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To investigate characteristics of frequent users of general practice (GP; ≥21 visits in a year), medical specialist (≥10 visits), emergency department (ED; ≥2 presentations) and hospital services (≥2 overnight hospitalisations) and the association with mortality for people aged over 75 years.The study included residents from Central and Eastern Sydney, Australia, aged over 75 years who participated in a large community-dwelling cohort study. Demographic, social and health characteristics data were extracted from the 45 and Up Study survey. Health service (GP, medical specialist, ED and hospitalisations) use and mortality data were extracted from linked administrative data. We calculated adjusted prevalence ratios to identify independent characteristics associated with frequent users of services at baseline (approx. 2008) and adjusted hazard ratios to assess the association between frequent users of services and mortality.Frequent users of services (GPs, medical specialists, EDs and hospitals) were more likely to be associated with ever having had heart disease and less likely to be associated with reporting good quality of life. Characteristics varied by service type. Frequent users of services were 1.5-2.0 times more likely to die within 7 years compared to those who were less frequent service users after controlling for all significant factors.Our analysis found that frequent service users aged over 75 years had poorer quality of life, more complex health conditions and higher mortality and so their health service use was not inappropriate. However, better management of these frequent service users may lead to better health outcomes.

The main goal of asthma treatment is to obtain and maintain reasonable control of symptoms with current evidence-based protocols. Asthma is one of the chronic diseases, that, if not well controlled, can lead to the development of serious complications involving not only the respiratory, but the cardiovascular system. In this study, we aimed to determine how well intermittent asthma and mild persistent asthma are controlled among patients aged 15 years and above in a general practice setting using Asthma Control Test (ACT) questionnaire. Furthermore, we used a SABA Reliance Questionnaire (SRQ) to understand whether these patients rely heavily on their prescribed short-acting beta agonist (SABA) medication. This is an audit questionnaire-based study conducted in our primary health care setting in New Zealand from February to May 2021. Forty-three physician-diagnosed intermittent asthma and mild persistent asthma patients aged 15 years and above volunteered to take part in this study. They completed two questionnaires - the ACT to assess asthma control and the SRQ to assess patients' reliance on SABA reliever inhalers. Overall, 43 patients responded; asthma was well-controlled in 23 patients (53.5%), partially controlled in 15 (34.9%), and uncontrolled in five (11.6%). The total of patients who showed a high reliance on SABA was 31 (72.1%). When comparing SABA reliance with asthma control, 23 (53.5%) patients reported well-controlled asthma; however, 13 (56.5%) of these patients showed a high reliance on SABA. Furthermore, 15 (34.9%) of the patients had partially controlled asthma, and 14 (93.3%) of them also relied highly on their SABA inhalers. We concluded that intermittent asthma and mild persistent asthma remains inadequately controlled in general practice, with the majority of patients showing a high reliance on SABA.

Background The prevalence of social isolation (SI), living alone (LA) and loneliness among older people in Australia is 17%, 25% and 19% respectively. In a meta-analysis of 70 prospective studies undertaken by Holt-Lunstad et al (2015)1 they found, after controlling for covariates, a 29% increased all-cause mortality for SI, 32% for LA, and 26% for loneliness. But how accurate is this evidence for Australia considering that the meta-analysis only included three Australian studies; all only reporting on LA, and only one reported a significant effect of LA on total mortality. Methods We conducted a record linkage study in NSW using the Social Economic and Environmental Factors sub-study questionnaire data (n = 60,399) from the 45 and Up Study (n = 267,153) and death registrations (Centre for Health Record Linkage). Overall, 20% were SI and 18% were LA. Univariate and multivariable generalised linear models were used to estimate crude and adjusted 7-year all-cause mortality rate ratios (MRR). Results Crude MRR were 28% higher for SI and 98% higher for LA. When adjusted by age and sex they were still significantly higher (28% and 23% respectively). However, when controlled for covariates, SI was 9% higher [AdjRR(95%CI):1.09(1.01-1.18)] and LA had no effect on mortality [AdjRR(95%CI):1.05(0.94-1.18)]. Conclusions As was the case for the Australian studies used in the meta-analysis we found no association between LA and all-cause mortality. We did however find a small significant effect for SI. Key messages Applying the overall meta-analysis results to Australia overestimates the effect of SI and LA on increased all-cause mortality.

