Browsing by Author "Rocks, Sophie A."
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Item Open Access Better by design: Business preferences for environmental regulatory reform(Elsevier, 2015-01-26) Taylor, Christopher Michael; Pollard, Simon J. T.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Angus, AndrewWe present the preferences for environmental regulatory reform expressed by 30 UK businesses and industry bodies from 5 sectors. While five strongly preferred voluntary regulation, seven expressed doubts about its effectiveness, and 18 expressed no general preference between instrument types. Voluntary approaches were valued for flexibility and lower burdens, but direct regulation offered stability and a level playing field. Respondents sought regulatory frameworks that: are coherent; balance clarity, prescription and flexibility; are enabled by positive regulatory relationships; administratively efficient; targeted according to risk magnitude and character; evidence-based and that deliver long-term market stability for regulatees. Anticipated differences in performance between types of instrument can be undermined by poor implementation. Results underline the need for policy makers and regulators to tailor an effective mix of instruments for a given sector, and to overcome analytical, institutional and political barriers to greater coherence, to better coordinate existing instruments and tackle new environmental challenges as they emerge.Item Open Access Delivering organisational adaptation through legislative mechanisms: Evidence from the Adaptation Reporting Power (Climate Change Act 2008)(Elsevier, 2016-10-14) Jude, Simon R.; Drew, Gillian H.; Pollard, Simon J. T.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Jenkinson, K.; Lamb, R.There is increasing recognition that organisations, particularly in key infrastructure sectors, are potentially vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events, and require organisational responses to ensure they are resilient and adaptive. However, detailed evidence of how adaptation is facilitated, implemented and reported, particularly through legislative mechanisms is lacking. The United Kingdom Climate Change Act (2008), introduced the Adaptation Reporting Power, enabling the Government to direct so-called reporting authorities to report their climate change risks and adaptation plans. We describe the authors' unique role and experience supporting the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) during the Adaptation Reporting Power's first round. An evaluation framework, used to review the adaptation reports, is presented alongside evidence on how the process provides new insights into adaptation activities and triggered organisational change in 78% of reporting authorities, including the embedding of climate risk and adaptation issues. The role of legislative mechanisms and risk-based approaches in driving and delivering adaptation is discussed alongside future research needs, including the development of organisational maturity models to determine resilient and well adapting organisations. The Adaptation Reporting Power process provides a basis for similar initiatives in other countries, although a clear engagement strategy to ensure buy-in to the process and research on its long-term legacy, including the potential merits of voluntary approaches, is required.Item Open Access Direct writing of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric structures by electrohydrodynamic atomisation.(Springer Science Business Media, 2007-12-01T00:00:00Z) Rocks, Sophie A.; Wang, D.; Sun, D.; Jayasinghe, S. N.; Edirisinghe, M. J.; Dorey, Robert A.Direct writing, consisting of the directed deposition of individual droplets of ceramic suspension using ink jet printing can be used to produce piezoelectric structures with feature sizes in excess of 100 μm. This work presents an alternative direct writing technique, consisting of directed individual droplets produced by electrohydrodynamic atomisation (EHDA), where feature sizes an order of magnitude smaller can be achieved. This technique opens up the possibility of using direct writing technology to produce integrated MEMS devices. Low toxicity lead zirconate titantate (PZT) sol has been used in conjunction with the EHDA process to produce isolated features and lines with dimensions as small as 20 μm. These features, when fired, form the perovskite PZT crystal structure. Using an X–Y stage to move the sample, it is possible to create a variety of structuItem Open Access Effective risk governance for environmental policy making: a knowledge management perspective(Elsevier, 2014-05-24) Mauelshagen, Craig William; Smith, Mark; Schiller, Frank; Denyer, David; Rocks, Sophie A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.Effective risk management within environmental policy making requires knowledge on natural, economic and social systems to be integrated; knowledge characterised by complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. We describe a case study in a (UK) central government department exploring how risk governance supports and hinders this challenging integration of knowledge. Forty-five semi-structured interviews were completed over a two year period. We found that lateral knowledge transfer between teams working on different policy areas was widely viewed as a key source of knowledge. However, the process of lateral knowledge transfer was predominantly informal and unsupported by risk governance structures. We argue this made decision quality vulnerable to a loss of knowledge through staff turnover, and time and resource pressures. Our conclusion is that the predominant form of risk governance framework, with its focus on centralised decision-making and vertical knowledge transfer is insufficient to support risk-based, environmental policy making. We discuss how risk governance can better support environmental policy makers through systematic knowledge management practices.Item Open Access Electrohydrodynamic jet printing of PZT thick film micro-scale structures(Elsevier, 2015-06-08) Wang, D.; Zhu, X.; Liang, J-S; Ren, T.; Zha, W.; Dong, W.