title: Planning paradise with the Cheshire Cat: Governance problems under the RMA

authors: Ericksen, Neil

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: Much has been made of compliance costs to business and the need to process consents hastily in relation to the Resource Management Act in New Zealand. This obsession with compliance misses the fundamental
problem of implementing the RMA — shortcomings in governance. This address will shed some light on this pervasive problem, first by
characterizing RMA within the theoretical range of national mandates, then dealing
in turn with governance issues at each level in the intergovernmental hierarchy of
partnerships established by RMA and LGA. It concludes with brief mention of long term
council community planning, because it too is at risk if governance is not
improved.

text: Planning paradise with the Cheshire Cat: Governance problems under the RMA Much has been made of compliance costs to business and the need to process consents hastily in relation to the Resource Management Act in New Zealand. This obsession with compliance misses the fundamental
problem of implementing the RMA — shortcomings in governance. This address will shed some light on this pervasive problem, first by
characterizing RMA within the theoretical range of national mandates, then dealing
in turn with governance issues at each level in the intergovernmental hierarchy of
partnerships established by RMA and LGA. It concludes with brief mention of long term
council community planning, because it too is at risk if governance is not
improved.

year: 2003-05-23

title: Carbon dynamics in restiad peatlands across different timescales

authors: Ratcliffe, Joshua Lee

subjects: bog

abstract: Peatlands contain one of the largest terrestrial carbon stores on the planet, and one which is known to interact with climate and global biogeochemical cycling of nutrients. Peatlands maintain their carbon primarily through a high and stable water table which restricts decomposition, and large amounts of carbon can be lost upon drying. However, peatlands are also characterised by non-linear responses to external forcing with a complex array of internal feedbacks which tend to dominate ecosystem response over long-timescales and may amplify or dampen external influences. This has made predicting the effects of environmental change, beyond a few years, highly challenging. Here we use CO₂ fluxes and down-core measurements of carbon accumulation to study the drivers of peatland carbon exchange across a wide range of timescales. First of all, we compare contemporary CO₂ fluxes at two raised bogs, one of which is extremely dry in an international context (Moanatuatua), with the summer water table drawdown approaching one metre, and another where the water table is high and stable (Kopuatai). We found that despite the low and fluctuating water table in the impacted bog the site remained a sink for CO₂ which is strong in an international context, but reduced compared to the wet bog. A key factor in the wet bog being able to maintain a net sink for CO₂ was the enhanced photosynthetic capacity compared to the wetter bog, especially in summer, which was able to partially compensate for enhanced ecosystem respiration. There was a clear difference in how the two sites responded to contemporaneous water table drawdown, which was consistent with differences seen across wet and dry bogs in the international literature. We found plant productivity to be restricted at the dry bog, at both wet and dry extremes, while at the wet bog water table lowering stimulated ecosystem respiration, with neither effect being consistent across both bogs.
To further investigate how the dry bog, Moanatuatua, has adapted to low water tables we re-analysed CO₂ flux data from 1999 and 2000, a period at least several years after the water table initially dropped, and we compared this flux to the present day (after a 16 year gap). Re-analysis of the older data showed that in 1999 and 2000 Moanatuatua was a moderate source for CO₂ with elevated ecosystem respiration and lower photosynthetic capacity compared to the present day. We attribute the change in photosynthetic capacity to the increased cover of the woody shrub Epacris Pauciflora, while a long term decline in ER would be consistent with changes in peat physical and chemical qualities as peat degrades making it further resistant to microbial decay.
In order to contextualise the CO₂ flux records and assess the drivers of carbon accumulation at the 50-100 year timescale we measured down-core C accumulation in unprecedented detail for a New Zealand bog, with supporting records available for fires, climate, eruptive events and plant species changes available from published and unpublished records at Moanatuatua. Contrary to our initial expectations, we found elevated C accumulation to be associated with at least three separate eruptive events, and possibly two others, with carbon accumulation rates increasing rapidly from a baseline typical of long-term accumulation rates, e.g. ~22 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ to one which is more typical of contemporary uptake, 80-140 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ . The complex eruptive history of the bog at this time makes it difficult to isolate any other effects, for instance climate.
Geochemical analysis of the peat suggests increased phosphorus inputs as a mechanism for rapid C accumulation, with the peat stoichiometry recording a shift towards phosphorus abundance relative to carbon and nitrogen. The eruptive events linked to elevated carbon accumulation rates are also known to contain phosphorus within the volcanic glass and the mineral apatite, both of which would be expected to weather and become biologically available due both to processes within the eruptive plume and within the bog post-deposition. As such we have found the restiad bogs studied to be highly resilient to water-table drawdown in the long-term but in contrast, the C sink is highly sensitive to phosphorus inputs.

