Intellectual property, TRIPS and development

Intellectual property is crucial to the promotion of innovation. It provides an incentive to innovate as well as security for investment in innovation. The industries of the 21st century-information technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, communications, education and entertainment – are all knowledge-based. The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), adopted in 1994 at the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, requires all WTO member countries to provide for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Having forged a link for the first time between intellectual property rights and the international trading system, the adoption of TRIPS means that any country that aims to participate fully in the global economy needs to understand the role of intellectual property and align its intellectual property laws and practices with the international minimum standards prescribed by TRIPS. However, for developing and least-developed countries, the implementation of intellectual property systems and enforcement mechanisms raises questions and challenges. Does recognition and enforcement of intellectual property serve their development needs and objectives? Does TRIPS encourage or hinder the transfer of technologies to developing and least-developed countries, particularly those that meet urgent needs in areas such as public health, food security, water and energy? What is the effect of TRIPS on developing countries’ access to knowledge and information? Is there scope for flexibility in implementation of TRIPS in pursuit of development strategies?

The Rise of the BASIC Group Within the International Climate Regime : The Challenge of Ensuring Equitable Mitigation Obligations

The chapter examines the current emission reduction obligations within the climate regime. It looks at the formation and rise of the BASIC negotiation group within the international climate COP negotiations and examines the role that BASIC nations are now playing shaping international mitigation policy.

Generate : Youth Culture and Migration Heritage in Western Sydney

Executive Summary This report is the first in-depth exploration of identity and popular culture among Middle Eastern and Asian youth. It documents preliminary research findings on the contribution of Middle Eastern and Asian youth to Sydney’s cultural life and migration heritage. While young people from these communities, the largest migrant communities in NSW, are often negatively portrayed, this research has focused on their social practices of cultural invention, opening up new and creative means of mobilising cultural difference. These young people’s cultural negotiations between migrant family background and the wider society require real engagement with difference and provide rich resources for invigorating the multicultural fabric of the nation. Their repertoire of cultural skills and their involvement in different cultural worlds are often viewed as evidence of not ‘belonging’ to the mainstream or dominant culture. However, the results of our research reveal that the ‘in-betweenness’ of these young people often enables them to move easily between different social and cultural groupings, embracing cultural diversity as inherent and integral to their everyday experience, that is, ‘normal’ to urban life. In this report, we document the changing nature of friendship networks and family relations, the particular meanings and uses of different languages and expressions, and the patterns of consumption of Middle Eastern and Asian youth. In these everyday activities these young people contribute to a changing migration heritage and are redefining what it means to be Australian.

Beyond compliance : project on an integrated systems approach for pest risk management in South East Asia

The Beyond Compliance project, which began in July 2011 with funding from the Standards and Trade Development Facility for 2 years, aims to enhance competency and confidence in the South East Asian sub-region by applying a Systems Approach for pest risk management. The Systems Approach involves the use of integrated measures, at least two of which are independent, that cumulatively reduce the risk of introducing exotic pests through trade. Although useful in circumstances where single measures are inappropriate or unavailable, the Systems Approach is inherently more complicated than single-measure approaches, which may inhibit its uptake. The project methodology is to take prototype decision-support tools, such as Control Point-Bayesian Networks (CP-BN), developed in recent plant health initiatives in other regions, including the European PRATIQUE project, and to refine them within this sub-regional context. Case studies of high-priority potential agricultural trade will be conducted by National Plant Protection Organizations of participating South East Asian countries in trials of the tools, before further modifications. Longer term outcomes may include: more robust pest risk management in the region (for exports and imports); greater inclusion of stakeholders in development of pest risk management plans; increased confidence in trade negotiations; and new opportunities for trade.

