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We provide a broad overview of the underlying philosophy of ecological monitoring. We argue that the major characteristics of effective monitoring programs typically include: (1) Good questions. (2) A conceptual model of an ecosystem or population. (3) Strong partnerships between scientists, policy-makers and managers. (4) Frequent use of data collected. We classify monitoring programs into three categories - (1) Passive monitoring, which is devoid of specified questions or underlying study design and has limited rationale other than curiosity. (2) Mandated monitoring where environmental data are gathered as a stipulated requirement of government legislation or a political directive. The focus is usually to identify trends. (3) Question-driven monitoring, which is guided by a conceptual model and by a rigorous design that will typically result in a priori predictions that can be tested. There are advantages and disadvantages of mandated monitoring programs, which are typically large-scaled, and generally smaller-scaled, question-driven monitoring programs. For example, while question-driven monitoring programs can provide insights into the ecological processes giving rise to emergent environmental patterns, spatial generalization from them is difficult because results may not extrapolate well to other regions, states or to a national level. Conversely, while mandated monitoring can be useful for producing coarse level summaries of temporal changes in a target population or resource condition they may not identify the mechanism influencing a change in an ecosystem or an entity. A key remaining challenge is to develop much improved mandated monitoring programs through more widespread adoption of the features of successful question-driven monitoring programs in efforts to enhance biodiversity conservation and environmental management.

We provide a broad overview of the underlying philosophy of ecological monitoring. We argue that the major characteristics of effective monitoring programs typically include: (1) Good questions. (2) A conceptual model of an ecosystem or population. (3) Strong partnerships between scientists, policy-makers and managers. (4) Frequent use of data collected. We classify monitoring programs into three categories - (1) Passive monitoring, which is devoid of specified questions or underlying study design and has limited rationale other than curiosity. (2) Mandated monitoring where environmental data are gathered as a stipulated requirement of government legislation or a political directive. The focus is usually to identify trends. (3) Question-driven monitoring, which is guided by a conceptual model and by a rigorous design that will typically result in a priori predictions that can be tested. There are advantages and disadvantages of mandated monitoring programs, which are typically large-scaled, and generally smaller-scaled, question-driven monitoring programs. For example, while question-driven monitoring programs can provide insights into the ecological processes giving rise to emergent environmental patterns, spatial generalization from them is difficult because results may not extrapolate well to other regions, states or to a national level. Conversely, while mandated monitoring can be useful for producing coarse level summaries of temporal changes in a target population or resource condition they may not identify the mechanism influencing a change in an ecosystem or an entity. A key remaining challenge is to develop much improved mandated monitoring programs through more widespread adoption of the features of successful question-driven monitoring programs in efforts to enhance biodiversity conservation and environmental management.

В статье рассматривается процесс возникновения и развития кооперации в годы перестройки в СССР. Основное внимание уделяется анализу влияния кооперативного сектора на насыщение рынка потребительских товаров и услуг и удовлетворение платежеспособного спроса населения. Для исследования привлечены архивные материалы, ранее не введенные в научный оборот. ; The paper deals with the process of emergence and development of cooperation during the perestroika period in the USSR. The main attention is paid to the analysis of impact by cooperative sector on the saturation of consumer markets and the satisfaction of solvent population demands. In the second half of the 1980s the Soviet government believed that the revival of the cooperative sector would help to overcome the growing disparity between the incomes and trademark coverage. However, this did not happen. For example, by the middle of 1989, less than half of cooperatives were engaged in the production of consumer goods and consumer services of the population. Many cooperatives, using their legal rights, chose to enter into mediation contracts with enterprises to the detriment of the saturation of the consumer market. Eventually, in early 1990s the situation at the consumer market deteriorated sharply; speculative demand for food and consumer durables increased. Moreover, the excess money in circulation had reached a critical size. Thus, cooperative activities, despite the fact that they had enabled many cooperators to accumulate capital and start a private business in the 1990s, by the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union failed to become a major sector of the national economy. The author used the archive materials that have not been involved in the research activity before.

