Policy Trends Research Articles

A Tiered Model for Data Management, Curation, and Sharing Support in Grant Proposals and Budgets

Recent trends in research funder policies and guidelines increasingly point to requirements for more detailed plans for data management, curation, and sharing with an emphasis on including allowable costs in grant budgets to support these activities as well. As a result, libraries and other collaborating units at academic institutions have an opportunity to develop streamlined models that allow researchers to incorporate institutional resources for data management, curation, and sharing into their grant proposals along with costs to support these resources. While the current literature contains examples and discussions of general funding approaches to activities like data curation and long-term preservation, little has been written on formal models or strategies for incorporating data management and curation support into the grant proposal and budget process itself. This article describes the development and implementation of a tiered grant support model at the University of Colorado Boulder that provides three levels of services, infrastructure, and expertise to researchers who are looking to incorporate support and costs for data management, curation, and sharing into their grant proposals. The article also presents lessons learned since the soft launch of the grant support model as well as key challenges that have emerged. This model may serve as an example for other institutions to use or adapt to continue to help researchers meet funder requirements while simultaneously increasing the visibility of existing data management and curation resources and identifying potential new revenue or cost recovery streams.

Fiscal Policies Promote the Development and Popularization of Green Electricity

The concept of carbon neutrality is constantly being improved and various carbon neutral project technologies are constantly being developed. Under the current "double carbon" background, green power, as an emerging energy industry, is gradually developing into one of the main clean energy sources in the future. However, as the operation and management system of green power is gradually being improved, its various application fields and its popularization to the public still need to be studied. Through the investigation and research of green power, the analysis of financial policies and the test of the acceptable range of the public, analysis Organize solutions that can promote the use and development of green electricity in current trends in fiscal policies.

Spatiotemporal tracking of building materials and their related environmental impacts

Urban development will increase the demand for new buildings expected to cause significant environmental impacts in the coming decades. Spatiotemporal prediction for new buildings, their typologies, resource quantities and types required for construction, and the associated impacts are crucial to effectively tackle strategies to reduce the related greenhouse gas emissions. Within the context of Denmark, this study establishes a prognosis of expected yearly embedded impacts across the country towards 2050 based on Business as Usual (frozen policy) trends. Through the Holt-Winters method's additive version, the study forecasted the future amount of building types in each Danish municipality. The embedded impacts disaggregated into building types, components, materials, and life cycle stages are calculated from the material intensity coefficients of real projects. Considering a ‘business as usual’ scenario, the prediction shows an increase in demand by 6.5 % for new gross floor areas compared to the number of current buildings constructed in the past years. The GHGs from the upstream processing of materials correspond to 7 % of current consumption-based yearly emissions in Denmark. To strive for sustainable development, the findings of the study help inform stakeholders in the built environment to better correlate the material mechanism ‘supply-demand’ for circularity and where efforts to minimize the impacts should be prioritized.

A Data-driven Model for Sustainable Deployment of Climate Smart Agriculture Practices Among Smallholder Farmers in Kakamega

Kenya’s agriculture is dominated by millions of smallholder farmers who produce over 75 percent of the national agricultural production. The smallholder farmers, however, are the most vulnerable to climate change because various socioeconomics, demography, and policy trends limit their capacity to adapt to change. To mitigate against the negative effects of climate change on smallholder farmers’ numerous interventions, in the form of Climate Smart Agriculture Technologies have been developed and promoted by development partners and government departments. Not all the targeted smallholder farmers, however, participate in and adopt the technologies at the ideal rates and intensity leading to their dis-adoption and abandonment. This study, therefore, sought to develop a data-driven model for the sustainable deployment and adoption of CSA practices among smallholder farmers in Kakamega County. The study employed a mixed methods research design. Through a quantitative survey of 428 smallholder Climate Smart Agriculture Technology adopters and dis-adopters, this study reviewed and investigated the major socio-economic and biophysical characteristics of the different smallholder farmer categories. Supervised Machine Learning using the Scikit-Learn library of Python Programming language to build, pilot, and review Decision Tree and Random Forest Classifier models for the sustainable deployment and adaptation of CSA practices among Kakamega County's smallholder farmers. 19 key variables were identified for developing a predictive model for CSA Technology adoption. A predictive tool was developed and piloted among 15 smallholder CSA farmers. The classifier model produced a Mean Squared Error of 0.16. The proposed model predicted smallholder farmer adoption at an accuracy of 89.53 percent and 90.0 percent with test data and pilot data, respectively. This study, therefore, proposes a new model for the optimal selection of Climate Smart Agriculture intervention beneficiaries.

