title: Measuring rural community resilience: case studies in New Zealand and Vermont, USA

authors: Payne, Penny R.

abstract: To date, methods for assessing community resilience have focused predominantly on disaster recovery. Those that do focus on broader social-ecological and psychological contexts tend to be qualitative and have not been validated at the community scale. This situation reveals a need for quantitative measurement tools for assessing community resilience to slow-moving change such as rural depopulation or climate change. Our research provides a proof of concept across two diverse contexts, New Zealand and Vermont, USA, that community resilience can be quantified and broken down into dimensions of resilience. Using mixed methods, we assessed how eight communities across two countries perceive resilience and compared their perceptions with indicators of resilience in the form of official statistics. Vermonters generally perceived their communities as more resilient than did New Zealanders, and reported different dimensions of resilience as drivers of overall perceptions of resilience. Although institutional resilience was a driver of overall resilience in both countries, social and cultural dimensions of resilience were also drivers in New Zealand, whereas economic and environmental dimensions were drivers of overall resilience in Vermont. Resilience indicators were found to be weakly related or unrelated to community perceptions of resilience. This result suggests that the proposed method for measuring resilience can be used across contexts, but that there is not one type of resilience that is the key to higher levels of overall resilience. It also suggests that the two proxy measures of resilience, i.e., community perceptions and indicators, do not provide a consistent picture of resilience, raising the question of which is a more accurate measure.

text: Measuring rural community resilience: case studies in New Zealand and Vermont, USA To date, methods for assessing community resilience have focused predominantly on disaster recovery. Those that do focus on broader social-ecological and psychological contexts tend to be qualitative and have not been validated at the community scale. This situation reveals a need for quantitative measurement tools for assessing community resilience to slow-moving change such as rural depopulation or climate change. Our research provides a proof of concept across two diverse contexts, New Zealand and Vermont, USA, that community resilience can be quantified and broken down into dimensions of resilience. Using mixed methods, we assessed how eight communities across two countries perceive resilience and compared their perceptions with indicators of resilience in the form of official statistics. Vermonters generally perceived their communities as more resilient than did New Zealanders, and reported different dimensions of resilience as drivers of overall perceptions of resilience. Although institutional resilience was a driver of overall resilience in both countries, social and cultural dimensions of resilience were also drivers in New Zealand, whereas economic and environmental dimensions were drivers of overall resilience in Vermont. Resilience indicators were found to be weakly related or unrelated to community perceptions of resilience. This result suggests that the proposed method for measuring resilience can be used across contexts, but that there is not one type of resilience that is the key to higher levels of overall resilience. It also suggests that the two proxy measures of resilience, i.e., community perceptions and indicators, do not provide a consistent picture of resilience, raising the question of which is a more accurate measure.

year: 2021

title: The demand, selection, and health impacts of household energy in Pakistan

authors: Irfan, Muhammad

subjects: Household Energy

abstract: Globally, almost four million people die prematurely annually due to indoor air pollution (IAP), and millions are facing serious diseases. These adverse health impacts place a great burden on national health budgets, increase medical expenditures, and reduce the overall productivity of the economy. Worryingly, almost three billion people still depend upon solid fuels such as firewood, biomass, crop residues, animal dung, and coal, which are the major contributors to IAP. This thesis investigates the causal relationship between solid fuel consumption and both child mortality and life expectancy, the price and non-price determinants of solid fuel use (using Pakistan as a case study), and finally uses cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to evaluate alternative policies. Specifically, the thesis includes four empirical studies related to solid fuel use and IAP.
In the first study, panel data covering 101 countries over the period 2000-2012 were used to examine the causal impacts of solid fuel use on health outcomes. Utilizing an instrumental variables approach, it was concluded that solid fuel combustion causes increases in child mortality and decreases in male and female life expectancy. 
The second study investigated the factors associated with the selection of solid and cleaner fuels by households. Using data from the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2013-14, the study identified that agricultural occupation, large family size, and having cattle, were associated with solid fuel consumption. In contrast, higher income, higher education, and living in an urban area were factors associated with cleaner fuel consumption. However, the study concluded that income growth alone will not be sufficient to ensure that households switch to cleaner fuel use, particularly households in rural areas. Hence, the results challenge the practical aspects of countries moving along the Environmental Kuznets Curve, and suggest that in order to reduce IAP, direct policy intervention will be required.
The third study further explores household energy use by estimating the own and cross-price elasticities of household energy sources in Pakistan. For this, three PSLM data sets (2007-08, 2011-12, and 2013-14) were pooled and a Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System model was estimated. The study found that cleaner fuels (natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) were more price elastic than solid fuels, implying that lowering the prices of these cleaner fuels would lead many households to adopt them. In the final study, a CBA of several policy options for encouraging reductions in solid fuel use was undertaken. The study evaluated five major policy options: (1) natural gas; (2) LPG; (3) electric stoves; (4) biogas plants; and (5) improved cook stoves. The World Health Organization’s guidelines for CBA were followed and it was found that encouraging LPG adoption has the highest benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 3.68, while improved cook stoves had a BCR of 0.58. Encouraging natural gas adoption, electric stoves, and biogas plants have BCRs of 2.87, 2.22, and 1.39 respectively. The study concluded that, in order to mitigate the negative impacts of IAP, Pakistan should encourage cleaner energy sources in preference to adoption of alternative cooking appliances.

