More than simple living : a cultural perspective on sustainable living

This paper provides a cultural perspective to the sustainability research within HCI. I draw on the results from an ethnographic field study of sustainable household practices of ten women belonging to the so-called middle class in India. Focusing on their reuse practices, I provide examples of domestic artefacts that are creatively and resourcefully reused from worn-out artefacts. My initial findings show that the rationale behind creating such artefacts is not limited to the practicality and usefulness, but how cultural and religious beliefs are incorporated into such practices.

Working with Behavioural and Emotional Problems in Young People

This chapter outlines specific issues relating to behavioural and emotional problems in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. It describes the most common disorders and their consequences, and how young Aboriginal people are at higher risk for developing such problems than other young Australians. The chapter also discusses the importance of psychosocial, cultural and environmental issues that need to be recognised in assessing and treating Aboriginal young people with behavioural and emotional problems. Issues concerning the delivery of both universal and culturally responsive prevention and intervention programs to address social and emotional wellbeing and mental health are discussed and possible interventions to enhance student engagement at school are provided. Finally, a range of mental health services for Aboriginal families which offer a culturally responsive approach to mental health treatment are listed.

Wasting Time? Art, Science and New Experience. Examining the Artwork, Know more (House of Commons)

Today the future is travelling rapidly towards us, shaped by all that which we have historically thrown into it. Much of what we have designed for our world over the ages, and much of what we continue to embrace in the pursuit of mainstream economic, cultural and social imperatives, embodies unacknowledged ‘time debts’. Every decision we make today has the potential to ‘give time to’, or take ‘time away’ from that future. This idea that ‘everything‘ inherently embodies ‘future time left’ is underlined by design futurist Tony Fry when he describes how we so often ‘waste’ or ‘take away’ ‘future time’. “In our endeavours to sustain ourselves in the short term we collectively act in destructive ways towards the very things we and all other beings fundamentally depend upon”

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.

Hidden innovation : Policy, industry and the creative sector

The term ‘two cultures’ was coined more than 50 years ago by scientist and novelist C.P. Snow to describe the divergence in the world views and methods of scientists and the creative sector. This divergence has meant that innovation systems and policies have focused for decades on science, engineering, technology and medicine and the industries that depend on them. The humanities, arts and social sciences have been bit players at best; their contributions hidden from research agendas, policy and program initiatives, and the public mind. But structural changes to advanced economies and societies have brought services industries and the creative sector to greater prominence as key contributors to innovation. Hidden Innovation peels back the veil, tracing the way innovation occurs through new forms of screen production enabled by social media platforms as well as in public broadcasting. It shows that creative workers are contributing fresh ideas across the economy and how creative cities debates need reframing. It traces how policies globally are beginning to catch up with the changing social and economic realities. In his new book, Cunningham argues that the innovation framework offers the best opportunity in decades to reassess and refresh the case for the public role of the humanities, particularly the media, cultural and communication studies disciplines.

She'll be right mate : inclusivity experiences of men and women working in projects

Occupational segregation is a major source of labour market rigidity and economic inefficiency due to a waste of human resources. Organisations are repeatedly recognised as gendered constructs exhibiting sustained work segregation, income and status inequality, as well as cultural and individual images of gender, and these are perpetuated through their processes, practices and pressures (Acker, 1990). A large percentage of Australia’s workforce is now employed in project-based or project-oriented organisations, leading to the claim that Australia is a project-based economy. For a continued strong performance in this economy, organisations that employ project personnel will need to consider how they address inclusivity and equality in diversity in project based temporary organisations to ensure the supply of high quality project professionals into the future. This paper investigates the inclusion processes experienced and exercised by men and women working in temporary organisations in project situations through a review of reports on the inclusion processes experienced by 60 project managers and project workers in three project based industries in Australia. Results indicate that temporary organisations are not implementing equality and diversity management strategies at the macro level and project workers are accepting this lack of recognition. However inclusivity and equality at the micro level of the team is seen as vital.

