scholarly journals The 'Arc of Prosperity' Revisited: Homelessness Policy Change in North Western Europe

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 108-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isobel Anderson ◽  
Evelyn Dyb ◽  
Joe Finnerty
Keyword(s):  
Policy Change ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
National Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Path Dependency ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Policy Shifts

This paper compares continuity and change in homelessness policy in Ireland, Scotland and Norway with a particular focus on the period of post-crisis austerity measures (2008–2016). The analytical approach draws on institutional theory and the notion of path dependency, which has rarely been applied to comparative homelessness research. The paper compares welfare and housing systems in the three countries prior to presenting a detailed analysis of the conceptualisation and measurement of homelessness; the institutions which address homelessness; and the evidence of change in the post-2008 period. The analysis demonstrates that challenges remain in comparing the nature of homelessness and policy responses across nation states, even where they have a number of similar characteristics, and despite some EU influence towards homelessness policy convergence. Similarly, national-level homelessness policy change could not be interpreted as entirely a result of the external shock of the 2008 general financial crisis, as existing national policy goals and programmes were also influential. Overall, embedded national frameworks and institutions were resilient, but sufficiently flexible to deliver longer term policy shifts in response to the changing nature of the homelessness problem and national policy goals. Institutionalism and path dependency were found to be useful in developing the comparative analysis of homelessness policy change and could be fruitfully applied in future longitudinal, empirical research across a wider range of countries.

scholarly journals Main approaches and development’s tendencies of rehabilitation of addicted to psychoactive substances persons

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-107
Author(s):  
M. V. Markova ◽  
M. V. Savina
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
National Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
General Concept ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Rehabilitation Programs ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Global Threat

Background. Psychoactive substances abused – one of the most common forms of social epidemics – is a phenomenon that represents a global threat to mankind. Alcoholic pathology in the structure of other forms of addiction of psychoactive substances remains the dominant. Today, there are about 140 million people who suffer from alcohol abuse and need treatment and rehabilitation. Ukraine takes fourth place in the number of deaths caused by alcohol. Objective – to analyze the main approaches and development’s tendencies of rehabilitation of addicted to psychoactive substances persons. Materials and methods. Publications from open source databases were analyzed for the following keywords: rehabilitation, psychoactive substance, alcohol addiction, drug policy, addicted persons by analytical method. Results. The representation of rehabilitation approaches in modern narcology is extremely wide. In countries of Western Europe, the USA and Canada, and in recent years – Eastern Europe, many post-Soviet republics, Southern and Southeast Asia, China and many other countries, the problems of rehabilitation of patients, who are psychoactive substances abused, are considered from the standpoint of public health and economic feasibility interferences; efforts are being made to find and justify such rehabilitation measures that can significantly reduce the level of negative social consequences associated with the usage of psychoactive substances. Numerous studies have highlighted the necessity for adequate prior assessment of patients’ rehabilitation potential, further monitoring of the parameters of the rehabilitation process, which demonstrate the effectiveness of therapeutic and rehabilitation technologies. Conclusions. Content of appropriate substance use disorders rehabilitation programs depend on several factors, such as the drug policies implemented at the national level, the general concept of drug assistance, organized in accordance with the basic doctrinal approaches of national policy, observance or, conversely, ignorance of the principles of evidence medicine by the rehabilitation programs sponsors and organizers as well as financial and human resources.

scholarly journals Antimicrobial resistance national level dialogue and action in Ghana: setting and sustaining the agenda and outcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Augustina Koduah ◽  
Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt ◽  
George Kwesi Hedidor ◽  
Reginald Sekyi-Brown ◽  
Michelle Asiedu-Danso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
National Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Coordination Mechanisms ◽  
Antimicrobial Use ◽  
Policy Actors

Abstract Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has gained national and international attention. The design and launch of national policy on antimicrobial use and resistance and action plan marked a milestone in Ghana’s commitment to control AMR. These strategies are some outcomes of getting and sustaining AMR issues prominence on government’s agenda. Understanding the agenda setting processes, policy actors involved and policy change is important as this provides insights on how and why policy actors defined and framed AMR issues to sustain its prominence despite the changing priorities of government agenda. Objective To examine the processes of setting and sustaining AMR issues on government agenda, the policy actors involved and resulting outcomes. Methods A qualitative study was conducted and data collected through interviewing twenty-four respondents and reviewing technical working group meeting reports and health sector documents. Data was analysed drawing on Kingdon’s agenda setting framework. Result Members of a multisectoral technical working group (AMR platform) formed in 2011 constantly built consensus on AMR problem definition, solutions and actively engaged decision makers to mobilise support and interest. The AMR platform members sustained AMR attention and prominence on government’s agenda through the following multisectoral coordination mechanisms: (1) institutionalising AMR platform activities (2) gathering evidence, sharing findings, and supporting research (3) creating awareness and training (4) gaining and maintaining political support. The activities of the AMR platform contributed to three remarkable outcomes and these are (1) maintained network of AMR Champions, (2) design of a national policy on antimicrobial use and resistance in Ghana (1st edition) and national action plan (2017–2021), and (3) Ghana’s hosting of the second Global call to action on AMR. Conclusion The AMR platform members as influencers concentrated their efforts to move and sustain AMR issues on government agenda. The identified multisectoral coordination mechanisms collectively contributed to agenda setting processes and policy change. The AMR platform engagements are ongoing and it is important the momentum is maintained. As multisectoral coordination and activities are vital especially for AMR ‘One Health’ approach, we hope this paper presents lessons for better understanding of how and why multisectoral groups influence national level agenda setting processes.

