Resource Management and Geography - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 26
-
ItemExperiencing and Adapting to Heatwaves: A Study of Bangladesh-Born Migrants in Victoria( 2020)Climate change is a critical concern in Australia and globally. Anthropogenic climate change will contribute to increasing intensity and frequency of heatwaves. People view and respond to heatwaves in many ways, depending on their awareness, expertise, access to resources and geographic location. Previous experience of climate extremes is a critical factor in shaping how people perceive risks and adapt to reduce the impacts on their lives and livelihoods. In the past decades, many studies have focused on heatwaves, heat-health impacts including mortality and morbidity, and heatwave adaptation and mitigation. However, limited research reflects on culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations and migrants in relation to heatwave experiences and adaptation. Advancing understanding of the impacts of heatwaves on migrants' lives, and the significance of their cultural beliefs and past experience of heatwaves, can provide insight into heatwave adaptation. In particular, migrant communities with heatwave experience may have potential to respond effectively to heatwave events at the resettlement site. This study aims to understand the experience of heatwaves among members of a migrant community in a site of settlement, namely Bangladesh-born migrants in Victoria. It investigates risk perception around heatwaves, the impact of heatwaves on daily lives, and coping techniques used by this cultural community. Considering the diverse cultural background and experiences of the participants, this study also examines whether and how their environmental knowledge, cultural beliefs and previous adaptation experience influence their ability to adapt to heatwaves in Victoria. In addition, this study discusses some of the major challenges confronting this population in applying heatwave adaptation strategies. A mixed-methods approach comprising both qualitative and quantitative research was used to conduct this study. The data collection instruments consisted of a semi-structured interview protocol and a survey questionnaire. One-on-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants, who were purposively chosen from five Local Government Areas (LGAs). The survey data (n=393) were collected from five LGAs in Victoria using a three-stage cluster sampling technique. A four-part survey questionnaire involving Heatwave Risk Perception, Heatwave Adaptation Strategies, Cultural Beliefs towards Heatwave Adaptation and Barriers towards Heatwave Adaptation was developed to assess the experience of participants. The 33 item Heatwave Adaptation Strategies measure was used to identify heatwave adaptation techniques used by participants; participants were asked to respond to these 33 items both in relation to adaptation measures used previously in Bangladesh, and currently in Victoria. The questionnaire used a six-point Likert type scale for recording participants' self-reported responses. Quantitative data were processed and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26. A descriptive analysis (mean and standard deviation) was undertaken to report the overall results, while advanced inferential statistics (i.e. t-tests & multiple regressions) was used to identify several predictor variables and their association with each other. The findings of the study are presented in chapters four and five. In chapter four, the analysis of the interviews yields the Bangladesh-born Victorian migrants' own explanation on their understanding of heatwaves, their risks to everyday life, and a range of challenges and adaptation measures to cope with this climate extreme based on their current and previous heatwave experience. The semi-structured interview protocol was developed to gain an in-depth understanding of participants' pre- and post-migration heatwave experiences and challenges. A hybrid method of thematic analysis, comprising both inductive and deductive approaches, was used to analyse interview data. The quantitative results are presented in chapter five. The results show the extent to which the participants perceived heatwave risks, their use of adaptation strategies, cultural beliefs, and barriers towards heatwave adaptation. For instance, this migrant community perceived a high frequency of heatwave risk (M=4.60, SD=1.22). The stepwise multiple linear regression results also demonstrate the significant predictors of heatwave adaptation strategies (HAS) in Victoria. Both qualitative and quantitative findings suggest that lack of access to information about heatwaves and their consequences is one of the major challenges for participants in adapting to heatwaves in Victoria. In addition, both qualitative and quantitative findings add nuance to understanding migrants and their adaptive capacities in coping with climate extremes in the host country. The study may provide useful insights for relevant planning organisations and government officials engaging in climate change adaptation planning and striving to reduce the negative impacts of heatwaves across all members of the community.
