The extent and quality of forested habitats have changed across Europe and as a result many forest species have suffered declines and range contractions. European legislation has been introduced to conserve those species that have been negatively impacted by widespread land-use changes. In order to assess the needs of declining species and the efficacy of these protective measures, the effects of habitat type, configuration and management on individuals and populations needs to be understood. In this thesis, I have investigated patterns and drivers of variation in the status of populations of hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius in the United Kingdom. I have assessed the effects of variation in habitat on hazel dormice at multiple spatial scales, and related this to woodland management.

Le concept d’autorité publique, qui s’enracine dans les sciences politiques et morales, peut aussi s’inscrire dans une visée communicationnelle, soit :- la mise au jour d’une relation de sens consubstantielle et conflictuelle ;- l’observation dynamique du processus communicationnel articulé autour de cette relation ;- l’interprétation stratégique d’une problématique d’effectivité de la communication des autorités publiques.L’imbrication ainsi problématisée ouvre un système d’hypothèses où, d’une part, l’autonomie communicationnelle » de l’autorité publique s’organise autour d’une double polarité légitimation/représentation, où, d’autre part, le processus de communication met au jour une dialectique de la force. Enfin, cette relation dialectique procède aussi d’un système d’action où l’autorité publique met en jeu l’effectivité de son dispositif de communication.Nous proposons de comprendre le processus de communication des autorités publiques à l’intérieur d’un espace de modernité politique : l’autorité publique y construit sa légitimation par la signification politique et le traverse par un véritable parcours de reconnaissance sur le « terrain » du citoyen. / The concept of public authority, which takes root in the political and moral sciences, can also be linked to a communicative aim:- The consubstantial and conflicting relation of sense is highlighted; - The dynamic observation of the communicative process is articulated around this relation;- The effectiveness strategic issue interpretation of the communication of the public authorities.Search on interweaved issue opens up to a system of hypotheses, on the one hand, the communicative autonomy of the public authority gets organized around a double polarity legitimization/representation, on the other hand, the process of communication brings to highlight a dialectic of strength. Finally, this dialectical relation involves a system of action, where the public authority puts at stake the effectiveness of its device of communication.We suggest understanding the communication process of the public authorities inside a political modernity field: the public authority builds its legitimization by the political meaning and goes through it by a real recognition route on the citizen "ground".

Shorelines, including the Inner Forth in Scotland, are facing unprecedented challenges with climate change. Rising sea levels mean that stakeholders need to work closely to deliver adaptation, such as the nature-based option of intentionally realigning shorelines landwards to give the sea more space. Drawing from workshops, interviews and surveys with citizens living on the shores of the Inner Forth, and semi-structured interviews with locally active organisations and land-owners, this thesis examines the governance context and methodological issues of citizen engagement in adaptation, with a focus on the use of participatory valuation tools. In particular, I develop citizen-oriented methodological options for integrated and deliberative valuation to address issues of inclusivity and knowledge gaps. The novelty of the deliberative valuation presented here is based on the explicit consideration of awareness gaps from both expert and local perspectives. The results show that even though emerging collaborative institutions are broadening the spectrum of stakeholders engaged in shoreline governance, they do not yet include representative groups of citizens. Empirical material presented here suggests that bridging the citizen engagement gap would potentially support the uptake of nature-based adaptation options, enhance legitimacy of decision-making processes, and bring other-regarding moral principles and biocentric values into decision-making. However, as the valuation results from the citizen workshops illustrate (in resonance with the central tenets of the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), commonly applied valuation methods may be too narrow in their framing to capture plural values and world views. Furthermore, the ability of citizens to engage in adaptation is limited by knowledge gaps regarding the local area and the pressures it is facing. The deliberative citizen-oriented approach to valuation developed here led to the emergence of clearer priorities, improved choice model fit and participant confidence, providing empirical evidence to support the premise that deliberation builds citizens' ability to engage in adaptation. In addition to contributing empirical insights on how adaptation governance is unfolding on local scales, this thesis responds to methodological discussions on the use of valuation for citizen engagement in three main ways: 1) it demonstrates that the choice of value framings impacts the engagement outcomes; 2) it illustrates how deliberative valuation can shape citizens' attitudes towards the uptake of adaptation measures; 3) it provides evidence of the specific role that local knowledge plays in improving the outcomes of deliberative valuation.

Thesis (M.Arch.A.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Chin-Oh Chang. / M.Arch.A.S.

