Editorial : Turf

Thirteen years ago, Kenichi Ohmae proclaimed that the world had become “borderless,” and the nation-state nothing more than a “bit actor” in a globalised economy. Around the same time, “interdisciplinarity” appeared as the prime strategy for breaking down the rigid stratifications of traditional disciplines, promising an equivalently borderless academe. However, despite the rhetoric of globalisation and interdisciplinarity, territorial boundaries—both physical and conceptual—remain in evidence and under contention...

Editorial : Loop

This time last year we proposed the theme of the 'loop' issue to the M/C collective because it sounded deeply cool, satisfying our poststructuralist posturings about reflexivity and representation, while also tapping into everyday cultural objects and practices. We expected that the 'loop' issue would generate some interesting and varied responses, and it did. We received submissions about music, visual art, language, child development, pop-cultural artefacts, mathematics and culture in general. These explorations of disparate fields seemed, however, to be tied together by a common thread: the concept of "generation" itself. Each article in the 'loop' issue describes a loop that does not simply repeat an original operation, but that through iteration creates new possibilities and new meanings...

Cyber security of networked critical infrastructures [Guest Editorial]

A new era of cyber warfare has appeared on the horizon with the discovery and detection of Stuxnet. Allegedly planned, designed, and created by the United States and Israel, Stuxnet is considered the first known cyber weapon to attack an adversary state. Stuxnet's discovery put a lot of attention on the outdated and obsolete security of critical infrastructure. It became very apparent that electronic devices that are used to control and operate critical infrastructure like programmable logic controllers (PLCs) or supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems lack very basic security and protection measures. Part of that is due to the fact that when these devices were designed, the idea of exposing them to the Internet was not in mind. However, now with this exposure, these devices and systems are considered easy prey to adversaries.

Editorial : Sustainability in our AL-AR works

The editorial indicates that the issue contains a diverse array of project reports, the theme of sustainability can be discerned, with ethical and aspirational aspects evident. Aspects of what is termed a 'sustainability project’ include a commitment to change, to meaningfully involve people over time, having an eye to detail, fostering creativity, embedding action learning and action research qualities into the systems we work in, producing resources and artifacts that can support communities beyond the confines of a particular project, and articulating models and frameworks that help platform the efforts of others.

Editorial : Action research, action learning and community services

This edition of ALARj has a focus on the contribution of action learning and action research to the development of community services, particularly nonprofits. The landscape of community services has been changing rapidly in recent decades, and can be typified by the notion of complexity. Complexity in the nature of issues that services seek to respond to, complexity in the policy environment and systems of support that have tended to silo and compartmentalise problems and people, and complexity in the institutional location non-profit services occupy in ‘helping’ those who are seen as ‘in need’ or marginalised. In addition to being typified by complexity the environment in which community services are located is dynamic, undergoing profound and ongoing change as neo-liberal approaches to understanding and responding to human need, which emphasise the individualisation of risk, and market principles such as choice, competition and innovation, drive social policy. How can long held values of empowerment, care, inclusivity and benefit to individuals and communities have expression in community services as they grapple with the challenges of being viable and relevant in such a dynamically changing environment? This edition brings together a range of contributions which speak to these challenges. The thematic through these is that processes are needed which engage services and communities in ongoing processes of inquiry about how they can best proceed in contexts typified by complexity and change. Action learning and action research can provide processes of this character.

Editorial [Special Issue]

This special issue of the International Journal of Technology Policy and Law considers recent developments in the reconfiguration of communication regulation to account for the impact of media convergence. It is readily apparent that media worldwide are going through a series of transformations, associated with the rise of the internet, user-created content and social media. The papers in the collection draw upon legal and policy developments in Australia, the European union and South Korea, and consider such issues as public participation in media policy and regulation, civic media governance for online platforms, the future copyright laws, the roles and responsibilities of internet intermediaries, and regulatory frameworks for internet protocol television (IPTV).

Editorial : Law and ethics for the bioeconomy and beyond

The convergence of biological, technological and economic realms of life has fostered the development of the bioeconomy as a new feature of contemporary society. As the meaning of life and the human body is redefined in the context of the bioeconomy, new challenges have emerged for ethics and law In the face of these challenges, it is imperative that the currency of regulatory frameworks is maintained through the processes of regular review and update. The National Health and Medical Research Council has recently released the new National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research to provide guidance for health research in Australia. The new National Statement will play an important part in supporting innovation and the development of the knowledge economy.

Guest editorial : the body and the law

This issue of the Journal of Law and Medicine seeks to explore the law's relationship with the human body within a broad context of social, cultural and technological considerations. It does this both in terms of the ways in which the law constitutes the body (for example, by labelling it as property or otherwise), and in terms of the legal rules which regulate rights to bodies and body parts.

Editorial

The Scientific Social Planning Committee was in a fantastic position to design this programme, with over 270 abstracts representing a broad range of nutrition and dietetics areas, translating evidence to practice. When reviewing the abstract submissions, clear themes emerged, including those related to the nutrition and dietetics workforce and how to deliver effective outcomes that make meaningful differences to people's lives, while also equitable and sustainable. These papers challenge us to reflect on ourselves as health professionals, including our knowledge, how confident we are in what we do and what bias we may bring to the table when dealing with health issues, for example, in relation to weight management...

Editorial : is it the time for railway industry to reinvent itself?

Editorial: is it the time for railway industry to reinvent itself? Railway infrastructure plays a critical role in urban development, mobility, and economic growth of society. This focus issue of the Electronic Journal of Structural Engineering is devoted to a special theme, “Advances in Rail Track Infrastructure and Practice - ARTRP”. It contains articles, which were rigorously peer reviewed and accepted from a list of invited manuscripts that demonstrate significant innovation in the area of the structural engineering aspects of the rail track infrastructure...

Maintaining the ethic of service [Editorial]

This issue of Precedent is concerned with professional legal ethics. ln my view, professional ethics are rules about how you do your job, based on moral principles. By virtue of the nature of the work they do, the reputation of the institution through which they are admitted to practice (the court), and the consequences that can flow if they act inappropriately or incompetently, lawyers are under constant scrutiny in all aspects of their lives. Errors, omissions or misdeeds in both their professional and their personal lives have the potential to damage them, their clients, the profession itself and the court. We ought never to take for granted the trust the public places in us to preserve the integrity of the legal system itself, especially in times when that system may be under threat, either from without or from within.

Editorial for the JFR special issue on low altitude flight of UAVs

This special issue of the Journal of Field Robotics focuses on low altitude flight of UAVs with a particular emphasis on fully implemented systems that were tested in relevant environments or deployed in regular operations.

Editorial

Welcome to the third issue of Clothing Cultures. We are honoured to have served as the guest editors for this issue. The authors in this issue explore three intersecting themes in using various methods: identity, cross-cultural encounters and everyday practices related to designing, branding and wearing clothing. These themes are at the core of fashion and dress: as an everyday individual and social project, and as a system in which people and objects (clothing) globally circulate. The performance of identity (Goffman 1979; Butler 1990), social practices and the movement of people and commodities (Appadurai 1986, 1996) create and transfer cultural meanings.