-
ItemSustaining grassroots women's groups in Nepal( 2007)In the Himalayan country of Nepal, the inclusion of women in government extension projects has been a key development strategy since 1990 (Keeling, (2001). Extension projects encourage and provide support for the establishment of grassroots women's groups. Most of these groups disintegrate after the tellnination of government support; however, and before achieving all their objectives, indicating that extension agencies are generally unsuccessful in establishing sustainable groups. The aim of this thesis is to explore the issues related to the sustainability of these women's groups, and to identify the reasons for their premature disintegration. A case study approach is employed, using qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with group members and extension officers in the Kavre district of Nepal. Meeting group members' needs is a precondition for sustainability; however, results suggest that the perception of these needs differs between the women-who desire self empowerment- and extension agencies-who want increased productivity. Results further suggest that while cultural diversity may increase sustainability, economic and gender diversity may have the opposite effect. Nepalese extension agencies employ a policy of converting grassrots groups into formal cooperatives to facilitate group sustainability. Findings of this research suggest that the current government policy of converting existing grassroots groups into formal cooperatives, without proper capacity development, may be detrimental to group sustainability. In addition, the current extension agency practice of initiating group formation may not provide a strong group foundation. Furthermore, an overemphasis on savings and credit schemes may undermine the positive effects of other group activities. Overall, women's needs and expectations need to be met in order for groups to be sustainable. Extension agencies should be encouraged to identify and support these needs so that better informed extension policies can be developed, the decisions and practices of which will more likely sustain grassroots women's groups.
-
ItemAn investigation on the properties and performance of greenwaste as a component of container media( 2005)Green waste contributes significantly to the total waste generated in the Melbourne area. As public awareness of environmental issues grows, the need for an effective way of recycling green waste and thereby reducing landfill increases. For the Nursery Production Industry sustainability and environmental accountability are also significant issues. Determining alternatives to pine bark and peat as potting media components is one aspect to be addressed by the Industry. In this thesis the properties and performance of composted Eucalyptus green waste as a component of potting media has been investigated. The investigation examined different systems for composting Eucalyptus camaldulensis green waste. All composting systems used showed an elimination of toxic compounds found in composting feedstock. However, composted E. camaldulensis green waste could not be used as a major component of potting media without significant amendments, as both Electrical Conductivity (EC) and pH were extremely high. The high EC could be overcome by leaching out soluble salt and the high pH by adding iron sulphate. Construction of a potting media using composted E. camaldulensis green waste was then undertaken. The compost was mixed with various fractions of rice hulls, coir and fine sand to provide a medium with physical characteristics within the guidelines set down by the Australian Standard for Potting Mixes (AS 3743-1996). The growth of six common ornamental crop species in the constructed media was then compared to that obtained in a traditional pine-bark based medium. The results indicated that the constructed media resulted in growth rates similar to those achieved in pine-bark media.
-
Item
-
Item
-
Item
-
Item
-
Item
-
Item
-
ItemDisplacement: the unsettled geographies of Sri Lanka's civil war( 2015)This thesis provides a multi-scalar spatial analysis of the Sri Lankan civil war (1983-2009) and the five-year post-war period (2009-2014), focusing on how various scenarios of displacement unsettled normative representations of national space. Using ontological insecurity as a conceptual starting point, it examines these displacements across five spatial categories – nation, home, city, route and camp – as they are impacted by varying degrees of wartime violence that multiply their meanings and representations for the social agents involved in the conflict. The argument at the centre of this thesis is that violence and geography are co-constitutive; that highly sought after and secure forms of emplacement are invariably underscored by multiple geographies of displacement, and that their sociospatial ontologies provide equally valid ground for analysing the nation’s turbulent past. This research follows the spatiotemporal inscription of wartime social mobilities across Sri Lanka’s multiple displacement geographies. It adopts a hermeneutic approach for analysing a range of socio-spatial phenomena using discourse analysis, fieldwork, participant observation and a small number of interviews as its main investigative methods. The five normative spatial categories proposed for investigation form distinct case study chapters. They draw on theories of spatial violence and interdisciplinary literature on the Sri Lankan conflict. This thesis further reviews the civil war as shaped by post-Cold-War forces of liberal democratisation, marketization and securitisation, illustrating how the resultant porosity of borders destabilised the nation, heightening inter-ethnic contestations, with violent spatial impacts. As national borders were increasingly opened to human traffic, goods, services and capital, fragmenting previously-insulated national subjectivities, the Sri Lankan government used militarisation to maintain sovereignty and its associated forms of ontological security. Armed resistance to its hegemonic representations and policies by minority Tamil groups thrust the Sri Lankan government into a protracted civil war. Literature on this period has largely represented the conflict as an ethno-nationalist contest, neglecting the ramifications of and internal responses to global economic change. This thesis proposes to broaden this analytical framework. The thesis’ chapters illustrate the process of dissolution and heightened mobility provoked by violent conflict. They raise salient questions regarding the nature of displacement linking wartime dislocations to post-war strategies for expediting neoliberal economic change. In doing so, this research situates the territorial understanding of Sri Lanka within broader discourses of globalisation reorienting the nationalist question towards post-national or denationalised concerns. The chapters provide an analytical over view of the range of ontological insecurities produced during the violent political dissolution of the postcolonial nation and highlight its resultant political and economic porosity.