The incompatibility of Nudge and Co-Design as tools for policymaking

The use of nudge theory to inform policy interventions in response to COVID-19 has re-opened debates over the politically paternalistic nature of governing by ‘nudges’ and has given momentum to calls to include the more participatory elements of co-design into policymaking. Emma Blomkamp and Colette Einfeld suggest in seeking to combine mutually exclusive elements of each practice, academics and policymakers risk blurring lines of authority and public trust in policymaking

Mapping Public Sector Innovation Units in Australia and New Zealand 2018 Survey Report

Public sector innovation (PSI) units are increasingly being established and commissioned by governments in Australia and New Zealand to bring new insights and approaches to policy design and the delivery of public services. This report is part of an ANZSOG-funded research project, conducted by Melbourne University’s Policy Lab, to analyse the methodology of PSIs and their role within the broader policy environment. It found that while there is a wide range of structures to PSIs, they are generally small, reliant on contractors and consultants, located within a single department and focused on the early stages of the policy cycle. The survey notes that, internationally, the rise of PSI units has been framed as a response by governments to increasingly complex challenges, particularly in the field of social policy. In Australia and New Zealand the PSIs are focused far more heavily on areas of social policy and services, rather than areas such as energy and taxation. Only four PSI units reported that their establishment was an initiative of an elected official or member of government. This suggests that the emergence of PSI units within government in Australia and New Zealand is being driven by public managers and administrators, rather than by politicians or elected officials. The Policy Lab’s research team will continue this project and build on the survey results by carrying out five case studies of PSI units working on various policy and innovation domains at different levels of government. The results of this research will be available towards the end of 2018 and a public summary will be shared on the project web page: http://go.unimelb.edu.au/ix8

Systems-thinking approach to identify and assess feasibility of potential interventions to reduce antibiotic use in tilapia farming in Egypt

Antibiotics are used in aquaculture to maintain the health and welfare of stocks; however, the emergence and selection of antibiotic resistance in bacteria poses threats to humans, animals and the environment. Mitigation of antibiotic resistance relies on understanding the flow of antibiotics, residues, resistant bacteria and resistance genes through interconnecting systems, so that potential solutions can be identified and issues around their implementation evaluated. Participatory systems-thinking can capture the deep complexity of a system while integrating stakeholder perspectives. In this present study, such an approach was applied to Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) production in the Nile Delta of Egypt, where disease events caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens have been reported. A system map was co-produced with aquaculture stakeholders at a workshop in May 2018 and used to identify hotspots of antibiotic use, exposure and fate and to describe approaches that would promote fish health and thus reduce antibiotic use. Antibiotics are introduced into the aquaculture system via direct application for example in medicated feed, but residues may also be introduced into the system through agricultural drainage water, which is the primary source of water for most fish farms in Egypt. A follow-up survey of stakeholders assessed the perceived feasibility, advantages and disadvantages of potential interventions. Interventions that respondents felt could be implemented in the short-term to reduce antibiotic usage effectively included: more frequent water exchanges, regular monitoring of culture water quality parameters, improved storage conditions for feed, use of probiotics and greater access to farmer and service providers training programmes. Other potential interventions included greater access to suitable and rapid diagnostics, high quality feeds, improved biosecurity measures and genetically-improved fish, but these solutions were expected to be achieved as long-term goals, with cost being of one of the noted barriers to implementation. Identifying feasible and sustainable interventions that can be taken to reduce antibiotic use, and understanding implementation barriers, are important for addressing antibiotic resistance and ensuring the continued efficacy of antibiotics. This is vital to ensuring the productivity of the tilapia sector in Egypt. The approach taken in the present study provides a means to identify points in the system where the effectiveness of interventions can be evaluated and thus it may be applied to other food production systems to combat the problem of antibiotic resistance

O acesso aos Campos Elísios: a promoção da saúde ampliada e as tecnologias de melhoramento em busca da longevidade (e da imortalidade)

