Missing links: how individual’s can contribute to reserve policy enforcement on the example of the European Union

This comment looks at opportunities available to individuals alone or as a member of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to enforce reserve policy at the EU level to improve the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation. Based on a literature review, recent developments in certain EU policies (i.e., Nature Conservation Policy, Common Agricultural Policy, Regional Policy, Århus—Public Participation and Access to Justice) are assessed by means of a SEPO analysis. SEPO is a French acronym that stands for the successes (succès), failures (echècs), potentials (potentialités), and obstacles (obstacles). This method aims to analyse a situation from four dimensions of the past (successes and failures) and future (potentials and obstacles). The analysis shows different ways in which individuals can contribute to reserve policy enforcement (i.e., by public interest complaint based on private rights) and identifies public funding opportunities for research and management of reserves. Some of these mechanisms have just recently been introduced (e.g., Århus rights and several funding opportunities). Not surprisingly, the widest set of opportunities is provided by the Nature Conservation Policy. The other three policies (Common Agricultural Policy, Regional Policy, Århus—Public Participation and Access to Justice) touch on reserve conservation only in an additional way, either horizontally or vertically. The analysis also identifies inter-linkages between the different policies with regard to reserve conservation, which may be used by individuals to enforce policy either in a protective or cooperative way.     

The European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics Policy Statement No. 6.1: Recommended Guidelines on National Registration Schemes for Medical Physicists

This EFOMP Policy Statement is an update of Policy Statement No. 6 first published in 1994. The present version takes into account the European Union Parliament and Council Directive 2013/55/EU that amends Directive 2005/36/EU on the recognition of professional qualifications and the European Union Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM laying down the basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation. The European Commission Radiation Protection Report No. 174, Guidelines on Medical Physics Expert and the EFOMP Policy Statement No. 12.1, Recommendations on Medical Physics Education and Training in Europe 2014, are also taken into consideration.The EFOMP National Member Organisations are encouraged to update their Medical Physics registration schemes where these exist or to develop registration schemes taking into account the present version of this EFOMP Policy Statement (Policy Statement No. 6.1“Recommended Guidelines on National Registration Schemes for Medical Physicists”).     

Indian Public Policy Today

Book reviewed in this article:
Native Americans and Public Policy . Fremont J. Lydenand Lyman H. Legters , eds. Pitt Series in Policy and Institutional Studies. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1992. 331 pp.     

我国生态产品价值实现政策的配置与优化——基于政策文本分析

为促进城乡区域协调发展,推动地区生态产业化和产业生态化,完善生态产品价值实现的多元化路径和政策制度体系,对当前中央和地方政府发布的生态产品价值实现相关政策文本展开分析,并提出优化建议,为后续相关政策配置与优化提供参考。通过选取2019年-2022年8月间36份生态产品价值实现政策文本作为研究对象,构建政策工具-政策目标二维分析框架,借助质性分析工具Nvivo12对其进行量化分析和综合评价。研究发现,政策文件以通知和实施方案为主;政策工具覆盖较为全面,但内部存在分配不太协调的现象。政策目标维度中生态环境优美化受关注度较高,而生态产业高效化较少。工具-目标配置上,存在多对多的关系,不同政策目标对应的政策工具也存在差异。为进一步优化生态产品价值实现的政策供给,从政策工具上应以战略、具体规划为重点,平衡政策工具内部结构比例;从政策目标上应强调从金融和技术方面助推生态产品价值实现的同时,也需要加强法规管制力度,推出更专业化和可操作性的具体举措,因地制宜凸显区域化特色和差异,真正将生态产品价值实现政策落到实处,确保成果看得见摸得着。     

Reviews

The Greening of Industry , by John D. Graham and Jennifer K. Hartwell
Reducing Toxics-A New Approach to Policy and Industrial Decisionmaking , by Robert Gottlieb ed.     

The European federation of organisations for medical physics policy statement No. 13: Recommended guidelines on the development of safety and quality management systems for medical physics departments

This EFOMP Policy Statement outlines the way in which a Safety and Quality Management System can be developed for Medical Physics Departments. The Policy Statement can help Medical Physicists to eliminate or at least minimize accidents or incidences due to improper use or application of medical technology on one hand and on the other to guarantee a safe, effective and efficient usage of new highly complicated and sophisticated technologies and procedures.     