Recruiting candidates for local elections is a complex task. Even though some parties find difficult to attract candidates (mainly due to the decreased party membership and the lack of interest for local politics), one of the most important concerns is related to the subtle balance between different types of candidates on the list. Local parties need candidates who embody two main functions: (1) to attract votes (in open list systems) and (2) to serve the interests of the party once elected. As a result, party leaders place on their electoral list candidates who belong to the party structure (incumbent councilors, party members, etc.) as well as candidates who would attract more votes (for example by including 'external' candidates on the list). Following a large data collection process, this paper relies on a quantitative analysis of the 986 lists that participated in the 2012 local elections in the 262 Walloon municipalities (Belgium). The presence of different types of candidates (incumbent mayor and alderman, incumbent councilor, party member, party activist, external candidate, etc.) will be measured for each individual list. In a second stage, the paper will identify the factors that explain variation of the presence of such candidates across lists and municipalities with the help of demographic factors (size of the municipality, rural vs. urban, etc.), political factors (ideology of the list, independence from the national party, etc.) and party competition factors (number of competing lists, electoral alliances, etc.). Overall, this research seeks to uncover the diversity of local electoral strategies guiding local recruitment and why it matters for the electoral results of the lists.

Recruiting candidates for local elections is a complex task. Even though some parties find difficult to attract candidates (mainly due to the decreased party membership and the lack of interest for local politics), one of the most important concerns is related to the subtle balance between different types of candidates on the list. Local parties need candidates who embody two main functions: (1) to attract votes (in open list systems) and (2) to serve the interests of the party once elected. As a result, party leaders place on their electoral list candidates who belong to the party structure (incumbent councilors, party members, etc.) as well as candidates who would attract more votes (for example by including 'external' candidates on the list). Following a large data collection process, this paper relies on a quantitative analysis of the 986 lists that participated in the 2012 local elections in the 262 Walloon municipalities (Belgium). The presence of different types of candidates (incumbent mayor and alderman, incumbent councilor, party member, party activist, external candidate, etc.) will be measured for each individual list. In a second stage, the paper will identify the factors that explain variation of the presence of such candidates across lists and municipalities with the help of demographic factors (size of the municipality, rural vs. urban, etc.), political factors (ideology of the list, independence from the national party, etc.) and party competition factors (number of competing lists, electoral alliances, etc.). Overall, this research seeks to uncover the diversity of local electoral strategies guiding local recruitment and why it matters for the electoral results of the lists.

AbstractIn this paper we critically evaluate contemporary processes of public involvement in nuclear activities in Europe. Our focus is two collaborative "technology platforms" at the European level, one for implementing the geological disposal of nuclear waste, the other for rendering nuclear energy sustainable. In key documents and statements connected with the launching of these two platforms, public participation is assigned a vital role in their construction. While participation is presented in both cases as important for heightening the legitimacy of national nuclear industry programs and creating more room for public influence, the nature of this participation tends to remain obscure. From our analysis of the European Union documents and statements, informed by recent discussions in science and technology studies (STS), we conclude that "the participatory turn" in the nuclear sector focuses too strongly on procedural matters—on public involvement as a good in itself—while deflecting attention away from the possibilities of using participation as a more genuine means of enabling public issues and concerns to reach a higher level of articulation. Attempting to resolve legitimacy problems by conceiving of public participation as a way of maneuvering around public concerns is problematic since the latter must be more properly conceived as remaining the foundation for the former. If the issues calling for enlarged public participation in nuclear activities in Europe were awarded greater attention, then the legitimacy of these activities might indeed be improved. It can be imagined, for example, that the connections between the disposal of legacy wastes and the authorization of new build would be rendered more transparent.

Abstract. The northernmost part of Apulia, in Southern Italy, is an emerged portion of the Adriatic plate, which in past centuries was hit by at least three disastrous earthquakes and at present is occasionally affected by seismic events of moderate energy. In the latest seismic hazard assessment carried out in Italy at national scale, the adopted seismogenic zonation (named ZS9) has defined for this area a single zone including parts of different structural units (chain, foredeep, foreland). However significant seismic behaviour differences were revealed among them by our recent studies and, therefore, we re-evaluated local seismic hazard by adopting a zonation, named ZNA, modifying the ZS9 to separate areas of Northern Apulia belonging to different structural domains. To overcome the problem of the limited datasets of historical events available for small zones having a relatively low rate of earthquake recurrence, an approach was adopted that integrates historical and instrumental event data. The latter were declustered with a procedure specifically devised to process datasets of low to moderate magnitude shocks. Seismicity rates were then calculated following alternative procedural choices, according to a "logic tree" approach, to explore the influence of epistemic uncertainties on the final results and to evaluate, among these, the importance of the uncertainty in seismogenic zonation. The comparison between the results obtained using zonations ZNA and ZS9 confirms the well known "spreading effect" that the use of larger seismogenic zones has on hazard estimates. This effect can locally determine underestimates or overestimates by amounts that make necessary a careful reconsideration of seismic classification and building code application.

