3,393 research outputs found
Mapping Critical Practice In A Transdisciplinary Urban Studio
Architecture and Planning exist to make positive changes to our environment. Future practitioners in these
disciplines will be responsible for how our cities develop and are managed - they will be required to exercise their professional judgement in complex and unpredictable contexts. There is increasing interest in transdisciplinary urbanism, but implementation in academic contexts has to date been relatively limited. This thesis aims to build on these examples, through a detailed account of one academic design studio which operates across architecture and urban planning; in doing so it aims to make the case for transdisciplinary, problem and place-based studio teaching.
The study considers how a transdisciplinary studio environment supported students to develop a critical
approach to practice through collaborative discourse. It looked at studio methods/practices; what it means to practice ‘critically’ in the context of design; and the role ‘going public’ by sharing ideas in public fora might play in developing critical positions.
The study was undertaken in collaboration with nine students, a single cohort undertaking the final year of a hybrid master’s qualification in Architecture with Urban Planning. It adopts socio-material and spatial approaches to follow how the studio environment and the students’ emerging interdisciplinary identities shaped both their individual and their shared work. It mapped how their approach to their practice evolved through observations, interviews, and informal conversations, and through their drawings, models and journals. In carrying out these observations, and their analysis, I have returned to drawing methods common in architecture. This allowed me to explore and record aspects of studio practice which might otherwise be missed and revealed the importance of visual and spatial thinking to my own practice. Observations revealed how material spaces, tools and artefacts acted to structure social relations in the studio, and how these relations shaped individual approaches to critical practice
Searching for Dead Sea Scribes:a study on using Artificial Intelligence and palaeography for writer identification in correlation with spelling and scribal practices, codicology, handwriting quality, and literary classification systems for Dead Sea Scrolls
My study explores the Dead Sea Scrolls through the lens of individual scribes. Specifically, the practices of individual scribes responsible for penningtwo or more of the Oumran manuscripts. It utilises innovative digital palaeographic methods alongside traditional palaeographic approaches for scribalidentification. It gathers previously un-gathered data on the handwriting, spelling practices, codicological features and literary content of individual scribes. The study explores how this data on scribes both supports and challenges various aspects of theories in the field of Dead Sea Scroll studies, which accept a a sectarian origin for the Qumran manuscripts
An empirical investigation of the relationship between integration, dynamic capabilities and performance in supply chains
This research aimed to develop an empirical understanding of the relationships between integration,
dynamic capabilities and performance in the supply chain domain, based on which, two conceptual
frameworks were constructed to advance the field. The core motivation for the research was that, at
the stage of writing the thesis, the combined relationship between the three concepts had not yet
been examined, although their interrelationships have been studied individually.
To achieve this aim, deductive and inductive reasoning logics were utilised to guide the qualitative
study, which was undertaken via multiple case studies to investigate lines of enquiry that would
address the research questions formulated. This is consistent with the author’s philosophical
adoption of the ontology of relativism and the epistemology of constructionism, which was considered
appropriate to address the research questions. Empirical data and evidence were collected, and
various triangulation techniques were employed to ensure their credibility. Some key features of
grounded theory coding techniques were drawn upon for data coding and analysis, generating two
levels of findings. These revealed that whilst integration and dynamic capabilities were crucial in
improving performance, the performance also informed the former. This reflects a cyclical and
iterative approach rather than one purely based on linearity. Adopting a holistic approach towards
the relationship was key in producing complementary strategies that can deliver sustainable supply
chain performance.