Risky business : mapping ethical landscapes and negotiating governance tensions when researching female offending

Whilst there is an excellent and growing body of literature around female criminality underpinned by feminist methodologies, the nitty gritty of the methodological journey is nowhere as well detailed as it is in the context of the Higher Degree Research (HDR) thesis. Thus the purpose of this paper is threefold: i) to explore a range of feminist methodologies underpinning 20 Australian HDR theses focussing on female criminality; ii) to identify and map the governance/ethics tensions experienced by these researchers whilst undertaking high risk research in the area of female offending; and iii) to document strategies drawn from negotiations, resolutions and outcomes to a range of gate-keeping issues. By exploring the strategies used by these researchers, this paper aims to: promote discussion on feminist methodologies; highlight pathways that may be created when negotiating the challenging process of accessing data pertinent to this relatively understudied area; contribute to a community of practice; and provide useful insights into what Mason & Stubbs (2010:16) refer to as “the open and honest reflexivity through the research process by describing the assumptions, and hiccups” for future researchers navigating governance landscapes.

Designing REDD+ to be just : considerations for a legally binding instrument

The international climate regime is in the process of negotiating a legally binding instrument concerning Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+). The paper starts by exploring the complex web of decisions and advices that currently regulate REDD+ initiatives within the international climate regime. This is followed by an analysis of justice issues raised by non-state actors in the REDD+ international negotiations. The paper concludes by building on this analysis to identify some relevant considerations when seeking to design a just and legally binding REDD+ instrument. These considerations include: the impact of market- versus fund-based investment channels, the importance of defining a clear objective; the inclusion and role of international principles such as sovereignty, preventative action, common but differentiated responsibility, sustainable development, and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent; the appropriate design of REDD+ safeguards and the inclusion of grievance mechanisms within the instrument which provide guidance on resolving disputes associated with REDD+ investment.

Not as it seems : using Deleuzian concepts of the imaginary to rethink children’s drawings

Deleuze (1990) states in Negotiations that signs are realized in ideas. Although Deleuze referred to cinema, his thinking about signs and ideas can apply to drawings. Cinema is moving imagery and drawing is static, however both are informed and constructed from realized ideas that continue to shift beyond the artifact. Theories about children’s drawings have historically pertained to establishing schematic universalities rather than acknowledging the agglomerative connections they make to the multiple things occurring around a drawing as it is created. Universal schemas however persist within early childhood art discourses despite the growth of critical theory research into other aspects of childhood. Deleuze’s assertions about the signs and classifications of cinema help to contest notions of schematic development, i.e. children should progress through particular iconic drawing stages at particular ages. Deleuze’s quotes and thoughts on the imaginary and imagination are referenced to interrogate ‘scientific’ knowledges and the gathering of evidential truths about children’s intellectual growth and development. Four examples from a dataset of drawings from a pilot study, undertaken by the author that tested the methodological potential of intergenerational collaborative drawing in early childhood settings, facilitate focused discussion on the above contestations.

Carbon, biodiversity and regional natural resource planning : towards high impact next generation plans

Given the increased importance of adaptation debates in global climate negotiations, pressure to achieve biodiversity, food and water security through managed landscape-scale adaptation will likely increase across the globe over the coming decade. In parallel, emerging market-based, terrestrial greenhouse gas abatement programs present a real opportunity to secure such adaptation to climate change through enhanced landscape resilience. Australia has an opportunity to take advantage of such programs through regional planning aspects of its governance arrangements for NRM. This paper explores necessary reforms to Australia's regional NRM planning systems to ensure that they will be better able to direct the nation's emerging GGA programs to secure enhanced landscape adaptation. © 2013 Planning Institute Australia.

Supporting future curriculum leaders in embedding Indigenous knowledge on teaching practicum

This report documents the outcomes of the OLT funded project on Supporting Future Curriculum Leaders in Embedding Indigenous Knowledges on Teaching Practicum. This project investigated the learning and teaching relationships between pre-service teachers and their supervisors on practicum, with pre-service teachers who were specifically engaged (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous pre-service teachers studying the Indigenous Studies minor) with embedding Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in their teaching practice. It explored the negotiations of expectations, role modelling and the interactions that occur between pre-service teachers, their supervising teachers and QUT staff involved in supporting teaching practicum. The intent was to design a model to develop long term, future-oriented opportunities for teachers to develop expertise in embedding Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.

