This paper draws on two seemingly disparate moments – standing witness to protest in Guatemala and unpacking programme design in New York City – to explore the connections, linkages and methodological insights brought forward by front-line organisers. These individuals, though not typically recognised as policy experts, offer crucial knowledge that challenges dominant approaches to law and policy. Turning to their actions and framing, this paper argues that these organisers share a deep and urgent analysis of institutional and state violence. Their perspectives highlight the inadequacies of conventional institutional lenses, which often exclude or dismiss such grassroots expertise. The paper emphasises the importance of how these voices are heard and responded to, particularly given the historical and ongoing marginalisation of such knowledge holders. Drawing on multiple examples, it critiques institutional investments in spatial and bureaucratic schemes that deflect responsibility for violence, and that distance possibilities for accountability. This raises the question of what orientation or sensibility is necessary to engage with and to listen to these collective voices differently, especially from within administrative and bureaucratic systems. Grappling with the possibilities and limitations of what a category of ‘activist-scholar administrator’ could mean, this paper identifies three key lessons: the need for bureaucratic imagination, an iterative approach and expanded analytical frameworks. I argue that much more thinking and action are needed to navigate bureaucratic systems – whether in universities or state institutions – in ways that centre community knowledge and respond meaningfully to calls for broader accountability.

Although forests play a vital role in US climate strategies, US forest area is expected to decline in the coming decades. Policymakers can help arrest or reverse that decline by strengthening incentives for forest carbon sequestration. Increased funding for afforestation, restoration, and bioenergy and wood products market development will likely benefit the forest sector unevenly across geographic, commercial, and demographic dimensions. This review explores the effects of policies – particularly incentives for afforestation and reforestation, carbon credit market participation, and wood products utilization – on US forest communities. We describe this policy landscape and use various data to investigate effects on diverse stakeholders, with special emphasis on the implications for disadvantaged and forest-dependent communities.

Afforestation policies in the South-Central region could significantly enhance carbon dioxide removal while reshaping rural dynamics. Forest carbon credit markets, though crucial for climate goals, may disadvantage small forest owners and communities, instead favoring large corporate entities. Policies promoting wood products in the South-Central region could benefit forest-dependent, high-poverty communities. We also note how policy implementation might ensure an equitable distribution of climate-related benefits among stakeholders in the forest sector.

In many economies, youth unemployment rates over the past two decades have exceeded 10 percentage points, highlighting that not all youth successfully transition successfully from schooling to employment. Equally disturbing are the high rates of young adults not observed in employment, education, or training, a rate commonly referred to as “NEET.” There is not a single pathway for successful transitions. Understanding these pathways and the influences of geographic location, employment opportunities, and family and community characteristics that contribute to positive transitions is crucial. While abundant data exists to support this understanding, it is often siloed and not easily combined to inform schools, communities, and policymakers about effective strategies and necessary changes. Researchers prefer working with datasets, while many stakeholders favor results presented through storytelling and visualizations. This paper introduces YouthView, an innovative online platform designed to provide comprehensive insights into youth transition challenges and opportunities. YouthView integrates information from datasets on youth disadvantage indicators, employment, skills demand, and job vacancy at regional levels. The platform features two modes: a guided storytelling mode with selected visualizations, and an open-ended suite of exploratory dashboards for in-depth data analysis. This dual approach enables policymakers, community organizations, and education providers to gain a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by different communities. By illuminating spatial patterns, socioeconomic disparities, and relationships between disadvantage factors and labor market dynamics, YouthView facilitates informed decision-making and the development of targeted interventions, ultimately contributing to improved youth economic outcomes and expanded opportunities in areas of greatest need.

Guerrilla rewilding, the unsanctioned release of species into the wild, is a controversial activity criticized by most conservation professionals. In this Forum article we argue that despite this criticism, it has played a significant but underexplored role in the UK’s rewilding movement. Using examples including butterfly species, goshawk Astur gentilis, wild boar Sus scrofa, beaver Castor fiber and lynx Lynx lynx, we argue that examining these guerrilla rewilding acts provides valuable insights into public preferences for certain species, their perceived acceptability, and the ways in which they shape knowledge and practices of human–wildlife coexistence. However, our analysis also suggests that in some cases guerrilla rewilding can undermine the very species it seeks to restore. Animals released without preparation or monitoring, particularly those habituated to human presence, often lack the ability to survive independently, leading to welfare issues, human–wildlife conflict and wider ecological impacts. Furthermore, by circumventing the social and collaborative dimensions of rewilding, these actions risk deepening divisions among stakeholders, which are critical to ensuring long-term success. Nonetheless, this type of rewilding can also potentially trigger more positive emotions of recovery whilst raising the species’ profile. We find that guerrilla rewilding has in some cases influenced formal rewilding practice and the broader discourse in the UK, in stark contrast to the official government position on nature recovery. This paper draws together some key learning points and highlights areas for future research on guerrilla rewilding.

