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An investigation of barriers and enablers to energy efficiency retrofitting of social housing in London
Get PDFCarbon emissions, being hazardous, are triggering social concerns which have led to the creation of international treaties to address climate change. Similarly, the United Kingdom under the Climate Change Act (2008) has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emission by at least 80% over 1990 levels by 2050. However, being the oldest member of the EU states (before Brexit), the UK has the oldest housing stock, which contributes to 45% of its carbon emissions due to the older dwellings. To address this issue low carbon retrofitting is needed. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate the barriers and enablers to energy efficiency retrofitting in social housing in London, UK based on the perception of experts employed in National and construction companies with an experience that ranges between 6 to 16 years. Initial literature suggested that the problem of energy efficiency retrofitting in the general building stock has been addressed, however little has been reported on its application to social housing. This paper, therefore, groups the barriers and enablers into seven categories that include: financial matters, Technical, IT, Government policy and regulation, social factors (including awareness of the energy efficiency agenda), quality of workmanship and disruption to residents, using literature review, interviews and surveys with key stakeholders within the housing sector, and draws recommendations to enable effective and efficient retrofitting for social housing projects. 
A History of Now: Historical Responses to COVID-19
Get PDFThe connection between history and COVID-19 might appear counter-intuitive. We are used to being told by media outlets and employers, government officials and friends that we are ‘living in unprecedented times’. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the rhythms of our daily lives, but not every response to COVID-19 has been new. It has also been understood through history.
This article comes from a roundtable discussion that was held as part of NSW History Week on 11 September 2020. Bringing together historians, curators and archivists, this panel explored the way that history has been used to understand COVID-19. Particular attention was paid to attempts to record and archive our experiences through the pandemic, comparisons between COVID-19 and the ‘Spanish’ flu as well as shifting understandings of temporality during the pandemic. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has ruptured our quotidian experience, it is not a moment beyond history. This panel examined how history is being used as an anchor point, a source of inspiration and an educational tool with which to tackle ‘these uncertain times’
Recent trends in Australian local government reform
Get PDFThis practice note reviews some of the recurring themes of local government reform in Australia over the past decade. In doing so it updates previous findings of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (2011) and Gooding (2013). Six themes are explored: structural reform and regional cooperation; principles-based local government acts; roles and responsibilities of elected officials; revenue controls; financial and performance auditing; and integrity and accountability
Promoting inclusive urban economies in a world of changing technology and patterns of trade
Get PDFThis paper is a shortened version of a ‘think-piece’ prepared as a contribution to the dialogue at the 2018 Kigali meeting of the Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Network. Its purpose is to highlight both challenges and emerging practices in mobilising local governments, and other stakeholders, including those in other spheres of government and the private sector, towards advancing the scale and scope of local economic development outcomes around critical dimensions of inclusion. The paper is not intended to be an exhaustive report covering all the aspects of contemporary local economic development approaches, but rather to offer selective insights that might contribute to deepening relevant policy and implementation processes in an increasingly urban world
Equal or unequal opportunities within the criminal justice system from a rural and regional perspective
Get PDFApproximately a third of NSW criminal charges are dealt with in rural and regional courts. About a third of prisoners in NSW goals come from rural and regional NSW. However, resources – legal and therapeutic – available for rural and regional defendants do not match those available for offenders located in metropolitan areas. Twenty-one significant disparities are identified. Three sources of these disparities are also identified – court proceedings, geographical remoteness, and government failures. The majority of identified disparities, it is argued, is attributable to government failure. Recent changes to sentencing law and practices in the administration of sentences are looked at from a rural perspective and potential new and continuing disparities are identified. The limitations arising from the disparities to the exercise of judicial discretion with a rural setting are explained particularly with reference to sentencing
‘National’ and ‘Official’ Languages Across the Independent Asia-Pacific
Get PDFBetween November 2018 and 2020, residents of New Caledonia will have three opportunities to vote on whether to become an independent state. Residents of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville will vote on the same issue in June 2019. Should the residents of either territory vote for independence, the issue of whether a language shall be designated the national and / or official language for the new state will arise. If the decision is to designate a language for the new state, the choice of which language will also surface. This chapter considers the language choices made by a number of countries across the linguistically diverse Asia Pacific region post-independence and in so doing, provides some models for the language configurations which may eventuate should either territory become independent. The linguistic configurations discussed here are divided into Category 1 - countries where a national and / or official language are legally specified or have de jure legal status. - and Category 2 – countries where no language is legally named but at least one language may be de facto national or official. Examples of Category 1 countries include Indonesia where Bahasa Indonesia is the only de jure national and official language and Vanuatu where Bislama is the de jure national language and is also a de jure co-official language with both English and French, the languages of the former colonial powers. Examples of Category 2 countries discussed here include Papua New Guinea where Tok Pisin is named as one of the possible languages needed for an applicant to become a Papua New Guinean citizen but does not have de jure national language status and the Solomon Islands where Pijin is the de facto national language and English is the de facto official language.
