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Alice Vadrot is going to present a paper at the “Science and Democracy Network-Annual Meeting 2011” (Harvard University, 30th June to 2nd of July 2011)

Framework for ‘epistemic governance’ of biodiversity: the discourse on a science policy-interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services
Alice B. M. Vadrot

Abstract

This article addresses the discourse on the science-policy interface in the field of biodiversity governance within the context of the recently established Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). It analyses several narratives and problem perceptions linked to biodiversity science and governance in order to better understand the background to the institutionalisation process of IPBES and related interests and conflicts. It starts from the assumption that the discourse on the need to enhance the science-policy interface relates to the difficulties in assessing the concept of biodiversity, the crisis of biodiversity governance and inefficient policy implementation. Objects and the mode of thinking about them constitute each other mutually; in the same way, political programmes presuppose the order of reality that they describe and challenge. They are both constructed and interwoven. The establishment of IPBES goes beyond institutional rearrangement and needs to be analysed with regard to the epistemic and strategic dimension of science-policy interaction and a non-linear approach to the interrelations between science and policy.

Programme

(14th -16th of April 2011, Vienna)

Selectivities in knowledge Production and Use within the ecological crises: The science-policy interface in Biodiversity Politics.

Significant problems surround efforts to tackle the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services. Implementation of current biodiversity policy has resulted in regulatory discontent, a cycle crisis, and controversy. One factor relating to the conflicting views on the value assigned to biodiversity is its conservation and sustainable use. Current efforts to demonstrate biodiversity’s value rest primarily on the concept of ecosystem services and the benefits for society deriving from biodiversity, assuming that an anthropocentric and economy-based starting point is likely to motivate effective policy-making, integration, and implementation.

The current implementation problems of multilateral policies and the integration of biodiversity into other policy areas are closely linked to the low priority assigned to biodiversity (LePrestre 2002, Dybas 2006). In current discussions about the necessity to strengthen the science-policy interaction for biodiversity and ecosystem services, a fragmented research area, and an insufficient basis of shared interpretations of the problems that need to be dealt with (Loreau et al. 2006; Barbault & LeDuc 2005; UNEP/IPBES/1/1-1/6 2008) challenges the overall governance of biodiversity. Continue reading →

We are pleased to announce that Alice Vadrot will be presenting a paper at the Conference “Qualitative Research for Policy Making 2011: 2nd Annual” to be held in Belfast, 26th to 27th of May 2011 (written together with Ronald J. Pohoryles). The paper ‘The Science-Policy Interface for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Opportunities for Science to enter in Policy Environments” is based on research done for her PhD at the Institute of Political Science at the of Vienna. The presentation aims at:

• Presenting research results of the analysis of science-policy interfacing in the area of biodiversity governance
• Discussing an appraisal approaches that were developed through interviews with policy-makers and scientists in the field of biodiversity
• Evaluating the success of these approaches for use in supporting Policy-makers

Presentation abstract:

Significant problems surround efforts to tackle the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services. Implementation of current biodiversity policy has resulted in regulatory discontent, a cycle crisis, and controversy. One factor relating to the conflicting views on the value assigned to biodiversity is its conservation and sustainable use. Current efforts to demonstrate biodiversity’s value rest primarily on the concept of ecosystem services and the benefits for society deriving from biodiversity, assuming that an anthropocentric and economy-based starting point is likely to motivate effective policy-making, integration, and implementation.

We argue that such an approach potentially challenges the governance of biodiversity, considering that this solution to environmental problems blurs our vision of the ecological, political, social and economic complexities. Qualitative interdisciplinary research might help to overcome the shortcomings deriving from quantitative research and approaches such as the concept ecosystem services , especially in the case of the rather fuzzy field of biological diversity and the political conflicts surrounding this issue.  In this respect the paper addresses the process of science and research entering Policy Environments and the institutionalisation of the science-policy interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services that tends to be seen as important instrument to enhance international compliance and implementation of multilateral policies.

The highly interactive, cross-disciplinary conference will bring together top academics, practitioners and policy planners to discuss successful strategies of delivering qualitative research for policy making in times of austerity.

INNOVATION Volume 23 Issue 3

Open Issue

This Issue contains the following articles:

Ronald J. Pohoryles: Editorial

Borut Rončević & Matej Makarovič: Towards the Strategies of Modern Societies: Systems and Social Processes

Corinne Autant-Bernard, Sylvie Chalaye , Fabio Manca , Rosina Moreno & Jordi Suriñach: Measuring the adoption of innovation. A typology of EU countries based on the innovation survey.