Submitted by Maria Aparecida (cidazen@gmail.com) on 2017-04-27T14:43:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiane Fonseca.pdf: 717178 bytes, checksum: 2da23c1b94098b99ba656fb36d0732ac (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-27T14:43:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiane Fonseca.pdf: 717178 bytes, checksum: 2da23c1b94098b99ba656fb36d0732ac (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-04 / The research aims to evaluate the limits and possibilities of the implementation of municipal policies of public security in Brazil from experience in São Luís – MA with reference to citizen security policies carried out in Bogota from 1995 to 2003, due to the achievement of results that echoed in several Latin American countries, including Brazil. Indeed, some municipalities began to assume its responsibility in the public safety issue and have developed policies in this area. The study attempts to present the theoretical referential, based on New Prevention, as proposed complementary to traditional formal control as well as the citizen security paradigm, first developed in Bogota, capital of Colombia. To fulfill this purpose, it chose to conduct a case study on the current structure of municipal administration focused on public safety. The conclusion of the study indicates the elements identified as facilitators of this process, as well as some points of difficulty in the implementation of municipal policies and communication between the agencies of the criminal justice system, and displays based on empirical and theoretical support, some possible ways to improving the experience of public safety municipalization in Sao Luis – MA. / A pesquisa objetiva avaliar os limites e possibilidades da implementação de políticas municipais de segurança pública no Brasil a partir da experiência em São Luís – MA tendo como referência as políticas de segurança cidadã realizadas em Bogotá no período de 1995 a 2003, ante o alcance de resultados que repercutiram em diversos países da América Latina, dentre eles o Brasil. Com efeito, alguns municípios brasileiros passaram a assumir a sua responsabilidade no tema segurança pública e desenvolveram políticas nessa seara. Procurouse apresentar o referencial teórico, fundado na Nova Prevenção, como proposta complementar ao controle tradicionalmente formal, bem como no paradigma segurança cidadã, desenvolvido primeiramente em Bogotá, capital da Colômbia. Para cumprir tal intento, optou-se por realizar um estudo de caso sobre a atual estrutura da administração municipal voltada para segurança pública. A conclusão do estudo aponta os elementos identificados como facilitadores desse processo, bem como alguns pontos de dificuldade na implementação de políticas municipais e na comunicação entre os órgãos do sistema de justiça criminal, e indica com base no aporte empírico e teórico, alguns caminhos possíveis para o aperfeiçoamento da experiência da municipalização da segurança pública em São Luís – MA.

init_4371_1177061931 / South African cities were subjected to artificial, unnatural growth patterns brought about by apartheid planning that legitimated exclusionary practices in the city and which created and maintained racial, social and class differences between people. Post-apartheid South Africa has witnessed processes of urban fortification, barricading and the gating of urban space that are manifested in contemporary urban South Africa. This research shows that the privatisation of urban public space is not solely a postapartheid phenomenon. Closure legislation has been, and still is, used by citizens to remove urban space from the public realm through its privatisation. Closures are largely citizen-driven, either individually or as a collective, and it is small public spaces that are privatised, hence the micro-privatisation of public space that could influence the immediate surroundings and erf-sized living space of individuals. The concerns voiced by closure applicants through their application for closure, reflect personal living space concerns. It is ordinary people, not major real estate companies or corporations that are able to influence the land management processes of the city. A dataset of all closures in the central substructure region of Cape Town between 1975 and 2004 was compiled from Provincial Government Gazettes and supplemented with map and file data from the City of Cape Town’s Land Information Management Department. This allowed for the quantitative analysis and investigation of successful closures using Microsoft Access in order to identify closure trends. A geographic information systems database was created to visually display spatial and temporal closure trends. A qualitative study of written correspondence received from successful closure applicants in two suburbs, Camps Bay and Mitchell’s Plain, was completed in order to establish a profile of applicants, the reasons forwarded for closures and the techniques used by applicants to secure a successful closure. The resultant analysis showed that closures tended to mirror the socio-spatial realities of the apartheid city with a tendency for closures to be concentrated in better-off, previously white suburbs. A dramatic rise in closure numbers from the mid-1980s is testament to the weakening of the grip of the apartheid state on controlling urban areas. Applicants in the two sample suburbs used various techniques in order to procure successful closure of urban public space. A number of different approaches to secure closure were observed in the sample suburbs. Finally, given the rise in private housing estates in a post-apartheid urban milieu a number of recommendations for further research are made with a view to understanding privatisation of the public realm in South African cities. / South Africa

How a citizen dialogue or planning consultation is conducted can be a root cause of planning contests in new construction projects. The aim of the paper is to study the effects of the citizensial dialogue in connection with the local development “Muminlandet” theme park at Skutberget. This study explores how the citizen dialogue have been done in Karlstad and tries to look at it in different democracy perspectives. The method used is qualitative semi-structured individual interviews with politicians, civil servants and citizens in order to gain their view of the process. The study analysis shows that the development of Skutberget area in Karlstad municipality has been divided into two separate plans. In one part, which is the outdoor recreational area, citizen dialogue has taken place with deliberative aspects in the form of focus groups and direct dialogues with the citizens. The second part is about “Muminparken” and it has been planned for public consultation meeting. Citizens have only given comments on this plan, but have not had the possibility to have a direct dialog with the people in charge, so no deliberative talks have been achieved. The conclusion that follows is that there has been no opportunity for citizens to enter into dialogue with the municipality regarding the “Muminpark”. The conclusion that follows is that there has been a certain tension between the representatives from my interviews and the citizens. They see the building plan from two different perspectives.

