Critical factors for waste management in office building retrofit projects in Australia

Office building retrofit is a sector being highlighted in Australia because of the mature office building market characterised by a large proportion of ageing properties. The increasing number of office building retrofit projects strengthens the need for waste management. Retrofit projects possess unique characteristics in comparison to traditional demolition and new builds such as partial operation of buildings, constrained site spaces and limited access to as-build information. Waste management activities in retrofit projects can be influenced by issues that are different from traditional construction and demolition projects. However, previous research on building retrofit projects has not provided an understanding of the critical issues affecting waste management. This research identifies the critical factors which influence the management of waste in office building retrofit projects through a literature study and a questionnaire survey to industry practitioners. Statistical analysis on a range of potential waste issues reveals the critical factors, as agreed upon by survey respondents in consideration of their different professional responsibilities and work natures. The factors are grouped into five dimensions, comprising industry culture, organisational support and incentive, existing building information, design, and project delivery process. The discussions of the dimensions indicate that the waste management factors of office building retrofit projects are further intensified compared to those for general demolition and construction because retrofit projects involve existing buildings which are partially operating with constrained work space and limited building information. Recommendations for improving waste management in office building retrofit projects are generalised such as waste planning, auditing and assessment in the planning and designing stage, collaboration and coordination of various stakeholders and different specialists, optimised building surveying and BIM technologies for waste analysis, and new design strategies for waste prevention.

After Darkly Catwalk Design, QUT Fashion Graduate Showcase 2013

QUT Fashion collaborated with QUT Interior Design to design the Catwalk for the After Darkly Graduate Fashion Show 2013. The ephemeral work (catwalk canopy) was developed through a collaboration between the authors based upon an undergraduate interior design unit 'Filmic Interiors'. The unit exploited the potential of film to influence, understand, and develop novel interior spaces – particularly through consideration of mise en scene, cinematic effects and atmospheric design strategies engaged by key film directors. The design outcome represented a hybridisation of student design proposals, contemplating both film and emerging fashion collections from QUT fashion graduate class of 2013. The creative work built upon material experimentation research explored by the designers either through prior QUT interior design units ('Strange Spaces') or through previous practice ‘Making Strange’(1). The work explored a number of iterations each testing material qualities and associated immaterial cinematic affects. The final catwalk proposed a unique design, which posited the spectators centrally within the space, encircled by a hand formed flexible material canopy used as an entrance for the fashion collections. The proposal exploited the malleable yet tensile character of the canopy to inform a temporary installation, intensified further through a varied program of sceno-graphic lighting. (1) Lindquist, M. & Pytel, A. (2013)

Going live : building academic capacity in blended learning using web-conferencing technologies

This paper reports on a current initiative at Queensland University of Technology to provide timely, flexible and sustainable training and support to academic staff in blended learning and associated techno-pedagogies via a web-conferencing classroom and collaboration tool, Elluminate Live!. This technology was first introduced to QUT in 2008 as part of the university‘s ongoing commitment to meeting the learning needs of diverse student cohorts. The centralised Learning Design team, in collaboration with the university‘s department of eLearning Services, was given the task of providing training and support to academic staff in the effective use of the technology for teaching and learning, as part of the team‘s ongoing brief to support and enhance the provision of blended learning throughout the university. The resulting program, ―Learning Design Live‖ (LDL) is informed by Rogers‘ theory of innovation and diffusion (2003) and structured according to Wilson‘s framework for faculty development (2007). This paper discusses the program‘s design and structure, considers the program‘s impact on academic capacity in blended learning within the institution, and reflects on future directions for the program and emerging insights into blended learning and participant engagement for both staff and students.

Networked livecoding at VL/HCC 2013

Network connectivity offers the potential for a group of musicians to play together over the network. This paper describes a trans-Atlantic networked musical livecoding performance between Andrew Sorensen in Germany (at the Schloss Daghstuhl conference on Collaboration and Learning through Live Coding) and Ben Swift in San Jose (at YL/HCC) in September 2013. In this paper we describe the infrastructure developed to enable this performance.

Collaborative learning in the rural Indonesian craft industry

The research explores the potential for participatory and collaborative approaches in working with the Indonesian glass-bead rural craft industry, which currently struggles to sustain its business. Contextual inquiry and participatory action research were used to understand the local context, including motivations, barriers and opportunities and to collaboratively develop strategies for advancement and innovation. The study documents participatory design projects undertaken to make, sell and promote hedonic products. It identifies the importance of understanding local context and individual craftsperson aspirations in designing collaborative support programs. It also provides an in depth insight into the Indonesian rural craft industry.

