Enironmental identity politics

Identity politics increasingly making its impact on environmental issues. Director General of Iran Water and Soil Bureau of Environment Ministry making complaint of the M&P Org (budget planner) as the official supplier of environmental experts for scarcity of expertise in different fields. Environmental Experts endorsed by the M&P Org advise on all areas - as one for all trades. He stressed that the Environment Ministry is not allowed to work directly with the academics and experts in the universities. (1)
(1) Etemad - Local Newspaper, 30 Nov, 2006



Access is denied to BBC world TV and Oxfordresearch.com

Environmental rationality

Environmental awareness builds on our identities in relation with other diverse bodies in the nature. Environmental crisis leads to rethinking identities in search of connecting, managing and improving complex relation with the environment – one dimension that has been much neglected in the past. As Porritt emphasis on the green movement that must forge an “evolved, intelligent and elegant” form of capitalism with sustainability at its heart. Changing rationality that prevailed as if environmental resources are costless and infinite.

Environmental rationality seeks to reestablish the links between knowing, certainties, and purpose of our surroundings and the way we get on with them. We are defining new roles and spaces. Consequences of ignoring environmental signals and delaying environmental democracy are greater than expected. For example global warming and water scarcity has become the major motivating factor for countries in central Asia to escalate into conflicts over access to water. In China, 100 million people live on crops grown with underground water that is not being refilled: water tables are falling fast all over the north China plain. Studies found that we survive today as a result of borrowing from the future.

Many large cities built near shoreline rely on underground lenses of fresh water, effectively floating, within the porous rocks, on salt water which has soaked into the land from the sea. As the fresh water is sucked out, the salt water rises and can start to contaminate the aquifer. This is already happening in hundreds of places. The worst case is the Gaza Strip, which relies entirely on underground water that is now almost undrinkable. As the sea level rises as a result of climate change, salt pollution in coastal regions is likely to accelerate.

Pressing environment rationality implies the reconstitution of identities beyond instrumental modern thinking, calculating and planning. The solution to the global environmental crisis is revising mind sets, perceptions and values in addition to institutional changes. Environmental democracy modifies the logic of the calculating control of the world, of the technological domination of nature, of the prevailing administration of the environment. And in so doing develops culture of adaptation to the nature. Over reliance on science that assisted to liberate man from underdevelopment and oppression has generated one dimensional alienated society.

The focus is on identity issues that revolve around environmental democracy particularly access to water and its state of affairs for which researches need to examine and compare behaviour, decision making and the grasp of risks involved in different social context, in our democratic response to global warming, over population and resource depletion.

Sources:

Johnaton Porritt, Capitalism As If The World Matters, 2005
George Monbiot, Guardian, The freshwater boom is over. Our rivers are starting to run dry, 10 Oct 2006

Research Agenda

- No empirical relationship in developed world between population size, growth and p/c GDP.

- It will be interesting to see how the structured market of China compares against the democratic market of India or the politicized economy of Russia.


- How different people’s wellbeing comes together to determine the overall value of the world


- Comparison of engineering costs of raw freshwater, reclaimed water and seawater:
Hong Kong is one of the very few coastal cities in the world that use 'dual water supply systems'. Dual water supply involves two distribution systems: a freshwater system for potable use and a seawater system for toilet flushing. This study looks into the feasibility, from an engineering cost point of view, of extending seawater supply into districts where potable water is still being used for toilet flushing, including South District of Hong Kong Island, Sai Kung, Northern New Territories and Northwest New Territories. Besides seawater, raw (untreated) freshwater and reclaimed water (treated effluent from local sewage treatment works) are also considered to be used for toilet flushing for these districts. Six cases are developed for comparison by using the lowest net present value of cost criterion. The result shows that using seawater for toilet flushing in these districts has the best engineering economy.


- By Aeon McNulty in: Technology
It's not exploding batteries that worry most of us: it's dead ones. My desk and table are littered with different charging cables, and there's a constant need to top up camera, mobile, laptop. iPod, and the rest of it. Now Marin Soljacic and colleagues at MIT have presented the idea of sending wireless energy to recharge batteries. They unveiled it last week at an American Institute of Physics forum, reports Kate Greene.
To create a mid-range wireless-energy solution, the researchers propose an entirely new scheme. In it, a power base station would be plugged into an electrical outlet and emit low-frequency electromagnetic radiation in the range of 4 to 10 megahertz, explains Soljacic. A receiver within a gadget--such as a power-harvesting circuit--can be designed to resonate at the same frequency emitted by the power station. When it comes within a couple of meters of the station, it absorbs the energy. But to a nonresonant device, the radiation is undetectable.
Because it's low frequency, it doesn't radiate great distances. In fact the near-field radiation just sits there within a couple of metres until it's extracted by a resonant receiver. So you just put all your gadgets on the desk, and they charge up automatically. No wires, no fuss, no having to remember to check. Soljacic reckons the device might be about 50 percent as efficient as plugging into the mains, but that only means a charge-up would take longer – a small price to pay.

It is a theoretical study at present, but the physics has been declared sound by peer group physicists, and the MIT team hope to have a working prototype within a year. After that, the only thing in the way will be the anti-progress lobby who will undoubtedly claim that the radiated energy causes cancer or cellulite or whatever. After that the main fear will be of being killed in the stampede as we all rush to buy one.




- By Dr Madsen Pirie in: Economics
We have increased money supply, but without the expected corresponding increase in the prices of goods and services and wages. Chinese, and to a lesser extent Indian, products and services have exerted downward pressure on prices. They have supplied us with enough cheap goods to keep the headline price rises down. They have kept wage rates down, too, by outsourcing or the possibility of it. Chinese and Indian workers have effectively entered Western economies.

All right then, where has the money gone, if not in the expected general rise in prices and wages? Part of it has gone into asset prices instead, into things like housing and equity values, some of it chasing one asset bubble after another. And a large chunk has gone to China, where the People's Bank last week declared international currency reserves of $1 trillion, 70 percent of which is in US dollar notes and bonds.

So Milton Friedman was right. Inflation is a monetary phenomenon, but does not have to translate into rising prices in the shops; the rise of the Asian economies has sent it elsewhere.

- By Dr Alister McFarquhar in: Economics
China now holds more official foreign currency than any other country - equivalent to $1 trillion. But if you include private holdings, Japan holds three times that amount, most of it by large companies. It facilitates investment abroad in countries that consume its products, such as cars. China's surplus derives from its competitive exports, from what many say is an undervalued currency, and from a domestic lack of interest in imported goods, constrained by the difficulty of consumers getting foreign currency.

China is reluctant to recycle foreign exchange to the retail banking sector, fearful of their habit of giving unsecured loans for local party-approved social and political projects - making many local banks technically bankrupt. Domestic inflation and liquidity is also a worry, and China is currently raising interest rates and compulsory Bank deposits to 9 percent. The best way to stimulate domestic growth would be currency appreciation to reduce oil prices, but progress is at a snail's pace.

In the days of Bretton Woods, stabilizing exchange rates was a must, for which the IMF was created. Exchange rates after floating remained a major preoccupation of economic policy in the US, Japan and China. The textbooks still claim the public deficit must be constrained in relation to GNP, and the EU pretends to enforce that. The record trade deficit in the US presages a fall in the US dollar - maybe around 20 even 40 percent to correct the balance, but nobody knows.

Globalization has changed everything. Saving in the East (Japan, Korea and China) finances consumer spending in the West, and makes the economic world go round. The rampant stock markets seem to think this is sustainable. As Cheney says, the value of the US dollar is a China problem. If it falls, then foreign savings in Japan and China fall pro rata and the powerful in those countries don't want that.

Most likely China will gradually outsource production to consuming countries, buying land and plant, holding more foreign assets and less currency. Sony and Samsung point the way, along with other famous names. The balance of relative return and risk make the US most attractive for investment. Should we worry? Or maybe toss away the economics textbooks!

In that foreign exchange holders hedge against the US dollar in Euros, the EU should certainly worry. This will make the EU less competitive than it already seems to be. Batten down the hatches; things could get rough.
By Dr Alister McFarquhar in: Economics

There has been a lot of talk recently about the exponential rises in management fees for hedge–funds and other investment managers, especially in the US. This has not correlated well with portfolio performance, where some managers take home bonuses of around $5 million per annum while portfolio performance doesn’t even reach double figures. Congress has become increasingly eager to regulate the finance industry and we’ve witnessed various congressional hearings and testimonies that have involved hedge–funds. If the SEC introduces regulations, the FSA may well follow suit due to the similarity between the markets over which the two regulatory bodies preside. The largest concentration of hedge–funds outside of the US is, after all, in the UK.


- By Krish Batra in: Regulation
Hedge–funds are a relatively new phenomenon and the readiness of people to invest their hard earned money in them could be explained by two considerations — decent economic growth and a boom in the hedge–fund sector. Investors have become (perhaps overly) optimistic of getting good investment results when they put their money into these new financial entities. Sometimes they are rewarded well, but often they are not. Due to the boom, management talent is becoming scarce and therefore managers are able to get away with grossly enriching themselves, regardless of performance results. According to the basic laws of economics, this boom will not last forever. There has to be a levelling off at some point when management costs, due to competition, will reach a more or less stable equilibrium. Predicting how far away this equilibrium point is, is not an easy task, but it’s still important to keep its inevitable occurrence in mind when there is talk of introducing regulation.

