UNESCO, Idanha-a-Nova, and the UNESCO Creative Cities Network

The chapter's main objective is to study the city's rising role as a driver for implementing the 2030 SDGs and UNESCO Creative Cities Network's part as UNESCO's mechanism to support cities in the effort. The results show that there is a changing nature of authority in the policy cycle on a more holistic level, where alongside the nation-state, international organizations and cities play a vital role in the problem definition, decision-making, agenda-setting, transfer, and implementation of policies. The increasing importance of cities internationally stretches the municipal policy cycle from the local to regional, national, and international levels. Orchestration complemented with an inter-organizational relations framework is used to study the case of Idanha-a-Nova UNESCO Creative City of Music. The case study shows that Idanha-a-Nova drove the implementation of the SDGs locally with the Portuguese state's support. However, because it lacked expertise and mechanisms of implementing the goals, it reached out to private consultancy and individual experts.

A Meta Nove do Plano Municipal de Educação na Rede Municipal de Porto Alegre

Este artigo apresenta um recorte da análise da política de educação da Rede Municipal de Porto Alegre, no período de 2017 a 2019, considerando o cumprimento da meta nove do Plano Municipal de Educação, que visa a universalizar a alfabetização da população com quinze anos ou mais e reduzir a taxa de analfabetismo funcional. A metodologia de análise utilizada foi a abordagem do ciclo de políticas de Ball e Bowe, sendo identificados os principais grupos de interesse e sua atuação nos diferentes contextos da trajetória da política. No processo de investigação, foram utilizados dados quantitativos, como as estatísticas de órgãos oficiais, para precisar índices de matrículas e da demanda da EJA para alfabetização, anos iniciais e finais do Ensino Fundamental. A metodologia da pesquisa também agregou dados qualitativos, baseados em entrevistas e documentos legais.Palavras-chave: Plano Municipal de Educação; Educação de Jovens e Adultos; Políticas Públicas de Educação em Porto Alegre.The Nine Goal of the Municipal Education Plan in the Municipal Network of Porto AlegreABSTRACTThis article presents an excerpt from the analysis of the education policy of the Municipal Network of Porto Alegre, from 2017 to 2019, considering the fulfillment of goal nine of the Municipal Education Plan, which aims to universalize the literacy of the population aged fifteen years or more and reduce the rate of functional illiteracy. The analysis methodology used was Ball and Bowe's policy cycle approach, identifying the main interest groups and their performance in the different contexts of the policy trajectory. In the investigation process, quantitative data such as statistics from official bodies were used to specify enrollment rates and EJA demand for literacy, initial and final years of elementary school. The research methodology also added qualitative data based on interviews and legal documents.Keywords: Municipal Education Plan; Youth and Adult Education; Public education policies in Porto Alegre.La Meta Nueve del Plan Municipal de Educación en la Red Municipal de Porto AlegreRESUMENEste artículo presenta un recorte del análisis de la política de educación de la Red Municipal de Porto Alegre, en el período de 2017 a 2019, considerando el cumplimiento de la meta nueve del Plan Municipal de Educación, que tiene por objetivo universalizar la alfabetización de la población con quince años o más y reducir la tasa de analfabetismo funcional. La metodología de análisis utilizada fue el abordaje del ciclo de políticas de Ball y Bowe, siendo identificados los principales grupos de interés y su actuación en los diferentes contextos de la trayectoria de la política. En el proceso de investigación fueron utilizados dados cuantitativos como las estadísticas de órganos oficiales para especificar índices de matrículas y de la demanda de la EJA para alfabetización, anos iniciales y finales de la Enseñanza Fundamental. La metodología de la pesquisa también agregó dados cualitativos basados en entrevistas y documentos legales. Palabras clave: Plan Municipal de Educación; Educación de Jóvenes y Adultos; Políticas públicas de educación en Porto Alegre.