Health Care Feels the Heat: A Primer for Radiologists on Climate Change–Related Regulatory and Policy Trends

In the ensuing decade, health care will encounter risks and opportunities stemming from a regulatory and policy environment that is increasingly shaped by the climate crisis. The startling multiplication of climate change–related extreme weather events has increased public support for action, creating pressure on policymakers and regulatory agencies to provide solutions. Health care must decarbonize along with other sectors of the economy; therefore, health care organizations should be prepared to respond to climate-related regulations and take advantage of abundant green energy incentives to achieve the largest greenhouse gas emissions reductions possible and capture financial opportunities related to the national green energy transition. Radiology is an energy-intensive specialty; therefore, radiologists can have a powerful voice in efforts to decarbonize their organizations and will be more effective advocates if they have a basic understanding of the broader national and international climate change–related regulatory and policy trends. The necessity to address climate change is ever clearer; we can either help our organizations lead in these efforts, or we can wait for policymakers and health care regulators to dictate our actions.

The trends of policy research onto non-public preschool education –findings from scopus database

Public education is not only an option for early childhood education in countries around the world; this makes non-public preschool policy even more important when the objectives, content, and programs are met and all issues related to early childhood education of non-public forces can contribute to this important level of education. With data from the Scopus system and the quantitative bibliographic method, this study aims to provide a general picture of how research trends in non-public policy on early childhood education have been studied. The results show that the number of non-public preschool policy research studies is not much, although the number has gradually increased in recent years. Publication is mainly in developed countries and in the field of medicine. Therefore, there is a need for more detailed studies on each aspect of non-public policy on early childhood education by region, level of development, industry, and interdisciplinary trends in this policy issue.

Implications Increase of Protectionism Between USA and China for International Business

The main aim of this paper is presentation the implications increase of protectionism between the United States and China on international business. The main objective of the research task is to give a comprehensive analysis of current trends in foreign trade theory and policy and in particularly the models of foreign trade policy, trade interests indicated by export orientation and import sensitivity, protectionist pressures in different political system, the level of protectionist pressures, new tendencies in international business, reasons for the USA to implement tariff sanctions. China will be significantly hurt by tariff trade war in all indicators, including welfare, gross domestic product (GDP), manufacturing employment and trade. However, it is pointed out that although there will be definite impacts on China, the costs should be maintainable and will not severely damage the Chinese economy. In regard to the United States, the simulation produced results that described, the US will gain on welfare, GDP and non-manufacturing production, but hurt employment and trade.

Defining the Limits of Acceptable Parenthood: Reproductive Governance in Brazil

ABSTRACT Drawing on sources relating to the Brazilian scenario – from ethnographic research in lower-income neighorhoods to the analysis of official documents and public debates – we build on cases of forced child removals to explore the intersectional dynamics of class, race, and gender that underlie institutionalized practices of discrimination against poverty-stricken families. After first addressing the influence of recent global trends in child-protection policy, we observe how adoption procedures in Brazil have been increasingly facilitated by the resignification of rights and corresponding changes in the country’s legal infrastructures. Next, asking what sort of authoritative knowledge is invoked to define a child’s best interests, we reflect on the role played by biomedicine in appraising the limits of acceptable parenthood. Guided by the notion of stratified reproduction, our investigation of these political, scientific, and moral technologies suggests plausible connections between policies that condition the demand for and the supply of adoptable children.

