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21 evaluations – what do they teach us? : A synthesis of a number of evaluations in the environmental area over the period 2000-2003
- 2004
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Over the period 2000-2003, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency carried out or assisted in around 20 evaluations of environmental work in the country. We have looked, for instance, at a number of instruments in the environmental area, how work towards some of the national environmental quality objectives is progressing and how some of the large appropriations in specifi c areas are used. The evaluations have provided valuable knowledge which will be put to use in the Swedish EPA, the Government Offi ces and other authorities and agencies in Sweden. They have led to changes and have been used for example in the “in-depth evaluation” of the environmental objectives and in investigations of instruments. Some have been used as study material at universities and colleges.This report represents an attempt at a synthesis of the 21 evaluations. It also contains a fact sheet for each evaluation, which, in a highly abridged form, states the more important observations, conclusions and proposals. The aim, target group and method of evaluation for each evaluation are presented in the fact sheets. We hope that the report will also be of interest and of use as worthwhile reading material for people who work outside Sweden, for example on method development in the environmental area.Original title: 21 utvärderingar – vad lär de oss? En syntes av ett antal utvärderingar på miljöområdet åren 2000 – 2003. ISBN 91-620-5366-3.
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| 2. |
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31 recommendations for increased profit - reducing waste
- 2010
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Those companies and organizations that wish to ensure long-term profitability must successively decrease resource use in both product development and in product usage. Primarily, it is waste that must be reduced, i.e. the consumption of resources that do not add to customer value or to the organization. Waste is widespread in all operations. Even in well-functioning processes, more than half of the resource consumption can be classified as waste. One obstacle to waste elimination is that most waste is hidden. Thus, executives, middle management and specialists must prioritize efforts to uncover the waste in their operations.Building and construction activities consist of a complex system of decisions, components, organizations and processes that must be coordinated. There are therefore many explanations as to why waste arises, or does not. Based on a series of discussions with experienced builders, consultants, contractors and materials providers, five main groups of factors that characterize effective operations were found. In this report these factors are illustrated in the form of a “value pyramid”. A holistic view of long-term customer benefits is the apex of the pyramid. Structure, competence, leadership and culture act as the driving forces at each corner of the pyramid’s foundation. Should one of the corners gives way, then the pyramid risks toppling over.With the value pyramid as support, 31 recommendations for what should be done to reduce waste are presented. These are aimed at standardizing the product from an overall perspective (five recommendations), defining and standardizing processes (ten recommendations), developing the organization and its competence (seven recommendations), disciplining management (five recommendations), and driving continuous improvement work (four recommendations). Reducing uncertainties and increasing effective time utilization are the red threads, as the Swedes would say, that run through all the recommendations.Everyone who uses resources has a responsibility to reduce waste. By systematically monitoring one’s own use of time, one can gain insights that will help improve one’s work situation. However, the burden of initiating and driving improvements overall obviously lies with management. How this should be done depends on the nature and purpose of the activities as well as on the organization’s capabilities. It is to manage this progress and achieve profitability that managers are appointed. It is in the interest of all enterprises and organizations to develop the ability and an interest to detect and understand what work/task is value adding what is not. This ability will provide possibilities to develop new competitive advantages and new business concepts.
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A comparison of European and North American approaches to the management and communication of environmental research
- 2009
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- s a follow up to a study of research management and communication practices carried out in Europe in 2006, a further study has been undertaken to examine analogous processes in Canada and the United States, and to compare approaches and experiences in Europe and North America. The study has been carried out by a team from Sweden, Canada and the United Kingdom as part of the work programme of the SKEP (Scientific Knowledge for Environmental Protection) network of European environmental ministries and regulators (www.skep-era.net). The focus has been primarily on research programmes funded by environmental ministries and agencies, and associated bodies: research carried out with the intention that it should inform environmental policy making and regulation. Both the original European study and this follow-up study explore the following five areas:• the planning and management of research projects and programmes: in particular, the ways in which potential end-users of the research are involved in planning, project selection, project and programme management, and potentially the co-production of knowledge;• the communication of results: the routes and mechanisms for bringing the research results to the attention of users;• the roles of interpreters and intermediaries in making results available to users in a form which is useful;• engagement with stakeholders: how to ensure that information is made available to stakeholders in a form which meets their information needs, enables them to play an effective role in the decisionmaking process, and that processes are transparent and build trust; and• the evaluation of processes of dissemination and implementation.Review of published documentation and the literature has informed the study, but the central approach to information gathering has been interviews with people