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Intellectual property at a crossroads: The knowledge and resources of indigenous peoples and local communities
No full textOn 24 May 2024, Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) adopted the Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources, and Associated Traditional Knowledge. While lauded as a victory for Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC), in this article we critique both the Treaty and its deficiencies, as well concerns of opponents of the Treaty. In addition, this article examines various ways forward in the plight of IPLC to protect their knowledge and knowledge systems, comparing and contrasting Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and the United States, as three jurisdictions with comparable British colonial histories, but across the spectrum in terms of how their intellectual property law doctrines meet the interests of IPLC. The article warns that the Treaty might distract from meeting the deeper interests of IPLC and also that the typical paths forward are not without their disadvantages, including potentially perpetuating colonial constructs
INVESTIGATING FACTORS DRIVING BREEDING SUCCESS, PHENOLOGY, BREEDING DISPERSAL, AND PAIR-BREEDING DYNAMICS OF THE TOUTOUWAI (NORTH ISLAND ROBIN; PETROICA LONGIPES)
No full textThe survival of any species requires robust and productive breeding within populations. Understanding the breeding biology of at-risk species can not only inform conservation management options, but also contextualise our understanding of fundamental biological processes and their evolution, such as phenology. Long-term study populations enable the investigation of such processes, that may occur or fluctuate over time. In this study, I investigate several aspects of the breeding biology of toutouwai (North Island robin; Petroica longipes), using 10 years of population monitoring data from a subsection of the Zealandia Ecosanctuary population. Specifically, I investigate 1) the relationship between weather and breeding season phenology, 2) pair-bond dynamics in the context of breeding success, 3) breeding dispersal dynamics in the context of breeding success and pair-retention, 4) spatial and temporal patterns of breeding success, and 5) potential factors driving breeding outcomes. In this population of toutouwai, breeding season duration is limited by low temperatures and low rainfall. Between breeding seasons, pair retention is much lower than within seasons, and likely driven by winter mortality and dispersal. The outcome of a nest has no significant relationship with the likelihood of subsequent divorce, though there is a tendency for failure to encourage divorce both between and within breeding seasons. Spatially, there were clear differences in breeding success across space. Temporally, success peaked in the middle of the breeding season for both nestling and fledgling-provisioning phases. Long-term, breeding phase outcomes did not change across the duration of the long-term study. Finally, when investigating a range of life history and environmental parameters that may influence breeding phase outcomes, no significant factors were identified. Reassuringly, the absence of any driving factors suggests that toutouwai in this population breed stably and productively. However, the potential influence of these factors should not be taken for granted with respect to other toutouwai populations. For example, the constraints weather places on breeding activity may be indicative of limitations on breeding success at thresholds simply not observed in the Zealandia Ecosanctuary region. Overall, this study captured novel insights into the breeding phenology, breeding dispersal, and spatial and temporal trends in breeding success in toutouwai, with the potential to inform conservation management practices.</p
Aileen Kavanagh, The Collaborative Constitution (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2023)
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Aging Gracefully
No full textThe growing elderly population and high housing demand in New Zealand underscore the pressing need for residential environments that go beyond commercial functionality to address human needs with sensitivity. Retirement villages have become a prevalent choice for elderly living, yet their rapid commercialization often neglects holistic considerations of emotional and psychological well-being. Motivated by the researcher’s personal experience of growing up in a multi-generational family and firsthand insights into the aging process, this study explores the challenges faced by elderly residents in retirement villages and integrates the concept - “third quality” of space—intangible, non-physical qualities related to emotional and psychological wellbeing of the elderly extending beyond what can be quantified, measured, or perceived into the design. It further examines how multi-generational interactions can enhance these third qualities, fostering more supportive and fulfilling living environments.Using a participatory design methodology, the study engaged elderly residents from a mid-scale retirement village in Waikanae,Wellington. The concept of the third quality was explored and tested through workshops, offering design responses to address identified challenges. These workshops evaluated the relevance and effectiveness of integrating third quality elements into the retirement village design, ensuring that the proposed solutions were directly informed by the experiences and needs of the residents.The participatory design workshops demonstrated practical ways to integrate the third quality into the specific village context, showcasing the method’s applicability to real-world design challenges. The research also highlighted variability in individual preferences regarding third quality, emphasizing the necessity for customizable and flexible design frameworks that adapt to diverse socio-economic and personal contexts. Furthermore, the findings underscored the value of a core design enriched through participatory processes, allowing for scalability and personalization. Multi-generational interactions were identified as significant contributors to emotional and psychological well-being but required careful integration into designated spaces rather than being applied uniformly across the village.</p
“Un neoclásico propio”: Trujillo’s National Palace and the Built Legacies of US Imperialism in the Dominican Republic, 1907–47