Introduction: Social isolation and living alone are perceived as potential risk factors for poor health outcomes and inappropriate and/or inadequate service use. It is estimated that the prevalence of social isolation and living alone among older people in Australia is 17% and 25% respectively and increasing. The role social isolation, living alone play in health service use, morbidity and mortality for older Australians is not clear, nor is the magnitude of its effect. Problem statement: What are the factors associated with social isolation and living alone? What is the impact on health service use, morbidity and mortality in Central and Eastern Sydney (CES), Australia? Methods: A record linkage study using Social Economic and Environmental Factors (SEEF) Study questionnaire data (45 and Up Study sub-study), Medicare Benefit Scheme (MBS) claims (Department of Human Services), hospitalisations and deaths (Centre for Health Record Linkage) was undertaken. Social isolation was defined as the lowest quintile using the Duke Social Support Index: social interaction sub-scale. Frequency of general practitioner (GP) and specialist visit calculated using the specific item numbers from the MBS data base, and frequency of hospital admission, and Emergency Department (ED) visits were calculated by counting records from the respective data bases. Risk ratios (RR) were used as the measure of association and multivariable Poisson regression models were used to adjust for the potential confounders. Results: Of the 6,176 CES participants 1,213(19.6%) were socially isolated and 1,263(20.5%) lived alone (3.6% were both). After adjusting for all other factors: working full-time, current smoking, poor quality of life, having heart disease or anxiety were all more likely to be associated with social isolation; and being older, female, working full-time, and adequate physical activity were all more likely to be associated with living alone. There was a protective association between living alone and social isolation [AdjPR(95%CI):0.69(0.57-0.83)]. Participants who lived alone used health services more (GP 10% increase, ED visits and hospitalisations 5% increase) than those who didn’t. Health service use did not vary by social isolation status. Crude mortality rates, using a 7-year follow-up, were 106/1000 for social isolation and 139/1000 for living alone. After adjusting by age and sex social isolation and living alone were not associated with any increased mortality [AdjRR(95% CI):1.08(0.88-1.32) and 1.18(0.98-1.43) respectively]. Discussion and Conclusion: We found that social isolation and living alone have different associations with service use, with living alone potentially being a measure of functional independence in older people. Social isolation and living alone, when adjusted by age and sex, were not predictors of increased mortality in CES. However, we have found associations for social isolations for New South Wales overall [AdjRR(95%CI):1.09(1.01-1.18)], but not for living alone [AdjRR(95%CI):1.05(0.94-1.18)]. Limitations and suggestions for future research: Loneliness is another construct of interest, defined as the mismatch between living arrangements and social interactions and what is desired. Our current data collections did not include a measure of loneliness. We are currently planning further research to better understand the interaction between loneliness, health service use, morbidity and mortality over time.

Debates around the impacts of the UK’s exit from the European Union (‘Brexit’) have exposed the limited critical attention given to how planning systems intersect with environmental protection. This is an important omission, especially given deregulatory pressures on both planning and environment in many countries. In response, this paper uses documentary, interview and focus group data, to conceptualise different regulatory styles governing the environment-planning interface, and assess UK planning practitioner attitudes to EU environmental legislation and scenarios for future change. The data show practitioners largely supporting the fixed standards and robust oversight characteristic of EU environmental regulatory styles, anxious about deregulation, and interested in procedural flexibility. More fundamentally, it also reveals the compromises struck in regulatory design, and the importance of concrete development-environment challenges in constructing arguments for change. Consequently, planning occupies a pivotal position within wider debates about new environmental policy fixes, warranting more extensive professional discussion.