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Dorey, Robert A.; Xu, Z.; Wang, X.This paper reports the use of a printing technique, called electrohydrodynamic jet printing, for producing PZT thick film micro-scale structures without additional material removing processes. The PZT powder was ball-milled and the effect of milling time on the particle size was examined. This ball-milling process can significantly reduce the PZT particle size and help to prepare stable composite slurry suitable for the E-Jet printing. The PZT micro-scale structures with different features were produced. The PZT lines with different widths and separations were fabricated through the control of the E-Jet printing parameters. The widths of the PZT lines were varied from 80 μm to 200 μm and the separations were changed from 5 μm to 200 μm. In addition, PZT walled structures were obtained by multi-layer E-Jet printing. The E-Jet printed PZT thick films exhibited a relative permittivity (ɛr) of ∼233 and a piezoelectric constant (d33, f) of ∼66 pC N−1.Item Open Access Engaging with comparative risk appraisals: Public views on policy priorities for environmental risk governance(Wiley, 2016) Rocks, Sophie A.; Schubert, Iljana; Soane, Emma; Black, Edgar; Muckle, Rachel; Petts, Judith; Prpich, George; Pollard, Simon J. T.Communicating the rationale for allocating resources to manage policy priorities and their risks is challenging. Here, we demonstrate that environmental risks have diverse attributes and locales in their effects that may drive disproportionate responses among citizens. When 2,065 survey participants deployed summary information and their own understanding to assess 12 policy-level environmental risks singularly, their assessment differed from a prior expert assessment. However, participants provided rankings similar to those of experts when these same 12 risks were considered as a group, allowing comparison between the different risks. Following this, when individuals were shown the prior expert assessment of this portfolio, they expressed a moderate level of confidence with the combined expert analysis. These are important findings for the comprehension of policy risks that may be subject to augmentation by climate change, their representation alongside other threats within national risk assessments, and interpretations of agency for public risk management by citizens and others.Item Open Access Environmental regulation in transition: Policy officials’ views of regulatory instruments and their mapping to environmental risks(Elsevier, 2018-07-29) Taylor, Christopher; Gallagher, Elaine; Pollard, Simon J. T.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Smith, Heather M.; Leinster, Paul; Angus, AndrewThis study re-analysed 14 semi-structured interviews with policy officials from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to explore the use of a variety of regulatory instruments and different levels of risk across 14 policy domains and 18 separately named risks. Interviews took place within a policy environment of a better regulation agenda and of broader regulatory reform. Of 619 (n) coded references to 5 categories of regulatory instrument, ‘command and control’ regulation (n = 257) and support mechanisms (n = 118) dominated the discussions, with a preference for ‘command and control’ cited in 8 of the policy domains. A framing analysis revealed officials' views on instrument effectiveness, including for sub-categories of the 5 key instruments. Views were mixed, though notably positive for economic instruments including taxation, fiscal instruments and information provision. An overlap analysis explored officials' mapping of public environmental risks to instrument types suited to their management. While officials frequently cite risk concepts generally within discussions, the extent of overlap for risks of specific significance was low across all risks. Only ‘command and control’ was mapped to risks of moderate significance in likelihood and impact severity. These results show that policy makers still prefer ‘command and control’ approaches when a certainty of outcome is sought and that alternative means are sought for lower risk situations. The detailed reasons for selection, including the mapping of certain instruments to specific risk characteristics, is still developing.Item Open Access Evidence and belief in regulatory decisions - Incorporating expected utility into decision modelling(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2012-12-31T00:00:00Z) Li, J.; Davies, Gareth J.; Kendall, Graham; Soane, Emma; Bai, R.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.Recent changes in the assessment and management of risks has had the effect that greater importance has been placed on relationships between individuals and within groups to inform decision making. In this paper, we provide the theoretical underpinning for an expected utility approach to decision-making. The approach, which is presented using established evidence support logic (TESLA™), integrating the expected utilities in the forming of group decisions. The rationale and basis are described and illustrated through a hypothetical decision context of options for the disposal of animal carcasses that accumulate during disease outbreaks. The approach forms the basis for exploring the richness of risk-based decisions, and representing individual beliefs about the sufficiency of evidence they may advance in support of hypotheseItem Open Access Identifying the science and technology dimensions of emerging public policy issues through horizon