University of Northern British Columbia: Open Journal Systems
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Capra, Professor Fritjof, and Pier Luigi Luisi. The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision. Reprint edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
No full textAn uncertain future, deep uncertainty, scenarios, robustness and adaptation: How do they fit together?
Full text linkA highly uncertain future due to changes in climate, technology and socio-economics has led to the realisation that identification of “best-guess” future conditions might no longer be appropriate. Instead, multiple plausible futures need to be considered, which requires (i) uncertainties to be described with the aid of scenarios that represent coherent future pathways based on different sets of assumptions, (ii) system performance to be represented by metrics that measure insensitivity (i.e. robustness) to changes in future conditions, and (iii) adaptive strategies to be considered alongside their more commonly used static counterparts. However, while these factors have been considered in isolation previously, there has been a lack of discussion of the way they are connected. In order to address this shortcoming, this paper presents a multidisciplinary perspective on how the above factors fit together to facilitate the devel- opment of strategies that are best suited to dealing with a deeply uncertain future
The idea of policy design: Intention, process, outcome, meaning and validity
Full text linkWhile policy design is a relatively recent term in the social science literature, the concept itself is ancient. The modernist incarnation, from the mid-20th century onwards, is grounded in the applied social sciences: the systematic calculation of prob- lems, values, practices and outcomes. But in many ways, the confidence of the faith in systematic design was not borne out by experience. It became clear that rather than finding expert designers advising authoritative decision-makers and perhaps monitoring the activities of subordinate ‘implementers’, the world of policy was populated by multiple participants in distinct organisational locations, with divergent framings, con- tinuing negotiation on practice, and ambiguity in the understanding of outcomes. There is clearly a tension between the image of policy design and the experience of the activity. The response to this tension in the literature on policy design has largely been aimed at reconciling the experience of practice with the norms of instrumental rationality. It has tended to give little attention to the interpretive significance of ‘design talk’ in the process of governing. This paper argues that ‘policy design’ is an exercise in giving meaning – framing activity in a way that makes practices and outcomes appropriate and valid – and develops a more comprehensive analysis of ‘policy design’ as a concept in use in both policy practice and the analysis of that practice
Seymour, Nicole. Strange Natures: Futurity, Empathy, and the Queer Ecological Imagination. Urbana, Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2013.
Full text linkMusic in The River’s Song by Suchen Christine Lim
No full textI focus on the music metaphor in Suchen Christine Lim’s novel The River’s Song, which is set in the river community on the Singapore River prior to its “clean up” by the government during the 1980s. The Chinese classical music in the novel reflects the Chinese vernacular character of the community, which had a close relationship with the river. This music is one of many sounds of this community, the sum of which can be interpreted as a metaphorical music that reflects the human-river relationship and the resulting ecology of the river. While music can be transplanted from its place of origin, such as the transplantation of Chinese classical music from China to Singapore, the metaphorical music of a place is unique to the locale, which I use to analyse the impact of development on the river community and the environment
Schliephake, Christopher. Urban Ecologies: City Space, Material Agency, and Environmental Politics in Contemporary Culture. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2015.
No full textMaterial Ecocriticism. Ed. Serenella Iovino and Serpil Oppermann. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2014. 359 pp.
No full textExperiencing disability in three small New Brunswick Acadian communities
Full text linkThis study examines the day-to-day experiences of persons with disabilities in three small New Brunswick Acadian communities where little is known about the challenges and opportunities they face in daily life. While we can piece together a narrative from studies of rurality, its applicability is far from certain. This research examined (1) how and to what degree their needs are being met; (2) their personal and social support systems; and, (3) their message for decision makers. Analysis of 23 interviews revealed general consistency with the rurality literature and uncovered the need to more closely consider issues of gender and re-integration in disability policy
Participatory design and “democratizing innovation”
Full text linkWe sketch an alternative “ddemocratizing innovation”” practice more in line with the original visions of participatory design based on our experience of running Malmö Living Labs - an open innovation milieu where new constellations, issues and ideas evolve from bottom-up long--term collaborations amongst diverse stakeholders.
Design in the Time of Policy Problems
Full text linkThis paper discusses an emerging context in which design expertise is being applied – the making of government policy. It reviews existing research and identifies the claim that design changes the nature of policy making. The paper then adapts a conceptual framework from social studies of science to make sense of the encounter between design and policy making. The paper applies this lens to an empirical account of design being applied to policy making in a team in the UK government. The findings are that in addition to supporting officials in applying design approaches, the team’s work shapes the emergence of hybrid policy making practices, and at times problematizes the nature of policy making. It does this within logics of accountability, innovation, and reordering. The contribution is to provide empirical detail and a nuanced account of what happens in these encounter between design expertise and policy making practice.