Systemic evaluation - a contribution to Swiss development research

Systemic thinking may be traced hack to several roots. Some of them can he found in Taoism, the basic concepts of which are the achievement of cosmic harmony and a well-balanced social order. Others can be found in Greek philosophy. Similarly, modern physics in its most advanced branches is now recognizing basic aspects of these same roots in a scientific guise. The more the process of research and theory building advances, the more phenomena are recognized as complex and interdependent with other phenomena. Interdisciplinary research and the constitution of new disciplines are contributing to a scientific approximation of integral reality, which is becoming more and more like the one everyone knows as prescientific. The transcendence of the narrow boundaries of positivist sciences seems to be becoming a necessity for scientific evolution. The ecological crisis of the twentieth century may itself lead to increased systemic thinking, and it is in full awareness of the fact that there are no simple solutions that the systemic evaluator tries to cope with the problems of the dynamics of social and political interventions in the Third World as a means of development co-operation..

Scientific assessment of the quality of OSIRIS images

Context. OSIRIS, the scientific imaging system onboard the ESA Rosetta spacecraft, has been imaging the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and its dust and gas environment since March 2014. The images serve different scientific goals, from morphology and composition studies of the nucleus surface, to the motion and trajectories of dust grains, the general structure of the dust coma, the morphology and intensity of jets, gas distribution, mass loss, and dust and gas production rates. Aims. We present the calibration of the raw images taken by OSIRIS and address the accuracy that we can expect in our scientific results based on the accuracy of the calibration steps that we have performed. Methods. We describe the pipeline that has been developed to automatically calibrate the OSIRIS images. Through a series of steps, radiometrically calibrated and distortion corrected images are produced and can be used for scientific studies. Calibration campaigns were run on the ground before launch and throughout the years in flight to determine the parameters that are used to calibrate the images and to verify their evolution with time. We describe how these parameters were determined and we address their accuracy. Results. We provide a guideline to the level of trust that can be put into the various studies performed with OSIRIS images, based on the accuracy of the image calibration.

Scientific drilling projects in ancient lakes: Integrating geological and biological histories

Sedimentary sequences in ancient or long-lived lakes can reach several thousands of meters in thickness and often provide an unrivalled perspective of the lake's regional climatic, environmental, and biological history. Over the last few years, deep-drilling projects in ancient lakes became increasingly multi- and interdisciplinary, as, among others, seismological, sedimentological, biogeochemical, climatic, environmental, paleontological, and evolutionary information can be obtained from sediment cores. However, these multi- and interdisciplinary projects pose several challenges. The scientists involved typically approach problems from different scientific perspectives and backgrounds, and setting up the program requires clear communication and the alignment of interests. One of the most challenging tasks, besides the actual drilling operation, is to link diverse datasets with varying resolution, data quality, and age uncertainties to answer interdisciplinary questions synthetically and coherently. These problems are especially relevant when secondary data, i.e., datasets obtained independently of the drilling operation, are incorporated in analyses. Nonetheless, the inclusion of secondary information, such as isotopic data from fossils found in outcrops or genetic data from extant species, may help to achieve synthetic answers. Recent technological and methodological advances in paleolimnology are likely to increase the possibilities of integrating secondary information. Some of the new approaches have started to revolutionize scientific drilling in ancient lakes, but at the same time, they also add a new layer of complexity to the generation and analysis of sediment-core data. The enhanced opportunities presented by new scientific approaches to study the paleolimnological history of these lakes, therefore, come at the expense of higher logistic, communication, and analytical efforts. Here we review types of data that can be obtained in ancient lake drilling projects and the analytical approaches that can be applied to empirically and statistically link diverse datasets to create an integrative perspective on geological and biological data. In doing so, we highlight strengths and potential weaknesses of new methods and analyses, and provide recommendations for future interdisciplinary deep-drilling projects.

Export Restrictions on Critical Minerals and Metals: Testing the Adequacy of WTO Disciplines

Conventional wisdom on the insufficiency of existing WTO disciplines on export restrictions has triggered momentum on the issue. In this book, Ilaria Espa offers a comprehensive analysis of the scope and coverage of WTO disciplines on export restrictions in light of emerging case law. She investigates whether such rules still provide a credible and effective framework capable of preventing abuses in the use of export restrictive measures on critical minerals and metals during a period of economic crisis and change in international trade patterns. Giving a broad overview of the export restrictions applied to these materials, Espa identifies distinctive features in the proliferation of export barriers and analyses the existing WTO rules to reveal their gaps and inconsistencies. She goes on to present solutions based upon her findings with the aim of bringing more coherence and equity to WTO rules on the export side.

To fuse or not to fuse? Assessing the case for convergent disciplines on goods and services trade

Think piece by Pierre Sauvé for the E15 Initiative on Strengthening the Global Trade System In his latest essay for the ICTSD-World Economic Forum E15 initiative on Strengthening the Global Trade and Investment System for Sustainable Development, WTI Director of External Programmes and Academic Partnerships and faculty member Pierre Sauvé explores the case for fusing the law of goods with that of services in a world of global value chains. The paper does so by directing attention to the questions of whether the current architectures of multilateral and preferential trade governance are compatible with a world of trade in tasks; whether the existing rules offer globally active firms a coherent structure for doing business in a predictable environment; whether it is feasible to redesign the structure and content of existing trade rules to align them to the reality of production fragmentation; and what steps can be envisaged to better align policy and realities in the marketplace if the prospects for restructuring appear unfavourable. The paper argues that fusing trade disciplines for goods and services is neither needed nor feasible and may actually deflect attention from a number of worthwhile policy initiatives where more realistic (if never easily secured) prospects of generic rule-making may well exist.

Learning by Not Doing: Subsidy Disciplines in Services Trade

This paper explores the hitherto futile quest for developing disciplines on the trade- and investment-distorting effects of services subsidies. It sheds light on the multiplicity of factors that have weighed on the conduct of negotiations on subsidy disciplines in a services trade context at both the global and preferential levels, and advances a few thoughts on what the future may hold for the adoption of such disciplines. The analysis suggests that it is rather unlikely that WTO Members will any time soon reach a consensus on the matter of subsidy disciplines for services beyond those that currently (and timidly) obtain in the GATS and in many preferential trade agreements. The main reason behind such a conclusion stems from a marked rise in the value of preserving policy space in a trading environment characterized by considerably greater global market contestability than two decades ago.