National audience ; Periurban agriculture stands at a central point in town food supply while playing a role in urban and landscape planning for citizens. This agriculture is in jeopardy in the northern and southern Mediterranean regions due to the acceleration in urbanization and urban sprawl. Research works undertaken in ten Mediterranean countries show the adaptability of periurban agriculture which develops in many different forms. These works also however underline that negative externalities in this process are numerous and varied. In order to meet present social requirements, agriculture faces the challenge of developing not only food production but rather all of its functions, including landscape maintenance, environmental protection, etc. Within the framework of multifunctionality, agriculture could participate in projects concerning the territory and, by valorising traditional local production, contribute to the links between town and countryside. ; L'agriculture périurbaine occupe une place centrale pour l'approvisionnement des villes mais aussi comme élément de l'aménagement urbain et de paysage pour les citadins. Mais cette agriculture est mise en péril, au nord et au sud de la Méditerranée, par l'accélération de l'urbanisation et l'étalement spatial des villes. Des travaux de recherche réalisés dans une dizaine de pays méditerranéens montrent la capacité d'adaptation de l'agriculture périurbaine qui développe des formes très différenciées mais soulignent aussi que les externalités négatives de ce processus sont nombreuses et variées. Pour répondre aux exigences sociales contemporaines, l'agriculture est mise au défi de développer toutes ses fonctions, non seulement la production pour l'alimentation, mais aussi l'entretien des paysages et la protection de l'environnement. Sous condition de multifonctionnalité, l'agriculture pourrait s'intégrer à des projets de territoire et contribuer au renforcement du lien entre villes et campagnes, notamment par la valorisation des productions traditionnelles ...

National audience ; Periurban agriculture stands at a central point in town food supply while playing a role in urban and landscape planning for citizens. This agriculture is in jeopardy in the northern and southern Mediterranean regions due to the acceleration in urbanization and urban sprawl. Research works undertaken in ten Mediterranean countries show the adaptability of periurban agriculture which develops in many different forms. These works also however underline that negative externalities in this process are numerous and varied. In order to meet present social requirements, agriculture faces the challenge of developing not only food production but rather all of its functions, including landscape maintenance, environmental protection, etc. Within the framework of multifunctionality, agriculture could participate in projects concerning the territory and, by valorising traditional local production, contribute to the links between town and countryside. ; L'agriculture périurbaine occupe une place centrale pour l'approvisionnement des villes mais aussi comme élément de l'aménagement urbain et de paysage pour les citadins. Mais cette agriculture est mise en péril, au nord et au sud de la Méditerranée, par l'accélération de l'urbanisation et l'étalement spatial des villes. Des travaux de recherche réalisés dans une dizaine de pays méditerranéens montrent la capacité d'adaptation de l'agriculture périurbaine qui développe des formes très différenciées mais soulignent aussi que les externalités négatives de ce processus sont nombreuses et variées. Pour répondre aux exigences sociales contemporaines, l'agriculture est mise au défi de développer toutes ses fonctions, non seulement la production pour l'alimentation, mais aussi l'entretien des paysages et la protection de l'environnement. Sous condition de multifonctionnalité, l'agriculture pourrait s'intégrer à des projets de territoire et contribuer au renforcement du lien entre villes et campagnes, notamment par la valorisation des productions traditionnelles locales.

In 1988 the Dutch government launched a proposal for a national health insurance based on regulated competition. The mandatory benefits package should be offered by competing insurers and should cover both non-catastrophic risks (like hospital care, physician services and drugs) and catastrophic risks (like several forms of expensive long-term care). However, there are two arguments to exclude some of the catastrophic risks from the competitive insurance market, at least during the implementation process of the reforms. Firstly, the prospects for a workable system of risk-adjusted payments to the insurers that should take away the incentives for cream skimming are, at least during the next 5 years, more favorable for the non-catastrophic risks than for the catastrophic risks. Secondly, even if a workable system of risk-adjusted payments can be developed, the problem of quality skimping may be relevant for some of the catastrophic risks, but not for non-catastrophic risks. By 'quality skimping' we mean the reduction of the quality of care to a level which is below the minimum level that is acceptable to society. After 5 years of health care reforms in the Netherlands new insights have resulted in a growing support to confine the implementation of the reforms to the non-catastrophic risks. In drawing (and redrawing) the exact boundaries between different regulatory regimes for catastrophic and non-catastrophic risks, the expected benefits of a cost-effective substitution of care have to be weighted against the potential harm caused by cream skimming and quality skimping.

