"As long as it doesn't spill over into class": harms arising from students` alcohol use, and the role of policy in reducing them

While there is considerable evidence about the prevalence of student alcohol use, little empirical work has examined the range and level of exposure to alcohol-related risks facing student populations, and the views of key stakeholders about these. This study was conducted at a large multi-campus university in order to gauge the scale and severity of students’ alcohol-related problems, and ways in which these may be mitigated. Student perspectives on campus based policy making with respect to alcohol were also canvassed. This study utilised a range of evaluative instruments, including standardised questionnaire protocols, structured interviews and focus groups. Data gained from students showed a large level of exposure to alcohol-related harm, and staff informants reported student harms such as drink-driving, interpersonal aggression, social nuisance, inadequate security, sexually risky behaviour, and physical malaise. As a group, students seem receptive to campus-based policies that have a harm reduction focus, but are less supportive of institutionalised measures aimed at the student body. Given the divergence of views about the harms arising from student drinking, and a general repudiation of institutional policy measures which may lessen these, the development of harm-reducing policy on alcohol remains challenging.

Talking it up! Project report : Aboriginal voices in the formulation of health policy that works : short report

Initially, there were three separate strands to the work of the project: a series of forums involving group interviews/discussions with community members; a policy analysis that reviewed policies relating to Aboriginal health at federal and state level; and a literature review. The results of these three separate strands of analysis were then brought together in a fourth strand to the work, a process involving community members to discuss and agree the overall recommendations contained in this report.

Through this structure, the project employed a participatory methodology as the basis for individual and collective empowerment in relation to health outcomes. As mentioned above, the need for the project was identified by Aboriginal people, through their own processes of healing. The need was presented by appropriate figures within their communities, namely community elders. They invited other Aboriginal people to take part through their own communication channels, thus ensuring that responsibility for engagement in the project, and in formulating action for improvement, remained with Aboriginal people and their families. However, the project design also recognised that Aboriginal people exist within broader structural and policy constraints which impact on their ability to manage their own lives successfully or otherwise. Thus the project sought to combine indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge through bringing together the three strands of work in the way described.

A Community Reference Group guided the work of the project at all stages, endorsed the findings and drafted the recommendations. The two elders who had identified the need for the project formed the core of the group, and worked on the project from start to finish. At different times during the project, other community members joined the group to assist in its work, including training Aboriginal researchers, letting others know about the forums, discussing findings and drafting recommendations.

Talking it up! Project report : Aboriginal voices in the formulation of health policy that works : full report

Initially, there were three separate strands to the work of the project: a series of forums involving group interviews/discussions with community members; a policy analysis that reviewed policies relating to Aboriginal health at federal and state level; and a literature review. The results of these three separate strands of analysis were then brought together in a fourth strand to the work, a process involving community members to discuss and agree the overall recommendations contained in this report.

Through this structure, the project employed a participatory methodology as the basis for individual and collective empowerment in relation to health outcomes. As mentioned above, the need for the project was identified by Aboriginal people, through their own processes of healing. The need was presented by appropriate figures within their communities, namely community elders. They invited other Aboriginal people to take part through their own communication channels, thus ensuring that responsibility for engagement in the project, and in formulating action for improvement, remained with Aboriginal people and their families. However, the project design also recognised that Aboriginal people exist within broader structural and policy constraints which impact on their ability to manage their own lives successfully or otherwise. Thus the project sought to combine indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge through bringing together the three strands of work in the way described.

A Community Reference Group guided the work of the project at all stages, endorsed the findings and drafted the recommendations. The two elders who had identified the need for the project formed the core of the group, and worked on the project from start to finish. At different times during the project, other community members joined the group to assist in its work, including training Aboriginal researchers, letting others know about the forums, discussing findings and drafting recommendations.
Initially, there were three separate strands to the work of the project: a series of forums involving group interviews/discussions with community members; a policy analysis that reviewed policies relating to Aboriginal health at federal and state level; and a literature review. The results of these three separate strands of analysis were then brought together in a fourth strand to the work, a process involving community members to discuss and agree the overall recommendations contained in this report.

Through this structure, the project employed a participatory methodology as the basis for individual and collective empowerment in relation to health outcomes. As mentioned above, the need for the project was identified by Aboriginal people, through their own processes of healing. The need was presented by appropriate figures within their communities, namely community elders. They invited other Aboriginal people to take part through their own communication channels, thus ensuring that responsibility for engagement in the project, and in formulating action for improvement, remained with Aboriginal people and their families. However, the project design also recognised that Aboriginal people exist within broader structural and policy constraints which impact on their ability to manage their own lives successfully or otherwise. Thus the project sought to combine indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge through bringing together the three strands of work in the way described.

Prioritizing policy interventions to improve diets? Will it work, can it happen, will it do harm?

