A New Use for Practitioners in Teaching Negotiation

This article examines the role that practitioners as guest lecturers have traditionally played in the teaching of negotiation. The authors argue that, as seen from the perspective of student learning, this traditional role has not utilized the practitioner's expertise and experience to an optimal degree. Because of this, they have redesigned the role of the practitioner as guest lecturer in their negotiation course. They describe this new role in some detail. Their goal is to encourage students to understand how and why integrative negotiation techniques can work beyond the classroom in what students call the "real world."     

Practitioners’ perspectives on in-house versus arm’s-length structures of local economic development delivery in Ontario,Canada

ABSTRACT

The structure for local economic development is an important part of the development process. In recent years, local governments have been switching structures, leading to debates about the most appropriate structure for an effective economic development delivery. Based on in-depth interviews with practitioners of local economic development, the paper examines the strengths and drawbacks of the two primary structures in the Province of Ontario: In-house and Arms-length. In doing so, the paper accomplishes two things: first, it adds to the empirical discussion on organisational approaches to economic development; second, it provides an informed perspective to assist communities that might be considering switching their structures.     

我国司法鉴定制度的改革与完善

司法鉴定制度改革与完善是深化司法体制改革的重点。科学合理的司法鉴定制度有利于认定案件事实,保障法律正确适用,实现社会公平正义。《全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于司法鉴定问题的决定》（以下称《决定》）实施以来,司法鉴定制度改革在取得阶段性成果的同时,在司法鉴定与诉讼制度、证据制度的衔接、相关制度的健全、传统观念的转变等方面仍需完善。本文就完善司法鉴定启动程序、司法鉴定权威性、鉴定人执业制度、执业监管制度的完善作了重点论述。     

Web 2.0, wikis, and the IP Community

Legal context: The emergence of new web-based programs being used in the fieldsof patent applications and IP legal information has opened upa range of new opportunities for IP-related legal processesand knowledge sharing. Key points: This article explains the background to Web 2.0 applicationsand explores the potential for the use of wikis in various areasof IP. It notes the limitations, as well as the possibilities,of wikis and explains how they work in practice. It outlinesthree recent examples of wikis in the IP world, explaining howthey work and the significance of their overall objectives. Practical significance: The adoption of this technology by official bodies suggestswider future use and the appearance of unofficial sites showsthat current developments have already reached a stage wheremany IP practitioners can begin to interact and share knowledgein a way that has not been considered previously. It is conceivablethat developments in this area will be rapid and it is in theinterests of users to familiarize themselves with the use ofthis new ‘social software’.     

Traditional health practitioners' practices and the sustainability of extinction-prone traditional medicinal plants

ABSTRACT

For centuries, traditional health practitioners (THPs) have used their indigenous knowledge (IK) in conserving medicinal plants and environments in order to maintain sustainability. Medicinal plants have played an important role in the healthcare system of Africa. With the rapid environmental, social, economic and political changes occurring in many areas inhabited by rural people, the danger exists that the loss of biodiversity from habitat destruction and unsustainable harvesting practices will cause some species to become extinct, threatening the availability of medicinal plants on a regional level. This article presents the findings of research conducted to investigate the sustainability of the harvesting practices of THPs, with specific reference to extinction-prone traditional medicinal plants in the study areas of the Limpopo province, South Africa. The main aim of the study was to determine the natural habitat of extinction-prone traditional medicinal plants, combining the insight of THPs with the ultimate goal of guiding research for the conservation, propagation and cultivation of traditional medicinal plants. The study adopted a qualitative research approach and data were collected using in-depth interviews. The findings indicate that the THPs’ practices are shaped by historical processes and local cultural values, social norms and their management strategies, which are influenced by a broad range of factors.     

Implementing a COAG Reform Using the National Law Model: Australia's National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for Health Practitioners

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) is undertaking a program of reform part of which requires moving from diverse state and territory based legislated systems to a nationally consistent system. A method which is being increasingly used for this purpose is the national law model. On 1 July 2010 a new national registration and accreditation scheme (NRAS) for health practitioners commenced using this model. The challenges faced in implementing NRAS may be faced by other initiatives using the same approach. The challenges of reaching agreement on a national system, avoiding variations within a national system at local level and delays in legislation across multiple parliaments are considered in the light of NRAS experience and lessons for similar projects are drawn out.     

Enhancing Participation in Disadvantaged Urban Neighbourhoods

Participation in neighbourhoods is a highly valued phenomenon. Participation is the basis of a shared social life, but it also makes everyday life, and the lived experience of people participating in it, political. From a public administration perspective, governance and formal policy-making are increasingly reaching out to citizens, instead of drawing solely on representative mechanisms of local government. This paper investigates how practitioners working in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Dutch cities enhance participation. Using empirical data from research in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in The Netherlands, the paper shows that these practitioners either start projects that connect people in their own life world or connect policy-makers and policy to initiatives on the ground. As a result, they create the opportunity for many to develop their citizenship and become a more active participant in their local communities.     

Institutional Models for Track Two Interventions

Conflict resolution as an academic field was built by pioneers like John Burton on the idea that conflict resolution academics must accomplish three basic interlocking tasks: conduct cutting‐edge research, educate students, and make a positive contribution to the real‐world work of practitioners engaged in resolving actual conflicts. Over time and as the field has grown, so have the demands to produce research deemed rigorous enough according to increasingly competitive and rigid traditional standards and so too have the demands of teaching growing numbers of students. Research and teaching commitments thus diminish the time and support available to engage in practice. In this article, I consider those pressures within universities and also consider the options available to conflict resolution scholar–practitioners outside the traditional university     

Knowledge sharing and lesson learning: consultants' perspectives on the international sharing of political marketing strategy

Political marketing consultants who offer specialist skills and experience in political marketing – polling, strategy, voter profiling, segmentation, micro-targeting, voter-responsive product design – travel around the world sharing ideas from one campaign to the next, raising concerns that these unelected advisors wield global power; that political products will become all the same, and political leaders are prevented from offering an appropriate vision geared to the needs of their individual country. Whilst previous literature on political consultancy generally debated whether such global activities represented Americanisation or globalisation this article presents new qualitative interview data with consultants that suggest alternative perspectives. Political marketing strategy and tools are shared, but not just from the USA but between all countries, and they are adapted to suit the particular situation of each country, or indeed, each election. Politics is truly being marketised all over the world but each election remains a unique exercise.     

Valuing Public Value: Recognising and Applying Knowledge About the Governmental Process*

Rhodes and Wanna (2007) have criticised Moore's argument for ‘public value’ as an organising construct for public managers, claiming that it is confused, ill‐informed, ignores the central dynamic of political life, and demands that public managers become ‘Platonic guardians’, making it totally inappropriate for use in Australia. This article examines Moore's analysis and Rhodes and Wanna's critique, and explores the relevance for the argument of the complex nature of authority in Australian government, recent developments in the social science understanding of governing, and the experiential knowledge of practitioners. It cites the governing of the Murray‐Darling Basin as an example, and discusses the different discourses that academics and practitioners use in making sense of complexity in governing.