text: The demand, selection, and health impacts of household energy in Pakistan Globally, almost four million people die prematurely annually due to indoor air pollution (IAP), and millions are facing serious diseases. These adverse health impacts place a great burden on national health budgets, increase medical expenditures, and reduce the overall productivity of the economy. Worryingly, almost three billion people still depend upon solid fuels such as firewood, biomass, crop residues, animal dung, and coal, which are the major contributors to IAP. This thesis investigates the causal relationship between solid fuel consumption and both child mortality and life expectancy, the price and non-price determinants of solid fuel use (using Pakistan as a case study), and finally uses cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to evaluate alternative policies. Specifically, the thesis includes four empirical studies related to solid fuel use and IAP.
In the first study, panel data covering 101 countries over the period 2000-2012 were used to examine the causal impacts of solid fuel use on health outcomes. Utilizing an instrumental variables approach, it was concluded that solid fuel combustion causes increases in child mortality and decreases in male and female life expectancy. 
The second study investigated the factors associated with the selection of solid and cleaner fuels by households. Using data from the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2013-14, the study identified that agricultural occupation, large family size, and having cattle, were associated with solid fuel consumption. In contrast, higher income, higher education, and living in an urban area were factors associated with cleaner fuel consumption. However, the study concluded that income growth alone will not be sufficient to ensure that households switch to cleaner fuel use, particularly households in rural areas. Hence, the results challenge the practical aspects of countries moving along the Environmental Kuznets Curve, and suggest that in order to reduce IAP, direct policy intervention will be required.
The third study further explores household energy use by estimating the own and cross-price elasticities of household energy sources in Pakistan. For this, three PSLM data sets (2007-08, 2011-12, and 2013-14) were pooled and a Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System model was estimated. The study found that cleaner fuels (natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) were more price elastic than solid fuels, implying that lowering the prices of these cleaner fuels would lead many households to adopt them. In the final study, a CBA of several policy options for encouraging reductions in solid fuel use was undertaken. The study evaluated five major policy options: (1) natural gas; (2) LPG; (3) electric stoves; (4) biogas plants; and (5) improved cook stoves. The World Health Organization’s guidelines for CBA were followed and it was found that encouraging LPG adoption has the highest benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 3.68, while improved cook stoves had a BCR of 0.58. Encouraging natural gas adoption, electric stoves, and biogas plants have BCRs of 2.87, 2.22, and 1.39 respectively. The study concluded that, in order to mitigate the negative impacts of IAP, Pakistan should encourage cleaner energy sources in preference to adoption of alternative cooking appliances.

year: 2019

title: Young Maori males experiences in a secondary school context as sporting, academic and cultural identities.