Monetary Policy and Current Trends in the Development of the Banking Sector in Azerbaijan

The purpose of the article is a comprehensive study of aspects of the development of the banking sector in Azerbaijan and the development on this basis of practical recommendations to improve the efficiency of the country’s banking system. The processes taking place in the banking system after Azerbaijan gained independence are considered. The quantitative and qualitative parameters of the development of banks, as well as the monetary policy carried out by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan are analyzed. The indicators characterizing the credit potential of banks and their role in the development of the country’s economy are given, ways and methods for further modernization of the country’s banking system are proposed, and important tasks that need to be solved by the monetary authority of Azerbaijan are outlined. This is the reduction of inflation, maintaining a stable exchange rate of the national currency, the development of the banking sector and ensuring financial stability. When working on the article, the author relied on the research of domestic and foreign authors on the development of the national banking sector.

Who holds [educational] authority? Framing the authoritarian turn in the conservative “gag orders” in the United States

ABSTRACT Amid the democratic backsliding of the United States and other nations, this paper problematises how authoritarian policy trends complicate who holds educational authority over teacher pedagogy, the contested public education arena, and schools as knowledge production sites within a democratic society. This paper situates the entrenched war on the educated in the United States within a broader political context that has unearthed nationwide educational policies premised on anti-democratic tenets of authoritarian populism. Drawing upon language from enacted educational ‘gag orders’ in multiple states, this paper highlights how conservative policy language positions teachers as passive policy subjects and illustrates the aims of these educational orders to curtail academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and redefine what is true and worth knowing within the contested public education domain. Finally, this paper calls to attention the risks posed to democratic institutions and stakeholders in the wake of authoritarian turns occurring both nationally and globally.

Post-Growth, Degrowth, the Doughnut, and Circular Economy: A Short Guide for Policymakers

Cities are searching for policy strategies able to meet climate and social targets while reducing their material footprint. To this end, post-growth approaches to urban sustainability have been rapidly gaining momentum. Rejecting the idea of green growth, the notion of post-growth includes a variety of agendas and approaches—for example, wellbeing economy, circular economy, degrowth, and Doughnut Economics. City officials, urban agencies, and policymakers recognize these terms as part of a same policy trend, one that focuses on the socio-ecological quality of urban development rather than its size. Yet, they often use them interchangeably and, in so doing, they risk making policy scenarios seem less incisive and inconsistent to the public. This commentary gives a guideline to the use of these terms in policy. It compares the terms of post-growth, degrowth, circular economy, and Doughnut Economics. It argues that post-growth is an approach, the doughnut is a tool, degrowth is an agenda, and circular economy is a business model. The article concludes with a manifesto for a post-growth city, a set of principles that can be used to build an urban post-growth policy strategy.

Russian border security: trends of post-soviet transformation

After the disintegration of the USSR, Russia confronted the task of reforming its border security policy, which had previously emphasized stringent control over both inbound and outbound cross-border movements. This challenge was further compounded by the unprecedented management of 13 thousand kilometers of newly established borders with other states of the former Soviet Union. This article examines the evolving trends in Russian border security policy, encompassing the management of these new borders, endeavors to integrate Russia’s border security spaces with those of its post-Soviet allies, and the impacts of geopolitical expansionism. The transformation of Russian border security policy has yielded mixed results. On one hand, Russia has effectively embraced modern approaches to cross-border flow management. On the other hand, the scope of issues covered by Russia’s border security agenda remains extensive, encompassing geopolitical fears and other issued that cannot be managed effectively by the agencies tasked with routine border management.

“History of Belarusian Statehood” in the Grip of the Russian Empire

The article is devoted to the review of the second volume of the “History of Belarusian statehood” published by the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus. The volume is dedicated to the history of Belarus as part of the Russian Empire (from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century), when the primary stage in the formation of the Belarusian national movement took place. The main attention is paid to the ideological and political content of this historical synthesis in the light of the basic trends in the historical policy of Belarus.