Haldun Çanci: The Gulf war and Turkey: Selected regional changes, and their domestic reflections (1991-2003)

Louise Horvath & Susanne Mayer: Caring for informal caregivers: policy approaches to the provision of support services

Tarmo Kalvet & Veiko Lember: Risk Management in Public Procurement for Innovation: The Case of Nordic-Baltic Sea Cities

INNOVATION Volume 23 Issue 4

Special Issue: Sustainable energy and responses to climate change

Current discourses on environmental issues tend to focus on the mitigation of climate change and sustainable energy supply with regard to the mode of natural resources use. It becomes clear that the protection and conservation of nature as a response to environmental problems is being challenged by the specific character of the human-nature interface and by the means of how to ensure and secure a sustainable way of life. Correspondingly, the dispositive of sustainability and environmental awareness extends across different socio-economic sectors and respective policies that are framed based on responses to climate change that address categories such as green business or CO₂ neutral energy. Current developments clearly indicate that a broad range of innovative approaches lack sound scientific knowledge and mostly build on scientific uncertainty, inadequate policies, and multisided social, political, and economic conflicts and diverging interests. In this respect, the significance of social science knowledge to tackle ecological problems that lie at the core of sustainable development has been increasing. The emphasis on the pertinence of the recognition and enhancement of social science in the field of environment by no means impairs the importance of natural sciences. The complexity of the issue calls for an interdisciplinary approach and innovative thinking that might create the foundation for a process of self-reflection among the natural sciences and of their impact on social and political trends and developments. Knowledge is a precondition for action, and human action is an indicator for sustainability and the integration of social, environmental, and economic concerns. But what does being ´green` mean and to what extent does the EU 2020 policy contribute to the integration of environmental issues across different socio-economic sectors. This issue of Innovation aims at providing insights into the discrepancies surrounding solutions to simultaneously combat climate change and to secure (sustainable) energy supply.

The Special Issue contains the following articles:

Lead Article:

Alex Warleigh-Lack: Greening Europe For Legitimacy? A Cautionary Reading of Europe 2020

Debate Section:

Rupert Read: No surprise that the EU is not an ‘Ecological Union’ – a response to Warleigh-lack

Gwyn Prins: Comment on Warleigh-Lack paper

Ronald J. Pohoryles: Europe in the making – what role environmentalism; and, why should sustainable development be less than environmentalism? A réplique  to Warleigh-Lack

Alex Warleigh-Lack: Greening the European Union and Europe 2020: A Response to Read, Prins and Pohoryles

Paul Bellaby, Rob Flynn & Miriam Ricci. Towards Sustainable Energy: Are there lessons from the history of the early factory system?

Chang-gul Park, Jong-ku Son & Yoo-Jin Han: Three-Level Filtering Process for National R&D Projects: Case of Photovoltaic Energy in Korea

Alice B.M. Vadrot & Ronald J. Pohoryles: Multi-Level Governance, Technological Intervention, and Globalisation: The Example of Biogenetic Fuels

Aaron Leopold: The changing constellation of power and resistance in the global debate over agrofuels

The director Thilo Bode of the German consumer right organization Foodwatch advocates in a very critical article published in Kurier 14th March 2011 for more transparency in the EU legislation on labelling of food commodities. Bode specifically targets his criticism at the food industry which in its search for new markets is marketing products using nutritional and health claims out of proportions with reality in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility. Bode compares the food market with the financial market and the need to legislate in both with the argument that in both sectors a lot of information is indicated on the package but that no one understands it! The article (in German) can be found here.

The first PRACTIS annual meeting in Vienna was the occasion for an interdisciplinary workshop with international experts in the field of technology and SSH on February 23rd, 2011. The keynote speech was held by Dr. Walter Peissl, researcher at the Institute for Technology Assessment at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. His presentation dealt with ‘new and emerging approaches to privacy’, based on the results of two finished projects PRISE and the European Privacy Seal. The focus was the question to which extent privacy by design will be an option for the future and how the system will have to evolve towards this approach.