A regional interpretation of rules and good practice for greenhouse accounting : Northern Australian savanna systems

Land-use change, particularly clearing of forests for agriculture, has contributed significantly to the observed rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Concern about the impacts on climate has led to efforts to monitor and curtail the rapid increase in concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Internationally, much of the current focus is on the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Although electing to not ratify the Protocol, Australia, as a party to the UNFCCC, reports on national greenhouse gas emissions, trends in emissions and abatement measures. In this paper we review the complex accounting rules for human activities affecting greenhouse gas fluxes in the terrestrial biosphere and explore implications and potential opportunities for managing carbon in the savanna ecosystems of northern Australia. Savannas in Australia are managed for grazing as well as for cultural and environmental values against a background of extreme climate variability and disturbance, notably fire. Methane from livestock and non-CO2 emissions from burning are important components of the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with management of savannas. International developments in carbon accounting for the terrestrial biosphere bring a requirement for better attribution of change in carbon stocks and more detailed and spatially explicit data on such characteristics of savanna ecosystems as fire regimes, production and type of fuel for burning, drivers of woody encroachment, rates of woody regrowth, stocking rates and grazing impacts. The benefits of improved biophysical information and of understanding the impacts on ecosystem function of natural factors and management options will extend beyond greenhouse accounting to better land management for multiple objectives.

Priority threat management of invasive plant species in the Lake Eyre Basin

This project is led by scientists in conservation decision appraisal and brings together a group of experts working across the Lake Eyre Basin (LEB). The LEB covers a sixth of Australia, with an array of globally significant natural values that are threatened by invasive plants, among other things. Managers at various levels are investing in attempts to control, contain and eradicate these invasive plant species, under severe time and resources limitations. To date there has been no basin-wide assessment of which weed management strategies and locations provide the best investments for maximising outcomes for biodiversity per unit cost. Further, there has been no assessment of the extent of ecosystem intactness that may be lost without effective invasive plant species management strategies. Given that there are insufficient resources to manage all invasive plant species everywhere, this information has the potential to improve current investment decisions. Here, we provide a prioritisation of invasive plant management strategies in the LEB. Prioritisation was based on cost-effectiveness for biodiversity benefits. We identify the key invasive plant species to target to protect ecosystem intactness across the bioregions of the LEB, the level of investment required and the likely reduction in invasive species dominance gained per dollar spent on each strategy. Our focus is on strategies that are technically and socially feasible and reduce the likelihood that high impact invasive plant species will dominate native ecosystems, and therefore change their form and function. The outputs of this work are designed to help guide decision-making and further planning and investment in weed management for the Basin. Experts in weed management, policy-making, community engagement, biodiversity and natural values of the Basin, attended a workshop and agreed upon 12 strategies to manage invasive plants. The strategies focused primarily on 10 weeds which were considered to have a high potential for broad, significant impacts on natural ecosystems in the next 50 years and for which feasible management strategies could be defined. Each strategy consisted of one or more supporting actions, many of which were spatially linked to IBRA (Interim Biogeographical Regionalisation of Australia) bioregions. The first strategy was an over-arching recommendation for improved mapping, information sharing, education and extension efforts in order to facilitate the more specific weed management strategies. The 10 more specific weed management strategies targeted the control and/or eradication of the following high-impact exotic plants: mesquite, parkinsonia, rubber vine, bellyache bush, cacti, mother of millions, chinee apple, athel pine and prickly acacia, as well as a separate strategy for eradicating all invasive plants from one key threatened ecological community, the GAB (Great Artesian Basin dependant) mound springs. Experts estimated the expected biodiversity benefit of each strategy as the reduction in area that an invasive plant species is likely to dominate in over a 50-year period, where dominance was defined as more than 30% coverage at a site. Costs were estimated in present day terms over 50 years largely during follow up discussions post workshop. Cost-effectiveness was then calculated for each strategy in each bioregion by dividing the average expected benefit by the average annual costs. Overall, the total cost of managing 12 invasive plant strategies over the next 50 years was estimated at $1.7 billion. It was estimated that implementation of these strategies would result in a reduction of invasive plant dominance by 17 million ha (a potential 32% reduction), roughly 14% of the LEB. If only targeting Weeds of National Significance (WONS), the total cost was estimated to be $113 million over the next 50 years. Over the next 50 years, $2.3 million was estimated to eradicate all invasive plant species from the Great Artesian Basin Mound Springs threatened ecological community. Prevention and awareness programs were another key strategy targeted across the Basin and estimated at $17.5 million in total over 50 years. The cost of controlling, eradicating and containing buffel grass were the most expensive, over $1.5 billion over 50 years; this strategy was estimated to result in a reduction in buffel grass dominance of a million ha in areas where this species is identified as an environmental problem. Buffel grass has been deliberately planted across the Basin for pasture production and is by far the most widely distributed exotic species. Its management is contentious, having economic value to many graziers while posing serious threats to biodiversity and sites of high cultural and conservation interest. The strategy for containing and locally eradicating buffel grass was a challenge to cost based on expert knowledge, possibly because of the dual nature of this species as a valued pastoral grass and environmental weed. Based on our conversations with experts, it appears that control and eradication programs for this species, in conservation areas, are growing rapidly and that information on the most cost-effective strategies for this species will continue to develop over time. The top five most cost-effective strategies for the entire LEB were for the management of: 1) parkinsonia, 2) chinee apple, 3) mesquite, 4) rubber vine and 5) bellyache bush. Chinee apple and mother of millions are not WONS and have comparatively small populations within the semi-arid bioregions of Queensland. Experts felt that there was an opportunity to eradicate these species before they had the chance to develop into high-impact species within the LEB. Prickly acacia was estimated to have one of the highest benefits, but the costs of this strategy were high, therefore it was ranked 7th overall. The buffel grass strategy was ranked the lowest (10th) in terms of cost effectiveness. The top five most cost-effective strategies within and across the bioregions were the management of: 1) parkinsonia in the Channel Country, 2) parkinsonia in the Desert Uplands, 3) mesquite in the Mitchell Grass Downs, 4) parkinsonia in the Mitchell Grass Downs, and 5) mother of millions in the Desert Uplands. Although actions for several invasive plant species like parkinsonia and prickly acacia were concentrated in the Queensland part of the LEB, the actions involved investing in containment zones to prevent the spread of these species into other states. In the NT and SA bioregions of the LEB, the management of athel pine, parkinsonia and cacti were the main strategies. While outside the scientific research goals of study, this work highlighted a number of important incidental findings that led us to make the following recommendations for future research and implementation of weed management in the Basin: • Ongoing stakeholder engagement, extension and participation is required to ensure this prioritisation effort has a positive impact in affecting on-ground decision making and planning. • Short term funding for weed management was identified as a major reason for failure of current efforts, hence future funding needs to be secure and ongoing. • Improved mapping and information sharing is essential to implement effective weed management. • Due to uncertainties in the outcomes and impacts of management options, strategies should be implemented as part of an adaptive management program. The information provided in this report can be used to guide investment for controlling high-impact invasive plant species for the benefits of biodiversity conservation. We do not present a final prioritisation of invasive plant strategies for the LEB, and we have not addressed the cultural, socio-economic or spatial components necessary for an implementation plan. Cost-effectiveness depends on the objectives used; in our case we used the intactness of ecosystems as a surrogate for expected biodiversity benefits, measured by the extent that each invasive plant species is likely to dominate in a bioregion. When other relevant factors for implementation are considered the priorities may change and some actions may not be appropriate in some locations. We present the costs, ecological benefits and cost-effectiveness of preventing, containing, reducing and eradicating the dominance of high impact invasive plants through realistic management actions over the next 50 years. In doing so, we are able to estimate the size of the weed management problem in the LEB and provide expert-based estimates of the likely outcomes and benefits of implementing weed management strategies. The priorities resulting from this work provide a prospectus for guiding further investment in management and in improving information availability.