What is plan B? Using Foucault's archaeology to enhance policy analysis

Many governments in western democracies conduct the work of leading their societies forward through policy generation and implementation. Despite government attempts at extensive negotiation, collaboration and debate, the general populace in these same countries frequently express feelings of disempowerment and undue pressure to be compliant, often leading to disengagement. Here we outline Plan B: a process for examining how policies that emerge from good intentions are frequently interpreted as burdensome or irrelevant by those on whom they have an impact. Using a case study of professional standards for teachers in Australia, we describe how we distilled Foucault’s notions of archaeology into a research approach centring on the creation of ‘polyhedrons of intelligibility’ as an alternative approach by which both policy makers and those affected by their policies may understand how their respective causes are supported and adversely affected.

Beyond the Producer/Consumer Divide : Key Principles of Produsage and Opportunities for Innovation

Though popular, concepts such as Toffler's 'prosumer' (1970; 1980; 1990) are inherently limited in their ability to accurately describe the makeup and dynamics of current co-creative environments, from fundamentally non-profit initiatives like the Wikipedia to user-industry partnerships that engage in crowdsourcing and the development of collective intelligence. Instead, the success or failure of such projects can be understood best if the traditional producer/consumer divide is dissolved, allowing for the emergence of the produser (Bruns, 2008). A close investigation of leading spaces for produsage makes it possible to extract the key principles which underpin and guide such content co-creation, and to identify how innovative pro-am partnerships between commercial entities and user communities might be structured in order to maximise the benefits that both sides will be able to draw from such collaboration. This chapter will outline these principles, and point to successes and failures in applying them to pro- am initiatives.

Promoting youth participation in communities through youth master planning

A number of communities across the United States are creating visionary documents called youth master plans (YMPs) to promote youth participation, and to focus on youth needs. This article presents an analysis of 38 YMPs from communities across the United States. This multiple methods research included a questionnaire, interviews, and an extensive document analysis. Four key YMP ingredients which enable youth participation were revealed: valuing youth voice through an asset-based approach; providing specific and meaningful participation opportunities for youth in both everyday life and community governance; the presence of a community champion alongside the collaboration of multiple entities within a community; and specific implementation strategies to ensure participation occurs in meaningful ways. Recommendations for YMP improvement and suggestions for future research are also presented.

The new supply chains : the Multichannel Networks

Digital innovation is transforming the media and entertainment industries. The professionalization of YouTube’s platform is paradigmatic of that change. The 100 original channel initiative launched in late 2011 was designed to transform YouTube’s brand through production of a high volume of quality premium video content that would more deeply engage its audience base and in the process attract big advertisers. An unanticipated by-product has been the rapid growth of a wave of aspiring next-generation digital media companies from within the YouTube ecosystem. Fuelled by early venture capital some have ambitious goals to become global media corporations in the online video space. A number of larger MCNs (Multi-Channel Networks) - BigFrame, Machinima, Fullscreen, AwesomenessTV, Maker Studios , Revision3 and DanceOn - have attracted interest from media incumbents like Warner Brothers, DreamWorks, Discovery, Bertlesmann, Comcast and AMC, and two larger MCNs Alloy and Break Media have merged. This indicates that a shakeout is underway in these new online supply chains, after rapid initial growth. The higher profile MCNs seek to rapidly develop scale economies in online distribution and facilitate audience growth for their member channels, helping channels optimize monetization, develop sustainable business models and to facilitate producer-collaboration within a growing online community of like-minded content creators. Some MCNs already attract far larger online audiences than any national TV network. The speed with which these developments have occurred is reminiscent of the 1910s, when Hollywood studios first emerged and within only a few years replaced the incumbent film studios as the dominant force within the film industry.

Children's understanding of sustainability in their home and kindergarten

This article presents an ongoing study within early childhood education for sustainability at the Department for Early Childhood Education in Stavanger, in collaboration with the School of Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology, in Brisbane, Australia. The study commenced in 2014, and will compare the responses to interviews of young children (4-5 years) in Brisbane with those of children in Stavanger, in order to find out ways to enhance learning about sustainability topics, to identify which kind of environmental/sustainability activities are memorable for young children, and to obtain mutual inspiration about early childhood education for sustainability from the different countries.

