title: The energy cultures framework: Exploring the role of norms, practices and material culture in shaping energy behaviour in New Zealand

authors: Stephenson, Janet

subjects: Energy behaviour

abstract: The energy cultures framework was developed in 2009 to support interdisciplinary investigation into energy behaviour in New Zealand. In this paper, we discuss the framework in light of 5 years of empirical application and conceptual development. The concept of culture is helpful in seeking to better understand energy behaviour because it conveys how behaviours are embedded within the physical and social contexts of everyday life, and how they are both repetitive and heterogeneous. The framework suggests that the energy culture of a given subject (e.g. an individual, a household, a business, a sector) can be studied by examining the interrelationships between their norms, practices and material culture, and how these, in turn, are shaped by external influences. We discuss the key theoretical influences of the framework, and how the core concepts of the framework have evolved as we have applied them in different research situations. We then illustrate how we have applied the framework to a range of topics and sectors, and how it has been used to support interdisciplinary research, in identifying clusters of energy cultures, in examining energy cultures at different scales and in different sectors, and to inform policy development.

text: The energy cultures framework: Exploring the role of norms, practices and material culture in shaping energy behaviour in New Zealand The energy cultures framework was developed in 2009 to support interdisciplinary investigation into energy behaviour in New Zealand. In this paper, we discuss the framework in light of 5 years of empirical application and conceptual development. The concept of culture is helpful in seeking to better understand energy behaviour because it conveys how behaviours are embedded within the physical and social contexts of everyday life, and how they are both repetitive and heterogeneous. The framework suggests that the energy culture of a given subject (e.g. an individual, a household, a business, a sector) can be studied by examining the interrelationships between their norms, practices and material culture, and how these, in turn, are shaped by external influences. We discuss the key theoretical influences of the framework, and how the core concepts of the framework have evolved as we have applied them in different research situations. We then illustrate how we have applied the framework to a range of topics and sectors, and how it has been used to support interdisciplinary research, in identifying clusters of energy cultures, in examining energy cultures at different scales and in different sectors, and to inform policy development.

year: 2015

title: Interaction of polar and tropical influences in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere during the Mi-1 deglaciation

authors: Fox, Beth R.S.

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: It is well-known from geologic archives that Pleistocene and Holocene climate is characterised by cyclical variation on a wide range of timescales, and that these cycles of variation interact in complex ways. However, it is rarely possible to reconstruct sub-precessional (< 20 kyr) climate variations for periods predating the oldest ice-core records (c. 800 ka). Here we present an investigation of orbital to potentially sub-precessional cyclicity from an annually resolved lake sediment core dated to a 100-kyr period in the earliest Miocene (23.03–22.93 Ma) and spanning a period of major Antarctic deglaciation associated with the second half of the Mi-1 event. Principal component analysis (PCA) of sediment bulk density, magnetic susceptibility (MS), and CIELAB L* and b* with a resolution of ~10 years indicates two major environmental processes governing the physical properties records, which we interpret as changes in wind strength and changes in precipitation. Spectral analysis of the principal components indicates that both processes are strongly influenced by obliquity (41 kyr). We interpret this 41-kyr cycle in wind strength and precipitation as related to the changing position and strength of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. Precipitation is also influenced by an 11-kyr cycle. The 11-kyr periodicity is potentially related to orbital cyclicity, representing the equatorial semi-precessional maximum insolation cycle. This semi-precession cycle has been identified in a number of records from the Pleistocene and Holocene and has recently been suggested to indicate that insolation in low-latitude regions may be an important driver of millennial-scale climate response to orbital forcing (Feretti et al., 2015). This is the first time this cycle has been identified in a mid-latitude Southern Hemisphere climate archive, as well as the first identification in pre-Pleistocene records. The 11-kyr cycle appears at around 23.01 Ma, which coincides with the initiation of a major phase of Antarctic deglaciation, and strengthens during the subsequent period of rapid ice decay. This pattern suggests that the westerly winds may have expanded north of 50°S at the height of Mi-1, excluding tropical influence from the Foulden Maar site, and subsequently contracted polewards in tandem with warming deep-sea temperatures and Antarctic deglaciation, allowing the advection of tropical waters further south.

text: Interaction of polar and tropical influences in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere during the Mi-1 deglaciation It is well-known from geologic archives that Pleistocene and Holocene climate is characterised by cyclical variation on a wide range of timescales, and that these cycles of variation interact in complex ways. However, it is rarely possible to reconstruct sub-precessional (< 20 kyr) climate variations for periods predating the oldest ice-core records (c. 800 ka). Here we present an investigation of orbital to potentially sub-precessional cyclicity from an annually resolved lake sediment core dated to a 100-kyr period in the earliest Miocene (23.03–22.93 Ma) and spanning a period of major Antarctic deglaciation associated with the second half of the Mi-1 event. Principal component analysis (PCA) of sediment bulk density, magnetic susceptibility (MS), and CIELAB L* and b* with a resolution of ~10 years indicates two major environmental processes governing the physical properties records, which we interpret as changes in wind strength and changes in precipitation. Spectral analysis of the principal components indicates that both processes are strongly influenced by obliquity (41 kyr). We interpret this 41-kyr cycle in wind strength and precipitation as related to the changing position and strength of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. Precipitation is also influenced by an 11-kyr cycle. The 11-kyr periodicity is potentially related to orbital cyclicity, representing the equatorial semi-precessional maximum insolation cycle. This semi-precession cycle has been identified in a number of records from the Pleistocene and Holocene and has recently been suggested to indicate that insolation in low-latitude regions may be an important driver of millennial-scale climate response to orbital forcing (Feretti et al., 2015). This is the first time this cycle has been identified in a mid-latitude Southern Hemisphere climate archive, as well as the first identification in pre-Pleistocene records. The 11-kyr cycle appears at around 23.01 Ma, which coincides with the initiation of a major phase of Antarctic deglaciation, and strengthens during the subsequent period of rapid ice decay. This pattern suggests that the westerly winds may have expanded north of 50°S at the height of Mi-1, excluding tropical influence from the Foulden Maar site, and subsequently contracted polewards in tandem with warming deep-sea temperatures and Antarctic deglaciation, allowing the advection of tropical waters further south.