Forms of capital, intra-ethnic variation and Polish entrepreneurs in Leicester

A study of ten Polish entrepreneurs operating in Leicester, UK is reported in this article. The concepts of social, cultural and economic capital are used as the lens through which to explore the way the capital they access is employed and converted into entrepreneurial activity. Ethnic entrepreneurship takes place within wider social, political and economic institutional frameworks and opportunity structures and so this is taken into account by differentiating two groups – post-war and contemporary Polish entrepreneurs. The differing origins and amounts of forms of capital they can access are shown as is how these are converted into valued outcomes. Combining the mixed embeddedness approach with a forms-of-capital analysis enables looking beyond social capital to elaborate on intra-ethnic variation in the UK’s Polish entrepreneurial community.

The forgotten ones : a case study on conceptualising and implementing a peer mentoring program for postgraduate coursework students

We employed an action research approach to develop a context specific peer mentoring program (Postgrad Assist) that aids first year postgraduate coursework (PGCW) students in their transition to postgraduate study. We explored the transition literature and best practice approaches, undertook comprehensive surveys of both our students and staff, conducted student focus groups, formed a diverse working party, with strong representation from students and adopted an on-going evaluation program to develop and refine Postgrad Assist. The program substantially alleviated transitioning students’ cultural and academic shock, and social isolation. The program makes a contribution to the transition and mentoring research domain in that it challenges the common misconception that PGCW students are similar to undergraduate students with no particular distinguishing features that would suggest a need for a different approach to their mentoring.