working at the interface of science with environmental policy making and regulation. Taking the two studies together, 128 people have been interviewed, working in 40 organisations in 13 countries.The report presents the findings of the interviews and documentation reviews for each of the five areas listed above, comparing and contrasting approaches and experiences in Canada, the US and Europe. Despite differences in national administrative traditions and structures for environmental science, policy and regulation, there are many similarities between the approaches taken across the contributing organisations. Some overarching conclusions may be drawn from the experiences of the many organisations contributing to this study, and its precursor in Europe:• If research is intended to inform policy making and regulation, thenclose engagement between researchers and research users from the planning of the research, through the research phase, to its communication and interpretation is essential. Where the science is contested and the issue controversial, engagement should include a broader range of stakeholders. This has resource implications that must be taken on board in the planning and management of research projects and programmes. Challenges requiring further work remain, such as better understanding the science seeking behaviours and preferences of policy makers and regulators, and facilitating their clear articulation of knowledge needs on timescales relevant to research.• Early attention needs to be given to the dissemination of research,which should be appropriately budgeted in research project and programme planning. Research communication needs to be targeted to meet the particular knowledge needs of different research users, providing information and advice in preferred forms and using appropriate communication channels. Better mutual understanding between researchers and research users arising from the ongoing engagement described in the previous bullet facilitates this effective targeting.• The pressures faced by researchers and policy makers/regulators togenerate new knowledge on the one hand, and to make policies and regulatory decisions on the other, are such that there is inevitably a ‘gap’ between them, with severe time constraints on both sides inhibiting their undertaking the activities necessary to close and/orbridge it. This problem is exacerbated by radically different motivations, cultures and reward structures. There is consequently a key, and increasingly well recognised role, for interpreters and intermediaries to facilitate the interactions and undertake activities that can help to bridge the gap and enable an effective science-policy interface. This ‘knowledge brokering’ function is seen as a central role of the organisations responsible for planning and managing research within the US EPA, Environment Canada, and certain environmental ministries and regulators in Europe.• Evaluation of the uptake and impact of research is generally recognised as a potentially valuable activity which could drive an ‘active earning’ cycle to enhance research programme planning and management. However, it is little practiced, and there are some significant methodological problems remaining to be overcome. Even where it has been routinely used, most notably in the US EPA, questions remain about the effectiveness of current approaches in accurately identifying uptake and impact.There is much common ground in experiences of what works, and what does not, and consequently the challenges that remain to be addressed in order to secure effective investments in research to inform environmental policy making and regulation. This points to the value of ongoing collaboration between the responsible organisations in Europe and North America to address these challenges.
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A programme for better use and management of protected areas, 2005-2015
- 2005
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- ”protect – preserve – present” is a programme developed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency in order to clarify its measures and objectives for realizing the ambitions stated in the Swedish government official document A Comprehensive Policy for Nature Conservation with regard to the use and management of protected areas. Sweden currently has 28 national parks and 2552 nature reserves with a combined area of around four million hectares (ca. 9.9 million acres). In addition, 3992 Natura 2000 sites have been designated thus far. All of these protected areas must be managed in accordance with stated objectives. The programme addresses the issue of LOCAL PARTICIPATION, an important aspect of efforts to win local support for conservation measures. MANAGEMENT PLANS play a key role in specifying how supervising agencies are to carry out measures for the further development and fulfilment of goals for the conservation of biodiversity and outdoor recreation opportunities. One of the functions of conservation plans is to explain the purpose of Natura 2000 sites. OUTDOOR RECREATION provides opportunities for relaxation of body and soul, which is of great importance to human well-being. Getting out into the open for such activities as walking and nature study increases life quality, and promotes both physical and psychic health. Sustainable, environmentally friendly tourism in protected areas benefits both nature conservation and society at large. PUBLIC INFORMATION in protected areas can by provided by a variety of means, from simple entrance signs to guided walks and visitor centers with exhibitions and various activities. Entrances to protected areas are important for the overall impression of a visit. An important task of the management is MANAGING VARIOUS TYPES OF HABITATS. Knowledge of carry out that task is essential for those responsible for supervising protected areas. Another important task is to FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATE the work that is carried out, in order to determine if and when conservation goals are fulfilled. It is also important to spread knowledge of good examples and to increase the sharing of experience. Toward those ends, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has formulated a number of objectives and set deadlines for achieving them. The most important elements of the programme, ”Protect – Preserve – Present”, are thirty measures, for each of which it is specified what is to be done, by whom and when. Implementation of some measures began in 2004, but work on the majority will begin during 2005. The basic programme will continue until 2015, but work connected with some objectives will continue until 2020.