scanning(Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2014-05-30T00:00:00Z) Parker, Miles; Acland, Andrew; Armstrong, Harry J.; Bellingham, Jim R.; Bland, Jessica; Bodmer, Helen C.; Burall, Simon; Castell, Sarah; Chilvers, Jason; Cleevely, David D.; Cope, David; Costanzo, Lucia; Dolan, James A.; Doubleday, Robert; Feng, Wai Yi; Godfray, H. Charles J.; Good, David A.; Grant, Jonathan; Green, Nick; Groen, Arnoud J.; Guilliams, Tim T.; Gupta, Sunjai; Hall, Amanda C.; Heathfield, Adam; Hotopp, Ulrike; Kass, Gary; Leeder, Tim; Lickorish, Fiona A.; Lueshi, Leila M.; Magee, Chris; Mata, Tiago; McBride, Tony; McCarthy, Natasha; Mercer, Alan; Neilson, Ross; Ouchikh, Jackie; Oughton, Edward J.; Oxenham, David; Pallett, Helen; Palmer, James; Patmore, Jeff; Petts, Judith; Pinkerton, Jan; Ploszek, Richard; Pratt, Alan; Rocks, Sophie A.; Stansfield, Neil; Surkovic, Elizabeth; Tyler, Christopher P.; Watkinson, Andrew R.; Wentworth, Jonny; Willis, Rebecca; Wollner, Patrick K. A.; Worts, Kim; Sutherland, William J.Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.Item Open Access Identifying uncertainty in environmental risk assessments: the development of a novel typology and Its implications for risk characterisation(Taylor & Francis, 2014-12-31T00:00:00Z) Skinner, Daniel J. C.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.; Drew, Gillian H.Environmental risk analysts need to draw from a clear typology of uncertainties when qualifying risk estimates and/or significance statements about risk. However, categorisations of uncertainty within existing typologies are largely overlapping, contradictory, and subjective, and many typologies are not designed with environmental risk assessments (ERAs) in mind. In an attempt to rectify these issues, this research provides a new categorisation of uncertainties based, for the first time, on the appraisal of a large subset of ERAs, namely 171 peer-reviewed environmental weight-of-evidence assessments. Using this dataset, a defensible typology consisting of seven types of uncertainty (data, language, system, extrapolation, variability, model, and decision) and 20 related sub-types is developed. Relationships between uncertainties and the techniques used to manage them are also identified and statistically evaluated. A highly preferred uncertainty management option is to take no action when faced with uncertainty, although where techniques are applied they are commensurate with the uncertainty in question. Key observations are applied in the form of guidance for dealing with uncertainty, demonstrated through ERAs of genetically modified higher plants in the European Union. The presented typology and accompanying guidance will have positive implications for the identification, prioritisation, and management of uncertainty during risk characterisation.Item Open Access The impact of Zero-valent Iron Nanoparticles upon Soil Microbial Communities is Context Dependent(Ecomed Publishers, 2013-02-01T00:00:00Z) Pawlett, Mark; Ritz, Karl; Dorey, Robert A.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Ramsden, Jeremy J.; Harris, Jim A.Purpose Nanosized zero valent iron (nZVI) is an effective land remediation tool, but there remains little information regarding its impact upon and interactions with the soil microbial community. Methods nZVI stabilised with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose was applied to soils of three contrasting textures and organic matter contents to determine impacts on soil microbial biomass, phenotypic (phospholipid fatty acid - PLFA), and functional (multiple substrate induced respiration - MSIR) profiles. Results The nZVI significantly reduced microbial biomass by 29% but onlywhere soil was amended with 5% straw. Effects of nZVI on MSIR profiles were only evident in the clay soils, and were independent of organic matter content. PLFA profiling indicated that the soil microbial community structure in sandy soils were apparently the most, and clay soils the least, vulnerable to nZVI suggesting a protective effect imparted by clays. Evidence of nZVI bactericidal effects on Gram negative bacteria and a potential reduction of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi are presented. Conclusion Data implies that the impact of nZVI on soil microbial communities is dependent on organic matter content and soil mineral type. Thereby evaluations of nZVI toxicity on soil microbial communities should consider context. The reduction of AM fungi following nZVI application may have implications for land remediation.Item Open Access Integrating horizon scanning and strategic risk prioritisation using a weight of evidence framework to inform policy decisions(Elsevier, 2016-04-17) Garnett, Kenisha; Lickorish, Fiona A.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Prpich, George; Rathe, A. A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.Poor connection between data on emerging issues and credible policy decisions continues to challenge governments, and is only likely to grow as demands on time and resources increase. Here we summarise recent efforts to integrate horizon scanning and risk prioritisation approaches to better connect emerging issues to the political discourse on environmental and food-related issues. Our categorisation of insights including potential future risks and opportunities to inform policy discussions has emerged from a structured three-year programme of horizon scanning for a UK pan-governmental futures partnership led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Our efforts to integrate horizon scanning and risk prioritisation, utilising a qualitative weight of evidence framework, has created a systematic process for identifying all signals of potential future change with significant impact for the strategic mission and underlying values of policy actors. Our approach encourages an exploration of factors out of the control of organisations, recognising that resilience depends on the flexibility of management strategies and the preparedness to deal with a variety of unexpected outcomes. We discuss how this approach addresses key cultural and evaluative challenges that policy actors have had in embedding horizon scanning in evidence-based policy processes, and suggest further developments to build confidence in the use of horizon scanning for strategic planning.Item Open Access Integration of polymer nanocomposites technologies for automotive applications: opportunities and environmental health challenges(2008-05-14T00:00:00Z) Njuguna, James A. K.; Peña, I.; Zhu, H.