Organisation Actors

One management system that has received relatively little systematic attention is human resources management. The existing research about assessing human resources is sparse, focuses on the private sector, and fails to converge upon a set of criteria for evaluating human resources management systems comprehensively. An empirical analysis measures human resources management capacity and controls for two key environmental contingencies: unionization and government structure - found that higher capacity governments are able to achieve better human resources outcomes, and that more unionized governments and those that lack a senior professional administrative officer generally have lower human resources management capacity.

Unionizations also emerged in the formation of Non governmental Organisations as visible manifestation of society’s recognition of poor actions on the part of governments to solve major problems by legislation or command. They are also a reflection of the realisation that people can achieve more by acting together for a common cause or interest than by leaving it to the actions of governments or individuals. This is increasingly due to the reason that traditional forms of socialisation and their relation to politics, most obviously in trade unions, have largely disappeared. Today, one significant trend is individualisation, increasing social mobility and a decline in political involvement from general society.

Intensifying the role of NGOs is seen by states and international actors as the panacea. Scholars also have argued that NGOs may be less constrained in terms of their legal mandates and political considerations, hence better prepared to engage in the mobilization and organization of marginalized groups, and to establish new instruments and channels through which individuals and groups can strengthen their participation in the economic and political sphere.

The rise of NGOs, which Castells calls neo-governmental organisations due to significant funding by the state (if indirect), has also meant a transfer of moral authority particularly in terms of social trust in politics and putting in place checks and balances.

However, NGOs tend to have a weak base of evidence about what works and what does not, lacking assessment tools and produce a lot of reports and paper which often makes little difference to the quality of their work. Lack of resources and feedbacks weaken accountability, legitimacy and learning and capability to practice changes effectively. Some of the good practice that emerged from recent work on impact assessment is the need to ensure that processes are kept simple, relevant and useful. They also underline the need to align organisational incentives with learning, and adapt in the light of that learning. Further challenge is to build on individual competency which means developing and adapting management systems and processes so that they too evolve in the light of what we are learning about them. This requires an ability to scan what is going on ‘outside’ of the organisation and become more porous to the political, economic and social processes in which what we do is immersed (Oxfam GB, 2005).

NGOs are going through the passage of identity crisis due to formation of increasing number of various types of organisations, namely:

The primary group known as GONGOs; those set up by governmental stakeholders. The formation of GONGOs in some cases was merely to take advantage of governmental rents and subsidies through their participation in the State projects.

The second group known as PONGOs, wearing NGOs outfit they were established by different political wings and parties. Campaigning in NGO’s constituency to further promote their political objectives, and siding with certain political parties to win election campaigns.

The third group could be called as BUNGOs, so called non governmental organization aiming merely at making profit. They appeared as non governmental to take advantage of opportunities available for NGOs. Several, attempt to take advantages for keeping silence as they get hold of information in relation to some corrupted members of the public and private sectors, rather than disclose the abuse.

Amid this confusion, the major issue facing NGOs is the concept of remaining non governmental and staying independent. The uncertainties surrounding the concept of remaining “non governmental” and “independent”, are subject of debates among NGO actors.


Sources:

Amy Kneedler Donahue, Sally Coleman Selden and Patricia W. Ingraham, 2006, Measuring Government Management Capacity: A Comparative Analysis of City Human Resources Management Systems, Oxford Journal

Chris Roche, 2001, Linking micro and macro? Lessons from NGO impact assessment,Oxfam GB, www.oxfam.org.uk

Tom Ogg, Politics and Power in the Network Society, LSE Miliband Public Lecture, London, 18 March 2004,
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~thehive

Anthony Adair, 1999, Code Of Conduct For NGOs, a Necessary Reform, Institute of Economic Affairs, IEA
http://www.iea.org.uk/record.jsp?type=article&ID=1

The shape of countries to economic development

The investigation on the causes and consequences of the politics of moving borders leads to the idea of right-sizing the state developed from the theory of state expansion and contraction as a process of institutionalization of territory and borders, communities and further classification of modes of regulating ethnic conflict. Researches refer to historical cases, in large part aiming to explain the changing territoriality of states and tend to bring in new concepts of fragmentation, democracy, and identities and their interactions with concerns over population and environment.

The evidence collected by the author of ‘Beliefs in government’ project indicates that a new transnational public awareness may be emerging so that public policy issues (for example, environmental protection) can no longer be adequately addressed at the national level - under strain, first, from an increasing complexity of political issues and interactions, and second, from a growing individualism and self-centredness on the part of a public opinion that is increasingly well-informed and politically active.

The idea of democracy beyond borders criticizes conventional theories of democracy that focus almost exclusively on states within bounded borders and its electoral ballots. Kuper shows how non-state actors, such as corporations and civil society advocates, can be brought into multi-level government as partners with states. He presents an original theory of representation to answer the problem of accountability. At the core of this vision is a new separation of powers, in which different global actors check and balance one another in a complex harmony.

We can never know what the best system of rules and institutions might be. We have to discover it. So competition between different systems is to be welcomed. It will be interesting to see, for example, how the structured market of China compares against the democratic market of India or the politicized economy of Russia. We can however have some inkling of what the best institutional arrangements for a country might be by looking at how civil society organizes itself.

Leading scholars of multicultural issues examine questions related to multiculturalism and citizenship, specifically addressing the issue of whether it is possible in multicultural societies to accommodate these forms of diversity without weakening the bonds of common citizenship.

By asking about how and under what circumstances central states might change their shape in response to ethnic upheavals and regionalists demands options for aligning identities, states and governance while preventing state collapse or violent conflict, have been expanding. Different strategies of eliminating and managing ethnic differences and existing borders are suggested.

Remarks on countries’ borders and population size in relation to economic growth are also raising questions on shape of borders. I will take it as read that population matters, because of its associated effects on power, poverty, environment and security arising from global and regional, and particularly differential, population growth and composition.

Studies point out to unnatural borders that created ethnically fragmented countries or, conversely, separated into bordering countries the same people, are at the roots of Africa’s economic tragedy. In other parts of the globe failed states, conflict and economic misery are referred to around borders that are not compatible with natural division of peoples. As George Bernard Shaw eloquently put it "A healthy nation is as unconscious of its nationality as a healthy man is unconscious of his health. But if you break a nation’s nationality it will think of nothing else but getting it set again."

The GIS (Geographic Information Systems) format data set World Vector Shoreline provides the largest scale digital data set of political boundaries available today. One measure captures adjustments of borders that do not reflect an appropriate division of people on the ground when ethnic group is cut by a political border line leading to excess ethnic fractionalization. Another measure examines situations in which two ethnic groups are forced into the same country. This is a first step for examining whether these are correlated with something important to understand politico economic success and to explore various standard measures of economic development, such as per capita GDP, or institutional improvement. While many examples of problematic borders lead to disputes, political instability and economic failures, however, examining measures of unnatural borders did not find evidence of correlations between the number and intensity for wars fought by one country. The lack of an immediate and strong evidence of a correlation between borders and wars was surprising. But clearly it can not be concluded that ethnic rivalries and border disputes are unrelated to wars. Further research need to look at bilateral data on wars, namely which country engaged in war with whom. Also another important measure is migration and its politico/economic impacts.

To examine economic development of countries, state performance on health, education and infrastructure are measured which can be divided into economic variables, institutional variables and quality of life/public goods variables. Another important exogenous factor that can explain economic and political success is geography and climate. Two other important characteristics of countries that might be related to the nature of the borders are population density and the land area of the country. To verify whether new measures of unnatural states are correlated with economic and institutional success per capita income and economic freedom were further measured; for politico-institutional variables, it was voice and accountability (which measure checks on power), political stability and violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and corruption. For quality of life and public goods delivery-related measures, variables relating to infant mortality, literacy rate average; measles immunization rate, immunization rate, percent of population with access to clean water were brought into account. The investigation on whether these variables are correlated with the politico-economic success of various countries was found that indeed they are.

The distinctiveness of modern state borders, the centrality of nationality and ethnicity that makes public officials concerned with ‘right-peopling’ their states, and territorial expansion, maintenance and contraction, which oblige public officials to consider ‘right-sizing are under study. The conflicts arising between states and rival communal groups are affected by the systemic processes of state failure and dramatic changes in regional and international dynamics. The study of changes in political regimes highlighted the role of public sphere changes and the political identity, the entrepreneur’s role played in the process, and the reflexive institutional relationship of the disengagement on state institutions, political parties, the press, and professional organizations were found.

It is suggested that consociation patterns of authority among elites, the restricted state authority, and the internal boundaries for rival communal groups open up a possibility of maintaining state borders intact with high levels of democratic stability. The focuses of study was on three bi-ethnic states: Lebanon from 1943 to 1985, Cyprus from 1960 to 1974, and Belgium from 1963 to 1993. Theoretically, it brings together discussion of public policy towards ethnic groups —particularly accommodation and consociation—and the role of ethnic geographies that highlight special factors of state integrity and cohesion. Expanding options for aligning collective identities and states without encouraging premature deconstruction of state boundaries are suggested. Instead of violent destabilization of borders, encouragement is for the use of the theory of boundary institutionalization for preventing violent conflict or forcible collapse of a state territory.





