Insights Regarding Transdisciplinarity and Knowledge Transfer Gained from Two Case Studies on Integrated Water Resources Management in Ukraine and Mongolia

Abstract

Transdisciplinary environmental research (TD research) seeks to solve problems arising at the point of interaction between ecological systems, the economy, and society. It seeks to enhance problem-solving capacity through interdisciplinarity and knowledge transfer between scientific and non-scientific actors. The article assesses how far the prerequisites for knowledge transfer are met in transdisciplinary projects on integrated water resources management (IWRM), particularly in post-socialist transition countries. It examines two relevant case studies, in Ukraine and Mongolia, which share a similar institutional and cultural background, and use some of the same methods closely related to knowledge transfer. It is shown that, in each case, knowledge transfer was achieved more or less effectively in both directions — from science to society and vice versa, despite the additional obstacles posed by a common post-socialist legacy. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations for designing and implementing similar TD research projects in the field of IWRM.     

Organisational Capacity for Engaging with Indigenous Australians

Community capacity building is a common goal for programmes and policies involving Indigenous peoples, but it relies heavily on organisational capacity to work effectively in intercultural settings. This paper reviews the organisational capacity of the senior leaders of Australian Red Cross and institutional efforts to build a culturally appropriate and respectful organisation. It reports results from a survey of the organisation's leadership team and follow‐up interviews undertaken in 2010, reviews the challenges facing the organisation in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and considers institutional progress in building internal capacity to lead change in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The paper concludes with discussion of wider implications of this research.     

The Two Social Philosophies of Ostroms' Institutionalism

The article argues that Ostroms' institutionalism has a dimension that is complex and profound enough to deserve to be considered a “social theory” or a “social philosophy.” The article pivots around the thesis that the “social philosophy” behind the Bloomington School's research agenda has in fact two facets that may or may not be consistent with each other. The article describes the main features of the two facets, offers a brief overview of the development of these ideas, and clarifies their relationship to Public Choice theory and alternative visions of public goods analysis, public administration, and governance. The argument goes further to raise the provocative question whether the two “social philosophies” involved in the approach undertaken by Elinor Ostrom and Vincent Ostrom are necessarily and inseparably connected with the rest of their research program.     

中国民间图案的艺术美

我国民间传统艺术图案是中华民族图案的精华。本文主要从民间传统图案的造型和色彩两个方面,对它的艺术美规律进行阐述。这些民间图案不仅在中国。在世界文化史中也独具特色。     

高职会计课程改革

论述高职院校会计课程改革的方案和目标,课程的实施,实验课的建设,教学方法的改革等,高等职业教育要注重提高学生的能力,培养操作实用型的会计人材。     

新课标下的地理多媒体教学

新课标要求教师必须根据具体的教学情境进行创造性、主动性的劳动,创设生机勃勃的课堂教学氛围,充分调动学生的积极性和主动性,使教师和学生在课堂上焕发活力。倡导学生自主学习、合作学习、探究学习,充分发掘学生的潜能,有力地促进学生个性发展。     

英语教学中的合作学习

在英语教常中进行合理的小组构建、多角度的互赖关系、精心的任务设计和积极的评价。将这些要素有机系统地组合在小组学习的情境中,有助于合作学习有序、有效地展开。     

康熙三十四年建太和殿大木结构研究

本文在王璞子、傅熹年先生的基础上,通过深入研究《太和殿纪事》所记载的大木尺寸,详细测量、分析太和殿木结构的现状尺寸,得出以下结论1、康熙三十四年所建太和殿平面丈尺是用清尺在明代遗留建筑基址上量度确定的,明清大木侧脚设计有所差异;2、太和殿通檐柱高(柱脚至挑檐枋上皮)等于明间开间;3、金柱高(至上层檐)为通檐柱高的1.5倍;4、上下层斗拱在此基础上深化设计、权衡尺寸,总出挑凑足整尺寸,并通盘考虑以适合檐步举架尺寸;5、按照前后挑檐檩间距的1/3确定屋架正心桁之间的总举架高度。     

Hydrodynamics and membrane seal capacity

The impact of hydrodynamic groundwater movement on the capacity of seals is currently in debate. There is an extensive record of publication on seals analysis and a similar history on petroleum hydrodynamics yet little work addresses the links between the two. Understanding and quantifying the effects of hydrodynamic flow has important implications for calibrating commonly used seal capacity estimation techniques. These are often based on measurements such as shale gouge, clay smear or mercury porosimitry where membrane sealing is thought to occur. For standard membrane seal analysis, seal capacity is estimated by quantifying capillary pressure‐related measurements and calibrating them with a large observational database of hydrocarbon column heights and measured buoyancy pressures. The seal capacity estimation process has historically been adjusted to account for a number of different generic trapping geometries. We define the characteristics of these geometries from a hydrodynamics viewpoint in order to fine‐tune the seal capacity calibration process. From theoretical analyses of several simplified trapping geometries, it can be concluded that generally, the high pressure side of the seal should be used as the water pressure gradient with which to calculate buoyancy pressure. Secondly, trap geometries where hydrocarbon is reservoired on both sides of a fault are not useful for estimating across fault seal capacity.     

Dom Hans van der Laan’s Architectonic Space: A Peculiar Blend of Architectural Modernity and Religious Tradition

This article discusses the design methodology of the Benedictine monk-architect Dom Hans van der Laan (1904–91), famous for his manifesto De Architectonische Ruimte (Architectonic Space, 1977), in which he proposed his ideal elementary architecture. In the past, this ideal achitecture was linked to Van der Laan’s proportional system and to his general approach as an architect rather than to his Catholic background. Consequently, the changing conceptual landscape in which he developed his ideas on the relation between religion and design was neglected. Yet, as this article will argue, it is only by carefully exploring the relation between Van der Laan’s attempts to define a fundamental architecture and his ambition to understand the religious traditions they may have sprung from that one can understand how his religion and design methodology influenced each other. Based on unedited primary sources (letters, notes, design sketches, lectures), this article reveals forgotten interconnections between Van der Laan’s religious and architectural thinking. By analysing these motifs, it offers new insights on the interrelationships between religion and architecture that go beyond the traditionalist-modernist dichotomy.