Open Data on a Closed Shop? Assessing the potential of transparency initiatives with a focus on efforts to strengthen capacity development support

Despite strong political commitment, actual gains in improving accountability in development co‐operation have been limited. Main reasons for this include the low level of transparency and high number of actors, as well as the limitations of the self‐reported and input‐oriented OECD reporting system. Efforts through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) and related transparency initiatives are ill‐equipped to change this given their decision to adhere to the same system. This article uses the specific area of support to capacity development to illustrate this. While further disaggregation of reporting on technical co‐operation could respond to a transparency gap, overcoming the accountability gap requires moving beyond promoting ‘supply‐side’ reform and re‐engaging in efforts to promote collective action.     

Open Dialogue: Frequently Asked Questions

Open Dialogue is an approach to working with people and their families experiencing psychosocial distress. Interest in Open Dialogue in Australia has been growing recently, raising questions about its adaption and implementation to local contexts. This article is an attempt to answer some of the frequently asked questions we have encountered in training and discussions about Open Dialogue. We attempt to provide responses to questions of how Open Dialogue is different to what is done already, how it fits with current approaches, how you know if you are doing it, whether it is passive or just about doing reflections, issues about including the social network, and concerns about the evidence base. This article aims to present a variety of viewpoints in relation to these questions and to hopefully further discussions on how Open Dialogue can be implemented and adapted to Australian health care and social care contexts.     

Theory and Practice? A Comparative Analysis of Migration and Development Policies in Eleven European Countries and the European Commission

This article analyses international policy discussions on migration and development (M&D) and contrasts these with the actual M&D policies and practices of 11 European countries who were among the main proponents of this international discourse. Desk research of public documents and accompanying information sought from these 11 governments as well as in the European Commission (EC) provide the basis for a comparative analysis of their overall M&D policies and strategies, and institutional settings for formulating and implementing these. The comparison shows that M&D policy and practice remains in a tentative and experimental phase, and that countries experience difficulties reflecting their international positions in their own policies, as well as in learning from their own efforts and those of others. While stressing the developmental potential of migration in international discussions, most of the countries’ policies still reflect an understanding of migration as a problem and a preoccupation with short‐term domestic interests.     

The Transport System and Society’s Metabolism in the UK

This paper analyses the interrelation between the transport system and measures of resource consumption such as material and energy consumption over a 60-year period (1937–1997) in the UK. Non-motorized transport and time consumption for mobility are estimated in addition to conventional measures of transport. During the period analyzed, the UK population grew by 20% while transport of goods and persons increased more than threefold and material and energy consumption almost doubled. The transport intensity of domestic material input (DMI) doubled to 300 ton-kilometers (tkm) per ton of DMI while the transport intensity of domestic energy consumption (DEC) doubled to 20 tkm per gigajoule (GJ) of DEC. Thus, while the material and energy intensity of GDP declined significantly, a well-established trend in many advanced countries, the transport intensity of materials and energy consumption rose. These findings suggest a close link between transport, economic development, and long-term structural transformations. In the case of personal transport, a rebound effect was also observed: whereas the average speed of transport has greatly increased, the average number of hours per day devoted to personal transport has not declined.     

Does Intercultural Education Lead to More Cultural Homogeneity and Tolerance?

Intercultural education is often assumed to lead to more tolerance towards other cultures. It may also entail an acculturation process that will lead to more cultural homogeneity. The European School system provides an interesting experiment in intercultural and multilingual education, which can help us answer these questions. A value survey among European Schools alumni showed that a "European School effect" does indeed seem to exist. Students staying longer at a European School and entering the European Schools system at a younger age form a somewhat more culturally homogenous group. There are also strong indications that European Schools' alumni are much more tolerant towards people from other nations and cultures than their average compatriots. However, it is not completely possible to rule out the possibility that this is caused by a sampling effect.