Community wide interventions for increasing physical activity

Background Multi-strategic community wide interventions for physical activity are increasingly popular but their ability to achieve population level improvements is unknown. Objectives To evaluate the effects of community wide, multi-strategic interventions upon population levels of physical activity. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Public Health Group Segment of the Cochrane Register of Studies,The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, MEDLINE in Process, EMBASE, CINAHL, LILACS, PsycINFO, ASSIA, the British Nursing Index, Chinese CNKI databases, EPPI Centre (DoPHER, TRoPHI), ERIC, HMIC, Sociological Abstracts, SPORTDiscus, Transport Database and Web of Science (Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, Conference Proceedings Citation Index). We also scanned websites of the EU Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health; Health-Evidence.org; the International Union for Health Promotion and Education; the NIHR Coordinating Centre for Health Technology (NCCHTA); the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and NICE and SIGN guidelines. Reference lists of all relevant systematic reviews, guidelines and primary studies were searched and we contacted experts in the field. The searches were updated to 16 January 2014, unrestricted by language or publication status. Selection criteria Cluster randomised controlled trials, randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental designs which used a control population for comparison, interrupted time-series studies, and prospective controlled cohort studies were included. Only studies with a minimum six-month follow up from the start of the intervention to measurement of outcomes were included. Community wide interventions had to comprise at least two broad strategies aimed at physical activity for the whole population. Studies which randomised individuals from the same community were excluded. Data collection and analysis At least two review authors independently extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias. Each study was assessed for the setting, the number of included components and their intensity. The primary outcome measures were grouped according to whether they were dichotomous (per cent physically active, per cent physically active during leisure time, and per cent physically inactive) or continuous (leisure time physical activity time (time spent)), walking (time spent), energy expenditure (as metabolic equivalents or METS)). For dichotomous measures we calculated the unadjusted and adjusted risk difference, and the unadjusted and adjusted relative risk. For continuous measures we calculated percentage change from baseline, unadjusted and adjusted. Main results After the selection process had been completed, 33 studies were included. A total of 267 communities were included in the review (populations between 500 and 1.9 million). Of the included studies, 25 were set in high income countries and eight were in low income countries. The interventions varied by the number of strategies included and their intensity. Almost all of the interventions included a component of building partnerships with local governments or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (29 studies). None of the studies provided results by socio-economic disadvantage or other markers of equity. However, of those included studies undertaken in high income countries, 14 studies were described as being provided to deprived, disadvantaged or low socio-economic communities. Nineteen studies were identified as having a high risk of bias, 10 studies were unclear, and four studies had a low risk of bias. Selection bias was a major concern with these studies, with only five studies using randomisation to allocate communities. Four studies were judged as being at low risk of selection bias although 19 studies were considered to have an unclear risk of bias. Twelve studies had a high risk of detection bias, 13 an unclear risk and four a low risk of bias. Generally, the better designed studies showed no improvement in the primary outcome measure of physical activity at a population level. All four of the newly included, and judged to be at low risk of bias, studies (conducted in Japan, United Kingdom and USA) used randomisation to allocate the intervention to the communities. Three studies used a cluster randomised design and one study used a stepped wedge design. The approach to measuring the primary outcome of physical activity was better in these four studies than in many of the earlier studies. One study obtained objective population representative measurements of physical activity by accelerometers, while the remaining three low-risk studies used validated self-reported measures. The study using accelerometry, conducted in low income, high crime communities of USA, emphasised social marketing, partnership with police and environmental improvements. No change in the seven-day average daily minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity was observed during the two years of operation. Some program level effect was observed with more people walking in the intervention community, however this result was not evident in the whole community. Similarly, the two studies conducted in the United Kingdom (one in rural villages and the other in urban London; both using communication, partnership and environmental strategies) found no improvement in the mean levels of energy expenditure per person per week, measured from one to four years from baseline. None of the three low risk studies reporting a dichotomous outcome of physical activity found improvements associated with the intervention. Overall, there was a noticeable absence of reporting of benefit in physical activity for community wide interventions in the included studies. However, as a group, the interventions undertaken in China appeared to have the greatest possibility of success with high participation rates reported. Reporting bias was evident with two studies failing to report physical activity measured at follow up. No adverse events were reported.The data pertaining to cost and sustainability of the interventions were limited and varied. Authors' conclusions Although numerous studies have been undertaken, there is a noticeable inconsistency of the findings in the available studies and this is confounded by serious methodological issues within the included studies. The body of evidence in this review does not support the hypothesis that the multi-component community wide interventions studied effectively increased physical activity for the population, although some studies with environmental components observed more people walking. Plain language summary Community wide interventions for increasing physical activity Not having enough physical activity leads to poorer health. Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve one's health and wellbeing. The lack of physical activity is a common and in some cases a growing health problem. To address this, 33 studies have used improvement activities directed at communities, using more than one approach in a single program. When we first looked at the available research in 2011 we observed that there was a lack of good studies which could show whether this approach was beneficial or not. Some studies claimed that community wide programs improved physical activities and other studies did not. In this update we found four new studies that were of good quality; however none of these four studies increased physical activity levels for the population. Some studies reported program level effects such as observing more people walking, however the population level of physical activity had not increased. This review found that community wide interventions are very difficult to undertake, and it appears that they usually fail to provide a measurable benefit in physical activity for a population. It is apparent that many of the interventions failed to reach a substantial portion of the community, and we speculate that some single strategies included in the combination may lack individual effectiveness. Laički sažetak Intervencije u zajednici za povećanje tjelesne aktivnosti Nedostatna tjelesna aktivnost povezana je s lošijim zdravljem.Redovita tjelesna aktivnost može umanjiti rizik od kroničnih bolesti te poboljšati zdravlje i kvalitetu života pojedinca.Manjak tjelesne aktivnosti čest je problem, a učestalost tog problema se povećava.Cochrane sustavni pregled je analizirao 33 studije koje su istražile programe za povećanje tjelesne aktivnosti u zajednici, u kojima se koristilo više od jednog pristupa.Kad su prvi put pregledani dokazi iz istraživanja koja su bila dostupna 2011. godine, utvrđeno je da nema dovoljno dobrih studija koje bi mogle pokazati je li takav pristup koristan ili ne.Primjerice, neke studije tvrde da programi za povećanje tjelesne aktivnosti u zajednici poboljšavaju tjelesnu aktivnost pojedinaca u zajednici, a druge studije tvrde suprotno.U ovom obnovljenom sustavnom pregledu pronađene su 4 nove studije koje su bile visoke kvalitete, ail nijedna od tih studija nije pokazala da je istraživana intervencija dovela do povećanja tjelesne aktivnosti u zajednici.Neke su studije opisale učinak na način da je opisano da je uočeno da više ljudi u zajednici hoda, međutim, ukupna razina tjelesne aktivnosti u promatranoj populaciji nije se povećala.Ovaj sustavni pregled je utvrdio da je intervencije za povećanje tjelesne aktivnosti u zajednici teško provesti i čini se da one obično ne uspijevaju u svojoj namjeri da na mjerljiv način povećaju tjelesnu aktivnost u populaciji.Čini se da mnoge intervencije nisu uspjele doseći veći broj stanovnika u zajednici pa se može smatrati da neke od strategija uključene u analizirane kombinacije nisu zasebno učinkovite.

