Citizen participation ought to be important in environmental governance. However, environmental issues are usually defined as science‐related ones, wherein expert knowledge is more important than the opinions, demands or needs of citizens. On the other hand, environmental issues involve spatial dimensions, the geographic characteristics of which require specific techniques to analyse. PPGIS is applied to study An‐Shun, the site of a well‐known pollution case in Taiwan, to reveal, through a participatory process, the perception of space of citizens of a nearby community. The results of this study suggest that the government needs to ensure more citizen participation in its future plans for the decontamination and renovation of the An‐Shun site. Lay knowledge or citizen perceptions of space should not replace scientific knowledge, but can supplement it. They are additional views that ought to be considered by government agencies in dealing with environmental issues. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Government restructuring has been discussed extensively in Taiwan for more than three decades, and the first NPM-style administrative reform programme, which emphasizes 'a leaner and businesslike government', was launched in 1996. Since then, NPM has been the key guideline producing a strong path-dependence effect for subsequent administrative reform programmes in Taiwan. This article examines the trajectory of administrative reform in Taiwan from 1949 to 2010, the latter being the year when the Organizational Act of the Executive Yuan was passed, which symbolically represents the end of the current phase of administrative reform. Similar to many Asian countries, exogenous and endogenous factors have induced efforts at administrative reform in Taiwan. Although it is argued that it is difficult to generate any common path of administrative reform among Asian countries, the analysis of the case in Taiwan may provide some observations for future discussions on this topic, such as evidence of political manipulation, the transformation of the role of the state, the desire for an indigenous reform strategy, and the demand to revitalize the civil service system. Points for practitioners1. Administrative reform is a political process, and pubic servants have to deal with value conflicts carefully.2. Professionalism and political neutrality are the two most important things in the administrative reform process.

High-throughput-sequencing results provided better insights of HAdV distribution and genetic diversity for raw sewage and AS samples allowing some probable biases for cloning-sequencing approach to be defeated and further providing public health awareness regarding viral-contaminated sewages or sludges.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: to analyse the diffusion of an innovative policy or service and the factors influencing it through an explorative study of the diffusion of the Bookstart program in Taiwan; and second, to provide an analytical framework for further study of this program.Design/methodology/approachThe study is both empirical and theoretical. It uses data from existing studies and also agencies involved in Bookstart to explain the diffusion of the program. It then draws on theories of policy diffusion and the initial findings of this study to develop an analytical framework for the further study of the diffusion of the Bookstart program.FindingsThe Bookstart program, which is designed to promote reading habits for children 0 to 3 years old and to strengthen parent‐children relations, was originally initiated in the UK. It was first introduced into Taiwan in Taichung County in 2003. The paper shows how the program spread throughout Taiwan and indicates the role of the key players in the diffusion, including charitable institutions, local politicians and leaders, local authority agencies, and the Ministry of Education. The paper posits an analytical framework identifying factors which may help to promote or facilitate the diffusion. In this respect, the paper draws on the theoretical literature and also initial evidence from the research so far undertaken. This will guide the research in the next stage of the study.Originality/valueThis explorative study provides an example of the nature, process and direction of the diffusion of a policy or service innovation, and suggests the possible factors promoting or facilitating it, as identified in the initial findings of the research and in the relevant theoretical literature.