Tracing Process to Performance of Collaborative Governance: A Comparative Case Study of Federal Hydropower Licensing

Despite collaborative governance's popularity, whether collaboration improves policy performance remains uncertain. This study assesses the link between collaborative decision making and licensed environmental management protocols in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) process for licensing hydropower facilities in the United States. Using results from a previous study of FERC relicensing (Ulibarri, forthcoming), one high‐, one medium‐, and one low‐collaboration case were selected. Using documents including meeting minutes, public comments, and issued licenses, I assessed collaboration and license outputs, then conducted process tracing to examine whether and how differences in collaboration produced differences in license quality. High collaboration resulted in jointly developed and highly implementable operating regimes designed to improve numerous resources, while low collaboration resulted in operating requirements that ignored environmental concerns raised by stakeholders and lacked implementation provisions. These results support the hypothesis that collaboration can improve environmental outcomes, revealing the pragmatic value of collaboration. [Correction added on 13 January 2015, after first online publication: the occurrences of ‘0’ in the abstract were erroneous and have now been corrected.]     

Water and power in South Arabia: the excavation of “Monumental Building 1” (MB1) at Sumhuram (Sultanate of Oman)

The ancient port city of Sumhuram (Dhofar Governorate, Sultanate of Oman) has been the focus of over 20 years of research by the Italian Mission to Oman (IMTO), University of Pisa, in collaboration with the Office of the Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs (Muscat-Salalah, Sultanate of Oman). Excavation has revealed most of the town layout, leading to the identification of several buildings, alleyways, squares and workshops, among which two massive buildings stand out, significantly named by the excavators as “Monumental Building” 1 and 2 (MB1 and MB2). This paper presents the results of the excavation inside MB1, characterised by the presence of the only well discovered within the city walls, which was previously interpreted alternatively as a palace or as a temple. The architectural development of the building, its distinctive features, the archaeological material discovered inside it, and its chronology will be discussed. These results highlight the absence of fitting parallels from other ancient South Arabian towns. Overall, it is clear that access to, management of, and control over the water supply of the town represented a key asset which justified the huge investment in workforce and building materials that is reflected in the monumental architecture of this edifice.     

Governing system innovation: assisted living experiments in the UK and Norway

Debates on how to address societal challenges have moved to the forefront of academic and policy concerns. Of particular importance is the growing awareness that to deal with issues such as ageing, it will be necessary to implement concerted efforts on technological, social, institutional or political fronts. Drawing on a number of theoretical perspectives – including socio-technical transitions and embedded state theory – the aim of this paper is to identify and understand different approaches to the governance of such system innovations by comparing state responses to assisted living in two contrasting national systems of care, namely that of the UK and Norway. Its findings highlight that state-supported and funded experimentation projects have been instrumental in designing and implementing system innovation: through their emphasis on co-design and co-creation, these projects demonstrated the value of early implementation pilots to explore the ‘fit’ between novel technologies and prevailing practices and institutional structures in national systems of care. Still, competition, biases or conflicting interests should not be ignored between well-established agents and institutions and experimental solutions whose efficacy remains relatively untested and which involve a combination of new technical, social, organizational and institutional solutions.     

Archaeological Site Information Modelling and Management Based on Close-Range Photogrammetry and GIS

New challenges in management and restoration of archaeological sites require the utilization of advanced technologies and systems to assist in preserving the important legacy of human heritage. These challenges include monitoring and preserving of site landscapes, maintenance and rehabilitation of archaeological structures, and quality and safety management. In this research, an integrated methodology based on photogrammetry and Three-Dimensional (3D) Geographic Information System (GIS) is developed to capture and model essential details needed for the proper management of archaeological sites. Recent advances in digital imagery and modelling utilize photogrammetry as an efficient technique for 3D modelling of archaeological sites to derive accurate measurements of size, shape, position, and texture of objects using two-dimensional digital photographs. Spatial data that include aerial stereo photographs, satellite images, close-range photos, terrestrial surveying and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are integrated within the design of the proposed model. The approach is validated with a case study of Ajloun Castle, one of the ancient and important preserved structures located in Jordan. Various sequential levels of details have been developed for the castle: Orthophoto, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), structures geometry and site layout and 3D textured model. The suggested methodology is expected to be efficient in modelling and documenting archaeological structures. The developed model is utilized to assess the management of archaeological structures through feasibility analysis, rehabilitation decisions, and safety planning.     