scholarly journals What drives sub-national bioenergy development? Exploring cross-level implications of environmental policy integration in EU and Swedish bioenergy policy

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotta Söderberg
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
National Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Policy Integration ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Environmental Policy Integration ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Economic Motives

What are the sub-national implications, in policy and practice, of environmental policy integration (EPI) in EU and Swedish bioenergy policy? Focusing on the exceptional bioenergy expansion within the Biofuel Region in north Sweden, this paper discusses cross-level implications of supranational and national policy decisions on bioenergy; whether environmental perspectives are observable also in sub-national bioenergy discussions; and explores the drivers of sub-national bioenergy development in a multi-level governance setting. The study finds that higher-level EPI plays an important role for sub-national bioenergy development. The degree of sub-national EPI in bioenergy and the type of renewables invested in is to a large extent set by top-down influence from the EU and national level through agenda setting, policy goals and economic mechanisms. Local policy entrepreneurs play an important role for finding ‘win-win’-solutions that can help initiating local energy projects and ensure sub-national EPI, but environmental-economic – rather than merely economic – motives for getting involved are important to ensure long-term local commitment to renewable energy projects.

Transnational Patriotism in the Mediterranean, 1800-1850

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantina Zanou
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Political Space ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Italian Peninsula ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Multicultural Context ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ugo Foscolo ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Republic

Transnational Patriotism in the Mediterranean, 1800–1850: Stammering the Nation investigates the long process of transition from a world of empires to a world of nation-states by narrating the biographies of a group of people who were born within empires but came of age surrounded by the emerging vocabulary of nationalism, much of which they themselves created. It is the story of a generation of intellectuals and political thinkers from the Ionian Islands who experienced the collapse of the Republic of Venice and the dissolution of the common cultural and political space of the Adriatic, and who contributed to the creation of Italian and Greek nationalisms. By uncovering this forgotten intellectual universe, Transnational Patriotism in the Mediterranean retrieves a world characterized by multiple cultural, intellectual, and political affiliations that have since been buried by the conventional narrative of the formation of nation-states. The book rethinks the origins of Italian and Greek nationalisms and states, highlighting the intellectual connection between the Italian peninsula, Greece, and Russia, and re-establishing the lost link between the changing geopolitical contexts of western Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Balkans in the Age of Revolutions. It re-inscribes important intellectuals and political figures, considered ‘national fathers’ of Italy and Greece (such as Ugo Foscolo, Dionysios Solomos, Ioannis Kapodistrias, and Niccolò Tommaseo), into their regional and multicultural context, and shows how nations emerged from an intermingling, rather than a clash, of ideas concerning empire and liberalism, Enlightenment and religion, revolution and conservatism, and East and West.

scholarly journals Wetlands in Ethiopia: Lessons From 20 years of Research, Policy and Practice

Wetlands ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Dixon ◽  
Adrian Wood ◽  
Afework Hailu
Keyword(s):  
Research Policy ◽  
Wetland Management ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Wetland Use

AbstractThroughout sub-Saharan Africa wetlands provide ecosystem services that are critical to the development needs of many people. Local wetland use, however, is often at odds with broader national policy goals in which narratives of conservation and protection dominate, hence a recurring challenge is how to reconcile these tensions through the development of policies and field practice that deliver sustainable development. In this paper we examine the extent to which this challenge has been achieved in Ethiopia, charting the changes in wetlands policy and discourse over the last twenty years while reviewing the contribution of the multidisciplinary Ethiopian Wetlands Research Programme (EWRP) (1997–2000). Our analysis suggests that despite EWRP having a significant legacy in developing national interest in wetlands among research, government and non-governmental organisations, its more holistic social-ecological interpretation of wetland management remains neglected within a policy arena dominated by specific sectoral interests and little recognition of the needs of local people. In exploring the impacts at the local level, recent investigations with communities in Ilu Aba Bora Zone highlight adjustments in wetland use that famers attribute to environmental, economic and social change, but which also evidence the adaptive nature of wetland-based livelihoods.

