bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Application of the precautionary principle during consenting processes in New Zealand: Addressing past errors, obtaining a normative fix and developing a structured and operationalised approach
Authors:   , Scott Dale 
Published: November 2021

<p>The precautionary principle is increasingly being adopted as a legal risk management tool in international environmental law and regulation, especially in the marine context. In fact, over the last 35 years it has been included, often as a central feature, in the vast majority of international law instruments relating to protection and management of the environment. This rise to prominence is largely driven by widespread recognition that the ability of environmental law to successfully avert long term and significant harm is very much contingent on the successful implementation and application of the precautionary principle (specifically, the decision-making and planning measures it advocates). Owing to the above, it is unsurprising that like many other countries New Zealand has incorporated the precautionary principle expressly and implicitly into domestic law and policy over the last 25 years. The most recent and arguably most notable instance of the incorporation of the precautionary principle in New Zealand law is in the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012 (“EEZ Act”). Indeed, for reasons explained in this paper, the success of the EEZ Act will in large part depend on the successful application of the precautionary principle contained in the Act. Unfortunately, New Zealand’s incorporation and application of the precautionary principle to date has been problematic, with confusion and a variety of approaches taken to its core concepts, and arguably outright misapplication of it. For this reason, this paper seeks to take comprehensive stock of the precautionary principle, first to identify what is the likely cause of such confusion and misapplication, and second, to provide a foundational understanding to assist policy makers and the courts with the task of operationalising and applying it during legislative consenting processes. In doing so, this paper focuses on its operation in the marine setting, with a view to assisting with its interpretation and application under the EEZ Act. It argues that in order to secure consistent and proper application of the precautionary principle, significant work needs to be done to clarify definitional ambiguities embedded within the principle. It then argues that further work needs to be done to properly operationalise the New Zealand formulations of the precautionary principle (i.e. unpack the substantive content of the principle and pin down what such content requires of decision-makers in practice) so they can be consistently and correctly applied under New Zealand’s environmental risk management regimes.</p>
Characterization of Groundwater with Complementary Age Tracers
Authors:   , Beyer Monique 
Published: November 2021

<p>Groundwater age or residence time is the time water has resided in the subsurface since recharge. Depending on the application, this definition may or may not include travel through the unsaturated zone. The determination of groundwater age can aid understanding and characterization of groundwater resources, because it can provide information on e.g. groundwater mixing and flow, and volumes of groundwater and recharge. Groundwater age can be inferred from environmental tracers, such as SF₆ and tritium, that have a known input to groundwater and/or undergo known alteration processes in groundwater. The currently used age tracers face limitations regarding their application range and reliability. For example, some age tracers have local sources that can lead to contamination of groundwater. This contamination can result in misleading estimates of age. Other tracers have ambiguous inputs to groundwater, which can result in ambiguous age estimations. To reduce these limitations, it is now recognized that multiple tracers should be applied complementarily. There is also a need for new groundwater age tracers and/or new groundwater dating techniques to supplement the existing ones. Cost-effective and easily applicable tracers/techniques are preferred, since most established groundwater dating techniques are very costly and/or complex. Commonly measured hydrochemistry parameters , such as the concentrations of major ions and pH, have been suggested as cost-effective and easily determinable potential age tracers. To date, the use of commonly measured hydrochemistry parameters as independent age tracer has only been demonstrated for water recharged weeks to months ago relying on seasonal changes. Other studies applied commonly measured hydrochemistry complementarily to established age tracers to better constrain groundwater age and/or better understand and predict anthropogenic effects on groundwater quality. Further study is needed to assess the extent to which commonly measured hydrochemistry can be used to reduce uncertainty in tracer-inferred age as well as the extent to which commonly measured hydrochemistry can be used to extrapolate tracer-inferred age. In addition to tracer specific limitations, quantification of uncertainty and ambiguity is not standard in age modelling. Although a few studies have attempted to quantify uncertainty in age modelling with the aid of probabilistic approaches, their methods are often relatively complex and not transferrable to the many cases with little available data. Uncertainties in the tracer’s recharge estimate and identification of appropriate model components, such as the objective function, have not been considered. Studies in other areas of hydrological modelling, where probabilistic approaches are more commonly used, have highlighted the need for careful identification of model components.</p>
Push, Pull, Shrink, Grow: The co-share workplace interior that reflects changing spatial needs
Authors:   , Wyborn Rebecca 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis explores how co-working offices emerged as a solution to the shift in the social expectations of the workplace. It studies how the rise in the number of freelancers and entrepreneurs has resulted in the materialisation of co-working offices. It examines how co-working offices offer flexibility in terms of membership plans, but how their interior environments do not yet reflect this. In short it aims to investigate how these workplace interiors can adapt to meet residents needs. This research embraces the multi-functionality of the co-working office and the demands of residents who occupy these spaces. Three local case studies and international precedents are explored which give insight and offer opportunities on materiality, site context and multi-functional spaces. It explores how to engage residents by challenging how best to design co-working offices. This project considers the requirements of the co-working office and how co-working interiors are occupied throughout the day. The design proposes a kit of parts ‘space making’ solution, which enables co-working offices to meet resident’s needs. This research contributes to the limited published discussion of understanding interior space in the context of co-working offices. This research explores through interior architecture, how co-working offices can be designed to reflect its resident’s individual ways of working and co-workings varying spatial needs. Although based around co-working spaces, the researcher recognises the implications for findings based around corporate office environments.</p>
Investigating the optimal integration of airborne, ship-borne, satellite and terrestrial gravity data for use in geoid determination
Authors:   , Winefield Rachelle 
Published: November 2021