Cultural Heritage and Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review

During the last decade, we have witnessed an increased interest in Ecosystem Services (ES), including the so-called ‘cultural ecosystem services’ and its subcategory of ‘cultural heritage’. In this article, a review of academic literature of ES and cultural heritage is carried out. ES has primarily been developed by scholars from the ecological and economic disciplines, and in this article, we discuss how this impacts the way in which cultural heritage is used and conceptualised in ES literature. Based on the conceptual review, we initiate a discussion of what the implications for cultural heritage management could be if the heritage sector adopts the rationales in the ES framework.     

A Model for Assessing the Reuse of an Ancient Place of Performance: The Bouleuterion of Teos

Ancient places of performance are often considered for reuse as a means of promoting archaeological sites. Therefore, local authorities and decision makers have a difficult task of balancing the conservation and management of the sites with the carrying capacity. In this paper, the bouleuterion, a ‘rediscovered’ structure, at the Teos archaeological site, in Turkey is evaluated and presented as a preliminary case study with the hopes that these issues will be taken into consideration by the managing body in the creation of a management plan for the site. The evaluation is made by assessing socio-economic and intangible heritage significance, policies guiding changes at the site, a qualitative survey at the site and by defining the structure’s carrying capacity. The site’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are used to create criteria and make proposals for its reuse. The study concludes that the bouleuterion cannot be reused as a venue in its present condition and makes recommendations for future use.     

Promoting productivity in the National Health Service, 1950 to 1966

In the 1950s, the Ministry of Health, supported by interested groups outside government, recognised the political importance of productive efficiency. For leadership, organisational models and techniques the Ministry looked to the movement for industrial productivity. The NHS was receptive, but private-sector approaches were modified and dampened as they were imported. NHS management was to be the provider of technical expertise, but the deployment of this expertise was limited by clinical autonomy and de-coupling from financial incentives. This article casts new light on the history of productivity policy, NHS management and the moving frontier between state and civil society.     

Collaborative Networks for Effective Ecosystem‐Based Management: A Set of Working Hypotheses

Ecosystem‐based management (EBM) represents a comprehensive approach to better govern the environment that also illustrates the collaborative trend in policy and public administration. The need for stakeholder involvement and collaboration is strongly articulated, yet how and for what purposes collaboration would be effective remains largely untested. We address this gap by developing and evaluating a set of hypotheses specifying how certain patterns of collaborations among actors affect their joint ability to accomplish EBM. Content analyses of management plans drawn from five EBM planning processes in Sweden are combined with analyses of the collaborative networks through which these plans have been developed. Our results indicate that system thinking and the ability to integrate across different management phases are favored by collaborations between different kinds of actors, and by project leaders being centrally located in the networks. We also find that dense substructures of collaboration increase the level of specificity in the plans in regards to explicating constraints on human activities. Having many collaborative ties does however not enhance the overall level of specificity. Our results also show that different network characteristics can give rise to similar EBM outcomes. This observed equifinality suggests there is no single blueprint for well‐performing collaborative networks.     

Canada and the United States—Trading Partners and Transfer Pricing Opponents?

Given the significant trading relationships between Canada and the United States, their transnational corporations and their tax authorities share more than a border. However, differences in transfer pricing regulations, tax rates, and regulatory enforcement philosophies have exacerbated many existing risks, and created new risks for executives in these corporations. These risks must be managed proactively, yet attempts at risk management are often incompatible with one tax authority or the other. Assuming that an operational transfer pricing framework is in place, there are several proactive strategies available to mitigate transfer pricing risk and potentially satisfy both tax authorities. An operational framework and proactive strategies, including documentation and advance pricing agreements, are discussed from the Canadian and US perspective, including expert interviews.