Virtual birding : extending an environmental pastime into the virtual world for citizen science

This paper investigates engaging experienced birders, as volunteer citizen scientists, to analyze large recorded audio datasets gathered through environmental acoustic monitoring. Although audio data is straightforward to gather, automated analysis remains a challenging task; the existing expertise, local knowledge and motivation of the birder community can complement computational approaches and provide distinct benefits. We explored both the culture and practice of birders, and paradigms for interacting with recorded audio data. A variety of candidate design elements were tested with birders. This study contributes an understanding of how virtual interactions and practices can be developed to complement existing practices of experienced birders in the physical world. In so doing this study contributes a new approach to engagement in e-science. Whereas most citizen science projects task lay participants with discrete real world or artificial activities, sometimes using extrinsic motivators, this approach builds on existing intrinsically satisfying practices.

Life in the baby boomer library world : a survival guide

According to Australian Job Search, just 14% of librarians are under the age of 35. As a Generation Y librarian, flexibility is a key factor to ensuring survival in the Baby Boomer library and overcoming employment, promotion and in particular stereotype barriers. This paper draws upon generational and library workforce research, coupled with industry experience to provide practical advice and strategies to break through both personal and professional barriers for the Generation Y librarian in the Baby Boomer library world. Industry understanding, drawn from personal experiences of working in public, education and special libraries, utilises my journey as a librarian since graduation in 2005 to discuss barriers faced and methods for breaking through. In my previous position as Teaching and Learning Librarian at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE from 35 library staff I was the sole member under 30. In addition I was the youngest member of the Library Management Team by 20 years, providing a perfect example of the Generation Y librarian within a Baby Boomer environment. This experience provides the platform for exploring strategies for understanding and overcoming ageist ideas, generational stereotypes, and employment barriers. Discussion regarding the need to develop sound industry knowledge for survival within the library world will also be raised.

“If I were a community leader”: knowing the world by changing it

Education Queensland teachers Gael Wilson and Tracey Herslet, and the principal of Waterford West State School, Di Carter, were proud as they watched the screening of their year five students’ movies at the national Building Child Friendly Communities Conference, held in Logan, Queensland in November 2011.

Directory of World Cinema : Australia and New Zealand

This ambitious volume offers an in-depth and exciting look at the cinema produced in Australia and New Zealand since the turn of the twentieth century. Though the two nations share cultural and economic connections, their film industries remain marked by differences of scale, level of government involvement and funding. Through discussion of prominent genres and themes, profiles of directors, and comprehensive reviews of significant titles, this user-friendly guide explores the diversity and distinctiveness of films from Australia and New Zealand including Whale Rider, and Wolf Creek.

Screen Distribution and the New King Kongs of the Online World

Like music and the news media before it, the film and television business is now facing its time of digital disruption. Major changes are being brought about in global online distribution of film and television by new players, such as Google/YouTube, Apple, Amazon, Yahoo!, Facebook, Netflix and Hulu, some of whom massively outrank in size and growth the companies that run film and television today. Content, Hollywood has always asserted, is King. But the power and profitability in screen industries have always resided in distribution. Incumbents in the screen industries tried to control the emerging dynamics of online distribution, but failed. The new, born digital, globally focused, players are developing TV network-like strategies, including commissioning content that has widened the net of what counts as television. Content may be King, but these new players may become the King Kongs of the online world.

Acting and knowing in temporary and project-based organizing : turning from the practice world to a liberation praxeology?

The purpose of this article is to offer a critical discussion about the “practice” lens and its weaknesses in addressing acting and knowledge & competence development in the context of temporary and project-based organizing. I demonstrate that “practice turn” and “phronetic proposal” are dual and opposite perspectives within the “practice” world, none of them being fully relevant to grasp project organizing and that each of them maintain the opposition between the “observer” and the “natives “of the practices. I suggest an alternate style of reasoning in order to address the dissatisfaction in face of problems, antinomies, perplexities and contradictions generated by the dichotomous thinking: a liberation praxeology rooted in Aristotle philosophy aiming, through praxis & phronesis and practical acquired experience & perfecting actualization, at reconciling facts & values and means & ends, and Ethics & Politics in the quest for human happiness and social good through project organizing.

