City futures: exploring urban retrofit and sustainable transitions

Cities are responsible for up to 70% of global carbon emissions and 75% of global energy consumption. By 2050 it is estimated that 70% of the world's population will live in cities. The critical challenge for contemporary urbanism, therefore, is to understand how to develop the knowledge, capacity and capability for public agencies, the private sector and multiple users in city-regions (i.e. the city and its wider hinterland) to re-engineer systemically their built environment and urban infrastructure in response to climate change and resource constraints. To inform transitions to urban sustainability, key stakeholders' perceptions were sought though a participatory backcasting and scenario foresight process in order to illuminate challenging but realistic socio-technical scenarios for the systemic retrofit of core UK city-regions. The challenge of conceptualizing complex urban transitions is explored across multiple socio-technical ‘regimes’ (housing, non-domestic buildings, urban infrastructure), scales (building, neighbourhood, city-region), and domains (energy, water, use of resources) within a participatory process. The development of three archetypal ‘guiding visions’ of retrofit city-regional futures developed through this process are discussed, along with the contribution that such foresight processes might play in ‘opening up’ the governance and strategic navigation of urban sustainability.

Education and training futures in horticulture and horticultural science

Horticultural knowledge and skills training have been with humankind for some 10,000 to 20,000 years. With permanent settlement and rising wealth and trade, horticulture products and services became a source of fresh food for daily consumption, and a source of plant material in developing a quality environment and lifestyle. The knowledge of horticulture and the skills of its practitioners have been demonstrated through the advancing civilizations in both eastern and western countries. With the rise of the Agricultural Revolutions in Great Britain, and more widely across Continental Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as the move towards colonisation and early migration to the New Worlds, many westernised countries established the early institutions that would provide education and training in agriculture and horticulture. Today many of these colleges and universities provide undergraduate, postgraduate and vocational and technical training that specifically targets horticulture and/or horticultural science with some research and teaching institutions also providing extension and advisory services to industry. The objective of this chapter is to describe the wider pedagogic and educational context in which those concerned with horticulture operate, the institutional structures that target horticulture and horticultural science education and training internationally; examine changing educational formats, especially distance education; and consider strategies for attracting and retaining young people in the delivery of world-class horticultural education. In this chapter we set the context by investigating the horticultural education and training options available, the constraints that prevent young people entering horticulture, and suggest strategies that would attract and retain these students. We suggest that effective strategies and partnerships be put in place by the institution, the government and most importantly the industry to provide for undergraduate and postgraduate education in horticulture and horticultural science; that educational and vocational training institutions, government, and industry need to work more effectively together to improve communication about horticulture and horticultural science in order to attract enrolments of more and talented students; and that the horticulture curriculum be continuously evaluated and revised so that it remains relevant to future challenges facing the industries of horticulture in the production, environmental and social spheres. These strategies can be used as a means to develop successful programs and case studies that would provide better information to high school career counsellors, improve the image of horticulture and encourage greater involvement from alumni and the industries in recruitment, provide opportunities to improve career aspirations, ensure improved levels of remuneration, and promote the social features of the profession and greater awareness and recognition of the profession in the wider community. A successful career in horticulture demands intellectual capacities which are capable of drawing knowledge from a wide field of basic sciences, economics and the humanities and integrating this into academic scholarship and practical technologies.

Roles, responsibilities and futures of chief information officers (CIOs) in the public sector

This paper discusses in its entirety, the CIO (Chief Information Officer) position in the public sector. Governments are increasingly adopting Information Technology for internal processes and for the delivery of service to their citizens. It includes literature on CIO roles and responsibilities which is heavily based on the private sector, due to the recognition of the role in this sector over twenty years. The position is just evolving in the public sector, and due to the context in which the public sector operates there are some similarities as well as vast differences. An evaluation of existing CIO models and theories form the basis for research on CIO roles, responsibilities and future within the public sector.

Emerging futures : innovation in teaching and learning in VET

This report on Innovation in Teaching and Learning in the vocational education and training (VET) sector demonstrates that pressures for change are flowing with increasing force into teaching and learning practice within VET. As a consequence of this ongoing change, wider, deeper and more frequent innovation is now needed in VET teaching and learning practices. However, this report shows that there are good grounds for optimism about the quality and scope of current innovation in teaching and learning practices in VET. The particular and local instances of practitioner innovation found in the research for this project serve as a reminder of the many different ways in which VET practitioners are knowledgeable and innovative. Positive futures for VET are emerging, as a result of this practitioner innovation. A literature review, interviews, focus groups and case study research inform the key findings.

