Interventions In Europe Research Articles

Developing an Evidence-Based Primary Cancer Prevention Repository: insights from the PIECES project

Abstract Introduction Up to 40% of cancer cases could be avoided through effective primary prevention. However, cancer prevention tends to be fragmented across Europe, leading to geographical health differences. The dissemination and scale-up of effective primary cancer prevention interventions may address this. Although effective cancer prevention programs exist, finding them and their materials (especially regarding implementation) can be challenging. Repositories of evidence-based interventions provide insight into “what is out there” and can support dissemination within and across national borders. The PIECES project aims to develop and disseminate a repository of evidence-based primary cancer prevention programs adaptable to European contexts, with information to aid adaptation and implementation across countries. Methods The development of the PIECES repository has been informed by established repositories such as NCI’s Evidence-Based Cancer Control Programs. The project team developed a scoring sheet with a selection of items that could be included in the repository. All participants rated each item on relevance and applicability and provided comments and suggestions. A final framework, including a set of minimal requirement items, was agreed upon during three online consensus building meetings. Results We created a repository of evidence-based primary cancer prevention interventions targeting modifiable risk factors suitable for implementation in European healthcare settings. This 22-item repository provides information about an intervention’s logic model, implementation practices, and appraisal of published evidence of effectiveness. Conclusions This repository is innovative as it includes practical information and tools to facilitate implementation. While initially built to serve the PIECES project, the repository is designed to be a valuable tool for European policymakers, researchers, and implementers. Lessons learned from this process will inform future developers. Key messages • A comprehensive cancer prevention intervention repository avoids “reinventing the wheel” and allows for more efficient use of existing interventions by building upon the best available evidence. • The ongoing efforts of the PIECES project represent a significant contribution to reduce cancer prevention disparities and to facilitate the adoption of evidence-based interventions in Europe.

The moral behaviour of single young women immigrants to Mandatory Palestine: Between nationalism, gender, and professionalism in social work

Summary Migration has always constituted a meeting point of opportunity, risk, and vulnerability. Concerns surrounding the sex trafficking of women have caused moral panic since the mid-1800s and led to social workers’ preventive initiatives and interventions in Europe and the United States. This article explores a historical moment in which Henrietta Szold, who headed the Social Welfare Department in Mandatory Palestine in 1934, decided to send social workers to the Jaffa and Haifa ports to welcome young, single immigrant women from Germany in the light of rumours of the moral dangers they faced upon entering the country. This feminist historical study of social work employed qualitative analysis of archival texts to investigate the professional decision-making processes involved in sending a social worker to the Jaffa port and the results of the decisions that were made. Findings The findings trace the course of events that took place in 1934 using three categories: the rumours, their investigation, and the results and implications of the investigations. The findings point to intersections of nationalism, gender, and professionalism in social work. Applications This article contributes to the evolving knowledge on moral panic in social work and reveals the historical practice used in social work policy and interventions in facing moral panic regarding young women immigrants.

Adapting, implementing and evaluating a navigation intervention for older people with cancer and their family caregivers in six countries in Europe: the Horizon Europe-funded EU NAVIGATE project.

Navigation interventions could support, educate and empower older people with cancer and/or their family caregivers by addressing barriers and ensuring timely access to needed services and resources throughout the continuum of supportive, palliative and end-of-life care. European Union (EU) NAVIGATE is an interdisciplinary and cross-country Horizon Europe-funded project (2022-2027) aiming to evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and implementation of a navigation intervention for older people with cancer and their family caregivers in Europe. EU NAVIGATE aims to advance the evidence on cancer patient navigation in Europe. Adaptation, implementation and evaluation of a navigation intervention with an international pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) and embedded mixed-method process evaluation at its core. A logic model guides dissemination and impact-generating strategies. EU NAVIGATE involves six experienced EU academic partners; one EU national cancer league with their affiliated academic partner; three EU dissemination partners; and a Canadian partner. We adapted the Canadian Navigation: Connecting, Advocating, Resourcing, and Engaging (Nav-CARE©) volunteer programme to healthcare contexts in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal following the new ADAPT guidance. Nav-CARE was developed over the past 15 years and supports people with declining health and their families to improve their quality of life and well-being, foster empowerment and facilitate timely and equitable access to healthcare and social services. In EU NAVIGATE, the navigation intervention is being provided by trained and mentored social workers in Poland and by trained and mentored volunteers in the other five countries. Via a pragmatic RCT with process evaluation, we implement and evaluate the navigation intervention to study its impact on older people with cancer and their family caregivers. We also aim to understand its cost-effectiveness, how to optimally implement it in different countries, and its differential effects in patient subgroups. We will also map existing cancer navigation interventions in Europe, the United States and Canada to position EU NAVIGATE within the field of navigation interventions worldwide. EU NAVIGATE aims to deliver high-quality evidence on a navigation intervention for older people with cancer in Europe and to develop practice and policy recommendations for sustainable implementation of navigation interventions in Europe and beyond.