David Coleman (Professor of Demography), OXPOP, The British Population: patterns, trends and processes (with J. Salt, 1992). Oxford University Press

O'Leary, Brendan, Lustick, Ian S., Callaghy, Thomas, (2001) Right-sizing the State – the Politics of Moving Borders, Oxford University Press


By Dr Eamonn Butler in: Gov't Administration, Adam Smith Institute,
www.adamsmith.org

Management Reading

While organizations aiming to devise good practices, organisational learning has emerged as one way to live up to expectations and needs. Although much of the writing and thinking on learning organisations has come out of the private sector, but public and development practitioners will equally benefit from group learning practices. Individuals are considered to be the main topic of management studies since they are the agent of changes that are to be organized and regulated. Sensible suggestions and skills in managing agent of changes as representatives of group dynamics leads the organization or the system toward intended outcomes. As it is suggested we are creatures not of habit, but of context. Therefore optimizing behaviour and relation has to come along with contextual improvement. In general, group is the immediate reflection of changes that individuals are about to exert.

Family, classmate, or intentionally organised group they all project changes of behaviour based on group reactions. Group reactions in their turn are strongly influenced by some members of the groups that sometime take the role of gatekeepers. However studies show that intended changes are facilitated to make their ways in small discussion groups by building consensus rather than one member preaching for the rest. The method was widely used to change the behaviour of alcoholics, productive industrial workers, elevate skills and encourage trends and ultimately changing individual’s characteristics.

There are significant factors that need to be regulated in dynamics of group formation in order to sustain intended changes. It is important that members of the group have strong sense of belonging to the group. The scale of attraction and sense of belonging is motivating factor for the group to influence its members. Individuals with higher influence are often those positioned in higher status. But in the process of making changes initiatives in a group discussion the ethics of tactics that raise emotions must be questioned. The creation of a hostile, emotionally charged atmosphere infringes on the right of members to obtain information and make their own decisions.

Organizations are clear about wanting staff to feel they are respected and supported, finance and processes well managed, and wanting to get things done more quickly, simply and effectively. This will require everyone looking at how they do things and a serious effort to reduce bureaucracy. Finally, and above all we want everyone who come in contact with the organisation to be inspired to do more (Oxfam GB, 2006). Setting goals for the efficiency, effectiveness and equity of organisation is a legitimate focus for policy making. In order for managers to meet these goals methods must be developed to set realistic achievement targets, to measure progress towards these targets and, ultimately, for managers to be held accountable for their actions in achieving targets.
Nevertheless, as with any measure of progress, judgment plays a role in interpreting the indicators, and supplemental, qualitative discussion around the results that will be needed. Consistent feedbacks from operational experience into knowledge of "what works" and "why" makes that knowledge widely available for the process of decision making in different level. The World Bank asked the question to what extent it's monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems provide staff with the information they need to better manage for results. Policies and procedures are instituted to manage better results with staff better clear about how to use performance information in their day-to-day work translate into improved practices at the operational level (World Bank, 2006). Strengthening incentives for staff and providing a training and communications program for management and staff to encourage the use of M&E information.




Accountability & Risk Sharing

Mutual accountability has come to be seen by many as a fundamental dimension of the good functioning of different kinds of institutions, from governments to private firms, from NGOs to international organisations. In general terms, accountability denotes the mechanisms through which people entrusted with power are kept under check to make sure that they do not abuse such power, and that they duly carry out the functions for which the power was originally entrusted (DFID, 2005). Two key components of accountability: answerability (the obligation of power-holders to justify their decisions and actions) and enforceability (the existence of mechanisms for punishing poor performance or non-compliance) (Schedler 1999). Answerability requires the availability of information which can be analysed by external actors to monitor and assess the performance of power-holders, and the related capacity to carry out such analyses.
Enforceability requires the existence of mechanisms for sanctioning lack of compliance or poor performance with regard to commitments or responsibilities of power-holders. It could also include, however, positive rewards for good performance and compliance.

Therefore, the availability and use of information, the existing mechanisms for monitoring performance, and the existence of adequate incentives (rewards/ sanctions) for compliance are three key determinants of the functioning of accountability mechanisms. Mutual accountability and reciprocal commitments imply shared responsibility for the outcomes and impact of development interventions.

The lack of risk-sharing mechanisms for allocating the ‘mutual pain’ that might come from programme failure is another obstacle towards enhancing mutual accountability.

Six main ways of managing risks (Risk Control) has been identified (Oxford Univ):
• Avoidance – identifying and implementing alternative procedures or activities to eliminate it.
• Contingency – having a pre-determined plan of action to come into force as and when the risk occurs.
• Prevention – employing countermeasures to stop a problem from occurring or having impact on an organization.
• Reduction – taking action to minimize either the likelihood of the risk developing, or its effects.
• Transference – transferring the risk to a third party, for example with an insurance policy.
• Acceptance – tolerating the risk when its likelihood and impact are relatively minor, or when it would be too expensive to mitigate it.
The risk management strategies of organizations need to take into account the conceptual frameworks used by professionals. One study that used data from focus groups conceptualized risk and its management according to six paradigms that appeared to be in a state of reciprocal tension: (i) Identifying and Meeting Needs; (ii) Minimizing Situational Hazards; (iii) Protecting this Individual and Others; (iv) Balancing Benefits and Harms; (v) Accounting for Resources and Priorities; and (vi) Wariness of Lurking Conflicts. The effective translation into practice of risk management strategies needs to address the complex and often contradictory issues facing services professionals.

Source:

Learning Need Assessment, Oxford University, 2006
www.tall.ox.ac.uk/opus/downloads/OPUS-day2.ppt

Learning Organisation;
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/resources/downloads
/devlearningorgintro.pdf?searchterm=performance+management

Ngaire Woods and Sarah Mulley from Oxford University, Paolo de Renzio, Andrew Rogerson, Tony Killick and Alina Rocha Menocal from ODI. Promoting Mutual Accountability in Aid Relationships, ODI, 2006

Performance Management in International Development Association, World bank, April 2002

Enironmental Limits

All the frenetic economic activity of today requires not only the infrastructure humanity builds but also the infrastructure and resources nature provides. Nature has been providing the air, water, and soil on which our lives depend, in addition to providing essential and irreplaceable services. It cleans the air and water we pollute, recycles organic matter into usable form, and maintains the infrastructure of ecosystems that nurture all the species on which we depend for food and medicine, and all the natural resources that proliferates our industrial civilization. Nature provides flood control, pollination, erosion control, and genetic resources, and it does not charge for any of these services.

Unfortunately governments and citizens are concerned mostly with economic indicators and ignore environmental ones. This widespread ignorance not only brings about serious environmental degradation but also threatens long term economic prospects because it encourages short sighted exploitation of natural resources. As economists are measuring growth of wealth by the flows of money within an economy and GDPs, depletion of nature resources are written off in their calculation. For past 150 years we have pumped CO2 into our life system as if it had no economic cost. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased from about 280 ppm in the mid 18th century – the start of the industrial revolution – to around 379 ppm today, by some accounts as high as 450 ppm. In 1995 the IPCC as recognised source of information on climate change reported that the balance of evidence suggests that humans have a noticeable influence on global climate. Today we have come to collective conclusion that living with environment limits, it is important that we change our behaviour. No one policy on its own can be effective. We need joined efforts across many sectors to achieve binding emission targets.

Identifying the improvement of public engagement in science as a policy priority was rational response to address indifference. Sociologists of science have been generating new tools for addressing this challenge, particularly engaging the public with research findings. This requires make science more accessible, engaging, and put to use in real world by feedback. For moving engagement upstream, developing a new approach to interdisciplinary environmental science that requires social and natural scientists to re-evaluate their practices has worked out to involve non-scientists throughout the research process. Initiatives will allow a bigger picture of what is really happening to natural resources as public goods.

The argument that many environmental assets are ‘public goods’, meaning that the free market is unlikely to supply the socially optimal amount, applies to other things, such as public health or education services, not to mention that most people are in need of simple basic private goods (Beckerman, 2001). This means that the rational to allocate resources to environmental objectives need to asses cost-benefit and practical measures. The main criticisms of the use of cost-benefit analysis in environmental policy, emanates from incommensurability of environmental values as compared with market values. The uncertainties in cost measurements and the related unreliability of estimates of peoples’ willingness to pay for environmental protection form other dimensions of the discussion. While it is found that there is some strength in these criticisms, it is still necessary to take account of the resource constraint involved in decisions concerning public goods. The uncertainties need not to be highlighted in a publicized fashion to give fuzzy impression of decisions made. In economic terms comparative measures are indeed very much valid and reliable, since variables are comparatively calculated against an initial condition over a period of time. The uncertainty on taking measures of new dimensions should be based over a solid basis to avoid the impression of vagueness and diminish trust.

