title: The International Law Gaze: The ICSID Award in Philip Morris v Uruguay and the Near End of the “Aesthetic Experience”.

authors: Alvarez-Jimenez, Alberto

abstract: It was the large economic value of tobacco’s “aesthetic experience” that Philip Morris (PM) sought to preserve in its litigation against Uruguay before an international tribunal operating under the jurisdiction of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). There, PM claimed that Uruguay was in violation of the Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay on the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments, dated October 7, 1988 (the BIT). The reason? Uruguay’s decision to enact tobacco control measures, in particular, its single presentation requirement (SPR) prohibiting tobacco manufacturers from selling more than one variant of cigarette per brand family and the increase in the size of health warnings included on cigarette packets from 50% to 80% of the surface of the front and the back (80/80 Regulation). As a result, manufacturers had only 20% of the room on cigarette packs for trademarks, logos, and other information.

text: The International Law Gaze: The ICSID Award in Philip Morris v Uruguay and the Near End of the “Aesthetic Experience”. It was the large economic value of tobacco’s “aesthetic experience” that Philip Morris (PM) sought to preserve in its litigation against Uruguay before an international tribunal operating under the jurisdiction of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). There, PM claimed that Uruguay was in violation of the Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay on the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments, dated October 7, 1988 (the BIT). The reason? Uruguay’s decision to enact tobacco control measures, in particular, its single presentation requirement (SPR) prohibiting tobacco manufacturers from selling more than one variant of cigarette per brand family and the increase in the size of health warnings included on cigarette packets from 50% to 80% of the surface of the front and the back (80/80 Regulation). As a result, manufacturers had only 20% of the room on cigarette packs for trademarks, logos, and other information.

year: 2017

title: Re-designing Greenstone for Seniors

authors: Bennett, Erin Kay

subjects: Greenstone

abstract: The golden generation have a wealth of experience and knowledge from throughout
their lifetimes that younger generations wish to retain. In our technology filled world
an obvious means of collecting this information is electronically. Digital library col-
lections are increasingly used by libraries and large institutions to record their large
amounts of information but they can also be used for personal collections.
Seniors are often willing and keen to impart their years of experience upon people
of the younger generation but time is not always on their side as they grow older.
Throughout a lifetime a person could collect large amounts of papers, diaries, pho-
tos and media but the time it takes to organise these documents can be long and
exhausting and the person's health is not always at its best in old age.
Greenstone is a suite of software for creating digital libraries, which are organised
collections of documents. Greenstone has the ability to distribute collections either
using a server or CD-ROM, and provides advanced searching and organization tools.
While Greenstone is a versatile and useful tool in creating digital collections, its in-
terface is not designed for senior users. Seniors are commonly perceived to have
more physical and mental disadvantages as they get older. These disadvantages can
dramatically affect how usable seniors find a piece of software.
The aim of this thesis is to investigate how usable the current Greenstone interface
is for use by seniors and to re-design the interface so that Greenstone may be more
easily used by senior users. This thesis focuses upon what types of documents and
descriptive data seniors would like to include in a collection about their life. This is
to ascertain exactly what parts of the interface must be improved when it comes to
metadata and classifiers. The results of this investigation also helped in the creation
of a customised metadata set for senior users use.

text: Re-designing Greenstone for Seniors The golden generation have a wealth of experience and knowledge from throughout
their lifetimes that younger generations wish to retain. In our technology filled world
an obvious means of collecting this information is electronically. Digital library col-
lections are increasingly used by libraries and large institutions to record their large
amounts of information but they can also be used for personal collections.
Seniors are often willing and keen to impart their years of experience upon people
of the younger generation but time is not always on their side as they grow older.
Throughout a lifetime a person could collect large amounts of papers, diaries, pho-
tos and media but the time it takes to organise these documents can be long and
exhausting and the person's health is not always at its best in old age.
Greenstone is a suite of software for creating digital libraries, which are organised
collections of documents. Greenstone has the ability to distribute collections either
using a server or CD-ROM, and provides advanced searching and organization tools.
While Greenstone is a versatile and useful tool in creating digital collections, its in-
terface is not designed for senior users. Seniors are commonly perceived to have
more physical and mental disadvantages as they get older. These disadvantages can
dramatically affect how usable seniors find a piece of software.
The aim of this thesis is to investigate how usable the current Greenstone interface
is for use by seniors and to re-design the interface so that Greenstone may be more
easily used by senior users. This thesis focuses upon what types of documents and
descriptive data seniors would like to include in a collection about their life. This is
to ascertain exactly what parts of the interface must be improved when it comes to
metadata and classifiers. The results of this investigation also helped in the creation
of a customised metadata set for senior users use.

