Structural deficiency or cultural racism: the educational and social experiences of Arab-Australian youth

This paper discusses the cultural, attitudinal and structural factors that impact upon the social experiences and educational achievements of Arabic-speaking background (ASB) students in three Melbourne secondary schools with high levels of cultural and linguistic diversity. The paper makes the case for and then outlines a multidimensional approach to multicultural education to better integrate ASB students and their families into the schooling environment. Key strategies developed and tested include a model of school-community partnership, online and interactive teacher support material (TSM) as well as on-going teacher professional development workshops on reflexive approaches to cultural diversity and intercultural tension.

Exploring the cultural and social impacts on the requirements engineering processes-highlighting some problems challenging virtual team relationships with clients

Abstract:

Requirements engineering is a crucial phase in software development. Software development in a virtual domain adds another dimension to the process of requirements engineering. There has been growing interest in virtual teams, and more specifically in virtual software development. While structured software development methods are the obvious first choice for project managers to ensure a virtual software development team remains on track, the social and cultural aspects of requirements engineering cannot be ignored. These social aspects are especially important across different cultures, and have been shown to affect the success of an information system. The discussion in this paper is centred around the requirements engineering processes of a virtual team in a Thai Software House. This paper explains the issues and challenges of requirements engineering in a virtual domain from a social and cultural perspective. Project managers need to encourage a balance between structured methods and social aspects in requirements engineering for virtual team members. Cultural and social aspects influence the relationship between the virtual team and the client.

Are perceptions of the physical and social environment associated with mothers' walking for leisure and for transport? A longitudinal study

Objective
The role local neighbourhood environments play in influencing purpose-specific walking behaviors has not been well-explored in prospective studies. This study aimed to cross-sectionally and prospectively examine whether local physical and social environments were associated with mothers' walking for leisure and for transport.

Methods
In 2004, 357 mothers from Melbourne, Australia, provided information on their local physical and social neighbourhood environments, and in 2004 and 2006 reported weekly time spent walking for leisure and for transport. Environmental predictors of high levels of walking and increases in walking were examined using log binomial regression.

Results
Public transport accessibility and trusting many people in the neighbourhood were predictive of increases in walking for leisure, while connectivity, pedestrian crossings, a local traffic speed were predictive of increases in transport-related walking. Satisfaction with local facilities was associated with increasing both types of walking, and the social environment was important for maintaining high levels of both leisure- and transport-related walking.

Conclusion
The findings provide evidence of a longitudinal relationship between physical and social environments and walking behaviors amongst mothers. Enhancing satisfaction with local facilities and giving consideration to ‘walkability’, safety and public transport accessibility during environment planning processes may help mothers to increase walking.

Associations between the physical and social environment and depressive symptomology among Australian adolescents

Depression is a significant public health issue among Australian adolescents. A number of family, school and community level factors have been identified as important determinants of adolescent's health and well-being, including depression. This study examines associations between measures of the social and physical environment and adolescent mental health, specifically depressive symptomotology using data from the Healthy Neighbourhoods study, a large observational study carried out in 231 Australian schools stratified by socioeconomic quartiles and urban/non-urban geography, which focuses on adolescent health and well-being. Participants were 8256 year 6 and 8
students (48% male), aged 11-16 years (M = 11.6, SD = 0.8 years) from schools across Victoria,Queensland and Western Australia who completed a comprehensive on-line survey. Data collected included the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire (SMFQL a tool for assessing depressive symptomotology in adolescents. Results showed that the mean total depression score (possible range 0-26 with total scores;:: 8 used as the cutoff for depression symptomotology) was 6.4 (SD = 5.9), with scores for females (M = 6.8, SD = 6.3) higher than those for males (M = 5.9, SD = 5.5), and scores for year 8 students (M = 6.7,SD = 6.1) higher than those for year 6 students (M = 6.2, SD = 5.8) (p < .001). Greater access to sporting and play equipment, local parks, and more functional neighbourhoods for walking and jogging reduced the odds for depressive symptomotology (p < .05L while increased levels of abandoned homes, and higher levels of fighting within the neighbourhood, and fewer scout/guide clubs, local teams to play sport, and adults in the neighbourhood to talk with, as well as reduced neighbourhood safety increased the odds for depressive symptomotology (p < .05). These findings support the important role of physical and social environments in influencing adolescent health and well-being. Modifications to particular aspects of these environments at the community level may assist in providing adolescents some protection from depression.

Envisioning Indochina : the spatial and social ordering and imagining of a French colony