The analysis of large scale data taken from the world groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) germplasm collection I. Two-way quantitative data

Data associated with germplasm collections are typically large and multivariate with a considerable number of descriptors measured on each of many accessions. Pattern analysis methods of clustering and ordination have been identified as techniques for statistically evaluating the available diversity in germplasm data. While used in many studies, the approaches have not dealt explicitly with the computational consequences of large data sets (i.e. greater than 5000 accessions). To consider the application of these techniques to germplasm evaluation data, 11328 accessions of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L) from the International Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Andhra Pradesh, India were examined. Data for nine quantitative descriptors measured in the rainy and post-rainy growing seasons were used. The ordination technique of principal component analysis was used to reduce the dimensionality of the germplasm data. The identification of phenotypically similar groups of accessions within large scale data via the computationally intensive hierarchical clustering techniques was not feasible and non-hierarchical techniques had to be used. Finite mixture models that maximise the likelihood of an accession belonging to a cluster were used to cluster the accessions in this collection. The patterns of response for the different growing seasons were found to be highly correlated. However, in relating the results to passport and other characterisation and evaluation descriptors, the observed patterns did not appear to be related to taxonomy or any other well known characteristics of groundnut.

The analysis of large scale data taken from the world groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) germplasm collection. II. Two-way data with mixed data types

As a sequel to a paper that dealt with the analysis of two-way quantitative data in large germplasm collections, this paper presents analytical methods appropriate for two-way data matrices consisting of mixed data types, namely, ordered multicategory and quantitative data types. While various pattern analysis techniques have been identified as suitable for analysis of the mixed data types which occur in germplasm collections, the clustering and ordination methods used often can not deal explicitly with the computational consequences of large data sets (i.e. greater than 5000 accessions) with incomplete information. However, it is shown that the ordination technique of principal component analysis and the mixture maximum likelihood method of clustering can be employed to achieve such analyses. Germplasm evaluation data for 11436 accessions of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) from the International Research Institute of the Semi-Arid Tropics, Andhra Pradesh, India were examined. Data for nine quantitative descriptors measured in the post-rainy season and five ordered multicategory descriptors were used. Pattern analysis results generally indicated that the accessions could be distinguished into four regions along the continuum of growth habit (or plant erectness). Interpretation of accession membership in these regions was found to be consistent with taxonomic information, such as subspecies. Each growth habit region contained accessions from three of the most common groundnut botanical varieties. This implies that within each of the habit types there is the full range of expression for the other descriptors used in the analysis. Using these types of insights, the patterns of variability in germplasm collections can provide scientists with valuable information for their plant improvement programs.

Pattern analysis of the diversity of morphological plant attributes and herbage yield in a world collection of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) germplasm characterised in a summer moisture stress environment of Australia