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| 7. |
- Aaberge, Rolf, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of an In-work Tax Credit Reform in Sweden: Effects on Labor Supply and Welfare Participation of Single Mothers
- 2008
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a recent Swedish in-work tax credit reform where we pay particular attention to labor market exclusion; i.e. individuals in as well as outside the labor force are included in the analysis. To highlight the importance of the joint effects from the tax and the benefit systems it appears particular relevant to analyze the labor supply behavior of single mothers. To this end, we estimate a structural microeconometric model of labor supply and welfare participation. The model accounts for heterogeneity in consumption-leisure preferences as well as for constraints in job opportunities. The results of the evaluation show that the reform generates welfare-gains for virtually every single mother, and moreover benefits low-income households. Finally, due to increased labor supply and decline in welfare participation we find that this reform is almost self-financing.
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| 8. |
- Aaberge, Rolf, et al.
(författare)
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U.S. versus Sweden: The Effect of Alternative In-Work Tax Credit Policies on Labour Supply of Single Mothers
- 2013
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- An essential difference between the design of the Swedish and the US in-work tax credit systems relates to their functional forms. Where the US earned income tax credit (EITC) is phased out and favours low and medium earnings, the Swedish system is not phased out and offers 17 and 7 per cent tax credit for low and medium low incomes and a lump-sum tax deduction equal to approximately 2300 USD for medium and higher incomes. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency and distributional effects of these two alternative tax credit designs. We pay particular attention to labour market exclusion; i.e. individuals within as well as outside the labour force are included in the analysis. To highlight the importance of the joint effects from the tax and the benefit systems it appears particular relevant to analyse the labour supply behaviour of single mothers. To this end, we estimate a structural random utility model of labour supply and welfare participation. The model accounts for heterogeneity in consumption-leisure preferences as well as for heterogeneity and constraints in job opportunities. The results of the evaluation show that the Swedish system without phase-out generates substantial larger labour supply responses than the US version of the tax credit. Due to increased labour supply and decline in welfare participation we find that the Swedish reform is self-financing for single mothers, whereas a 10 per cent deficit follows from the adapted EITC version used in this study. However, where income inequality rises modestly under the Swedish tax credit system, the US version with phase-out leads to a significant reduction in the income inequality.
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| 9. |
- Aabrekk, S., et al.
(författare)
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Deliverable 2.2 Possible market strategies for one stop shops of renovation of single family house. : Report prepared for Nordic Innovation Centre
- 2012
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The document describes examples of missions, visions and strategies based on the potentialpiloting models defined in report 3.2. It is based on status of interest amongst thestakeholders, and the information, figures and challenges which were discussed in the reportD 2.1 Stakeholder interests. The different service models will request different missionsdepending on the stakeholder in charge of the model. Also visions and strategies could bedifferent depending on the composition of services (core business) offered within each pilot aswell as the additional services offered by sub suppliers and the network connected to the pilot.In the report D2.1 Stakeholders interests, the following 5 different piloting models aresuggested:Type 1 Joint venture of industry, retailers and contractorsType 2 Joint venture of construction/renovation, industry and architect/engineering companiesType 3 Complementary businesses expand their business into renovationType 4 Joint venture of type house producer, bank and home owner associationType 5 Energy/building consultant, real estate agent and financing institutions, e.g. bankIn this report we have described mission, vision and market strategies for 4 existing orproposed models; The Project Manager by Bolig Enøk, from Norway (type 1), ENRA concept(type 2) and K-Rauta & Rautia (type 3) from Finland, and ProjectLavenergi (type 2) fromDenmark. Cleantech by Dong Energy (type 3) from Denmark is also addressed, but notdescribed in detail. As there is no concrete examples representing two of the models fromD2.1 (types 4 and 5), we have made a theoretical exercise in developing mission, vision andmarket strategies for type 5 model, while type 4 is not handled.It may be concluded that there are commercial actors in different parts of the value chainwhich see an opportunity in developing different approaches of “one stop shops” for energyefficient holistic renovations. The concepts are still in a development phase and differ inrespect to how they are organised (as supply side). We may say that the pilots in the differentcountries also find inspiration from each other through this research project. Due to thecomplexity of a holistic renovation project, it is a prerequisite with good partnerships even inthe development phase. In all identified models there is however one main actor taking thelead and ownership to the business model.Independent of the business model the responsible company needs to make some strategicchoices. The starting point is the SWOT analysis which sums up all major challenges for therespective business model. How the strategies should be developed is described in this report.Although the main target group for this report is companies seeing an interest in developingbusiness models for renovation, we found some important issues identified in the SWOTanalysis which the authorities may influence including lack of interest in the market (need ofmore public attention through holistic campaigns), fragmented solutions (stop subsidisingsingle measures without a holistic plan), serious vs unserious companies (need of certificationsystems to build credibility), cost focus leads to limited renovation (need of subventionschemes for holistic retrofitting including tax deduction measures) and finally lack incompetence within companies (need of support to training and collaboration acrosscompanies).
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| 10. |
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