This chapter examines issues of resource equalization for subnational rural governance and development in case studies of England, Scotland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The aim is to consider the extent to which each case study has provided the pre-requisites for adopting the “new rural paradigm” identified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for governance and development of rural communities. Neither federal nor unitary forms of governance in the case studies satisfactorily meet these requirements. The only case study that approaches the paradigm is Scotland, where recent devolution of governance has strengthened long-standing adherence to territorial-based regional development policies.

Objectives General practitioner (GP) follow-up after a hospital admission is an important indicator of integrated care. We examined the characteristics of patients who saw a GP within 2 weeks of hospital discharge in the Central and Eastern Sydney (CES) region, Australia, and the relationship between GP follow-up and subsequent hospitalisation. Methods This data linkage study used a cohort of 10 240 people from the 45 and Up Study who resided in CES and experienced an overnight hospitalisation in the 5 years following recruitment (2007–14). Characteristics of participants who saw a GP within 2 weeks of discharge were compared with those who did not using generalised linear models. Time to subsequent hospitalisation was compared for the two groups using Cox proportional hazards regression models stratified by prior frequency of GP use. Results Within 2 weeks of discharge, 64.3% participants saw a GP. Seeing a GP within 2 weeks of discharge was associated with lower rates of rehospitalisation for infrequent GP users (i.e.

Introduction: In Australia there has been a sharp increase in the proportion of older people who live alone. Living alone increases the risk of being socially isolated or experiencing loneliness. Older people who are lonely have an increased risk of dying sooner and are more likely to experience a decline in their mobility [1]. Understanding if and how social isolation/loneliness impacts on managing health conditions and use of health services is important in providing quality care and preventing premature mortality. Living alone is not necessarily a predictor of social isolation/loneliness, rather lack of time spent with family or friend may be a better indicator. More supportive social relationships are related to a decreased mortality risk [2]. Research has been undertaken on the determinants of isolation/loneliness (individual, social, community and environment), however less emphasis has occurred on the medical determinants and how these might be mitigated. Using our existing data linkage resource, the Central and Eastern Sydney Primary and Community Health Cohort/Resource (CES-P&CH), which includes questionnaire data, primary care records, prescribing information, hospital records, emergency department records, cancer registry, and vital statistics on over 30,000 participants in CES aged 45 years and over we explored patterns of service use in people who are socially isolated. Methods: A record linkage study using 45 and Up Study questionnaire data, MBS claims, hospitalisations and deaths was undertaken. Social isolation was defined using a combination of baseline questionnaire data on living arrangements, family and friend support, and health issues that impacted on work/daily activities. Participant characteristics and health conditions at baseline (2006-2009) and health service use (including GP presentations, care plan use, and number and frequency of hospitalisations over the next 10 years) were compared for those who were defined as socially isolated versus those who were not using multivariate/time series models. Results and Discussion: At baseline 20% of participant lived alone; 30.8% had no partner; 18.5% had no children; 44.3% were not working; 4.9% regularly need help with daily tasks; 12.0% had severe physical limitations; 8.8% did not have support from family or friends; 9.6% were urinary incontinent, and 11.3% had depression or anxiety. These participants were included in the socially isolated group for the analysis if they had multiple risks. This paper will discuss the different algorithms that were developed to describe social isolation. This paper will also provide the results from the multivariate/time series models and how this information is being/can be used to better understand and provide person-centred quality care in CES. Limitations and suggestions for future research: Because the research study used an existing record linkage resource we were limited to the items that were included in the questionnaire to define social isolations. This research study would benefit from sensitivity testing of the resultant social isolation algorithm. References: 1- Perissinotto CM, Stijacic CI, Covinsky KE. Loneliness in older persons: a predictor of functional decline and death. Arch Intern Med 2012;172(14):1078-83. 2- Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB. Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review. PLoS Med 2010;7(7): e1000316. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316

