How to Use IMPACT

IMPACT is interactive and users are encouraged to offer relevant and timely information to improve the evidence base on any of the current policies listed, or contribute ideas on new policies that are not yet in place. The IMPACT policy database allows registered users to edit content, comment on other user’s contributions and upload supporting documentation to strengthen the evidence base on a specific policy. This interactive element provides the opportunity to publish ‘work in progress’ while having a platform to continually update material in light of new evidence and debate. Regular users are also encouraged to take advantage of the on-line discussion forum to engage other users, and to access the resources page which has links to interesting websites and downloadable reference materials.

Step 1 – logging in

Please register and Log-in as a user. This will prompt you to provide information about yourself and your organisation. You have the option to use an alias name that will appear on the live pages when editing content or participating in the discussion forum. Your personal details will remain confidential and will only be used to monitor usage of this site and to contact you if we have a query about any information you have added. A confirmation email and password will be sent to you by email after registering.

Step 2 – adding information, comments or joining the discussion

After logging in, you will be able to directly edit the contents of the policy database. Just click on the policy of interest and find the edit button at the top of the page. In order to publish your material you will be prompted to provide a brief comment and/or upload supporting documentation in various formats in a dialogue box that will appear at the bottom of the screen.

We are interested in any evidence based information that can be added under any of the subheadings for each policy. For example, you may have up-to-date information to illustrate the impacts of a policy implemented in your country or locality. This can be just a sentence or two to correct or clarify something we have written, or brand new material. You can also upload documents in various formats or provide hyperlinks to sources of information that we will add to our resources page.

Your comments will appear on the website, attributable to you (or the alias you have provided). The Demand Reduction Theme seeks to maintain the highest standards of quality and rigour and therefore assumes responsibility for moderating the contents of the policy database. If we feel the content is inappropriate, we may remove it. We may come back to you by email for clarification. You can help by making sure your comments are fully referenced by noting it inside a pop-up box at the bottom of the screen.

Discussion Forum, Recent Updates and other Resources

After logging in, you will also be able to participate in the discussion forum whether it is to engage other registered users concerning policy content or discuss the highlighted news items found on the home page. At the moment, the discussion forum is split into some broad categories in order to structure the debate. These include a topic to discuss any views on this website, a general discussion topic about transport and energy, a topic to discuss any issues relating to specific policy instruments – this may include information on policies we have not yet included or that you think we should include; the ‘waiting room’ where you can write about any other issues you think are relevant.

Please note, each policy in the database is also provided as a downloadable pdf policy brief that provides more detailed coverage. These policy briefs are “live documents” that will be continually updated based on new evidence and debate brought forward on the IMPACT web pages. Recent comments and/or new evidence and debate will also be highlighted on the recent updates page.

We encourage you to take advantage of our resources page that provides hyperlinks to other information sources or downloadable reference material.

Finally, you can conduct a key word search that will bring up all related policy items and additional resources.

Contact Us

The transport group within the UKERC Demand Reduction Theme is comprised of senior research fellows based at the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University and the University of Aberdeen, UK. We can be contacted at:

Administrator@impact-ukerc.ox.ac.uk

site by Oxford Webware