Comparison between two policy strategies for scheduling trucks in a biomass logistic system

Approximately 75% of the cost to load, haul, and deliver a weekly supply of herbaceous biomass from temporary storage locations near the production fields to a bioprocessing plant (50 Mg/h average capacity, 24/7 operation) is truck cost. The management policy that a bioprocessing plant uses to schedule trucks determines the maximum number of trucks required, and thereby, the total cost for the logistic system. Three land use rates corresponding to 50%, 45%, and 40% of existing pastureland within a 3.2-km radius of chosen satellite storage locations were used to establish a production base surrounding the plant location. Total area harvested was 25,500 ha, or about 2.1% of the total land area in the 7-county region studied. Assumed average yield was 8.3 Mg/ha. Two different management policies, one based on travel time (Policy 1) and another based on the assignment of trucks to given sectors of the surrounding production base (Policy 2) were used to develop truck schedules. The logistic system was modeled as a discrete event simulation model, and the schedule was validated.

The maximum number of trucks needed for the logistic system was 32, 33 and 34 for 50%, 45% and 40% land use rates, respectively. In Policy 1, the maximum number of loads accumulated in the at-plant inventory was 384 truckloads at 50% land use rate (maximum inventory corresponds to about 3 days of plant operation). In Policy 2, the maximum number of loads accumulated in the at-plant inventory was 330 truckloads at 50% land use rate. Total number of loader and unloader operating hours for both the policies was computed, and the loader and unloader utilization rates were 83.5% and 70.8%, respectively. The delivered cost (load, haul, and unload) varied from $14.68 (Policy 1) to $16.14 per Mg (Policy 2) for 15% w.b. moisture content biomass.     

The European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics Policy Statement No 14: The role of the Medical Physicist in the management of safety within the magnetic resonance imaging environment: EFOMP recommendations

This European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP) Policy Statement outlines the way in which a Safety Management System can be developed for MRI units. The Policy Statement can help eliminate or at least minimize accidents or incidents in the magnetic resonance environment and is recommended as a step towards harmonisation of safety of workers, patients, and the general public regarding the use of magnetic resonance imaging systems in diagnostic and interventional procedures.     

Ten simple rules for maximizing the recommendations of the NIH data management and sharing plan

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Policy for Data Management and Sharing (DMS Policy) recognizes the NIH’s role as a key steward of United States biomedical research and information and seeks to enhance that stewardship through systematic recommendations for the preservation and sharing of research data generated by funded projects. The policy is effective as of January 2023. The recommendations include a requirement for the submission of a Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP) with funding applications, and while no strict template was provided, the NIH has released supplemental draft guidance on elements to consider when developing a plan. This article provides 10 key recommendations for creating a DMSP that is both maximally compliant and effective.     

Books

Book Reviewed in this Article:
Confronting Consumption, edited by T. Princen, M. Maniates, and K. Conca
Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Sciences, edited by M.J. Cohen and J. Murphy     

BOOK REVIEWS

Am I My Parents’Keeper?, by Norman Daniels Legal Issues in Human Reproduction, Edited by Sheila A.M. McLean Health Care Systems: Moral Conflicts in European and American Public Policy, edited by Hans-Martin Sass and Robert U. Massey Ethics in nursing practice: Basic Principles and their Application, by F.J. Fitzpatrick     

The European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics. Policy Statement No. 7.1: The roles,responsibilities and status of the medical physicist including the criteria for the staffing levels in a Medical Physics Department approved by EFOMP Council on 5th February 2016

This EFOMP Policy Statement is an amalgamation and an update of the EFOMP Policy Statements No. 2, 4 and 7. It presents guidelines for the roles, responsibilities and status of the medical physicist together with recommended minimum staffing levels. These recommendations take into account the ever-increasing demands for competence, patient safety, specialisation and cost effectiveness of modern healthcare services, the requirements of the European Union Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down the basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation, the European Commission’s Radiation Protection Report No. 174: “Guidelines on medical physics expert”, as well as the relevant publications of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The provided recommendations on minimum staffing levels are in very good agreement with those provided by both the European Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency.     

