International Comparison and Suggestions for Capacity Development in Industrializing Countries

Abstract

Summary The global consumption of natural resources is soaring, especially in rapidly industrializing economies. This increasing demand is depleting resource stocks and is a major driver of other environmental problems, including climate change and waste. With rising prices and growing concerns about resource access, these trends are increasingly attracting policy makers’ attention. Some developed countries have devised indicator systems, based on economy‐wide material flow analysis/accounting (EW‐MFA), to monitor resource consumption. This article consists of two separate but related parts: (1) a study of how EW‐MFA indicators are used in a number of developed countries, including analysis of the commonalities between countries that are actively using these indicators in policy, and (2) a survey of the current capacity for EW‐MFA in developing countries, including data availability and policy uptake. This study found that countries in which policy makers show a great interest in EW‐MFA indicators are characterized by large resource imports and large net export of manufactured goods. Many rapidly industrializing countries demonstrate similar characteristics. The study of developing countries found that many of the data for EW‐MFA exist, but collection is fragmented and access is limited. This article recommends that capacity development of EW‐MFA in rapidly industrializing economies should first coordinate a national focal point and then raise awareness among government officials, strengthen institutions collecting EW‐MFA data, and train researchers and experts in EW‐MFA techniques and effective policy interaction.

Identifying public health policymakers’ sources of information: comparing survey and network analyses

“…Again, this tallies with existing research which shows that policymakers value their own experience above research evidence. 27 However, use of local data and other non-research evidence has also been described, [28][29][30] perhaps indicating a role for increased use and support of public health surveillance data by research communities. 31 Together, these findings do not suggest that particular professional groups are more or less likely to be important sources of information -rather that there is an important role for interpersonal skills and relationship building, and that this type of interactional data should be a target for future research.…”

New directions in evidence-based policy research: a critical analysis of the literature

“…However, a third of studies included in our review examined non-research data, for example, public health surveillance data, strategic needs assessments and other impact assessments, geographic information systems [62], or other non-research evidence [63-65]. This suggests that policymakers interpret and use ‘evidence’ in a broad sense, which is usually not acknowledged by academic commentators [7,10].…”

Greening Growing Giants

“…The predominance of China in this issue is also related to the fact that there seems to be more industrial ecology and social metabolism‐related policy activity in China than in any other BRIC country. This claim is substantiated by the findings of Aoki‐Suzuki and colleagues (2012). This survey‐based analysis of public MFA data collection practices and their use in policies distinguishes, among Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) and a number of developing countries, countries that are “active” concerning economy‐wide MFA (EW‐MFA), if they regularly compile accounts upon government initiative, have selected relevant indicators, and set policy targets for at least one indicator.…”