title: Participatory Road Design: An Investigation into Improving Roads, Drivers' Attitude and Behaviour Using Partiticipatory Design

authors: de Jong, Dennis

subjects: participatory design

abstract: Improving road safety is currently based mostly on Education, Enforcement and Engineering or the 3 Es. Despite these measures having saved millions of lives since their inception in around 1915, millions of people are still injured or killed in accidents worldwide annually. One relatively unexplored area is the use of driver's tacit (unspoken) knowledge to help in the reduction of accidents, particularly in the area of speed management. Participatory design may offer a way to help utilise drivers' tacit (hidden) knowledge for the improvement of speed management and road safety techniques in a positive and ethical manner. Involvement in the process may also aid in the improvement of drivers' behaviour and attitudes. Previous research in participatory design indicates that the benefits of participatory design are quick acceptance of new designs and innovative solutions to difficult problems, as well as a sense of ownership of the new artefact. My research has investigated the efficacy of using participatory design in road safety. This was done by having participants take part series of four different types of workshops aimed at improving driver behaviour and attitudes as well as road design using models. The research involved a total of 105 participants with group sizes ranging from 3 to 28 people. It was found that participatory design workshops were capable of: allowing people to redesign a variety of roads and improve them by reducing their estimated speeds, without adversely affecting other ratings such as safety, aesthetics, preference and liveability; improving self reported driver behaviour; and allowing the interaction of people from various backgrounds in a positive and stimulating environment. Workshops were also rated highly as a teaching and design tool by all those involved in the process. Finally, unlike standard participatory design processes, some workshops also included more than just the design team with the inclusion of additional participants as audience members. This was also found to be a practical method of including more people in the participatory design process without reducing the effectiveness of the process.

text: Participatory Road Design: An Investigation into Improving Roads, Drivers' Attitude and Behaviour Using Partiticipatory Design Improving road safety is currently based mostly on Education, Enforcement and Engineering or the 3 Es. Despite these measures having saved millions of lives since their inception in around 1915, millions of people are still injured or killed in accidents worldwide annually. One relatively unexplored area is the use of driver's tacit (unspoken) knowledge to help in the reduction of accidents, particularly in the area of speed management. Participatory design may offer a way to help utilise drivers' tacit (hidden) knowledge for the improvement of speed management and road safety techniques in a positive and ethical manner. Involvement in the process may also aid in the improvement of drivers' behaviour and attitudes. Previous research in participatory design indicates that the benefits of participatory design are quick acceptance of new designs and innovative solutions to difficult problems, as well as a sense of ownership of the new artefact. My research has investigated the efficacy of using participatory design in road safety. This was done by having participants take part series of four different types of workshops aimed at improving driver behaviour and attitudes as well as road design using models. The research involved a total of 105 participants with group sizes ranging from 3 to 28 people. It was found that participatory design workshops were capable of: allowing people to redesign a variety of roads and improve them by reducing their estimated speeds, without adversely affecting other ratings such as safety, aesthetics, preference and liveability; improving self reported driver behaviour; and allowing the interaction of people from various backgrounds in a positive and stimulating environment. Workshops were also rated highly as a teaching and design tool by all those involved in the process. Finally, unlike standard participatory design processes, some workshops also included more than just the design team with the inclusion of additional participants as audience members. This was also found to be a practical method of including more people in the participatory design process without reducing the effectiveness of the process.

year: 2009

title: Wave runup during extreme storm conditions

authors: Senechal, Nadia

subjects: dissipative beach

abstract: Video measurements of wave runup were collected during extreme storm conditions characterized by energetic long swells (peak period of 16.4 s and offshore height up to 6.4 m) impinging on steep foreshore beach slopes (0.05–0.08). These conditions induced highly dissipative and saturated conditions over the low-sloping surf zone while the swash zone was associated with moderately reflective conditions (Iribarren parameters up to 0.87). Our data support previous observations on highly dissipative beaches showing that runup elevation (estimated from the variance of the energy spectrum) can be scaled using offshore wave height alone. The data is consistent with the hypothesis of runup saturation at low frequencies (down to 0.035 Hz) and a hyperbolic-tangent fit provides the best statistical predictor of runup elevations.

text: Wave runup during extreme storm conditions Video measurements of wave runup were collected during extreme storm conditions characterized by energetic long swells (peak period of 16.4 s and offshore height up to 6.4 m) impinging on steep foreshore beach slopes (0.05–0.08). These conditions induced highly dissipative and saturated conditions over the low-sloping surf zone while the swash zone was associated with moderately reflective conditions (Iribarren parameters up to 0.87). Our data support previous observations on highly dissipative beaches showing that runup elevation (estimated from the variance of the energy spectrum) can be scaled using offshore wave height alone. The data is consistent with the hypothesis of runup saturation at low frequencies (down to 0.035 Hz) and a hyperbolic-tangent fit provides the best statistical predictor of runup elevations.

year: 2011

title: The Pene Haare manuscript and issues associated with the translation of historical texts written in indigenous languages

authors: Tipene, Jillian

subjects: Māori manuscripts

abstract: With particular reference to a request to translate into English a manuscript dated 1923 and written by the Māori author Ngakuru Pene Haare, we identify here a range of issues and problems associated with the translation of historical texts written in indigenous languages, suggesting ways in which they might be addressed. Among the problems identified in this case are the paucity of information that is publicly available about the author, the context in which he lived and worked and the events about which he wrote, the absence, or sporadic use in the manuscript of a range of conventions associated with contemporary writing, the occurrence of archaic and/or esoteric words and expressions, and the presence of symbolism that is deeply culturally-embedded. The primary conclusion is that the translation of manuscripts such as this must be ethically-grounded and fully research-embedded. It must therefore involve the mentorship of knowledgeable elders, be guided by procedures that are appropriate in terms of the culture out of which the source text emerged, accompanied by meticulous and wide-ranging research, and take full account of the wishes of the author of the manuscript where these have been stated, or can be inferred.

text: The Pene Haare manuscript and issues associated with the translation of historical texts written in indigenous languages With particular reference to a request to translate into English a manuscript dated 1923 and written by the Māori author Ngakuru Pene Haare, we identify here a range of issues and problems associated with the translation of historical texts written in indigenous languages, suggesting ways in which they might be addressed. Among the problems identified in this case are the paucity of information that is publicly available about the author, the context in which he lived and worked and the events about which he wrote, the absence, or sporadic use in the manuscript of a range of conventions associated with contemporary writing, the occurrence of archaic and/or esoteric words and expressions, and the presence of symbolism that is deeply culturally-embedded. The primary conclusion is that the translation of manuscripts such as this must be ethically-grounded and fully research-embedded. It must therefore involve the mentorship of knowledgeable elders, be guided by procedures that are appropriate in terms of the culture out of which the source text emerged, accompanied by meticulous and wide-ranging research, and take full account of the wishes of the author of the manuscript where these have been stated, or can be inferred.

year: 2009