Perceptions of Flash Drought in the U.S.: How do End-Users and Researchers Compare?

Author(s):  
Tonya Haigh ◽  
Joel Lisonbee ◽  
Marina Skumanich ◽  
Molly Woloszyn

<p>Defining flash drought is important not only for the development of the science but also for ensuring clear and useful early warning information to end users. In preparation for a December 2020 U.S-based workshop on flash drought, the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) undertook a survey of NIDIS contacts to explore how flash drought is understood within and outside of the research community. End users represented in the survey include researchers (outside of flash drought specialty), policy-makers, decision-makers, communicators, and educators and public engagement specialists, largely working within universities or federal agencies across the U.S. Flash drought researchers were asked to describe how they intend for the term “flash drought” to be interpreted when they use it. End users (whether they had heard/used the term before or not) were asked to describe what they think of when they hear the term “flash drought”. Their answers emerged into themes, including: onset/intensification, duration, drivers, impacts, seasonality, predictability, intensity, spatial scale, and uncertainty about its meaning. In this presentation, we will elaborate upon these themes, and discuss similarities and differences in how flash drought researchers and end users conceptualize flash drought.</p>

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Draženko Glavić ◽  
Jelena Simićević ◽  
Marina Milenković

This paper through comparative analysis of parking charge and congestion pricing features, aims to highlight their possibilities and identify limitations, and thus to encourage transport policy makers to implement them. Both policies can tackle with negative consequences of traffic, such as pollution, noise, accidents, etc. But they still differ in a way they act on car users. Analysis of this similarities and differences will be main task of this paper. The results of analysis can be useful for better understanding of effects of both policies when selecting measures that can be used by decision makers in solving congestion in cities.


F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2897
Author(s):  
Jennifer Lin ◽  
Fiona L. Murphy ◽  
Mike Taylor ◽  
Liz Allen

Research leaders, policy makers and science strategists need evidence to support decision-making around research funding investment, policy and strategy.  In recent years there has been a rapid expansion in the data sources available that shed light onto aspects of research quality, excellence, use, re-use and attention, and engagement. This is at a time when the modes and routes to share and communicate research findings and data are also changing.  In this opinion piece, we outline a series of considerations and interventions that are needed to ensure that research metric development is accompanied by appropriate scrutiny and governance, to properly support the needs of research assessors and decision-makers, while securing the confidence of the research community. Key among these are: agreed ‘gold standards’ around datasets and methodologies; full transparency around the calculation and derivation of research-related indicators; and a strategy and roadmap to take the discipline of scientific indicators and research assessment to a more robust and sustainable place.


2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Howorth ◽  
Frank Mueller ◽  
Charles Harvey

This paper deals with the diffusion and adoption of an organisational innovation, ‘Patient Focused Care’, at a British Hospital Trust. We will be discussing how PFC emerged in the U.S. context, was propagated by policy-makers, and judged worth adopting by organisational decision-makers. In providing an analysis of the case, we are attempting to bridge the gap between the policy context on the one hand, the organisational context on the other hand. The paper shows the importance of the ‘local’ context in shaping the adoption of a ‘global’ organisational innovation. The ‘appropriation process’ will play out in context-specific ways in terms of conflicts between managers and expert professionals; the way the ‘foreignness’ of the innovation plays out; and the way public policy-makers can influence the appropriation process. Most importantly, the paper intends to show how the cognitive boundaries of the N.H.S. as an ‘organisational field’ are beginning to move beyond national borders.


F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2897
Author(s):  
Jennifer Lin ◽  
Fiona L. Murphy ◽  
Mike Taylor ◽  
Liz Allen

Research leaders, policy makers and science strategists need evidence to support decision-making around research funding investment, policy and strategy.  In recent years there has been a rapid expansion in the data sources available that shed light onto aspects of research quality, excellence, use, re-use and attention, and engagement. This is at a time when the modes and routes to share and communicate research findings and data are also changing.  In this opinion piece, we outline a series of considerations and interventions that are needed to ensure that research metric development is accompanied by appropriate scrutiny and governance, to properly support the needs of research assessors and decision-makers, while securing the confidence of the research community. Key among these are: agreed ‘gold standards’ around datasets and methodologies; full transparency around the calculation and derivation of research-related indicators; and a strategy and roadmap to take the discipline of scientific indicators and research assessment to a more robust and sustainable place.


2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Michael Norris ◽  
Michael Lewis ◽  
Michael Dorsey ◽  
Robert Kimbrough ◽  
Robert R. Holmes ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Dagenais

Abstract Background Despite the increased emphasis placed on the use of evidence for policy development, relatively few initiatives have been developed to support evidence-informed decision-making, especially in West Africa. Moreover, studies examining the conditions under which policy-makers use research-based evidence are still scarce, but they show that their attitudes and opinions about research are one of the main determinants of such use. In February 2017, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Health planned to create a unit to promote evidence-informed decision-making within the ministry. Before the unit was set up, documenting the attitudes towards research at the highest levels of his Ministry appeared profitable to the unit’s planning. Method Individual interviews were conducted by the author with 14 actors positioned to consider evidence during decision-making from the Burkina Faso’s Minister of health cabinet. An interview grid was used to explore several themes such as attitudes towards research, obstacles and facilitators to research use, example of research use in decision-making and finally, ways to increase decision-makers’ participation in knowledge transfer activities. Interviews were partially transcribed and analysed by the author. Results The results show a mixed attitude towards research and relatively little indication of research use reported by respondents. Important obstacles were identified: evidence inaccessibility, lack of implementation guidelines, absence of clear communication strategy and studies’ lack of relevance for decision-making. Many suggestions were proposed such as raising awareness, improving access and research communication and prioritizing interactions with researchers. Respondents agree with the low participation of decision-makers in knowledge transfer activities: more leadership from the senior officials was suggested and greater awareness of the importance of their presence. Conclusions The conclusion presents avenues for reflection and action to increase the potential impact of the knowledge transfer unit planned within the Ministry of Health of Burkina Faso. This innovative initiative will be impactful if the obstacles identified in this study and policy-makers’ preferences and needs are taken into account during its development and implementation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamel K. Donnor

Background By a 5–4 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 declared that voluntary public school integration programs were unconstitutional. Citing the prospective harm that students and their families might incur from being denied admission to the high school of their choice, the Supreme Court declared that the plaintiffs, Parents Involved in Community Schools (PICS), had a valid claim of injury by asserting a interest in not being forced to compete for seats at certain high schools in a system that uses race as a deciding factor in many of its admissions decisions. Purpose The goal of the article is to discuss how conceptions of harm and fairness as articulated in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 privilege the self-interests of White students and families over the educational needs of students of color. Research Design This article is a document analysis. Conclusions By referencing the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision of 1954 (Brown I) to buttress its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that programmatic efforts to ensure students of color access to quality learning environments are inherently ominous. The dilemma moving forward for policy makers and scholars concerned with the educational advancement of students of color is not to develop new ways to integrate America's public schools or reconcile the gaps in the Supreme Court's logic, but rather to craft programs and policies for students of color around the human development and workforce needs of the global economy.


Author(s):  
Victoria A. Beard ◽  
Diana Mitlin

This paper highlights challenges of water access in towns and cities of the global South and explores potential policy responses. These challenges are not new, although, we argue that they have been underestimated by policy makers due to a focus on global data, thus, resulting in decision makers paying insufficient attention to these problems. Policies need to be based on a more accurate assessment of challenges, specifically the need for continuous and affordable water service, and the need to provide services to informal settlements. We share findings from research on 15 cities across Latin America, Asia, and Africa.


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