449 research outputs found
Environmental economics and the Murray-Darling river system
No full textMuch concern about the negative environmental consequences of agricultural development in Australia, including salinisation, waterlogging and algal blooms, has focused on the problems of the Murray–Darling Basin. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the environmental problems of the Murray–Darling Basin from an economic perspective, and a selective survey of the relevant economic literature, including theoretical analysis, modelling and contributions to the development of water policy. In attempting to understand the complex problems of the Murray–Darling Basin, an eclectic approach drawing on externality, sustainability and property rights perspectives seems most appropriate.Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
Interview with Jonathan Darling, author of Systems of Suffering: Dispersal and the Denial of Asylum (2022)
No full textThis conversation between Jonathan Darling and Sarah M. Hughes focuses on Darling’s recently published book Systems of Suffering: Dispersal and the Denial of Asylum (2022). Based on research conducted over the course of six years, Systems of Suffering examines the emergence, development, and implications of the dispersal system in the UK. This market-based system of asylum governance is a process that distributes asylum seekers to predominantly urban areas and, Darling argues, represents a form of “distributed violence that is cumulative and incapacitating, and governs through the exhaustion of its critics and subjects” (p. 3). As the conversation unfolds, Darling talks about the implications of the rapidly shifting legal and policy landscape in the UK for the asylum dispersal and the challenges but, he suggests, political urgency of continuing to research it
International year of older persons: Mentoring research project
No full textA report, by Judith MacCallum and Susan Beltman, Murdoch University, that identifies models of good practice of mentoring in school settings. The report looks at issues associated with the implementation of mentoring programs in school settings and key recommendations for consideration by Australian schools and education systems
Shape Persistence in Elicited Subjective Crop Yield Probability Density Functions
No full textThe shape persistence of a crop yield probability density function (PDF) was studied by using two variants of the Visual Impact Method (VIM) to elicit subjective estimations by farmers. In one variant ten weights were used to describe the PDF and in the other variant the farmer chose the number of weights. Results were compared directly and by means of Weibull distributions fitting, with evidence being obtained in favor of methodological persistence and the equivalence of the two estimation methods.Subjective crop yield PDF elicitation, Visual impact method, Methodological persistence, Crop Production/Industries,
Historical regulation of Victoria's water sector: A case of government failure?
No full textThis paper analyses the role of government failure in Victoria’s water sector between 1905 and 1984 as evidenced in the rise of in-stream salinity. It will be shown that high levels of salinity can, in part, be attributed to regulatory failure for two reasons. First, the method of water allocation, a compulsory minimum charge with the marginal cost of water being zero, encouraged over watering, resulting in increased water tables via groundwater recharge. Second, the government did not provide adequate finance for construction of appropriate removal of saline drainage water, and thereby allowed increasing in-stream salinity.externalities, government failure, institutions, salinity, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
A Derived Allosteric Switch Underlies the Evolution of Conditional Cooperativity between HOXA11 and FOXO1
No full textSummaryTranscription factors (TFs) play multiple roles in development. Given this multifunctionality, it has been assumed that TFs are evolutionarily highly constrained. Here, we investigate the molecular mechanisms for the origin of a derived functional interaction between two TFs, HOXA11 and FOXO1. We have previously shown that the regulatory role of HOXA11 in mammalian endometrial stromal cells requires interaction with FOXO1, and that the physical interaction between these proteins evolved before their functional cooperativity. Here, we demonstrate that the derived functional cooperativity between HOXA11 and FOXO1 is due to derived allosteric regulation of HOXA11 by FOXO1. This study shows that TF function can evolve through changes affecting the functional output of a pre-existing protein complex
Lessons (Not Yet) Learned
No full text· Despite a significant influx of charitable dollars over the last 10 to 20 years, solutions to complex social problems remain elusive, while philanthropy has been facing growing pressure to account for its tax-free dollars; to demonstrate, replicate, and scale success; and to be transparent about failed social investments.
· When foundations and their nonprofit partners ignore a failure and move on, whether it is to protect their own reputation or the reputations of valued partners or simply because of the pressure to keep going, it is too easy to toss out the baby with the bathwater – to toss aside a good idea and start over. This is a sign of failing to learn.
· Learning from failure requires the difficult task of changing deeply rooted habits of thinking, decision-making, and interacting. This is especially true in the social sector, where there are many competing and equally important priorities – from providing needed community services and building organizational capacity to achieving systemic change.
· What does it take to actually learn those lessons and improve future performance? Reflecting on failures and publishing “lessons learned” reports are good first steps, but do not guarantee that those lessons will translate into improved results.