Engaging children and young people in creating resilient and healthy urban spaces

Urban public space in Australia and internationally, can be critically examined from a number of multidisciplinary standpoints, including human geography, urban design, planning, sociology, and public health. Viewing urban public space from a range of perspectives encourages different vantage points to emerge and questions around health, wellbeing and public space are increasingly topical and important in the broadest of terms, with public space being a key arena for physical activity, mental health, commercial, cultural and community life and the possibility of social inclusion. However, in the name of urban regeneration, programs of securitisation, ‘gentrification’ ‘creative’ and ‘smart’ city initiatives refashion public space as sites of selective inclusion and exclusion (Watson 2005; Gabrys 2014). In this context of monitoring and control procedures, in particular, children and young people’s use of space in parks, neighbourhoods, shopping malls and streets, is often viewed as a threat to social order, requiring various forms of remedial action, such as being ‘designed out’ of public space (Johnson 2014). Rarely are children and young people actively and respectfully brought into planning and governance processes and consequently many urban public spaces are essentially adult places, where control and ongoing surveillance are the key concerns (Freeman 2011, Dee 2013). There is also a political economy of public space discernable in cities like Brisbane, where ‘flagship’ infrastructure such as road tunnels take pride of place, while more humbly appointed pedestrian footpaths are often narrow, in a poor state of repair and a potential barrier to good health (Atkinson and Easthope 2009). The recent development of bikeways in Brisbane is a case in point, presenting both challenges and opportunities in being a valuable new form of public space heavily used by ‘commuter cyclists’ by day, but poorly lit and conceived, for a range of users at other times (Wyeth 2014). This paper concentrates on questions of social citizenship rights and discourses of health and wellbeing and suggests that cities, places and spaces and those who seek to use them, can be resilient in maintaining and extending democratic freedoms, calling surveillance, planning and governance systems to account (Smith 2014). The active inclusion of children and young people better informs the implementation of public policy around the design, build and governance of public space and also understandings of urban citizenship, leading to healthier, more inclusive, public space for all (Jacobs 1965).

Australian consumer attitudes and decision making on renewable energy technology and its impact on the transformation of the energy sector

This paper critically examines research on consumer attitudes and behavior towards solar photovoltaic (PV) and renewable energy technology in Australia. The uptake of renewable energy technology by residential consumers in Australia in the past decade has transformed the electricity supply and demand paradigm. Thus, this paper reviews Australian research on consumer behavior, understanding and choices in order to identify gaps in knowledge. As the role of the consumer transforms there is a critical need to understand the ways consumers may respond to future energy policies to mitigate unforeseen negative social and economic consequence of programs designed to achieve positive environmental outcomes.

Straminipilan protists : a study of their taxonomic position, morphology and abiotic stress-mediated gene expression