Information on the variation available for different plant attributes has enabled germplasm collections to be effectively utilised in plant breeding. A world sourced collection of white clover germplasm has been developed at the White Clover Resource Centre at Glen Innes, New South Wales. This collection of 439 accessions was characterised under field conditions as a preliminary study of the genotypic variation for morphological attributes; stolon density, stolon branching, number of nodes. number of rooted nodes, stolon thickness, internode length, leaf length, plant height and plant spread, together with seasonal herbage yield. Characterisation was conducted on different batches of germplasm (subsets of accessions taken from the complete collection) over a period of five years. Inclusion of two check cultivars, Haifa and Huia, in each batch enabled adjustment of the characterisation data for year effects and attribute-by-year interaction effects. The component of variance for seasonal herbage yield among batches was large relative to that for accessions. Accession-by-experiment and accession-by-season interactions for herbage yield were not detected. Accession mean repeatability for herbage yield across seasons was intermediate (0.453). The components of genotypic variance among accessions for all attributes, except plant height, were larger than their respective standard errors. The estimates of accession mean repeatability for the attributes ranged from low (0.277 for plant height) to intermediate (0.544 for internode length). Multivariate techniques of clustering and ordination were used to investigate the diversity present among the accessions in the collection. Both cluster analysis and principal component analysis suggested that seven groups of accessions existed. It was also proposed from the pattern analysis results that accessions from a group characterised by large leaves, tall plants and thick stolons could be crossed with accessions from a group that had above average stolon density and stolon branching. This material could produce breeding populations to be used in recurrent selection for the development of white clover cultivars for dryland summer moisture stress environments in Australia. The germplasm collection was also found to be deficient in genotypes with high stolon density, high number of branches high number of rooted nodes and large leaves. This warrants addition of new germplasm accessions possessing these characteristics to the present germplasm collection.

Conceptualising, evaluating and reporting social resilience in vulnerable regional and remote communities facing climate change in tropical Queensland : marine and tropical sciences research facility transition project final report