Effectiveness of School-Based Interventions in Europe for Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors in Children.

The objective of this narrative review was to summarize existing literature on the effectiveness of school-based interventions, implemented in Europe, under the aim of promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors in children (6-10 years old). A search of PubMed, Scopus, EFSA and Google Scholar databases was performed for studies published from January 2016 to June 2022. Specific search terms and exclusion criteria were used. Based on the results, diet and physical activity interventions had favorable effects on a series of health outcomes, including anthropometric parameters, biomarkers, eating behavior and self-efficacy. Diet-only interventions had a positive impact specifically on eating habits, mostly on water consumption. Most successful interventions lasted for 1 school year, and they were characterized by parental involvement and teachers' training.

The lesser of two evils: Enhancing biodegradable bioplastics use to fight plastic pollution requires policy makers interventions in Europe

Plastic pollution is a ubiquitous and universally recognized environmental threat, and bioplastics have emerged as a potential solution to this issue in the last years. Being biobased and biodegradable, bioplastics have a reduced carbon footprint with respect to plastics, and they are not expected to accumulate and fragmentate in the environments as plastics do. Nevertheless, some bioplastics drawbacks such as their slow biodegradation in engineered (i.e., anaerobic digestion and composting) and natural (i.e., soil and water) environments have been used by sceptics to discredit bioplastics, and this have induced policy makers to use a precautionary approach to the topic (i.e., including bioplastics in the ban of single use products and in the count of inert materials in organic fertilizers).Using a simplified ecologic risk assessment analysis, this Opinion paper aimed to show that bioplastics that are proven to be intrinsically biodegradable are always a better choice than plastics. Having a residence time in natural environments of about 1–10 years, the likelihood of bioplastics causing harmful effects on living organisms is about 100–1000 times lower than plastics that resides thousands of years in the environments. Taking this into consideration, policy makers are asked to revise recent regulations and directives to enhance bioplastics diffusion and fight plastic pollution. In this sense, Single Use Plastic Directive 2019/904 may exclude biodegradable bioplastic items from the ban, and European Regulation on Fertilizers 2019/1009 may exclude biodegradable bioplastics residues from the count of inert materials in organic fertilizers. Bioplastics collection within biowastes and subsequent anaerobic digestion should be also favoured, in order to force controlled bioplastics biodegradation into biogas and reduce their leakage into the environment, resulting in the enhanced circularity of bioplastics products.

Facilitators and barriers for implementation of community-based mental health interventions in Western and Eastern Europe - a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT With a high prevalence of mental health disorders in Europe and the increasing call for human-rights approaches in their treatment, the number of community-based mental health (CBMH) interventions is growing within the region. However, the implementation of these CMBH interventions differs between countries and regions, especially between Western and Eastern European countries. The reasons for these differences are based on societal and health systems, but also the design and implementation of the intervention. This systematic literature review examined the existing literature on CMBH interventions in Europe, to identify facilitators and barriers in the implementation process. Emerging themes that were found are the importance of collaboration, the availability of adequate resources, and the consideration of the community perspective in the process. The differences between Western and Eastern Europe which were discovered were mostly caused by a lack of financial and human resources and a higher existing stigma around mental health disorders in communities.

The Role of a First Aid Training Program for Young Children: A Systematic Review.

