Das Projekt-Mechanismen-Gesetz – Eine erste und kritische Bewertung

Das im November 2005 in Kraft getretene und kürzlich punktuell ge?nderte Projekt-Mechanismen-Gesetz bildet die gesetzliche Grundlage für die Beteiligung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland an in- und ausl?ndischen Klimaschutzprojekten im Rahmen der projektbezogenen flexiblen Mechanismen des Kyoto-Protokolls. Mit ihm sollen Unternehmen aus dem In- und Ausland zur „Anmeldung“ ihrer Klimaschutzprojekte in Deutschland gewonnen werden. Sowohl die grunds?tzliche Verabschiedung des Gesetzes als auch die genannte Motivation sind zu begrü?en. Dennoch ist eine Reihe von ?nderungen weiterhin erforderlich.     

Keeping tabs on the TTAB

TTABlog By John L. Welch Archived back to November 2004, USAhttp://www.thettablog.blogspot.com   John L. Welch, an attorney at Foley Hoag LLP, has an excellentblog focusing on the procedures and decisions of the UnitedStates Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Trademark Trialand Appeal Board (TTAB, or Board).     

Development assistance: Ruined hopes and great expectations in Africa

This paper highlights the difficulties and complexities of development assistance projects through an analysis of 2 Urban Functions in Rural Development projects conducted by the US Agency for International Development (AID) in Upper Volta and northern Cameroon in 1977-82. The general objectives of the Upper Volta project were to carry out urban function studies, develop a plan for strengthening the contributions of urban centers to rural development, develop a list of investment priorities for facilities and services, and increase the capacities of the Ministry in planning processes and methods. The 2-year project was hindered by a 1-year delay in initiating assistance due to difficulties in locating a contractor. In addition, the contractor and other team members felt there was little justification for studies of spatial organization in a country with so much evident need; rather, they focused on a small rural works program and establishment of effective local government, producing an inconsistency between team activities and the original project agreement. A request by the team to extend the project 1 year beyond its official completion date to compensate for early delays was rejected by USAID. Nonetheless, there was agreement that the project had a small positive impact in Upper Volta. Key lessons from Upper Volta were transferred to the Cameroon project. Although this project was judged to have achieved its objective of preparing a regional plan and of identifying programs for facilities, services, and small-scale enterprises, it was beset by problems of inexperience and technical underqualification of team members, poor communication, inconsistency of USAID guidelines, and methodological confusion. It is suggested that a central challenge for such programs is to create a body of qualified Americans who can work with their local counterparts in meeting the challenges of development. A measure of the success or failure of these projects should be the degree to which learning contributes to improved performance.