Privacy Perceptions of Young People

In a first session the changing perception of privacy within European societies was focused, based on the interim results of the school survey of the project. Mr. Nicolas Bach presented first results about the privacy perceptions of teenagers aged between 16 and 18 years. This was followed by a presentation of the media researcher Ms. Bernadette Kneidinger of the University of Vienna about the fascination Facebook. She has inquired within several studies the usage motives and usage habits of social network sites with an emphasis von generational differences in privacy perceptions. The main results were in line with the PRACTIS school survey intermediate results.

The Evolvement of Law

Within a second session the current and future challenges to privacy protection were dealt with, by focusing on the legislative dimension of the issue. Initial thoughts about privacy implications of new technologies were presented by Prof. Michael Birnhack (TAU). Then, Mr. Christof Tschohl focused on ‘Modern Legislation and the Bridge between Technology and Law’. He focused on the “bridging” necessity pointing at how the process of technology-making could interact with legislation. Finally, Mr. Andreas Krisch presented why the ‘Internet of Things’ evolved to be a major challenge to European Data Protection Law. Krisch is president of European Digital Rights (EDRi) and of the Austrian Association for Internet Users (VIBE!AT). As member of the European Commission’s RFID Expert Group on Privacy and Security and the High Level Expert Group on the Internet of Things, he regularly contributes to the European discussion on a society friendly adoption of RFID and IoT technologies in Europe.

And the future?

It is with such questions and challenges in mind that the third and last session of the PRACTIS workshop was devoted to drafting future scenarios. It explored how future challenges to privacy and technology might be anticipated and met by policy-makers. This dimension will be the focus of the PRACTIS project in the months to follow.

Read an article in the austrian newspaper Der Standard about the project (german).

Photos from the PRACTIS Workshop in Vienna, 23.2.2011

MoniQA (Monitoring and Quality Assurance in the Food Supply Chain) is a network of excellence (NoE) funded by the EU FP6 programme involving experts from the EU as well as around the globe working towards harmonization of worldwide food quality and safety monitoring and control strategies.

Its annual consortium meeting was held in As, Norway from the 14th to the 18th of February 2011. The five year NoE is now entering the last year. Amongst others some of the key outputs expected are:

• Socio-economic impact assessment toolbox for introduction or changes in food safety regulations;
• MoniQA database which allows rapid searching of relevant analytical methods for specific analytes including information about  the degree of  validation, legal requirements and  limits, and  the  availability of methods;
• MoniQA laboratory accreditation support tool;
• Several other outputs on specific chemical contaminants testing such as dioxins and testing of allergens.

The NoE will hold its third international MoniQA conference in Varna, Bulgaria from the 27th-29th September 2011. For more log onto:  http://varna2011.moniqa.org/

The final Newsletter of the EURO-FESTIVAL project is now available to download. It includes a summary of the project’s main findings and conclusions. Interested readers are also referred to our scientific reports (downloadable from our website) and our publications.

Submission Deadline: April 1, 2011

INNOVATION – The European Journal of Social Science Research invites contributions in the form of original research articles and research notes for a thematic issue on ‘privacy and technology’. Topics to be discussed in this issue of the journal include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Data Protection in Europe (with a special focus on New Member States)
• International, comparative Analyses of Approaches to Privacy
• Cognition and Privacy
• Privacy and Health Care
• Changes in Privacy perceptions

Article length can range between 6,000 to 10,000 words for original research and debate articles and 2,000 to 4,000 for research notes.

The special thematic issue on ‘privacy and technology’ is supported by the PRACTIS project. This project is funded by the European Commission’s FP7 and identifies how emerging technologies and their convergence might impact on the fundamental individual and structural values in which the European legal right to privacy is rooted, as well as on societal perceptions and conceptions of privacy.

All submissions will be peer-reviewed. Please send papers to: innovation@iccr-international.org

Articles from INNOVATION – The European Journal of Social Science Research are abstracted in Sociological Abstracts; Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts; Geo Abstracts; Ebsco CD Rom Database and Universal Microfilms Inc; CD Rom Database; Multicultural  Education Abstracts; International Political Science Abstracts; Politics and Policy; Research Alert; Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts; Caredata Abstracts; International Bibliography of the Social Sciences; Thompson Scientific.

Separate documentation is available with guidelines for contributors (including style guide); and guidelines for research notes.