Prolegomenon to the study of the concepts of maturity and maturity model : from Black Horse to White Knight?

This paper takes its root in a trivial observation: management approaches are unable to provide relevant guidelines to cope with uncertainty, and trust of our modern worlds. Thus, managers are looking for reducing uncertainty through information’s supported decision-making, sustained by ex-ante rationalization. They strive to achieve best possible solution, stability, predictability, and control of “future”. Hence, they turn to a plethora of “prescriptive panaceas”, and “management fads” to bring simple solutions through best practices. However, these solutions are ineffective. They address only one part of a system (e.g. an organization) instead of the whole. They miss the interactions and interdependencies with other parts leading to “suboptimization”. Further classical cause-effects investigations and researches are not very helpful to this regard. Where do we go from there? In this conversation, we want to challenge the assumptions supporting the traditional management approaches and shed some lights on the problem of management discourse fad using the concept of maturity and maturity models in the context of temporary organizations as support for reflexion. Global economy is characterized by use and development of standards and compliance to standards as a practice is said to enable better decision-making by managers in uncertainty, control complexity, and higher performance. Amongst the plethora of standards, organizational maturity and maturity models hold a specific place due to general belief in organizational performance as dependent variable of (business) processes continuous improvement, grounded on a kind of evolutionary metaphor. Our intention is neither to offer a new “evidence based management fad” for practitioners, nor to suggest research gap to scholars. Rather, we want to open an assumption-challenging conversation with regards to main stream approaches (neo-classical economics and organization theory), turning “our eyes away from the blinding light of eternal certitude towards the refracted world of turbid finitude” (Long, 2002, p. 44) generating what Bernstein has named “Cartesian Anxiety” (Bernstein, 1983, p. 18), and revisit the conceptualization of maturity and maturity models. We rely on conventions theory and a systemic-discursive perspective. These two lenses have both information & communication and self-producing systems as common threads. Furthermore the narrative approach is well suited to explore complex way of thinking about organizational phenomena as complex systems. This approach is relevant with our object of curiosity, i.e. the concept of maturity and maturity models, as maturity models (as standards) are discourses and systems of regulations. The main contribution of this conversation is that we suggest moving from a neo-classical “theory of the game” aiming at making the complex world simpler in playing the game, to a “theory of the rules of the game”, aiming at influencing and challenging the rules of the game constitutive of maturity models – conventions, governing systems – making compatible individual calculation and social context, and possible the coordination of relationships and cooperation between agents with or potentially divergent interests and values. A second contribution is the reconceptualization of maturity as structural coupling between conventions, rather than as an independent variable leading to organizational performance.

Environmental constitutional reform in the developing world : shifting the perspective of international law?

In recent years a growing number of states have chosen to recognise environmental issues in their national constitutions. Some have added declarations about the value of the environment, some have sought to restrict or regulate government’s ability to take action which would potentially harm the environment, while others have proclaimed that citizens possess a right to an environment of a particular quality. A survey of these constitutional provisions reveals that the majority of reform in this area has come from developing states, including a number of states which have been designated as among the least developed countries in the world. The increasing focus on constitutional environmental rights appears to represent a shift in the attitude of developing and emerging economies, which could in turn be influential in setting the tone of the environmental rights debate more broadly, with potential to shape the future development of international law in the area. This chapter examines constitutional environmental rights in an attempt to determine whether consistent state practice can in fact be identified in this area which might form the basis of an emerging norm. It will also analyse some of the potential contributing factors to the proliferation of a constitutional right to a good environment among developing states, and the implications for the development of customary international law.