<p>Each gravity observation technique has different parameters and contributes to different pieces of the gravity spectrum. This means that no one gravity dataset is able to model the Earth’s gravity field completely and the best gravity map is one derived from many sources. Therefore, one of the challenges in gravity field modelling is combining multiple types of heterogeneous gravity datasets. The aim of this study is to determine the optimal method to produce a single gravity map of the Canterbury case study area, for the purposes of use in geoid modelling. This objective is realised through the identification and application of a four-step integration process: purpose, data, combination and assessment. This includes the evaluation of three integration methods: natural neighbour, ordinary kriging and least squares collocation. As geoid modelling requires the combination of gravity datasets collected at various altitudes, it is beneficial to be able to combine the dataset using an integration method which operates in a three-dimensional space. Of the three integration methods assessed, least squares collocation is the only integration method which is able to perform this type of reduction. The resulting product is a Bouguer anomaly map of the Canterbury case study area, which combines satellite altimetry, terrestrial, ship-borne, airborne, and satellite gravimetry using least squares collocation.</p>
‘It depends on us’: The experiences of fifteen young Burmese migrants living in the border town of Mae Sot, Thailand
Authors:   , Ross Rebecca Helene 
Published: November 2021

<p>The Burmese diaspora in Thailand attracts significant academic attention. However, the voices of migrant Burmese children are largely unexplored and often ignored altogether. On arriving in Thailand young migrants find themselves located within a new cultural, social, and linguistically different geographic space. Underpinned by the recognition that migrant youth actively engage with the world around them, this study challenges the idea that young migrants are passive bearers of circumstance. Rather, as they seek education in Thailand they exercise their agency in unique ways by performing their cultural traditions, creating their ‘own place’, navigating opportunities, voicing critical political opinions, displaying resilience and setting future goals. Using the participatory method of ‘photo-voice’ this research explores the everyday experiences and stories of fifteen Burmese migrant children living in Thailand as they present them through photography. The participants, most of whom crossed the border unaccompanied, have assessed the relative opportunities available to them in Burma and Thailand. They have chosen to endure the hardships associated with living in a marginalised space away from their parents, culture and country in order to gain an education in Thailand. Technically considered ‘illegal’, these young migrants are facing their present challenges, setting life goals and bending the rules in order to receive an education and establish successful futures.</p>
Absolutely Positively Ageing: Positive ageing and volunteering in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors:   , Clowes Alice 
Published: November 2021

