U.S.- Czech Research on Environmental Policy Learning and Capacity Development

弗吉尼亚理工学院和州立大学的约翰·卡明（JoAnn Carmin）与布拉格经济大学（University of Economics, Prague）的合作伙伴共同开展的这项美国-捷克研究项目的目标是教育初级研究人员，并加强在与洪水等自然灾害有关的情况下评估环境政策学习和能力发展的理论基础。作为欧盟的加入国，捷克共和国面临着制定符合欧盟指令的弹性政策和做法的挑战。首席研究员和她的合作伙伴Jirina Jilkova和Zdenek Kopecky坚持认为，学习和适应是健全政策的核心。在此背景下，美国和捷克社会科学家和研究生团队计划通过回答与他们在以下方面的经验相关的问题来检查捷克目前在知情环境政策方面的能力：1)侧重于加强监管机制、技术能力和资源可用性的灾害进程；2)公共、私营和民间社会行动者和机构的结合，有助于政府执行和维持环境政策的能力。作为理解环境学习和能力发展的一种手段，研究人员将研究2002年捷克洪水这一重点事件的要素。洪水的意义将使研究人员及时得出适用于理论和实践的结论。本研究将特别关注政策、科技、经济和非政府四个能力维度的制度和组织变革。预期结果将导致确定能够支持和维持政策和做法的实施和执行的程序基础的精炼准则。总的来说，合作研究应产生与政策有关的信息，供捷克决策者或必须应付自然灾害后果的国家和社区的其他人使用。此外，通过让学生参与研究过程的各个阶段并为他们提供指导，他们将在评估对环境焦点事件的反应方面获得宝贵的国际经验。该项目通过使美国和中欧的专家能够在共同感兴趣和能力强的领域结合互补的人才和共享研究资源，实现了推进科学知识的计划目标。

The goal of this U.S.-Czech research project between JoAnn Carmin of Virginia Polytechnic and Sate University and partners from the University of Economics, Prague, is to educate junior researchers and to strengthen the theoretical foundation for assessments of environmental policy learning and capacity development in situations related to natural disasters, such as flooding. As a European Union accession country, the Czech Republic faces the challenge of setting resilient policies and practices that comply with EU directives. The principal investigator and her partners, Jirina Jilkova and Zdenek Kopecky, maintain that learning and adaptation are central to sound policy. In this context, the team of U.S. and Czech social scientists and graduate students plans to examine current Czech capacity for informed environmental policy by answering questions related to their experience with: 1) disaster processes that focused on enhancement of regulatory mechanisms, technical capabilities and resource availability and 2) a mix of public, private, and civil society actors and institutions that contributed to governmental capacity to implement and sustain environmental policy. As a means for understanding environmental learning and capacity development, the researchers will examine elements of one focusing event, the Czech floods of 2002. The significance of the floods will allow the researchers to draw timely conclusions that will be applicable to both theory and practice. Specific attention will be paid to institutional and organizational change in the four dimensions of capacity addressed by this study: policy, scientific and technical, economic, and nongovernmental. Results are expected to lead to a refined rubric for identifying procedural underpinnings that can support and sustain the implementation and enforcement of policy and practices.Overall, the collaborative research should generate policy relevant information that can be used by Czechs decision-makers or others in countries and communities that must cope with the consequences of natural disasters. Furthermore, by integrating students with all phases of the research process and providing them with mentoring, they will gain valuable international experience in assessing responsiveness to environmental focusing events. This project fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling experts in the United States and Central Europe to combine complementary talents and share research resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence.