Building resilience for social-ecological sustainability in Atlantic Europe

This thesis argues that complex adaptive social–ecological systems (SES) theory has important implications for the design of integrated ocean and coastal governance in the EU. Traditional systems of governance have struggled to deal with the global changes, complexity and uncertainties that challenge a transition towards sustainability in Europe’s maritime macro-regions. There is an apparent disconnect between governance strategies for sustainability in Europe’s maritime macro-regions and a sound theoretical basis for them. My premise is that the design of governance architecture for maritime regional sustainability should be informed by SES theory. Therefore, the aim of this research was to gain insight into a multilevel adaptive governance architecture that combines notions of sustainability and development in the context of the Atlantic Europe maritime macro-region. The central research question asked whether it is possible to achieve this insight by using a SES as a framework and analytical tool. This research adopted social ecology and sustainability science as a foundation for understanding society–nature relations. Concepts from complex adaptive systems, SES and resilience theories were integrated into a conceptual framework that guided the investigation and analysis. A study was conducted to conceptualise the European Atlantic social–ecological system (EASES). This was used to represent and understand the Atlantic Europe macro-region as a SES. The study examined the proposition that governance can be focused on building SES resilience to help achieve maritime regional sustainability. A workbook method was developed and used to elicit expert opinion regarding EASES. The study identified sources of resilience and resilience dynamics that require management in the context of multilevel adaptive governance. This research found that the Atlantic Europe macro-region is a key focal level for multilevel adaptive governance architecture. The majority of the findings are specific to Atlantic Europe and not generalisable to other maritime macro-regions in Europe.

Pretty good governance: balancing policy drivers and stakeholder interests in developing fisheries ecosystem plans

The central research question that this thesis addresses is whether there is a significant gap between fishery stakeholder values and the principles and policy goals implicit in an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM). The implications of such a gap for fisheries governance are explored. Furthermore an assessment is made of what may be practically achievable in the implementation of an EAFM in fisheries in general and in a case study fishery in particular. The research was mainly focused on a particular case study, the Celtic Sea Herring fishery and its management committee, the Celtic Sea Herring Management Advisory Committee (CSHMAC). The Celtic Sea Herring fishery exhibits many aspects of an EAFM and the fish stock has successfully recovered to healthy levels in the past 5 years. However there are increasing levels of governance related conflict within the fishery which threaten the future sustainability of the stock. Previous research on EAFM governance has tended to focus either on higher levels of EAFM governance or on individual behaviour but very little research has attempted to link the two spheres or explore the relationship between them. Two main themes within this study aimed to address this gap. The first was what role governance could play in facilitating EAFM implementation. The second theme concerned the degree of convergence between high-level EAFM goals and stakeholder values. The first method applied was governance benchmarking to analyse systemic risks to EAFM implementation. This found that there are no real EU or national level policies which provide stakeholders or managers with clear targets for EAFM implementation. The second method applied was the use of cognitive mapping to explore stakeholders understandings of the main ecological, economic and institutional driving forces in the Celtic Sea Herring fishery. The main finding from this was that a long-term outlook can and has been incentivised through a combination of policy drivers and participatory management. However the fundamental principle of EAFM, accounting for ecosystem linkages rather than target stocks was not reflected in stakeholders cognitive maps. This was confirmed in a prioritisation of stakeholders management priorities using Analytic Hierarchy Process which found that the overriding concern is for protection of target stock status but that wider ecosystem health was not a priority for most management participants. The conclusion reached is that moving to sustainable fisheries may be a more complex process than envisioned in much of the literature and may consist of two phases. The first phase is a transition to a long-term but still target stock focused approach. This achievable transition is mainly a strategic change, which can be incentivised by policies and supported by stakeholders. In the Celtic Sea Herring fishery, and an increasing number of global and European fisheries, such transitions have contributed to successful stock recoveries. The second phase however, implementation of an ecosystem approach, may present a greater challenge in terms of governability, as this research highlights some fundamental conflicts between stakeholder perceptions and values and those inherent in an EAFM. This phase may involve the setting aside of fish for non-valued ecosystem elements and will require either a pronounced mind-set and value change or some strong top-down policy incentives in order to succeed. Fisheries governance frameworks will need to carefully explore the most effective balance between such endogenous and exogenous solutions. This finding of low prioritisation of wider ecosystem elements has implications for rights based management within an ecosystem approach, regardless of whether those rights are individual or collective.

Initial losses, corporate governance and earnings management

This thesis examines the relationship between initial loss events and the corporate governance and earnings management behaviour of these firms. This is done using four years of corporate governance information spanning the report of an initial loss for companies listed on the UK Stock Exchange. An industry- and sizematched control sample is used in a difference-in-difference analysis to isolate the impact of the initial loss event during the period. It is reported that, in general, an initial loss motivates an improvement in corporate governance in those loss firms where a relative weakness existed prior to the loss and that these changes mainly occur before the initial loss is announced. Firms with stronger (i.e. better quality) corporate governance have less need to alter it in response to the loss. It is also reported that initial loss firms use positive abnormal accruals in the year before the loss in an attempt to defer/avoid the loss — the weaker corporate governance the more likely is it that loss firms manage earnings in this manner. Abnormal accruals are also found to be predictive of an initial loss and when used as a conditioning variable, the quality of corporate governance is an important mitigating factor in this regard. Once the loss is reported, loss firms unwind these abnormal accruals although no evidence of big-bath behaviour is found. The extent to which these abnormal accruals are subsequently unwound are also found to be a function of both the quality of corporate governance as well as the severity of the initial loss.