The Australian clean energy package and the law of the world trade organisation : an analysis of compliance issues

This thesis is a study of whether the Australian Clean Energy Package complies with the rules of the World Trade Organization. It examines the legal framework for the Australian carbon pricing mechanism and related arrangements, using World Trade Organization law as the framework for analysis. In doing so, this thesis deconstructs the Clean Energy Package by considering the legal properties of eligible emissions units, the assistance measures introduced by the Package and the liabilities created by the carbon pricing mechanism.

The genetics of endurance : frequency of the ACTN3 R577X variant in Ironman World Championship athletes

Objectives To investigate the frequency of the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism in elite endurance triathletes, and whether ACTN3 R577X is significantly associated with performance time. Design Cross-sectional study. Methods Saliva samples, questionnaires, and performance times were collected for 196 elite endurance athletes who participated in the 2008 Kona Ironman championship triathlon. Athletes were of predominantly North American, European, and Australian origin. A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to compare performance times between genotype groups. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to model the effect of questionnaire variables and genotype on performance time. Genotype and allele frequencies were compared to results from different populations using the chi-square test. Results Performance time did not significantly differ between genotype groups, and age, sex, and continent of origin were significant predictors of finishing time (age and sex: p < 5 × 10−6; continent: p = 0.003) though genotype was not. Genotype and allele frequencies obtained (RR 26.5%, RX 50.0%, XX 23.5%, R 51.5%, X 48.5%) were found to be not significantly different from Australian, Spanish, and Italian endurance athletes (p > 0.05), but were significantly different from Kenyan, Ethiopian, and Finnish endurance athletes (p < 0.01). Conclusions Genotype and allele frequencies agreed with those reported for endurance athletes of similar ethnic origin, supporting previous findings for an association between 577X allele and endurance. However, analysis of performance time suggests that ACTN3 does not alone influence endurance performance, or may have a complex effect on endurance performance due to a speed/endurance trade-off.

Confucius Institutes and the rise of China: How the People's Republic of China uses its cultural institutions abroad to communicate with the world

This thesis examines the role of Confucius Institutes in China's cultural diplomacy. It analyses Confucius Institutes in Australia and Germany and explains the differences between Confucius Institutes and their international counterparts such as the British Council or the Goethe Institute. China's unique approach to establish these institutes as joint ventures has multiple implications not only for individual institutes and their partners involved, but more generally for the Chinese understanding of cultural diplomacy. The case of Confucius Institutes shows China's willingness to cooperate with foreigners in the context of cultural diplomacy, which, as with all such diplomatic endeavours, eventually serves national interests.

Proceedings of the 6th Knowledge Cities World Summit, KCWS 2013

In recent years, with the impact of global knowledge economy, a more comprehensive development approach has gained significant popularity. This new development approach, so called ‘knowledge-based urban development’, is different from its traditional predecessor. With a much more balanced focus on all of the four key development domains – economic, spatial, institutional, and socio-cultural – this contemporary approach, aims to bring economic prosperity, environmental sustainability and local institutional competence with a just socio-spatial order to our cities and regions. The ultimate goal of knowledgebased urban development is to produce a city purposefully designed to encourage the continuous production, circulation and commercialization of social and scientific knowledge – this will in turn establish a ‘knowledge city’. A city following the ‘knowledge city’ concept embarks on a strategic mission to firmly encourage and nurture locally focused innovation, science and creativity within the context of an expanding knowledge economy and society. In this regard a ‘knowledge city’ can be seen as an integrated city, which physically and institutionally combines the functions of a science and technology park with civic and residential functions and urban amenities. It also offers one of the effective paradigms for the sustainable cities of our time. This sixth edition of KCWS – The 6th Knowledge Cities World Summit 2013 – makes an important reminder that the ‘knowledge city’ concept is a key notion in the 21st Century development. Considering this notion, the Summit sheds light on the multifaceted dimensions and various scales of building a ‘knowledge city’ via ‘knowledge-based urban development’ paradigm by particularly focusing on the overall Summit theme of ‘Establishing Bridges’. At this summit, the theoretical and practical maturing of knowledge-based development paradigms are advanced through the interplay between the world’s leading academics’ theories and the practical models and strategies of practitioners’ and policy makers’ drawn from around the world. This summit proceeding is compiled in order to disseminate the knowledge generated and shared in KCWS 2013 with the wider research, governance, and practice communities the knowledge co-created in this summit. All papers of this proceeding have gone through a double-blind peer review process and been reviewed by our summit editorial review and advisory board members. We, organizers of the summit, cordially thank the members of the Summit Proceeding Editorial Review and Advisory Board for their diligent work in the review of the papers. Also we thank Prof.Dr. Ahmet Ademoğlu, Rector of İstanbul Şehir University, for providing all the support for the Summit. We hope the papers in this proceeding will inspire and make a significant contribution to the research, governance, and practice circles.

