Are rural development programmes socially inclusive? Social inclusion, civic engagement, participation, and social capital: Exploring the differences

Considerable importance is attached to social exclusion/inclusion in recent EU rural development programmes. At the national/regional operation of these programmes groups of people who are not participating are often identified as ‘socially excluded groups’. This article contends that rural development programmes are misinterpreting the social processes of participation and consequently labelling some groups as socially excluded when they are not. This is partly because of the interchangeable and confused use of the concepts social inclusion, social capital and civic engagement, and partly because of the presumption that to participate is the default position. Three groups identified as socially excluded groups in Northern Ireland are considered. It is argued that a more careful analysis of what social inclusion means, what civic engagement means, and why participation is presumed to be the norm, leads to a different conclusion about who is excluded. This has both theoretical and policy relevance for the much used concept of social inclusion.

Negotiating Civic Space in Belfast or The Tricolour: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’

What role does public civic space in Belfast city centre play in the negotiation of different political identities within the city? Focusing on key public events in this space the paper traces shifts in identity practices and focuses on negotiations over the uses of public space associated with Irish nationalism and British unionism. This, it is argued, gives a more sophisticated understanding of different types of ‘shared space’. The events probed are seen as precursors and possibly drivers of political change. It is concluded that the increased sharing of civic space has probably contributed to improved political relations within the city, though there remains the challenge of
understanding how public space might more effectively be used to influence
relationships between the city’s political identities in the longer term.

Type II-P supernovae as standardized candles: improvements using near-infrared data

We present the first near-infrared Hubble diagram for Type II-P supernovae (SNe), to further explore their value as distance indicators. We use a modified version of the standardized candle method, which relies on the tight correlation between the absolute magnitudes of Type II-P SNe and their expansion velocities during the plateau phase. Although our sample contains only 12 II-P SNe and they are necessarily local (z

Measuring the value to the public of pig welfare improvements: a contingent valuation approach

The welfare of farm animals is a policy area that has increased greatly in importance in recent years. When deciding whether a proposed policy should be implemented, it can be useful for policymakers to compare the costs of the proposed improvement with the perceived benefits. The costs are relatively straightforward to calculate but little is known about the benefits. The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), a direct survey-based method, can be used to shed some light on this. This approach elicits the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the provision of some public good or service. This paper reports the results of a contingent valuation study of the value of welfare improvements for growing pigs. Attitudes and opinions with regard to form animal welfare are explored and WTP elicited for various pig welfare improvements including increases in space allowance, environmental enrichment and research into improved pig housing design. The results reveal a positive WTP for these improvements. However, it is also noteworthy that a significant proportion of the general public is willing to pay nothing for these improvements. Overall, the study illustrates the usefulness of the CVM approach as a tool for policymakers in assessing the merits of possible policy initiatives affecting the welfare of animals.