This title was first published in 2001. Architects, landscape designers, builders, gardeners and teachers have all at some time been called upon to design a play area. However, this diversity of profession has not resulted in a diversity of design solution, as playgrounds appear to have remained virtually the same throughout the world since their creation over a century ago. This text is not a "how-to" book, instead, by using thinking from child development and child psychology, Barbara Hendricks hopes to offer an approach to finding an innovative design solution that will challenge the...

This title was first published in 2001. Using a case study from British Columbia, this book addresses the economies of institutions, institutional change and transactions costs and develops the theory of the New Institutional Economics in the context of forestry institutions. This approach to economic analysis of forestry investment problems will emphasize the understanding of the linkages between the biological as well as institutional attributes of forestry activities.

This title was first published in 2000. Philosophers have been greatly concerned with the nature of explanation, but no account has been fully satisfactory within science or plausible in the wider world. The author asserts that this is due to a misplaced focus and that instead of focusing on explanation, philosophers should consider understanding. This work outlines his theory and defends it against some objections. Attempts to understand understanding can become self-referential, but the book is intended to enable readers to build a good mental model of the author's theory.

This title was first published in 2000. An account of the 1988 US-Japan Science and Technology Agreement (88STA). The research methodology of the study is based on interviews and analysis of the relevant documents and articles augmented by an analysis of selected studies on US-Japan and science and technology relations. The author hopes to: increase the reader's understanding of the bureaucratic process and negotiations within the US and Japanese government in drafting an agreement and the interaction of the negotiators in the outcome; increase our knowledge about how the US-Japanese...

This title was first published in 2002: The rise of New Public Management and the fragmentation of agencies that resulted, created unprecedented new tensions and problems in multi-agency work. This book provides a fascinating insight into the workings of a large multi-agency committee, exploring the manner in which different agencies brought their own agendas, organizational structures and world-views to a multi-agency forum and expected working relationships to be relatively problem free. Charting the development of child protection in the UK, it explores the problems and prospects of both...

This title was first published in 2001. Management of coastal zone areas is particularly complicated due to their international nature. Focussing on European coastal zones, this volume examines the various key issues and concerns and highlights the importance of partnership approaches. It details the inter-relationship between the various organizations involved (both governmental and none-governmental), as well as appraising the current national and international legislation and possible future policies. The contributors draw on in-depth case studies from the UK, the Baltic and Hellenic...

This title was first published in 2001. Detailed interviews with activists and case studies of decision-making bodies show how different membership groups exploit equal opportunities strategies to facilitate or impede women. These case studies expose the conundrum of understanding women as a differentiated but distinct membership group. They illustrate why women activists need to be understood in their diverse and multiple roles of being low paid workers, black women, lesbians and members of political parties, but also demonstrate that women are most empowered when treated as an oppressed...

This title was first published in 2001. Is there such a thing as "Tudor literature"? The question is the theme that binds the essays in this collection. Scholars from around the world address the question of whether there is a sense of continuity in the literature of the Tudor century. The volume begins by looking at early Tudor writers, such as Thomas More, and then moves on to look at Elizabethan poetry and prose, ending by covering the late Tudor dramas, and Shakespeare.

This title was first published in 2001. This text explores the relationship between telecommunications strategic planning process (TSPP), the organization and the environment for developing an understanding of the idea of a national TSPP (NTSPP) in Thailand. The overall aim is to explore an understanding of an NTSPP by providing a detailed study of the strategic planning and practices of the Thai telecom regulators during the period from 1954 to 1996. It applies the strategic planning process principles to further the understanding of NTSPP in Thailand. By using the SPP framework, the study...

This title was first published in 2001. This work is a uniquely multi-disciplinary contribution to the existing bioethical literature on the topic of informed choice of medical services. It is also the first comprehensive bioethical text to confront the central issue of power in the clinical encounter and to argue for statutory protection of the right to informed choice. While the majority of bioethicists argue for a conciliatory, rather than adversarial, approach to the chronic problem of uninformed consent, the author of this work argues that the external regulation of medicine is essential...