Moreover, sustainability requires long term and deeper shifts of attitude toward environment in contrast with price incentives as a way of encouraging people to act more environment-friendly. While there are different views on ethical approach to environmental issues, we cannot deny our moral obligations toward future generations. But as debate on probable future developments is ongoing, our main obligation to future generations is to institute a more decent society in which there is greater respect for basic human rights. These measures should include various forms of educational initiatives. Citizenship classes in secondary/high schools are proposed as a way of fomenting environmental citizenship, through a case study of the introduction of citizenship as a formal element of the English high school curriculum in 2002 (Dobson, 2003). Other alternatives are introduced such as post-cosmopolitan citizenship versus liberal and republican conceptions of citizenship. It is contrasted with cosmopolitan citizenship, in the belief that it offers a more compelling practical account of transnational political obligations. Global warming is an example and inflection of the asymmetrical relations of globalising cause-and-effect that call forth global obligations.





References:



Beckerman, W. (Balliol College), Pasek, J. ( Univ. College), (2001), Justice, Posterity, and the Environment, Oxford University Press

Blyth W., and Yang M., Impact of Climate Change Policy Uncertainty on Power Generation Investments: Interim Report (Paris: IEA, forthcoming)

Messick D., Weber M., Shirli Kopelman; (2000) Factors influencing cooperation in commons dilemmas, p118- 148

Dobson, A., (2003), Citizenship and the Environment, Oxford University Press

International ad hoc detection group, (2005) Detecting and attributing external influences on the climate system: a review of recent advances, Journal of Climate 18:1291-1314

Miller, D., D Phil from University of Oxford for thesis on ‘Social Justice’, Social Justice and Environmental Goods, Oxford University Press

http://www.ouce.ox.ac.uk/research/technologies
/projects/controversies.php
http://www.ouce.ox.ac.uk/news/#d061012hebb
http://www.relu.ac.uk/news/briefings.htm
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/issues/climatechange




POINT OF VIEW: by EnviroSpin Watch,
Coming clean over climate change.....

In their political heart-of-hearts, all Governments know that there is absolutely nothing we can do predictably about climate change, and, indeed, extremely little practically to curb the rise of 'greenhouse gas' emissions. Unfortunately, through a type of tabloid-hysteria in the old broadsheet world, including the BBC, the politicians have been persuaded to adopt knee-jerk reactions and to lecture people that they can, and that they must, "do something" about climate. They are now in a bind of their own making. Whatever they do, they will be damned. They can have no predictable effect on climate, and there is no way, even, that they will manage a significant reduction in gas emissions. Yet, they must continue to speak as if they are cutting, and can cut, emissions, and to argue that they will, miraculously, control climate. At some point, a lot of little boys and girls are going to spot the deception and to cry out: "The Emperors have no clothes!"

Here are the stark political realities:

(a) First, no country is reporting its true emissions of 'greenhouse gases'. Indeed, new research shows that Germany 62% (Germany has now acknowledged this fact and has raised its original estimates by 70%); France 47% [see: 'Kyoto promises are nothing but hot air' (New Scientist, June 21) and 'Methane emissions twice official level - study', (The Guardian, June 22)]. Further, the New Scientist makes the following telling observations:

"The most alarming failure of greenhouse gas emissions reporting is thought to have occurred in China, the world's second largest emitter. In the late 1990s, when its economy was growing by 10 per cent a year, the Chinese government reported a dramatic fall in CO2 emissions to the UN climate change convention. It declared that, after a long period of steep increases, emissions had fallen from 911 million tonnes of carbon a year in 1996 to 757 million tonnes in 2000, a drop of 17 per cent.

China said the fall in emissions was achieved by burning less coal, an assessment it based on a decline in coal production. Some analysts praised the country for using coal more efficiently, but that picture was called into doubt when declared coal production and emissions estimates resumed their fast rise. Estimates for 2004 put China's CO2 emissions above 1200 million tonnes.

Most analysts now conclude that the drop in emissions was entirely illusory [my italic]. It coincided with major changes in the organisation of the Chinese coal industry, which replaced state targets with a market system. 'Emissions figures before 1996 were inflated because mine officials had production targets to meet, and declared they had met them when they had not,' one analyst told New Scientist. By 2000, this effect had gone, and 'subsequent figures for CO2 emissions are probably more accurate as a result.' While the Chinese government may not have intentionally misled the international community over its emissions at the time, the incident reveals how easy it could be to fiddle official figures."

(b) Secondly, all emissions continue to rise, even according to official figures. The latest statistics show that 'greenhouse gas' emissions in the EU increased by 0.4% between 2003 and 2004, and even grew in the ever-pious UK by 0.2% (and these statistics exclude emissions from aircraft and shipping). On a world scale, CO2 emissions are now predicted to augment by 75% between 2003 and 2030, mainly because of exponential growth in the developing world [see: 'World CO2 emissions to rise 75 pct by 2030' (Planet Ark, June 21)]:

"Global emissions of CO2 will hit 43.7 billion tonnes in 2030, up from 25 billion tonnes in 2003, the Energy Information Administration [US] said in its annual forecast. By 2025 global CO2 emissions could hit 40.05 billion tonnes annually, up 0.03 percent from the forecast issued last year, said the EIA, the statistics arm of the Department of Energy. Last year's report did not look as far ahead as 2030."

By 2010, developing Asian countries will surpass North American emissions by some 21%.

(c) Thirdly, most efforts to curb emissions will be gobbled up by: (i) the significant return to coal that is currently taking place; (ii) the fact that more efficient energy buildings are still new, and additional, build; (iii) the continued growth in transport and free trade; (iv) the fact that most people, underneath, remain largely unmoved by the 'global warming' hype (just look at the 'EnviroSpin' Mini Poll, opposite); and, we hope, (v) continued world economic growth.

So, what can we expect? Much more of this hot air: 'EU, US to agree "urgent" action on climate change' (Planet Ark, June 21). Which means, being deconstructed?
http://www.greenspin.blogspot.com/

Nature's Ability to Supply Essential Services

Issues such as climate change and sustainable development requires us to reassess our relationship with the natural environment, and consider our identity as an element within it, rather than outside it. Somehow modern societies need to reconnect psychologically with the natural world if we are to create the conditions in which the actions necessary to confront environmental problems are socially acceptable. This day-to-day isolation from the vicissitudes of the physical environment is associated with a psychological dissociation from the “natural” world, dissociation evident in prevailing political philosophies in which the environment is seen as external to human affairs, and environmental concerns are viewed as peripheral “add-ons” to policy.

The physical environment has been replaced by the economic environment as the main arena providing the context for human actions. This psychological separation of the “natural” and “human” worlds may be traced back to early urbanism and modern life style. But advanced technologies can do service for human beings, allowing a return to nature while maintaining advantages of urban living standards. This requires more efforts to mitigate the damages that it was done to natural system to cope and repair.

Resort to new technologies to address problems of climate change put forward new ideas about how to disentangle knots in the way of growth and establishing sustainable economy at this juncture in history when there are clear signs that the global economy cannot move much further along business as usual of industrial growth without ending up in disaster. The efforts for finding technological solutions reflects the growing worldwide demand for new ways of economic life and thought that will conserve nature and its resources, and empower people to meet their own needs and the needs of others. New technologies restore the lack of ability in what nature has been doing systematically to supply essential services like water and moisture, especially at hard times. This is partly due to increase of population that is beyond nature’s capacity to respond.


However, the acceptability of various approaches towards climate change has become increasingly polarized in recent times, as mutual accusations of downplaying or exaggerated risk, sensationalism, “bad” science, inciting public hysteria, and even conspiracy abound (Weingart et al., 2000). Misreporting and misrepresentation are important because they can lead to a loss of trust at a time when public support for pro-environmental policies is most crucial. Poor reporting of environmental science may also have a disproportionate effect on children who are increasingly turning the new technology as their preferred source of information and who are least able to judge the validity of claims.

Nonetheless, there is collective consensus on the role that technology can play to find solutions and even take advantage of opportunities that are emerging for the use of clean energy and less polluted modes and materials. Until recently, recalls a 30-year veteran of the solar-power business, venture capitalists were far too busy catering to captains of the information-technology industry to waste time on “hippy-dippy tree-huggers” like himself. But now the tree-huggers are in the ascendant and the IT barons are busy investing in clean-energy technology. Investors are falling over themselves to finance start-ups in clean technology, especially in energy. Venture Business Research reckons that investment in the field by venture capitalists and private-equity firms has quadrupled in the past two years, from some $500m in 2004 to almost $2 billion so far this year (Economist).

Other encouraging news came out when studies showed that investors react immediately to the release of new information about a firm’s environmental performance (David Deephouse, 2004). The release of new environmental information has an enduring impact on firms. In other words, firms perceived as environmentally illegitimate will experience higher unsystematic risk than those seen as legitimate.

Business opportunities can be realised and accelerated through collaboration, be this with other like-minded industrial organisation or academia. Confidentiality and intellectual property issues are sometimes perceived as problems which can delay the development of new technologies and tools, but these can be alleviated through relatively straightforward legal documentation. Other bottlenecks in this process also include the time required to identify appropriate collaborators/business partners, finding the right networking mechanism or information resource, identifying an innovative concept or cross-linkage opportunity and accessing funding and finance.