<p>Population ageing is a key development issue worldwide, and governments around the world are working to address the changing needs that accompany this demographic shift (Vos, Ocampo & Cortez, 2008). In New Zealand, the Government and the Wellington City Council have developed the Positive Ageing Strategy (2001) and the Positive Ageing Policy (2012) respectively in response to population ageing. Both the Strategy and the Policy pay particular attention to the importance of the continued social inclusion of older people in their communities. One of the ways that this inclusion is encouraged is through older people’s participation in voluntary activities. This research explores the lived experiences of older people who volunteer in the Wellington region to understand the nature of the relationship between volunteering and positive ageing. The exploratory nature of the research necessitated a qualitative research design. Through semi-structured interviews with 12 members of the volunteer community I explored the underlying themes of this research project including motivations for participation in voluntary work, skills and knowledge brought to and developed through volunteering, challenges and barriers to participation in voluntary work, and the participants’ awareness of representations and stereotypes around ageing. The research findings illustrate the complexities inherent in the relationship between volunteering and positive ageing and show how volunteering was used by the participants as a means to resist and challenge negative stereotypes and representations of ageing. There was a fine balance between the promotion of volunteering as one of a multitude of ways in which older people can participate in their communities and overstating the benefits of volunteering to individuals and their communities without revealing the potential challenges.</p>
The Influence of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on Primary Education Policy in Laos
Authors:   , Saeng Outhay Oulath 
Published: November 2021

<p>Laos is a poor and aid-dependent country in South-East Asia. Its primary education development has depended heavily on external assistance, which has caused some scholars to argue that education policy is shaped by this influence. While major donors have played a significant role in driving Lao primary education development, NGOs are increasingly engaging in the process since Laos has adopted global commitments, particularly the Education for All goals of the Millennium Development Goals. While the Government of Laos values NGOs’ contributions as equally to those of major donors, it commonly views NGOs as ‘service providers’ and major donors as ‘policy counterparts’. The government is wary of NGOs’ mission and this has also shaped NGOs’ space in the policy arena. This thesis has examined the extent to which NGOs have influenced Lao primary education policy since the adoption of the Vientiane Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2006. This research draws on a social constructivist epistemology, and data collection employed qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews, analysis of relevant policy documents, and participant observation. The interviews involved 24 participants representing government agencies, NGOs, donor organisations and education specialists. The main focus of interviews was to explore the degree of NGOs’ influence on primary education policy, the mechanisms and strategies that NGOs use to exercise their influence, and how such mechanisms and strategies have impacted on their role at policy level. The findings indicate that NGOs have limited influence on Lao primary education policy. Although they have some influence through participating in policy dialogues, they have minimal influence on the outcomes of policy development. The fact that NGOs have limited influence on policy outcomes is attributed partly to their limited financial capacity and partly the limits of their specialised expertise to support and convince the government for policy change. The deciding factor, nevertheless, is the government’s reluctance to integrate NGOs’ advice and recommendations into Lao primary education policy due to its wariness of NGOs’ influence, particularly on politically sensitive issues.</p>
The role of dopamine D₂ receptor mechanisms in the development of MDMA sensitisation
Authors:   , van de Wetering Ross 
Published: November 2021

<p>Rationale. ±3, 4-methelynedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is the primary psychoactive ingredient of the increasingly popular recreational street drug, ecstasy. As with other drugs of abuse, repeated intermitted exposure to MDMA can lead to an increase in the subsequent behavioural effects of the drug. This phenomenon, termed behavioural sensitisation, has been attributed to sensitisation of central DAergic mechanisms considered to underlie several aspects of addiction. Objectives. The purpose of the present research was to investigate the role of DA D₂ receptor mechanisms in the development of MDMA sensitisation and the acquisition of MDMA self-administration in rats. Methods. Rats received daily i.p. injections of the selective D₂ antagonist, eticlopride (0.0, 0.05, 0.3 mg/kg), prior to injections of MDMA (0.0, 10.0 mg/kg) for five days. Two days following the final pre-treatment session, the locomotor activating effects of MDMA (5 mg/kg, i.p.) were determined. Another group of rats were surgically implanted with i.v. jugular catheters before undergoing the same pre-treatment regimen. Two days following the final pre-treatment session, these rats were subsequently tested for acquisition of MDMA self-administration. The locomotor activating effects of MDMA (5 mg/kg i.p.) were determined two days following the last self-administration session. Results. Pre-treatment with MDMA enhanced the locomotor activating effects of MDMA and facilitated the acquisition of MDMA self-administration, as evidenced by an increased likelihood to meet an acquisition criterion. Co-administration of eticlopride during pre-treatment completely blocked the development of sensitisation to MDMA-produced hyperactivity but failed to significantly attenuate the facilitation of MDMA self-administration. Interestingly, pre-treatment with eticlopride alone also facilitated the acquisition of self-administration. MDMA self-administration failed to alter MDMA-produced locomotor hyperactivity. Conclusions. These findings suggest that repeated activation of DA D₂ receptors is required for the development of sensitisation to MDMA-produced hyperactivity but not for the development of sensitisation to MDMA-produced reinforcement. D₂ receptor mechanisms evidently play some role, however, because repeated exposure to eticlopride also facilitated MDMA self-administration. It is suggested that both sensitised DAergic mechanisms and desensitised 5-HTergic mechanisms contribute to the acquisition of MDMA self-administration.</p>
The effect of binge-like ethanol exposure on adolescent performance in non-spatial and spatial forms of the novel object recognition paradigm
Authors:   , Collins Miriam 
Published: November 2021