Ten years ago, part of an issue of LocalEconomy was devoted to a set of articleswhich examined the application of publicpolicy to boost European entrepreneurship(Herrero-Rada, 2005; Pages, 2005; Pinto,2005; Potter, 2005; Walburn, 2005). Overthe past decade, interest in ways of stimu-lating entrepreneurship has steadily risen inline with evidence that self-employment hasbecome a major driver of modern econo-mies, setting a trend which recovery fromthe recent global recession is unlikely tochange (Dellot, 2014; Goetz andRupasingha, 2014; Hatfield, 2015;Tatomir, 2015; Young, 2012). On bothsides of the North Atlantic, efforts arebeing made to identify salient aspects ofthis phenomenon (Blanchflower, 2007;Stephan et al., 2015), with a view to devisingappropriate mechanisms to channel publicsector efforts towards supporting and sti-mulating innovative entrepreneurial activ-ities (Young, 2015). Enterprise is now seenas an integral driver of the economic basesof high-income nations and is also increas-ingly considered vital in realising sustain-able forms of development amongstemerging nations.The papers here explore some of the cur-rent initiatives being promoted within mem-bers of the Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development (OECD)for enhancing training in entrepreneurship(see, for example, CIPD, 2015; Halabisky,2014 and Young, 2014). The origins of thespecial issue can be traced to an inter-national seminar held in Frankfurt in 2013(GIZ, 2014), at which participants con-sidered the exchange of good practice invocational education and training (VET)together with entrepreneurship training.Some of the contributors to this volumewere participants at that seminar, one ofthe aims of which was to identify aspectsof such training that could be transferredfrom OECD nations to developing ones (theproceedings are summarised in Halabisky,2014, Appendix C: Good Practice in theTransfer of Entrepreneurship Training). Theremaining contributions focus on comparableinitiatives designed to support entrepreneurialtraining in the tertiary education and businesssectors.

Self-employment is becoming an increasingly viable option for growing numbers of young people entering the labour market, so it is important to identify and develop good practice in the delivery of entrepreneurship training. Not only will this enhance the quality of its provision, but it will also serve to ensure that the economic benefits from larger numbers of start-ups and innovatory new businesses are fully realised. The development and transfer of training in entrepreneurship are examined. Recent studies indicate that its provision at the tertiary education level boosts new business formation, and that experiential learning in entrepreneurship provides students with more incentives to start their own enterprises on graduating than formal enrolment in business programmes. These studies further suggest a strong positive correlation between those European universities that have adopted strategies, resources and institutional infrastructures explicitly targeted towards entrepreneurial objectives and the quality of their entrepreneurship training provision. On this basis, tertiary education institutions need to adopt a holistic cross-disciplinary approach, which commits them fully to promoting opportunities for training students in the formation of enterprises and the translation of innovatory ideas into operational businesses. To be effective, this should involve campus-wide provision, as well as outreach and engagement with the community and its businesses. Evidence demonstrates a number of alternative pathways for the transfer of good practice entrepreneurship training to less developed countries. Bottom-up models depend on the establishment of centres of excellence. These need to develop the capacity to engage with their own government policy-makers in shaping national training initiatives along their own good practice lines. Top-down models depend on creating a policy-framework and funding sources sufficient to encourage the adoption of effective entrepreneurship training programmes across the national educational framework. Here the crucial issue is the ability of existing institutions to respond to such opportunities. Between these extremes, the German dual VET system offers an ‘off-the-shelf’ option for the transfer of vocational entrepreneurship training to less developed countries, which still requires extensive adaptation to local conditions.

