Broad Societal Support Research Articles

Designing wildlife-inclusive cities that support human-animal co-existence

In an urbanizing world there is an increasing priority for making cities nature-inclusive environments. Cities offer places for human-wildlife experiences, and thus for broad societal support of biodiversity conservation. Cities also depend on ecosystem services provided by biodiversity to remain healthy, liveable places. Although biodiversity is frequently addressed in urban green infrastructure plans, it often is not an integral topic in city planning, urban design and housing development. As a result, wildlife-rich urban green is often lacking in those parts of the cities where people live and work. Here, we introduce the concept of ‘wildlife-inclusive urban design’ for the built-up area of cities that integrates animal needs into the urban planning and design process. To identify key features that determine the success of wildlife-inclusive urban design, we evaluated lessons learnt from existing best practices. These were collected during an international workshop with architects, landscape practitioners, ecological consultants, conservationists and urban ecologists. We propose that features of successful wildlife-inclusive urban design projects are: 1) interdisciplinary design teams that involve ecologists early on, 2) consideration of the entire life-cycle of target species, 3) post-occupancy monitoring and evaluation with feedback to communicate best practices, and 4) stakeholder involvement and participatory approaches. We propose how wildlife-inclusive urban design could be included into the different steps of the urban planning cycle. We conclude that following these principles will facilitate incorporation of wildlife-inclusive urban design into urban planning and design and enable urban environments where humans and animals can thrive in the built-up areas.

Politicized policy access: The effect of politicization on interest group access to advisory councils.

Current scholarship often concludes that technical expertise is one of the most important commodities for interest groups wishing to gain access to political‐administrative venues. Less attention has been given to politicization and the scope of societal support that interest groups bring to bear. Specifically, I hypothesize that the capacity of interest groups to supply broad societal support is decisive for gaining access in highly politicized policy domains. To test this expectation, the article combines a mapping of interest group membership in 616 Belgian advisory councils with survey data from more than 400 organized interests. The empirical analyses demonstrate that interest groups with broad support are more likely to gain access to advisory councils in highly politicized policy domains, but this effect is negatively moderated when interest groups involve their constituencies intensely in advocacy processes.

Solidarity in the Dutch healthcare system: monitoring trends in willingness to pay

Background Increasing costs of healthcare are putting stress on solidarity principles in social health insurance in European countries. This could pose a threat to equal access to healthcare which can have negative consequences for national health. There have been policy changes to tackle rising costs which alter solidarity in the healthcare system and spark a debate on how resources should be distributed. Institutionalized solidarity principles rely on a broad societal support for equal access to healthcare. A decrease in public support might affect solidarity in healthcare systems. Aim The aim of this research is to monitor solidarity in Dutch society. The focus is on willingness to pay for healthcare costs for others through the years. Methods Questionnaires have been sent out to a random selection of the 12.000 members of Nivel’s Dutch Health Care Consumer Panel, and included, among others, questions about solidarity in healthcare. Data are available from 2013, 2015 and 2017. The response was N = 764 (51%), N = 633 (42%) and N = 668 (45%) respectively. Results In 2017 74% of the respondents stated that they were willing to pay for others, compared to 73% in 2013 and 63% in 2015. If we look at willingness to pay for certain groups the results are similar over time: people show more solidarity towards others when others experience health issues beyond their ‘control’ like a genetic disposition. People show les solidarity when others face health problems due to lifestyle choices like excessive smoking and drinking. Results show time trends, especially for certain groups that have low education or poor health. Conclusions Results show that the willingness to pay for others is high; thus reflecting a high degree of solidarity. However, there is less solidarity for certain groups and attitude is changing over time. Since social health insurance is based on a broad societal support for equal access to healthcare it is paramount to keep monitoring solidarity and see if trends continue. Key messages Willingness to pay for healthcare costs for others is high; showing high degree of solidarity over time. There are trends in willingness to pay which could affect solidarity in healthcare systems.

A paedophile scan to prevent child sexual abuse in child care? A thought experiment to problematize the notion of alignment in Responsible Research and Innovation

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a science policy concept that gained traction from 2000 onwards in the EU and US, in which alignment on purposes and values between different stakeholders is a key aspect. This thought experiment problematizes this particular notion: ethically acceptable and societally desirable outcomes are not necessarily achieved when alignment is a consequence of early closure. To argue this point, we took the example of the potential development of scanning technology for the detection of paedophilia among job applicants, for which indicators of broad societal support were found in an RRI project on neuroimaging. We analysed this case by looking through several lenses, obtained by structured and non-structured literature searches. We explored how facts and values are masked when a taboo topic is considered. This results in the black boxing of the problem definition, potential solutions and development trajectories. Complex unstructured problems can thus be perceived as manageable structured problems, which can in turn lead to irresponsible policies surrounding technology development. Responsible processes of research and technology development thus require the involvement of a critical reflector who is alert to signs of early closure and who prevents foreclosure of ongoing reflexive deliberation. There is an important role for ethical, legal and societal aspect studies within the framework of RRI. This paper shows that the concepts of “value/fact diversity masking” and “early discursive closure” are new avenues for RRI research.

