Decisions under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) require scientific input on the risk that the species will become extinct. A series of critiques on the role of science in ESA decisions have called for improved consistency and transparency in species risk assessments and clear distinctions between science input and policy application. To address the critiques and document the emerging practice of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), we outline an assessment process based on principles and practices of risk and decision analyses that results in a scientific report on species status. The species status assessment (SSA) process has three successive stages: 1) document the life history and ecological relationships of the species in question to provide the foundation for the assessment, 2) describe and hypothesize causes for the current condition of the species, and 3) forecast the species' future condition. The future condition refers to the ability of a species to sustain populations in the wild under plausible future scenarios. The scenarios help explore the species' response to future environmental stressors and to assess the potential for conservation to intervene to improve its status. The SSA process incorporates modeling and scenario planning for prediction of extinction risk and applies the conservation biology principles of representation, resiliency, and redundancy to evaluate the current and future condition. The SSA results in a scientific report distinct from policy application, which contributes to streamlined, transparent, and consistent decision-making and allows for greater technical participation by experts outside of the USFWS, for example, by state natural resource agencies. We present two case studies based on assessments of the eastern massasauga rattlesnake Sistrurus catenatus and the Sonoran Desert tortoise Gopherus morafkai to illustrate the process. The SSA builds upon the past threat-focused assessment by including systematic and explicit analyses of a species' future response to stressors and conservation, and as a result, we believe it provides an improved scientific analysis for ESA decisions.

Focal points □ A questionnaire was used to determine current perceptions of continuing professional development within the pharmacy profession in Northern Ireland □ Although the majority of respondents understood the concept, few pharmacists currently practise this method of professional development □ Almost 90 per cent of responding pharmacists agreed/strongly agreed that it was essential for all practising pharmacists to participate in continuing professional development □ Lack of time, remuneration and locum cover, location and type of courses provided, and lack of understanding about continuing professional development were all identified as barriers to participation

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Social vulnerability analyses have typically relied upon narratives to capture the nuances of the concept. While narratives have enhanced our understanding of the multiple drivers of vulnerability, they have had limited influence on hazards and climate adaptation policy. This is partially a function of the different needs and goals of the policy and research communities. The former prioritises generalised quantitative information, while the latter is more concerned with capturing complexity. A theoretically driven and empirically tested quantitative vulnerability and capacities index (VCI) for use at the local scale is presented to help connect vulnerability research and policy. There are four versions of the index for use in rural and urban contexts at the household and community levels. There can be an infinite number of drivers of vulnerability, but the VCI draws upon 12 indicators to represent material, institutional and attitudinal aspects of differential vulnerability and capacities.

PurposeExperiential approaches have become increasingly common in entrepreneurship education in response to calls for different approaches to the traditional didactic process-driven approach. Experiential approaches offer the potential to develop the skills and mindset that are required in entrepreneurship. Research has highlighted the critical importance of educator pedagogical competence in the delivery and quality of teaching and learning in further and higher education. Nevertheless, educator narratives and practices are often based on foundations that suggest a lack in the depth of knowledge and understanding of the underlying pedagogic learning theories and practice. This paper brings educational theory and pedagogic practice together in a three-stage framework of the experiential entrepreneurship learning process to support entrepreneurship educators within further and higher education.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews and brings together the seminal educational theories and philosophies of constructivism, objectivism, Kolb's (1984) theory of experiential learning, Schön's (1983) reflection-in-action and Mezirow's (1997) theory of transformative learning, to develop a framework which underpins the experiential entrepreneurship learning process.FindingsThis paper develops a three-stage framework which informs the roles of an educator and a learner in experiential entrepreneurship education within further and higher education, based on educational theories and philosophies that inform the learning process.Practical implicationsThe developed framework supports the pedagogic competence of educators in the delivery of experiential entrepreneurship education through a deeper understanding of the supporting theory that informs the pedagogic practice. This will provide consolidation to enable educators to maximise the effectiveness of their educational practice (Kaynardağ, 2019) and can increase the legitimacy of entrepreneurship education (Foliard et al., 2018).Originality/valueThis paper meets calls in the literature to provide a closer engagement between educational theory and pedagogic practice to afford guidance as to how educators can navigate some of the different educational theories and philosophies to consolidate the effective delivery of quality experiential entrepreneurship education. Applying seminal educational theories and philosophies to ensure the quality of experiential education can support the legitimacy of experiential entrepreneurship education.