Futures in education

Futures education (FE) in a rapidly changing world is critical if young people are to be empowered to be proactive rather than reactive about the future. Research into young people's images and ideas of the future lead to the disturbing conclusion that, for many, the future is a depressing and fearful place where they feel hopeless and disempowered. On the other hand, as Richard Slaughter writes, 'young people are passionately interested in their own futures, and that of the society in which they live. They universally 'jump at the chance to study something with such intrinsic interest that also intersects with their own life interests in so many ways'. FE explicitly attempts to build on this interest and counter these fears by offering a profound and empowering set of learning strategies and ideas that can help people think and act critically and creatively about the future, without necessarily trying to predict it. Futures educators have, over the past decades, developed useful tools, ideas and a language for use with students of all ages to enable them to develop foresight literacy. Most of us tend to view the future as somehow beyond the present and rarely consider how decisions and choices made today profoundly affect not just one fixed future but any number of futures. The underlying goal of FE is to move from the idea of a single, pre-determined future to that of many possible futures, so that students begin to see that they can determine the future, that they need not be reactive and that they are not powerless. How does one do that? Ideas include, but are not limited to: timelines and Y-diagrams, futures wheels and mind maps, and 'Preferable, possible and probable' futures - a.k.a. the 3Ps. Current Australian curricula present education about the future in various implicit or explicit guises. A plethora of statements and curriculum outcomes mention the future, but essentially take 'it' for granted, and are uninformed by FE literature, language, ideas or tools. Science, the humanities and technology tend to be the main areas where such an implicit futures focus can be found. It also appears in documents about vocational education, civics and lifelong learning. Explicit FE is, as Beare and Slaughter put it, still the missing dimension in education. Explicit FE attempts to develop futures literacy, and draws widely upon futures studies literature for processes and content. FE provides such a wide range of ideas and tools that it can be incorporated into education in any number of ways. Programs in two very different schools, one primary and one secondary, are described in this article to provide examples of some of these ways. The first school, Kimberley Park State Primary School in Brisbane, operates with multi-age classrooms based on a 'thinking curriculum' developed around four organisers: change, perspectives, interconnectedness and sustainability. The second school, St John's Grammar School in Adelaide, is an independent school where FE operates as an integrated approach in Year Seven, as a separate one-semester subject in Year Nine and in separate subjects at other levels. Teachers both at Kimberley Park and St John's are very positive about FE. They say it promotes valuable and authentic learning, assists students to realise they have choices that matter and helps them see that the future need not be all doom and gloom. Because students are interested in the Big Questions, as one teacher put it, FE provides a perfect opportunity to address them, and to consider values that are fundamental for them and the future of the planet. Like any innovation, the long-term success of FE in schools depends on an embedding process so that the innovation does not depend on the enthusiasm and energy of a few individuals, only to disappear when they move on. It requires strong leadership, teacher knowledge, support and enthusiasm, and the support and understanding of the wider school community.

Trends, fads and futures : computers in learning in tertiary education, 1983-2002

ASCILITE, the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education, is a professional society focusing on computers in learning in tertiary education that has been sponsoring conferences for its membership since 1986. Prior to this, three earlier conferences formed the genesis of ASCILITE. Over that period there have been significant changes in pedagogy and technology but few attempts, if any, have been made to analyse the ways in which conference proceedings have reflected these changes and shifts. The purpose of this research paper is to review the ASCILITE proceedings and provide an analysis of “trends, fads and futures” to reflect on past initiatives, propose potential directions and assist the society identify strategic directions. In addition, the analysis will provide a basis from which further research can be justified in terms of better understanding “computers in learning in tertiary education”.

The temporal price relationship between the stock index futures and the underlying stock index : evidence from Malaysia

The stock index futures was introduced in Malaysia in December 1995 with the launching of the futures contract on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Composite Index. Due to its recentness in the country, many issues pertaining to this equity derivatives instrument have not been explored. Thus, the development of stock index futures opens many opportunities for research in this area. This study examines the temporal relationship between the price of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Composite Index futures contract (FKLI) and its underlying stock index, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Composite Index (KLSE CI). The five-year period under study is split into three subperiods to observe the price co-movement pattern under different volatility levels. The study finds that futures market tends to lead the spot market by one day during the periods of stable market, and there is a mixed lead-lag relationship between the two markets during the period of highly volatile market.

Futures for teachers? Unravelling global agencies development agendas in education and training and lifelong learning

This 20-page paper was presented in June 2001 at an invitational conference hosted by the Education Policy Research Group at Keele University. The theme of the conference was “travelling policy/local spaces: globalisation, identities and education policy in Europe“. Linked from the events page at http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ed/events/conf papers.htm, this document is one of 22 papers from the conference that are presented in full text. The paper is organised in three sections, firstly examining the local impact of the application of a global development agenda on educational practices in Victoria, Australia, then analysing policy texts issued by the OECD, Unesco, and the Word Bank, and finally interpreting the data in the light of interagency politics and the authors‘ reading of the global-local dynamics of the educational restructuring in Victoria.

