*Note: These contents are assembled from several web sites, some of whom are now defunct. Although I have the documents in my records, I've provided the current links to available items. Copies of material from defunct sites, as well as my works, are provided below. Copyright belongs to the authors and/or publishers of the material according to the information contained in the documents. An internet search of the titles or of content from the material should be made for referencing purposes. The owner of this web site only claims authorship where indicated within the material.
2010-2011 Evaluation of the Policy Development Contribution Program - Final Report 2014 — Evaluation supports accountability to Parliament and Canadians by helping the Government of Canada to credibly report on the results achieved with resources invested in programs. Evaluation supports deputy heads in managing for results by informing them about whether their programs are producing the outcomes that they were designed to achieve, at an affordable cost; and supports policy and program improvements by helping to identify lessons learned and best practices.
A Code of Good Practice on Policy Dialogue : Building on An Accord Between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector 2002 — Signed in December 2001, An Accord Between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector describes the key elements of a strengthened relationship between the two sectors. It sets out common values, principles and commitments that will shape the sectors’ future practices as they work together for the benefit of all Canadians. This Code of Good Practice on Policy Dialogue fulfils the Accord’s commitment to take measures to put its provisions into action. As such, the Code is a tool for deepening the dialogue between the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector at the various stages of the public policy process in order to achieve better policies for Canadians.
An Evaluation of the Sectoral Involvement in Departmental Policy Development 2004 — The Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI) is a joint initiative between the voluntary sector and the Government of Canada that was announced in June of 2000. The long-term goal of the VSI is to strengthen the sector's capacity to meet the challenges of the future, and to enhance the relationship between the voluntary sector and the federal government.
AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO POLICY WORK 2003 — Policy work is generally understood to be difficult to measure and largely bureaucracy-bound. It has long been held that the study of policy advice is not an objective science, and that the products of the policy process are highly contextual and time-specific. In other words, policy work is not a precise business.
A Practical Guide to Policy Making in Northern Ireland 2004 — The Permanent Secretaries’ Group commissioned this Practical Guide to Policy-Making in response to the increasing demand for policy development and advice by the Northern Ireland Civil Service following devolution, and a need expressed by civil servants at all levels for more guidance on the policy development process.
Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) — Our mission is to create knowledge and lead public dialogue and discussion on social and economic issues important to the well-being of all Canadians. The relevance of our work is reflected in our ranking as Canada's most influential social policy think tank. (CPRN is no longer operating. This archive of research materials will continue to be hosted by Carleton University Library.)
Capacity Building: Investing in not-for-profit effectiveness 2011 — Capacity building, actions that boost a not-for-profit’s ability and effectiveness to deliver greater help to their communities, has long been an area of interest for the not-for-profit sector, funders and the broader community.
Community Roles in Policy 2009 — There has been growing interest in recent years in place-based interventions and their unique contribution to tackling complex issues, such as poverty. These challenging problems cannot be resolved through single solutions or one-off responses.
Doing Environmental Scanning: An Overview Guide 2012 — This guide provides you with an overview of doing environmental scanning in your organisation. The aim is to allow you to build an understanding of the environmental scanning process and what is involved. It’s based on a series of blog posts on my site (http://thinkingfutures.net/blog). I'm going to assume that you have made the decision to scan to inform your organisation's strategic thinking around possible options and strategies available to it into the future, and you want to know how to get started.
Environmental Scan – What? Why? How? 2014 — The environmental scan is another fundamental analysis that you want to conduct to track the environment you are operating in when you are planning to launch a new project.
Evidence-Based Policymaking: What is it? How does it work? What relevance for developing countries? 2006 — The aim of this work is to identify lessons and approaches from EBP in the UK which may be valuable to developing countries. The issues, approaches and tools presented are based on the assumption that the reader is a progressive policymaker in a developing country, who is interested in utilising EBP.
