scholarly journals The Ethics of Human–Animal Relationships and Public Discourse: A Case Study of Lions Bred for Their Bones

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Coals ◽  
Dawn Burnham ◽  
Andrew Loveridge ◽  
David W. Macdonald ◽  
Michael ’t Sas-Rolfes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Formal Analysis ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Ethical Argument ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Human Animal

Conservation and natural resource management are increasingly attending the ethical elements of public decisions. Ethical considerations are challenging, in part, because they typically require accounting for the moral consideration of various human and nonhuman forms of life, whose interests sometimes conflict (or seem to conflict). A valuable tool for such evaluations is the formal analysis of ethical arguments. An ethical argument is a collection of premises, logically interrelated, to yield a conclusion that can be expressed in the form, “We ought to…” According to the rules of logic, a conclusion is supported by an argument if all its premises are true or appropriate and when it contains no mistaken inferences. We showed how the formal analysis of ethical arguments can be used to engage stakeholders and decision-makers in decision-making processes. We summarised the method with ten specific guidelines that would be applicable to any case. We illustrated the technique using a case study focused on captive-bred lions, the skeletons of which form part of an international trade to supply traditional medicine markets in Southeast Asia with felid bones. As a matter of public policy, the practice is a complicated nexus of concerns for entrepreneurial freedom, wildlife conservation, and the fair treatment of animals.

Evaluation of Toll Options with Quick-Response Analysis Tools: Case Study of the Capital Beltway

2003 ◽  
Vol 1839 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick DeCorla-Souza
Keyword(s):  
Decision Makers ◽  
Response Analysis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Analysis Tools ◽  
Project Construction ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Local Decision Makers

Analysis tools in current use in transportation decision-making processes are not well suited for evaluating toll highway alternatives against more traditional free highway alternatives. How existing analysis tools might be used in evaluating toll options was examined. A case study demonstrates that relatively simple analytical procedures may be used to estimate the impact of pricing alternatives and to generate information for use by local decision makers. The case study also demonstrates that pricing alternatives often can accomplish the purpose of a major highway project more efficiently and more effectively than conventional alternatives that exclude pricing, while generating revenue to support bonds for project construction or to fund improved transit and paratransit services. With toll revenue to back bonds, project delays due to constrained funding can be avoided, and the public can be provided with superior mobility earlier and at lower public cost.

scholarly journals Development of a Weight Factor Method for Sustainability Decisions in Building Renovation. Case Study Using Renobuild

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 7194
Author(s):  
Alaa Khadra ◽  
Mårten Hugosson ◽  
Jan Akander ◽  
Jonn Are Myhren
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Ecological Aspects ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Integrated Design Process

Energy efficiency investments have become strategically important for the European Union. In particular, energy efficient renovation and investment in the existing building stock have become major challenges. Renovation of a building should involve a holistic and integrated design process, which considers all aspects of sustainability. The aim of this work is to suggest a mathematical model that weighs economic, social and ecological aspects into a measure that supports housing owners/decision makers to find the optimal renovation alternative from their perspective, taking factors such as budget, energy consumption, etc. into consideration. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) concerns structuring and solving multiple-criteria decision problems. MCDM has become popular in energy planning as it enables the decision maker to pay attention to all the criteria available and make the appropriate decision as per the priority of the criteria. In this study, the concept is introduced based on economic, social and ecological aspects assessed during a renovation project. A pedagogical example illustrates the suggested numerical system for comparing different renovation alternatives. The suggested method will facilitate decision-making processes in renovation projects and will allow decision makers to choose the best renovation alternatives that are in line with their business ideas and principles.