Automatic detection of learner-style for adaptive eLearning

The advent of modern wireless technologies has seen a shift in focus towards the design and development of educational systems for deployment through mobile devices. The use of mobile phones, tablets and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) is steadily growing across the educational sector as a whole. Mobile learning (mLearning) systems developed for deployment on such devices hold great significance for the future of education. However, mLearning systems must be built around the particular learner’s needs based on both their motivation to learn and subsequent learning outcomes. This thesis investigates how biometric technologies, in particular accelerometer and eye-tracking technologies, could effectively be employed within the development of mobile learning systems to facilitate the needs of individual learners. The creation of personalised learning environments must enable the achievement of improved learning outcomes for users, particularly at an individual level. Therefore consideration is given to individual learning-style differences within the electronic learning (eLearning) space. The overall area of eLearning is considered and areas such as biometric technology and educational psychology are explored for the development of personalised educational systems. This thesis explains the basis of the author’s hypotheses and presents the results of several studies carried out throughout the PhD research period. These results show that both accelerometer and eye-tracking technologies can be employed as an Human Computer Interaction (HCI) method in the detection of student learning-styles to facilitate the provision of automatically adapted eLearning spaces. Finally the author provides recommendations for developers in the creation of adaptive mobile learning systems through the employment of biometric technology as a user interaction tool within mLearning applications. Further research paths are identified and a roadmap for future of research in this area is defined.

Globalization and basketball in China: governance, market and culture

Chinese sports are developing under very complex and unique political, economic, and cultural circumstances in the global age. This study aims to investigate the process of globalization in basketball through an examination of its multidimensional manifestations. The study aligns itself with Ritzer’s (2003, 2007b) conceptualization of dichotomizing the process of globalization into grobalization and glocalization. On that basis, the trajectory of basketball globalization in China is identified as the result of a contextual and competing interplay between the penetration of the NBA and the consequent engagement of Chinese basketball. A qualitative methodological approach was conducted to achieve the research aim. Data were collected from a number of sources, including official documents and semi-structured interviews with relevant basketball participants. The study reveals that globalization and basketball in China, in the political and institutional dimension, is a conflicting process. The universalization of the NBA’s governance model could not be fully assimilated due to the centralization of power in the Chinese government, which is hindering the further professionalization and marketization of basketball. In the economic dimension, the globalization process is seen to interplay with the local basketball market, which is growing thanks to the adaption of the NBA’s marketing strategies. In the cultural dimension, the study demonstrates that the NBA has to some extent cosmopolitanized and consumerized Chinese basketball culture, while resistance from both the state and the Chinese people has risen, creolizing the globalization of basketball culture in China.

Analysis of institutional arrangements and common pool resources governance: the case of Lake Tana sub-basin, Ethiopia

Although Common Pool Resources (CPRs) make up a significant share of total income for rural households in Ethiopia and elsewhere in developing world, limited access to these resources and environmental degradation threaten local livelihoods. As a result, the issues of management, governance of CPRs and how to prevent their over-exploitation are of great importance for development policy. This study examines the current state and dynamics of CPRs and overall resource governance system of the Lake Tana sub-basin. This research employed the modified form of Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. The framework integrates the concept of Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) and Interactive Governance (IG) perspectives where social actors, institutions, the politico-economic context, discourses and ecological features across governance and government levels were considered. It has been observed that overexploitation, degradation and encroachment of CPRs have increased dramatically and this threatens the sustainability of Lake Tana ecosystem. The stakeholder analysis result reveals that there are multiple stakeholders with diverse interest in and power over CPRs. The analysis of institutional arrangements reveals that the existing formal rules and regulations governing access to and control over CPRs could not be implemented and were not effective to legally bind and govern CPR user’s behavior at the operational level. The study also shows that a top-down and non-participatory policy formulation, law and decision making process overlooks the local contexts (local knowledge and informal institutions). The outcomes of examining the participation of local resource users, as an alternative to a centralized, command-and-control, and hierarchical approach to resource management and governance, have called for a fundamental shift in CPR use, management and governance to facilitate the participation of stakeholders in decision making. Therefore, establishing a multi-level stakeholder governance system as an institutional structure and process is necessary to sustain stakeholder participation in decision-making regarding CPR use, management and governance.