Policies from non-health sectors have considerable impacts on the food environment and in turn on population nutrition. Health impact assessment (HIA) methods have been developed to identify the potential health effects of non-health policies; however, they are underused both within and outside the health sector. HIA and other assessment methods and tools can be used more extensively in health promotion to assist with the identification of the best policy options to pursue to improve and protect health. A participatory process is presented in this paper which combines HIAs with feasibility and effectiveness assessments. The intention is to enable health promoters to more accurately identify which policy change options would be most likely to improve diets, considering both impact and likelihood of implementation. The process was successfully used in Fiji and Tonga and provided a more systematic way of understanding which policy interventions showed the most promise.

Getting research into policy : lots of ideas but how do we make it happen? Insights from the policy experience

Evidence and health policy discussions to date have largely focused on the relationship between those generating research evidence and policy decision-makers and how improving this relationship will increase research use in policy development. All too often policy makers are perceived as the problem, not understanding or seeing the importance of research evidence. Policy makers do have a responsibility to source and use available evidence, as do researchers to the sharp and meaningful production and syntheses of policy relevant research evidence. This takes more than improved communication mechanisms between individual researcher and policy makers. Evidence-informed policy making is a science in its own right requiring the development and application of methods that conceptualise, synthesise and exchange research evidence. Policy organisations need to develop as receptor sites for research and its application to day-to-day decision-making, this is a significant program of work if it is to be done well and affect the evidence culture of organisations.

Sustainable Wastewater Management: Is it Possible to Regulate Micropollution in the Future by Learning from the Past? A Policy Analysis

This paper applies a policy analysis approach to the question of how to effectively regulate micropollution in a sustainable manner. Micropollution is a complex policy problem characterized by a huge number and diversity of chemical substances, as well as various entry paths into the aquatic environment. It challenges traditional water quality management by calling for new technologies in wastewater treatment and behavioral changes in industry, agriculture and civil society. In light of such challenges, the question arises as to how to regulate such a complex phenomenon to ensure water quality is maintained in the future? What can we learn from past experiences in water quality regulation? To answer these questions, policy analysis strongly focuses on the design and choice of policy instruments and the mix of such measures. In this paper, we review instruments commonly used in past water quality regulation. We evaluate their ability to respond to the characteristics of a more recent water quality problem, i.e., micropollution, in a sustainable way. This way, we develop a new framework that integrates both the problem dimension (i.e., causes and effects of a problem) as well as the sustainability dimension (e.g., long-term, cross-sectoral and multi-level) to assess which policy instruments are best suited to regulate micropollution. We thus conclude that sustainability criteria help to identify an appropriate instrument mix of end-of-pipe and source-directed measures to reduce aquatic micropollution.

Europe's growth problem (and what to do about it). Bruegel Policy Brief 2013/03, April 2013

The issue: The European Union's pre-crisis growth performance was disappointing enough, but the performance has been even more dismal since the onset of the crisis. Weak growth is undermining private and public deleveraging,and is fuelling continued banking fragility. Persistently high unemployment is eroding skills, discouraging labour market participation and undermining the EU’s long-term growth potential. Low overall growth is making it much tougher for the hard-hit economies in southern Europe to recover competitiveness and regain control of their public finances. Stagnation would reduce the attractiveness of Europe for investment. Under these conditions, Europe's social models are bound to prove unsustainable. Policy Challenge: The European Union's weak long-term growth potential and unsatisfactory recovery from the crisis represent a major policy challenge. Over and above the structural reform agenda, which vitally important, bold policy action is needed. The priority is to get bank credit going. Banking problems need to be assessed properly and bank resolution and recapitalisation should be pursued. Second, fostering the reallocation of factors to the most productive firms and the sectors that contribute to aggregate rebalancing is vital. Addressing intra-euro area competitiveness divergence is essential to support growth in southern Europe. Third, the speed of fiscal adjustment needs to be appropriate and EU funds should be front loaded to countries in deep recession, while the European Investment Bank should increase investment.

Pool it, share it, use it: the European Council on defence. Security Policy Brief No. 44, March 2013

Three major geopolitical events are putting the stability of the Eastern Mediterranean at risk. Most of the region is in a deep monetary and economic crisis. The Arab Spring is causing turmoil in the Levant and the Maghreb. Gas and oil discoveries, if not well managed, could further destabilise the region. At the same time, Russia and Turkey are staging a comeback. In the face of these challenges, the EU approaches the Greek sovereign debt crisis nearly exclusively from a financial and economic viewpoint. This brief argues that the EU has to develop a comprehensive strategy for the region, complementing its existing multilateral regional framework with bilateral agreements in order to secure its interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Putin’s grand design to destroy the EU’s Eastern Partnership and replace it with a disastrous neighbourhood policy of his own. CEPS Commentary, 17 September 2013

This new Commentary by Michael Emerson and Hrant Kostanyan shows how the pressure exerted by President Putin on Armenia to withdraw from the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement it had negotiated with the EU and to join the Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia customs union is but the most recent in a long series of ongoing moves by Russia to destroy the Eastern Partnership. In their view, the message to be hammered home to those unsure of the economic arguments is that you do not have to have an exclusive customs union to enjoy deep integration for goods, services, people and capital, and of course even less for hard security relationships. High-quality free trade agreements are the logical instrument for those who want excellent relations with more than one big neighbour.