The 3rd MONIQA International Conference will take place in Varna, Bulgaria, from 27-29 September 2011. Revolving around the topic of ‘food safety and consumer protection’, in a number of dedicated sessions the conference will address issues such as the interplay between the consumer and the industry;  emerging technologies and the influence of consumer trust; and the integration of socio-economic impact assessments in the regulation of food safety.  For more information on this conference, please consult: http://varna2011.moniqa.org

The recent decisions taken by the Austrian Government regarding the Federal budget for the years 2011 and 2012 eliminates completely the financing of independent science and research organisations in Austria. Every institution and organisation which is not owned by Federal or Regional governments will have their budgets wiped out from the 1st of January 2011 on. This act is not designed as a proportionate saving based on evaluation, but rather will render extinct the Austrian intellectual infrastructure and capital which has been built up over the last several decades.

The Austrian institutes and research organisations involved in extra-university research deliver this in critical areas ranging from knowledge transfer from universities to industry to the analysis of social and economic developments, from historic archives up to the creation of international policies. The affected institutions train and educate young scientists and deliver goal oriented research while being non-bureaucratic and cost efficient. The scientific institutes and organisations involved in extra-university research obtain between 30% and 80% of their financing from the competitive research grants or via contracts from private business. They are successful in the domestic market and vital to the excellent balance maintained by Austria in the acquisition of EU Funding in the Framework Programmes as well as in Special Programmes. Up to now, they have received base funding or substantial project financing from the Federal Ministry for Science and Research.

The Institutes and bodies involved in extra-university science will be deprived of the basis for their work. The proposed budget is not about saving, but rather it completely stops all funding for the institutes. This will result in the complete elimination of the scientific knowledge society in Austria and the scientific community will be harmed for a long time to come.

To protest against these measures the platform ‘Wissenschaft Österreich’ was formed with four goals:

1. to communicate the contribution of the Austrian science institutions,
2. to demonstrate the dramatic consequences of the elimination of funding,
3. to ensure the appropriate public pressure in the public debate,
4. to support members in government and parliament who opposes this.

Please support the platform with your signature and declare yourself against the threatened extinction of the Science Budget in Austria: http://wissenschaft.research.at

We are pleased to announce that Louise Beltzung will be presenting a paper at the International LSE-Conference on Evidence-Based Policy in Long-Term Care on September 10, 2010 (written together with Susanne Mayer, Research Assistant at the University of Economics in Vienna). The paper ‘Support for informal caregivers beyond mobile care: policy approaches to market failure phenomena’ is based on research done for a Master Thesis at the Institute for Social Policy of the University of Economics in 2009. The 2010 conference at the London School of Economics aims to provide a forum for exchanging the latest international evidence on key long-term care policy topics such as how to organise, deliver, fund and regulate services. The emphasis is therefore on evaluative research with clear impact on policy.

On Sunday 18 April 2010, four ICCR staff members took part in the team competition at the traditional Vienna City Marathon. Bernadette Allinger, Louise Beltzung, Jérôme Segal and Michael Schmidt completed the 42.195km in 3 hours and 23 minutes and thus came 72nd out of the 1,435 finishing teams in the “Mixed” class. The real hero of the team was Jérôme, who ran the full marathon distance despite an injury and the fact that he had completed the Paris marathon in 2 hours 49 minutes just seven days before!

Thanks to the beautiful spring weather, the event once again attracted tens of thousands of spectators and the ICCR team will surely be back to set a new team record next year.

Innovation – The European Journal of Social Science Research
Call for Papers & Thematic Issues

Innovation – The European Journal of Social Science Research invites contributions in the form of original research articles, research notes, debate articles or thematic issues in the following fields:

• European public policies: energy, transport, environment, biodiversity, food safety
• Regulatory Impact Assessment: EU and national policies

• Research policies and university / evaluation reform
• Emerging and converging technologies
• Role of humanities
• Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity

• EU Neighbourhood Policy – with special focus on Turkey, Ukraine, Northern Africa
• Community Conflicts and Conflict Resolution Policies

• European Arts Festivals and Public Culture
• Science, Culture and Society
• Scientific citizenship

Article length can range between 6,000 to 10,000 words for original research and debate articles and 2,000 to 4,000 for research notes.

Concepts for special thematic issues must include an outline of the topic and a list of contributors with an indication as to the timeline for the production of final manuscripts.

All submissions will be peer-reviewed.

