Open Journal Systems at the Victoria University of Wellington Library
Not a member yet
6045 research outputs found
Sort by
Where are the Locals?
Get PDFLocalism is about citizens, not town halls. It engages, encourages and empowers citizens and their formal, semi-formal and informal groupings, street level to citywide, including not-for-profits. To be effective and constructive, citizen-centric localism needs to be bottom-up, not just top-down, driven by iterative interaction to fashion thought-through decisions. Digital technology enables this in ways not possible a decade ago. Local councils are the right level of government to develop and refine that interaction and thereby revitalise local – and in time national – democracy
Science Advice in New Zealand: opportunities for development
Get PDFWhat is the state of play for science advice to the government and Parliament? After almost ten years with a prime minister’s chief science advisor, are there lessons to be learnt? How can we continue to ensure that science advice is effective, balanced, transparent and rigorous, while at the same time balancing the need for discretion and confidentiality? In this article, we suggest that the hallmarks of good science – transparency and peer review – can be balanced against the need to provide confidential advice in an Aotearoa New Zealand context. To complement the advice to the prime minister, an expanded role for the Royal Society Te Apärangi would support public and parliamentary understanding of science and scienceissues relevant to policy
The Impact of Urbanisation on New Zealand Freshwater Quality
Get PDFUrban waterways represent less than 1% of the total river length in New Zealand. However, they are the most visible of all rivers, as 86% of New Zealanders live in urban areas. Urban waterways are impaired due to elevated levels of pathogens, turbidity, nutrients and heavy metals originating from anthropogenic activities. In addition to being conduits of storm water run-off from urban areas, some urban waterways also receive discharges from wastewater treatment plants and combined sewage overflows, thus greatly reducing their capacity to provide ecosystem services such as recreation, tourism, biodiversity and mahinga kai. This article summarises the state of New Zealand’s urban freshwater quality, the major drivers of pollution, and mitigation measures needed to restore urban waterways
Let the Rivers Speak: thinking about waterways in Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFThis article explores deep underlying assumptions about relationships between people and the planet, and how these translate into very different ways of relating to waterways in Aotearoa New Zealand. In te ao Mäori – ancestral Mäori ways of living – rivers and lakes are the tears of Ranginui, the sky father, mourning his separation from Papatüänuku, the earth mother, and people are their descendants, joined in complex whakapapa that link all forms of life together. In modern ways of thinking, on the other hand, ideas such as private property, resource management and ecosystem services can be traced back to the Genesis story of God’s gift of ‘dominion’ to Adam and Eve over fish, birds, plants and the earth itself, including waterways, in which all other life forms are created for human purposes. In successive Waitangi Tribunal claims, iwi have disputed these assumptions in relation to fisheries, tribal lands and rivers, and, in worldleading legislation, the Whanganui River has been declared a legal person with its own rights. In this article, the authors discuss different ways in which the rights of rivers as rivers might be understood in scientific terms, investigating the ‘geomorphic rights’ of the Whanganui River, for instance, and how rivers as living communities of land, water, plants, animals and people might be understood through ‘river ethnography’, an approach that aligns a wide range of natural and social sciences with mätauranga taiao – ancestral knowledge of other living systems. They also consider how current policy discussions might be informed by such framings, so that river communities across Aotearoa New Zealand may be restored to a state of ora – life, health, abundance and prosperity
The 2018 Prime Minister’s Science Prizes
Get PDFThe Prizes, now celebrating their tenth year, recognise the impact of science on New Zealanders’ lives, celebrate the achievements of current scientists and encourage scientists of the future. The year’s awards are presented early in the following year. Jim Renwick, past NZAS president (2009–2011) and Professor and Head of School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington has won the 2018 Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication Prize.
In the past five years, Jim has been involved in more than 100 public presentations about climate change, given more than 200 media interviews in New Zealand and internationally, and presented at numerous conferences focused on climate change and how to mitigate its effects. He says he feels a sense of duty to tell the world about the science behind climate change, the consequences that are unfolding, and the urgent need for ac-tion. He will use the prize funds to build collaborations on climate change between artists and scientists and to further strengthen links with tangata whenua.
Prime Minister’s Science Prize: The premier award of the Prime Minister’s Science Prizes has been awarded to the STRmix™ team, from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR). The STRmix™ software interprets DNA material from multiple individuals at a crime scene, and has been used in more than 100,000 cases worldwide.
Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize: Awarded to outstanding emerging scientist, Dr Peng Du from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute at the University of Auckland. Dr Du’s world-leading research helps the diagnosis and treatment of gut problems.