year: 2008

title: Monitoring te mana o te wai: Intergrating an indigenous cultural health index with conventional biomonitoring tools for improved freshwater management

authors: Edgecombe, Shana Jade Te Iaa Tarere

subjects: Freshwater

abstract: Globally, there are universal efforts to quantify and address human impacts on ecosystems. In particular, changes in land use and river regulation have led to drastic declines in stream and river ecosystem health. These human impacts are driving the global freshwater biodiversity crisis and degrade ecosystem services provided by aquatic habitats. In Aotearoa New Zealand there is widespread concern about the state of our Nation’s freshwater ecosystems. Coupled with a renaissance in Māori culture, there has been a drive to develop indicators that help articulate cultural values, assess ecosystem health from a cultural perspective, and provide greater agency for Māori in environmental monitoring and management. In my thesis, I sought to integrate an established cultural monitoring framework with conventional biomonitoring tools for improved freshwater management. I hypothesized that using a suite of monitoring approaches would help detect the impacts of human land use on stream ecosystem health, and that cultural indicators would be consistent with conventional measures in diagnosing land use impacts. I also hypothesized that there could be discrepancies between cultural monitoring and conventional approaches, as each represent different perspectives and ways of knowing streams and rivers. 
To test my hypotheses, I selected ten stream sites across the catchment of the Kuratau River, a major tributary of Lake Taupō. Based on River Environment Classification land cover types, I used a balanced study design with five sites draining indigenous forest, and five sites draining pastoral land. I measured key stream physicochemical properties and collected water samples for determination of nutrient concentration and faecal coliform counts. I also characterised instream and riparian habitat. I collected benthic macroinvertebrate samples and sampled water for environmental DNA (eDNA) to assess different facets of biodiversity. I measured decomposition using the Cotton Strip Assay and quantified periphyton biomass using a portable fluorometer. In combination with these approaches, I also used a Cultural Health Index, an established cultural monitoring framework that assesses three components: customary significance, taonga species/mahinga kai (food gathering), and the Cultural Stream Health Measure (CSHM) to assess identified attributes for stream health.
I found that pastoral land uses lead to a decline in stream ecosystem health when compared to sites draining indigenous forest. Pastoral sites had higher specific conductivity and concentrations of total nitrogen and nitrate. Habitat variables changed, with increased sedimentation and more degraded riparian zones in pastoral streams. Decomposition rates as measured by the cotton strip assay increased in the pasture sites, which was likely a response to increased nutrient availability. There were shifts in macroinvertebrate composition, with key indicator taxa for Indigenous forest sites including pollution-sensitive mayflies and stoneflies. Total taxa, EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera), and aquatic insect richness all significantly declined in pastoral sites. Increases in primary production were less pronounced, but did increase alongside abundances of grazing caddisflies and snails in the sites draining pastoral catchments. 
The Cultural Health Index indicated that sites in the Kuratau River catchment had customary and mahinga kai values. CSHM responded negatively to pastoral land uses, and the effect size it described was congruent with other responses. The CSHM was strongly correlated with an indicator of riparian habitat condition (the Riparian Condition Index) and had weak negative correlations with sedimentation and stream temperatures. The CSHM was not correlated with macroinvertebrate indices, which may have been because of the relatively few sites sampled, the narrow impact gradient in the Kuratau catchment, and the lack of temporal replication. However, cultural monitoring approaches should be seen to complement conventional environmental monitoring methods for assessing freshwater and not be expected to duplicate them. The strength of the Cultural Health Index approach comes from establishing Māori agency to assess the environment through a Te Ao Māori lens, and to support and foster inclusion for tangata whenua epistemologies in environmental monitoring and resource management. Future research should consider greater hapū involvement and further explore the mechanisms driving changes in stream health and biodiversity.