Handbook on Citizen Engagement: Beyond Consultation 2008 — The handbook is intended to whet the appetite for citizen engagement for those new to citizen engagement, and for those with experience to deepen the analysis behind citizen engagement projects and provide a synthesis of the field and a concise reference tool. The long term vision is to contribute to the closing of the gap between governments and citizens, to allow public servants and politicians to reconnect with citizens’ needs, priorities and values.
How Citizens can take part in developing and implementing public policy - Part 2 -2003 — innovative ways of engaging citizens. Particular attention is given to elaborating a typology of appropriate methods for different stages of the policy process, taking into account the degree of complexity of the policy issue.
Investing in Community Capacity Building 2007 — The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of community capacity building in neighbourhood revitalization and the implications for the way in which such work is funded. The paper briefly reviews recent trends in funding practices. It then discusses the nature of community capacity building and the challenges it poses, drawing upon the Action for Neighbourhood Change initiative as a case in point.
Making Statistics More Meaningful for Policy Research and Program Evaluation 2004 — This article focuses on the use of statistics in policy and evaluation research and the need to present statistical information in a form that is meaningful to mixed audiences. Three guidelines for formulating and presenting meaningful statistics are outlined. Understandability ensures that knowledge of statistical methods is not required for comprehending the information presented. Interpretability ensures that statistical information can be explained using familiar, non-abstract units. Comparability ensures that the magnitudes of different estimates can be directly compared within and across studies.
Modern Policy-Making: Ensuring Policies Deliver Value for Money 2001 — The report identifies good practice in policy design and implementation by drawing on selected case studies and examples of good practice from departments, local authorities, the private and voluntary sectors. The report’s key findings include: Identifying the need for a policy, Understanding the nature of the problem, Assessing how policies are likely to work in practice, and Identifying and assessing risks to performance and delivery. The report also identifies good practice for Departments to improve the way they implement, maintain and evaluate their policies.
Place-based Public Policy: Towards a New Urban and Community Agenda for Canada 2005 — Bradford argues that the increasingly complex challenges that govern the quality of life in our cities cannot be solved by one or two players acting on their own. Instead, Canada's future competitiveness depends on its ability to set aside traditional, segmented and aspatial approaches and develop a "place-based public policy" rooted in "collaborative, multilevel governance".
Primer on Place-Based Development 2010 — Place-based development, in contrast to conventional sectoral, programmatic or issue-defined perspectives, is a holistic and targeted intervention that seeks to reveal, utilize and enhance the unique natural, physical, and/or human capacity endowments present within a particular location for the development of the in-situ community and/or its biophysical environment.
Public Policy and Public Participation Engaging Citizens and Community in the Development of Public Policy 2003 — This workbook is intended to be a practical guide that will help readers to understand the public policy context in which we are working, to see the need and desire for citizen and community engagement, and then to design and implement appropriate processes. It will be of most interest and use to public servants who work with some aspect of policy development on a regular basis.
Voluntary Sector: Initiative Impact Evaluation: Lessons Learned from the Voluntary Sector Initiative (2000-2005), August 2009 — The purpose of this report is to provide a synthesis of evaluation work conducted to-date on the Voluntary Sector Initiative and to evaluate the overall impacts and effects of the VSI covering the period 2000-2005. Impacts in the areas of awareness, strengthening sector/government relationships, regulatory reform, and capacity are examined. The evaluation also attempts to verify the data underlying each line of evidence and establish causality of program inputs and activities to impacts.
What Role for Citizens in Developing and Implementing Public Policy? Part 1 2003 — The specific focus of Part 1 of this paper is on the processes Australian governments use at national level to facilitate greater citizen participation.
What’s the purpose of the environmental scan and how do we get this? 2015 — An environmental scan is an objective review of the current and anticipated environmental factors that impact your organization. These can include, for example, the political, economic and demographic environment in which you’re operating... The environmental scan helps you to understand the broader context in which you’re operating. By investing the time to identify key trends and environmental factors that impact your nonprofit, you can begin to think through the implications and, where appropriate, plan a course of action.