Office for Environmental Programs - Theses
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ItemDesign for persistence: graph-based connectivity, habitat reserves and species persistence( 2007)Connectivity is widely thought to play a key role in the persistence of metapopulations. However, there is no generally accepted approach to measuring connectivity in landscapes. Current reserve selection algorithms tend to focus on clustering habitat sites as an approach to maximising connectivity. An alternative approach to understanding connectivity is, however, to focus on the spatial configuration of habitat patches in a landscape. In this study, graph methods are used to represent habitat networks and investigate the relationship between spatial configuration and the flow of species moving across the network. Betweenness Centrality, a graph metric designed to measure the proportion of traffic passing through any node in a network, is applied in modified form as a reserve selection algorithm. The performance of reserves selected using Betweenness Centrality is assessed against species persistence measures from the metapopulation model RAMAS and compared to equivalent reserve selections for other well known reserve selection algorithms. Within the limited set of cases considered, this study found that Betweenness Centrality has a high degree of success in designing reserves for species with high dispersal characteristics, but is unable to predict appropriate reserve sites for low or non-dispersing species. Further directions for research in the field are suggested, with an emphasis on rigorously validating this type of approach to understanding connectivity.
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ItemA comparative analysis of the BushTender and Stormwater Tender( 2008)Urban stormwater is well known to have a degrading effect on urban waterways.' It is now accepted that the incorporation of integrated water cycle management into urban design is essential for urban sustainability. The Storm water Tender, a project in Mt. Evelyn, Melbourne, plans to demonstrate the synergies between providing an augmented supply of water and reducing the frequency of runoff events in a catchment retrofit of Water Sensitive Urban Design. To improve the cost-effectiveness of this project the Storm water Tender has developed a novel economic instrument which uses an auction-based approach to maximise public/private investment in rainwater tanks. The Storm water Tender was adapted from the Bush Tender and this research considers transposing a tender from a rural to urban environment as similar to bringing a new product to market. For this reason, the Bush Tender and Storm water Tender are contrasted through a simplified business analytics framework which analyses the respective Organisation, Process, Market, Engagement and Feedback processes inherent in each tender. This research found that the Bush Tender and Storm water Tender are not equivalent processes and that they operate in different markets. The paper concludes with some suggestions of how to improve urban community engagement processes to increase the uptake of rainwater tanks.
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ItemMarine litter in the Tun Sakaran Marine Park: analysis and recommendations for action( 2008)Duplicate 100m transect surveys were carried out on the islands of the Tun Sakaran Marine Park, Malaysia, in order to quantify and classify anthropogenic marine debris in the area. The mean level of contamination was identified as 17 items m-1 and this was found to be higher than contamination levels acknowledged in several similar assessments elsewhere. Polystyrene fragments and plastics, primarily beverage bottles, bags and food wrappers dominated the litter collected, accounting for 87.22% of the total. Fishing related debris was uncommon. The mixed use potential of certain common objects created difficulties in establishing identifiable litter sources. Although it appeared that most litter resulted from the activities of island inhabitants, debris outflow from mainland areas such as Semporna is also a likely litter input to the TSMP. A lack of education and environmental awareness in the region, combined with inadequate waste management systems appears to intensify the problems caused by substances such as plastic when they are improperly disposed of into marine environments. Recommendations are presented in order to meet these shortfalls, focussing on direct litter removal, education and reducing the quantity of persistent pollutants to the area
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ItemThe Melbourne Model and educating for sustainability: opportunities and possibilities( 2008)Universities have a responsibility to their students and to the wider community to respond to the environmental crisis. Education for sustainability (EfS) represents a curriculum-based approach through which universities can respond to this crisis. Understanding how EfS might be adopted by universities requires an exploration the term sustainability, and an examination of the relationship between sustainability and higher education. The new Melbourne Model (MM) at the University of Melbourne is a major educational reform for the University, and although not a model based upon EfS, it incorporates a number of elements that appear conducive to EfS. Based upon interviews with University of Melbourne staff and students this research found that the new transdisciplinary 'breadth' component of the MM was considered to provide significant opportunities and possibilities for EfS. In terms of enacting these opportunities and possibilities, the participants of this study were divided: half felt that the possibilities for enacting EfS would be subsumed by the broader issues of tradition, poor management and ill-considered implementation processes; the other half considered the MM to be the perfect arena for exploring EfS in higher education and did not consider these challenges to be of significant risk to achieving this goal
