Some conceptual issues in education for sustainable development

There is a strong international, national and regional mandate for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): the United Nations has gazetted a 'decade of education for sustainability; sustainability is Australia's top research priority area; and there is increasing local concern about specific sustainability issues like the effect of the sea change movement on Australia's coastal communities. In this paper I will consider two contemporary conceptual issues in ESD: the contested nature of the field itself; and the relationship between traditional discipline-based educational structures and ESD. In addition to these conceptual issues, I will draw on a recent practical example of fl sustainability project in raising some questions concerning the distinguishing characteristics of sustainability issues that perhaps ought to be addressed in ESD.

Interest, nations, and the state in development: Instability in archipelic Southeast Asia

The Southeast Asian archipelago has become marked by divisions
within existing states, placing significant local constraints upon
the process of ‘development’. These divisions include ‘vertical’
challenges to the state, i.e. they have the capacity to split the state
into geographic divisions based on proto-nationalist identity, and
‘horizontal’ challenges to the state, defined by ethnic and
communal rivalry and conflict. This brief paper will canvas some
issues in such divisions.

Evaluation of the implementation of a state government community design policy aimed at increasing local walking : design issues and baseline results from RESIDE, Perth Western Australia

Objectives.
To describe the design and baseline results of an evaluation of the Western Australian government's pedestrian-friendly subdivision design code (Liveable Neighborhood (LN) Guidelines).
Methods.

Baseline results (2003–2005) from a longitudinal study of people (n = 1813) moving into new housing developments: 18 Liveable, 11 Hybrid and 45 Conventional (i.e., LDs, HDs and CDs respectively) are presented including usual recreational and transport-related walking undertaken within and outside the neighborhood, and 7-day pedometer steps.
Results.

At baseline, more participants walked for recreation and transport within the neighborhood (52.6%; 36.1% respectively), than outside the neighborhood (17.7%; 13.2% respectively). Notably, only 20% of average total duration of walking (128.4 min/week (SD159.8)) was transport related and within the neighborhood. There were few differences between the groups' demographic, psychosocial and perceived neighborhood environmental characteristics, pedometer steps, or the type, amount and location of self-reported walking (p > 0.05). However, asked what factors influenced their choice of housing development, more participants moving into LDs reported aspects of their new neighborhood's walkability as important (p < 0.05).
Conclusions.

The baseline results underscore the desirability of incorporating behavior and context-specific measures and value of longitudinal designs to enable changes in behavior, attitudes, and urban form to be monitored, while adjusting for baseline residential location preferences.

Community development and ecology : exploring the links

This paper will explore connections between the concepts of community development and ecology. Initially the tendency was to think there should be a total melding of the principles and practices of community development with those of an ecological understanding but on reflection this has not and indeed is not necessarily the case. The relative epistemological positioning of two different groups, one strongly associating with social justice and the need for people to be at the centre of our economic, environmental and social understanding; and the other clearly seeing the plant and ecology/environment being paramount. While there are a myriad of connections the focus of much community development has been around human welfare based on principles of social, political and economic justice. This has at times been to the detriment of ecological sustainability. Conversely ecology and particularly aspects of deep ecology have focussed on the 'other than human' aspects of the planet and at times seemed almost 'anti 'human and overlooking the need to work with the social almost entirely. This paper briefly outlines the historical separation of the social from the ecological then goes on to explore alternative understandings that bring together principles of community development and ecology. Three examples are used to highlight the principles and practices that are being used across diverse contexts but all informed by common norms and values that are consistent with both community development and ecology. Concepts such as subsidiarity, participation and empowerment that form the basis of community development praxis are critical to the development of local sustainability. The combination of these aspects is evidenced in the three examples. Each is very clearly located in the local context and is built on sound ecological and community development understandings but each is also well aware that the need for a broader perspective is imperative to achieving global goals.

Moving beyond 'rates, roads and rubbish' : how do local governments make choices about healthy public policy to prevent obesity?

While the causes of obesity are well known traditional education and treatment strategies do not appear to be making an impact. One solution as part of a broader complimentary set of strategies may be regulatory intervention at local government level to create environments for healthy nutrition and increased physical activity. Semi structured interviews were conducted with representatives of local government in Australia. Factors most likely to facilitate policy change were those supported by external funding, developed from an evidence base and sensitive to community and market forces. Barriers to change included a perceived or real lack of power to make change and the complexity of the legislative framework. The development of a systematic evidence base to provide clear feedback on the size and scope of the obesity epidemic at a local level, coupled with cost benefit analysis for any potential regulatory intervention, are crucial to developing a regulatory environment which creates the physical and social environment required to prevent obesity.

Capacity building for integrated health care at the local level

Aims & Rationale/Objectives
Taking a capacity building approach to research and evaluation within the context of a federally funded national program challenges the traditional paradigms of both research and evaluation. The objective of this approach was to foster attitudes and behaviours of reflection, critical inquiry and collaborative action amongst participants responsible for health care integration activities.