Public health interventions for increasing physical activity in children, adolescents and adults : an overview of systematic reviews

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: This overview intends to: a) summarise the existing evidence on interventions that aim to increase PA; b) explore whether any effects of the intervention are different within and between populations, and whether these differences form an equity gradient such as an effect that differs according the advantage/disadvantage (e.g. low income and ethnic minorities); c) highlight gaps in the present evidence base that may warrant a Cochrane systematic review to be completed; and c) identify 'up to date' Cochrane reviews. .

An RFID-based traceability system

Traceability system in the food supply chain is becoming more necessary. RFID and EPCglobal Network Standards are emerging technologies that bring new opportunities to develop the high performance traceability system. This research proposes the analysis, design, and development of the RFID and EPCglobal Network Standards based traceability system that adheres to the requirements of global food traceability in terms of completeness of traceability information. The additional components, including lot management system and electronic transaction management system, encourage the traditional system in order to fulfill the missing information. The proposed system was developed and applied in a rice supply chain. Results from experimentation showed that the additional components can significantly improve the completeness of traceability information. The collaboration between EPCglobal Network Standards and electronic transaction management system can improve the performances in RFID operations.

Mining resource profiles from event logs

Human resources are often responsible for the execution of business processes. In order to evaluate resource performance and identify best practices as well as opportunities for improvement, managers need objective information about resource behaviours. Companies often use information systems to support their processes and these systems record information about process execution in event logs. We present a framework for analysing and evaluating resource behaviour through mining such event logs. The framework provides a method for extracting descriptive information about resource skills, utilisation, preferences, productivity and collaboration patterns; a method for analysing relationships between different resource behaviours and outcomes; and a method for evaluating the overall resource productivity, tracking its changes over time and comparing it with the productivity of other resources. To demonstrate the applicability of our framework we apply it to analyse behaviours of employees in an Australian company and evaluate its usefulness by a survey among managers in industry.