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ItemThe pedagogy of sustainable design: an investigation into the influence of sustainable workplaces on occupants( 2007)This research project looked at the influence that working in a sustainable built environment has on occupants. The majority of research in this area has focused on measurable effects of improved design and theoretical studies of social impacts on occupants, with a lack of research investigating this theory on a case study basis. This research project endeavours to help fill this gap, asking how, if at all, people's beliefs, attitudes and practices are affected by their engagement with sustainable built environments. Using semi-structured interviews, participants from three study sites in Melbourne were interviewed. Participants were asked about their perceptions of their I workplace, noting discussions of topics such as behaviour change and environmental awareness. The interviews were informal, allowing participants to explore areas of the most concern to them, leading to rich descriptions of their workplaces. The findings illustrate that people are concerned about workplace design and aware of how this affects them on a daily basis. Pro-environmental behaviour change I influenced by design was seen in all three study sites, as was a desire to maintain a connection with nature through the workplace design. The findings also indicate that the sustainable design of these sites has encouraged a dialogue around environmental sustainability. The insights from this research can be used to better understand the connection people have with the built environment and potentially to improvements in workplace design, with a focus on maximising the educative potential of sustainable built environments.
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ItemRisk perception and recycled water in Australia( 2007)Beginning with an exploration on the nature and perception of risk, this research examined the perception of recycled water amongst University of Melbourne students in order to determine whether there exists a link between culture and perception in this instance. Results returned that there was no statistically significant difference between students who had spent the majority of their lives inside or outside Australia. However, there was a very clear preference for use of recycled water for laundry/gardening over direct consumption. As well, results indicated an overwhelming number of responses were at least "undecided" and frequently positive in regards to recycled water use and safety, leading to positive ramifications for potential future policy in Australia
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ItemAre banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) looking for a more sustainable performance?( 2008)The connection between the financial sector and sustainability of the environment is considered new. The common belief that the financial sector is clean is held because it does not have any direct impact on the environment. Indeed, the problem is not the outcomes or products that this sector produces, but the consumer of these products who has a direct and negative impact on the environment. Industries which have been funded by banks, and more lately MFIs, have had harmful impacts on the environments in which they operate. Environmental problems have had an alarming impact around the world. Their consequences and implications have reached every sector in society. The financial sector, especially banks and MFIs, has experienced a difficult transition because green organisations as well as stake holders have forced them to change the way in which they operate. The change to sustainability has been rather slow because, first of all, they have been trying to modify and implement new policies which do not interfere with their main financial activities. However, it has to be recognised that banks and MFI's are looking to achieve both: to satisfy the green exigencies of their stake holders and to be successful in the new environmental market through launching environmentally friendly green products.
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ItemEmissions trading: a review of policy, regulation and success( 2007)Market mechanisms, in particular emissions trading schemes, are increasingly being utilised in multilateral agreements on environmental issues to achieve environmentally acceptable outcomes in the most cost effective manner. The most salient in recent years being the Kyoto Protocol. However it is the US experience of emissions trading schemes, such as the national SDATP and RECLAIM in California, that has influenced the Kyoto Protocol which is the international standard by which countries are developing their own emissions trading schemes, like the EU ETS. Australia stands to gain much knowledge regarding emissions trading through the development, implementation and operation of these schemes internationally for its own proposed domestic program. Already it is clear that compliance is a key element to the success of any emissions trading scheme in both economic and environmental terms. Therefore the design of a transparent and robust regulatory system is required, where penalties are automatically applied, to ensure perfect (or near perfect) compliance and remove incentives for non-compliance. Additionally a regular review process is also required to enable an audit of the system as a whole, and for participants to outline problems faced which can then be solved for future compliance years.