Pollution management businesses are growing and benefiting from initiatives such as IPM-Net which offers environmental professionals, regulators, academics and other stakeholders working in the field of environmental pollution access to an array of relevant and timely information, innovation, networking and business opportunities, and mechanisms which equip professionals with the appropriate knowledge and skills. The transition into a Knowledge Transfer Network has enabled the network to broaden its remit to assist industry to address environmental pollution issues also associated with the sectors of water and waste. By drawing these traditionally divided sectors together, IPM-Net making effort to offer opportunities for industry through accelerating knowledge transfer, identifying cross-cutting business opportunities and stimulating innovation aimed at protecting the environment.


Global Challenges

A new model of development is called for, one in which strategies to increase human resilience in the face of climate change and the stability of ecosystems are central. It calls for a new test for every policy and project, in which the key question will be, “Are you increasing or decreasing people’s vulnerability to the climate?”. [1]

Too much or too little rain can be a matter of life or death in Africa. At different times and in different places across the continent, climate change threatens both. Today, new scientific research and evidence from works in the field find that the climate change threat to human development in Africa is even greater.

In Britain and Ireland the new environment and development campaigning network Stop Climate Chaos [2] is calling for governments to do their fair share by setting a legally-binding, annual, constantly contracting “carbon budget”, which plots a course, year on year, towards a two-thirds reduction in emissions on 1990 levels by 2050. This would create cuts of between 60 and 80 per cent.

The negotiations in international frameworks must deliver a fair, effective and equitable Protocol beyond 2012 that deepens the GHG reduction targets in the industrialized countries and allows greater mitigation contributions from some of the larger developing countries. The expanded framework needs to revive the original intent of international initiatives for developed countries to take leadership by reducing emissions at home. It must also provide the opportunity for poor countries to escape poverty through massive investments in adaptation and renewable energy and support their sustainable development.

Although spending on adaptation to climate change may be difficult to define and calculate precisely, the level of support for adaptation remains limited. Its integration within aid budgets is weak at best, and according to the latest report on the status of contributions to the two UNFCCC funds (the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund), these amounted to just $43 million in 2005-2006 (of which the first UK annual contribution was $12 million ( £6.6 million) in total for both funds [3] ).

The role of new technology in empowering poor communities is emphasized to implement policies that bring people to be part of the climate change solution. Particularly, how to improve weather forecasting in Africa has been highlighted. Development groups, however, believe adaptation must be more than this: it has to be about strengthening communities from the bottom-up, building on their own coping strategies to live with climate change and empowering them to participate in the development of climate change policies. Identifying what communities are already doing to adapt is an important step to be able to discover what people’s priorities are and to share their experiences, obstacles and positive initiatives with other communities and development policy-makers.

Giving a voice to people in this way can help to grow confidence, as can valuing their knowledge and placing it alongside science-based knowledge. Policies to strengthen disaster risk reduction (DRR) are excellent method of building adaptive capacity for the future. Communities can be protected from disasters relatively cheaply and simply – tools and methodologies are well developed and can be employed immediately in communities. Thousands of lives could be saved and economic losses prevented each year if more emphasis was placed on this. The climate change community therefore needs to recognise that DRR is a vital component of climate change adaptation. It should work with the disaster management community to advance both fields and avoid duplicating activities. Governments must act effectively, held accountable in fulfilling their previous commitments on DRR.

Failures to address undernourishment stem in part from the fact that for over 40 years emergency aid, and food aid in particular, has remained the chief instrument to address food crises. Food aid does save lives, but it does not offer long-term solutions, and at worst it may exacerbate food insecurity. The emergency, or ‘humanitarian’, system must be overhauled, so that it is truly able to deliver prompt, effective assistance on the basis of need. Policies should hasten the pace of urbanisation in Africa, where the majority of the continent’s poorest and most undernourished people live in rural areas – especially smallholders, nomadic pastoralists and women.

"Drought is a natural climatic phenomenon, but what has dramatically changed in recent decades is the ability of nature to supply essential services like water and moisture during hard times………This is because so much of nature's water and rain-supplying services have been damaged, destroyed or cleared. We have got to fight climate change by realising meaningful and ultimately substantial reductions in greenhouse gases, and we must help vulnerable communities adapt to the climate change which is already here and that which is to come” [4].


1. Africa – Up in Smoke? Download PDF (1.4MB)
2. See Stop Climate Chaos
3. Source: Andrew Simms, new economics foundation
4. Irinnews interview with Klaus Toepfer, Nairobi, 14 March 2006


Sources:
www.oxfam.org.uk/climatechange
www.eci.ox.ac.uk, Oxford Univ’s Environment Change Institute
(IPM-Net) Integrated Pollution Management Knowledge Transfer Network, DTI business support solution and Oxford university’s Center for the Environment, OUCE
Economist, Tilting at windmills, 16 Nov, 2005
BBC, 23June 2006, Blagging in the blogosphere, Dr Richard Ladle director of MSc Biodiversity, Conservation and Management at Oxford University







Commonality

The most depressing element of today’s life is manifested by dissolving in collective anonymous being – like coins that are coined under a unitary economic sign - our unique experience of self, suffering, injustice, and abuse is lost among many, our suffering doesnt move anybody, all are ignorantly calling for saviour. Human decency is dying out in the swamp of commonality of the mass. Populism thinking has reduced this society and our identities into commodity of mass production, one ignorant among many.

Political Decline

In general, populism draws on concepts under political science rather than concept of anthropology or sociology. Similar to other political concepts the term conveys political notion; however, populism is also approached as cultural concept and has been analyzed a method of gaining and sustaining power. Initially political definition of populism leads to a technique for political action by political actors using propaganda and popular publicity to win ignorant voters and ways to reducing complex social problems to trivial matters suggesting simple solutions. Although such political actors seldom find any success to solve people’s problems but by triggering hope manage to generate short term social dynamism that can be used or abused. Most wellknown examples are Prounism in Argentina, Boulangism in France where they have persisted to reject parliamentary system which is aiming to devolve power through election and representation. In contrary, populism favours unrepresentative direct democracy that can not be realized in the real world, and has always ended up in dictatorship.

For anthropology, more important than such a political approach, the issue is not merely consequences of populism behaviour (resulting more often in destroying democracy and paving the way for tyranny), rather analyzing the causes and roots, processes and cultural outcomes. Initially what can be underlined as populism is the language of demonizing politics and political actors and ultimately, altering political process with self inducement. Such characteristic is manifested in popular culture that is highly charged with glorifying will power, and proliferating infinite power framework that finds its origins in every society’s intrinsic folklore.

Therefore any unpopular view of political actors who distance themselves from folklore prepare grounds for a dialogue in popular culture. Major characteristic of populism is rejecting intellectualism under the same justification of anti parliamentarism and renounce any bureaucracy or political action, necessary or otherwise for managing the affairs of the country. Pragmatic studies of the phenomenon show that such populism has emerged both in high and low cultured societies and in various contexts. This misfortunate political rhetoric can taint any society. Therefore it is suggested that believes and myths of every society should be searched for finding roots and causes of populism phenomena. It has been more likely related to cultural imitation, social obligations and the necessity for collectivism against individualism in many societies.

What history is teaching us is that populist expectation generally leads to broad cultural ruin even wars, tensions, and dreadful genocides. Although these actions have been analyzed, named and shamed but could not be necessarily avoided, and has repeated constantly. Finally it should be noted that populism like other degenerative phenomenon that works to reduce objective thinking – has become more dangerous than before for the complexity of today’s world and have grave impacts on cultural aspects of any society that comes to deal with this phenomenon.

www.politics.ox.ac.uk

Silence and Isolation

Crack down on vicious cycle of organized violence, abuse and intimidating set up requires initiation, objective thinking, self respect and strong will. The silence and isolation is perpetuated to enforce subjugation of the victim and sustain further inertia and passivity - a sense of helplessness. Victims and victimization schemes must be spotted, investigated and get proper response by providing direct assistance to the victims of violence through social, psychological, and legal support. Women victims should be made aware of their legal rights and how to claim them.

Since 2004 Oxfam’s projects in CIS countries is addressing domestic violence against women. Changing widespread attitudes to domestic violence, particularly the belief that it is a private matter and not a social problem, is a considerable challenge. Sakhli surveys indicate that many men do not view domestic violence against women as a problem, and they see no need to change their violent behaviour.

The Centre has given women the opportunity to join self-help groups, in addition to offering individual consultation and rehabilitation. Psychosocial rehabilitation has helped women to regain lost self-confidence and feel strong enough to seek assistance in breaking the cycle of violence.

Just getting women to talk openly about the problem with a social worker or psychologist, as Sakhli has done, is an achievement. One of the biggest challenges in combating violence against women is to enable the victims to talk about an extremely sensitive issue with ‘outsiders’ – people who are not members of their family – thus breaking the isolation that is usually associated with the problem of domestic violence.

In order to raise public awareness and encourage discussion about domestic violence, Sakhli regularly highlights the issue in newspapers and magazines, TV and radio programmes, and training seminars.