Many first aid programs have been conducted in schools, and researchers have identified that interventions improved students' knowledge, skills, and attitude. This study examines the content, practices, and assessment of first aid interventions at primary schools and evaluates their effectiveness. A systematic review was undertaken. We searched MEDLINE and Cochrane library databases from January 1990 to December 2021 using the search terms: ''first aid'' AND ''primary school children''. School-based first aid training targeting 6 to 10 years old studies in English were eligible for inclusion. We included 11 studies that were approached by experimental (n = 6) and by observational studies (n = 5). Researchers conducted interventions in Europe (n = 9) and America (n = 2). An essential part of the teaching was hands-on practice. Most studies included in their program cardiopulmonary resuscitation (n = 8) and basic life support (n = 7). The main findings showed that trained children have significantly better knowledge of and skills in first aid than those before or without training. Children under 11 years old were not strong enough to achieve the proper depth of chest compressions. Depth of chest compressions correlates with children's age, weight, height (n = 2), and body mass index (n = 3). Conclusions The effectiveness of resuscitative or non-resuscitative first-aid training for primary school children improved students' knowledge and skills. Subsequent research could investigate children's reactions in actual first aid conditions.

Overview of availability of harm reduction interventions in European prisons

Abstract Introduction Prisons are high-risk environments for the transmission of drug related infections, due to over-incarceration of people who inject drugs; often inadequate healthcare, substandard prison conditions; and others. An overview of the availability and coverage of prison-based harm reduction interventions in Europe is presented. Methods National Focal Points of the EMCDDA (30) collected 2019 data, which were integrated with findings from the European funded project HA-REACT (Joint Action on HIV and Co-infection Prevention and Harm Reduction). Results Prison based harm reduction interventions are available in European countries, but only few of them are available in most countries and often with a low coverage (e.g. less than 10% of prison population in Opioid Substitution Treatment (OST) in most countries). Interventions available in most countries (20 or more) include: HIV, HBV, HCV testing (29), OST continued from community (29), Referral to HIV treatment upon release (28), HIV treatment (27), Referral to HCV treatment upon release (25), HCV antiviral treatment (25), Testing for TB (23), HBV antiviral therapy (25), OST initiated in prison (22), Treatment for TB (21), Vaccination for HBV (20). Interventions available in 10 to 19 countries are: condom distribution (19), OST (re)initiated before release (17), prison/community guidelines for implementation of OST (13). Interventions provided in < 10 countries include: distribution of disinfectant (9), condom with lubricant (9), take-home naloxone (5), needles and syringes programs (3). Conclusions Compared to the community, the availability and coverage of harm reduction interventions in European prisons are limited and large information gaps exist. Scaling up harm reduction in prison can achieve important individual and public-health benefits.

Food Security Threats and Policy Responses in EU and Africa

The global dynamics we are observing during the past few years are severe, global and multifaced. The global warming, the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine have largely modified the geopolitics of our globe, with implications that are several in many sectors, included the agricultural and the food sectors. The state of food security has become (again) an emergency for several countries, and a concern for all. Governments and international organizations are reacting to limit the impacts of the global shocks. However, in comparison to previous events, such as the food crisis between 2008 and 2011, current food security issues are a result of disruptions in the global supply chain. Aside from this, the effects of the border closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the export restrictions imposed by Russia and Ukraine on food, pose a threat to both the EU and Africa, which rely heavily on Russian food imports. We compare the (contrasting) needs and the (national and international) interventions in Europe and Africa, stressing the necessity to act. While food security trend and severity caused by recent events are different in two regions, the tight links across the two continents call for joint policy responses, necessary to reconstruct a resilient and sustainable agri-food sector.

Dissemination of sport-based psychosocial interventions in Europe: results from the EASMH project

IntroductionAmong psychosocial interventions, recent studies have highlighted that sport-based interventions can positively impact on the long-term outcomes of patients with severe mental disorders, in terms of improving their quality of life and promoting social inclusion. Although sport-based interventions should be considered an effective strategy for promoting patients’ recovery, few data are available on their dissemination in the clinical routine care in Europe.Objectivesto evaluate the availability of sport-based psychosocial interventions in European countries.MethodsIn the framework of the EU-Erasmus+, the European Alliance for Sport and Mental Health (EASMH) project has been funded. In order to evaluate the availability of sport-based interventions, an ad-hoc online survey, sent to national mental health centres, has been developed.Results103 responses were obtained (49 from Italy, 31 from UK, 17 from Finland and 12 from Romania). The respondents were mainly psychiatrists working in community mental health centers. Sport-based interventions were frequently provided by mental health services, in particular in Italy, UK and Finland. While in UK and Finland sport-based interventions are commonly offered to all patients, in the other countries these are provided only by patient’s request. The most frequent types of sport practised were: running, football, volleyball, tennis and table tennis and basketball. Almost all respondents reported to not use a dedicated monitoring tool for evaluating the efficacy of those interventions.ConclusionsSport-based interventions are not frequently provided in the routine clinical settings, although no monitoring tools are routinely adopted. The EASMHaims to fill this gap by disseminating good clinical practice related to sport-based interventions.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

What Would It Take to Enable Germline Editing in Europe for Medical Purposes?