year: 2017

title: Rising demand for health care: The sustainability of community general practice in the Waikato

authors: Amey, Janet Heather

subjects: General practice

abstract: Community general practice is the cornerstone of New Zealand’s health system, providing first contact health care, care coordination and acting as gatekeeper to expensive hospital services. An ageing population now brings increasing demand for the care provided in general practice, with chronic conditions a major contributing factor. This rising demand, alongside limited workforce capacity will seriously test general practice sustainability. 

These evolving and multifaceted challenges are within the context of long-standing health access and outcome inequalities, particularly for Māori (and more recently the Pacific population) compared with Pākehā. The pursuit of equity is inherent in all health sector strategies, but any meaningful improvement will necessitate wide-ranging reform of current planning, funding and service delivery pathways across traditional sector boundaries.

The sustainability of general practice is about the sustainability and efficiency of the entire health system. To better measure the contribution of general practice care to the system, and improve demand projections, an expanded service use measure was developed, combining services of a general practice nature from Emergency Department and Accident & Medical settings with services delivered in community general practice.

Drawing on approaches from demography, epidemiology and health services research, linked demographic and health administrative data were used to undertake a retrospective, observational study of service use for 235,666 people enrolled with the Pinnacle Midlands Health Network in 2013/14. Using the new expanded measure, service use levels at a locality level were established by age, gender, ethnic group, chronic condition status, practice funding model, high needs status, income and geography of residence.

Significant variation was found in annual average consults (1.0 to 13.4 consults in 2013/14). Statistical analysis identified age, chronic conditions and gender as the key demand drivers responsible for such variation, with regional level results masking significant spatial variation. Where the cost of care was lower, people used a higher level of services in the enrolled practice setting and a lower level outside of it, suggesting the importance of affordable care. Māori and Pacific used significantly fewer services than Pākehā although there was substantial sub-regional variation. Using the expanded measure, the vast majority of care was delivered in the enrolled setting, including for those with chronic conditions.

Demand projections, based on the expanded measure of general practice, out to 2038 show the uneven geography of future demand due to disordered cohort flows and sub-regional population contexts. Overall, demand for services is projected to rise by 34 per cent to almost two million consults across the Waikato District Health Board catchment, with this driven predominantly by services for those aged 65+ years (or 45+ years in Hamilton City, Waikato and Waipa Districts).

Models of care are being transformed as general practices and Primary Health Organisations look to the future. Reorganisation of work roles, improved use of health information and use of emerging health technologies will be required to re-configure general practice in preparation for an ageing future, and to eliminate recalcitrant health inequalities. Real and inclusive collaboration across traditional system boundaries is perhaps the greatest challenge to general practice sustainability.

text: Rising demand for health care: The sustainability of community general practice in the Waikato Community general practice is the cornerstone of New Zealand’s health system, providing first contact health care, care coordination and acting as gatekeeper to expensive hospital services. An ageing population now brings increasing demand for the care provided in general practice, with chronic conditions a major contributing factor. This rising demand, alongside limited workforce capacity will seriously test general practice sustainability. 

These evolving and multifaceted challenges are within the context of long-standing health access and outcome inequalities, particularly for Māori (and more recently the Pacific population) compared with Pākehā. The pursuit of equity is inherent in all health sector strategies, but any meaningful improvement will necessitate wide-ranging reform of current planning, funding and service delivery pathways across traditional sector boundaries.

The sustainability of general practice is about the sustainability and efficiency of the entire health system. To better measure the contribution of general practice care to the system, and improve demand projections, an expanded service use measure was developed, combining services of a general practice nature from Emergency Department and Accident & Medical settings with services delivered in community general practice.

Drawing on approaches from demography, epidemiology and health services research, linked demographic and health administrative data were used to undertake a retrospective, observational study of service use for 235,666 people enrolled with the Pinnacle Midlands Health Network in 2013/14. Using the new expanded measure, service use levels at a locality level were established by age, gender, ethnic group, chronic condition status, practice funding model, high needs status, income and geography of residence.

Significant variation was found in annual average consults (1.0 to 13.4 consults in 2013/14). Statistical analysis identified age, chronic conditions and gender as the key demand drivers responsible for such variation, with regional level results masking significant spatial variation. Where the cost of care was lower, people used a higher level of services in the enrolled practice setting and a lower level outside of it, suggesting the importance of affordable care. Māori and Pacific used significantly fewer services than Pākehā although there was substantial sub-regional variation. Using the expanded measure, the vast majority of care was delivered in the enrolled setting, including for those with chronic conditions.

Demand projections, based on the expanded measure of general practice, out to 2038 show the uneven geography of future demand due to disordered cohort flows and sub-regional population contexts. Overall, demand for services is projected to rise by 34 per cent to almost two million consults across the Waikato District Health Board catchment, with this driven predominantly by services for those aged 65+ years (or 45+ years in Hamilton City, Waikato and Waipa Districts).

Models of care are being transformed as general practices and Primary Health Organisations look to the future. Reorganisation of work roles, improved use of health information and use of emerging health technologies will be required to re-configure general practice in preparation for an ageing future, and to eliminate recalcitrant health inequalities. Real and inclusive collaboration across traditional system boundaries is perhaps the greatest challenge to general practice sustainability.

year: 2018