Prime Minister’s Science Teacher Prize: Carol Brieseman from Hampton Hill School in Tawa, Wellington, has been awarded the prize for her work to inspire students, teachers, and communities. As well as encouraging her students to ask difficult questions, Ms Brieseman supports and mentors other teachers, and prompts science initiatives across the school.
Prime Minister’s Future Scientist Prize: Awarded to Finnegan Messerli, a former student at Onslow College, Wellington. Finn’s research into the physics problem, why grains of salt form a cone-like pile when poured, will ultimately help scientists better understand the risks of avalanches and slips
The Lodge Case and the Misapplication of the Per Se Cartel Provisions of the Commerce Act 1986
Get PDFAn arrangement to fix, control or maintain prices is the classic competition law per se offence, and is deemed to substantially lessen competition under s 30 of the Commerce Act 1986. However, it is currently unclear when arrangements that do not explicitly concern price fall within the ambit of s 30. This article examines the recent Court of Appeal decision in Commerce Commission v Lodge Real Estate Ltd which found that the defendants were liable under the per se offence provisions. It contends that the Court of Appeal took the overseas case law out of context, misunderstood key factual findings made by the High Court at first instance and overlooked important legal and policy considerations. As a result it is argued that Lodge sets an unfortunate precedent that should be overruled or strictly confined to its own facts
Current reporting and relationship with integrated reporting for listed companies in Kenya: disclosure levels and company factors
Get PDFPurpose – This study draws on agency, stakeholder and legitimacy theories, to analyze the extent to which ‘integrated reporting’ information is currently being disclosed by Kenyan listed companies and to investigate the firm-level factors associated with the disclosures.
Design/methodology/approach – The study relies on content analysis procedures to assess the level of disclosure of integrated reporting information in the annual reports (2010-2016) of 50 companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). The study also uses the unbalanced panel data econometric models to establish the association between the integrated reporting disclosures and firm-level factors (including corporate governance and sustainability reporting).
Findings - As of 2016, the formal adoption of integrated reporting was very low at the rate of only 14% (i.e., 7 out of the 50 companies). Nonetheless, disclosure levels for information required as per the integrated reporting framework have increased from 59% in 2010 to 72% in 2016. Disclosures are mainly for organizational overview, strategies, governance, risk and performance. Stakeholder engagement, business model, future challenges and outlook are the notable areas of non-compliance. Findings also show that large companies are likely to adopt integrated reporting due to their high levels of disclosures, while the nature of sectors, like banks, is also likely to influence the adoption of integrated reporting. Although integrated reporting is positively correlated to both financial and non-financial information (with high significance for both sustainability reporting and corporate governance reporting), sustainability reporting is still a challenge for companies.
Originality/value – There is little in the way of contemporary evidence establishing if/how companies in emerging markets are adopting the integrated reporting framework. Our findings are important for regulators and policymakers to establish the challenges of providing additional information in such contexts, e.g., sustainability reports
Was Charlotte Badger a Colonial Renegade?
Get PDFEnglish convict and ship’s mutineer Charlotte Badger is heralded as New Zealand’s first “white” woman settler, who lived with a Māori chief after her arrival in the Bay of Islands in 1806. Almost nothing written about Badger has been correct. The core of her story has been hiding in plain sight in a contemporary newspaper account that has been misinterpreted by generations of historians. Colourful fictions added by two Australian storytellers further clouded the facts. A ship’s passenger list and logbook reveal Badger’s much more prosaic fate and confirm she did not settle in New Zealand after all
The Face of Nature: An Environmental History of the Otago Peninsula.
Get PDFIt is a tricky thing when one is asked to review a book on something that pervades your existence, your work and your whānau. Jonathan West’s book writes an environmental history of the Otago Peninsula. I have grown up at Ōtākou, the small village at the eastern edge of the Peninsula. I grew up looking across from the east to the west, I close my eyes and could draw an outline of the hills that embrace Aramoana and Port Chalmers. I have been told that Jonathan grew up at Port Chalmers, alternatively looking across from the west to the east, to the Otago Peninsula. This is perhaps where his connections to this piece of land sprung from. His book illustrates his passion for the Otago Peninsula and its interaction with all inhabitants from time immorial
False Divides.
Get PDFWritten by Lana Lopesi, an Aotearoa based woman who connects to the Moana through Samoa, this book gives insight to the colonial formation of ‘false divides’ that impact indigenous and Moana peoples. 
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Journal Systems at the Victoria University of Wellington Library? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!