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Solving Climate Change Requires Changing Our Food Systems
No full textHumanity is facing an important existential threat—irreversible climate change caused by human activity. Until recently, most of the proposals to address climate change have downplayed or ignored the adverse impact of food systems, especially intensive animal agriculture. This is in spite of the fact that up to a third of global greenhouse gas production to date can be attributed to animal agriculture. Recent developments at COP28 have signaled that the tide is turning, however, and that food systems are becoming part of global discussions on climate change solutions. The pressing nature of irreversible climate change requires rethinking our food systems. To solve the climate change crisis, we propose transitioning to a predominantly plant-based diet, and phasing out intensive animal agriculture as diets shift, without increasing pastoral farming. We suggest that such transformations in global food systems can be accomplished largely through education and large-scale public information campaigns, removal of subsidies, taxation to account for externalized costs of animal agriculture, improved labelling of products, and various investment/divestment drivers. Better metrics and industry benchmarks involving food and agriculture-specific performance indicators that reflect food system sustainability will be important. Increased global awareness of these issues and a change in mindset (which will drive political will) also are needed. Our current trajectory is untenable, and we must begin to turn the ship now towards sustainable food systems and diets
Unravelling Regenerative Agriculture’s Sustainability Benefits and Outcomes: A Scoping Review
No full textRegenerative Agriculture (RA) has emerged as an environment-centric agriculture that prioritises reducing synthetic inputs, emphasising holistic management focussed on sustainability. However, evidence linking RA practices to desired sustainable outcomes remains inconclusive, and today’s modern conventional agriculture (MCA) prioritises similar aspects. This scoping review explores RA’s origins and how its proponents perceive sustainable outcomes. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses—extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines, our review searched peer-reviewed articles from Scopus and Web of Science, along with a Google Scholar snowball search, up to July 2024. Of the 71 articles reviewed in detail, 46 explicitly discussed RA, and 25 addressed sustainability or holistic management relevant to RA. Key research gaps identified include: (1) Despite varying definitions and uncertain outcomes, growing interest in RA warrants further research into farmers’ preferences for RA over MCA. (2) There is insufficient evidence on how farmers balance the interconnected elements in the economic, social, and environmental domains for sustainable outcomes. (3) RA practices are often unclear and overlap with other production methods, necessitating clearer definitions of input systems and strategies used to comprehend RA’s biophysical and economic outcomes. A conceptual framework is proposed to guide future research and inform agricultural sustainability programmes
Doing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) in Applied Linguistics Research: A Field-Specific Guide
No full textAs applied linguistics increasingly embraces qualitative and socially situated methodologies, it has drawn on approaches from other disciplines. This paper extends that trajectory by exploring interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), a qualitative methodology originating in psychology and grounded in phenomenology, hermeneutics, and idiography. IPA offers a valuable framework for research focused on the lived experiences of language users, learners, and educators. The paper argues for a critical repositioning of IPA within applied linguistics, highlighting its capacity to examine how individuals make meaning of complex linguistic, cultural, and educational phenomena. Using data from interviews and focus groups, the IPA demonstrated here enables detailed, contextualized analysis of additional language (AL) learning and teaching practices. It attends to both individual cases and cross-case thematic patterns. By providing a methodological guide featuring a worked example from a doctoral study with New Zealand-based ESOL teachers, the analysis examines how teachers’ experiences of AL learning inform their TESOL knowledge and practices and how they view their professional positioning in the TESOL sector. The paper offers strategies for rigor, transparency, and ethical reflexivity in IPA research. It concludes with a critical reflection on the strengths and limitations of IPA for researching language teacher knowledge and practice
The Hidden Workforce: Neurodivergent Realities in Hospitality and Tourism