Policy Interaction: The Mixing of Fatherhood, Crime and Urban Policies

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIA S. JORDAN-ZACHERY
Keyword(s):  
Urban Policy ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Marriage Promotion ◽  
Cultural Reality

In an attempt to counter changes in family structures, a number of nation states are designing policies to make men fit into families. In the case of the USA, decision makers view fatherhood and marriage as the cure for poverty among African Americans. To assert that training these men to be better fathers and husbands will help them improve other dimensions of their lives (particularly poverty) is a good idea, but it is also simplistic. Decision makers rely on an intra-group, which privileges an individualistic and cultural approach, in their development of policies. This approach tends to ignore that other subsystems, such as previously existing policies, can have an impact on the effectiveness of marriage and fatherhood promotion. Using the USA as a case study, I hypothesise that the effectiveness of fatherhood and marriage promotion is limited because of their interaction with other policies. Fatherhood and marriage promotion initiatives will be negatively affected by the absence of a progressive national urban policy, particularly in the area of economic development and in the context of current crime policies. The socio-economic and cultural reality faced by African American men must be incorporated into the decision-making processes in order to identify the most effective policies.

scholarly journals Civility in Online Discussion: The Case of the Foreign Policy Dialogue

2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christie Hurrell
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Consensus Building ◽  
Policy Dialogue ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Government Decision ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Civil Discourse

Abstract: This paper focuses on Web-based discussion in an online policy consultation and examines specific discourse features to evaluate how the concept of civility served to shape public discourse in a moderated, rule-based forum. The study results reveal that citizen participants in the case study under consideration developed, maintained, and enforced norms of civil discourse, and that these norms helped to promote understanding and consensus-building. The study also cautions that civil dialogue alone cannot ensure effective communication between governments and citizens. Civil dialogue can be used to marginalize some participants, and it does not necessarily allow dialogue participants to effectively transmit their opinions to government decision-makers. Resumé : Cet article porte sur une discussion Web effectuée dans le contexte d’une évaluation de politiques en ligne. Il examine certains aspects de cette discussion afin d’évaluer comment le concept de courtoisie a influencé le discours public lors d’un forum dirigé. Les résultats de cette recherche révèlent que les citoyens participant à cette étude de cas ont élaboré, maintenu et renforcé des normes de discours civique, et que ces normes ont promu une bonne entente et l’obtention d’un consensus. L’étude démontre cependant que le dialogue civique seul ne peut pas assurer une communication efficace entre les citoyens et leurs gouvernements. Ainsi, on peut utiliser un dialogue civique pour marginaliser certains participants. D’autre part, un tel dialogue ne permet pas forcément aux participants de communiquer leurs avis aux décideurs gouvernementaux.

scholarly journals How the state legitimizes national development projects: The Third Development Axis case study, Slovenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-121
Author(s):  
Maruša Goluža ◽  
Maruška Šubic-Kovač ◽  
Drago Kos ◽  
David Bole
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
National Development ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Third ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
Output Legitimacy

We analyzed planning mechanisms and evaluated their performance in achieving legitimacy in infrastructure planning in Slovenia. Planning mechanisms were divided according to the concept of input, throughput and output legitimacy. We conducted a document analysis and interviews to assess their effectiveness in achieving legitimate decisions. Although the analyzed decision-making process declaratively promoted democratic principles, the mechanisms failed to satisfactorily enhance the legitimacy of decisions. The study revealed inadequate communication approaches, both in the decision-makers' relationship with the public and within the expert discourse. Accordingly, the study argues for more genuine communication with the public and within academia to address legitimacy challenges in increasingly conflictual decision-making processes.

scholarly journals Impact of organizational factors on delays in BIM-based coordination from a decision-making view: a case study

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sejun JANG ◽  
Ghang LEE
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Coordination Process ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Impact