Methods
A series of workshops focusing on different elements of health care integration was conducted. Each workshop offered skill development in research and evaluation methods relevant to the participants' clinical practise. The workshops were multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral in order to promote discussion about shared patient care issues.

Principal Findings
Participatory action research facilitated by external agents can build the capacity of participants to identify and make changes that improve health care integration at local levels. A capacity building approach to research and evaluation can mediate tensions between top-down initiatives and on-the-ground practitioners.

Discussion
A capacity building approach was crucial to the success of this project particularly as the project proposal was developed at the corporate level. The workshops played an important role in engaging the participants and fostering the development of solutions for locally identified clinical issues. The opportunities for discussion with other health care service providers were both readily embraced and appreciated by the participants. The networks formed during the workshops are likely to be vital in sustaining integration efforts.

Implications
Education sessions such as the workshops held within this project ensure that health care integration remains on the agenda of the relevant organisations. These workshops fostered a continuous quality improvement approach whilst focusing on the skills required and the systemic barriers to achieving health care integration. The success of these workshops is evidence that the need and desire for shared education opportunities exists and the interdisciplinary focus is a powerful tool for developing an appreciation of the cultures within disciplines as well as linkages.

Education and training institutions : building social capital for regional development

Education and training institutions from schools through to universities have a vital role in supporting development in regional Australia. The interaction between these institutions and their rural communities influences the social capital of the community and the extent to which the community is a learning community, willing and able to manage change to the community’s advantage.

There are benefits to be had from a collaborative approach to planning and delivering training. This approach is consistent with theories of social capital that emphasise the crucial part played by networks, values and trust in generating superior outcomes for individuals, communities and regions. Research has found that education and training is most effective in building social capital and learning communities were there is attention to customising or targeting education and training provision to local needs. The key to matching provision with local needs, particularly in the more rural and remote areas, is collaboration and partnerships. Partners can be regional organisations, other educational institutions, businesses and government. The factors that enhance the effectiveness of the collaborations and partnerships are the elements of social capital: networks, shared values and trust, and enabling leadership.

Networks are most effective where there were opportunities and structures for interaction, which can be termed interactional infrastructure, that foster networks within the region, and networks that extended outside the region. Interactional infrastructure includes regional forums, committee structures, consultative processes and opportunities for informal discussion addressing the issues of education, training and employment in a community or region. Better outcomes are evident when there is an interactional infrastructure that is resourced with financial, physical and human resources of sufficient quantity and quality. Collaborations provide access to a greater range of external resources through extended external networks. Effective networks and shared visions, values and trust among the partners in a collaboration, are fostered by enabling leaders. Educational institutions are well placed to supply the ‘human infrastructure’ that makes collaborations and partnerships work, including enabling leadership.

Attention to factors associated with the quality of social capital, especially interactional infrastructure including leadership, shared vision and values and networks within and external to the community, can be expected to improve the effectiveness of education and training outcomes. More importantly, a collaborative approach to planning for education and training in rural regions will build the capacity of regions and their constituent communities to develop and change by building social capital resources. Leadership is an important driver of processes that build community and regional capacity and ultimately produce social and economic benefits through regional development. Educational providers in rural regions are well placed to act as enabling leaders.

Building social capital in groups : facilitating skill development for natural resource management

Analysis of the experiences of four farmer groups set up to learn how to jointly manage local natural resource issues shows that the groups are going though two simultaneous processes. One builds technical competency in natural resource management and the other is the underpinning social process that allows the groups to make decisions and work collectively, which builds social capital. Natural resource management practitioners and farmers are practical people. They are likely to be more comfortable with a process that develops monitoring tools and benchmarks for natural resource management than a process of group development and social capital formation. Yet the two are intrinsically linked. This paper reflects on and analyses the experience of establishing and working with farmer groups as they go through a process of identifying environmental issues, setting and monitoring environmental benchmarks and identifying and implementing sustainable farming practices to meet the benchmarks.

Two questions emerged from the analysis. First, how do the four groups compare to other measures of effective natural resource management groups? Second, what are the characteristics of the groups that make them more or less effective and what has occurred in the groups (either before or during this project) to make them more or less effective? Social capital emerges as a key determinant of group effectiveness. Social capital is most effective when it comprises a balance of bonding and bridging networks, and includes shared values in relation to the purpose of the group.

Policy makers and extension workers need to understand the link between the two simultaneous processes occurring as people come together in groups to define and implement best practice at a local level, and how to use knowledge of social processes when designing the more concrete process of developing and implementing best practice monitoring and benchmarking with groups. An understanding of how people build social capital as they work in groups will assist with designing and facilitating group projects in a range of contexts, not only natural resource management.