Thraustochytrids have become of considerable industrial and scientific interest in the past decade due to their health benefits. They have been proven to be the principle source in marine and estuarine fish diets with high percentage of long chain (LC) or polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Therefore, the oil extracted from fish for human document.forms[0].elements[13].select();consumption is rich in PUFA with high omega-3 fatty acid content. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) of all of the omega-3 fatty acids, are considered beneficial essential oils for humans with a wide range of health benefits. These include brain and neural development in infants, general wellbeing of adults and drug delivery through precursor molecules. They have become one of the most extensively studied organisms for industrial oil preparations as PUFA extraction from fish becomes less profitable. Many forms of these Thraustochytrid oils are being trialled for human consumption all over the world. In Australia, there has been little research performed on these organisms in the past ten years. A few Australian studies have been conducted in the form of comparative studies related to PUFA production within the related genera, but not focussed on their identification or cellular and genomic characterisation. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to investigate the morphological and genetic characteristics of Australian Thraustochytrids in order to aid in their identification and characterisation, as well as to better understand the effect of environmental conditions in the regulation of PUFA production. It was also noted that there was a knowledge gap in the preservation and total genomic DNA extraction of these organisms for the purposes of scientific research. The cryopreservation of these organisms for studies around the world follows existing generic methods. However, it is well understood that many of these generic methods attract not only high costs for chemicals, but also uses considerable storage space and other resources, all of which can be improved with new or modified approaches. In this context, a simple and inexpensive bead preservation method is described, without compromising the storage shelf life. We also describe, for the first time, the effects of culture age on the successful cryopreservation of Thraustochytrids. It was evident in the literature that DNA and RNA extractions for molecular and genetic studies of Thraustochytrids follow the classical phenol-chloroform extraction methods. It was also observed that modern protocols failed to avoid the use of phenol-chloroform rather than improving preparation and cell disruption. In order to provide a high quantity and quality DNA extraction, a modified protocol has been introduced that employs the use of modern commercial extraction kits and standard laboratory equipment. Thraustochytrids have been shown to be highly conserved in their 18S rDNA gene sequences, which is used as the current standard for identification. It was demonstrated that the 18S rDNA gene sequence limits the recognition of closely related genera or within the genera from each member. Therefore, it was proposed that another profile, such as a randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) based profiling system, be tested for use in the characterisation of Thraustochytrids. The RAPD profiles were shown to provide a unique DNA fingerprint for each isolate and small variations in their genome were able to be detected. This method involved the use of a minimum number of standard arbitrary primers and with an increase in the number of different primers used, a very high discrimination between organisms could be achieved. However, the method was not suitable for taxonomic purposes because the results did not correlate with other taxonomic features such as morphology. Another knowledge gap was found with respect to Australian Thraustochytrid growth characteristics, in that these had not been recorded and published. In order to rectify this, a record of colony and microscopic features of 12 selected isolates was performed. The results of preliminary studies indicated that further microbiological and biochemical studies are needed for full characterisation of these organisms. This information is of great importance to bio-prospecting of new Thraustochytrids from Australian ecosystems and would allow for their accurate identification, and so permit the prediction of their PUFA capability by comparison with related genera/species. It was well recognized that environmental stress plays a role in the PUFA production and is mainly due to the reactive oxygen species as abiotic stress (Chiou et al., 2001; Okuyama et al., 2008; Shabala et al., 2009; Shabala et al., 2001). In this aspect, this study makes the first attempt towards better understanding of this phenomenon by way of the use of real-time PCR for the detection of environmental effects on the regulation of PUFA production. Three main environmental conditions including temperature, pH and oxygen availability were monitored as stress inducers. In summary, this study provides novel approaches for the preservation and handling of Thraustochytrids, their molecular biological features, taxonomy, characterisation and responses to environmental factors with respect to their oil production enzymes. The information produced from this study will prove to be vital for both industrial and scientific investigations in the future.

Intersectionality, rural criminology, and re-imaging the boundaries of critical criminology

One of the significant shortcomings of the criminological canon, including its critical strands – feminist, cultural and green – has been its urbancentric bias. In this theoretical model, rural communities are idealised as conforming to the typical small-scale traditional societies based on cohesive organic forms of solidarity and close density acquaintance networks. This article challenges the myth that rural communities are relatively crime free places of ‘moral virtue’ with no need for a closer scrutiny of rural context, rural places, and rural peoples about crime and other social problems. This challenge is likewise woven into the conceptual and empirical narratives of the other articles in this Special Edition, which we argue constitute an important body of innovative work, not just for reinvigorating debates in rural criminology, but also critical criminology. For without a critical perspective of place, the realities of context are too easily overlooked. A new criminology of crime and place will help keep both critical criminology and rural criminology firmly anchored in the sociological and the criminological imagination. We argue that intersectionality, a framework that resists privileging any particular social structural category of analysis, but is cognisant of the power effects of colonialism, class, race and gender, can provide the theoretical scaffolding to further develop such a project.

Global Human Trafficking : Critical Issues and Contexts

Human trafficking has moved from relative obscurity to a major area of research, policy and teaching over the past ten years. Research has sprung from criminology, public policy, women’s and gender studies, sociology, anthropology, and law, but has been somewhat hindered by the failure of scholars to engage beyond their own disciplines and favoured methodologies. Recent research has begun to improve efforts to understand the causes of the problem, the experiences of victims, policy efforts, and their consequences in specific cultural and historical contexts. Global Human Trafficking: Critical issues and contexts foregrounds recent empirical work on human trafficking from an interdisciplinary, critical perspective. The collection includes classroom-friendly features, such as introductory chapters that provide essential background for understanding the trafficking literature, textboxes explaining key concepts, discussion questions for each chapter, and lists of additional resources, including films, websites, and additional readings for each chapter. The authors include both eminent and emerging scholars from around the world, drawn from law, anthropology, criminology, sociology, cultural studies, and political science and the book will be useful for undergraduate and graduate courses in these areas, as well as for scholars interested in trafficking.