Sustainable water provision : challenges, alternative strategies and sources in the era of climate change

As a result of rapid urbanisation, population growth, changes in lifestyle, pollution and the impacts of climate change, water provision has become a critical challenge for planners and policy-makers. In the wake of increasingly difficult water provision and drought, the notion that freshwater is a finite and vulnerable resource is increasingly being realised. Many city administrations around the world are struggling to provide water security for their residents to maintain lifestyle and economic growth. This chapter reviews the global challenge of providing freshwater to sustain lifestyles and economic growth, and the contributing challenges of climate change, urbanisation, population growth and problems in rainfall distribution. The chapter proceeds to evaluate major alternatives to current water sources such as conservation, recycling and reclamation, and desalination. Integrated water resource management is briefly looked at to explore its role in complementing water provision. A comparative study on alternative resources is undertaken to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints, and the results are discussed.

Sustainable urban infrastructure development in south east Asia : evidence from Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore

Many South East Asian cities have experienced substantial physical, economic and social transformations during the past several decades. The rapid pace of globalisation and economic restructuring has resulted in these cities receiving the full impact of urbanisation pressures. In an attempt to ease these pressures, cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur have advocated growth management approaches focussing especially on urban infrastructure sustainability. These approaches aim to achieve triple bottom line sustainability by balancing economic and social development, and environmental protection. This chapter evaluates three Asia-Pacific city cases, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, and assesses their experiences in managing their urban forms and infrastructure whilst promoting sustainable patterns of urban development.