scholarly journals An Economic Evaluation of Disallowing Body Checking in 11- to 12-Year-Old Ice Hockey Leagues

2021 ◽  
pp. 194173812110215
Author(s):  
Gillian R. Currie ◽  
Raymond Lee ◽  
Amanda M. Black ◽  
Luz Palacios-Derflingher ◽  
Brent E. Hagel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care System ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Ice Hockey ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Public Health Care System ◽  
Body Checking ◽  
Care System

Background: After a national policy change in 2013 disallowing body checking in Pee Wee ice hockey games, the rate of injury was reduced by 50% in Alberta. However, the effect on associated health care costs has not been examined previously. Hypothesis: A national policy removing body checking in Pee Wee (ages 11-12 years) ice hockey games will reduce injury rates, as well as costs. Study Design: Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside cohort study. Level of Evidence: Level 3. Methods: A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted alongside a cohort study comparing rates of game injuries in Pee Wee hockey games in Alberta in a season when body checking was allowed (2011-2012) with a season when it was disallowed after a national policy change (2013-2014). The effectiveness measure was the rate of game injuries per 1000 player-hours. Costs were estimated based on associated health care use from both the publicly funded health care system and privately paid health care cost perspectives. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted using bootstrapping. Results: Disallowing body checking significantly reduced the rate of game injuries (−2.21; 95% CI [−3.12, −1.31] injuries per 1000 player-hours). We found no statistically significant difference in public health care system (−$83; 95% CI [−$386, $220]) or private health care costs (−$70; 95% CI [−$198, $57]) per 1000 player-hours. The probability that the policy of disallowing body checking was dominant (with both fewer injuries and lower costs) from the perspective of the public health care system and privately paid health care was 78% and 92%, respectively. Conclusion: Given the significant reduction in injuries, combined with lower public health care system and private costs in the large majority of iterations in the probabilistic sensitivity analysis, our findings support the policy change disallowing body checking in ice hockey in 11- and 12-year-old ice hockey leagues.

scholarly journals Beyond national indicators: adapting the Demographic and Health Surveys’ sampling strategies and questions to better inform subnational malaria intervention policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ifeoma D. Ozodiegwu ◽  
Monique Ambrose ◽  
Katherine E. Battle ◽  
Caitlin Bever ◽  
Ousmane Diallo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Surveys ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
National Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Sampling Strategy ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Malaria Prevalence ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Malaria Indicator Survey ◽  
Narrow Scope

AbstractIn malaria-endemic countries, prioritizing intervention deployment to areas that need the most attention is crucial to ensure continued progress. Global and national policy makers increasingly rely on epidemiological data and mathematical modelling to help optimize health decisions at the sub-national level. The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program is a critical data source for understanding subnational malaria prevalence and intervention coverage, which are used for parameterizing country-specific models of malaria transmission. However, data to estimate indicators at finer resolutions are limited, and surveys questions have a narrow scope. Examples from the Nigeria DHS are used to highlight gaps in the current survey design. Proposals are then made for additional questions and expansions to the DHS and Malaria Indicator Survey sampling strategy that would advance the data analyses and modelled estimates that inform national policy recommendations. Collaboration between the DHS Program, national malaria control programmes, the malaria modelling community, and funders is needed to address the highlighted data challenges.

scholarly journals Nighttime Lights and County-Level Economic Activity in the United States: 2001 to 2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 2741
Author(s):  
John Gibson ◽  
Geua Boe-Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Validation Studies ◽  
National Level ◽  
Predictive Performance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Nighttime Lights ◽  
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program

Nighttime lights (NTL) are a popular type of data for evaluating economic performance of regions and economic impacts of various shocks and interventions. Several validation studies use traditional statistics on economic activity like national or regional gross domestic product (GDP) as a benchmark to evaluate the usefulness of NTL data. Many of these studies rely on dated and imprecise Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) data and use aggregated units such as nation-states or the first sub-national level. However, applied researchers who draw support from validation studies to justify their use of NTL data as a proxy for economic activity increasingly focus on smaller and lower level spatial units. This study uses a 2001–19 time-series of GDP for over 3100 U.S. counties as a benchmark to examine the performance of the recently released version 2 VIIRS nighttime lights (V.2 VNL) products as proxies for local economic activity. Contrasts were made between cross-sectional predictions for GDP differences between areas and time-series predictions of GDP changes within areas. Disaggregated GDP data for various industries were used to examine the types of economic activity best proxied by NTL data. Comparisons were also made with the predictive performance of earlier NTL data products and at different levels of spatial aggregation.

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