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

这个由弗吉尼亚理工学院的JoAnn Carmin和州立大学以及布拉格经济大学的合作伙伴联合开展的美国-捷克研究项目的目标是培养初级研究人员，并加强在洪水等与自然灾害相关的情况下评估环境政策学习和能力发展的理论基础。作为加入欧洲联盟的国家，捷克共和国面临着制定符合欧盟指令的有弹性的政策和做法的挑战。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。在这种背景下，由美国和捷克的社会科学家和研究生组成的团队计划通过回答与他们在以下方面的经验有关的问题来考察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过程；2)公共、私人和民间社会行为者和机构的组合，这些行为者和机构有助于政府实施和维持环境政策的能力。作为了解环境学习和能力发展的一种手段，研究人员将研究一个重点事件的要素--2002年捷克洪水。洪水的重要性将使研究人员能够及时得出适用于理论和实践的结论。将特别注意本研究涉及的四个能力方面的体制和组织变革：政策、科学和技术、经济和非政府组织。预计结果将产生一个细化的标准，以确定能够支持和维持政策和做法的执行和执行的程序基础。总体而言，协作研究应产生与政策有关的信息，供捷克决策者或必须应对自然灾害后果的国家和社区的其他人使用。此外，通过将学生融入研究过程的所有阶段并为他们提供指导，他们将获得宝贵的国际经验，以评估对环境重点事件的反应。该项目通过使美国和中欧的专家能够结合互补的人才，并在具有强烈共同兴趣和能力的领域共享研究资源，实现了促进科学知识发展的计划目标。

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.