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Novel methods for enhancing collaboration and interactions are required to ensure that stakeholders and governments are able to develop a shared vision that supports sustainable watershed governance. Particular attention must be placed on integrating stakeholders who would otherwise have limited decision-making power. By crossing professional, ideological and jurisdictional boundaries, stakeholders' perspectives are more likely to change than when staying within those boundaries. This process, known as boundary crossing, requires boundary objects; either artifacts, people, or institutions that play a bridging role between different boundary spaces. For this study, serious games powered by scientific models are identified as potentially effective boundary objects. A serious game simulation called Aqua Republica was used to organize game simulation events allowing stakeholders to connect in an in-person, informal and novel setting. This exploratory research aims to study the role and impact of serious games as boundary objects to enhancing collaboration and knowledge co-creation. The following research questions are addressed: (1) Do interactions increase over the course of a game simulation event? (2) Does the quality of interactions change over the course of a game simulation event? (3) Are the quantity and quality of interactions affected by pre-existing relationships? And if so, how? (4) How does the relationship between participants change over the course of a game simulation event? As part of this study, four game simulation events were organized that included students, professionals and diverse stakeholder groups working in watershed management contexts across Eastern Canada with 40 participants in total. Participants were divided into teams of 3-5 members and were surveyed and their interactions recorded. An interaction and social network analysis of the audiovisual recordings of each game simulation event indicates that interactions between participants increase in both quantity and quality as the game progresses. The analysis shows that serious game simulations provide an intervention platform not only to facilitate cross-boundary interactions, but also to strengthen relationships between diverse stakeholders, as expressed by an increase in mutual trust and empathy, as well as an improved understanding among the participants of the watershed system and the complex issues at stake.

In the digital society, individuals play different roles depending on the situation they are placed in: they are consumers when they purchase a good, citizens when they vote for elections, content providers when they post information on a platform, and data subjects when their data is collected. Public authorities have thus far regulated citizens and the data collected on their different roles in silos (e.g., bankruptcy registrations, social welfare databases), resulting in inconsistent decisions, redundant paperwork, and delays in processing citizen requests. Data silos are considered to be inefficient both for companies and governments. Big data and data analytics are disrupting these silos allowing the different roles of individuals and the respective data to converge. In practice, this happens in several countries with data sharing arrangements or ad hoc data requests. However, breaking down the existing structure of information silos in the public sector remains problematic. While big data disrupts artificial silos that may not make sense in the digital society and promotes a truly efficient digitalization of data, removing information out of its original context may alter its meaning and violate the privacy of citizens. In addition, silos ensure that citizens are not assessed in one field by information generated in a totally different context. This chapter discusses how big data and data analytics are changing information silos and how digital technology is challenging citizens’ autonomy and right to privacy and data protection. This chapter also explores the need for a more integrated approach to the study of information, particularly in the public sector.

The paper builds around the key messages from the recently completed study — The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). The paper essentially attempts to map the problem encountered in up scaling the findings from site/local scale to national scale. First, the rationale for economic analysis of ecosystem services has been discussed and then the challenges in applying economics to ecosystems and biodiversity have been identified. The paper discusses the role of economic valuation, discounting and necessary indicator for it. Social and cultural context of economic valuation along with the nature of value articulating institutions have been highlighted. Most of these issues typically deal with ecosystem services at site and project level. The paper lays down the need for arriving at national policies from microlevel valuation work. The paper suggests that for national policy formulation and design, valuation and accounting of ecosystem services must be seen in the economy wide context where interdependence of sectors is the key. The paper shows the existing hiatus between this level of analysis of economics of ecosystems and the need for credible national level policies. An attempt has been made to highlight necessary steps to arrive at national level policies on ecosystems management.

A new policy, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries, is currently being discussed under the UNFCCC. This policy will necessarily involve multi-level governance and involve international, national and local level bodies in both North and South. The paper considers a number of unresolved issues relating to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries and how the interests of the different levels in this governance structure will be reflected in them. It demonstrates that on several issues there is more difference in interest between different South Parties than between South and North. It also shows that recognition of traditional and local level forest governance capacities by national Parties may be an essential step not only to control deforestation and degradation, but also to provide the data that the state will need to claim carbon credits.

Background: Fatigue is a frequently reported and disabling symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of an individual energy conservation management (ECM) intervention on fatigue and participation in persons with primary MS-related fatigue. Methods: A total of 86 severely fatigued and ambulatory adults with a definite diagnosis of MS were randomized in a single-blind, two-parallel-arm randomized clinical trial to the ECM group or the information-only control group in outpatient rehabilitation departments. Blinded assessments were carried out at baseline and at 8, 16, 26 and 52 weeks after randomization. Primary outcomes were fatigue (fatigue subscale of Checklist Individual Strength – CIS20r) and participation (Impact on Participation and Autonomy scale – IPA). Results: Modified intention-to-treat analysis was based on 76 randomized patients (ECM, n = 36; MS nurse, n=40). No significant ECM effects were found for fatigue (overall difference CIS20r between the groups = −0.81; 95% confidence interval (CI), −3.71 to 2.11) or for four out of five IPA domains. An overall unfavourable effect was found in the ECM group for the IPA domain social relations (difference between the groups = 0.19; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.35). Conclusion: The individual ECM format used in this study did not reduce MS-related fatigue and restrictions in participation more than an information-only control condition.

Customary international law has that countries may do each other no harm. A country violates this rule if an activity under its control does damage to another country, and if this is done on purpose or due to carelessness. Impacts of climate change fall under this rule, which is reinforced by many declarations and treaties, including the UNFCCC. Compensation for the harm done depends on many parameters, such as emission scenarios, climate change, climate change impacts and its accounting. The compensation paid by the OECD may run up to 4% of its GDP, far exceeding the costs of climate change to the OECD directly. However, the most crucial issues are, first, from when countries can be held responsible and, second, which emissions are acceptable and which careless. This may even be interpreted such that the countries of the OECD are entitled to compensation, rather than be obliged to pay. State responsibility could substantially change international climate policy. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This cross-sectional study into children and young adults with cerebral palsy (CP) aimed to assess the association of gross energy cost (EC), net EC and net nondimensional (NN) EC during walking with age and body height, compared to typically developing (TD) peers.Data was collected in 128 participants with CP (mean age 11y9mo; GMFCS I,n=48; II,n=56; III, n=24) and in 63 TD peers (mean age 12y5mo). Energy cost was assessed by measuring the oxygen consumption during over-ground walking at comfortable speed. Outcome measures derived from the assessment included the gross and net EC, and NN EC. Differences between the groups in the association between gross, net and NN EC with age and body height, were investigated with regression analyses and interaction effects (p<0.05).Interaction effects for age and body height by group were not significant, indicating similar associations for gross, net and NN EC with age or body height among groups. The models showed a significant decline for gross, net and NN EC with increasing age per year (respectively -0.201Jkg-1m-1; -0.073Jkg-1m-1; -0.007) and body height per cm (respectively -0.057Jkg-1m-1; -0.021Jkg-1m-1; -0.002).Despite higher gross and net EC values for CP compared to TD participants , similar declines in EC outcomes can be expected with growth for participants aged 4-22 years with CP. All energy cost outcomes showed a decline with growth, indicating that correcting for this decline is required when evaluating changes in gross EC, and, to a lesser extent, in net and NN EC in response to treatment or from natural course over time.

Multilateral Environmental Agreements including the Clean Development Mechanism represent complex multi-level governance systems that often face serious implementation challenges especially in developing countries. This paper presents a framework for assessing the capacity or readiness for the implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), within the context of CDM forestry of the Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC in the first instance, and specifically analyses issues of multi-level governance relevant for successful implementation in Cameroon. The framework highlights a set of key cross-scale enabling conditions for MEA implementation including regulatory compatibility, institutional synergy, complementary and coordinated capacities, information and data availability and the presence of governance mechanisms. The research has identified the need for targeted policy actions for enhancing regulatory compatibility and institutional synergy between levels of the formal system – i.e. global, national, sectoral, sub-national and local levels. However, we have also highlighted the problems of, not just the conflicts between forms and functions of governance between the formal national set ups and community ‘traditional’ institutions, but even the lack of common understanding between them. Overcoming these gaps will require considerably more open-minded and reciprocal communication, and respect for differing perceptions in the implementation of MEAs. The relevance of a framework for assessing multi-level governance in a post 2012 Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation mechanism is also underlined.