Global citizenship education in Nepal

The article explores how educational policy, curricula, textbooks and teaching have translated thinking about Nepal’s relationship with the rest of the world into global education practice in Nepalese schools in contemporary classrooms. Drawing upon the framework of a policy cycle approach, the article addresses the following research questions: What are the key contemporary messages about global education in Nepal within the ‘macro’ context of policy influence? How is the theme of global education communicated through the content of Nepalese textbooks at the ‘meso’ context of policy text production? What are the perceptions of Nepalese social studies teachers with respect to teaching and learning about global education themes at the ‘micro’ context of practice? Qualitative content analysis of textbooks and documents was conducted, while thematic analysis of interview data was undertaken to understand policy objectives and recommendations related to global citizenship education in Nepal. The findings indicate that educational policies primarily aim to socialise and nurture responsible citizens, while textbooks and teaching processes mostly emphasise the acquisition of knowledge. Some recommendations are made as to how the curriculum, textbooks and pedagogical approaches might be adapted to better support Nepalese young people seeing themselves as global citizens.

Institutional change processes in national tourism administrations: the case of Servicio Nacional de Turismo, Chile

<p>Three decades after the creation of the Chilean national tourism administration – the Servicio Nacional de Turismo (Sernatur) – the government initiated a process of institutional change. In 2007, a bill was submitted to Parliament and in 2010 the bill was enacted (Act 20423). Act 20423 replaced the existing national tourism administration (NTA) with a new set of public organisations performing various roles in tourism. The act not only created a new structure but also modified the allocation of roles in tourism to different agencies thereby creating a new public institutional framework for tourism in Chile. Although changes like those occurring in Chile have attracted some attention, such research tends to lack a broad perspective and fails to consider how and why processes of change occur and how changes in the general environment impact on the process. In order to address this broad perspective, this thesis concentrates on three research questions: what was the process that led to the creation of the new Chilean institutional framework for tourism, what were the factors that influenced and shaped the process, and how and why did the process and the factors influence the outcomes of the process. In this way, this research aims to provide a better understanding of how and why NTAs change over time. To address this problem, a conceptual framework is developed from three separate bodies of literature: tourism organisations, the administration of the public sector, and tourism policymaking. The framework illustrates two critical aspects to investigate a process of change in NTAs: a spatial scale and a temporal scale. The first scale shows that the process of change occurs in, and is influenced by, a broad context composed of two sub-systems and multiple interrelated organisations. The second scale presents the process of change over time and shows that changes in the environmental conditions also influence the process. The process of change and the influence of contextual factors are examined using an in-depth analysis of the relevant documentation. This method is complemented by in-depth semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders. In order to address the various aspects of the conceptual framework, a multi-phase approach is also adopted for the analysis of the data. The research reveals that in democratic countries like Chile, institutional change occurs in the context of a legislative process. Three policy stages are suggested to operationalise the process: pre-legislative, policy window, and legislative. In each of these stages there are several components of a policy process: evaluations, agendas, formulation, decision making, and implementation. During the process of change these components overlap and a division into consecutive phases as proposed by the Policy Cycle Model cannot be operationalised. The thesis also shows that the process is influenced and shaped by several factors arising from environmental conditions and evaluation reports. Environmental conditions directly impact on the process and shape the focus and outcomes of evaluation reports. In turn, evaluation reports impact on the process by shaping the proposals discussed during the policy stages. This also challenges the Policy Cycle Model on the ground that evaluations are not part of a single phase and that these evaluations play different roles during the policy process. Finally, this thesis suggests that the outcomes of a process of institutional change in tourism are influenced by both the environmental conditions and the features of the process (consultation, participation, agreement, disagreement, power, negotiation, and acceptance). Variations in the environmental conditions influence the features of the policy process and in turn, changes in these features directly impact the outcomes of the process. In summary, the analysis of the Chilean case reveals that processes of change in NTAs are directly influenced by the general environment in which these processes occur. This suggests that these processes are not isolated developments and therefore the general environment strongly influences the features and outcomes of the process. Hence, investigating the influence of these conditions is critical to explain how a process of change occurs and why particular outcomes result from the process. Variations in the environmental conditions impact on the features of the policy process so that changes in these features directly shape the outcomes of the process.</p>

Institutional change processes in national tourism administrations: the case of Servicio Nacional de Turismo, Chile