Analysis of short tandem repeats (STR) is the predominant method for post-transplant monitoring of donor engraftment. It can enable early detection of disease relapse, level of engraftment and provide useful information on the graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)/graft-versus-tumour (GVT) effect, facilitating therapeutic intervention. Harmonization and standardization of techniques and result interpretation is essential to reduce the impact of laboratory variability on both clinical management and the results of multi-centre clinical trials. However, the United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service for Leucocyte Immunophenotyping (UK NEQAS LI) has highlighted significant issues inherent in STR testing that impact upon inter- and intra- laboratory variation. We present here consensus best practice guidelines and recommendations for STR chimerism testing, data interpretation and reporting that have been drawn up and agreed by a consortium of 11 UK and Eire clinical laboratories. This document uses data obtained from the UK NEQAS LI Post-Stem Cell Transplant (SCT) Chimerism Monitoring Programme.

This paper draws on earlier research, a national review of Scottish SEA practice and a survey of practitioners and stakeholders engaged in SEA and spatial planning in one Scottish city-region, to explore claims being made in the academic literature for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as a tool for deliberative plan-making. We consider whether there is evidence that Scottish SEA practice is helping create more inclusive plan-making processes in light of recent legislative changes, thereby fulfilling one of the expectations of Scottish Government. The macro analysis found that although there are opportunities for stakeholders to engage in the Scottish SEA process the level in practice is extremely low, a finding which mirrors experience in England and elsewhere. The more detailed micro analysis reveals a more nuanced picture within the spatial planning system, however, suggesting the existence of two distinct spheres of public conversations, one characterised by active dialogue about the environmental effects of alternative strategies amongst public sector stakeholders and the other involving non-governmental stakeholders and community groups in a much more limited way. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible explanations for this outcome, concerning asymmetric incentive structures and the application of power, and a consideration of the implications in relation to the competing discourses of SEA.

Disparate approaches to strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia and Scotland are compared. The first is fragmented and unfamiliar while the other is well established. A detailed analysis of the use of SEA in each jurisdiction follows a contextual evaluation of its purpose. Whereas the Scottish system is supported by recent regulation and policy, both NSW and the overriding Commonwealth Government follow haphazard actions with few if any settled methodologies. In order to improve its environmental assessment credentials and promote more sustainable development outcomes, NSW might consider the need for SEA more seriously. Investigation of other systems, such as that in Scotland, may assist.

Two communities operating under diverse planning systems, St. Andrews in Scotland and Prince George in British Columbia (BC), provide case studies for examining how planning tools are used in these jurisdictions to address urban containment issues. The dirigiste planning powers available under Scottish planning along with the institutional arrangements for funding Scottish local government facilitate greater containment than the community-centred approach favoured in BC, but at the expense of restricting local engagement in the process. BC's application of Smart Growth concepts suffers from more limited enforcement powers but offers its municipalities greater involvement in shaping their communities.

Adopting the distinction between hard and spaces of governance, this paper explores the nature and extent of integrated planning within the governance spaces of northern British Columbia and the extent to which the systems in place support innovative practices on the ground. Drawing on research undertaken in two rural settlements, the study reveals limited integration in formal planning structures and processes but an increasing recognition of the need for collaboration across boundaries in new and dynamic arenas. Soft spaces have created opportunities for local communities to be innovative in their quest for a more sustainable future, and these findings highlight a potential role for communities in securing integrated planning, not as invited participants in planning processes but as leaders or promoters of cross-sectoral initiatives.

Green belts test the capacity of the planning system to reconcile competing demands on the sustainable use of land. In 2002, in response to strong community pressure and against the wishes of the planning authority, the Scottish Executive approved a green belt around St. Andrews. This has yet to be designated, reflecting the challenges facing the local planning authority. The paper examines the St. Andrews case through a pragmatist framework to assess whether this instrument of governance can be effectively reconciled with community-led initiatives for protecting the environment.

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is now a requirement for virtually all new Scottish public sector strategies, plans and programmes (SPPs), whether of a statutory or of a voluntary nature, which are deemed likely to have significant environmental effects. This major extension of the EU SEA Directive by the Scottish Government has been deliberately designed to mainstream sustainable development in Scottish policy formulation. The paper reviews current progress in this direction, raising some issues of principle and practice in the use of SEA before considering how SEA can be combined with environmental modeling techniques to deliver the challenging climate change targets adopted by Scottish public bodies. .