authors: Porteous, Erin

subjects: Male Maori

abstract: This research focused on the journey of male Māori through secondary school and the effect on their identities in terms of sport, culture and academia. The two key areas of focus were how the culture of the school, including cultural stereotypes, impacts on male Māori learner self-concept, and whether the effect of creating an all Māori boys form class has resulted in an increased sense of belonging and engagement. 
The research was conducted as a case study underpinned by an interpretive methodology, using a focus group interview. The group was made up of five boys, chosen from a newly formed all boys’ Year 11 Māori form class. The boys were selected in conjunction with their form teacher and the schools Kaitiaki, in order to reflect a range of sporting, academic and cultural levels. 
The research findings found that although the boys view of their experiences in school seemed positive overall, they described common incidences and reactions to racial discrimination. The exposure to embedded racial stereotypes and behaviours caused them to create their own solutions, often through threatening violence or aggressive reactions. It appears that when young male Māori are more closely connected to Māori culture, they are more likely they are to create these responses. 
Teachers remain integral to the engagement and belonging of a young male Māori in secondary school. In support of the findings from Kia Eke Panuku (2013), this study found that male Māori require positive relationships with their teachers to engage in the subject and school in a general sense. Relationships based on ako and manaakitanga are key to these students viewing their experiences in school as successful.
Another finding showed the importance of sport and physical activity to young male Māori, though success in this area has been a limiting factor in contributing to overall success in secondary school. The placing of male Māori as a ‘physical being’ (Hokowhitu, 2003a; Hokowhitu, 2003b; Hokowhitu, 2004) creates spaces where Māori can be successful, such as practical based subjects like physical education. This success is perceived as acceptable yet often isolates them away from success in other areas (Erueti & Palmer, 2014), feeding into the stereotype itself.
The success of the all boys’ Māori form class was scrutinised by this study, and found the intended outcomes had not necessarily been met. The overall impact was that the boys had been grouped with a Māori form teacher and the intentions of additional support had been overlooked due to time pressures and deficit thinking in terms of capabilities of the class members.  For the Māori boys in this study, the challenges of overcome historical cultural stereotypes added to the challenge of succeeding at secondary school. The expectation that they walk successfully between the realms of Māori and pākehā to achieve in the current education system coupled with the feeling they needed to act ‘pākehā’ in order to achieve is particularly disturbing. The inequity for them in denying part of their identity seems a hefty price to pay for educational success.
This study highlights the need for schools, communities and individual teachers to recognise these racial and systemic inequities and work tirelessly to develop strategies to eliminate them, in order to create to take a giant step towards equity for all New Zealanders within education.

text: Young Maori males experiences in a secondary school context as sporting, academic and cultural identities. This research focused on the journey of male Māori through secondary school and the effect on their identities in terms of sport, culture and academia. The two key areas of focus were how the culture of the school, including cultural stereotypes, impacts on male Māori learner self-concept, and whether the effect of creating an all Māori boys form class has resulted in an increased sense of belonging and engagement. 
The research was conducted as a case study underpinned by an interpretive methodology, using a focus group interview. The group was made up of five boys, chosen from a newly formed all boys’ Year 11 Māori form class. The boys were selected in conjunction with their form teacher and the schools Kaitiaki, in order to reflect a range of sporting, academic and cultural levels. 
The research findings found that although the boys view of their experiences in school seemed positive overall, they described common incidences and reactions to racial discrimination. The exposure to embedded racial stereotypes and behaviours caused them to create their own solutions, often through threatening violence or aggressive reactions. It appears that when young male Māori are more closely connected to Māori culture, they are more likely they are to create these responses. 
Teachers remain integral to the engagement and belonging of a young male Māori in secondary school. In support of the findings from Kia Eke Panuku (2013), this study found that male Māori require positive relationships with their teachers to engage in the subject and school in a general sense. Relationships based on ako and manaakitanga are key to these students viewing their experiences in school as successful.
Another finding showed the importance of sport and physical activity to young male Māori, though success in this area has been a limiting factor in contributing to overall success in secondary school. The placing of male Māori as a ‘physical being’ (Hokowhitu, 2003a; Hokowhitu, 2003b; Hokowhitu, 2004) creates spaces where Māori can be successful, such as practical based subjects like physical education. This success is perceived as acceptable yet often isolates them away from success in other areas (Erueti & Palmer, 2014), feeding into the stereotype itself.
The success of the all boys’ Māori form class was scrutinised by this study, and found the intended outcomes had not necessarily been met. The overall impact was that the boys had been grouped with a Māori form teacher and the intentions of additional support had been overlooked due to time pressures and deficit thinking in terms of capabilities of the class members.  For the Māori boys in this study, the challenges of overcome historical cultural stereotypes added to the challenge of succeeding at secondary school. The expectation that they walk successfully between the realms of Māori and pākehā to achieve in the current education system coupled with the feeling they needed to act ‘pākehā’ in order to achieve is particularly disturbing. The inequity for them in denying part of their identity seems a hefty price to pay for educational success.
This study highlights the need for schools, communities and individual teachers to recognise these racial and systemic inequities and work tirelessly to develop strategies to eliminate them, in order to create to take a giant step towards equity for all New Zealanders within education.

year: 2016