Combining efficiency and transparency in legislative processes

ABSTRACTIn this contribution, we will illustrate the modern-day dynamics of the interplay between the need for expedience and efficiency on the one hand, and the demand for openness, inclusiveness and transparency on the other by looking into one of government’s main decision-making processes: the legislative process. Particularly in the field of legislation, the balancing of both efficiency and transparency is of the essence for modern legislatures in parliamentary democracies: laws expressed by acts and legislative instruments can only be truly effective if they rest on broad societal support. As we will argue, a transparent and inclusive legislative process functions as a kind of democratic check on government action: it guarantees sufficient deliberative activity before a government may act. Throughout our contribution, a 2012 comparative study commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, and carried out by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Leiden University will be used as a guiding rail to illustrate some the ways in which different jurisdictions in Europe have managed to combine, or at least balance, the need for legislative efficiency and transparency. We will use this study to demonstrate how traditional legislative processes nowadays grapple to translate the will of the citizens into effective legislation, how modern administrations still need democratically underpinned legislative procedures as the basis for the legitimation of (their) decisions, how efficient delivery of decisions and careful (lengthy) scrutiny interact. On the basis of this material we will further discuss concepts of, respectively, efficiency and transparency and especially the way modern legislatures examined in the study use information and communication technology (ICT) to overcome the sometimes opposing demands on their legislative processes. Insofar as possible we will try to highlight a few ‘best practices’ that show how legislative processes can (and cannot) adapt to new present day demands.

What Local People Think About Crocodiles

This article challenges several assumptions that have shaped environmental policy in the Philippines. Policy makers assume that people are antagonistic toward conserving crocodiles in the wild and think that the enforcement of environmental legislation in a context of widespread rural poverty is illegitimate and ineffective. They argue that these negative public attitudes can only be transformed by generating revenues for rural communities, for example, through crocodile ranching or ecotourism. Despite the evident failure to conserve crocodiles in the wild, this thinking continues to underpin policy and practice in the Philippines. A community-based conservation project in the northern Sierra Madre on Luzon puts this utilitarian logic in perspective. The project succeeded in transforming hostile attitudes toward crocodiles and mobilized broad societal support for the protection of the Philippine crocodile and its freshwater habitat. Cultural values, such as pride in the occurrence of this rare and iconic species, form an important incentive for people to support the preservation of the species in the wild. These experiences highlight the importance of moving beyond ideological positions in discussions on biodiversity conservation, and enable the design of integrative and innovative solutions to conserve wildlife in human-dominated landscapes.

Responding to the Childhood Obesity Epidemic: From the Provider Visit to Health Care Policy—Steps the Health Care Sector Can Take

Pediatricians, along with most of the American public, now well know that childhood obesity is a leading threat to the long-term health of the population, rivaling smoking in its potential impact. What pediatricians and other health professionals who deal with children have not known is what they can do to affect this epidemic and how they can be most effective in doing it. From the perspective of the clinician in practice, the problem of obesity seems overwhelming. The number of children affected is vast, with healthy lifestyles a concern for all children and overweight or obesity affecting as many as one quarter of children ages 2–19 years. In part because of the limited emphasis on effective counseling methods in traditional medical education, addressing behaviors such as increasing use of car seats or reducing tobacco use is difficult for many clinicians. This has been the case even when the evidence is strong and there is broad societal support for these changes. Behaviors related to diet and physical activity seem even more difficult to influence, not only because they are embedded in family and ethnic culture, but because so many societal and community pressures lean on the side of foods of lower nutritional value (eg, sugar-sweetened beverages, highly processed fast foods) and limited exercise (unsafe neighborhoods, absence of sidewalks). Health professionals may feel that influencing these societal behaviors and policies are outside the scope of their professional role. Health professionals have also been unsure what to do, because no unequivocal direct scientific evidence links clinician counseling to the prevention of obesity. This has been clearly stated by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which reported in 2005 that there was insufficient evidence to recommend for or against counseling about childhood obesity by clinicians.1 However, although most observers acknowledge the state … Address correspondence to Charles J. Homer, MD, MPH, National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality, 20 University Rd, 7th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138. E-mail: chomer{at}nichq.org

Long-Term Care Policy and Financing as a Public or Private Matter in the United States

Summary Effective approaches to assure adequate resources, infrastructure, and broad societal support to address chronic care needs are volatile and potentially unpopular issues that can result in many losers (those getting far less than they want) and few winners (those who gain access to scarce societal resources for care). In the United States, debates on long-term care involve a complex set of issues and services that link health, social services (welfare), and economic policies that often pit public and private sector interests and values against one another. Yet long-term care policies fill a necessary function in society to clarify roles, expectations, and functions of public, non-profit, for profit, individual, and family sectors of a society. By assessing and developing policy proposals that include all long-term care system dimensions, a society can arrive at systematic, fair, and rational decisions. Limiting decisions to system financing aspects alone is likely to result in unforeseen or unintended effects in a long-term care system that stopgap “fixes” cannot resolve. Three underlying policy challenges are presented: the need for policymakers to consider whether the public sector is the first or last source of payment for long-term care; whether government is seen primarily as a risk or cost manager; and the extent to which choice is afforded to elders and family caregivers with regard to the types, settings, and amount of long-term care desired to complement family care.

Leadership in the climate change regime: the European Union in the looking glass

This paper examines the role of European Union (EU) leadership in the climate change regime. The EU has adopted a negotiating strategy with a high profile. This strategy is seen differently by negotiators and actors from non-European and EU countries. This is evident from 67 interviews conducted over the period from October 1997 to July 1998. The analysis indicates that leadership in the climate change issue is not the prerogative of one country or one group of countries. Rather, there are groups of countries that play different types of leadership role in the process. Furthermore, leadership emerges as a razor thin process. The leadership in the regime is apparently not based on broad societal support or across-the-board political commitment in the countries from which it emerges. The EU has had an active negotiating strategy. However, this strategy has been perceived to have some weaknesses, the most notable being the allegation that the EU tends to be hypocritical. This article attempts to analyse the information on EU leadership in the context of the changing paradigm of leadership in the climate change regime.