<p>Previous research has demonstrated that ethanol produces differential effects on non-spatial or recognition memory and spatial memory; spatial memory deficits were consistently found to be more persistent than non-spatial memory deficits. Ethanol-produced deficits have also been found to be dependent on age at exposure, and exposure during adolescence produced more persistent deficits than when exposure was experienced by older subjects. The current study investigated the effects of a “binge-like’ 5 day episode of ethanol exposure (1.0g/kg x 5) on performance in non-spatial and spatial forms of the novel object recognition (NOR) task. Subjects were exposed either during adolescence or following maturity. Tests were conducted 2 or 9 days following exposure. NOR was tested following inter-trial intervals of 1, 3, or 5 minutes. Data from mature rats could not be obtained or analysed due to procedural issues that precluded NOR measurement. Control rats failed to demonstrate NOR at any of the time intervals. Reasons for these negative findings are discussed.</p>
Water Dependency and Livelihoods of Rice Farmers in Doung Khpos commune, Cambodia
Authors:   , Cheng Chansereiyut 
Published: November 2021

<p>Although the livelihoods of the households in Doung Khpos commune are encompassed of different strategies, the dominant one is rice farming. The main water sources for rice farming in Doung Khpos commune are rainwater and canals, both of which are constrained by either seasonality or functionality. With unreliable water supplies for rice farming and frequent drought, water dependent livelihoods are exposed to higher threats. Due to the non-availability and unpredictability of rainwater, the lack of water in the canals or the water commodification, some rice farmers were not able to grow rice all year round. The household income was reported to decrease; meanwhile some households had to borrow money to cover the household expenses. Some rice farmers coped with the household financial shortages by reducing the amount of food intake or asked the children to help with income generating activities which inevitably force them to skip or quit school. The growth and development of children could be impacted owing to the household economic insufficiency. The majority of the rice farmers did not have solutions to cope with the water challenges for rice farming. With limited coping mechanism or capacity to deal with frequent flood and drought, in conjunction with no support in relation to water for rice farming from any stakeholders, the vulnerability of the rice farmers in Doung Khpos commune is high. Improved water management, capacity building to the local community on climate change adaptation and disaster preparedness and water governance, are believed to enhance the livelihoods of the rice farmers in Doung Khpos commune.</p>
A Sordid Chronicle of Outer Suburbia
Authors:   , Dooley Ashton 
Published: November 2021

<p>A reflection on worldly trends arouses the question as to what new attributes our Earth will manifest in the next 85 years by 2100. What effects have we wrought in a lifetime of procreation, consumption and production? With the continual expansion of our population, the sprawling and polluting, reports are depicting a negative future as the climate continues to alter. The effects of this change is most critical for those bound by coastal edges as the sea rises to claim what is now usable land. This thesis looks at one such area, Wellington, New Zealand. The city is dictated by the sea and sprawl inland is not a resolute solution. This thesis proposes that a sea-based kinetic suburb can improve upon the sordid living conditions predicted for 2100 through adaptive and responsive design. By exploring a vision of the year 2100 that has been defined by the implications of excessive suburban sprawl, in alignment with extreme environmental conditions, this thesis proposes how coastal bound communities can survive in anthropogenic aftermath. It argues that with mobile apartment towers suited to the ocean, socialisation and connectivity within a suburban area can be increased whilst still resisting new climatic demands. This research offers informed insight into the future evolution of living in considering both past and present trends; defining a new chapter for suburbia and a typology that is more flexible and convivial.</p>