Building equitable literate futures : home and school computer-mediated literacy practices and disadvantage

This paper examines the complex connections between literacy practices, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and disadvantage. It reports the findings of a year-long study which investigated the ways in which four families use ICTs to engage with formal and informal literacy learning in home and school settings. The research set out to explore what it is about computer-mediated literacy practices at home and at school in disadvantaged communities that make a difference in school success. The findings demonstrate that the 'socialisation' of the technology - its appropriation into existing family norms, values and lifestyles - varied from family to family. Having access to ICTs at home was not sufficient for the young people and their families to overcome the so-called 'digital divide'. Clearly, we are seeing shifts in the meaning of 'disadvantage' in a globalised world mediated by the use of new technologies. New definitions of disadvantage that take account not only of access to the new technologies but also include calibrated understandings of what constitutes the access are required. The article concludes that old inequalities have not disappeared, but are playing out in new ways in the context of the networked society.

Building equitable literate futures : home and school computer-mediated literacy practices and disadvantage

This article examines the complex connections between literacy practices, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and disadvantage. It reports the findings of a year-long study which investigated the ways in which four families use ICTs to engage with formal and informal literacy learning in home and school settings. The research set out to explore what it is about computer-mediated literacy practices at home and at school in disadvantaged communities that makes a difference in school success. The findings demonstrate that the 'socialisation' of the technology--its appropriation into existing family norms, values and lifestyles--varied from family to family. Having access to ICTs at home was not sufficient for the young people and their families to overcome the so-called 'digital divide'. The article concludes that old inequalities have not disappeared, but are playing out in new ways in the context of the networked society.

Neoliberalising learning : generating alternate futures consciousness

Both educators and education policies have long claimed a role in preparing students for ‘the future’. This has been referred to as the rhetoric of futures in education, as the notion of a future is assumed, abstract and not articulated (Bateman 2010). Recent research indicates that teachers give little attention to futures thinking in interpreting and enacting curriculum documents. Only when their ‘futures consciousness’ was increased were they able to generate explicit alternate futures scenarios and make connections with learners (Bateman 2012). In light of international education policy agendas pressing countries to adopt economic competitiveness in national curriculum policies, the ‘future’ vision looks narrow and constrained. We argue that current educational reforms in Australia provide little scope to address the concept of multiple futures, which are significant in enabling citizens to shape and contribute in personal, local and global contexts.

Conceptualising challenges for teachers and learning futures

The assumption that all education prepares students for their futures is misguided. Rather, students are prepared, through curriculum and institutional practices for politically constructed notions of the future, which are often based on another assumption that what has worked in the past will continue to work in the future. This is evident in the absence of articulated futures within curriculum and other policy documents. This research showcases a critical ethnography which was undertaken in a Victorian primary school. The specific project focussed on the ways in which Year 5/6 classroom teachers reconceptualised curriculum to incorporate futures thinking as a result of ongoing professional learning and support. Through the use of analytical bracketing and post-analytic ethnomethodology for analysis across the data, the presenter proposes a conceptual model which highlights the complexity of this work as well as a theoretical explanation of why futures remains the missing dimension in education.

Optimal hedge ration with moving least squares - an empirical study using Indian single stock futures data

The use of commodity, currency and stock index futures to hedge risky exposures in the underlying assets is well documented in financial literature. However single stock futures are a relatively new addition to the family of futures and as such, academic research on its use as a hedging tool is relatively thin. In this study we have explored the efficacy of two different methodological approaches that may be applied when hedging a long position in the underlying stock with a single stock future. We use daily trading data covering years 2002 to 2007 from the Indian market, where single stock futures have been really thriving in terms of volume of trade, to extract the optimal hedge ratios using both static OLS as well as 30-day, 60-day and 90-day moving least squares. The method of moving least squares has been in use by market practitioners for some time primarily as a trend analysis and charting tool. Our results indicate that the moving least squares approach outperforms the static OLS in terms of the hedging efficiency, which has been measured by the root mean square hedging error.

Development of enhanced curriculum through student-based research

The introduction of the new “Early Years Learning Framework” (DEEWR, 2009 has shifted, the focus in Early Childhood Centres (ECC) from incidental learning through play, to planning curriculum with play as the vehicle to achieve learning. Our Teaching and Learning Grant Project was intended to identify instances of educator practice that fit with the new framework, and video practitioners’ sessions to select vignettes to use as part of an Early Childhood Science Education Unit. The method of identifying and collecting such illustrations is examined here for its feasibility as a research design to collect data to explore a range of educator practices that fit with the new framework. The data collection method was found useful for these purposes.