Harmonised procurement policy environment - identifying key themes towards the development of a conceptual model

Capital works procurement and its regulatory policy environment within a country can be complex entities. For example, by virtue of Australia’s governmental division between the Commonwealth, states and local jurisdictions and the associated procurement networks and responsibilities at each level, the tendering process is often convoluted. There are four inter-related key themes identified in the literature in relation to procurement disharmony, including decentralisation, risk & risk mitigation, free trade & competition, and tendering costs. This paper defines and discusses these key areas of conflict that adversely impact upon the business environments of industry through a literature review, policy analysis and consultation with capital works procurement stakeholders. The aim of this national study is to identify policy differences between jurisdictions in Australia, and ascertain whether those differences are a barrier to productivity and innovation. This research forms an element of a broader investigation with an aim of developing efficient, effective and nationally harmonised procurement systems.

NGOs, enterprise and rural development

Non-Government Welfare Organisations (NGOs) in rural areas have traditionally relied upon the state for a large part of their revenue which in turn provides the state with the capacity to impose strict monitoring and evaluation. However the tightening of state funding has either forced NGOs to stretch their own resource to the limit or to become more enterprising and innovative in their desire to provide people with access to an ever increasing range of community-based services and opportunities for connection with their local communities. The term that is often used for these new approaches is ‘social enterprise’ that has been defined as a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners’ . It is most often seen as an interface between public and private sector, being part of neither but engaging closely with both through partnerships, stakeholding and joint ventures as well as through complex trading and contracting relationships.

Such broad definitions however do not give much guidance to how particular NGOs can shift to a social enterprise model and still remain within their chosen missions. It is the very processes of re-imagining and reforming their enterprise that is a vital element in moving to a successful social enterprise practice. Accordingly this project focuses on two NGOs in different parts of the world (Brophy Family and Youth Services in Warrnambool. Australia and Aberdeen Foyer in Aberdeen, Scotland) that have developed (and are developing) new ways of approaching their roles as service providers and early intervention agents for youth in their local areas. Since both organisations have faced (and are facing) issues associated with depleting state allocated resources they are attempting to break new ground in the ways in which they redevelop their work with youth. Both agencies are leading the way in developing a broader approach that draws together disparate element of a social enterprise model. The project analyses the processes used by these two agencies to develop as social enterprises and how likeminded agencies can use the model for capability enhancement.

FEA simulation of contact and wear between non-metallic materials for accelerated new product development

The conventional approach ie laboratory life testing to examine the reliability of products takes long time and involves tremendous cost as samples are tested till failures. The accelerated life test (ALT) has recently been used as an alternative method. Although ALT reduces the cost of reliability testing through applying more severe environmental conditions than the normal ones, it is no longer sufficient as it does not describe the process of products’ failure explicitly and it is still highly dependent on physical testing. Consequently, novel practices need to be developed for better understanding of the products’ reliability. A novel Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model incorporating mathematical wear equations is developed in the current work and applied to polymer materials. Wear rate, a key parameter, is calculated by using a combinatorial formula that combines a conventional linear equation with a recently published exponential equation. The local wear is firstly calculated and then integrated over the sliding distance. The FEA simulation works in a loop and performs a series of simulation with updated surface geometries. The simulation is in good agreement with the physical testing result.

The development of corporate real estate practices in India : a survey of CRE professionals

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is transforming Western companies? corporate real estate (CRE) requirements. When business processes move to a developing country there are consequences for that country?s CRE practice. This paper considers the effects of western BPO on Indian CRE. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was used to analyze data from a survey of professionals operating in Indian CRE. Location issues, quality of workspace, and the availability of human resources were identified as important in establishing BPO activities in India. Suburban, and campus or built-to-suit facilities, were increasingly preferred locations and styles of workplace that were transforming Indian CRE practice. Also, the effect of western BPO was impacting on the types of CRE services being offered. With the continuing growth in BPO to ?secondary cities? the transformational effects on local CRE practice are likely to spread and further transform CRE practice in India.

Identifying linkages between generations and community development: the effect on residential and retail property

In the analysis of property markets, especially the retail and residential sectors, increasing importance is being given to the role of demography. The impact of economic influences such as interest rate movements, inflation and changes in the labour market are well documented and although these variables are clearly important, they do not incorporate the changing characteristics of the local inhabitants who actually provide the demand. However, demography can provide an invaluable insight into retail and residential property trends, especially over the long term, and are assisted by reliable population datasets with a relatively high level of detail. For example, the emergence of the 'baby boom' generation shift had a substantial effect on demand for retail and housing products, although little consideration has been given to the effect from the subsequent cohorts, namely generations X, Y and Z.

This paper examines the role of demography when researching property markets, with the focus placed on demographic shifts. It discusses trends in a range of demographic variables that have been observed in society. In addition, it highlights linkages with property markets, especially residential and retail property, and draws inferences for long term trends. The study concludes that when conducting research into property markets, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of various demographic variables to predict how they affect demand. An appreciation of the drivers behind generations will assist property researchers to identify future needs, and the subsequent effect this will have on community development involving retail and residential property.