Three decades of EU climate policy: Racing toward climate neutrality?

AbstractThe European Union (EU) began developing climate policy in the 1990s. Since then, it has built up a broad portfolio of mitigation policy measures and governance tools, including legally binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and policy measures addressing emissions trading, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and more. In 2019, the European Commission—the EU's executive arm—published the European Green Deal (EGD), an overarching policy framework to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2050. The EGD aims to push EU climate policy and governance far beyond incremental policy development. In this article, we ask: does the EGD represent a break from past patterns of EU climate governance? We argue that it maintains several past patterns, but nevertheless breaks from other established policy and governance trends. We review insights from politicization and new institutionalist theoretical lenses to help us understand these findings. We reveal certain tensions and challenges inherent in the EU's climate governance approach—around speed and coherence, effectiveness and just transition—that highlight future research needs, and raise questions about the EU's ability to implement its climate policy goals.This article is categorized under: Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance

Discursive use of stability in New York Times’ coverage of China: a sentiment analysis approach

The importance of stability has been consistently emphasized in China and the discursive use of stability is found to have legitimizing effects in Chinese newspapers, but how such political keywords are employed by the newspaper of a country that is ideologically distinct from China remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating the use of stability in The New York Times’ coverage of China between 1980 and 2020, drawing on critical discourse analysis (particularly, the discourse-historical approach) and sentiment analysis. A diachronic quantitative analysis demonstrates an overall negative sentiment in news reports relating to China’s stability across these years, with positive sentiment evident only during the 1980s and negative sentiment prevailing from 1990 to 2020. These findings are consistent with general trends in US-China relations and US foreign policy over the four decades. Qualitative analysis reveals that negative sentiment focuses on sociopolitical and territorial issues, whereas positive sentiment focuses primarily on economic and financial aspects, indicating that the newspaper views the issue of China’s stability from a politically self-interested perspective of the US and is also concerned about the persistence of certain dominant ideologies in American society. This study contributes to a greater comprehension of the use of political keywords in national and international news discourse, especially by the media of ideologically diverse societies. Moreover, because the application of sentiment analysis to critical discourse analysis and news discourse analysis has proven to be time-efficient, verifiable, and accurate, researchers can confidently employ it to disclose hidden meanings in texts.

Forest Policy of Ethiopia from 1990 to 2020: An Assessment of Contemporary Forest Management Approach and Its Impact on Local Livelihood

This paper reviews historical perspectives on deforestation, forest law and policy, and participatory forest management (PFM) in Ethiopia. The main aim of this review was to state historical trends in forestry policy and forestry laws since the 1990s as well as the impacts of PFM on forest status and local community livelihoods in Ethiopia. To achieve the objective, the paperwork reviewed theoretical concepts from many scientific studies, previous documents, published articles, institutional documents, and legislation, as well as findings on forest management approaches, trends in forest coverage, causes of forest degradation, and the PFM approach in Ethiopia. The framework of driving force, pressure, state, impact, and response (DPSIR) was used to evaluate the country’s forest resources. The forest policy before 1991 was a top-down management approach, which discouraged local people from having access to and benefiting from the forest resource and participating in forest conservation practices. During the transition period from the military to the federal government in 1991, most of the natural forest cover of the country was affected and degraded by the local communities until the transitional government passed state regulatory laws. The deforestation rate kept going up during the political transition period from 1987 to 1991 due to agricultural land expansion, settlement, and investment pressures. As an option, PFM was introduced in Ethiopia in the mid-1990s with the help of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). However, the new approach was not equally beneficial to the local people, like training, collecting non-timber forest products (wild coffee and spices), hanging traditional beehives in the forest, and providing firewood and round wood for home construction. The approach demands more finance, and it is run by NGOs. Therefore, the PFM’s success depends on the financial return that the local people secure from the natural forests.

