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Public policy is frequently characterised as a sub-discipline of political science which is practically oriented and concerned with what government does and does not do. Further, policy analysis can also be characterised as concerned with either the analysis 'of policy' or 'for policy'. This clearly has implications for the design and delivery of public policy courses. More broadly, higher education in Australia, like elsewhere, faces calls to ensure that students graduate with a range of skills and aptitudes that make them 'job ready' and able to engage with 'real world problems'. One of the ways in which this can be pursued is through industry engagement. However, limited research has been undertaken regarding what this might entail or how it can be pursued. Accordingly, in this paper we explore these issues by: (a) situating engagement within the field of public policy; (b) reviewing how the changing context of higher education, with a particular focus on the drivers and rationale for greater engagement with industry, intersects with the teaching of public policy; and (c) providing a framework which helps to clarify the different modes, potential and risks associated with industry engagement.

Nine years of experience teaching economics in the Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan provides knowledge on the nuances and challenges of teaching economics across cultures. Particular categories and difficulties are presented with some examples of how to address them. Conclusions and findings are used to form general guiding principles for teaching economics in the increasingly diverse US classroom. The principles offered in the paper are valuable to English speakers providing economic teaching and training in post-Soviet nations and, more broadly, to anyone teaching economics across cultures. Finally, suggestions based these principles are offered to encourage all professors of economics to carefully consider language, illustrations, diversity of views regarding economics and the multi-cultural nature of university classrooms to better relate to students and be more effective teachers.

Livestock Mandatory Price reporting, enacted to increase market transparency, has been in place for more than 20 years. However, immense structural change in cattle and beef markets has challenged market information over that time. Large variation present in cattle transaction prices, especially those in the Formula purchases category, on any given day has made traditionally United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)‐reported weighted‐average prices less meaningful. Using nearly 6 years of The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 transactions data from USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS), we demonstrate use of hedonic modeling to facilitate price reporting. While the models show promise to provide useful information, they reveal substantial weaknesses associated with current transaction information collected by USDA from packers. We offer suggestions for improved data collection which would make hedonic modeling of transactions prices a more valuable tool to increase usefulness of reported market prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article documents the experiences of three early career academics trying to establish a network of early career academics (ECAs) in a middle-ranked university in Australia. The changing context of academia means that ECAs face considerable challenges in understanding and negotiating effective career paths. Some of the issues encountered include insecure employment arrangements; unclear and shifting expectations; heavy workloads and competing demands; and conflicting experiences around the collegiate culture of academia. As research and teaching institutions, universities must ensure the ongoing development of new academics. While there is a growing interest in exploring the issues confronted by new academics, much remains to be done to better understand, and improve, the pathways of academic development. To this end we reflect on our efforts to establish an ECA network that aimed to enhance professional development, facilitate an improved research culture and establish an informal peer support network. We did so through establishing an online presence for sharing information, hosting a series of professional development seminars and hosting a 2.5 day writing retreat. Our experiences suggest that, while efforts to enhance the capacity of ECAs are worthwhile, the very same pressures that our network was attempting to address were simultaneously creating barriers to ECA involvement in the network and its activities.

Biodiversity decline undermines the conditions for life on Earth resulting in calls for transformative governance of biodiversity. Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, national biodiversity strategies provide the primary mechanism through which governments demonstrate their conservation efforts. With many countries due to develop new strategies under the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, it is timely to assess existing ones to identify policy design elements that could be 'ratcheted up' to meet the transformative agenda. This article analyzes and compares the policy designs of national biodiversity strategies in Australia, France and Sweden. We cover problem framing, policy goals, targeted groups, implementing agents, and policy instruments, to draw lessons on how national strategies can be designed to further support transformation of biodiversity governance. We identify elements in these strategies that can be used to inspire future ones: a negotiated framing of biodiversity and participatory processes in France, nested and integrated goals, targets and measures in Sweden, and an engagement with indigenous knowledge in Australia. However, to bring about transformative change, the analysis also shows the need for novel and fundamental re-designs to successfully target indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, shift power relations, and make biodiversity conservation a priority rather than an option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban greening is attracting considerable research and practical attention for its contributions to conserving biodiversity, mitigating urban heat and enhancing the liveability and sustainability of cities and urban areas. Much of the urban greening research is concentrated on major cities, with little focus on the needs and experiences with urban greening in regional cities and towns. This paper addresses this by presenting a case study of an urban greening project, 'Naturally Cooler Towns', focused on regional towns in north-east Victoria, Australia. The project was undertaken by the Goulburn Murray Climate Alliance, a regional alliance of local governments, catchment management authorities and a state government department. As the region faces increasing temperatures and impacts of more frequent heatwaves, the project aimed to review tree management practices and identify opportunities for increasing canopy cover with appropriate species for 'climate adapted street trees'. We examine how urban greening is planned and implemented in these towns, and the roles of the regional alliance in providing a forum for collaborative adaptive governance. The regional alliance plays a key role as an intermediary facilitating approaches that demonstrate situatedness: credibility, salience and legitimacy. The paper contributes towards increased understandings of urban greening approaches beyond the major cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]