No full textThis thesis explores the lived experiences of neurodivergent employees within the international hospitality and tourism industry, with a focus on attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite increasing global conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion, neurodiversity remains a largely invisible and underrepresented dimension in the international hospitality and tourism industry and human resource management (HRM) policies. The research presented in this thesis addresses this critical gap in knowledge. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to explore both the systematic challenges and untapped strengths of neurodivergent workers within the industry. A quantitative and qualitative survey was completed by 110 employees in the international hospitality and tourism industry who self-identified as neurodiverse, and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with three managers in the industry. Key findings include a concerning lack of formal neuroinclusive HRM practices, inconsistent managerial awareness, and challenges related to discrimination and career advancement faced by neurodivergent employees working in the international hospitality and tourism industry. The findings reveal that neurodivergent staff often experience stigma, communication barriers, and an exclusionary workplace culture, yet also demonstrate extraordinary strengths regarding attention to detail, creativity, problem solving and customer service. The findings are analysed through the lens of the social model of disability, leading to a proposed framework for more inclusive HRM informed by neurodivergent voices. This research also contributes practical recommendations, including the adaptation of New Zealand‘s Rainbow Tick certification mark into a broader “Diversity Tick” that incorporates neurodivergent employees in organisational HR policies and workplace culture. This research study is, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the first to apply Kahn’s (1990) theoretical framework to neurodiversity within the international hospitality and tourism industry. Data collected for this research also enable a comparison of the neuroinclusivity experienced by hospitality and tourism industry employees in New Zealand and the United States for the first time. By adapting Kahn’s (1990) model of employee engagement and disengagement to focus on his concept psychological safety , this study advances our understanding of how to cultivate inclusive workplaces in which neurodivergent employees are not merely accommodated but actively valued and empowered to thrive
Moving Beyond Carceral Safety Logics in Aotearoa New Zealand
No full textCarceral safety logics, which place institutions within the criminal punishment system as a source of safety, continue to dominate globally. Despite their dominance, during the last 5 years in Aotearoa New Zealand, surveys have reported that more people feel less safe (Ministry of Justice, 2023). This article problematises the reliance on carceral safety logics in Aotearoa and explores alternative approaches that may generate more collective and sustainable safety. This article draws on 16 semi-structured interviews with people who advocate or work in the ‘justice’ system to inform this perspective. Narratives shared within these interviews present a desired relational element of safety that is at odds with carceral safety logics and punitive approaches to safety. The participants, from penal populists to penal abolitionists, ultimately saw safety through community-building, ensuring wellbeing needs are met, and collective care. This article unpacks what these shared ideas could mean for abolitionist conceptions of safety and justice in the community
Cognitive Influences in Second-hand Markets: From Perception to Purchase in Rural Smartphone Consumption
No full textPurpose
This study aims to examine how rural consumers make second-hand purchase decisions beyond economic necessity. Using schema theory, we explore how perceived price fairness, product features, product quality and sustainable community influence drive purchase intentions in the rural second-hand smartphone market.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed 225 rural New Zealand second-hand smartphone users and tested our hypotheses using partial least squares – structural equation modelling to analyse key factors influencing purchase intentions.
Findings
This study challenges the assumption that rural consumers evaluate second-hand goods solely on objective attributes, showing that decision-making is shaped by past experiences, social influences and perceived price fairness. Rather than a purely economic assessment, price fairness integrates product quality and features, influencing consumer engagement. In addition, community norms and sustainability messaging shape purchasing decisions, emphasising social influences over rational education.
Practical implications
Businesses and policymakers must move beyond price incentives and leverage social networks and sustainability messaging to shape consumer schemas. Trust in second-hand markets depends on perceived fairness, quality and social validation, highlighting the importance of community-driven interventions over traditional rational education efforts.