La transición del Antiguo Régimen al proceso de revolución e independencia en el Río de la Plata ha sido ampliamente estudiada por los historiadores nacionales y locales desde diferentes perspectivas vinculadas con la historia política, de familias, del derecho, etc. Este trabajo indaga el período de transición a partir del estudio de un comerciante peninsular – Manuel Posse – y su inserción social, sus estrategias comerciales y el comercio de exportación que efectuó entre 1780 y 1810. A partir de este análisis, se estudió la articulación de su estrategia matrimonial con su establecimiento definitivo en la ciudad, la estructuración de una red comercial en torno a su familia y los enlaces de la primera generación en el contexto tucumano. ; The transition from the old regime to the process of revolution and independence in the Río de la Plata has been widely studied by national and local historians from different perspectives linked with political history, families, law, etc. This work explores the period of transition from the study of a peninsular merchant - Manuel Posse - and their social integration, their business strategies and the export trade which made between 1780 and 1810. From this analysis, we studied the articulation of its double strategy with its final establishment in the city, the structuring of a commercial network around his family and the first generation in the Tucuman context links ; Fil: Bolsi, Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales; Argentina

AbstractTeaching and studying International Relations (IR) in the Caribbean makes the region's invisibility unmissable. Nevertheless, these locales have significantly influenced the structure of global processes and are also acutely affected by global occurrences. Exposure to the global has led Caribbean scholarship to offer worthwhile insights into world affairs. Thinkers from the region and its diaspora provide noteworthy perspectives about the criticality of the Caribbean in building systems of empire and a world structured around race, class, and gender in ways that mainstream IR approaches may miss. This article takes its starting point as the Caribbean intellectual tradition. Grounding IR scholarship in this neglected, though highly pertinent, thought tradition is one angle from which to decolonise the discipline. The article connects these insights to an appraisal of a nimble strategy that Caribbean states and territories employ to navigate the global. The strategy of developing offshore financial centres (OFCs) can educate us about the functioning of the world if we are willing to think about it as embedded in global processes rather than as a problematic gimmick. In sum, this piece illustrates how using Caribbean thought and examining Caribbean global integration strategies can help to decolonise IR.

Abstract
The world has experienced numerous armed conflicts and violations of human rights arising from conflicts. However, many millions of human rights abuses have occurred outside of conflict. These have been on the rise over the last fifteen years. This article enquires why the International Court of Justice (icj) has not played the role it could have over the last seventy-five years. This is done with reference to the use of force by the Russian Federation (Russia) in Ukraine in 2022. It is argued that when it comes to dealing with wars, conflict, and human rights violations, the Court has played a limited role and has been less than robust than it could have been. The article investigates the problems that undermine the Court, including the appointment process for judges, the use of ad hoc judges, jurisdictional limitations, and issues concerning compliance and enforcement of its judgments. The argument made is that politics and political considerations are deeply imbedded in these processes and that an independent structure is needed. It is also argued that while some of the problems of the Court are structural, others are of the Court's own making.

In connection with the expansion of international political, economic and social ties, the need for the study of foreign languages as a means of intercultural communication is increasing. Language education at the present stage acts as the most valuable tool for a person's successful life in a multicultural space, and the main task of learning foreign languages is the formation of students' skills for unhindered communication with representatives of a foreign language culture. However, modern living conditions require the introduction of new forms, methods and techniques in order to enhance the activities of students. In particular, one cannot fail to note the growing role of information and communication technologies in the process of teaching foreign languages. The article discusses the main ways of implementing the activity approach in schools. Particular attention is paid to theoretical material on this topic. Various methods and techniques are given in order to enhance the activity of students. The conclusion showed that the education system is constantly changing, the world is constantly moving and never stands still, therefore, the use of this approach helps to introduce various forms of teaching into the learning process, which will help develop the communication and creative skills of students.