Susan Owens

New Agendas for Appraisal: Reflections on Theory, Practice, and Research

Appraisal—defined here to include a variety of ex ante techniques and procedures that seek to predict and evaluate the consequences of certain human actions—has been afforded an increasingly important role in environmental policy. We argue in this paper, however, that both the nature of appraisal and its role in the political process have been inadequately conceptualised. Exploring a literature that has tended to polarise ‘technical’ and ‘deliberative’ models, we identify a need for sensitive selection and combination of approaches, taking account of both the object and the objective of appraisal in particular contexts. We suggest that an important role for appraisal (by design or by default) may be that of providing spaces for dialogue and learning in the making of policies and decisions. A better understanding of such processes requires further research, particularly well-designed longitudinal work involving retrospective and ‘real time’ studies of appraisal in practice.

Governing space: planning reform and the politics of sustainability

The authors explore the relationship between land-use, or spatial, planning and the environmental sustainability of major areas of public policy. First, the planning–public policy relationship is conceptualised within a framework that challenges narrowly instrumental accounts of the role of planning in the promotion of environmental sustainability, emphasising instead how the exploitation of opportunity structures in planning has impinged over time on dominant sectoral objectives. This framework is then used to analyse reformist pressures on planning, with particular reference to Englands ‘modernising planning’ agenda. The argument is developed through a critical analysis of how, in the light of key components of this agenda—rescaling, streamlining, and the introduction of a statutory purpose—planning, public policy, and environmental sustainability might be expected to interact in future. Early signs suggest that the initial reform proposals—to accelerate the delivery of development by restructuring opportunities for participation—were diluted (but not displaced) by strong opposition. Tracing the long-term impacts of the reforms will require research into the relations between the reconstituted tiers of planning and the ability of interest groups to use the new opportunity structures effectively—tasks that should interest analysts of the greening of the state as much as planning researchers.

Converging agendas? Energy and climate change policies in the UK

In the UK climate change and energy have converged on the policy agenda. We discuss the implications for theories of policy change based on well-defined networks located within single, discrete, policy domains. We suggest that such approaches struggle to account for the dynamics of change in conditions of policy convergence. The issue of climate change has opened up and destabilised the UK energy policy sector, but this process has been surprisingly free of conflict, despite radical policy shifts. To date, convergence of the energy and climate change sectors has largely occurred at a discursive level, and we focus our attention on a number of different, but largely complementary, storylines about solutions to climate change. We draw on ideas about sociotechnical regime transitions, first, to explore why the storylines are not in obvious conflict, and, second, to identify small-scale niches where tensions in storylines do emerge as discourse is translated into material reality.

Boundary Work: Knowledge, Policy, and the Urban Environment

This paper explores the relations between different forms of knowledge and urban environmental policy arenas. It briefly considers the evolution of the urban environmental agenda and growing interest in questions of knowledge transfer. It then explores reasons for an apparent knowledge – policy ‘gap’, including familiar explanations, such as the problems of communicating research findings, as well as those based on more subtle and complex interpretations of both knowledge and policy processes. It concludes with some proposals for thinking about the boundary between knowledge and policy and constructive ways to enhance the sustainable urban environment agenda. The paper introduces the other contributions in this theme issue—concerned with diverse aspects of knowledge transfer in the context of urban environments—and draws upon insights from a seminar series at which these papers were first presented.

A Collaboratively-Derived Science-Policy Research Agenda

The need for policy makers to understand science and for scientists to understand policy processes is widely recognised. However, the science-policy relationship is sometimes difficult and occasionally dysfunctional; it is also increasingly visible, because it must deal with contentious issues, or itself becomes a matter of public controversy, or both. We suggest that identifying key unanswered questions on the relationship between science and policy will catalyse and focus research in this field. To identify these questions, a collaborative procedure was employed with 52 participants selected to cover a wide range of experience in both science and policy, including people from government, non-governmental organisations, academia and industry. These participants consulted with colleagues and submitted 239 questions. An initial round of voting was followed by a workshop in which 40 of the most important questions were identified by further discussion and voting. The resulting list includes questions about the effectiveness of science-based decision-making structures; the nature and legitimacy of expertise; the consequences of changes such as increasing transparency; choices among different sources of evidence; the implications of new means of characterising and representing uncertainties; and ways in which policy and political processes affect what counts as authoritative evidence. We expect this exercise to identify important theoretical questions and to help improve the mutual understanding and effectiveness of those working at the interface of science and policy.

