User:Michael Osei Assibey

Homework 1

2. Shared understanding is whereby a situation concerning a decision whereby participants understand the decision options are being taken. There may be disagreements but in all the shared understanding is mostly written down to be assessed by all. It is a very key aspect of open policy practice.

----#: . The participants also understand what facts, opinions, and disagreements exist related to the decision. --Jouni (talk) 11:20, 22 March 2015 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: comment)

7. Open assessment is the main knowledge in open policy practice and seeks to answer the question of finding solutions to decision making using scientific information available. The assessment process involves a lot of applications from

stakeholders,
scientific methodology and
opinions from experts

in order to arrive at a conclusion.

----#: . Open assessment is the work to produce information needed in the decision making. --Jouni (talk) 11:20, 22 March 2015 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: comment)

18. Open policy practice aims to create a shared understanding in the decision making process and it thus consists of;

shared understanding,
- execution of the decision support (scientific method used to inform decision maker),
  - evaluation and managing of the work (does the work reach its aim?) and
    - co-creation skills and facilitation (ability to manage uncertainties ----#: . and also other things than uncertainties, such as the process of decision making. --Jouni (talk) 11:20, 22 March 2015 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: comment)).

Homework 3

Question 1

Is the realistic target of the GHG emissions set by Kuopio excluding the wood-based fuel and other potential sources of emissions since only the reform in the Haapaniemi power plant seemed to have been used?

Question 2

In terms of the health impact in the training asssessment, I could not grab the concept of using the ovariable in the R code.

Is it similar to the p value in dose-response or exceptionally different?
- Thus could more elaboration be done in class concerning this process?

Homework 10

Evaluation of an Assessment

Evaluation of a classmate's Assessment Dust storm in south of Iran causes lots of environmental impacts and health problems for the country (by Mohammad Shahidehnia and Paula Maatela)

**Characterization of assessment**
Category		Characterization
Impacts		The health impacts of the dust storms on the environment and people were identified.
Causes		Dust storms was the main idea behind this assessment but as to how other pollutants or other factors can confound the problem was not made clear.
Problem owner		The citizens of Ahvaz will be the ones with most impact and this include decision makers and authorities.
Target		Mostly the ones above but as to if they were the intended targets in the assessment was not fully done.
Interaction		Not sure about the extent of participation of different users especially since the Decision makers do have the final say and if the citizens do have an influence at all.
Category of interaction within the knowledge-policy interaction framework.		Joint participation (Open interaction)
Dimensions of openness	Scope of participation	Citizens, government, opinion leaders, Paula and Mohammed.
	Access to information	Level of pollution and health effects with relevant data by WHO .
	Timing of openness	Is the time of openness specific for all the participants or the stipulated target year would be the time for the assessment. Not clearly defined.
	Scope of contribution	Extent of citizen's contribution not specific but is purported to include all contributions of participants.
	Impact of contribution	The outcomes of the results from the assessment creates the image of all contributions but do citizens, government or private entities play a major role?.

**Evaluation of the assessment**
Category		Evaluation	Reasoning
Quality of content		1	The question could have been rephrased to get stipulated results. Do the citizens and leaders of government have the same level of impact and contribution? However other information are very clear.
Applicability	Relevance	3	The relevance of dust storms on the health of people and the environment is very important.
	Availability.	3	It seems that there is a will to make results available to all parties. In reality this might prove problematic.
	Usability	2	The results gained from this assessment could be applied to other regions like Ghana where we face the same issue in the Northern sector from the Sahara desert but the structure and most of the details are lacking.
	Acceptability	3	It depends on the citizens to know the environmental and health impacts of these dust storms and the authorities to take relevant action.
Efficiency		3	Regional scope of the effects should be also addressed especially between Iran and Iraq but overall the concept and ideas are commendable.

Suggestions to improve the draft

The main idea should be reported next time in an assessment and the main parts should be addressed in terms of the contributions from each affected contributor in the assessment to be done.

Evaluation of real-life Assessment Climate change policies in Basel

**Characterization of assessment**
Category		Characterization
Impacts		The health and climate impacts of policies to the city of Basel.
Causes		Air pollution and with GHG emmission reduction in city of Basel.
Problem owner		Citizens of Basel, decision makers (builders, law makers) and planners.
Target		Buildings including renovations and energy efficiency levels.
Interaction		Interactions between the builders, metropolitan authorities and owners of buildnings.
Category of interaction within the knowledge-policy interaction framework.		Joint participation (Open interaction) and law mitigation
Dimensions of openness	Scope of participation	Citizens, city authorities and decision makers.
	Access to information	The pillars of Basel-City's energy policy, good background on the energy structure and policies .
	Timing of openness	The timing of the openness is not clear and the target and comparison years in the 'previous version decision table' not complete however they do give an estimate for the efficiency and passive rate.
	Scope of contribution	Percentages of owner's renovation and builder's efficiency and policy of authority well stated.
	Impact of contribution	The information of the builders, owners of the buildings and district authorities used in the final assessment so every information is vital.

**Evaluation of the assessment**
Category		Evaluation	Reasoning
Quality of content		4	Clearly stated results and descriptions as to what the results mean were clear. The pillars of the energy policy of Basel gave a good understanding of the assessment.
Applicability	Relevance	4	In comparison with other climate change policies in other cities could lead to mitigation policies that can help reduce air pollution.
	Availability.	3	The citizens and building owners would be most affected to see a change in reduction of GHG emissions hence they should be made aware of the assessment on an annual basis.
	Usability	4	The policies regarding renovation of old buildings and investment in other renewable sources of energy like solar and biofuels are very helpful.
	Acceptability	4	Majority of these policies require collaboration between district authorities, citizens and builders which is well noted in this assessment.
Efficiency		3	The scope of efficiency of the various policies especially in terms of which is more effective than the other is up to the reader or investigator to decide.