The European Union and Ocean Use Management: The Marine Strategy and the Maritime Policy

Problems resulting from contemporary patterns of ocean use and threats to the viability of the marine environment have led to reconsideration of ocean use governance in a number of states, including the United States, Australia, and Canada. For its part, the European Union has been working on the development of a Marine Strategy to safeguard the environment and a more encompassing Maritime Policy into which the Marine Strategy would be folded. The desired Maritime Policy would reflect a holistic perspective of ocean space, embody an ecosystem-based approach to ocean use management, and provide a broad framework for ocean/coastal management. As has been seen elsewhere, developing such a governance system is difficult both in terms of conceptualization and, subsequently, in operationalization. The June 2006 European Commission Green Paper on Maritime Policy sets the stage for a year of consultations designed to develop an effective governance system for ocean management. Institutional and policy changes will be needed and it will be necessary to balance the objectives of economic growth and protection of environmental sustainability. This article examines current developments in efforts to devise a coherent and integrated European Union approach to ocean management.     

Fit for purpose: the importance of quality standards in the cultivation and use of live plant collections for conservation

The one activity that is common to all botanic gardens is the cultivation of plants. Many also have education, science, conservation, events and exhibitions programmes but cultivating plants is at the core of every botanic garden and plants are used to support all these activities. With existing and potential threats to plants and habitats it is essential that botanic gardens contribute to both the science and practice of plant conservation. This is because they have the staff skills and some of the resources required to make a significant contribution. However, if the live plant collections are to play a part in this work, and they must, then they must be guided by a Collection Policy and achieve the highest standards of sampling, record keeping and cultivation to make sure that the plants in question are fit for purpose. After describing the Collection Policy for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) in Part 1, the paper covers the importance of wild origin material, targets, review and audits in driving up standards in Part 2. In Part 3, the inadequacy of some conservation collections are described. The approach taken by three different conservation programmes at RBGE which have embraced the need for rigorous standards in conservation collections are then described. These are the International Conifer Conservation Programme, the Scottish Plants Programme and RBGE’s Target 8 (of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation) Project. Examples from RBGE’s Living Collection and Collection Policy are used throughout to illustrate the points being made.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Bob Blank, Brain Policy: How the New Neuroscience will Change our Lives
Nora Machado, Using the Bodies of the Dead     

Helminth-infected patients with malaria: a low profile transmission hub?

The scale-up of malaria control efforts in recent years, coupled with major investments in malaria research, has produced impressive public health impact in a number of countries and has led to the development of new tools and strategies aimed at further consolidating malaria control goals. As a result, there is a growing need for the malaria policy setting process to rapidly review increasing amounts of evidence. The World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme, in keeping with its mandate to set evidence-informed policies for malaria control, has convened the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee as a mechanism to increase the timeliness, transparency, independence and relevance of its recommendations to World Health Organization member states in relation to malaria control and elimination. The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee, composed of 15 world-renowned malaria experts, will meet in full twice a year, with the inaugural meeting scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2012 in Geneva. Policy recommendations, and the evidence to support them, will be published within two months of every meeting as part of an open access Malaria Journal thematic series. This article is a prelude to that series and provides the global malaria community with the background and overview of the Committee and its terms of reference.     

Health Care Politics and Policy: The Business of Medicine: A Course for Physician Leaders

This article is a condensed and edited version of a speech delivered to The Business of Medicine: A Course for Physician Leaders symposium presented by Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Medical Directors Leadership Council at Yale University in November 2012 and drawn from Politics, Health, and Health Care: Selected Essays by Theodore R. Marmor and Rudolf Klein [1]. It faithfully reflects the major argument delivered, but it does not include the typical range of citations in a journal article. The material presented here reflects more than 40 years of teaching a course variously described as Political Analysis and Management, Policy and Political Analysis, and The Politics of Policy. The aim of all of these efforts is to inform audiences about the necessity of understanding political conflict in any arena, not least of which is the complex and costly world of medical care.     

Unhealthy Health Policy: A Critical Anthropological Examination

Unhealthy Health Policy:. Critical Anthropological Examination . Arachu Castro and Merrill Singer, eds. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 2004. 387 pp.     

Anthropology of Policy: Critical Perspectives on Governance and Power

Anthropology of Policy: Critical Perspectives on Governance and Power. Cris Shore and Susan Wright. eds. New York: Routledge, 1997. 294 pp.     

Gulf Coast Soundings: People and Policy in the Mississippi Shrimp Industry

Gulf Coast Soundings: People and Policy in the Mississippi Shrimp Industry. E. Paul Durrenberger. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1996.170 pp.