· In this article, the authors explore in detail what it looks like for a lesson to be truly learned, and offer concrete recommendations about steps to take to make sure that an important lesson, once identified, actually turns into a lesson learned
Building resilient pathways to transformation when “no one is in charge”: insights from Australia's Murray-Darling Basin
No full textabstract: Climate change and its interactions with complex socioeconomic dynamics dictate the need for decision makers to move from incremental adaptation toward transformation as societies try to cope with unprecedented and uncertain change. Developing pathways toward transformation is especially difficult in regions with multiple contested resource uses and rights, with diverse decision makers and rules, and where high uncertainty is generated by differences in stakeholders’ values, understanding of climate change, and ways of adapting. Such a region is the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, from which we provide insights for developing a process to address these constraints. We present criteria for sequencing actions along adaptation pathways: feasibility of the action within the current decision context, its facilitation of other actions, its role in averting exceedance of a critical threshold, its robustness and resilience under diverse and unexpected shocks, its effect on future options, its lead time, and its effects on equity and social cohesion. These criteria could potentially enable development of multiple stakeholder-specific adaptation pathways through a regional collective action process. The actual implementation of these multiple adaptation pathways will be highly uncertain and politically difficult because of fixity of resource-use rights, unequal distribution of power, value conflicts, and the likely redistribution of benefits and costs. We propose that the approach we outline for building resilient pathways to transformation is a flexible and credible way of negotiating these challenges.The final version of this article, as published in Ecology and Society, can be viewed online at: https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss2/art23
Darling Basin (Wilcannia), NSW, 1981 (P470), magnetic line data, AWAGS levelled
No full textMaintenance and Update Frequency: notPlannedStatement: This Darling Basin (Wilcannia), NSW, 1981 (P470), magnetic line data, AWAGS levelled is an airborne-derived magnetic line dataset for the Darling Basin (Wilcannia), NSW, 1981 survey. The data was acquired under the project No. 470 for the geological survey of NSW. A total of 7522 line-kilometres of data at a line spacing of 3000m and 150m terrain clearance were acquired during this survey. To constrain long wavelengths in the data, an independent data set, the Australia-wide Airborne Geophysical Survey (AWAGS) airborne magnetic data, was used to control the base levels of the survey data (Milligan et al., 2009). This survey data is essentially levelled to AWAGS. Details of the specifications of individual airborne surveys can be found in the Fourteenth Edition of the Index of Airborne Geophysical Surveys (Percival, 2014). This Index is also available online at http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/79134.
References:
Milligan, P.R., Minty, B.R.S., Richardson, M. & Franklin, R., 2009. The Australia-wide Airborne Geophysical Survey accurate continental magnetic coverage. Preview, No. 138, p. 1-128,
Percival, P.J., 2014. Index of airborne geophysical surveys (Fourteenth Edition).Total magnetic intensity (TMI) data measures variations in the intensity of the Earth's magnetic field caused by the contrasting content of rock-forming minerals in the Earth crust. Magnetic anomalies can be either positive (field stronger than normal) or negative (field weaker) depending on the susceptibility of the rock. The data are processed via standard methods to ensure the response recorded is that due only to the rocks in the ground. The results produce datasets that can be interpreted to reveal the geological structure of the sub-surface. The processed data is checked for quality by GA geophysicists to ensure that the final data released by GA are fit-for-purpose.<br/> These line dataset from the Darling Basin (Wilcannia), NSW, 1981 survey were acquired in 1981 by the NSW Government, and consisted of 7522 line-kilometres of data at 3000m line spacing and 150m terrain clearance. To constrain long wavelengths in the data, an independent data set, the Australia-wide Airborne Geophysical Survey (AWAGS) airborne magnetic data, was used to control the base levels of the survey data. This survey data is essentially levelled to AWAGS
Defining absolute environmental limits for the built environment
No full textThe question addressed is whether it is possible to define working limits on environmental impacts from the built environment in terms of global carrying capacity. The main focus is on energy-related impacts, since these are global and relatively well-understood. Four possible approaches to defining limits are explored: static equilibrium, asymptotic, integral of excess and planned future. The conclusions that emerge from this exploration are that global environmental constraints are very tight, but also that they are dynamically and strongly influenced by the trajectory of social and technological development over the coming century. Their use as the basis for practical, quantitative metrics of sustainability, therefore, involves a large measure of subjectivity. A fifth approach - the developmental approach - is identified, which instead of focusing on long-term external constraints to human activity, focuses instead on the internal, short- to medium-term dynamics of the built environment itself. It appears likely that the developmental approach, guided by qualitative conclusions from the analysis of global carrying capacity, is likely to be most fruitful
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