Articles from Innovation – The European Journal of Social Science Research are abstracted in Sociological Abstracts; Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts; Geo Abstracts; Ebsco CD Rom Database and Universal Microfilms Inc; CD Rom Database; Multicultural  Education Abstracts; International Political Science Abstracts; Politics and Policy; Research Alert; Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts; Caredata Abstracts; International Bibliography of the Social Sciences; Thompson Scientific

Separate documentation is available with guidelines for contributors (including style guide) and guidelines for research notes.

Innovation online:
http://www.iccr-international.org/publications/innovation
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713424882~db=all

The 7FP ‘Science in Society’ HealthGov Project announces organization of a workshop on

The Role of Patient and Professional Organizations for EU Health Governance

www.healthgovmatters.eu

Brussels, 21 & 22 September 2010
(Location to be announced)

Advances in medical science and technology such as genetics, biotechnology and nanotechnology, are promising the alleviation of suffering among chronic disease patients, the treatment of widespread diseases and the containment of rare conditions. At the same time they raise ethical questions and challenge patient-centred approaches to care and the role of patients in medical research. This workshop will explore and discuss variations in knowledge production and governance frameworks within health care and medical research across EU countries. Papers addressing the following topics are especially welcome:

• The role of different interest organizations such as the medical profession, scientific associations, the pharmaceutical industry and patient organizations in debates on health care and medical knowledge
• Impact of regulations on medical research practice and cross-national differences
• Meaning and practice of informed consent in medical research and clinical trials
• Changing public representations of health and medical knowledge
• The role of citizen and/or patient participation in medical research

Theoretical as well as empirical papers are welcome. Papers that address the status and implications of new technologies in genetics, neurology and neuro-imaging, computer implants and new pharmaceutics are encouraged – as well as papers elaborated from different disciplinary backgrounds (sociology, anthropology, political science, law, social work and medical science).

The workshop is intentionally designed to be small (20 participants) in order to facilitate in-depth discussion and networking. It will comprise two round-table discussions and three sessions of presentations of original research or policy work. Participants will be expected to submit a 2-4 page paper outline in advance of the workshop and a full 6,000 words paper thereafter. Publication is planned.

Deadline for submission of abstracts (500 words): 15th May 2010. Please reply to Liana Giorgi at l.giorgi@iccr-international.org

Participation at the workshop is free of charge but participants are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses. Lunch and dinner are complementary. Financial assistance for covering travel or accommodation costs is available on a limited basis.

In January 2010, a new research project, in which the ICCR is a partner, was launched: Privacy – Appraising Challenges to Technologies and Ethics (PRACTIS). It is co-ordinated by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Technology Analysis and Forecasting (ICTAF) of Tel Aviv University and will have a duration of three years. The vision underlying the project is one of a society aware of the challenges to privacy posed by emerging technologies and equipped to meet them. PRACTIS will assess the potential impacts of emerging technologies and new scientific knowledge on privacy. It will propose ethical frameworks and legal procedures for coping with potential risks to privacy. Furthermore, it will explore novel policy options for addressing individuals’ changing privacy needs in the light of new technologies, as well as examining new ethical frameworks in law and the implementation of guidelines for new technology or product development. For more information see the project Website.

The 2009/2010 issue of the ICCR’s print ‘window to the world’ is now available on request and free of charge at office@iccr-international.org.

In essence, the newsletter gives an overview of the ongoing and prospective projects at the institute. After an editorial on the topical subject of the contribution of the social sciences to overcoming the recent crises, Andreas Schadauer und Ronald J. Pohoryles outline the future of the social sciences by reporting on the findings of two research projects (SSH-Futures and Platon +). This is followed by an article by Helen Santiago Fink and Michael Schmidt dealing with the crucial role of the building sector in European Energy Policy (ECO-BUILD). Michael Schmidt and Katherine Dolan then give a short report on the evaluation of European transport research (SITPRO +). The next article by Katharina Paul gives an introduction to new medical techniques in the neurosciences, a completely new field at the institute (HealthGovMatters). Liana Giorgi then examines the question as to whether arts festivals can be instruments for bringing together the citizens of Europe, or even of the world (EURO-FESTIVAL). In conclusion, Katharina Zwiauer presents the opportunities and hazards of biofuel production in the Sahel Zone (WIN-WIN).

Apart from these articles, Broadsheet also contains project updates, staff biographies and a schedule of events in 2009. We wish you great pleasure reading.

Photos from the SSH-Futures Final Conference ‘The Future of Social Sciences and Humanities’, October 22-23, 2009 in Brussels.

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