Peatland conservation in Buchan,north‐east Scotland: The historic context and contemporary issues

Scottish peatlands are now recognised as important habitats for conservation, and are increasingly protected by both national and international designations. This paper examines peatland conservation in north‐east Scotland, using recently published data to assess habitat quality, and relating this to longer‐term historical trends in attitudes towards peatlands, and their utilisation. The historical data indicates that peatland losses in northeast Scotland have been extensive, and occurred rapidly during the 18th and 19th centuries, when peatlands were regarded as fuel sources, or wastelands which could be converted to agricultural use. Threats have lessened in the second half of the 20th century, and many sites are now protected by conservation designations. However, historical attitudes towards peatlands often persist, and this can pose problems which must be addressed if conservation management is to be successful.     

Cartographies of the Colonial/Capitalist State: A Geopolitics of Indigenous Self-Determination in Australia

'Indigenous self-determination' is a multivalent term that has come to represent various meanings in different political and cultural contexts. Indigenous peoples' strategies for self-determination have become increasingly prominent in the domestic polities of many 'first-world' nations, and in the sphere of international law and human rights. These strategies have challenged the cartography of the nation-state with competing claims to land ownership, sovereignty, and self-governance. In Australia, indigenous strategies for self-determination are diverse and holistic and revolve around issues including land rights, law, environmental management, and control over service provision. These are evident in a variety of both 'elite' and 'popular' geopolitical texts. Meanwhile, Australian governments have created new structures that have attempted to encapsulate meanings of 'self-determination,' allowing some indigenous decision-making control, whilst entrenching the nation-state's ultimate hegemony over land. The geopolitics of indigenous strategies for self-determination, and tensions concerning the meaning of the term, are examined, revealing some ways in which discursive trends and material structures interact in locally produced relations of power.     

Papier oder Online?

Am Beispiel einer touristischen Image- bzw. Marktuntersuchung besch?ftigt sich der vorliegende Aufsatz mit den M?glichkeiten zur internet-basierten Datenerhebung im Rahmen empirischer Forschungsprojekte. Die Ergebnisse einer auf einer Zufallsauswahl basierenden schriftlichen Befragung mit Postversand und einer Befragung im Internet werden hierzu miteinander verglichen und ihre Eignung für die gew?hlte Zielsetzung bewertet. Die Darstellung erfolgt anhand des konkreten Fallbeispiels des Projektes „Stuttgart Regio: Touristische Infrastruktur- und Marketing-Analyse.”