<p>Three decades after the creation of the Chilean national tourism administration – the Servicio Nacional de Turismo (Sernatur) – the government initiated a process of institutional change. In 2007, a bill was submitted to Parliament and in 2010 the bill was enacted (Act 20423). Act 20423 replaced the existing national tourism administration (NTA) with a new set of public organisations performing various roles in tourism. The act not only created a new structure but also modified the allocation of roles in tourism to different agencies thereby creating a new public institutional framework for tourism in Chile. Although changes like those occurring in Chile have attracted some attention, such research tends to lack a broad perspective and fails to consider how and why processes of change occur and how changes in the general environment impact on the process. In order to address this broad perspective, this thesis concentrates on three research questions: what was the process that led to the creation of the new Chilean institutional framework for tourism, what were the factors that influenced and shaped the process, and how and why did the process and the factors influence the outcomes of the process. In this way, this research aims to provide a better understanding of how and why NTAs change over time. To address this problem, a conceptual framework is developed from three separate bodies of literature: tourism organisations, the administration of the public sector, and tourism policymaking. The framework illustrates two critical aspects to investigate a process of change in NTAs: a spatial scale and a temporal scale. The first scale shows that the process of change occurs in, and is influenced by, a broad context composed of two sub-systems and multiple interrelated organisations. The second scale presents the process of change over time and shows that changes in the environmental conditions also influence the process. The process of change and the influence of contextual factors are examined using an in-depth analysis of the relevant documentation. This method is complemented by in-depth semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders. In order to address the various aspects of the conceptual framework, a multi-phase approach is also adopted for the analysis of the data. The research reveals that in democratic countries like Chile, institutional change occurs in the context of a legislative process. Three policy stages are suggested to operationalise the process: pre-legislative, policy window, and legislative. In each of these stages there are several components of a policy process: evaluations, agendas, formulation, decision making, and implementation. During the process of change these components overlap and a division into consecutive phases as proposed by the Policy Cycle Model cannot be operationalised. The thesis also shows that the process is influenced and shaped by several factors arising from environmental conditions and evaluation reports. Environmental conditions directly impact on the process and shape the focus and outcomes of evaluation reports. In turn, evaluation reports impact on the process by shaping the proposals discussed during the policy stages. This also challenges the Policy Cycle Model on the ground that evaluations are not part of a single phase and that these evaluations play different roles during the policy process. Finally, this thesis suggests that the outcomes of a process of institutional change in tourism are influenced by both the environmental conditions and the features of the process (consultation, participation, agreement, disagreement, power, negotiation, and acceptance). Variations in the environmental conditions influence the features of the policy process and in turn, changes in these features directly impact the outcomes of the process. In summary, the analysis of the Chilean case reveals that processes of change in NTAs are directly influenced by the general environment in which these processes occur. This suggests that these processes are not isolated developments and therefore the general environment strongly influences the features and outcomes of the process. Hence, investigating the influence of these conditions is critical to explain how a process of change occurs and why particular outcomes result from the process. Variations in the environmental conditions impact on the features of the policy process so that changes in these features directly shape the outcomes of the process.</p>

A Content Analysis of Public Policy Design and Implementation in Slovenia: Weighing Strategic and Normative Factors

"Policy processes are complex systems and require an in-depth and comprehensive analysis. Especially, factors that affect public policy design and implementation, as two important stages of the public policy cycle, have not been sufficiently explored. The aim of the paper is to analyze the relationship between two critical factors that influence the design and implementation of public policies in the case of Slovenia, namely strategic factors and normative factors, and offer a basis for comparison with similar countries. Based on twenty-two structured interviews with prominent public policy experts in Slovenia and content analysis of the responses, the findings reveal that, although strategic factors are identified by the interviewees as the most critical, the role of normative factors is also important and should not be underestimated. For various reasons, in practice, normative factors often turn out to be crucial."