Siting, sustainable development and social priorities

It is usually assumed that large‐scale facilities ‘have to go somewhere’. The problem of finding sites is frequently construed as meeting some national need whilst ensuring justice for local communities who bear the brunt of environmental hazards and costs. This paper explores the dynamics of siting controversies and their relationship with political and economic priorities. Drawing on evidence from the transport and minerals sectors in the UK, it challenges the dominant storyline in which conflicts over siting are represented in terms of ‘national need versus local interests’. Consequently it calls into question the concept of the policy ‘cascade’, whose advocates seek to restrict debate about generic issues at local inquiries. It is argued that local resistance both provides an institutional platform for, and is in turn reinforced by, a wider policy critique. Arrangements for consideration of specific projects therefore provide crucial apertures for debate about national priorities, and repeated controversy acts as an important longer‐term stimulus to policy learning and change.

Is there a meaningful definition of sustainability

Although the concept of ‘sustainable development’ has been hailed for its reconciliatory poten- tial, it has failed in practice to resolve enduring conflicts. Exploring the evolution of the concept—from its 19th-century antecedents through Brundtland to contemporary ‘Panglossian’ interpretations—the paper argues that difficulties of implementation are not transient but have deep roots. No conception of sustainable development can be adopted without making fundamental ethical and political choices, but the debate about such choices is nevertheless of great importance. It is argued that we should abandon our search for a singular, consensual definition of sustainability, but try as best we can to make progress in the absence of consensus.

‘When knowledge matters’: the role and influence of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

Adopting a ‘knowledge perspective’, in which policy-making is seen as a process of collective learning through argument and persuasion, this paper assesses the record of the UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution as an advocate of concepts and reforms associated with ecological modernization. Drawing on extensive empirical research, it considers how the social and political climate in which the Commission has operated, as well as certain characteristics of the Commission as an advisory body, have conditioned its degree of influence over time. It argues that in various roles—as knowledge broker, policy entrepreneur and persuasive advocate—the Commission has been able to exert a significant influence on environmental policy in the UK and beyond. The paper also reflects on the utility of different approaches in theorizing the role of advisory bodies in the policy process. Copyright

Lost land and limits to growth: Conceptual problems for sustainable land use change

Abstract Drawing on recent work in environmental economics, this paper introduces the concept of the land use intensity of economic activity, analogous to the more familiar materials and energy intensities. It then considers how this might be measured, looking at a range of economic and land use change statistics, and how it might be reduced. Environmental compensation is seen as a possible means of achieving the latter objective. It is argued that no single measure of land use Intensity would be meaningful, because concern about ‘lost land’ Is typically not about land in terms of hectares or economic value, but about the environmental significance of land use change. This in turn reflects a variety of material, post-material and non-instrumental values. The paper concludes that composite measures of the land use intensity of economic activity are likely to be the most useful; that environmental compensation may be a useful policy instrument within a carefully formulated framework; and that differences in values have to be confronted if sustainable land use change is ever to be defined.

Pilot Study of Low-Dose Interleukin-2, Pegylated Interferon–α2b, and Ribavirin for the Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Patients with HIV Infection

BACKGROUND Patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus have a diminished HCV virologic response to standard interferon (IFN)-based therapies. We explored the strategy of initial immunostimulatory therapy with interleukin (IL)-2, followed by the addition of specific anti-HCV therapy, as a possible synergistic approach to treatment. METHODS Coinfected subjects (n=23) with CD4 cell counts >300 cells/ micro L received low-dose IL-2 daily for 12 weeks, followed by pegylated IFN- alpha 2b and ribavirin for an additional 48 weeks. The primary end point was permanent discontinuation of treatment before week 24 due to toxicity or intolerance. RESULTS Six subjects (26.1%) discontinued treatment before week 24, and 11 (47.8%) discontinued treatment before week 60. Overall, 4 subjects discontinued because of adverse events. Four of 23 (17%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5%-39%) had sustained virologic responses. Of 17 subjects with increased levels of alanine aminotransferase at baseline, 13 had follow-up measurements at week 60, of which 6 (46%) were normal. CONCLUSIONS Low-dose IL-2 plus PEG-IFN and ribavirin was associated with a high discontinuation rate. Although the study was not powered for efficacy, CIs surrounding the treatment response rate suggest that this strategy should not be pursued in larger trials.