No full textThis paper examines how U.S. imperialism shaped the architectural landscape of the Dominican Republic in the early-twentieth century, culminating in the construction of the National Palace in 1947 under the authoritarian rule of Rafael Trujillo. Rather than viewing the Palace solely as a symbol of post-occupation sovereignty, we analyse it as an expression of un neoclásico propio—a Dominican version of neoclassicism. Built on the site of the plantation-style Customs Receiver’s residence that embodied the economic dominance of the US during the 1916-24 occupation, the Palace asserts a Dominican identity grounded in colonial heritage. We argue that this hybrid architectural language emerged through the very legacies it sought to overcome. Tracing the connections between colonial buildings, imperial infrastructure, and monumental nationalism, the paper reveals how Trujillo’s regime manipulated architecture to erase signs of US imperial control while reinforcing its own authoritarian ideology under the guise of cultural renaissance and national pride
The politics of authority: Anthropology and Curating as Correspondence
No full textThe central research question this thesis asks is: How is authority negotiated and shared in the museum? In the first decades of the 21st century, what politics are involved in the establishment of authority and to what end? I bring these questions to bear on an analysis of how the cultures of Pacific peoples in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa have been exhibited, collected and catalogued over the last 30 years.For anthropologists inside and outside the academy, questions related to the authority in their work are often confronting. They relate to the credibility of the anthropologist, their experience, and the authenticity of that experience. Throughout my career I have been struck by the way that many of the techniques, challenges, and solutions involved in establishing authority in ethnographic writing by anthropologists are similar to those deployed in the performance of curatorial work in museums. Indeed authority is at the centre of processes of representation and curatorial contestations for power within and outside the museum; from developing exhibitions or organising public events, to collecting objects and creating catalogue entries.This thesis sets out to determine how the practices of anthropology in museums are shaped, by ‘authoritative’ global discourse in the discipline but also the particularities of local conditions and cultural politics inside and outside the museum. It also seeks to understand how the practices of anthropology in museums are influenced by indigenous anthropological/curatorial positionalities and authority. In answering these questions, I am inspired by anthropologist Tim Ingold’s conceptualisation of anthropology as a form of correspondence. It is one that requires anthropologists/curators to be correspondents who are open and attentive to their collaborators/informants needs and concerns. It calls for a more engaged anthropology, a proposition that challenges curators to conceive of curating as correspondence, as not something we do but something we undergo or undertake with the world, “a form of experience”.Ingold’s call for an open and engaged anthropology aligns with contemporary concepts of a collaborative, co-curated, co-developed museum. With these ideas in mind, my analysis is informed by an analytical auto-ethnographic methodology based upon my personal experiences as a member of the Pacific Cultures team at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa for over three decades.The over-arching structure of this thesis is organised around the core curatorial practices of exhibition making, collecting, and cataloguing. Within each activity, I analyse how curators and communities negotiate issues of representation, authority, agency, and power. The data presented throughout this study draws on my experiences working in the museum, supplemented by a range of archival, documentary and media sources, and an institutional archive which I in part have helped to create. I conclude with my reflections on the role of the indigenous curator/anthropologist and an assessment of the limits and opportunities of sharing authority and decolonising/indigenising the museum.</p
An investigation on formative assessment practices of EAP writing in pre-sessional courses in a New Zealand university
No full textFormative assessment (FA) is an ongoing process of gathering information to understand and evaluate learners’ current states, recognized as an interactive and co-constructed process within L2 classrooms. In English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing classes, FA includes both formal aspects such as teacher written feedback, and informal aspects like spontaneous teacher-student dialogues. As FA plays a crucial role in supporting students’ learning, its implementation, perception and experiences by both teachers and students in the specific context of EAP writing needs more attention. Based on a pre-sessional EAP program at a New Zealand university, this study investigates both formal and informal FA practices implemented in target EAP writing classes and how the students and teachers experience and perceive of these FA practices. The study adopts a mixed-method design by collecting qualitative and quantitative data guided by an observation protocol and questionnaire grounded in Wiliam and Thompson’s (2008) FA framework. The observation protocol was developed and refined to document real-time FA practices during classroom observations based on this framework. Data was collected from seven hours of classroom observations across two EAP writing classes, two one-to-one interviews with two EAP writing teachers and questionnaire responses from 31 students. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis, the study revealed that both formal and informal FA practices were frequently implemented in the EAP writing classes, aligning with Wiliam and Thompson’s (2008) FA framework. While teachers and students perceived these FA practices as supportive of student learning, they also experienced various challenges. The study emphasizes to integrate formal and informal FA to create an engaging and interactive learning environment in EAP writing courses. It also provides recommendations for teachers, students and relevant programs as well as implications for further research in FA particularly in the EAP writing context.</p