Heritage language for Chinese Australians : negotiating 'Chineseness' and, capitalising on resources in the lived world

The ethnic identity and commitment of Heritage Language Learners play salient roles in Heritage Language learning process. The mutually constitutive effect amongst Heritage Language Learner's ethnic identity, commitment, and Heritage Language proficiency has been well documented in social psychological and poststructuralist literatures. Both social psychological and poststructural schools offer meaningful insights into particular contexts but receive critiques from other contexts. In addition, the two schools largely oppose each other. This study uses Bourdieu's sociological triad of habitus, capital, and field to reconcile the two schools through the examination of Chinese Heritage Language Learners in Australia, an idiosyncratic social, cultural, and historical context for these learners. Specifically, this study investigates how young Chinese Australian adults (18-35 in age) negotiate their 'Chineseness' and capitalise on resources through Chinese Heritage Language learning in the lived world. The study adopts an explanatory mixed methods design to combine the quantitative approach with the qualitative approach. The initial quantitative phase addresses the first research question: Is Chinese Heritage Language proficiency of young Chinese Australian adults influenced by their investment of capital, the strength of their habitus of 'Chineseness', or both? The subsequent qualitative phase addresses the second research question: How do young Chinese Australian adults understand their Chinese Heritage Language learning in relation to (potential) profits produced by this linguistic capital in given fields? The initial quantitative phase applies Structural Equation Modelling to analyse the data from an online survey with 230 respondents. Findings indicate the statistically significant positive contribution made by the habitus of 'Chineseness' and by investment of capital to Chinese Heritage Language proficiency (r = .71 and r = .86 respectively). Subsequent multiple regression analysis demonstrates that 62% of the variance of Chinese Heritage Language proficiency can be accounted for by the joint contribution of 'Chineseness' and 'capital'. The qualitative phase of the study uses multiple interviews with five participants. It reveals that Chinese Heritage Language offers meaningful benefits for participants in the forms of capital production and habitus capture or recapture. Findings from the two phases talk to each other in terms of the inherent entanglement amongst habitus of 'Chineseness', investment of capital, and Chinese Heritage Language proficiency. The study offers important contributions. Theoretically, by virtue of Bourdieu's signature concepts of habitus, capital, and field, the study provides answers to questions that both social psychological and poststructuralist theories have long been struggling to answer. Methodologically, the position of 'pluralism' talks back to Bourdieu's theory and forwards to the mixed methods design. Particularly, the study makes a methodological breakthrough: A set of instruments was developed and validated to quantify Bourdieu's key concepts of capital and habitus within certain social fields. Practically, understanding Chinese Australians' heterogeneity and the potential drivers behind Chinese Heritage Language learning contributes to the growing interest in Chinese Australians' contemporary life experiences and helps to better accommodate linguistically diverse Chinese Heritage Language Learners in Chinese language courses. In addition, this study is very timely. It resonates with the recently released Australia in the Asian Century White Paper: Chinese Australians, with sound knowledge of Chinese culture and language obtained through negotiating their 'Chineseness' and capitalising on diverse resources for learning, will help to serve Australia's economic, social, and political needs in unique ways.