Whilst the results of either the Bougainville and New Caledonian referenda are not clear, the different configurations already in place serve as a pointer to what may eventuate should the residents of either territory vote for independence
Memories of Struggles: Translocal Lives in Okinawan Anti-Base Activism
Get PDFOne of the key characteristics of recent Japanese grassroots civic activism is the number of individual citizens who began to go out on the streets to participate in public demonstrations. In many places around Japan, people who used to be seen as ‘apolitical,’ such as youth, office workers (so-called salary-men and salary-women) and other individuals, now join and lead public demonstrations that address a range of pressing social issues and problems, including nuclear energy, workplace harassment and constitutional change. Today the ‘progressiveness’ of activism is born from, and reinforced by, participants’ own everyday concerns. By associating larger social injustices with personalized forms of concern, today’s progressive movements enable what perhaps used to be overlooked as private issues to become inspiration for collective actions. Therefore, these civic movements encompass a mixture of different personal and social narratives, symbols, styles and objectives; they are not homogenous about ‘who we are’ and ‘what we want.’ By highlighting two case studies that shed light on the Okinawan decolonization movement, I argue that the translocal participation of different social actors in creating a particular sense of ‘locality,’ or place-based identity, is essential in understanding the complexity of collective representation. The Okinawan decolonization movement, primarily represented in the form of the Okinawan anti-US base struggle, is particularly important because it demonstrates how place-based identity maintains rootedness and boundedness of locality while maintaining inclusivity to extra-locality. Okinawa’s case can be an important contribution to the field that enables us to extend our geo-social imagination over the new forms of contentious politics and collectivity in today’s world
Municipal finance for housing: local government approaches to financing housing in cities
Get PDFHousing policy is usually seen as the domain of national governments, and in many countries local authorities have relinquished direct engagement in the promotion of adequate housing. High costs associated with related policies and programmes are often cited as justification for minimal involvement, leading to fewer community-level interventions on affordable formal housing. This article presents financial approaches for local government leaders and decision-makers to consider in furthering affordable access to adequate housing for their citizens. The article argues that when local governments engage on housing with innovation and financial pragmatism, the housing needs of the urban poor and vulnerable can be better served.
KeywordsMunicipal finance, local government, affordable housing, fiscal policy, cities, capacity-buildin
The First World Trade Center Project: A Historical Tribute to a Great Mega Project
Get PDFThe tragic collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 could not erase the memory of one of the most successful projects in history. The project set standards of excellence in project management for years to come. Using a retrospective look at the construction management of the WTC during the 1960s and 1970s, we show how the vision of great leadership and a determined organization transformed the economy of one of the most important cities in the world
The impact of tool selection on back and wrist injury risk in tying steel reinforcement bars: a single case experiment
Get PDFThe paper explores the risk of work-related musculoskeletal injury in tying steel reinforcement bars. Three tools are compared to determine the extent to which ergonomic tools can reduce the risk of injury to the back and wrist in steel-tying. A whole body system of wearable sensors was used to measure biomechanical risk in tying. Three tools were assessed to determine their impact on the risk of work-related musculoskeletal injury when used at different heights. These were: a conventional pincer-cutting tool; a power-driven tying tool, and a long handled stapler tool.
No tool was found to work best in all situations. The long handled stapler tool significantly reduced trunk inclination when used from ground to shoulder height, but produced higher trunk extension (backward bending) when used above shoulder height. The power tying tool did not reduce the need to bend when working at lower work heights. The power-tying tool produced significantly lower peak wrist flexion values compared to the conventional pincer-cutter tool at all work heights except overhead. The power tying tool involved significantly lower levels of wrist rotation than the conventional pincer-cutter tool at all work heights above knee level.
Many assessments of ergonomic risk factors in construction rely on observational methods. The use of small, lightweight wearable sensors permits the objective measurement of biomechanical risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal injury, as well as providing objective performance data that can be used in the design and selection of task-specific tools. Our analysis of work by height also provides insight into the way in which risk factors and reduction opportunities afforded by different tools vary depending on the height at which work is to be performed
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