Non-product related environmental process and production methods (NPR-PPMs): a view from international trade law and international environmental governance

The primary aim of this thesis is to analyse legal and governance issues in the use of Environmental NPR-PPMs, particularly those aiming to promote sustainable practices or to protect natural resources. NPR-PPMs have traditionally been thought of as being incompatible with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, the issue remains untouched by WTO adjudicatory bodies. One can suggest that WTO adjudicatory bodies may want to leave this issue to the Members, but the analysis of the case law also seems to indicate that the question of legality of NPR-PPMs has not been brought ‘as such’ in dispute settlement. This thesis advances the argument that despite the fact that the legal status of NPR-PPMs remains unsettled, during the last decades adjudicatory bodies have been scrutinising environmental measures based on NPR-PPMs just as another expression of the regulatory autonomy of the Members. Though NPR-PPMs are regulatory choices associated with a wide range of environmental concerns, trade disputes giving rise to questions related to the legality of process-based measures have been mainly associated with the protection of marine wildlife (i.e., fishing techniques threatening or affecting animal species). This thesis argues that environmental objectives articulated as NPR-PPMs can indeed qualify as legitimate objectives both under the GATT and the TBT Agreement. However, an important challenge for the their compatibility with WTO law relate to aspects associated with arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination. In the assessment of discrimination procedural issues play an important role. This thesis also elucidates other important dimensions to the issue from the perspective of global governance. One of the arguments advanced in this thesis is that a comprehensive analysis of environmental NPR-PPMs should consider not only their role in what is regarded as trade barriers (governmental and market-driven), but also their significance in global objectives such as the transition towards a green economy and sustainable patterns of consumption and production.

SDC: Scalable description coding for adaptive streaming media

Video compression techniques enable adaptive media streaming over heterogeneous links to end-devices. Scalable Video Coding (SVC) and Multiple Description Coding (MDC) represent well-known techniques for video compression with distinct characteristics in terms of bandwidth efficiency and resiliency to packet loss. In this paper, we present Scalable Description Coding (SDC), a technique to compromise the tradeoff between bandwidth efficiency and error resiliency without sacrificing user-perceived quality. Additionally, we propose a scheme that combines network coding and SDC to further improve the error resiliency. SDC yields upwards of 25% bandwidth savings over MDC. Additionally, our scheme features higher quality for longer durations even at high packet loss rates.

ALD: adaptive layer distribution for scalable video

Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth in the demand for streaming video over the Internet and mobile networks, exposes challenges in coping with heterogeneous devices and varying network throughput. Adaptive schemes, such as scalable video coding, are an attractive solution but fare badly in the presence of packet losses. Techniques that use description-based streaming models, such as multiple description coding (MDC), are more suitable for lossy networks, and can mitigate the effects of packet loss by increasing the error resilience of the encoded stream, but with an increased transmission byte cost. In this paper, we present our adaptive scalable streaming technique adaptive layer distribution (ALD). ALD is a novel scalable media delivery technique that optimises the tradeoff between streaming bandwidth and error resiliency. ALD is based on the principle of layer distribution, in which the critical stream data are spread amongst all packets, thus lessening the impact on quality due to network losses. Additionally, ALD provides a parameterised mechanism for dynamic adaptation of the resiliency of the scalable video. The Subjective testing results illustrate that our techniques and models were able to provide levels of consistent high-quality viewing, with lower transmission cost, relative to MDC, irrespective of clip type. This highlights the benefits of selective packetisation in addition to intuitive encoding and transmission.

ALD: adaptive layer distribution for scalable video

Bandwidth constriction and datagram loss are prominent issues that affect the perceived quality of streaming video over lossy networks, such as wireless. The use of layered video coding seems attractive as a means to alleviate these issues, but its adoption has been held back in large part by the inherent priority assigned to the critical lower layers and the consequences for quality that result from their loss. The proposed use of forward error correction (FEC) as a solution only further burdens the bandwidth availability and can negate the perceived benefits of increased stream quality. In this paper, we propose Adaptive Layer Distribution (ALD) as a novel scalable media delivery technique that optimises the tradeoff between the streaming bandwidth and error resiliency. ALD is based on the principle of layer distribution, in which the critical stream data is spread amongst all datagrams thus lessening the impact on quality due to network losses. Additionally, ALD provides a parameterised mechanism for dynamic adaptation of the scalable video, while providing increased resilience to the highest quality layers. Our experimental results show that ALD improves the perceived quality and also reduces the bandwidth demand by up to 36% in comparison to the well-known Multiple Description Coding (MDC) technique.

The Aarhus Convention and its implementation in Ireland: strengthening the role of NGOs in environmental governance

One of the most striking features of the 1998 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters is the leading role envisaged for environmental nongovernmental organisations (ENGOs) in furthering compliance with environmental law. The Convention aims to secure the special status of ENGOs in environmental governance procedures by guaranteeing procedural rights of access to information, participation in decision-making and access to review mechanisms. Although Ireland did not become a Party to the Convention until September 2012, the Aarhus procedural rights were already guaranteed under European Union (EU) law. The EU has been a Party to the Aarhus Convention since May 2005 and has adopted a number of legislative measures to implement the Convention. This thesis examines the evolving role of ENGOs in environmental governance in Ireland. It provides a doctrinal analysis of the impact of the Aarhus Convention and EU law on Irish law and governance arrangements involving ENGOs. The thesis considers the extent to which Ireland has delivered faithfully on the standards set by the Aarhus Convention to facilitate ENGOs to fulfil the role envisaged for them under the Convention.