are now known to be too small to be effective in sustaining coastal ecosystems. Marine spatial planning (MSP) holds much promise to encompass the large geographic scales of the ecological processes and human impacts that influence coastal ecosystems and adjacent lands. The AMLC, through the scientific expertise and the national political connections of its member institutions, is well-positioned to help implement a pilot project. MSP a first step in ecosystem-based management and has had considerable success elsewhere. It holds our best chance of sustaining human use and conserving the coral reefs and associated ecosystems.     

Estimates of the number of patients with high cumulative doses through recurrent CT exams in 35 OECD countries

PurposeTo estimate the number of patients in OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries who receive a cumulative effective dose (CED) ≥ 100 mSv from recurrent computed tomography (CT) exams.MethodsTaking into account recently published data on the number of CTs per patient and the fraction of patients with CED ≥ 100 mSv as well as country-specific data for the number of CT exams/1,000 population from OECD publication, this paper makes estimations for 35 OECD countries.ResultsThe estimated total number of patients with CED ≥ 100 mSv for all 35 OECD countries combined in a 5-year period is around 2.5 million (2,493,685) in a population of 1.2 billion (1,176,641,900), i.e., 0.21% of the population. Expressed per 1,000 population, the range is from 0.51 for Finland to 2.94 for the US, a nearly six-fold difference. Countries with more than 2 patients with CED ≥ 100 mSv in a 5-yr period per 1,000 population are: Belgium, France, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Portugal, Turkey, and US.ConclusionsThe first estimates of the number of patients likely receiving CED ≥ 100 mSv through recurrent CT exams in 35 OECD countries indicate that 2.5 million patients reach this level in a 5-year period. There is an urgent need for various stakeholders including medical physicists, referring physicians, health policy makers, manufacturers of CT equipment and epidemiologists to attend to the issue in the interest of patient radiation safety.