1,720,967 research outputs found
Environmental taxation and well-being in the context of globalisation and sustainability
No full textEnvironmental taxation exemplifies and emphasises the global dynamics of sustainability. Combining environmental taxation and well-being can contribute to broad aims of sustainability, such as the survival of humankind, protection of the biosphere and its biodiversity, social solidarity and justice and the preservation and development of our natural and cultural heritage. As a result of environmental market failures, hardly any market price reflects the true overall cost. Environmental taxation can provide suitable counters to such market failures. Global dynamics of sustainability clearly show in issues such as marine litter, air pollution, and climate change. Recognising the reality of 195 different states, environmental taxes would often be most effective if true international cooperation would be achieved. Unilateral environmental taxes may trigger relocation or dumping/burning abroad. The choice for, and design of, environmental taxes affects the distribution of environmental burdens and benefits, now and in the future. Critical scrutiny is needed, for example, if effects of environmental taxes are particularly felt in certain regions or parts of the population, or if such taxes unfairly affect competition. In this chapter, and in relation to environmental taxes and the global dynamics of sustainability, practices and possible strategies are assessed, and recommendations are made
Sustainable subdivision design and energy consumption of households in the hot and humid tropical climate of Darwin
No full textThis paper examines the relationship between sustainable subdivision design principles, local microclimate, and household energy consumption. The energy-efficient subdivision design principles, energy consumption and adjustment behaviour of 36 households were investigated in two suburbs of the city of Darwin. The participating households completed a questionnaire on family structure, thermal preferences and behaviour adjustment to the indoor environment. Electricity consumption of households was recorded at 30-minute intervals from Nov 2015 to Aug 2016. The Muirhead suburb, designed with energy-efficiency and climate-responsive design principles, has 16.9 lots per hectare in dense areas and minimum lot area of 450m2. Another suburb, Lyons, has 14.4 lots per hectare and a minimum lot area of 525m2. Households were divided by lot areas into three categories: category 1 (450-610m2), category 2 (611-710m2), and category 3 (>710m2). In Muirhead, the average daily consumption of category one household in the warmer wet season was 98 Wh/m2 per person compared to 154 Wh/m2 per person in Lyons. In the cooler dry season 48 Wh/m2 per person in Muirhead and 87 Wh/m2 in Lyons. The cooling load was calculated using multiple regression analysis showed that the main difference in energy consumption between two suburbs was in the base load. Thus, the energy-efficiency and climate-responsive design principles, applied to the subdivision, mitigate the impact of urban heat on cooling energy consumption in the hot and humid climate of Darwin. These are preliminary results and further investigation of the factors that have an impact on energy consumption of participating households is continuing
Sustainable subdivision design and energy consumption of households in the hot and humid tropical climate of Darwin
No full textThis paper examines the relationship between sustainable subdivision design principles, local microclimate, and household energy consumption. The energy-efficient subdivision design principles, energy consumption and adjustment behaviour of 36 households were investigated in two suburbs of the city of Darwin. The participating households completed a questionnaire on family structure, thermal preferences and behaviour adjustment to the indoor environment. Electricity consumption of households was recorded at 30-minute intervals from Nov 2015 to Aug 2016. The Muirhead suburb, designed with energy-efficiency and climate-responsive design principles, has 16.9 lots per hectare in dense areas and minimum lot area of 450m2. Another suburb, Lyons, has 14.4 lots per hectare and a minimum lot area of 525m2. Households were divided by lot areas into three categories: category 1 (450-610m2), category 2 (611-710m2), and category 3 (>710m2). In Muirhead, the average daily consumption of category one household in the warmer wet season was 98 Wh/m2 per person compared to 154 Wh/m2 per person in Lyons. In the cooler dry season 48 Wh/m2 per person in Muirhead and 87 Wh/m2 in Lyons. The cooling load was calculated using multiple regression analysis showed that the main difference in energy consumption between two suburbs was in the base load. Thus, the energy-efficiency and climate-responsive design principles, applied to the subdivision, mitigate the impact of urban heat on cooling energy consumption in the hot and humid climate of Darwin. These are preliminary results and further investigation of the factors that have an impact on energy consumption of participating households is continuing
Participative techniques for urban environmental improvement
No full textThe aim of this research is to discover the characteristics for a successful participative bottom-up technique for urban environmental improvement.
As we are nearing the end of the second millennium, the state of the environment is gradually being recognised as everyone's concern. Problems of air and water pollution, and rising population are even more acute in urban areas. Urban regions and urban people are facing environmental crises, some more severe than others. In some instances, urban people have responded to specific environmental problems at the local scale and have achieved some success. But often such responses tend to be ad hoc, and do not ensure continuity.
Businesses and other structured organisations have used participative techniques to allow changes to take place at the lower levels of the organisational hierarchy. They have been used for several decades in the world of business, and have achieved some success. A review of different participative management techniques showed that some are structured, and some are not. Most of them rely on group interaction.
It was found that two of the business techniques reviewed could be transferred to the community. They are the suggestion scheme and the quality circle techniques. The suggestion scheme is an unstructured technique and is based on individual initiative, whereas the quality circle is a structured technique and it is group-based.
These techniques were adapted to the community, and were called the Community Suggestion Scheme and the Community Quality Circle. Since a trial would determine the effectiveness of the techniques in the community, a case study approach was used. The Community Suggestion Scheme and the Community Quality Circle were trialed in the community over a period of three years. The Habitat project in Western Melbourne was used as the umbrella organisation to carry out the trial.
The Community Suggestion Scheme was trialed first, and was partly successful. It acted as a feeder for the Community Quality Circle. The Community Quality Circle was an unqualified success. The first Community Quality Circle formed - Habitat: Mount St. Josephs Community Quality Circle is still in operation showing that it is capable of being independent and self-managing.
Certain characteristics for successful participative bottom-up environmental improvement processes emerged from the trials. Techniques need to be flexible and open to change and learning. They must take diverse approaches to problem-solving. Techniques that are group-based are more likely to succeed than individual-based techniques. Their structure should be flexible, not rigid, and techniques must be capable of self-perpetuation and self-management. The members should be given the opportunity to become familiar with each other. The support of an overarching umbrella organisation is essential for techniques to be successful in the community.
Incorporating these characteristics allows the development of future participative methods for environmental improvement. The research shows that participative techniques can be used as a potent medium to instigate environmental improvement in urban areas
Infrastructure Financing for Climate Change Adaptation in Australia: Practitioners’ Perspectives
Get PDFWith increased climate-related risks and natural disasters, impacts on infrastructure assets are intensifying. As the need for adaptation actions increase, how finance is used to enable adaptation plays a vital role in the resilience of infrastructure. This research aims to understand how infrastructure adaptation measures are carried out, focusing on how financing is used to aid such efforts. Exploratory interviews with infrastructure and finance practitioners from a broad range of organisations were conducted to understand the dynamics of how infrastructure adaptation occurs. The findings reveal that infrastructure agencies conduct adaptation activities to maintain the serviceability of assets under climate change risks, with most climate financing targeting mitigation rather than adaptation. Most actions are taken at individual asset or agency level with little collaboration across agencies and sectors. The results illustrate a need for a more holistic, systems-level approach to adaptation across the infrastructure sector in Australia
Benchmarking the implementation of continuing professional development in the Victorian Construction Industry
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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