Commonly, the regulation on germline editing in Europe is described through the two prohibitions: the prohibition set out in Article 13 of the Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and the prohibition that is set out in the EU Clinical Trials Regulation. These prohibitions reflect the European regional position regarding the ethical and legal questions raised by the technology, and an unwillingness to enable such interventions in Europe. Simultaneously, these prohibitions have been shaped prior to the recent breakthroughs in the field, such as the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas technology, which has initiated a new era in the field. This contribution examines what it would take to enable human germline gene editing in Europe for medical purposes. It scrutinises in detail the content and context of the existing bans, as well as mechanisms to lift them. It argues that the bans that are prescribed by each of the European regional legal orders are embedded in strong structures, composed of values and principles. For the human germline gene editing to be enabled in Europe for health-related purposes, the approach to these values and principles needs to change. Only then can the machinery to lift the bans lead to a change.

The economic impact of workplace physical activity interventions in Europe: a systematic review of available evidence

PurposeThere is growing interest in the economic impact of workplace physical activity interventions, but the evidence is still lacking — especially in Europe. Although, some evidence on the return on investment (ROI) is found in literature, the included studies may not be applicable to the Europe situation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to review current evidence on the economic impact of workplace physical activity interventions in European countries.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review on the economic impact of worksite health promotion programs aiming at increasing physical activity was conducted. Five electronic databases (MEDLINE (Ovid), MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, NHS-EED and Emerald Insights) were searched for relevant studies published between 2000 and 2020.FindingsA total of 953 abstracts were screened, and 28 were reviewed, 11 of which met all inclusion criteria. The studies varied substantially in sample size, intervention type, duration and frequency of follow-up measurements, valuation methods and assessed economic outcomes. There is inconclusive evidence for decreasing absenteeism, positive net benefit (NB) and positive ROI. No evidence was found to indicate an effect on self-assessed productivity or job satisfaction.Originality/valueThis study is the first try to take the different working conditions from Europe into consideration. The authors found that working conditions could have some impact on the valuation of absenteeism costs and thereof on the ROI. Further, this study provides insight into how to deploy effective and efficient workplace physical activity interventions, based on a standardized and validated methodology and program scope.

Healthcare practices and interventions in Europe towards families of older patients with cardiovascular disease: A scoping review.

In Europe, cardiovascular disease is one of the predominant causes of mortality and morbidity among older people over 65years. The occurrence of cardiovascular disease can have a negative impact on the quality of life of older patients and their families and family health overall. Assuming that illness is a family affair shaped by culture and health care systems, we explored European health care practices and interventions toward families of older patients with cardiovascular disease and heart failure. This paper aimed to determine the extent, range, and variety of practices and interventions in Europe directed to families of older patients and to identify knowledge gaps. A scoping review was conducted including studies published in Medline, CINHAL, or Cochrane library between 2009 and mid-2020. A total of 22 articles from 17 studies were included, showing diverse practices and interventions. The interventions targeted the family as a unit (six studies), dyads (five studies), patients alone, but assessed family members' reactions (five studies) or the family member primarily, but assessed the reaction of the patient (one study). Target outcomes were family caregiver burden; health-related QoL; and perceived control in patients; and family functioning and changes in health behavior or knowledge in both, family members and patients. Most studies did not include an integral view of the family as the unit of care but rather had a disease-centered approach. This scoping review provides insight into a variety of healthcare practices towards families of older patients with cardiovascular disease in Europe. Clarifying underlying assumptions to involve families is needed. More studies with family-focused approaches as integral models could lead to practices that improve families' well-being. Exploring integral models for their acceptance in health care and family systems appears pertinent to develop European policy to support and add to family health.

