Policy Integration For Complex Environmental Problems

The quest for policy integration crystallized in the 1990s as awareness was growing that the current supply of narrow, sectoral, and little coordinated, or even overlapping and conflicting, policies could not cope efficiently and effectively with contemporary complex, cross-cutting and interdependent socio-environmental problems. Combining and coordinating policies properly promises to address this institutional misfit, "add value" to policies, support planning at national and sub-national levels, and facilitate the transition to sustainable development more generally. This book proposes a comprehensive conceptualization of policy integration and negotiates pertinent theoretical, methodological and applied issues from the perspective of selected EU policies - rural development, regional development, transport, social, economic, environmental, water resources, and biodiversity policy. Mediterranean desertification, an exceptionally complex socio-environmental problem, is used as an illustrative example as the idea for this book transpired while researching the topic of policy making to combat desertification in the context of MEDACTION, an EU-funded research project.

The quest for policy integration crystallized in the 1990s as awareness was growing that the current supply of narrow, sectoral, and little coordinated, or even overlapping and conflicting, policies could not cope efficiently and effectively with contemporary complex, cross-cutting and interdependent socio-environmental problems. Combining and coordinating policies properly promises to address this institutional misfit, "add value" to policies, support planning at national and sub-national levels, and facilitate the transition to sustainable development more generally. This book proposes a comprehensive conceptualization of policy integration and negotiates pertinent theoretical, methodological and applied issues from the perspective of selected EU policies - rural development, regional development, transport, social, economic, environmental, water resources, and biodiversity policy. Mediterranean desertification, an exceptionally complex socio-environmental problem, is used as an illustrative example as the idea for this book transpired while researching the topic of policy making to combat desertification in the context of MEDACTION, an EU-funded research project.

The aim of this book is to encourage integration of the natural and social sciences with the policy and design-making community, and thereby develop a deeper understanding of complex environmental problems. Its fundamental themes are: • integrated modeling and assessment • complex, adaptive, hierarchical systems • ecosystem services • science and decision-making • ecosystem health and human health • quality of life and the distribution of wealth and resources. This book will act as a state of the art assessment of integrated environmental science and its relation to real world problem solving. It is aimed not only at the academic community, but also as a sourcebook for managers, policy makers, and the informed public. It deals both with the state of the science and the level of consensus among scientists on key environmental issues. The concepts underlying this book were developed at the 2nd EcoSummit workshop held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, June, 2000, with active participation from all delegates, and attempts to present their collective view.

Climate change is a cross-cutting, long-term, global problem that presents policymakers with many challenges in their efforts to respond to the issue. Integrating climate policy objectives into the elaboration and agreement of policy measures in other sectors represents one promising method for ensuring coherent policies that respond adequately to the climate change challenge. This book explores the integration of long-term climate policy objectives into EU energy policy. It engages in-depth empirical analysis on the integration of climate policy objectives into renewable energy policy; energy performance of buildings; and policies in support of natural gas importing infrastructure. The book describes insufficient levels of climate policy integration across these areas to achieve the long-term policy goals. A conceptual framework to find reasons for insufficient integration levels is developed and applied. This book is a valuable resource for students, researchers, academics and policymakers interested in environmental, climate change and energy policy development in the EU, particularly from the perspective of long-term policy challenges. The book adds to scholarly literature on policy integration and EU integration, and contributes to new and developing research about EU decarbonisation.

This volume probes practical dilemmas and competing re- search perspectives in environmental policy analysis. Scholars working in different fields, research traditions, societies, and policy domains offer significant insights into the processes and consequences of environmental policy making. Part 1, "Coping with Boundaries," describes present-day conflict between experts and greater public participation in environmental policy. It shows that the institutionalization of increasingly complex environmental problems has led to a conflict between technocracy and democracy. Part 2, "The Transnational Challenge," examines modes of cooperation between grassroots movements, scientists, and regional authorities in the United States and Canada. These and other modes of cooperation laid the foundations for the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, increased the effectiveness of air pollution treaties, and increased climate change. Part 3, "Bio-Hazards: Policies and Paralysis," deals with environmental prob-lems closest to the everyday concerns of the public at large because they have immediate implications for food safety and other values. Part 4, "The Citizens' Perspective," focuses on citizen vis--vis environmental policy, noting that in order to make policies work citizens must be willing and able to participate in policy-making and cooperate in implementing environmental choices. Part 5, "Confronting Ordinary and Expert Knowledge," explores opportunities and constraints affecting public participation in evaluation of science. Part 6, "Developments in Research Programming," addresses such questions as whether scientists still have opportunities to do the research they want without being interrupted or disturbed by policy makers and other stakeholders. Part 7, "Policy Sciences' Aspirations," explores different avenues for improving environmental policy. Volume twelve in the PSRA series should inspire further investigations of the relations among knowledge, power, and participation in environmental policy. It will be of timely interest to environmentalists, policy-makers, scholars, and the general public. Matthijs Hisschemller is senior researcher at the Institute for Environmental Studies of the Free University in Amsterdam. Rob Hoppe is professor and chair of the Policy Studies unit of University of Twente's Faculty of Public Administration and Public Policy. William N. Dunn is professor of Public Policy and Management in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh. Jerry R. Ravetz is director of the Research Methods Consultancy Ltd., in London.

The articles on which Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are based are available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Design approaches to policy-making have gained increasing popularity among policy makers in recent years. First published as a special issue of Policy & Politics, this book presents original critical reflections on the value of design approaches and how they relate to the classical idea of public administration as a design science, with a new concluding chapter. Contributors consider the potential, challenges and applications of design approaches and distinguish between three methods currently characterising the discipline: design as optimisation, design as exploration and design as co-creation. Developing the dialogue around public administration as a design science, this collection explores how a more 'designerly' way of thinking can improve public administration and public policy.

Natural hazard events are able to significantly affect the natural and artificial environment. In this context, changes in landforms due to natural disasters have the potential to affect and, in some cases, even restrict human interaction with the ecosystem. In order to minimize fatalities and reduce the economic impact that accompanies their occurrence, proper planning is crucial. Land use planning can play an important role in reducing current and future risks related to natural hazards. Land use changes can lead to natural hazards and vice versa: natural hazards affect land uses. Therefore, planners may take into account areas that are susceptible to natural hazards when selecting favorable locations for land use development. Appropriate land use planning can lead to the determination of safe and non-safe areas for urban activities. This Special Issue focuses on land use planning for natural hazards. In this context, various types of natural hazards, such as land degradation and desertification, coastal hazard, floods, and landslides, as well as their interactions with human activities, are presented.

This Research Handbook includes carefully chosen contributions to provide a well-rounded perspective on design thinking. Encouraging debate and development for future research in design conceptualisation, this forward-thinking Handbook raises crucial questions about what design thinking is and what it could be