Integrating New Vocabulary into the Mental Lexicon: Comparing the Effects of Monolingual and Bilingual Flashcard Learning
No full textJapanese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners often rely on their native language to learn English, meaning they learn new English words by associating them with Japanese trans- lations. While this strategy may be effective for beginners, it could be worthwhile for more advanced learners to learn new words by developing English-to-English associations. This research compared the effects of English-to-English (monolingual) and English-to-Japanese (bilingual) flashcard learning. Fifty-three university-aged participants studied 48 target words using multimedia flashcards in these two learning conditions. The quality of the lexical representations they developed was investigated in two priming posttests. A mixed-modality repetition priming posttest investigated whether the targets they learned fostered the development of robust formal (orthographic and phonological) representations. A semantic priming posttest investigated the development of semantic representations. Although neither robust formal nor semantic representations were established, the semantic priming posttest results were informative and valuable. Monolingual flashcard learning resulted in faster recognition for participants with strong explicit knowledge of the learning targets. Results showed that higher-intermediate and advanced learners can benefit from using English definitions to learn new English words instead of relying on Japanese translations
Make It Stick: Exploring the Influence of User Experience and User Interface on Adolescent Engagement for the Digital Mental Health Intervention ‘SPARX’
No full textBackgroundAdolescents in Aotearoa are experiencing high rates of mental health challenges and psychological distress. Partly in response, digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have emerged as an innovative approach to support young people over the past decade. These interventions offer unique advantages, including 24/7 accessibility, the ability to support multiple users simultaneously, and often being available without GP referral or large cost barriers. Subsequently, they present a promising solution for providing support within a strained healthcare system. Although evidence suggests that these digital tools can be effective when used consistently, real-world engagement rates remain below optimal levels. This discrepancy highlights a critical research gap: understanding the factors that motivate adolescents to engage more consistently with DMHIs. Particularly, there is a need to explore how the intersection of psychotherapy and digital design elements, specifically user experience (UX) and user interface (UI), might influence adolescent engagement and ultimately clinical outcomes.AimThe aim of this research is to explore how UX and UI influence adolescent engagement during the early stages of SPARX, an evidence based gamified DMHI for adolescent depression which is publicly available to anyone with a New Zealand Internet Protocol address.MethodQualitative data were collected throughout seven think-loud semi-structured interviews and were thematically analysed through a critical realist lens. Participants were aged between 16-20 years old and asked to sign up and begin using level one of SPARX. While interacting with SPARX, participants were coached through the think-aloud process and asked open ended questions and prompts to trigger reflection about how the look and feel of the intervention was impacting their behaviour and attitude towards engaging.FindingsThree main themes were identified, each with three sub-themes. Theme one highlighted the importance of the participants’ onboarding experience to the DMHI, where participants needed to feel a connection and excitement to the tool, early. Theme two uncovered striking the balance between gamification and serious therapeutic elements, with sub-themes of positioning, the perceived seriousness of the game and the power of gamified collectables. The final key theme related to operational influences at play and included sub-themes of therapeutic elements and gaming working harmoniously together in the DMHI to improve engagement, clear and cohesive DMHI set up experiences and the power of immersive digital experiences such as music.ConclusionThis is one of few studies that explores the contribution of UX and UI on user engagement for adolescent DMHIs. Findings and literature suggest UX and UI designers should be consulted from the beginning of DMHI design, along with including the voices of adolescents via a co-design process. Optimising the first 10 minutes of a DMHI for engagement through music, interactive education and short registration processes could positively influence effectiveness and adherence for existing DMHIs and therefore enhance health outcomes for adolescents across Aotearoa and beyond. This research recommends adjustments from designing a shorter initial module that establishes a clear, measurable goal for the user to enabling users to interact with the tool before completing the registration process such as a trial.</p
Ornate Chronicles: Computational Ornamentation in Architecture
No full textThe absence of ornamentation in contemporary architecture has resulted in cities dominated by repetitive glass high-rises, lacking cultural identity and emotional engagement. Historically, ornamentation has served as a medium to symbolize values and narrate the stories of various cultures. Its removal not only erases these narratives but also diminishes the human connection to the built environment. This thesis proposes reintroducing ornamentation with a universal theme inspired by nature, appealing to diverse audiences. By abstracting the movement and growth of natural forms, the designs can create stimulating architectural experiences and provoke curiosity about their meaning.To achieve this, computational and procedural design tools are employed to generate intricate patterns and structures efficiently, eliminating the need for manual modeling of each surface. These designs are then physically realized through 3D printing techniques. The resulting printed forms can function as moulds for casting structural members or as casings to envelop existing structures. This approach combines the aesthetic and symbolic benefits of ornamentation with modern fabrication methods.</p
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