The emergence of Indochina in the French imagination was articulated in both representational and institutional modes. Representation involves the transmission of colonial ideals through more obtuse means; that is, through literary texts, travelogues, exhibitions, film and advertising. However, these textual sites feed from and invest in a material situation, which was the institutional arm of colonialism. Indochina was institutionally articulated in cartographic maps and surveys, in the new social spaces of cities and towns, in architectural and technological forms, through social technologies of discipline and welfare and in cultural and religious organisations. The aim of this thesis is to analyse, across a number of textual sites, the representation and institutionalisation of Otherness through the politics of space in the French colony of Indochina, Indochine in this sense becomes a spatial discourse. The French constructed a mental and physical space for Indochina by blanketing and suffocating the original cultural landscape, which in fact had to be ignored for this process to occur. What actually became manifest as a result of this projection stemmed from the French imagination. Just as the French manipulated space, language also underwent the same process of reduction. The Vietnamese script was latinised to make it more 'useable' and ‘accessible’. Through christening the union of Indochina; initiating a comprehensive writing reform; and renaming the streets in the colonial cities, the French used language us another tool for 'making transparent'. Furthermore, the colonial powers established a communication and transport network throughout the colony in an attempt to materialise their fictive (artificial) vision of a unified French Indochinese space. The accessibility and design of these different modes of transport reflected the gendered, racial and class divisions inherent in the colonial establishment. At the heart of representing and institutionalising Indochina was the desire to control and contain. This characterised French imperial ordering of space in the city and the rural areas. In rural areas land was divided into small parcels and alienated to individuals or worked into precise grids for the rubber plantation. In urban centres the native quarter was clearly demarcated from the European quarter which functioned as its modern, progressive Other. The rationale behind this segregation was premised on European, nineteenth century discourses of race, class, gender and hygiene. Influenced by Darwinian and neo-Lamarkian theories of race, this biological discourse identified the 'working class', 'women' and 'the native' as not only biologically but also culturally inferior. They were perceived as a potential, degenerative threat to the biological, cultural and industrial development of the nation. In the colonial context, space was thus ordered and domesticated to control the native population. Coextensively, the literature which springs from such a structure will be tainted by the same ideas, and thus the spaces it formulates within the readers mind feed on and reinforce this foundation. Examples of gender and indigenous narratives which contest this imaginative, transparent topography are analysed throughout this thesis. They provide instances of struggle and resistance which undermine the ideal/stereotypical level of architectural and planned space and delineate an alternative insight into colonial spatial and social relations. The fictional accounts of European women and indigenous writers both challenge and reaffirm the fixity of some of these idealised colonial boundaries. In various literary, historical, political, architectural and cinematic discourses Indochina has been und continues to be depicted as a modern city and exotic Utopia. Informed by the mood of nostalgia, exotic images of Indochina have resurfaced in contemporary French culture. France's continued desire to create, control and maintain an Indochinese space in the French public imagination reinforces the multi-layered, interconnected and persistent nature of colonial discourse.

Using benchmarking to improve the financial and social sustainability of commercial goat meat, cashmere and mohair farms in Australia

Production and financial benchmarking was undertaken with commercially motivated mohair, cashmere and goat meat farmers in Australia. There were large differences in animal and fleece production and financial returns between the best and worst performing farms. Farmers and industry groups reported that the process and results were helpful and resulted in them changing management practices. Benchmarking demonstrated that there is substantial scope to increase productivity and profitability through improved genetic selection and improved management of pastures, breeding flocks and in kid survival and growth.

Insights into the biodiversity and social benchmarking components of the Northern Australian fire management and carbon abatement programmes

Much of northern Australia’s tropical savannas are subject to annual intense and extensive late dry season wildfires, much of this occurring on Aboriginal land. Based on the successful West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (WALFA) model, which has resulted in significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions, fire abatement programmes are planned for other significant regions of northern Australia. This study offers an introduction to the ideas behind a proposed environmental and social benchmarking project that aims to evaluate the potential benefits of expanding the fire abatement program in northern Australia, under the leadership of NAILSMA and its partners. Gaining a better understanding of the biodiversity, social and cultural outcomes of these fire abatement activities is an important component of demonstrating multiple benefits of these programmes. We emphasize the role of both biodiversity and cultural mapping to establish benchmarks and baseline states, with the involvement of Indigenous communities being a key element to optimize social and biodiversity benefits. Consultation with Traditional Owners and ranger groups to establish an agreed set of targets, indicators and sampling protocols and methodologies are critical component of this process. Examples of preliminary work to date are provided.

The settlement and social inclusion of immigrant youth in New Zealand

The immigrant population of Aotearoa New Zealand has increased significantly over recent years. This rise in ethnic minority populations, especially from non-English speaking countries, has significant social implications for the country. Anecdotal and empirical evidence in New Zealand show that many immigrant youth are not socially included, and that this compromises their ability to settle successfully in New Zealand. This study investigates the settlement and social inclusion of immigrant youth in New Zealand. It investigates the significant/actors that act as barriers to their settlement and social inclusion. The study gathers data through face to face and telephone interviews from key informants who are service providers and experts in six cities in New Zealand. Data is analysed using an inductive approach to produce primarily qualitative data which identifies key themes and issues for different age groups, genders, migrant and refugee groups. It supplements this data with some quantitative data on frequency, duration and intensity. Findings reveal that most immigrant youth generally do not feel well settled and socially included in New Zealand, and that some may suffer psychological and social consequences due to this.

Wasted: understanding the economic and social impact of food waste

Over one-third of global food production goes to waste while over 850million people are fighting chronic hunger. The United States is the world’s largest food waster. One third of America’s food with an economic value of US$161 billion is wasted and less than 7% is recycled. American food waste ends up in landfills creating powerful methane gas emissions. South Korea, on the other hand, has implemented the world’s strictest food waste laws, and today diverts 93% of wasted food away from landfills turning such waste into powerful economic opportunities. This Master Thesis investigates the reasons behind global food waste by comparing South Korea and the US. It explores what these two nations are doing to address their respective food waste problems, South Korea successfully, the US not. The paper looks at the two countries’ respective policies and national characteristics, which impact decision-making and recycling processes. The effort concludes that South Korea has embarked on a necessary paradigm shift turning food waste into powerful economic drivers leading to a sharp decline in food waste. In the US, food waste continues to be a major problem without a national strategy to remedy waste. Any effort in the US, while laudable, is sporadic and local, and hence the US misses out on possibly important economic growth opportunities.

The contribution of women to the economy and social protection specially in relation to unpaid work performed by women in the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Flexible labour markets, workers' protection and the security of the wings": a Danish flexicurity solution to the unemployment and social problems in globalized economies"

Includes bibliography

La formación de recursos humanos en el desarrollo económico y social de América Latina = The training of human resources in the economic and social development of Latin America

Incluye Bibliografía

Estudio sobre la clasificación económica y social de los países de América Latina = Study of the economic and social classification of the Latin American countries

Incluye Bibliografía