Fusing curricula : science, technology and ICT

Curriculum demands continue to increase on school education systems with teachers at the forefront of implementing syllabus requirements. Education is reported frequently as a solution to most societal problems and, as a result of the world’s information explosion, teachers are expected to cover more and more within teaching programs. How can teachers combine subjects in order to capitalise on the competing educational agendas within school timeframes? Fusing curricula requires the bonding of standards from two or more syllabuses. Both technology and ICT complement the learning of science. This study analyses selected examples of preservice teachers’ overviews for fusing science, technology and ICT. These program overviews focused on primary students and the achievement of two standards (one from science and one from either technology or ICT). These primary preservice teachers’ fused-curricula overviews included scientific concepts and related technology and/or ICT skills and knowledge. Findings indicated a range of innovative curriculum plans for teaching primary science through technology and ICT, demonstrating that these subjects can form cohesive links towards achieving the respective learning standards. Teachers can work more astutely by fusing curricula; however further professional development may be required to advance thinking about these processes. Bonding subjects through their learning standards can extend beyond previous integration or thematic work where standards may not have been assessed. Education systems need to articulate through syllabus documents how effective fusing of curricula can be achieved. It appears that education is a key avenue for addressing societal needs, problems and issues. Education is promoted as a universal solution, which has resulted in curriculum overload (Dare, Durand, Moeller, & Washington, 1997; Vinson, 2001). Societal and curriculum demands have placed added pressure on teachers with many extenuating education issues increasing teachers’ workloads (Mobilise for Public Education, 2002). For example, as Australia has weather conducive for outdoor activities, social problems and issues arise that are reported through the media calling for action; consequently schools have been involved in swimming programs, road and bicycle safety programs, and a wide range of activities that had been considered a parental responsibility in the past. Teachers are expected to plan, implement and assess these extra-curricula activities within their already overcrowded timetables. At the same stage, key learning areas (KLAs) such as science and technology are mandatory requirements within all Australian education systems. These systems have syllabuses outlining levels of content and the anticipated learning outcomes (also known as standards, essential learnings, and frameworks). Time allocated for teaching science in obviously an issue. In 2001, it was estimated that on average the time spent in teaching science in Australian Primary Schools was almost an hour per week (Goodrum, Hackling, & Rennie, 2001). More recently, a study undertaken in the U.S. reported a similar finding. More than 80% of the teachers in K-5 classrooms spent less than an hour teaching science (Dorph, Goldstein, Lee, et al., 2007). More importantly, 16% did not spend teaching science in their classrooms. Teachers need to learn to work smarter by optimising the use of their in-class time. Integration is proposed as one of the ways to address the issue of curriculum overload (Venville & Dawson, 2005; Vogler, 2003). Even though there may be a lack of definition for integration (Hurley, 2001), curriculum integration aims at covering key concepts in two or more subject areas within the same lesson (Buxton & Whatley, 2002). This implies covering the curriculum in less time than if the subjects were taught separately; therefore teachers should have more time to cover other educational issues. Expectedly, the reality can be decidedly different (e.g., Brophy & Alleman, 1991; Venville & Dawson, 2005). Nevertheless, teachers report that students expand their knowledge and skills as a result of subject integration (James, Lamb, Householder, & Bailey, 2000). There seems to be considerable value for integrating science with other KLAs besides aiming to address teaching workloads. Over two decades ago, Cohen and Staley (1982) claimed that integration can bring a subject into the primary curriculum that may be otherwise left out. Integrating science education aims to develop a more holistic perspective. Indeed, life is not neat components of stand-alone subjects; life integrates subject content in numerous ways, and curriculum integration can assist students to make these real-life connections (Burnett & Wichman, 1997). Science integration can provide the scope for real-life learning and the possibility of targeting students’ learning styles more effectively by providing more than one perspective (Hudson & Hudson, 2001). To illustrate, technology is essential to science education (Blueford & Rosenbloom, 2003; Board of Studies, 1999; Penick, 2002), and constructing technology immediately evokes a social purpose for such construction (Marker, 1992). For example, building a model windmill requires science and technology (Zubrowski, 2002) but has a key focus on sustainability and the social sciences. Science has the potential to be integrated with all KLAs (e.g., Cohen & Staley, 1982; Dobbs, 1995; James et al., 2000). Yet, “integration” appears to be a confusing term. Integration has an educational meaning focused on special education students being assimilated into mainstream classrooms. The word integration was used in the late seventies and generally focused around thematic approaches for teaching. For instance, a science theme about flight only has to have a student drawing a picture of plane to show integration; it did not connect the anticipated outcomes from science and art. The term “fusing curricula” presents a seamless bonding between two subjects; hence standards (or outcomes) need to be linked from both subjects. This also goes beyond just embedding one subject within another. Embedding implies that one subject is dominant, while fusing curricula proposes an equal mix of learning within both subject areas. Primary education in Queensland has eight KLAs, each with its established content and each with a proposed structure for levels of learning. Primary teachers attempt to cover these syllabus requirements across the eight KLAs in less than five hours a day, and between many of the extra-curricula activities occurring throughout a school year (e.g., Easter activities, Education Week, concerts, excursions, performances). In Australia, education systems have developed standards for all KLAs (e.g., Education Queensland, NSW Department of Education and Training, Victorian Education) usually designated by a code. In the late 1990’s (in Queensland), “core learning outcomes” for strands across all KLA’s. For example, LL2.1 for the Queensland Education science syllabus means Life and Living at Level 2 standard number 1. Thus, a teacher’s planning requires the inclusion of standards as indicated by the presiding syllabus. More recently, the core learning outcomes were replaced by “essential learnings”. They specify “what students should be taught and what is important for students to have opportunities to know, understand and be able to do” (Queensland Studies Authority, 2009, para. 1). Fusing science education with other KLAs may facilitate more efficient use of time and resources; however this type of planning needs to combine standards from two syllabuses. To further assist in facilitating sound pedagogical practices, there are models proposed for learning science, technology and other KLAs such as Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956), Productive Pedagogies (Education Queensland, 2004), de Bono’s Six Hats (de Bono, 1985), and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1999) that imply, warrant, or necessitate fused curricula. Bybee’s 5 Es, for example, has five levels of learning (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate; Bybee, 1997) can have the potential for fusing science and ICT standards.

Identity fraud and torrens - minimising the risks and allocating the loss to achieve a sustainable system

Immediate indefeasibility is the cornerstone of the Torrens system of land registration. However, when combined with the apparent ease in which forged mortgages become registered, the operation of this doctrine can come into question. This article seeks to argue that, rather than question indefeasibility, the focus should be on the verification of identity of parties to land transactions. Whilst no system can ever be infallible, it is suggested that by correctly imposing the responsibility for identity verification on the appropriate individual, the Torrens system can retain immediate indefeasibility as its paramount principle, yet achieve the optimum level of fairness in terms of allocation of responsibility and loss. With the dawn of a new era of electronic conveyancing about to begin, the framework suggested here provides a model for minimising the risks of forged mortgages and appropriately allocating the loss.

Towards sustainable housing for Vietnam

Economic development in Vietnam has led to the spontaneous development of new housing in many parts of Vietnam without consideration of environmental protection, cultural suitability, or resource reduction. The transition of Vietnamese housing into a sustainable industry is both an opportunity and challenge. Vietnam has to satisfy a growing demand for housing while confronting the issues of climate change, extreme weather events, nature conservation and cultural heritage. To that end, model green building guidelines are being developed to facilitate Vietnam’s adoption of sustainable development principles and practices. This paper presents the results of a survey and interviews carried out in Vietnam to ensure that model green guidelines align with the cultural and consumer preferences of the Vietnamese people.