The different ways in which its territorial jurisdictions have chosen to apply the European Union's (EU's) Directive on strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to their public sector policies, plans and programmes (PPPs) suggest that the United Kingdom (UK) continues to be uncertain about the theoretical rationale for this technique. In order to evaluate the analytical significance of these alternative interpretations, their methodological foundations need to be examined. Baseline-led approaches to SEA which are intended to operationalise sustainability can be shown to place unrealistic expectations on instrumental rationality. Objectives-led policy appraisal makes SEA contingent on whatever particular social construction of sustainable development holds sway. These expert-driven approaches contrast with a reflexive interpretation of environmental governance, in which SEA helps to expose the conflictual nature of public actions claiming to deliver sustainability, and offers stakeholders increased opportunities to challenge these. The approach adopted in Scotland, in which SEA forms part of an agenda for environmental justice, is evaluated in the light of this critique. The Scottish Executive's eclectic legislation, which covers all its public sector PPPs, may offer a way of mediating between these competing interpretations of SEA.

Sustainable development objectives now form a central part of the local economic development practitioner's remit. So an understanding of the concepts used and the tools required to mainstream sustainability is vital. The paper reviews economic, environmental and social conceptualisations of sustainability as these relate to local development practice. It distinguishes between weak sustainability ‘no-regrets’ policy instruments (such as ecological modernisation, industrial ecology and eco-taxes) and the ecological and social implications of a strong formulation of the concept. Strategic environmental assessment is then evaluated as an important new part of the sustainability tool-kit, which can help practitioners shape the development process in a sustainable fashion, allowing more environmentally-just outcomes.

Tackling fuel poverty is central to the delivery of the Scottish Executive’s commitment to social justice. Many Scottish rural households are not linked into the mains gas network and rely on expensive alternatives, despite being surrounded by plentiful supplies of low-cost renewable wood biomass. A regional study was undertaken to establish the potential market for pelletised wood fuel, available as a low-value by-product from the rapidly expanding Scottish forest industry sector. The wider implications of the research findings are analysed by extending the principles of industrial symbiosis from a site-specific to a regional scale. Promoting an indigenous pellet-based wood fuel market for rural Scotland would fulfil important Scottish Executive economic, social and environmental sustainability objectives. Adding off-site social symbiotic elements increases the potential for on-site technical symbiosis in nascent Scottish forest industry clusters. At present, market failure is preventing the realisation of these benefits, and the paper concludes by identifying ways in which market intermediation, through wood fuel energy service companies, might overcome the current barriers to exploiting such symbiosis.

The 1991 New Zealand Resource Management Act established an effects-based planning system intended to safeguard the biophysical resource base. The act and its subsequent practical implementation are deconstructed using an ecological modernisation framework. This demonstrates that many of the key policy instruments of the act can be accommodated within an ecological modernisation discourse. However, elements of discursive democracy introduced by the legislation have subsequently been impaired by technocorporatist legal formalism. This has prompted considerable debate about the perceived high process and compliance costs and the restricted public scrutiny of effects-based compliance in the new planning system. The reduced emphasis on socioeconomic effects within land-use development plans has impeded the promotion of sustainable spatial development strategies, frustrating attempts to deliver the ‘superindustrial ecological switchover’ sought by proponents of ecological modernisation. Recent legislation to extend the strategic powers of local government may help resolve this issue.

The coverage of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has been extended to all public sector policies, plans and programmes subject to Scottish jurisdiction. Evaluation of the arguments advanced by the Scottish Executive for using environmental assessment as a tool for environmental governance requires an exploration of some of the contested interpretations of the function of environmental assessment at a strategic level. The paper examines the implications of this extension of the European Union SEA Directive in the context of current arrangements to fit environmental assessment into the UK tradition of integrated policy appraisal. It considers the methodological implications of using SEA explicitly for improving public sector decision making at all levels and across all activities. This enables environmental effects to be taken into account at an early stage in the formulation of government policy, through a transparent system of assessment which encourages public participation.

