Media Representation of Forestry and Soil Issues in the Australian Urban Press, 1990–1991

Newspaper content analysis is used to identify the relative priorities given to forestry and soil degradation in four ‘quality’ Australian newspapers; The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Financial Review and The Melbourne Age, from September 1990 to August 1991. The difference in priorities given to deforestation and soil degradation is discussed as an outcome from the process of news production. News production is argued to be the outcome of a socialisation process in which journalists learn from their employing organisation what items are regarded as newsworthy material as well as their relative priorities.     

基于机器学习和图像形态学的彩色近代地图数字化——以近代上海地区地表水体信息提取为例

利用科学测绘技术绘制的近代地图作为一类珍贵的历史地理资料,不同程度上反映着过去的地表覆盖情况,数字化则是复原地图所载地表覆盖信息的重要途径。以《华东·上海》地图为例,实现并验证一种基于机器学习和图像形态学的彩色近代地图数字化方法。结果表明,该方法能够充分挖掘地图中的颜色信息和形态结构信息,以半自动方式快速准确地将彩色近代地图中的地表水体信息提取出来。该方法对数字化一类彩色近代地图具有参考价值,有望为精准复原近代以来地表覆盖变迁,深入理解人地关系变化提供数据和方法基础。     

The Topographic and Soil Maps of the United States

A comparison of United States topographic maps with the actual terrain shows a disregard of geographical differences in the use of vegetation symbols, contour lines and population centers. This is attributed to the fact that topographic technicians lack a geographic background. The county soil surveys of the United States evoke a great deal of admiration and praise, but the lack of a uniform soil classification enabling the compilation of generalized soil maps is deplored.     

The Making of an Australian Technoburb

North Ryde in Sydney provides an instructive case study of the emergence in little over a generation of a new suburban activity centre on a greenfield site. While its image is that of a siliconised ‘technopole’, the real significance lies in the evolution of the wider locality into some-thing more akin perhaps to an American ‘edge city’. The notion of the ‘technoburb’ seems the most apposite. The evolution of North Ryde is seen as exemplifying the restructuring of metropolitan areas into multi-nucleated regions, the strategic role of the state in setting certain ground rules for development, the rise of the information economy, the impact of globalisation of economic activity, the dependent nature of the Australian economy, and the gap that can exist between image and reality in an Australian suburban ‘hi tech’ environment.     

The Value of an Ocean View: an Example of Hedonic Property Amenity Valuation

This paper presents a method of quantifying variation in quality in an amenity as a component of an hedonic property amenity valuation. The paper considers the residential land amenity of an ocean view, a situation where there is typically substantial variation in the quality of the view between sites. The method is effectively a scoring system based on three sub-characteristics of the ocean view. It is illustrated by application to a coastal housing subdivision in Western Australia. The results provide an estimate of the increase in the sale price of a site attributable to the quality of the site’s ocean view. The method has a potential role in coastal land use management decisions.     

The national security implications of solar geoengineering: an Australian perspective

ABSTRACT

Given current emissions trends an increase in global temperatures in excess of 2°C is highly likely in the coming century. In this context, it seems increasingly probable that states may consider solar geoengineering as a stop-gap climate response. Solar geoengineering refers to measures that aim to alleviate some measure of global warming by intentionally increasing the amount of the sun’s energy that is reflected into space. Currently the two most discussed solar geoengineering techniques involve either marine cloud brightening or dispersing aerosols in the stratosphere. These techniques could be relatively inexpensive, are within the technological capacities (after a brief period of development) of technologically-advanced countries, and could have an almost immediate impact on temperatures. Yet, while solar geoengineering might potentially be utilised to manage some climate-linked security threats, it itself would create new security challenges. Consequently, this paper explores potential international security implications for Australia if a regional state, or group of states, initiates a solar geoengineering program. We conclude that since solar geoengineering is unlikely to become a first-order international issue, disputation over solar geoengineering will likely reflect, or act as a proxy for, wider patterns of state interaction. However, scenarios in which China and the United States take different positions, or in which there are divisions among regional powers, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Singapore would pose the greatest threat to Australia’s national security.     

省级多维减贫经验:以青海省为例

多维减贫是指"以减少贫困人口为基础,缓解贫困问题的恶性发展及贫困问题的衍生影响,针对贫困的多个维度,如收入贫困、人类贫困、信息贫困及生态贫困等形成测定和监控系统,进行综合性防治,促进人类生存发展与自由。"本文以青海省为例,在省级层面对多维减贫进行必要性及可能性的分析,并在总结经验的基础上得出了指导实践的相对成熟的减贫新思想。     

表象与本体——安克斯密特的历史表现理论

安克斯密特的历史表现理论与叙事实体理论一脉相承,都是历史学家构建的某种叙事性解释。历史表现理论认为,历史文本是对过去实在的一种模仿,是人们认识过去的一个途径。但在认识过去的过程中,由于手段逐渐成为目的,历史表象与历史本体的边界便模糊了。为了避免历史本体的消解,历史表现理论要求历史表现既要与历史本体相似,又要与之保持距离,这就使之陷入两难境地。安克斯密特认为,历史表现继承了叙事实体的整体性和实体性,是客观世界的真实存在,他强调表现与被表现者在本体论上的地位是相等的,甚至本体的存在和对于本体的认识均有赖于其表象。这超出了人们惯常接受的认识论范围,使历史研究者不必再为恢复历史的原有面貌而煞费苦心。     