Originality/value
This study extends schema theory by demonstrating how rural consumers use cognitive shortcuts and social learning to navigate information asymmetry, reframes perceived price fairness as a cognitive framework rather than a transactional factor and highlights sustainability as a dynamic consumer heuristic
Interstitial Explorations into the Cantonese Essence Through the Design of Documentary Travelogues
No full textThis article presents a practice-led research that explores the potential of contemporary, poetic travelogues to express and preserve cultural identity. The project addresses the question: How can a travelogue that combines poetic writing, mixed media imagery, and structured document design convey an evolving sense of Cantonese identity? Drawing on Eastern and Western frameworks—specifically, theories of time, interstitial spaces, and cultural identity from Confucian, Daoist, phenomenological, and postcolonial perspectives, the study situates the travelogue as a record of journeys; and expand it to bridge ancestral heritage and modern life. Employing a reflective practice approach, the project combines photography, archival research, sketching, Chinese traditional binding, narrative interviews, poetic writing, and cyanotype illustration to document the perspectives of two generations of Cantonese women. These methods contribute to multi-layered narratives that blend historical and contemporary elements. The study is significant for its contributions to cross-cultural reflections. Through poetic storytelling, this research reinterprets cultural lifestyles and traditions from everyday life in the past, providing a medium to explore Cantonese heritage. It contributes to studies on generational narratives by examining how the same physical spaces are perceived and understood across different time periods
Trends in Occupational Segregation Between Women and Men in New Zealand
No full text[from Introduction] The changing role of women in the economy is a central feature of societal change in developed countries over the past decades. For example, in the United States female labour-force participation rose from 43.3 % in 1970 to 56.2 % in 2020 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). Similar increases are evident across many high-income countries (Ortiz-Ospina, Tzvetkova, and Roser, 2018), including New Zealand (NZ) where female labour-force participation increased from 54.8 % in 1987 to 66.7 % in 2025 (Stats NZ, 2025). In educational attainment, women now outperform men in most OECD countries (OECD, 2024). In NZ, 44.8 % of women aged 25 to 64 years have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 34.2 % of men (OECD, 2024). Occupational segregation, however, remains persistent in developed countries (Lind and Colquhoun, 2021; Salardi, 2016; Blau, Brummund, and Liu, 2013) and has increased in parts of the developing world (Borrowman and Klasen, 2020). This matters for several reasons. At the individual level, it can limit women’s economic opportunities. At the macroeconomic level, occupational
segregation could imply a misallocation of talent that impedes economic growth (Hsieh, Hurst, Jones, and Klenow, 2019)
Hauora: Relational Wellbeing of Māori Community Support Workers
No full textThere has been growing global interest in wellbeing over recent decades, yet what constitutes wellbeing depends on cultural and philosophical traditions, as well as worldview and knowledge systems. Our article offers an Indigenous Māori view on hauora – relational wellbeing – which emanates from the spiritual essence and ethic of hau, and traverses ecological, social, and economic spheres. We use the case study of Māori community support workers (CSWs), who, in our study, found that their hauora was affected by discrimination, racism, and a lack of cultural awareness and support from employers. Our participants, centred mostly within corporate community support providers, found that Western models of care and support did not allow for the expression of tikanga Māori, which limited their options for providing culturally appropriate care. Also prevalent was the lack of recognition by employers and funders of the importance of culture and culturally appropriate care. The implications of acknowledging hauora within Aotearoa New Zealand’s wellbeing frameworks are then examined, showing that Māori notions of wellbeing have the potential to deliver better outcomes not only for Māori but for all New Zealanders. In this article, we provide some recommendations and reflections on how organisations can prioritise and embed the cultural wellbeing of Māori CSWs, their whānau and their clients in the workplace
Who is Sean Baker, the indie filmmaker behind Oscar sweeper Anora?
No full textDirector Sean Baker has made history by becoming the first person to win four Academy Awards in the same night for the same film – Anora – taking home prizes for original screenplay, film editing, directing and best picture.
Anora centres on Ani (Mikey Madison), a Brooklyn sex worker entangled with Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the immature son of a Russian oligarch. After Ivan disappears, Ani searches through New York with his handler Toros (Karren Karagulian) to find him.
Baker’s Oscars sweep capped off a string of wins over the past year, but surprised many pundits who expected three-and-a-half hour epic The Brutalist to take home the top prize.
He’s made the 97th Academy Awards one for the history books. So who is Sean Baker? [...