The Centre has conducted training to sensitise representatives of law-enforcement bodies, educators, teachers, and representatives of NGOs. Sakhli has conducted several surveys on the issue to assess public attitudes and existing prejudices, and identify underlying causes and perpetrators of the violence.

Source: www.oxfam.org.uk

Regenration

Regional Redevelopment


Overview

The term most commonly associated with the process of developing urban governance further is regeneration that involves initiatives to raise the profile of the region. The impact of a particular mode of governing the city, planning it, redesigning and building it are all part of the spatial practice and the representations that it generates (Lefebvre, 1991). Generally redevelopment involves adding new elements to the infrastructure of redeveloping areas in decline; such as introducing shopping mall, theatres and galleries expanding road accesses and airport; rebuilding old industrial areas; loft conversions; waterside housing developments; new luxury city centre apartments and alongside them cafes, restaurants, galleries and all of the things associated with high level urban living that brings together both faces of the city namely town and gown. Increasingly prestige developments, place imaging, spectacles and branding become as much to the fore as new building or the development of urban infrastructures. The urban governance is shifting from mangerialism to entrepreneurialism (Harvey, 1989) exploiting local resources, harnessing financial and information advantages, developing consumer driven local economy and pressing on governmental redistributed resources.

Area of this assessment, the South East England is unique in many ways. Its rate of development is higher and faster than for most regions. Water resource issues are more pressing. The region’s wealth leads, in some cases, to more unsustainable behaviour than in other regions. This paper elaborates an overview of Oxford as part of the south east England and its set up, organizationally. Then a brief of economic and population context are projected to inform findings utilized for regional development purposes and ultimately categorizing available resources for further studies and devising an action plan.



Oxford in Context

Oxford structure is hidden in the gently rolling country side of middle England as you descend from the Headington roundabout toward Magdalen Bridge - keeping its secrets within the spires of towers, colleges and university buildings. It is obvious that scholars are not preoccupied with developing retail businesses, shops, malls, even cafes (open cafes are missing) in the city where education is prime motivating factor. Although, Oxford is home to the oldest museum in the world, the Ashmolean, surprisingly, the town seem less likely artistically enthusiasm. Townfalks don’t seem to know much about the university, but university continues to exert a huge influence on the economic life of the city, and this is reflected in the nature of new employment, with increasing development of medical and industrial technology as well as printing and publishing.

There are social divisions in the city between affluent north housing the dons of the expanding university and working class Cowley that is the industrial section of the city. The cluster effects allow an easier comparison of the various sectors of the city’s economy. Studies have shown that in general, firms grow faster in a cluster that is strong in their own sector, while this growth is attenuated if the cluster is strong in other sectors. In the setting of oxford there is opportunity for expansion of educational cluster, such as vocational training which will benefit from university’s links with world of work, as studies show there is growing demand for this.

The political agenda post-1997 prioritised universities’ role in economic development in, the 1998 White Paper, Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge-Driven Economy; the region with the creation of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in 1999 and clusters (White Paper on Business Clusters published in 2001). There is potential environment for developing business and educational opportunities in the presence of Oxford University and its colleges, this world famous institution.

There is an agreement that knowledge-based economies are innovation driven, and that knowledge, technological innovation and industrial competitiveness are linked (Oughton et al 2002). Successful innovation happens when individuals are sufficiently enthused by their immediate and local environment to invest the effort required to take new ideas forward; it is all about hearts and minds. As in Cambridge, the Oxfordshire high-tech economy has grown rapidly since the mid-1980s thus presenting considerable challenges to the urban infrastructure (transport and housing) and is creating pressures within the labour market from skills shortages. The county can be accounted for the highest-ranked EU region for high-tech services, and is the fastest growing high-tech region in the UK. One study found that high tech sectors now accounts for some 12 per cent of the county’s workforce which include biotechnology, ICT and engineering. The database is currently being updated.

Currently 21,700 VAT-registered businesses are located in Oxfordshire. The data therefore provides an up to date snapshot of the characteristics of businesses in Oxfordshire, and also allows trends over the last two years to be examined. Results can be disaggregated by age of business, size of business (employment sizeband), industry sector and urban/rural location. Over one third of the county’s businesses are in the real estate and business services sector, and growing rapidly in the county in the last few years. Micro-businesses, with less than 10 employees, have seen the largest growth in Oxfordshire since March 2004, accounting for 83% of the increase in the number of VAT-registered enterprises. All of this growth has taken place in the smallest businesses, employing fewer than five staff; numbers of enterprises in the 5-9 employee range has actually declined slightly in the last two years in Oxfordshire.

Updated residence based labour market survey (August 2006) from the Annual Population Survey (APS) released by the ONS provided information on population characteristics, economic activity, employment and unemployment, qualifications and training. An estimated 83% of Oxfordshire’s working age residents were economically active (employed or unemployed) in 2005, compared with an average of 82% in the South East and 78% in England. The latest results show that since March 2005, for certain businesses growth has been concentrated mainly in rural Oxfordshire.

Labour market participation and employment rates in Oxfordshire are above the South East and national average. Qualification levels are also above average in most of the county, but are relatively weak in Cherwell and West Oxfordshire. The primary role of the university system appears to be as a conduit for bringing potential high quality undergraduate human capital into the region that creates important migration effects.

The continued population growth in Oxford City is the most notable feature, with almost a 10% increase recorded since mid-2000. This is the fastest rate of population growth over this period amongst all 67 local authority districts in the South East. Proportion of working age people in Oxfordshire on key benefits is only half the national average, although numbers on benefits has increased slightly in the last 12 months. Numbers of people in Oxfordshire with personal debt problems are also below the South East and national average.

The amount of empty commercial and industrial property in Oxfordshire is below the South East and national average, and has declined in recent years; while Average property price in Oxfordshire continues to rise, and is currently £260,400, representing an increase of 10% on the equivalent quarter in 2005. Property prices in the county are currently 10% above the South East average and 31% above the average for England and Wales.

Release of 2001 Census data for all urban areas in Oxfordshire, defined as settlements with at least 1,500 residents (released on the NOMIS website in August 2006). Census statistics are available for 50 separate “urban areas” in Oxfordshire. This geography is based on the physical extent of built up areas, and provides an alternative to the use of ward level data in obtaining statistics on the county’s towns and other settlements.

Small and Medium Enterprises SMEs

Although difficult to quantify, the socio economic and political structure of the British society had considerable impact by small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs. Changes and improvements in the British small business perspective was heralded since 1979, after the oil shocks, expanding in proportion with vast public and private funds allocated to it. There is however a growing body of empirical knowledge, which argues that the majority of owner/managers lack the necessary skills and competencies to accurately analyse market conditions or to speedily reallocate their scarce resources to maximise economic output (Matlay, 2001).

Government sponsored initiatives represent the most important source of training for small business owner/managers. In practice, it is suggested that smaller firms are not much aware of the existence and purpose of training initiatives and tend to provide less formal training than their larges counterparts (Storey and Westhead, 1995). Nevertheless, it was found that initiatives that incorporated specific small business sphere of activity (ie. Training and Enterprise Councils TECs) proved to be more successful in the SME sector than the more general training and support schemes available in recent years.

One major problem faced in trying to generate interest of SMEs in learning and development (and in generating small business growth) lies with the career motivations and personal expectations of individual owners and managers. Many small firms adopt practices that are antithetical to efficiency and growth (Gray 1993). Indeed the most common small business ambition is for independence and autonomy rather than profits and growth (Gray 1998). Hence it is important not to understate the extent of learning support (and in some cases a cultural shift) required to make this approach applicable in a range of other settings.

In the public sector where the availability of funds, time and training programmes is high compared to the private sector learning philosophy has not been prevailing. While work-related learning demonstrates a very strong social dimension, studies show that SMEs act collectively therefore we need to understand more about their positioning within supply chains and other networks and their impacts. The main responses from employers to having hard-to-fill vacancies were to increase recruitment advertising; expand recruitment channels; increase salaries; and increase training (in 40 per cent of workplaces). Skill gaps were mainly due to a lack of experience in those recently recruited or a failure to develop and train staff.

There are a high proportion of small companies in the ICT sector. Significant numbers of particular groups of ICT staff are self-employed or work as independent contractors. Job turnover is significantly higher than in other occupations (Connor et al., 2001). UK assessment of ICT skill needs identified main skill gaps to include lack of problem solving, lack of team working and communication skills, customer handling skills / customer service and particularly IT consultancy skills to understand other people’s businesses to meet client’s IT needs. High level technical skills coupled with the ability to communicate effectively in the service of business development are in high demand in the IT sector. Studies found that one aspect of a typical technical graduate career in England is their high mobility between jobs that helps spread tacit knowledge about working methods and learning how to apply what they have learned in different contexts,

The strategic and operational contexts of SMEs have been influenced by the changing patterns of innovation within supply systems for complex products in the automotive, and other engineering industries in the last decade. Recently large companies have sought to develop much stronger links with a smaller number of suppliers in ‘their supply chains’. SMEs in engineering face with issues of intense pressures result from the strategies, tactics and operational methods of the large companies that dominate their markets, particularly where these are linked to supply chain restructuring. One study of engineering companies found that the use of a wide range of learning methods helped improve commitment towards learning. These methods included: participation in production process improvement reviews and implementation; Master Engineer workshops; group discussions; assignments; portfolio-building; discussions with tutor; use of computer-mediated communications for discussions, document transfer and tutor feedback.