text: Monitoring te mana o te wai: Intergrating an indigenous cultural health index with conventional biomonitoring tools for improved freshwater management Globally, there are universal efforts to quantify and address human impacts on ecosystems. In particular, changes in land use and river regulation have led to drastic declines in stream and river ecosystem health. These human impacts are driving the global freshwater biodiversity crisis and degrade ecosystem services provided by aquatic habitats. In Aotearoa New Zealand there is widespread concern about the state of our Nation’s freshwater ecosystems. Coupled with a renaissance in Māori culture, there has been a drive to develop indicators that help articulate cultural values, assess ecosystem health from a cultural perspective, and provide greater agency for Māori in environmental monitoring and management. In my thesis, I sought to integrate an established cultural monitoring framework with conventional biomonitoring tools for improved freshwater management. I hypothesized that using a suite of monitoring approaches would help detect the impacts of human land use on stream ecosystem health, and that cultural indicators would be consistent with conventional measures in diagnosing land use impacts. I also hypothesized that there could be discrepancies between cultural monitoring and conventional approaches, as each represent different perspectives and ways of knowing streams and rivers. 
To test my hypotheses, I selected ten stream sites across the catchment of the Kuratau River, a major tributary of Lake Taupō. Based on River Environment Classification land cover types, I used a balanced study design with five sites draining indigenous forest, and five sites draining pastoral land. I measured key stream physicochemical properties and collected water samples for determination of nutrient concentration and faecal coliform counts. I also characterised instream and riparian habitat. I collected benthic macroinvertebrate samples and sampled water for environmental DNA (eDNA) to assess different facets of biodiversity. I measured decomposition using the Cotton Strip Assay and quantified periphyton biomass using a portable fluorometer. In combination with these approaches, I also used a Cultural Health Index, an established cultural monitoring framework that assesses three components: customary significance, taonga species/mahinga kai (food gathering), and the Cultural Stream Health Measure (CSHM) to assess identified attributes for stream health.
I found that pastoral land uses lead to a decline in stream ecosystem health when compared to sites draining indigenous forest. Pastoral sites had higher specific conductivity and concentrations of total nitrogen and nitrate. Habitat variables changed, with increased sedimentation and more degraded riparian zones in pastoral streams. Decomposition rates as measured by the cotton strip assay increased in the pasture sites, which was likely a response to increased nutrient availability. There were shifts in macroinvertebrate composition, with key indicator taxa for Indigenous forest sites including pollution-sensitive mayflies and stoneflies. Total taxa, EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera), and aquatic insect richness all significantly declined in pastoral sites. Increases in primary production were less pronounced, but did increase alongside abundances of grazing caddisflies and snails in the sites draining pastoral catchments. 
The Cultural Health Index indicated that sites in the Kuratau River catchment had customary and mahinga kai values. CSHM responded negatively to pastoral land uses, and the effect size it described was congruent with other responses. The CSHM was strongly correlated with an indicator of riparian habitat condition (the Riparian Condition Index) and had weak negative correlations with sedimentation and stream temperatures. The CSHM was not correlated with macroinvertebrate indices, which may have been because of the relatively few sites sampled, the narrow impact gradient in the Kuratau catchment, and the lack of temporal replication. However, cultural monitoring approaches should be seen to complement conventional environmental monitoring methods for assessing freshwater and not be expected to duplicate them. The strength of the Cultural Health Index approach comes from establishing Māori agency to assess the environment through a Te Ao Māori lens, and to support and foster inclusion for tangata whenua epistemologies in environmental monitoring and resource management. Future research should consider greater hapū involvement and further explore the mechanisms driving changes in stream health and biodiversity.

year: 2024