ASSESING THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN CONFLICT OF 2022: UNRAVELING THE PUTIN DOCTRINE IN THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY

Abstract: This article aims to build upon the existing neoclassical realist analysis of Russia’s foreign policy in Ukraine during 2022. By introducing a comprehensive analytical framework grounded in neoclassical realism, it seeks to delve into the influence of specific developments and priorities within Russia on its foreign policy conduct towards Ukraine. Contrary to the commonly perceived image of a more assertive and aggressive Russia, recent trends in both foreign and domestic policy reveal an internally conflicted, introspective, and reactive Russia, demonstrating its lack of preparedness to embrace an evolving international role. Through this analysis, it becomes apparent that Putin’s uncertainty in effectively addressing the multifaceted challenges and inevitable tensions, whether of domestic or international nature, emerges as a direct consequence of Russian mismanagement in handling foreign policy matters related to Ukraine. Unraveling the complexities and contradictions shaping Russia’s actions in the region, this article provides deep insights into the dynamics governing the Ukrainian crisis and its wider implications for global geopolitics. Keywords: Russian foreign policy, conflict management, the Ukrainian crisis, Putin, neoclassical realism

La langue française dans un monde multilingue: racines, parcours, défis et leçons à apprendre

The paper explores the hypothesis that the French international status in the contemporary multilingual world is determined by the specifics and practice of its functioning and shapes the relevant trends in the educational policy for learning French. The research materials integrated informative contributions of the institutional bodies and academic papers on the issues under study. The research methodology rested on the qualitative paradigm and followed a pathway of selected sources theoretical review with the following discussion thereof. The study has identified the main areas that characterize the role of the French language in the modern society. They include the history of the French language international status development, its position in international and regional organizations, in former French colonies, the Francophonie activities, language policy in France. The respective data is considered with regard to contemporary education related to the French language learning for various purposes from the angle of those lessons that may be learned by different countries across the world.

The Brazilian National Oral Health Policy and oral cancer mortality trends: An autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model.

This study analyzes the effect of the Brazilian National Oral Health Policy (NOHP) on oral cancer mortality rates (OCMR). This is an ecological study with secondary oral cancer death data, using interrupted time series analysis (ARIMA, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average). Annual death data were collected from the Mortality Information System (1996-2019). The outcome was the OCMR, standardized by gender and age We considered the NOHP, categorized as "0" (before its implementation), from 1996 to 2004, and "1 to 15", from 2005 to 2019. ARIMA modeling was carried out for temporal analysis, and regression coefficient estimation (RC). The Brazilian NOHP implementation was associated with an increase in OCMR in the North region (CR = 0.16; p = 0.022) and with a decrease in the Southeast region (CR = -0.04; p<0.001), but did not affect the other macro-regions nor Brazil. The forecast models estimated an increase in OCMR for the North, and Northeast, a decrease for the Southeast, and stability for the South and Brazil. The Brazilian NOHP is not being effective in reducing the OCMR. The trends behaved differently in the Brazilian territory, highlighting health inequities. We recommend that the NOHP strengthen the oral health care network, incorporating oral cancer as a notifiable disease, adopting strategies for prevention, screening, and providing opportunities for early treatment of the disease.

Features and Comparative Research on Ecological Civilization Vocabularies in the Five-Year Plan of China

The Five-Year Plan (FYP) in China guides the social and economic development. The features of ecology-related vocabularies in national and regional FYPs help to study China's emphasis and focus on ecological civilization. In this paper, a multi-phrase dictionary with syntactic and semantic features is constructed to analyze the features and trends of ecology-related vocabularies through social network and phrase topic model. Then, based on studies on the 13th and 14th FYPs of China and 31 provinces and cities, it is found that remarkable different stage definitions and tasks of ecological civilization construction are proposed according to different description vocabularies, with more pragmatic measures to fulfill its “carbon” target in 2030 as a duty-bound responsibility and mission to cope with climate change. The research ideas and methods in this paper can provide references for similar policy text analysis, and the conclusions from empirical studies are helpful to grasp the focus and trends of ecological civilization-related policies in China and various provinces and cities.