Vocational Education and Training VET

VET mainly created aiming to promote participation for groups that show low participation and to minimise their social exclusion from a ‘learning society’. The promotion of a learning society rests among others on educational/training institutions and labour market institutions. This include transformation of the educational system more towards learning and less towards credentials, the accreditation of formal and informal competencies, the opening of more horizontal and hierarchical routes in the education and training system, the stronger connection between VET programmes and the labour market (and not the transformation of the educational system to fit production purposes) are some of the required steps.

Vocational training schemes for higher professionals are addressing professional needs for complex problems that general practitioner registrars need to surmount to enter general practice partnership, immediately on completing vocational training. While confident about consulting with patients, the business side of practice and general practitioners' growing responsibilities in the NHS are a worry. Moreover number of post-vocational training schemes has appeared addressing recruitment problems. Other areas include raising awareness of lack of support for impaired people for retention in work after difficulties in work and remaining unemployed. The National Vocational Rehabilitation Association has provided a forum for practitioners working in disability and employment since 1992 to address the issues regarding disabled people's employment situation that exists now. The current review will be designed to cover those working across all sectors and improve the collaboration between all concerned parties (Leach, 2001). New areas of focus are established such as climate change and its health damaging impacts need to be explored in development of vocational training.

Since there is a shift out of traditional manufacturing toward service based economy, there is a need for employees with multi-skilling, problem solving, team working, with knowledge and learning that is viewed as the key drivers of competitive advantage in high value added global markets (Piore and Sabel 1984, Murray 1989). University and training organizations need to work with companies with a learning culture on Management level to develop coherent, advanced and challenging training programmes that are expanding and adapting consistently with the needs of the world of work. The co-operation of training provider and companies is vital for the success of programmes where all including students have a say in terms of the content and aims, devising new ways of initiating institutional co-operation between VET and local companies. Educators and instructors can be recruited from companies in the relevant occupational area.

The characteristics of companies and employees personal ambitious are both grounds for competitive businesses to benefit from the VET. The economics of vocational training, in itself has become an important political issue. Economic research concerning the skill structure of the employed population and based upon official statistical sources utilises occupationally classified data as a proxy for skills. The key to the skill development process is the identification of a specific knowledge/skill need in working environment – and formal training activities that can satisfy such specific needs. One approach to promote VET, is to design tailor-made programmes and policies according to the specific needs of each situation. It is suggested that there is a need for a platform of generic skills (i.e. transferable skills that can be used across occupational groups), on which to build a range of more technical and job specific skills while establishing far greater cooperation between training providers in the county. Teaching plans and learning process have to take real-life work contexts into account aiming to provide practically-oriented education and training for students.



Learning Need Assessment

In Britain £4.5b is spent on training each year by employers, but this may not be used effectively. In 2001 the spend on training in the USA was estimated to be $56.8b and 50% of this training had not been used one year later and was unlikely to ever be used! A carefully designed Learning Needs Analysis can prevent skills shortages and the wasting of finance on inappropriate or unnecessary training. Conducting a learning needs analysis helps an organization to be more competitive: learning faster than competitors, efficient use of scarce resources, investing in people, tap into people ability to learn and be more productive.

- 22% of employers say that the skills of their workforce are not of the standard required. (2003 National Employers Skills Survey)
- The lack of basic skills costs a typical business, of 50 employees, £165,000 per year (Ernst and Young)
- UK productivity is 13% below that of other major economies (Office of National Statistics)

Many activities within an organization are routine or planned in advance and therefore should be regularly assessed in order to determine the extent to which training and development are necessary. This checklist can be used as a prompt to identify areas that may require training to ensure smooth transitions and prevent bottlenecks (Oxford Univ):
Appraisal, Assessment Centres, Audit, Critical Incidents, Downsizing, Induction, Training, Internal promotions, Internal transfers, New equipment, New legislation New markets, New procedures, New products, New standards, New systems, Other training events, Performance Management, Skills shortages, Succession Planning
Training Programmes - Skills Checklist Below is a list of the main training areas which are to be found in many organizations. It can be used as a menu to identify areas that may not currently be addressed such as: Accounting, Appraisal Skills Training, Assertiveness Workshop, Business Communication, Business Ethics, Business Strategy, Business Writing Skills, Career Development, Change Management, Coaching & Mentoring Skills, Conflict Management, Consulting – Internal and External, Continuous Improvement, Creativity, Customer Service training, Customer Relationship Management, Diversity Training, Drug / Substance Abuse, Emotional Intelligence, Employment Law, Equal Opportunities Training, Executive Leadership, Financial Skills, Goal Setting, Harassment Human Resource Development, Human Resource Management, Induction Programme, Interviewing Skills/Techniques, Leadership, Managing Conflict, Managing Difficult People, Managing Resources, Marketing Introduction to, Meeting Skills, Motivation, Negotiating Skills, Performance Appraisal, Personal Assistant Skills, Personal Efficiency Programme, Presentation Skills, Project Management, Quality Management, Selling Essentials, Small Business Management, Strategic Management, Stress Management, Supervisory Skills, Supply Chain Management, Report Writing, Team Building, Team Skills, Team Leader Skills, Telemarketing Skills, Time Management, Train the Trainer, Training Skills, Workplace Safety, Workplace Violence

Data Resources


The research method will be based on case studies, life stories and focus group discussions intended to deepen understanding of the survey results. To identify skill gaps and devise an Action Plan, series of interviews to study individual biographies can inform different patterns of participation and illustrates different types of attitudes towards continuing vocational education, training and learning that could give further insight into reasons for participation in particular forms of vocational training. This helps distinct various forms of learning and development to be identified to enhance productivity and efficiency; whether greatest use are made of formal VET provision; opportunities for learning while working; or self-directed learning.

Interviews should discuss the array of learning experience including learning while working in a job with considerable challenges; learning through working with someone with acknowledged expertise; learning through working in multi-disciplinary teams; learning through organised reflection and review; learning through the application of knowledge learned in VET to work activities; learning through working with suppliers; learning through exposure to other working environments; learning by doing without any formal training.

There is a need for a holistic approach to data collection and analysis within multi-agency environments to overcome fragmentation of information, and thereby improve the policy-making process. From different databases variables need to be extracted to examine employment, representing the size of the industry; firm type, categorising a company amongst its peers; economic data, illustrating cluster economic strength; and regional characteristics, showing general cluster strength, Cluster formation, economic benefits that flow from clustering, measures of employment characteristics of each region, employment diversity index, finally to draw educational need assessment and vocational training plans.





In addition to wealth of research resources available in Oxford University, databases from various origins need to be merged, such as:

1) FAME, extracting employment data for firms

2) Business Density, Business Formation Rate, Business Survival Rate
Small Business Service, ONS Regional Trends Database,

3) Clusters formation as geographical agglomeration of technologically related companies - the relative economic performance of clusters

4) County councils database and development plans (Oxfordshire County Council’s company database)

5) Herfindhal index based on the variety of employees in different sectors (This variable will determine whether a diverse environment benefited firm growth; also informative in shortage of works).

6) Firm sizes: turn overs, and other variables for firm sizes

7) Taking measures of small and very young companies that are excluded from the database

8) Population density in the analysis to control for a scale effect (ONS, the British office), Total Population, by age, gender and ethnic group, and Population by Socio-Economic Group, migration and population forcast

9) Measure of the amount spent on R&D in each region of the UK, ONS, Annual Business Inquiry (e.g. the Greater London and the region comprising Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire spent more than £1bn in research and development in 1997). A current OEO (Oxford Economic Observatory) project is focusing on the R&D activities of multi-national companies in Oxfordshire.

10) DTI Regional Competitiveness Indicators; Product and Process Innovation, Percentage of firms introducing new or significantly improved products or processes during the last three years, DTI Community Innovation Survey (CIS)

11) DTI sub-regional Business Competitiveness Indicators. These are similar to the Regional Competitiveness Indicators, but provide data at local authority district level;

12)The set of Public Service Agreement Floor Target Indicators monitored by the
Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, which also provide data at local authority district level;

13)The set of indicators developed by the Countryside Agency to monitor conditions in rural economies in England (State of the Countryside indicators).

14) Labour Force Survey data and Labour Productivity (GVA per Worker)

15) Average Household Income

16) Average Gross Weekly Earnings, source of data from New Earnings Survey

17) Employment Area, employment growth and Number of Residents in Employment, Breakdown of Employment by Industry, Breakdown of Employment by Occupation, (ONS, Annual Business Inquiry), Claimant Unemployment, identifying unemployment “hotspots”, ODPM, Indices of Multiple Deprivation

18) Travel to work mode and distance

19) House price, land registry data, homelessness, ODPM, housing statistics,

20) Qualification Levels – Adult Population, Basic skills and training activity, Percentage of adult residents with specific qualification levels (including % with degree level qualifications and % with no qualifications) Data Source ONS, 2001 Census & 1991 Census, Participation in Education/Training – 16/17 Year Olds (Department for Education & Science)

21) Availability of key services, through percentage of population within specific distances of key services & facilities, Market Towns Healthchecks

22) Super Output Areas, allows small, localised, pockets of deprivation within relatively affluent wards to be identified.