Regional and remote communities in tropical Queensland are among Australia’s most vulnerable in the face of climate change. At the same time, these socially and economically vulnerable regions house some of Australia’s most significant biodiversity values. Past approaches to terrestrial biodiversity management have focused on tackling biophysical interventions through the use of biophysical knowledge. An equally important focus should be placed on building regional-scale community resilience if some of the worst biodiversity impacts of climate change are to be avoided or mitigated. Despite its critical need, more systemic or holistic approaches to natural resource management have been rarely trialed and tested in a structured way. Currently, most strategic interventions in improving regional community resilience are ad hoc, not theory-based and short term. Past planning approaches have not been durable, nor have they been well informed by clear indicators. Research into indicators for community resilience has been poorly integrated within adaptive planning and management cycles. This project has aimed to resolve this problem by: * Reviewing the community and social resilience and adaptive planning literature to reconceptualise an improved framework for applying community resilience concepts; * Harvesting and extending work undertaken in MTSRF Phase 1 to identifying the learnings emerging from past MTSRF research; * Distilling these findings to identify new theoretical and practical approaches to the application of community resilience in natural resource use and management; * Reconsidering the potential interplay between a region’s biophysical and social planning processes, with a focus on exploring spatial tools to communicate climate change risk and its consequent environmental, economic and social impacts, and; * Trialling new approaches to indicator development and adaptive planning to improve community resilience, using a sub-regional pilot in the Wet Tropics. In doing so, we also looked at ways to improve the use and application of relevant spatial information. Our theoretical review drew upon the community development, psychology and emergency management literature to better frame the concept of community resilience relative to aligned concepts of social resilience, vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Firstly, we consider community resilience as a concept that can be considered at a range of scales (e.g. regional, locality, communities of interest, etc.). We also consider that overall resilience at higher scales will be influenced by resilience levels at lesser scales (inclusive of the resilience of constituent institutions, families and individuals). We illustrate that, at any scale, resilience and vulnerability are not necessarily polar opposites, and that some understanding of vulnerability is important in determining resilience. We position social resilience (a concept focused on the social characteristics of communities and individuals) as an important attribute of community resilience, but one that needs to be considered alongside economic, natural resource, capacity-based and governance attributes. The findings from the review of theory and MTSRF Phase 1 projects were synthesized and refined by the wider project team. Five predominant themes were distilled from this literature, research review and an expert analysis. They include the findings that: 1. Indicators have most value within an integrated and adaptive planning context, requiring an active co-research relationship between community resilience planners, managers and researchers if real change is to be secured; 2. Indicators of community resilience form the basis for planning for social assets and the resilience of social assets is directly related the longer term resilience of natural assets. This encourages and indeed requires the explicit development and integration of social planning within a broader natural resource planning and management framework; 3. Past indicator research and application has not provided a broad picture of the key attributes of community resilience and there have been many attempts to elicit lists of “perfect” indicators that may never be useful within the time and resource limitations of real world regional planning and management. We consider that modeling resilience for proactive planning and prediction purposes requires the consideration of simple but integrated clusters of attributes; 4. Depending on time and resources available for planning and management, the combined use of well suited indicators and/or other lesser “lines of evidence” is more flexible than the pursuit of perfect indicators, and that; 5. Index-based, collaborative and participatory approaches need to be applied to the development, refinement and reporting of indicators over longer time frames. We trialed the practical application of these concepts via the establishment of a collaborative regional alliance of planners and managers involved in the development of climate change adaptation strategies across tropical Queensland (the Gulf, Wet Tropics, Cape York and Torres Strait sub-regions). A focus on the Wet Tropics as a pilot sub-region enabled other Far North Queensland sub-region’s to participate and explore the potential extension of this approach. The pilot activities included: * Further exploring ways to innovatively communicate the region’s likely climate change scenarios and possible environmental, economic and social impacts. We particularly looked at using spatial tools to overlay climate change risks to geographic communities and social vulnerabilities within those communities; * Developing a cohesive first pass of a State of the Region-style approach to reporting community resilience, inclusive of regional economic viability, community vitality, capacitybased and governance attributes. This framework integrated a literature review, expert (academic and community) and alliance-based contributions; and * Early consideration of critical strategies that need to be included in unfolding regional planning activities with Far North Queensland. The pilot assessment finds that rural, indigenous and some urban populations in the Wet Tropics are highly vulnerable and sensitive to climate change and may require substantial support to adapt and become more resilient. This assessment finds that under current conditions (i.e. if significant adaptation actions are not taken) the Wet Tropics as a whole may be seriously impacted by the most significant features of climate change and extreme climatic events. Without early and substantive action, this could result in declining social and economic wellbeing and natural resource health. Of the four attributes we consider important to understanding community resilience, the Wet Tropics region is particularly vulnerable in two areas; specifically its economic vitality and knowledge, aspirations and capacity. The third and fourth attributes, community vitality and institutional governance are relatively resilient but are vulnerable in some key respects. In regard to all four of these attributes, however, there is some emerging capacity to manage the possible shocks that may be associated with the impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events. This capacity needs to be carefully fostered and further developed to achieve broader community resilience outcomes. There is an immediate need to build individual, household, community and sectoral resilience across all four attribute groups to enable populations and communities in the Wet Tropics region to adapt in the face of climate change. Preliminary strategies of importance to improve regional community resilience have been identified. These emerging strategies also have been integrated into the emerging Regional Development Australia Roadmap, and this will ensure that effective implementation will be progressed and coordinated. They will also inform emerging strategy development to secure implementation of the FNQ 2031 Regional Plan. Of most significance in our view, this project has taken a co-research approach from the outset with explicit and direct importance and influence within the region’s formal planning and management arrangements. As such, the research: * Now forms the foundations of the first attempt at “Social Asset” planning within the Wet Tropics Regional NRM Plan review; * Is assisting Local government at regional scale to consider aspects of climate change adaptation in emerging planning scheme/community planning processes; * Has partnered the State government (via the Department of Infrastructure and Planning and Regional Managers Coordination Network Chair) in progressing the Climate Change adaptation agenda set down within the FNQ 2031 Regional Plan; * Is informing new approaches to report on community resilience within the GBRMPA Outlook reporting framework; and * Now forms the foundation for the region’s wider climate change adaptation priorities in the Regional Roadmap developed by Regional Development Australia. Through the auspices of Regional Development Australia, the outcomes of the research will now inform emerging negotiations concerning a wider package of climate change adaptation priorities with State and Federal governments. Next stage research priorities are also being developed to enable an ongoing alliance between researchers and the region’s climate change response.