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Blazquez, Maria; Desai, S. A.; Pielichowski, KrzysztofThe concept of nanostructured materials design is gaining widespread importance among the automotive industry. Although employment of nanotechnology in current and future automotives will go long way in solving energy crises, it is necessary to understand both the hazards associated with nanomaterials and the levels of exposure that are likely to occur. The existing knowledge in these areas is quite limited and it will be necessary in the near future. This paper highlights these key issues and goes a long way in pointing recent activities on environmental risks of nanomaterials. Some research directions are given and existing automotive opportunities and applications explored.Item Open Access New Advances in Forming Functional Ceramics for Micro Devices(2006-10-10T00:00:00Z) Dorey, Robert A.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Dauchy, Florent; Navarro, A.Micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) are finding uses in an increasing number of diverse applications. Currently the fabrication techniques used to produce such MEMS devices are primarily based on 2-D processing of thin films. The challenges faced by producing more complex structures (e.g. high aspect ratio, spans, and multi-material structures) require the development of new processing techniques. Potential solutions to these challenges based on low temperature processing of functional ceramics, selective chemical patterning, and micro-moulding are presented to show that it is possible to create complex functional ceramic structures which incorporate non-ceramic conducting and support structures. The capabilities of both techniques are compared and the relative advantages of each explored.Item Open Access Regulators as agents: modelling personality and power as evidence is brokered to support decisions on environmental risk(2014-01-01T00:00:00Z) Davies, Gareth J.; Kendall, Graham; Soane, Emma; Li, J.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Jude, Simon R.; Pollard, Simon J. T.Complex regulatory decisions about risk rely on the brokering of evidence between providers and recipients, and involve personality and power relationships that influence the confidence that recipients may place in the sufficiency of evidence and, therefore, the decision outcome. We explore these relationships in an agent-based model; drawing on concepts from environmental risk science, decision psychology and computer simulation. A two-agent model that accounts for the sufficiency of evidence is applied to decisions about salt intake, animal carcass disposal and radioactive waste. A dynamic version of the model assigned personality traits to agents, to explore their receptivity to evidence. Agents with 'aggressor' personality sets were most able to imbue fellow agents with enhanced receptivity (with 'avoider' personality sets less so) and clear confidence in the sufficiency of evidence. In a dynamic version of the model, when both recipient and provider were assigned the 'aggressor' personality set, this resulted in 10 successful evidence submissions in 71 days, compared with 96 days when both agents were assigned the 'avoider' personality set. These insights suggest implications for improving the efficiency and quality of regulatory decision making by understanding the role of personality and power.Item Open Access A review of uncertainty in environmental risk: characterising potential natures, locations and levels(Taylor and Francis, 2013-06-10) Skinner, Daniel J. C.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.Uncertainties, whether due to randomness or human or system errors, are inherent within any decision process. In order to improve the clarity and robustness of risk estimates and risk characterisations, environmental risk assessments (ERAs) should explicitly consider uncertainty. Typologies of uncertainty can help practitioners to understand and identify potential types of uncertainty within ERAs, but these tools are yet to be reviewed in earnest. Here, we have systematically reviewed 30 distinct typologies and the uncertainties they communicate and demonstrate that they: (1) use terminology that is often contradictory; (2) differ in the frequencies and dimensions of uncertainties that they include; (3) do not uniformly use systematic and robust methods to source information; and (4) cannot be applied, on an individual basis, to the domain of ERA. On the basis of these observations, we created a summary typology – consisting of seven locations (areas of occurrence) of uncertainty across five distinct levels (magnitude of uncertainty) – specifically for use with ERAs. This work highlights the potential for confusion, given the many versions of uncertainty typologies which exist for closely related risk domains and, through the summary typology, provides environmental risk analysts with information to form a solid foundation for uncertainty analysis (based on improved understanding) to identify uncertainties within an ERA.Item Open Access Scientific commentary: Strategic analysis of environmental policy risks-heat maps, risk futures and the character of environmental harm(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2013-10-01T00:00:00Z) Prpich, George; Dagonneau, J.