Scottish planners have expanded environmental effect assessment of development plans into the policy appraisal of their sustainability impacts. The application of this methodology is demonstrated in our review of the appraisal of the Perth and Kinross structure plan, which demonstrates the strengths and limitations of this objective-led approach to strategic environmental assessment when compared with a baseline-led one. Scottish Executive interim planning guidance for the European Union directive on strategic environmental assessment integrates the two approaches. This requires the local baseline to be clearly established and plan-induced movements in it to be predicted, monitored and evaluated. It also requires the use of techniques capable of assessing all forms of impact, and better engagement with the public and environmental authorities. Implementation of the directive will tax the capacity of Scottish planning authorities to meet these requirements whilst retaining their preference for an objective-led policy-based approach to assessment. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

During the 1990s, the provincial government of British Columbia made the introduction of participatory processes into the land use planning and resource management of its Crown lands the central element of its attempt to defuse conflictual relationships over choices affecting the sustainability of the province's development strategies. The processes used to this end are examined, and evidence of the resulting outcomes is evaluated. As well as the planning gains associated with the switch from techno‐corporatist to consensual decision‐making for the province's publicly owned resource base, studies indicate that there will be substantial ecological benefits from zoning an additional 30% of Crown lands for enhanced protection, at little economic cost to rural industries. The new rural planning regime also offers a consensual management system capable of assimilating the tribal holdings created by the settlement of First Nation claims on Crown lands. Overall, the evidence indicates that substantial benefits h...

To comply with EU recycling targets for packaging waste, the UK relies on an industry run and market based eco-tax levied by reprocessors on obligated businesses. After examining the details of this approach, the use of Packaging Waste Recovery Notes is assessed in terms of its allocative impact and the contribution made to eco-efficiency. The evidence indicates the UK system has minimized the cost of delivering current EU targets, but has not been able to deliver allocative efficiency or to demonstrate dynamic improvements in resource use. Its effectiveness in meeting impending higher targets remains open to question.

In common with many other companies, BAE SYSTEMS is undergoing significant change to focus on the challenges inherent in emerging classes of complex systems. This led to the concept of an integrated Systems Engineering research and training center, the ‘Systems Engineering Innovation Center‘, founded in partnership with Loughborough University and one of the UK Government's Regional Development Agencies. The Center will expand to encompass wider academic and industrial partnerships which will ultimately span industrial sectors and academic disciplines. This paper describes the Systems Engineering approach to the setting up of this center and describes a number of lessons learned in its development.

The transatlantic collapse of urban renewal: postwar urbanism from New York to Berlin, by Christopher Klemek, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2011, x+315 pp., $40 (cloth), ISBN-13: 978-0-226-...

Rural amenity migration is an increasingly important source of economic development. Analysis of population growth in the North American montane west indicates the extent to which high amenities serve to boost an influx of talented migrants. New regionalism theory offers a rural development model which is capable of accommodating efforts to apply place-branding to this form of interregional migration. Its precepts emphasise place and person rather than product, supporting efforts to market the attraction of interregional rural locations to footloose creative professionals seeking congenial surroundings to pursue their careers and raise their families.

Forest Renewal British Columbia (FRBC) was created in 1994 to deliver programmes of sustainable development within the leading economic sector of the province, serving as a key element of the radical new natural resource management agenda being promoted by an interventionist provincial administration. Its funding consisted solely of the hypothecated revenues of a 'super' stumpage on timber harvesting. This paper considers the role FRBC played in helping to gain agreement to changes in provincial land use planning and forest strategy, and evaluates its effectiveness as an eco-tax recycling mechanism.