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This paper discusses developments in the last five to six years in the provision of operational flood forecasting in England, Wales, and Scotland. Before the formation of the Environment Agency EA in England and Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency SEPA, flood forecasting capabilities were fragmented. Just over a decade ago both organisations received governmental mandates for the provision of flood forecasting and warning nationally, and have as a result in recent years established systems providing national coverage: the National Flood Forecasting System, and Flood Early Warning System FEWS Scotland. These have facilitated a rapid expansion of catchments for which forecasts are provided, and the common framework used has enabled a more rapid introduction of scientific advances in forecasting techniques. This paper gives an overview of some of these recent developments, as well as providing an outlook to further developments to be undertaken in the near future. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the case that farmers need new skills and knowledge if environmentally sustainable agriculture is to be achieved. The first part of the paper looks at policy transition in agriculture in England, examining the extent to which agricultural policy is now environmentally driven. Secondly, the nature of knowledge is subject to examination. This section is more speculative and suggestive leading to the third element in this paper – the need to bring farmers back into the analysis. In both policy analysis and the literature of technology transfer there is a danger that farmers are seen merely as passive recipients and not active participants. The importance of farmers' own knowledge is stressed in a call for fresh research and a fundamental re-orientation of the current debate on technology transfer in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A seeming paradox of globalization is that while innovation and the industries and institutions that support it transcend local and national boundaries, high-tech innovative activity continues to agglomerate in a select number of high-capacity regions. Research, however, suggests that innovative regions must—through collaborative activity and related networks—both economize regional capacities while remaining open to global knowledge and finance. Collaboration and network formation are viewed as critical in this regard, as the competitive pressures of globalization are forcing firms to adopt collaborative and open innovation practices: forging relationships with external partners. Two important sources of knowledge and finance are regionally concentrated venture capital firms and large corporations, often globe-straddling multinational enterprises. While collaboration occurs between these two actors, an understanding of the processes and implications has only begun to emerge. Focusing on collaborative venture capital activity in London and the South East, this exploratory paper presents a preliminary understanding as to the role that this particular collaborative activity plays in the pursuit of complementary, extra-regional knowledge and expertise, and the extent to which this collaboration is recharacterizing the shape of regionally based venture capital networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]