Australian trade policy in an age of globalisation

Arguably, the world trading system has entered a period of greater change and uncertainty in the past two years than at any time since the end of the Cold War. At the same time, Australia faces a range of internal and external challenges to its trade policy, while having lost many of the old 'certainties' guiding its trade agenda. This article identifies four major challenges confronting Australian trade policy now and into the future: the EU agenda to inject self-serving 'governance' mechanisms into the WTO; rises in the demands and influence of developing countries within the WTO; the new trend towards bilateral free trade areas; and increasing opposition to globalisation by groups within society. It assesses the capacity of Australia's trade bureaucracy to manage these issues, warning against expecting too much of the trade policy agenda, particularly in relation to the role it plays within domestic politics in Australia.     

Two Models of Residential Conservation: communal life in an Australian box-ironbark forest

Grassroots community organisations offer simple ways of maintaining natural heritage values. Given the degradation of landscapes supporting fauna in many parts of the world, such organisations promise direct benefits for local communities and ecological biodiversity. Also, global warming, resulting in part from the removal of forest, will abate with the restoration of trees. The Bend of Islands (Victoria, Australia) boasts two organisations dedicated to the communal conservation of a landscape of remnant box-ironbark (eucalypt) forest. This woodland heritage is managed by residents to preserve its ecological values.The Round the Bend Conservation Co-operative (RBCC) is a land settlement co-operative. Members are committed to maintaining the local bushland in as natural a state as possible using minimal-impact environmental practices. The Bend of Islands Conservation Association (BICA) was established several years after the co-operative, but with the same environmental purpose. It covers a broader area, incorporating over 130 private land titles. This article describes the history and practices of RBCC and BICA and indicates their potential as models for the development of conservation principles and practices by other communities in similar landscapes.     

Constitutional recognition and reform: developing an inclusive Australian citizenship through treaty

Eight years after the Expert Panel on Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Australian Constitution was established, institutional reform to empower Indigenous peoples in this country has not been realised. This article argues that the persistent failure to progress constitutional reform stems, in part, from dominant conceptions of Australian citizenship that deny Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoplehood. It follows that meaningful institutional reform is possible only if Australian citizenship is reconceptualised in a manner that makes room for the distinctive status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Treaties offer a path forward to develop this new understanding of Australian identity and ground institutional reform.     

Unwrapping the Parcel: an Examination of Culture Through Italian Australian Home Ownership

Critics of multiculturalism have revealed the limiting notion of culture within Australia's multicultural policy. Culture is not transported, but is constantly in process. Culture is (re)developed in the process of migration and settlement, and it is structured by broader economic and political forces. An examination of Italian Australian migrant experiences of family homes in Italy, and accommodation on arrival, shows what such a culture looks like and adds to explanations for Italian Australian rates of ownership.     

Creating Ecologically Based Land Use and Habitat Maps Quickly and Cheaply to Support Conservation Planning at Local Scales: A New Zealand Example

Effective planning to support and enhance ecological values in sites of conservation interest requires accurate, comprehensive and detailed ecologically based maps and data, not only for the conservation site but for the wider landscape in which such sites are situated. In this paper we present an efficient and low cost method for combining appropriate technologies and available data to produce such maps at a landscape level. This method is described and evaluated using a case study of a land use and habitat map, with an associated geographic information system (GIS). The map was created for the district of Dunedin, New Zealand, an area of approximately 3340 km². This paper demonstrates how the map can be adapted for use by small, locally based conservation organisations that typically do not have the resources to obtain detailed, consistent and comprehensive spatial data for the areas they manage. The example of Orokonui Ecosanctuary is used to illustrate the potential applications of the map including mapping assets and habitats within a site and for exploring the relationship between the Ecosanctuary's internal and external habitats. External habitats can form a vital habitat network for many of the endangered species being reintroduced into the Ecosanctuary as well as a source of threats through potential reinvasion by pests and land use change. Though the mapping method presented in this paper is not necessarily new, it demonstrates the potential for utilising advances in mapping techniques and available data sets to offer a pragmatic support mechanism of practical value for small conservation organisations.     

Shadows on the landscape: an inquiry into the value of some Australian places

In 1922, Australian places connected with a solar eclipse were of world‐historical significance as they were associated with empirical confirmation of Einstein's general theory of relativity. They also formed a major part of Australian national consciousness, although they have since reverted to lost geographies. An exploration of Australian reception of eclipse science leads to questions of official heritage construction and stereotypical national identity. An argument is presented for the importance of intangible heritage at national, communal, and individual levels. At the complex intersection between memory and identity, place value is investigated within wider social‐political formations with emphasis on participation across perceived boundaries of social class, gender, and ethnicity, including the valuable role of Aboriginal peoples.