23) The new data for high tech sectors will be published by OEO (Oxford Economic Observatory in Enterprising Oxford (III) in December 2006); it has undertaken two studies of labour markets and is about to conduct a more extensive study which will examine the supply side of the Oxfordshire labour market. 1-Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Learning and Skills Council (April 2002-August 2002) ‘The labour market potential of over 50s Scientists and Engineers in the MKOB region’.2- Technicians: Planning for the next generation of skills’ The Oxford Trust/Oxford2Cambridge Arc (January to August 2004); Measuring the performance of Oxfordshire’s academic spin-offs (2004/2005), Public Research High-Tech spin-offs: measuring performance and growth, December 2005

24) Studying economic networks activity: - How many networks?- What are their objectives?
- In which domain are they based?- What do they deliver? - Where are the gaps?

25) EGov website, ‘Excellence in new venture creation: the Oxfordshire model’

26) NOP (2001), ICT Skill Survey, London: NOP

Reference has also been made to the broad themes in the current Economic Development Strategy for Oxfordshire (OEP, 2001), – competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and social inclusion.


E-Sources:
www.statistics.gov.uk
www.statistics.gov.uk/geography
www.statistics.gov.uk/neighbourhood
www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/fti
www.nomisweb.co.uk,
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/facts
www.oxonvbc.co.uk
www.odpm.gov.uk
www.dfes.gov.uk
www.lsc.gov.uk/mkob
www.basic-skills.co.uk
www.sbs.gov.uk
www.dti.gov.uk
www.isis-innovation.com
www.landreg.gov.uk
www.odpm.gov.uk
www.countryside.gov.uk
www.defra.gov.uk







Oxford Univ introducing sites which are involved with education, training and development:

- Learning Need Assessment, Oxford Univ, http://tall.conted.ox.ac.uk/lnat/advantages.php
- American Society for Training and Development: www.astd.org
- Benchmarking: www.benchmarking.gov.uk
- Business Link: www.businesslink.gov.uk
- CEDEFOP - The European Centre for The Development of Vocational Training: www.cedefop.eu.int
- Department for Education and Skills: www.dfes.gov.uk
- Department of Trade and Industry: www.dti.gov.uk
- European Training Village: www.trainingvillage.gr
- European Training Foundation: www.etf.eu.int
- European Foundation for Quality Management: www.efqm.org
- International Labour Organization: www.ilo.org
- Investors in People: www.iipuk.co.uk
- Learning and Skills Council: www.lsc.gov.uk
- Learning and Skills Development Agency: www.lsda.org.uk
- Sector Skills Development Agency: www.ssda.org.uk


Other useful websites:

National Online Manpower Information System (NOMIS) www.nomisweb.co.uk
Government Office for the South East – www.go-se.gov.uk
South East England Regional Assembly – www.southeast-ra.gov.uk
South East England Development Agency – www.seeda.co.uk
Banbury Chamber of Commerce – www.banburytown.co.uk/business/coc
Oxfordshire Economic Partnership – www.oep.org.uk
Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce – www.oxfordcity.co.uk/coc

Oxfordshire Districts:
Cherwell District Council – www.cherwell-dc.gov.uk
Oxford City Council – www.oxford.gov.uk
South Oxfordshire District Council – www.southoxon.gov.uk
Vale of White Horse District Council – www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk
West Oxfordshire District Council – www.westoxon.gov.uk

Oxfordshire Sectors:
Oxfordshire Bioscience – www.oxbiosci.org.uk
OXIT – www.oxit.org.uk – organisation representing IT companies in Oxfordshire.
Oxmedianet – www.oxmedianet.net – organisation representing media (including new
media) companies in Oxfordshire.





References:
Brown, A., (ed) (2005), Learning while working in small companies: comparative analysis of experiences drawn from England, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, ESRC funded Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance, SKOP, Oxford and Warwick Universities

Chadwick, A., (2005), Guide For Data Sources for The Oxfordshire Economy, Oxfordshire Economic Observatory

Connor H., Hillage, J., Millar J. and Willison R. (2001), An Assessment of Skill Needs in Information and Communication Technology, Brighton: IES.

Ertl, H., (2004) Improving the connection between schools and work - new approaches in Sweden and Germany, SKOPE, Issue paper 3, Department of Educational Studies, University of Oxford

Faggian A., McCann P., Interregional human capital knowledge flows; Department of Economics, University of Reading

Lawton Smith, H, (2006), Relevance of the mode to developing countries, Oxford, Oxfordshire Economic Observatory

Leach, J., (chair), National Vocational Rehabilitation Association, Sandringham House, Heritage Gate, Oxford OX4 5LB jleach@brookes.ac.uk, cited in BMJ Journal 2001;323:1186 ( 17 November)

Mason G. (2000), Key Issues in IT Skills Research in the UK, Report to the DfEE,
London: NIESR

Matlay, H., 2001, ‘Managing Training, Learning and Knowledge in SMEs: An
International Perspective’ Education and Training, 2001, 43, 8/9, pp.393-94

Murray, R. 1991. "Fordism and Post-Fordism'. In Esland, G. (Ed.) Education, Training and Employment. Volume 1: .Educated Labour -the Changing Basis of Industrial Demand. Wokingham: Addison-Wesley.

Oughton, C Landabaso, M and Morgan, K (2002) ‘The Regional Innovation Paradox:
Innovation Policy and Industrial Policy’ Journal of Technology Transfer 27 97-110

Payne, J., (August 1999), All Things to All People: Changing Perceptions of Skill among Britain Policy Makers Since the 1950s and Their Implications, SKOPE Research Paper No.1, University of Warwick

Piore and Sabel, C. 1984. The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. New
York: Basic Books.

Porritt, J., Founder of Forum for the Future & chairman of Sustainable Development Commission, www.forumforthefuture.org.uk, www.sd-commission.org.uk

Storey, D. and Westhead, P., 1995, Management Training in Small Firms: A Case of
Market Failure?, Working Paper No.29, University of Warwick: SME Centre

Wrenz,C., Taylory, J., (2002), The Changing Regional Specialisation of UK Employment (1971-1994), Department of Economics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Emission cost of consumption

The scarcity of eco friendly produce is demonstration of how very short-lived ethical consumerism can be when there is not adequate publicity. The "consumer-led ethical produce" policies of manufacturers vanish as soon as the shopping public loose its enthusiasm. Fairtrade produce need to do more to spread the culture otherwise it will have the same fate too, with time. While manufacturer of washing powder, household cleaning fluids, washing-up liquid etc. publicizing eco-friendly produce the trend towards consumer driven ethics, the negligence of big beauty industry and its target groups has gone unnoticed. The business they do are among the most profiteering with potential customers, however there is small public mobilization and ignorance from both demand and supply sides on green aspects of beauty industry while other industries are condemned harshly of climate crimes.

Only recently one of the business players ultimately finds herself on the opposing side, saying: "I hate the beauty industry, it is a monster selling unattainable dreams. It lies, it cheats, it exploits women." and that it hasn't improved much over the years. She emphasis on the efforts for eco friendly attempts, saying “You need purchasing programmes and to have a dialogue in the most honourable way with the most fragile and poorest communities you are working with. You have to ask them if you can purchase from them and under what conditions and how much you would have to pay as a social premium.

One study has proved that basing emission inventories on consumption, rather than production, may resolve not only issues related to international trade, but also provide greater flexibility towards pollution intensive resource endowments, emission reductions, and participation levels. It is found that CO2 emissions embodied in imports was 67% of Norway's domestic emissions. Around a half of this embodied pollution originates in developing countries, yet they represent only 10% of the value of Norwegian imports.

In terms of corporate ethical behaviour - this may address the fact that company directors will go under scrutiny by shareholders not providing maximum return to shareholders. There are legal cases where directors had noble motives acting ethically in their business that cost money, reduced dividends, and shareholders took the directors to court. Corporate actors practically cannot be too generous or public spirited otherwise they might face charges. Therefore all parties on either side of the argument need to rethink the issues. Company directors must be encouraged and supported by legal instruments when initiating eco friendly measures. Where public is informed, consumer bear the cost and respond with responsibility the increase of sales can be moderated by improving image and quality. The practical terms are to turn environment friendly produces becoming beneficial to corporate interests by taking account of real cost of environment damages while having checks and balances well regulated and in action.

The weight of responsibility to educate consumers to become environment conscious is on their part. There is broad publicizing space available for beauty industry to get the message across, to mobilize the dormant crowd of consumers for example by promoting environment awareness tips. Business actors have enormous chances of finding great business opportunities if the world makes a serious attempt to address polluting environment, and willingly pay the price. We need governments and international trade bodies to impose these sorts of standards on manufacturers and retailers; it can't just be left to the market.

Sources:
- www.Oxfam.org.uk
- www.eci.ox.ac.uk
- Guardian, Comments on environment
- Glen P. Peters and Edgar G. Hertwich Pollution embodied in trade: The Norwegian case, Pages 379-387