Assessing the Performance of Current Strategic Policy Directions towards Unfolding the Potential of the Culture–Tourism Nexus in the Greek Territory

In the UN Agenda 2030, tourism acquires a salient position as a critical sector, directly or indirectly influencing a number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The pursuit of Sustainable Tourism (ST) is founded on the respectful exploitation of the sector’s core ‘raw material’, i.e., the precious and vulnerable nexus of natural and cultural heritage, and a cooperative multi-actor endeavor of all those having a stake in this shared good. Strategic tourism policy decisions, formulated at the state level, frame actors’ actions, favoring a balance among economic, societal and environmental goals; and a transparent, concrete and supportive investment landscape, allowing the tourism sector to blossom. But how successful are these policy decisions in promoting a sustainable, resilient and durable tourism model by instigating the entrepreneurial community to invest in the vibrant culture–tourism complex? An effort to respond to this concern is made in this work, grounded in the ‘Culture–Tourism–Policy’ triptych and their interaction, the ‘policy cycle’ as a means of assessing policy performance towards establishing a sustainable/resilient ‘marriage’ of ‘Culture–Tourism’, and GIS-enabled spatial data management for an evidence-based assessment of policy outcomes. These three factors are closely intertwined in the assessment of strategic tourism policy decisions’ performance in a culturally vibrant and highly reputed destination, Greece.

Stakeholders’ participation in environmental regulation: A case study of the sectoral agreement of packaging reverse logistics in Brazil

This paper discusses the role of stakeholders’ participation in decision-making of waste policies, exploring the case of the sectoral agreement (SA) of packaging in Brazil. This case represents a robust step to introduce circular economy for packaging in Brazil and Latin America. Since the enactment of the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy in 2010, a series of agreements were created to introduce an alternative model of extended producer responsibility in the country. This historical analysis evaluates the decision-making and the outcomes of its participatory process. Three qualitative research methods were applied: 76 interviews with stakeholders at the three levels of governance; observation of five events during the negotiation process and analysis of government documents. The results show that stakeholders’ participation was crucial throughout the policy design, contributing directly and indirectly to the outcomes of the SA, with knowledge exchange, creation of networks and by pressuring solid waste management issue onto the government’s agenda. However, the participatory process is not straightforward, and during the agreement process, some advancements seem to be jeopardised, with risk of participation being exploited to legitimise political interests. At the end, research points out that participation needs to be promoted and expanded throughout all the stages of the policy cycle, bringing together also other stakeholders such as local governments and civil society.

The migration ban policy cycle: a comparative analysis of restrictions on the emigration of women domestic workers

Policies banning women domestic workers from migrating overseas have long been imposed by labour-sending states in the Indo-Pacific region. This article presents the complexities surrounding such bans by developing an overarching model of a migration ban policy cycle, which provides a theoretical framework for understanding the circumstances under which migration bans arise and play out. It examines the history of migration bans for four prominent labour-sending states – Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines and Sri Lanka - to assess the causes, outcomes and extent of regional convergence of these policies. In doing so, we uncover two prominent policy narratives. The first involves labour diplomacy, where countries employ bans to negotiate superior working conditions and rights for migrant workers. The second concerns paternalist states as ‘protector’, where states are primarily motivated to reaffirm traditional gender norms. We conclude that migration bans have been most effective, both in curbing departures and achieving desired outcomes, when they are primarily motivated by labour issues and not gender politics. Nevertheless, even when used as a form of diplomatic negotiation, migration bans heighten the vulnerability of domestic workers to exploitation by pushing them into irregular pathways fraught with risk.

Using environmental evaluation systems and their contribution to sustainable development

Drawing on previous research into evaluation use and sustainable development, this article investigates to what extent and how a national evaluation system can advance sustainable development. The data comprise interviews with key actors, observations at seminars where evaluations were discussed, and analysis of evaluation reports. The actors were divided into three categories (i.e. central, proximal, and peripheral) to indicate their closeness to the national policy cycle. The results indicate that the evaluations were used mainly by central and proximal actors, primarily because the evaluation knowledge met most of their knowledge needs, and very little used by peripheral actors, such as environmental and business organizations. The evaluation system’s main influence was to consolidate environmental work and provide guidance on the environmental dimension of sustainable development at the national level. The evaluation system also served as a recurring reminder for stakeholders about the national objectives, their achievement, and everyone’s responsibility for their implementation.