A systematic review to understand the value of entomological endpoints for assessing the efficacy of vector control interventions

To guide implementation of vector control interventions in Europe, a stronger evidence base of their efficacy and effectiveness is needed. Currently, epidemiological endpoints are used to demonstrate the public health value of a vector control intervention. This systematic literature review aimed to help assess whether entomological endpoints (such as mosquito abundance, infection rates, inoculation rates, parity rate as proxy for longevity, or others) can be used on their own as evidence of efficacy of vector control interventions against vector-borne diseases. We searched electronic bibliographic databases (The Cochrane Library, CAB Abstracts, MEDLINE and Web of Science) for intervention trials where vector control interventions were evaluated and extracted epidemiological and entomological effect size estimates. The selection process resulted in 31 studies (extracted from 35 publications) for which both types of endpoints were available. The final database included studies on malaria (n=16), dengue (n=9), leishmaniasis (n=5) and tick-borne diseases (n=1). Epidemiological and entomological effect sizes often pointed in the same direction (i.e. both favouring intervention or favouring control). However, based on the statistical inference (whether the effect size estimate is significantly different from no-effect) of the results, we observed some disagreement between endpoints, though we rarely saw complete disagreement in effect estimates. This review illustrates the complex relation between entomological and epidemiological endpoints. Based on this review, it is concluded that evaluating interventions on entomological endpoints only is insufficient to understand their potential epidemiological impact. To better asses the value of entomological endpoints for the assessment of efficacy of vector control intervention, there is a need for studies to be powered for both epidemiological and entomological endpoints.

Temporary use of abandoned buildings

Abstract Temporary architecture is a way to produce an instant experience. It concentrates on a specific location and develops unique tactics to activate it. It adapts to the site, which is often abandoned and backward. Temporary use focuses on a single purpose and its influence at a given moment. It reflects the current economic state and situation in adjacent neighbourhood and community. It aims at becoming a catalyst for a permanent change. Empty buildings represent a valuable resource for urban development of an area. They belong to the category of areas suitable for reconstruction. Their activation contributes to the recycling of areas within the urban structure increasing the efficiency of land use and contributing to the sustainable development of the territory. A removal of abandoned buildings from a functioning urban organism has a negative impact on the integrity of the urban structure. Archipop is the author’s newly established database focusing on the topic of temporariness in architecture. Its aim is to map successful activations of abandoned buildings by the means of temporary interventions in Europe. Archipop deals with the subject of ‘pop–up’ in architecture. Its prime objective is to attract a target group of users over the shortest period of time possible by exclusivity of a presented activity, concentrating on temporary uses located in abandoned buildings in Europe. It examines successful projects of activation of unused objects by using temporary activity profile. Targeting at interested public, potential investors, and last but not least government and municipalities, Archipop was created to provide inspiration and opportunities of temporary use. Its ambition is to promote revitalisation of unused areas with the use of temporary architecture and to save historic heritage from its terminal destruction.

Committed Moderates and Uncommitted Extremists: Ideological Leaning and Parties’ Narratives on Military Interventions in Italy

AbstractCurrent research highlights that ideology decisively affects political contestation concerning peace and security operations in European countries. In particular, recent studies suggest that party preferences on this issue follow a curvilinear distribution along the left-right axis, delineating a conflict between moderate and extreme parties. However, the impact of this cleavage on the use of strategic narratives to either support or criticize these missions requires more attention. This article aims to fill this gap by employing seeded latent Dirichlet allocation, a semi-supervised automated text analysis method, to analyze parliamentary debates on Italy's most significant troop deployments between 1994 and 2013. We expect to find that while moderates express a supportive narrative aimed at justifying the use of force, extremists attempt to delegitimize military interventions. Accordingly, we hypothesize that moderate parties emphasize more on the multilateral and humanitarian framework of a mission, while extremist parties focus more on its military means. The empirical findings largely confirm our hypotheses. By means of its method and results, the article contributes both empirically and methodologically to the debate on the party politics of military interventions in Europe.

What do we know about interventions targeting ethnic minority children and youth? A literature review

ABSTRACT Across different countries, policy makers implement a variety of interventions aimed at bettering the life chances of ethnic minority youngsters, but we generally lack solid research evidence that such interventions indeed work in the intended ways. To locate evaluation studies that assess the results of such interventions in scientifically proven ways we conducted a computerized database search. Through a screening process, we reduced 2,718 potential studies to 81. The majority of the studies found positive effects or associations on a variety of outcomes for ethnic minority children and youth. Depending on the type of intervention, positive outcomes could be improved host country language command (for educational interventions), a more positive family environment (for family interventions) or a reduction of, for instance, depression symptoms (for health interventions). Our search only identified 15 interventions that successfully produced effect estimates. These effective interventions primarily targeted preschool children, incorporated parental involvement and were especially adapted to ethnic minority children and youth and their families. While the majority of the studies came from the US, we assess that several of the evaluated interventions are relevant in a European context. The paucity of European effective studies published in peer-reviewed journals calls for stronger evaluation designs of such future interventions in Europe.