Sustainable urban development : formulation of indicator-based residential sustainability assessment framework for local level

Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to formulate a conceptual framework for urban sustainability indicators selection. This framework will be used to develop an indicator-based evaluation method for assessing the sustainability levels of residential neighbourhood developments in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach–We provide a brief overview of existing evaluation frameworks for sustainable development assessment. We then develop a conceptual Sustainable Residential Neighbourhood Assessment (SNA) framework utilising a four-pillar sustainability framework (environmental, social, economic and institutional) and a combination of domain-based and goal-based general frameworks. This merger offers the advantages of both individual frameworks, while also overcoming some of their weaknesses when used to develop the urban sustainability evaluation method for assessing residential neighbourhoods. Originality/value–This approach puts in evidence that many of the existing frameworks for evaluating urban sustainability do not extend their frameworks to include assessing housing sustainability at a local level. Practical implications–It is expected that the use of the indicator-based Sustainable Neighbourhood Assessment framework will present a potential mechanism for planners and developers to evaluate and monitor the sustainability performance of residential neighbourhood developments.

Self-service technology and the moderating effects of consumer characteristics

The incidence of self-service technology, where the consumer delivers the service themselves using technology, is increasing in the service encounter. One area that is under-explored is the potential impact of self-service technology on consumer satisfaction and affective commitment. Accordingly, this paper presents an empirical study that investigates the relative impact of self-service technology on consumer satisfaction (both overall and transaction-specific) and affective commitment, accounting for the moderating effects of consumer characteristics. The results highlight the importance of personal service for evaluations of satisfaction and commitment, and the importance of social competency as a moderator in this relationship. An understanding of these consumer perceptions will allow organisations to develop strategies to deliver the services expected by their consumers, improving consumer satisfaction and commitment.

Technology in the lives and schools of adolescents

This chapter advocates a pedagogy where relationships form the basis for developing curricular and pedagogical ways of being with students. A relational pedagogy begins through considering the broad questions of: Where are music and technology in the lives the teacher and student? Where do adolescents make meaning through music and technology? How can teachers develop a community with their students through music and technology? We argue that relationships should be placed at the center of pedagogical and curricular decision-making. Through this approach, music educators are better equipped to make space for and honor student agency and learning through harnessing the ways adolescents intuitively engage with music and technology.

Genotyping of enterococcus faecalis and enterococcus faecium isolates using a set of eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)

A SNP genotyping method was developed for E. faecalis and E. faecium using the 'Minimum SNPs' program. SNP sets were interrogated using allele-specific real-time PCR. SNP-typing sub-divided clonal complexes 2 and 9 of E. faecalis and 17 of E. faecium, members of which cause the majority of nosocomial infections globally.

Transforming people, place, and technology : towards re-creative city

This session is titled TRANSFORM! Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Content for Creative Economy. Some of the key concepts for this session include: 1. City / Economy 2. Creativity 3. Digital content 4. Transformation All of us would agree that these terms describe pertinent characteristics of contemporary world, the epithet of which is the ‘network era.’ I was thinking about what I would like to discuss here and what you, leading experts in divergent fields, would be interested to hear about. As the keynote for this session and as one of the first speakers for the entire conference, I see my role as an initiator for imagination, the wilder the better, posing questions rather than answers. Also given the session title Transform!, I wish to change this slightly to Transforming People, Place, and Technology: Towards Re-­creative City in an attempt to take us away a little from the usual image depicted by the given topic. Instead, I intend to sketch a more holistic picture by reflecting on and extrapolating the four key concepts from the urban informatics point of view. To do so, I use ‘city’ as the primary guiding concept for my talk rather than probably more expected ‘digital media’ or ‘creative economy.’ You may wonder what I mean by re-­creative city. I will explain this in time by looking at the key concepts from these four respective angles: 1. Living city 2. Creative city 3. Re-­‐creative city 4. Opportunities and Challenges to arrive at a speculative yet probable image of the city that we may aspire to transform our current cities into. First let us start by considering the ‘living city.’