text: Carbon dynamics in restiad peatlands across different timescales Peatlands contain one of the largest terrestrial carbon stores on the planet, and one which is known to interact with climate and global biogeochemical cycling of nutrients. Peatlands maintain their carbon primarily through a high and stable water table which restricts decomposition, and large amounts of carbon can be lost upon drying. However, peatlands are also characterised by non-linear responses to external forcing with a complex array of internal feedbacks which tend to dominate ecosystem response over long-timescales and may amplify or dampen external influences. This has made predicting the effects of environmental change, beyond a few years, highly challenging. Here we use CO₂ fluxes and down-core measurements of carbon accumulation to study the drivers of peatland carbon exchange across a wide range of timescales. First of all, we compare contemporary CO₂ fluxes at two raised bogs, one of which is extremely dry in an international context (Moanatuatua), with the summer water table drawdown approaching one metre, and another where the water table is high and stable (Kopuatai). We found that despite the low and fluctuating water table in the impacted bog the site remained a sink for CO₂ which is strong in an international context, but reduced compared to the wet bog. A key factor in the wet bog being able to maintain a net sink for CO₂ was the enhanced photosynthetic capacity compared to the wetter bog, especially in summer, which was able to partially compensate for enhanced ecosystem respiration. There was a clear difference in how the two sites responded to contemporaneous water table drawdown, which was consistent with differences seen across wet and dry bogs in the international literature. We found plant productivity to be restricted at the dry bog, at both wet and dry extremes, while at the wet bog water table lowering stimulated ecosystem respiration, with neither effect being consistent across both bogs.
To further investigate how the dry bog, Moanatuatua, has adapted to low water tables we re-analysed CO₂ flux data from 1999 and 2000, a period at least several years after the water table initially dropped, and we compared this flux to the present day (after a 16 year gap). Re-analysis of the older data showed that in 1999 and 2000 Moanatuatua was a moderate source for CO₂ with elevated ecosystem respiration and lower photosynthetic capacity compared to the present day. We attribute the change in photosynthetic capacity to the increased cover of the woody shrub Epacris Pauciflora, while a long term decline in ER would be consistent with changes in peat physical and chemical qualities as peat degrades making it further resistant to microbial decay.
In order to contextualise the CO₂ flux records and assess the drivers of carbon accumulation at the 50-100 year timescale we measured down-core C accumulation in unprecedented detail for a New Zealand bog, with supporting records available for fires, climate, eruptive events and plant species changes available from published and unpublished records at Moanatuatua. Contrary to our initial expectations, we found elevated C accumulation to be associated with at least three separate eruptive events, and possibly two others, with carbon accumulation rates increasing rapidly from a baseline typical of long-term accumulation rates, e.g. ~22 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ to one which is more typical of contemporary uptake, 80-140 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ . The complex eruptive history of the bog at this time makes it difficult to isolate any other effects, for instance climate.
Geochemical analysis of the peat suggests increased phosphorus inputs as a mechanism for rapid C accumulation, with the peat stoichiometry recording a shift towards phosphorus abundance relative to carbon and nitrogen. The eruptive events linked to elevated carbon accumulation rates are also known to contain phosphorus within the volcanic glass and the mineral apatite, both of which would be expected to weather and become biologically available due both to processes within the eruptive plume and within the bog post-deposition. As such we have found the restiad bogs studied to be highly resilient to water-table drawdown in the long-term but in contrast, the C sink is highly sensitive to phosphorus inputs.

year: 2020

title: Problem based learning and New Zealand legal education

authors: Mackinnon, Jacquelin

subjects: law

abstract: The literature (and e-literature) on Problem Based Learning in Law suggests that this approach has been adopted with enthusiasm by some lecturers in the United Kingdom, Europe and Hong Kong. This article will explore the adoption of PBL approaches through the literature in order to draw some conclusions about the nature of PBL approaches in law and their relationship with institutional approaches to legal education. Problem Based Learning approaches are not visible in New Zealand. The article discusses the reasons for PBL's invisibility and PBL's appropriateness in the New Zealand legal education context now and in the future of legal work. Part of the New Zealand context is the participation of the indigenous people in legal education and consideration is given to whether PBL can benefit Māori law students. 
It is suggested that PBL approaches to learning law promote: 
	Contextualisation
	Interdisciplinarity
	Integration of prior personal and/or professional knowledge
	Collaboration
	Enquiry skills
	Reflection and transition
	Self directed learning and self assessment
	Praxis.

Problem Based Learning requires and fosters reflexive participants, who are sufficiently conceptually literate to read and critique key aspects of the social order and to understand their own, and others' status and role in it. Reflexivity contributes to humanist as well as legal solutions to complex human problems. PBL approaches are consistent with legal education in an increasingly global employment market.

text: Problem based learning and New Zealand legal education The literature (and e-literature) on Problem Based Learning in Law suggests that this approach has been adopted with enthusiasm by some lecturers in the United Kingdom, Europe and Hong Kong. This article will explore the adoption of PBL approaches through the literature in order to draw some conclusions about the nature of PBL approaches in law and their relationship with institutional approaches to legal education. Problem Based Learning approaches are not visible in New Zealand. The article discusses the reasons for PBL's invisibility and PBL's appropriateness in the New Zealand legal education context now and in the future of legal work. Part of the New Zealand context is the participation of the indigenous people in legal education and consideration is given to whether PBL can benefit Māori law students. 
It is suggested that PBL approaches to learning law promote: 
	Contextualisation
	Interdisciplinarity
	Integration of prior personal and/or professional knowledge
	Collaboration
	Enquiry skills
	Reflection and transition
	Self directed learning and self assessment
	Praxis.

Problem Based Learning requires and fosters reflexive participants, who are sufficiently conceptually literate to read and critique key aspects of the social order and to understand their own, and others' status and role in it. Reflexivity contributes to humanist as well as legal solutions to complex human problems. PBL approaches are consistent with legal education in an increasingly global employment market.

year: 2006-06-01