Impact of NSAID etoricoxib on side effects of orthodontic tooth movement

ObjectivesThe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug etoricoxib is the most highly selective inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2 available (344:1) and has been approved for postoperative pain therapy following dental interventions in Europe. At clinically relevant doses it has been reported to only have marginal effects on the velocity of orthodontic tooth movement (OTM). Its effects on associated dental root resorptions, osteoclastogenesis, trabecular number in the alveolar bone and periodontal bone loss during OTM, however, have not yet been investigated. Material and methods40 male Fischer344 rats were divided into four groups: 1.5ml tap water/day p.o. (control, 1), additional 7.8mg/kg/day etoricoxib (normal dose) for three (2) or seven (3) days/week and 13.1mg/kg/day (high dose) for seven days/week, respectively (4). After a week of premedication, OTM in anterior direction of the first left upper molar was performed for 28 days by means of a nickel-titanium coil spring (0.25N). We quantified OTM-associated dental root resorptions, osteoclastogenesis, trabecular number and periodontal bone loss by histomorphometrical, histochemical and μCT analyses of the disected tooth-bearing upper jaw sections. ResultsAfter 28 days of OTM, associated reduction of trabecular number seemed to be slightly alleviated by high doses of etoricoxib, whereas no significant other etoricoxib effects in the doses administered could be detected regarding OTM-induced or -associated dental root resorptions, osteoclastogenesis or periodontal bone loss. ConclusionsDental root resorptions, osteoclastogenesis and periodontal bone loss during OTM in rats were not significantly affected by etoricoxib in the clinically relevant dosages investigated with only a slight inhibitory effect on bone remodelling to be expected at high dosages. Etoricoxib is therefore not suitable for the prevention of these detrimental effects, but could be a suitable analgesic during OTM, as it has been reported not to affect tooth movement.

The role of civil society in child safety in Europe

Abstract Introduction The complexity of injury and the multi-sectoral nature of its prevention demands a whole-of-society approach. Engaging with civil society in a form of collaborative governance is central to this approach. Civil society, defined as neither state, nor market, nor family, includes organisations such as advocacy groups, charities, professional associations etc. This study looks at the role of civil society organisations in the implementation of child injury prevention interventions in Europe. Methods The method was built upon an existing approach, known as ’organigraphs’. Mintzberg and van der Heyden developed the approach to depict how organisations actually work. We further developed its practical application to explore how interventions in child safety are developed, implemented and monitored across the local, regional, national and EU levels. Professionals working in child safety in 25 European countries were asked to draw organigraphs for an intervention in one of four child injury domains: road, water, home safety or intentional injury prevention. The analysis focused on the action surrounding civil society actors, represented by the connectors leading to and from those actors. Results We received 44 organigraphs in total from 31 participants in 24 countries; nine for intentional injury prevention, nine for water safety, 12 for road safety and 14 for home safety. Civil society actors were present in the majority of Organigraphs and they played multiple and diverse roles including: ’advising’, ’funding’ and ’implementing’ child safety initiatives. Conclusions The role of civil society, described in this data set, appears to be relatively well-developed. Strong, functional and long-standing partnerships between civil society actors across policy sectors and government may lead to greater capacity to address the complexity of child injury. Key messages Effective child injury prevention requires multi-sectoral action to address its complexity. Stakeholders come from the public and private sector and from civil society. Greater engagement with civil society may represent an opportunity for countries and regions to improve their response to the challenges of injury prevention among children.

Smart Specialisation: what gets lost in translation from concept to practice?

ABSTRACT This paper investigates how and to what extent the Smart Specialisation approach to innovation policy is currently being translated into strategic decisions and policy interventions in Europe. It defines three complementary conditions that operationalize the intervention logic of Smart Specialisation and tests them empirically. The results reveal that Smart Specialisation is being partially implemented. There are in fact significant indications that regions and countries have put in place mechanisms that may circumvent the logic of selective intervention. Implications for policy evaluation are discussed.