The record producer as nexus : creative inspiration, technology and the recording industry

What is a record producer? There is a degree of mystery and uncertainty about just what goes on behind the studio door. Some producers are seen as Svengali-like figures manipulating artists into mass consumer product. Producers are sometimes seen as mere technicians whose job is simply to set up a few microphones and press the record button. Close examination of the recording process will show how far this is from a complete picture. Artists are special—they come with an inspiration, and a talent, but also with a variety of complications, and in many ways a recording studio can seem the least likely place for creative expression and for an affective performance to happen. The task of the record producer is to engage with these artists and their songs and turn these potentials into form through the technology of the recording studio. The purpose of the exercise is to disseminate this fixed form to an imagined audience—generally in the hope that this audience will prove to be real. Finding an audience is the role of the record company. A record producer must also engage with the commercial expectations of the interests that underwrite a recording. This dissertation considers three fields of interest in the recording process: the performer and the song; the technology of the recording context; and the commercial ambitions of the record company—and positions the record producer as a nexus at the interface of all three. The author reports his structured recollection of five recordings, with three different artists, that all achieved substantial commercial success. The processes are considered from the author’s perspective as the record producer, and from inception of the project to completion of the recorded work. What were the processes of engagement? Do the actions reported conform to the template of nexus? This dissertation proposes that in all recordings the function of producer/nexus is present and necessary—it exists in the interaction of the artistry and the technology. The art of record production is to engage with these artists and the songs they bring and turn these potentials into form.

Predictions of road traffic noise on residential balconies using a specular and diffusion model

A combined specular reflection and diffusion model using the radiosity technique was developed to calculate road traffic noise level on residential balconies. The model is capable of numerous geometrical configurations for a single balcony situated in the centre of a street canyon. The geometry of the balcony and the street can be altered with width,length and height. The model was used to calculate for three different geometrical and acoustic absorption characteristics for a balcony. The calculated results are presented in this paper.

From social butterfly to engaged citizen: Urban informatics, social media, ubiquitous computing, and mobile technology to support citizen engagement

Web applications such as blogs, wikis, video and photo sharing sites, and social networking systems have been termed ‘Web 2.0’ to highlight an arguably more open, collaborative, personalisable, and therefore more participatory internet experience than what had previously been possible. Giving rise to a culture of participation, an increasing number of these social applications are now available on mobile phones where they take advantage of device-specific features such as sensors, location and context awareness. This international volume of book chapters will make a contribution towards exploring and better understanding the opportunities and challenges provided by tools, interfaces, methods and practices of social and mobile technology that enable participation and engagement. It brings together an international group of academics and practitioners from a diverse range of disciplines such as computing and engineering, social sciences, digital media and human-computer interaction to critically examine a range of applications of social and mobile technology, such as social networking, mobile interaction, wikis, twitter, blogging, virtual worlds, shared displays and urban sceens, and their impact to foster community activism, civic engagement and cultural citizenship.

Impacts and adaptation response of infrastructure and communities to heatwaves : the southern Australian experience of 2009

From 27 January to 8 February during the summer of 2009, southern Australia experienced one of the nation‘s most severe heatwaves. Governments, councils, utilities, hospitals and emergency response organisations and the community were largely underprepared for an extreme event of this magnitude. This case study targets the experience and challenges faced by decision makers and policy makers and focuses on the major metropolitan areas affected by the heatwave — Melbourne and Adelaide. The study examines the 2009 heatwave‘s characteristics; its impacts (on human health, infrastructure and human services); the degree of adaptive capacity (vulnerability and resilience) of various sectors, communities and individuals; and the reactive responses of government and emergency and associated services and their effectiveness. Barriers and challenges to adaptation and increasing resilience are also identified and further areas for research are suggested. This study does not include details of the heatwave‘s effects beyond Victoria and South Australia, or its economic impacts, or of Victoria‘s 'Black Saturday‘ bushfires.

Sustainable urban infrastructure management : integration of urban computer modelling

Purpose - This paper seeks to examine the complex relationships between urban planning, infrastructure management, sustainable urban development, and to illustrate why there is an urgent need for local governments to develop a robust planning support system which integrates with advance urban computer modelling tools to facilitate better infrastructure management and improve knowledge sharing between the community, urban planners, engineers and decision makers. Design/methodology/approach - The methods used in this paper includes literature review and practical project case observations. Originality/value - This paper provides an insight of how the Brisbane's planning support system established by Brisbane City Council has significantly improved the effectiveness of urban planning, infrastructure management and community engagement through better knowledge management processes. Practical implications - This paper presents a practical framework for setting up a functional planning support system within local government. The integration of the Brisbane Urban Growth model, Virtual Brisbane and the Brisbane Economic Activity Monitoring (BEAM) database have proven initially successful to provide a dynamic platform to assist elected officials, planners and engineers to understand the limitations of the local environment, its urban systems and the planning implications on a city. With the Brisbane's planning support system, planners and decision makers are able to provide better planning outcomes, policy and infrastructure that adequately address the local needs and achieve sustainable spatial forms.