For a long time the citizen participation in the European Commission Online Consultations have been low and quite insignificant. This came to an abrupt change during 2018, with the consultation on Summertime arrangements bringing out over four million citizens to participate and it is now clear that the citizen impact on consultations are not something to overlook. So, who participates in the online consultations? It is assumed that biases generated through the voluntarily participation of the Online Consultations (OC) will provide discrepancies between the participants in OC:s compared to the EU population in general. The aim of the study is to examine how individual participation in OC:s differs based on the complexity of the topic and the Member State affiliation of the citizen. The study is tested based on four hypotheses predicting how possible biases might take place. The hypotheses are tested by an quantitative study of the EU online consultations published on the “Your voice in Europe” website. The results indicate that participation differs between different regions, with the eastern Member States participating to a lower degree. Furthermore, the study indicates that it exists a negative covariance between positive EU policy opinions and participation per Member State. This is believed to be caused by a difference in diversity of the sample that participates. The study also examines how the technical complexity of the consultations affects political participation among citizens. This part of the study did not generate any clear results.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The thesis explores the role of semiotic structuring of health information in relation to language, multimodality and health literacy and the affordances for agentive participation among consumers of two leading South African medical schemes - Discovery Health Medical Scheme (Discovery Health) and the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS). The focus is on who has access to health information, how this information is constructed and what the semiotic health habitat looks like for citizen-consumers. Through a virtual ethnographic approach the thesis explores the design of genres of health information artefacts: application forms, application guides, a comic book, and a variety of website images. The choice to study the commercial package of a private health industry is aimed at finding and defining codes of practice in health communication that could be replicable in the public health sector. A new perspective emerging out of the thesis is how semiotic structuring of style, stance-taking, and choice of registers affects reading positions, and how these determine with what voice citizenconsumers can engage with this information.

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / Local government is a key point of service delivery and is the sphere where most people interface with government. A good relationship with communities at local government level is therefore critical. Ward committees were designed to improve the relationship between citizens and municipalities and to give effect to the constitutional obligations of municipalities, to provide democratic government and to involve citizens in the affairs of local government. The establishment of ward committees has been met with great enthusiasm by local communities, as a platform to engage with municipalities. National government and provincial governments were key drivers in this project , with support to municipalities in the establishment of ward committee. This endeavour was intended to facilitate better relationships and cooperation between council and its communities. This objective of this research study was to explore whether participatory democracy can be enhanced through a participatory monitoring and evaluation approach within the current ward committee system. The main research question was whether ward committees could be utilised as effective instruments for participatory monitoring and evaluation of municipal service? The sub-questions were: what is the theoretical and legal framework for ward committees; what was the status of ward committee in Knysna Municipality; what were the challenges of the ward committee system; is there a role for ward committees in participatory monitoring and evaluation; and were there recommendations for the involvement of ward committees in participatory, monitoring and evaluation and improvement of the efficacy of ward committees? The study arose out of continuous service delivery protests by communities because of the dissatisfaction with the state of municipal services. Secondly, various research studies have found that, despite national, provincial and local government support programmes for ward committees, the majority remain ineffective and inefficient, and the social distance between communities and municipalities is growing. The lack of communication and the non-responsiveness of municipalities were found to be some of the main causes for the ineffectiveness of ward committees. Key theorists suggest that some of these protests would not occur if effective monitoring and evaluation are institutionalised and communities are involved in monitoring and evaluation. A participatory approach for monitoring and evaluation was therefore examined within the local government legislative framework of South Africa. A qualitative research method was chosen, using a case study design. The case study design was chosen because such studies do not attempt to make any generalisations in term of the results or that it will be similar in another case study. This study was focussed on exploring and understanding the issue. Primary data was collected through interviews and focus groups with ward committee members, ward councillors and municipal officials. Key findings gave emphasis to challenges of lack of communication, non-responsiveness of municipalities and contestation from other community-based organisations that had a negative impact on the credibility and authority of ward committees. The effectiveness of the municipal performance management system as a monitoring and evaluation tool was also questioned in the findings. The significance or value of the study lies in the finding that willingness for participatory monitoring and evaluation exists as does the insight into the status of municipal performance management systems. Recommendations are made for delegating monitoring and evaluation functions to ward committees. Further investigations into modalities for participatory or result-based monitoring and evaluation, as well as the impact of financial and audit driven performance management system are recommended.