Environmental Policy Analyses: Learning from the Past for the Future

Having had the opportunity of receiving considerable public money (mainly from the Swiss National Science Foundation) for numerous en- ronmental policy studies in Switzerland and abroad during the last 25 years, I have decided to put the results – published mainly in German and French but also in English in many scientific journals, monographs and book sections – in a single book on behalf of my students, younger sch- ars interested in policy analysis dating from the period of the first en- ronmental policies, and my friends teaching this subject in Switzerland and abroad. The criteria used to select the fifteen contributions were their impact on the scientific debate at the time of their publication, their validity for p- sent conceptualizations of policy analysis in the field of the environment, 1 and their contribution to the development of policy analysis as a whole . Moreover, the selected contributions mainly focus on empirical appli- tions in the field of environmental policies or the interface between en- ronmental and non-environmental policies. Some have led to concrete p- icy recommendations of which most have been partly implemented since, at least within my own country. This research also sometimes addressed regional political administrative arrangements leading to administrative reforms and new strategic directions of implementing agencies.

From the reviews:

"Knoepfel ... has published numerous works relating to public and environmental policy. In this context, his current work, in 15 chapters, is the result of efforts to highlight contributions on the impact of scientific debate on policy analysis in the environmental field with respect to its conceptualization and development on these issues as a whole. ... this work will enhance collections containing materials that include environmental analysis policy and politics in a global context. For specialized interdisciplinary collections. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students through professionals." (J. H. Hunter, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (6), 2008)