This study analyzed the impact of organizational factors on delays in building information modeling (BIM)- based coordination for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems from the decision-making perspective. Recently BIM-based coordination has been regarded as a critical phase in project delivery but suffers from delays during the coordination process. This study investigated three complexity factors that often contribute to coordination delays: the number of participants – the total number of participants involved in a decision-making process for resolving a coordination issue; the level of the decision makers – the highest decision-maker involved in a problem-resolution process; and the heterogeneity of participants –the number of trades related to an issue. Using 95 major coordination issues derived from 11,808 clashes in a case study, the correlations between the coordination time and the complexity factors were analyzed. The coordination time linearly increased as each factor increased. The number of participants had the highest correlation with the coordination time, followed by the level of decision makers and the heterogeneity of participants. The findings stress the significance of integration between BIM and lean approaches, such as Obeya (big room) and Shojinka (flexible manpower line), during BIM-based coordination to expedite decision-making processes and eventually to reduce the coordination time.

scholarly journals Technological Ecosystems in Citizen Science: A Framework to Involve Children and Young People

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia García-Holgado ◽  
Francisco José García-Peñalvo ◽  
Paul Butler
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Private Space ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Technological Ecosystems

Young people are distinguished as a social group with the capacity to drive new behaviours and understandings in today’s society. However, most young people consider that people in charge of decision-making processes are not addressing their concerns. The WYRED project proposes a framework for citizen science based on a technological ecosystem to promote the transfer of perspectives, ideas, and knowledge among young people and decision-makers on issues related to the digital society. The work goal is to analyse the model proposed through a citizen science case study centred in identifying the ideas and opinions of children and young people between 7 and 30 years old, concerning gender stereotypes on the Internet. A total of 69 children and young people from Belgium, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom have interacted for two weeks in a private space guaranteed by the defined ecosystem. The results of the analysis of the interaction between young people and facilitators (with different profiles: educators, researchers and decision-makers) demonstrate that the use of technological ecosystems to sustain the development of citizen science projects allows for the improvement of knowledge transfer processes between children and young people with stakeholders, as well as the analysis of these processes.

Using a Multisectoral Approach in Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Lessons from a Zimbabwean Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel Muridzo ◽  
Victor Chikadzi
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Child Survivors ◽  
Integrated Service Delivery ◽  
Improved Outcomes ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Role Players ◽  
Areas Of Concern

Child sexual abuse is one of the prevalent social ills that affect children in Zimbabwe. In response to the problem of child sexual abuse and the need to mitigate its adverse effects, Zimbabwe established the Victim Friendly System. The Victim Friendly System is a multisectoral forum made up of social workers, medical doctors, nurses, the police force and role players within the justice system such as magistrates, prosecutors, counsellors, educationists and psychologists. These professionals offer distinctive but complementary interventions to child survivors of child sexual abuse. This paper discusses the merits and lessons gleaned from using the Victim Friendly System as a multisectoral forum to tackle child sexual abuse. In researching this phenomenon, the study adopted a qualitative approach and data were collected from 38 participants and 4 key informants selected using theoretical and purposive sampling respectively. A total of 300 court files of child sexual abuse cases were also reviewed. The findings that emerged from the study show that a multisectoral approach to dealing with child sexual abuse provides the benefit of integrated service delivery. Improved outcomes for victims of sexual abuse as well as streamlined, effective and efficient operations for organisations that form part of the Victim Friendly System were also evident. This notwithstanding, the paper also discusses some areas of concern that could potentially affect how the Victim Friendly System multisectoral arrangement works. The lessons that emerged from the study provide some insights that are useful in informing guidelines for multisectoral arrangements.

Recruitment Policies of Non-EU/EEA Nurses and Ethical Issues

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angèle Flora Mendy
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Ethical Argument ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Institutional Legacies

By examining policies of recruiting non-EU/EEA health workers and how ethical considerations are taken into account when employing non-EU/EEA nurses in the United Kingdom, France, and Switzerland, this chapter intends to show that the use of the so-called ‘ethical’ argument to convince national public opinion of the relevance of restrictive recruitment policies is recent (since the 1990s). The analysis highlights the fact that in addition to the institutional legacies, qualification and skills—through the process of their recognition—play an important role in the opening or restriction of the labour market to health professionals from the Global South. The legacy of the past also largely determines the place offered to non-EU/EEA health professionals in the different health systems of host countries.

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