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The proliferation of applied behaviour change science over the past decade has provided new ways of thinking about policy making. Policy makers now have a range of frameworks and methods to assist in formulating change for social and environmental benefits. However, the development of strategies for the identification and prioritisation of target behaviours has been less forthcoming. This paper outlines a tool to assist in behaviour selection. Behaviours are assessed for their potential impact on addressing a specific issue, the likelihood of adoption by the target audience and existing participation levels within the target audience. Each of these characteristics is scored, allowing behaviours to be mapped onto a meaningful, visual, matrix for prioritisation. Additional data on behaviour type and the key perceived barriers to participation in each behaviour are layered onto the matrix to provide direction for intervention design. An application of the prioritisation matrix is presented within an environmental context through a case study of water demand management behaviours for domestic consumers in Australia. The prioritisation matrix could provide a decision-making tool for policy makers to assist in the selection of target behaviours to address complex issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the evolution of China's technology standardization policy system in the period from 1978 to 2021. The standardization policy system comprising the supply, demand, and environment policy tool types has evolved during standardization development process, which includes three sequential stages: 1) the following-up stage, 2) the catch-up stage, and 3) the upgrading stage. In responding to changes in institutional, economic and technological contexts, the policy orientation has transformed from supporting the government-controlled adoption and standardization of foreign technologies in the following-up stage of standardization development process to developing indigenous standards owning independent intellectual property rights (IPRs) through the government-led standardization system in the catch-up stage, and to international standardization adopting both government-led and market mechanisms in the upgrading stage. In this process, the Chinese Government continued to offer policy support to but tended to relax its control over standardization. Of the three policy tool types, the supply type have remained the dominant ones; the weight of the environment-type of tools tended to decrease, and that of the demand-type of tools tended to increase. Further, the government rationalized the mix of each type of policy tools as the standardization contexts changed. From the Chinese experience, theoretical prescriptions for how standardization policy systems evolve in latecomers are developed. Practical implications for latecomer countries to transform standardization policy system and design their standardization policies are discussed. • China's standardization policy system has evolved by three stages. • Institutional, economic and technological contexts confine policy system. • Policy orientation changes towards market mechanism and government guidance. • Mix of policy tools is rationalized as the standardization contexts changed. • Supply-type tools have been the dominant ones during standardization development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantification of the increase of energy needs with altitude is undertaken in this paper, in an attempt to highlight the greater vulnerability of mountainous areas to energy poverty. Three different cases have been studied, namely, Austria, Switzerland and north Italy, by applying the method of degree days. The results show that in mountainous areas of little but not insignificant latitudinal variation, such as a country level or a large region within a country which is the usual scale in terms of energy policy, heating and cooling degree days can be predicted based only on altitude, with over 90% accuracy. For this reason, mathematical models – as simple functions of altitude – are suggested, estimating heating and cooling energy demand in a simple and reliable way. As an example, a typical residence at 1200 m in Switzerland has 2 times higher thermal energy needs and a longer heating period by 5 months, compared to the altitude of 200 m. Therefore, mountainous societies are more exposed to energy poverty compared to lowlands and energy policy measures (e.g. subsidies, taxes of fuel prices) should be adapted to their special needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repeated outbreaks of small-intensity epidemics are one of the important features of the post-epidemic era. After a new round of epidemics broke out in Liaoning in mid-May 2021, the Chinese government's vaccination process quickly accelerated, completing nearly 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccination within 7 days. How is this efficient policy implementation process accomplished? What is the behavioral logic behind it? This article constructs an analysis framework of "perception-goal-tool". Trying to study the individual's micro-psychological mechanism as a starting point, with the help of a Health Belief Model, to explore the dynamic evolution of individual health risk perception before and after the outbreak of a small-intensity epidemic and its impact on vaccination willingness. And on this basis, analyze the flexible governance process of the Chinese government in the post-epidemic period. The perceived severity is the core variable that affects the public's willingness to vaccinate. A small-intensity epidemic outbreak will aggravate the impact of the three health belief components on the public's willingness to vaccinate. In the three interactive analyses of health belief components, individuals have the highest willingness to inoculate in situations of low perceived susceptibility, low perception barriers, and high perception severity, and economic policy tools and authoritative policy tools play a key role before and after the outbreak of a small-intensity epidemic. In the context of a small-intensity epidemic, the reason why the Chinese government can achieve rapid crisis management lies in the interaction between policy goals, policy tools, and public risk perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Technical aspects of forest management planning as decision-support have been addressed in numerous scientific studies. However, forest management plans (FMPs) also play a significant, but largely neglected, role as forest policy instruments. We have examined the policy context and planning practices in two contrasting case countries, revealing striking differences in policy instrumentation. In Sweden, FMPs mainly serve for informational steering, with under-utilised potential for providing individualised advice. In Lithuania, the plans are primarily regulatory, serving for effective control but with several deficiencies, notably excessive costs and institutionalised corruption. The study demonstrates that policy analyses can be fruitfully grounded in the empirics of planning practices. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Human biomonitoring (HBM) can be an effective tool to assess human exposure to environmental pollutants and potential health effects and is increasingly seen as an essential element in a strategy when integrating health and environment. HBM can be used (i) to prioritise actions and measures for policy making; (ii) to evaluate policy actions aimed at reducing exposure to potentially hazardous environmental stressors; and (iii) to promote more comprehensive health impact assessments of policy options. In support of the European Environment and Health Action Plan 2004–2010, European scientists, experts from authorities and other stakeholders joined forces to work towards developing a functional framework and standards for a coherent HBM in Europe. Within the European coordination action on human biomonitoring, 35 partners from 27 European countries in the COPHES consortium aggregated their experiences and expertise and developed harmonized approaches and recommendations for better comparability of HBM data in Europe via the elaboration of a harmonized study protocol. This protocol is the product of discussion and compromises on the selection of environmental exposures, national environmental health concerns, and political and health priorities. The harmonised approach includes sampling recruitment, and analytical procedures, communication strategies and biobanking initiatives. The protocols and the harmonised approach are a means to increase acceptance and policy support and to in the future to enable determination of time trends. The common pilot study protocol will shortly be tested, adapted and assessed in the framework of the DEMOCOPHES in 17 European countries, including 16 EU Member States. COPHES and DEMOCOPHES constitute important steps towards establishing human biomonitoring as a tool for EU environmental and health policy and to improve quantification of exposure of the general European population to existing and emerging pollutants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Organic farming has often been suggested as a way of increasing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, but literature reports a variable success. The drivers in play are multi-factorial and include the particular species groups under consideration, the precise form of organic management, the landscape structural and management context, the area and scale considered, and the historical context. Here ALMaSS, a comprehensive agent-based model simulation system, was used to produce an assessment of the impact of organic and conventional farm types, landscape structure, and management context for six common agricultural wildlife species. ALMaSS outputs can be expressed as a simple index of relative change in abundance and distribution, allowing easy comparison between scenarios. Results indicate that organic farming generally had a beneficial effect, but the degree was variable with all factors considered and there were strong interactions between factors. Targeted managements provided much greater impacts than changes in farm types. Predictions of biodiversity impacts depended on precise inputs, underlying both the view of this system as being complex, and the necessity for detailed knowledge. However, this combination of detailed modelling platform with a simple index of impact provides an easily interpreted method for objective evaluation of impacts of potential policy scenarios. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Farming in Europe is constantly changing as environmental concerns have increasingly been taken into account since the mid 1980s and emphasis has been put on agri-environmental matters throughout all European countries. For instance, in Wallonia (Belgium), as a result of the provisions of the Government Decree on agri-environmental measures, farmers are increasingly encouraged to adopt environmentally friendly practices such as the creation of grassy headlands in their fields. As European agriculture is changing, tools are needed to monitor the evolution of agricultural practices, to control policy application and to advise farmers. In this framework, we present a new approach to optimise the establishment of grassy headlands in cultivated fields. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS), we identify exact locations where farmers can introduce grassy headlands in accordance with legal specifications and environmental concerns and calculate the total length of grassy headland that farmers can establish considering the features of their farm and parcels and for which they can receive subsidies. It indicates a potential, which could serve as a calculation baseline for an indicator. Wallonia was chosen as study area because a digitised parcel plan has been available from the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) since 1997. The methodological approach proposes a new valorisation of this spatial information layer and can be considered as an example of application providing relevant information for several intervention levels: national or regional decision-makers, advisors and individual farmers. Since all EU Member States had to set up their own GIS-based land parcel system starting in 2005, our approach may be useful as is or in similar applications in other countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Energy efficiency improvement is one of the most effective means to achieve energy conservation. The success of energy conservation depends on scientific policy design. So what is the impact of existing policies on energy efficiency? What types of policy tools have the most significant impact on energy efficiency? In response to these problems, this paper took the energy conservation policies promulgated by the Chinese government over the years as samples. This paper used the ridge regression model to analyze policy inducement effect in energy efficiency based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and the policy text evaluation model. The results show that: (1) Energy conservation policies have a positive influence on improving energy efficiency. (2) Among the policy tools, economic incentive tools have the most significant influence on the increase in energy efficiency. Therefore, the government should emphasize the use of economic incentive policy tools and coordinate the relationship between various policy tools to achieve China's stated energy conservation goals. ● This paper makes a quantitative analysis of the energy conservation policy. ● This paper examines the evolution of policy effectiveness. ● This paper analyzes the impact of energy conservation policy on energy efficiency. ● This paper analyzes the impact of policy tools on energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2012, China has proposed to vigorously develop marine ranching. Analyzing the evolution of marine ranching policies is the key to improving the policy system and ensuring the sustainable development of marine ranching. Using a content analysis method and NVivo software to conduct a multidimensional empirical analysis on 51 marine ranching policy documents, the study found that marine ranching policies in China can be divided into three stages according to the time sequence: the initial stage, the slow development stage and the rapid development stage. China's marine ranching policy evolved gradually from single-subject policies with a simple structure to diversified policies with specialized content. The development of future marine ranching policy should prioritize ecology, focus on technology, and work towards the integration of policy with multi-industry needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers public goods and/or economic externalities (off-site and off-market effects) of Mediterranean forests, referred as MEDFOREXs. It also reports possible market failures and/or distortions. MEDFOREX can be valued in monetary terms as already undertaken in several Mediterranean forest sites. Multifunctional indicators are also being developed. Policy tools aimed at promotion of positive MEDFOREX, and prevention of negative ones, can be classified as mandatory or voluntary. Mandatory tools have been much used in the Mediterraneancontext, and now represent the core of forest policies. More recently financial or economic tools, mainly based on payments, and internalization of externalities, have emerged. Also market options are now envisaged and applied as shown by recent surveys. Policy effectivenessis improved by the use of a combined set of tools. The most appropriate mix has not yet been formalised and this represents a policy challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]