The opioid overdose crisis has become a global public health emergency, claiming more than 100,000 lives each year. In North America, shifting opioid prescribing practices in response to the crisis have profoundly affected people living with chronic pain, who now face reduced access to prescription opioids. Against this backdrop, pain stakeholders have become increasingly active in policymaking arenas to shape how opioids and pain are understood. This study examines the Canadian Pain Task Force (CPTF) — a federal advisory body charged with creating a national pain strategy — by analyzing its reports, public and patient consultations, and internal documents. Through qualitative framing analysis, we find that stakeholders overwhelmingly depicted the overdose crisis as the result of illicit and irresponsible opioid use, while positioning stigma as both a driver and consequence of the crisis that compounded the challenges faced by people with chronic pain. From these problem definitions flowed policy proposals centered on expanding opioid access, reducing stigma, and advancing patient-centered care. These findings demonstrate how pain stakeholders shape, and are simultaneously shaped by, opioid policy debates — with consequences for both overdose prevention and chronic pain management.

Animal welfare awareness (AWA) during transportation and in markets is a critical concern in livestock production, influencing the health of animals and other outcomes for stakeholders. Nevertheless, it remains understudied in many developing regions. This study investigates the level of awareness and practices regarding animal welfare during and after transportation among primary stakeholders — sellers, drivers, and buyers — in three livestock markets in Nigeria: Achida, Ikorodu Sabo, and Amansea. A structured survey focusing on the stakeholders’ familiarity with the concept of animal welfare, the Five Freedoms, the Animal Diseases (Control) Act, and encounters with veterinary control posts was conducted across the selected markets between February and July 2024. Furthermore, stakeholders were also questioned about barriers to improving practices. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed to explore associations between the dichotomised awareness of animal welfare and key variables. A significant association between AWA and market location was revealed, but not with occupation. Further analysis showed that dichotomised awareness of Veterinary Control Posts (VCPs) and the Animal Diseases (Control) Act had significant negative associations with AWA, suggesting complex relationships between legal knowledge and familiarity with the concept of animal welfare. Additionally, transport-related mortality was reported by 70.7% of respondents, with overcrowding and sickness identified as primary causes. However, significant barriers, including economic constraints and a lack of authority to mandate standards, were the leading challenges often faced by stakeholders. The findings underscore the need for targeted interventions and policy reforms, including increased enforcement.

While research shows that public preferences across policy domains tend to move in parallel, the mechanisms behind this dynamic remain unclear. We examine four explanations: (1) alignment in preferred policy levels; (2) parallel policy movement combined with domain-specific thermostatic feedback; (3) feedback to global policy across domains; and (4) responsiveness to presidential partisanship. These mechanisms matter for how we interpret public opinion change and policy responsiveness. We develop and test a theoretical model using data on four social spending domains in the USA. Our findings suggest that spending mood reflects both parallelism in preferred policy levels and responsiveness to overall social spending and presidential party affiliation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a significant health threat to people in corrections facilities due to communal living, inability to social distance, and high rates of comorbidity among incarcerated populations. Combined with the First Step Act of 2018, which granted incarcerated individuals seeking compassionate release access to the courts, the pandemic increased the number of people in federal prisons petitioning for early release due to health risk. Analysis of federal compassionate release case law throughout the pandemic reveals inconsistent judicial reasoning related to COVID-19-based requests. Inconsistently interpreted compassionate release factors include vaccination status, COVID-19 reinfection, and the “degree” of extraordinary circumstances considered. Varied application among federal districts produced inequitable access to compassionate release. Therefore, this analysis provides insight into how an unclear policy can create disparate public health outcomes and considerations for compassionate release determinations in future times of uncertainty, such as a pandemic.