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Lickorish, Fiona A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.We summarise our recent efforts on the policy level risk appraisal of environmental risks. These have necessitated working closely with policy teams and a requirement to maintain crisp and accessible messages for policy audiences. Our comparative analysis uses heat maps, supplemented with risk narratives, and employs the multidimensional character of risks to inform debates on the management of current residual risk and future threats. The policy research and ensuing analysis raises core issues about how comparative risk analyses are used by policy audiences, their validation and future developments that are discussed in the commentary below.Item Open Access Strategic risk appraisal. Comparing expert- and literature-informed consequence assessments for environmental policy risks receiving national attention(Elsevier, 2017-04-07) Dagonneau, J.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Prpich, George; Garnett, Kenisha; Black, Edgar; Pollard, Simon J. T.Strategic risk appraisal (SRA) has been applied to compare diverse policy level risks to and from the environment in England and Wales. Its application has relied on expert-informed assessments of the potential consequences from residual risks that attract policy attention at the national scale. Here we compare consequence assessments, across environmental, economic and social impact categories that draw on ‘expert’- and ‘literature-based’ analyses of the evidence for 12 public risks appraised by Government. For environmental consequences there is reasonable agreement between the two sources of assessment, with expert-informed assessments providing a narrower dispersion of impact severity and with median values similar in scale to those produced by an analysis of the literature. The situation is more complex for economic consequences, with a greater spread in the median values, less consistency between the two assessment types and a shift toward higher severity values across the risk portfolio. For social consequences, the spread of severity values is greater still, with no consistent trend between the severities of impact expressed by the two types of assessment. For the latter, the findings suggest the need for a fuller representation of socioeconomic expertise in SRA and the workshops that inform SRA output.Item Open Access Where do uncertainties reside within environmental risk assessments? Expert opinion on uncertainty distributions for pesticide risks to surface water organisms(Elsevier, 2016-08-01) Skinner, Daniel J. C.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.A reliable characterisation of uncertainties can aid uncertainty identification during environmental risk assessments (ERAs). However, typologies can be implemented inconsistently, causing uncertainties to go unidentified. We present an approach based on nine structured elicitations, in which subject-matter experts, for pesticide risks to surface water organisms, validate and assess three dimensions of uncertainty: its level (the severity of uncertainty, ranging from determinism to ignorance); nature (whether the uncertainty is epistemic or aleatory); and location (the data source or area in which the uncertainty arises). Risk characterisation contains the highest median levels of uncertainty, associated with estimating, aggregating and evaluating the magnitude of risks. Regarding the locations in which uncertainty is manifest, data uncertainty is dominant in problem formulation, exposure assessment and effects assessment. The comprehensive description of uncertainty described will enable risk analysts to prioritise the required phases, groups of tasks, or individual tasks within a risk analysis according to the highest levels of uncertainty, the potential for uncertainty to be reduced or quantified, or the types of location-based uncertainty, thus aiding uncertainty prioritisation during environmental risk assessments. In turn, it is expected to inform investment in uncertainty reduction or targeted risk management action.Item Open Access Where do uncertainties reside within environmental risk assessments? Testing UnISERA, a guide for uncertainty assessment(Elsevier, 2017-03-08) Skinner, Daniel J. C.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.A means for identifying and prioritising the treatment of uncertainty (UnISERA) in environmental risk assessments (ERAs) is tested, using three risk domains where ERA is an established requirement and one in which ERA practice is emerging. UnISERA's development draws on 19 expert elicitations across genetically modified higher plants, particulate matter, and agricultural pesticide release and is stress tested here for engineered nanomaterials (ENM). We are concerned with the severity of uncertainty; its nature; and its location across four accepted stages of ERAs. Using an established uncertainty scale, the risk characterisation stage of ERA harbours the highest severity level of uncertainty, associated with estimating, aggregating and evaluating expressions of risk. Combined epistemic and aleatory uncertainty is the dominant nature of uncertainty. The dominant location of uncertainty is associated with data in problem formulation, exposure assessment and effects assessment. Testing UnISERA produced agreements of 55%, 90%, and 80% for the severity level, nature and location dimensions of uncertainty between the combined case studies and the ENM stress test. UnISERA enables environmental risk analysts to prioritise risk assessment phases, groups of tasks, or individual ERA tasks and it can direct them towards established methods for uncertainty treatment.