Union Sixth Framework Programme Research Articles

Perpetual loss and gain: Translation, estrangement and cyclical recurrence of experience based knowledges in public action

The “Knowledge and Policy”11This book article has been published thanks to the support of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme for Research – Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge-based Society theme (contract nr. 028848-2 – project KNOWandPOL). The information and views set out in this article are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. project illuminates several forms of non-standardised knowledge influencing political decision making. Various terms have been employed by the project teams, but in this article we designate “experience based knowledge” as the common denominator of these knowledge forms.The following article stems from the qualitative synthesis of the country reports of the project. After discussing the problems of defining experience based knowledge we discuss its potentials and limits in policymaking. The analysis emphasises the changing and volatile nature of this knowledge: during translation into policy terms it is transformed almost beyond recognisability. This is not however the end of the process – just the beginning of a new cycle.

A History of Welfare State and Family/Kin Support

volumes, based on the research project Kin ship and Social Security (KASS). The project is financed by the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme and led by Hannes Grandits (Humboldt University, Berlin) and Patrick Heady (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany). It involves researchers, mainly historians and anthropologists, from eight countries: Italy, Sweden, Germany, France, Austria, Croatia, Poland, and Russia (in the order they appear in the book). One overall aim of the project is to study when, where, and why, during the twentieth century, families/kin were the most important institutions to provide for people, and when and where the welfare state took precedence. The authors would also like to establish a causal link between families/kin and the welfare state. Are wel fare states built in response to some average degree of family and kinship support, or does a strong welfare state lead to reduced family/kinship support? The authors set their ambitions high and at the end of the volume they—as we might have expected—conclude that it is impossi ble to determine the causal direction.

REAL ESTATE'S KNOWLEDGE AND DEVICE‐BASED DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

The authors of this paper participated in the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme project Intelligent Cities (INTELCITIES, 2005). One of INTELCITIES's goals (on the Lithuanian side) was to develop a Real Estate's Knowledge and Device‐based Decision Support System (KDDSS‐RE). Major KDDSS ‐RE functions include creating and maintaining customer's personalized real estate objectives, preferences, and evaluation criteria; participation of various stakeholders (buyers, sellers, brokers, etc.) in joint determination of criteria (criteria system, values and weights) defining real estate; market signalling, provide device‐based data about indoor microclimates and allergens causing allergy in buildings; searching for real estate alternatives, finding alternatives and making an initial negotiation table, completing a multiple criteria analysis of alternatives, making electronic negotiations based on real calculations, determining the most rational real estate purchase variant, and completing an analysis of loan alternatives offered by certain banks. The authors of the present research have suggested the idea to integrate knowledge‐based, devices‐based and decision support systems. In order to demonstrate the integration decision support, knowledge and devices systems in the real estate sector a Real Estate's Knowledge and Devices‐based Decision Support System have been considered in the paper as an example. Santruka Šio darbo autoriai dalyvavo šeštosios bendrosios programos projekte ‘Intelektualūs miestai” (INTELCITIES). Vienas iš INTELCITIES tikslu (Lietuvoje) – sukurti žiniomis ir prietaisais pagrista nekilnojamojo turto sprendimu paramos sistema (KDDSS‐RE). Pagrindines KDDSS‐RE funkcijos yra šios: sukurti ir pletoti klientui asmeniškai pritaikytus nekilnojamojo turto tikslus, pageidavimus ir vertinimo kriterijus; ivairioms suinteresuotosioms grupems (pirkejams, pardavejams, tarpininkams ir pan.) suteikti galimybe drauge nustatyti nekilnojamaji turta apibūdinančius kriterijus (kriteriju sistema, vertes ir reikšmingumus); rinkos tyrimas, iš prietaisu gautu duomenu apie patalpu mikroklimata ir pastatuose esančius alergenus pateikimas; alternatyviu nekilnojamojo turto variantu paieška, ju radimas ir pradines derybu lenteles sudarymas, alternatyvu daugiakriterine analize, realiais skaičiavimais pagristos elektronines derybos, racionaliausio nekilnojamojo turto varianto pirkimui nustatymas ir tam tikru banku siūlomu alternatyviu paskolu variantu analize. Šio tyrimo autoriai pasiūle ideja integruoti žiniomis ir prietaisais pagristas bei sprendimu paramos sistemas. Siekiant sprendimu paramos, žiniu ir prietaisu sistemu integravima pademonstruoti nekilnojamojo turto sektoriuje, darbe nagrinejama žiniomis ir prietaisais pagrista nekilnojamojo turto sprendimu paramos sistema.

Bioethics, politics and the moral economy of human embryonic stem cell science: the case of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme

Focusing on the case of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme and drawing on a range of documentary material from the European Commission, Council of Ministers, Parliament and numerous committees, this paper analyses the cultural politics surrounding the debate about the funding of human embryonic stem cell science. First, it places HESC science within the context of the global struggle over the moral status of the human embryo and a conceptual understanding of the cultural politics produced by that struggle. Secondly, it outlines the primary components of cultural trading in HESC science, constructs a framework for the analysis of the EU's moral economy in this policy field and, using the same components, outlines a policy profile of the regulatory positions of the then 15 Member States as a context for the FP6 debates. Thirdly, it applies this framework to the cultural conflict surrounding FP6 and HESC science, the institutional manoeuvring that accompanied and to an extent channelled that conflict, and the contribution of bioethics to the operation of the EU's growing, if inefficient, moral economy in this field.

Prevention of degenerative diseases; clues from studies investigating oxidative stress, Brussels, 13 November 2002.

The European Commission held a major conference from 11 to 13 November 2002 in the Palais du Heysel in Brussels to mark the launch of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme (FP-6) for research, which covers the period 2002-2006.