São abordadas e discutidas as tecnologias de melhoramento e sua meta de vender a possibilidade (real ou virtual) de manter e proporcionar aparência de juventude, longevidade e até imortalidade aos seres humanos como modelo de construção da noção de si mesmo. Emprega-se a ideia de "promoção de saúde ampliada" tanto no sentido de intensificação dos discursos sustentando comportamentos saudáveis como alegoria fotográfica no sentido de ampliar a sua imagem e permitir uma visão mais aproximada de detalhes políticos, ideológicos e mercantis das suas proposições. A partir de uma tipologia das ciências contra o envelhecimento feita por John Vincent em: cosméticas, médicas, biológicas e imortalistas, são enfocados os dois últimos itens e suas implicações. Ao final, propõe-se um enfoque analítico da questão, destacando estratégias biopolíticas para lidar com a finitude humana através de enfoques preemptivos sob a égide da hiperprevenção e a busca de um tipo de felicidade como autossatisfação pessoal que necessita de tecnologias de melhoramento para ser alcançada

Drug policy constellations: A Habermasian approach for understanding English drug policy

Background: It is increasingly accepted that a view of policy as a rational process of fitting evidence-based means to rationally justified ends is inadequate for understanding the actual processes of drug policy making. We aim to provide a better description and explanation of recent English drug policy decisions. Method: We develop the policy constellation concept from the work of Habermas, in dialogue with data from two contemporary debates in English policy; on decriminalisation of drug possession and on recovery in drug treatment. We collect data on these debates through long-term participant observation, stakeholder interviews (n=15) and documentary analysis. Results: We show the importance of social asymmetries in power in enabling structurally advantaged groups to achieve the institutionalisation of their moral preferences as well as the reproduction of their social and economic power through the deployment of policies that reflect their material interests and normative beliefs. The most influential actors in English drug policy come together in a ‘medico-penal constellation’, in which the aims and practices of public health and social control overlap. Formal decriminalisation of possession has not occurred, despite the efforts of members of a challenging constellation which supports it. Recovery was put forward as the aim of drug treatment by members of a more powerfully connected constellation. It has been absorbed into the practice of ‘recovery-oriented’ drug treatment in a way that maintains the power of public health professionals to determine the form of treatment. Conclusion: Actors who share interests and norms come together in policy constellations. Strategic action within and between constellations creates policies that may not take the form that was intended by any individual actor. These policies do not result from purely rational deliberation, but are produced through ‘systematically distorted communication’. They enable the most structurally favoured actors to institutionalise their own normative preferences and structural positions

Meanings and measures of urban cultural policy: Local government, art and community wellbeing in Australia and New Zealand

© 2014 Dr. Emma BlomkampLocal government in Australia and New Zealand has long contributed to the cultural life of communities, particularly by providing services and infrastructure for creative activities. Through a historical literature review and four contemporary case studies, this research explores some of the many goals, values, techniques and traditions that are embedded in local government arts programmes and cultural policies. Drawing on the theories of governmentality and wellbeing as capabilities, this thesis argues that urban cultural policy in Australia and New Zealand is fundamentally driven by local government’s rationale of providing the conditions in which community members can live free and flourishing lives. Faced with increasing demands for accountability and evidence-based policy and planning, local government officers are endeavouring to articulate and assess arts programming and cultural policy in relation to broad aspirations. Their efforts are complicated by the multiple definitions of culture, competing rationales for supporting the arts and the difficulty of quantifying unpredictable and intangible results, not to mention the myriad other activities and agencies that shape cultural community outcomes. Cultural policy evaluation is important for learning and legitimation, but it presents significant challenges for local government. This thesis examines how municipalities in Australia and New Zealand develop and implement cultural plans and services in this complex environment. Exploring the problems of meaning and measurement that arise from certain discourses and practices, it demonstrates the value of an interpretive approach to cultural policy analysis. The case study research shows that local government officers require an array of skills and different types of knowledge to design, deliver and evaluate urban cultural policy. Their discourses and practices are shaped by overlapping traditions of local governance and multiple forms of cultural value. Community wellbeing indicators are put forth as a relevant tool for local government calculations, but evaluating the results of arts and cultural policy requires more than the careful construction of meaningful measures. Effective evaluation of urban cultural policy would recognise the significance of numerous policy frames and multiple forms of context-dependent knowledge