Exploring the Climate (In)Action in Turkey Using Human Values Theory on Energy Policymakers

The data includes the answers to a structured survey of the author for energy policymakers in the provider and donor institutions of the technical assistance program for the development of the Turkish energy sector.

Exploring the Climate (In)Action in Turkey Using Human Values Theory on Energy Policymakers

The data includes the answers to a structured survey of the author for energy policymakers in the provider and donor institutions of the technical assistance program for the development of the Turkish energy sector.

Mechanisms for Cooperation of the European Union

The article deals with mechanisms for cooperation of the European Union with nations considered from the scientific point of' view. The author analyzes the details of the European Union technical assistance program for CIS couintries, its aims and positions in the frame of TACIS. Each candidate country that intends to get European Union membership has to follow the common principle and standards. But sometimes in addition to the membership obligations EU member states attitude to the candidate countries may playe great role to get the final result. The article analyzes different European countries attitude to Turkey’s membership as one of the barriers that Turkey faces in the frame of Turkey integration policy to EU. This is explained by the complexity of project co-ordination between the countries in the region, and the economic and political systems in transition countries. Thus, the desire of the commission to use the TACIS program as a tool for regional co-operation and the settlement of existing conflicts corresponds to the existing reality. İn this context, the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is a clear example of TACIS programs. The expansion of the Armenian TACIS program to Nagorno-Karabakh has been denied by the European Union as it has no consensus by the Azerbaijani government. Key words: European Union, South Caucasus, Central Asia, cooperation mechanisms, economy, politics

Lessons From the Social Innovation Fund: A Tested Evaluation Technical Assistance Approach to Strengthening Evaluation Practice and Building a Body of Evidence

The Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service that received funding from 2010 to 2016, is one of a set of tiered evidence initiatives that was designed and implemented at the federal level during President Obama’s administration. The key objectives of the initiative were to (1) invest in promising interventions that address social and community challenges and grow their impact and (2) invest in evaluation and capacity building in order to support the development and use of rigorous evidence to measure the effectiveness of each funded intervention (i.e., to “move the evidence needle”) and inform decision making. The SIF proved successful in strengthening and sustaining the capacity of its implementing partners to conduct rigorous evaluations when put through a robust impact evaluation of its own at the national level. It has also spurred high-quality local evaluations that are building knowledge and a body of evidence across the supported program models to inform practice. The SIF’s evaluation technical assistance program was critical to its success, and as such, its design and approach holds interesting lessons for the larger field. This article discusses the structure and key features of the SIF as a grant making model, its evaluation requirements, and embedded approach and process for evaluation capacity building and the delivery of technical assistance, the tools and resources that it generated to support its goals, the evidence supporting its success, and how those lessons can inform other organizations and initiatives.

Artisans Meet Design: The Reception of the Turkish Handicraft Development Office in Turkey1

Peter Müller-Munk Associates, an American industrial design firm, established the Turkish Handicraft Development Office in 1957 in Ankara as part of the US technical assistance program to developing nations. The aim of the program was to improve selected local crafts products in order to make them appealing for the American market. To this end, American designers and local craftspeople produced about 150 prototypes formed by creative combinations of meerschaum, copperware, ceramics, woodwork and basket weaving. When the office was closed in the early 1960s because of its failure to mass-produce the samples, it left behind a lively debate regarding the improvement of craft production and its relation to industrialization and economic growth. This article focuses on these debates to determine the place allocated to design within the discussions of crafts as a socio-economic activity. The article will focus on the reception of the design assistance program among the local actors to answer how Turkish crafts practitioners and officials perceived design, how the emergent concept of design was linked with handicraft and artisanal production, and how it took place as part of the agenda of economic and industrial development.