title: Sustainable citizenship as a key to sustainability: Establishing a common ground on technology use in New Zealand's dairy sector

authors: Mueller, Hannah

subjects: sustainability

abstract: Sustainability is a key issue in New Zealand’s dairy industry. Arguments are often made from either a purely economic or environmental perspective. The debate is dominated by polarised viewpoints characterised by hasty rejection or assertive support of production-focused biotechnological approaches. On the one hand is the biotechnology industry and on the other environmentalists and an anxious public. In the context of this divisive discussion, progress towards sustainable development is hard to achieve. By using the concept of sustainable citizenship as a theoretical framework, it is possible to incorporate economic, environmental, political and social approaches to sustainability. This thesis employs sustainable citizenship in order to find a common ground amongst the various points of view within the dairy sector. Shared values around farming methods and biotechnology are used to find a way to facilitate sustainable development in the industry, combining current interests of various stakeholders with the long-term interest of future generations.

text: Sustainable citizenship as a key to sustainability: Establishing a common ground on technology use in New Zealand's dairy sector Sustainability is a key issue in New Zealand’s dairy industry. Arguments are often made from either a purely economic or environmental perspective. The debate is dominated by polarised viewpoints characterised by hasty rejection or assertive support of production-focused biotechnological approaches. On the one hand is the biotechnology industry and on the other environmentalists and an anxious public. In the context of this divisive discussion, progress towards sustainable development is hard to achieve. By using the concept of sustainable citizenship as a theoretical framework, it is possible to incorporate economic, environmental, political and social approaches to sustainability. This thesis employs sustainable citizenship in order to find a common ground amongst the various points of view within the dairy sector. Shared values around farming methods and biotechnology are used to find a way to facilitate sustainable development in the industry, combining current interests of various stakeholders with the long-term interest of future generations.

year: 2011

title: A virtual cocktail party: Supporting informal social interactions in a virtual conference

authors: Rogers, Bill

abstract: Whilst the primary purpose of conferences is work — formal exchange and sharing of information — they almost always also include elements of play: Informal social and entertainment elements, such as receptions, dinners, and tourism activities. These activities also provide the opportunity for ‘serious’ discussions, meeting people, and networking, and are an essential part of a good conference. Despite this, most virtual conferencing tools fail to provide support for such activities, instead focusing on austere goals related to saving money, time, and travel. This paper describes the concept of a Virtual Cocktail Party (VCP) tool to integrate into a virtual conference environment. In VCP the ‘party’ is presented as a mixture of individuals and small conversation groups ‘circulating’ at the virtual venue. Exploiting an automated speech-to-text system, words from conversations are shown in word-clouds displayed around conversation groups, sufficient to identify topics of conversation allowing participants to decide whether or not to join a group.

text: A virtual cocktail party: Supporting informal social interactions in a virtual conference Whilst the primary purpose of conferences is work — formal exchange and sharing of information — they almost always also include elements of play: Informal social and entertainment elements, such as receptions, dinners, and tourism activities. These activities also provide the opportunity for ‘serious’ discussions, meeting people, and networking, and are an essential part of a good conference. Despite this, most virtual conferencing tools fail to provide support for such activities, instead focusing on austere goals related to saving money, time, and travel. This paper describes the concept of a Virtual Cocktail Party (VCP) tool to integrate into a virtual conference environment. In VCP the ‘party’ is presented as a mixture of individuals and small conversation groups ‘circulating’ at the virtual venue. Exploiting an automated speech-to-text system, words from conversations are shown in word-clouds displayed around conversation groups, sufficient to identify topics of conversation allowing participants to decide whether or not to join a group.

year: 2018

title: The 2020 cannabis referendum: Māori voter support, racialized policing, and the Criminal Justice System

authors: Dempster, Craig

abstract: In the New Zealand 2020 cannabis referendum, 50.7% of all voters rejected the creation of a legally-regulated cannabis market and instead supported retaining the current prohibitionist policy. Although the referendum failed to pass, a majority of Māori voted in favor of cannabis law reform. This paper suggests that within the Māori community there is a more nuanced appreciation of the impact of policing cannabis. Māori perceive that greater harm is caused by the racialized policing of cannabis than by the usage of it. Following McCreanor, et al. (2014), this paper employs a thematic, content analysis of the New Zealand Herald’s coverage of the 2020 cannabis referendum to investigate the presence of race-based targeting/policing in discussions of the legislation. The results reveal that racial disparities emerged as secondary to framing both the impact of cannabis and the referendum as race-neutral and affecting everyone in society equally. This paper argues that the impact of the policing of this particular drug impacts Māori differently, wherein they bear the brunt of racialized policing. Thus, Māori possess a more sophisticated understanding that warrants consideration because it is inextricably linked to lived experiences of policing that differ from wider social narratives of policing and drug policy in New Zealand.

text: The 2020 cannabis referendum: Māori voter support, racialized policing, and the Criminal Justice System In the New Zealand 2020 cannabis referendum, 50.7% of all voters rejected the creation of a legally-regulated cannabis market and instead supported retaining the current prohibitionist policy. Although the referendum failed to pass, a majority of Māori voted in favor of cannabis law reform. This paper suggests that within the Māori community there is a more nuanced appreciation of the impact of policing cannabis. Māori perceive that greater harm is caused by the racialized policing of cannabis than by the usage of it. Following McCreanor, et al. (2014), this paper employs a thematic, content analysis of the New Zealand Herald’s coverage of the 2020 cannabis referendum to investigate the presence of race-based targeting/policing in discussions of the legislation. The results reveal that racial disparities emerged as secondary to framing both the impact of cannabis and the referendum as race-neutral and affecting everyone in society equally. This paper argues that the impact of the policing of this particular drug impacts Māori differently, wherein they bear the brunt of racialized policing. Thus, Māori possess a more sophisticated understanding that warrants consideration because it is inextricably linked to lived experiences of policing that differ from wider social narratives of policing and drug policy in New Zealand.

year: 2022