The research makes theoretical, methodological and practical contributions to the field of supply
chain management. The theoretical contribution includes the development of two emerging
conceptual frameworks at the micro and macro levels. The former provides greater specificity, as it
allows meta-analytic evaluation of the three concepts and their dimensions, providing a detailed
insight into their correlations. The latter gives a holistic view of their relationships and how they are
connected, reflecting a middle-range theory that bridges theory and practice. The methodological
contribution lies in presenting models that address gaps associated with the inconsistent use of
terminologies in philosophical assumptions, and lack of rigor in deploying case study research
methods. In terms of its practical contribution, this research offers insights that practitioners could
adopt to enhance their performance. They can do so without necessarily having to forgo certain
desired outcomes using targeted integrative strategies and drawing on their dynamic capabilities
The Impact of Participatory Budgeting on Health and Well-Being: A Qualitative Case Study of a Deprived Community in London
Background
Participatory budgeting (PB) is a democratic innovation that enables residents to participate directly and collectively decide how to spend public money in their community. Research demonstrates PB improves social well-being through governance, citizens’ participation, empowerment, and improved democracy. Since 2000, PB has increasingly been used in the UK in community development approaches for improving health and well-being outcomes for people living in deprived communities. Yet little is known about how and why PB may impact health and well-being in deprived communities of the UK. This PhD study sought to explore and explain how the application of PB in the Well London programme impacted the health and well-being of people living in a deprived community in London.
Methods
The study employed a qualitative case study design adopting the constructivist grounded theory (CGT) methodology of Charmaz (2006) to explore critical themes from interviews with stakeholders of the Well London programme in Haringey Borough. Forty-one stakeholders engaged in planning, co-designing, co-commissioning and co-delivering, or benefitted from three interventions commissioned through PB participated in this study between March 2017 and April 2018.
Results
A cross-case analysis revealed six pathways through which PB improved health, particularly for the underserved. PB maximised participation and meaningful engagement; enhanced direct demand and response to the community’s needs; individual and collective ownership; action on the social determinants of health; and creative partnership working. These pathways were moderated by the democratic and flexible approach of the PB ethos, particularly the inclusion of residents’ voices in the planning and delivery of the interventions. Residents were motivated to act as agents to change their lives by building positive relationships based on social inclusion and integration. As a result, residents’ self-esteem, sense of belonging, self-confidence, self-worth, and individual sense of belonging and community spirit increased. Residents gained a new zeal and agency to tackle the social determinants of health as they understood them in their lives.
Conclusion
When done correctly, PB can promote health and well-being and build more robust and resilient communities through community-centred democratic decision-making. Interventions should aim to increase critical consciousness, health literacy, and the capacity in deprived communities to tackle life-course issues that prevent residents from enjoying good health and reduce structural barriers to accessing services or interventions to improve health and reduce inequalities. The outcomes of this study have policy and practice implications for strengthening the design, commissioning, and delivery of health interventions in deprived communities of high-income countries
Metamorphism in the roots of mountain belts and its effect on rock technical properties : A case study of the Eastern Segment, Sveconorwegian orogen
Deciphering the metamorphic evolution of the roots of mountain belts is essential for understanding deep tectonic processes involved in mountain building. The Sveconorwegian orogen in southwestern Scandinavia, formed during the Rodinia assembly in the transition between the Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic Eras, has been exhumed and provides access to interior deep structural levels of the ancient mountain belt. The Eastern Segment of the Sveconorwegian Province corresponds to the underthrusting continental crustal block that was metamorphosed under variable temperature conditions and differences in the availability of hydrous fluids. As a result, the bedrock across the Eastern Segment has different mineral assemblages and textural characteristics.This thesis investigates the metamorphic behaviour of the deep-seated bedrock in the Eastern Segment from two approaches. Bedrock is a widely exploited raw material in Sweden for use in crushed aggregate production. The performance of aggregates is steered by the textural and mineralogical properties, which, in turn, are determined by the geological processes. The first part of the study aims to assess the influence of metamorphic conditions on the technical properties of crushed bedrock aggregates. The second part focuses on the metamorphic evolution resulting from the limited introduction of hydrous fluids in a ~25 km wide discrete deformation zone with steeply dipping and anastomosing structures in the easternmost part of the Eastern Segment. At the present erosion level, this deformation zone delimits the Sveconorwegian ductile deformation to the east.The results of the first two studies indicate that technical properties of bedrock vary systematically with the macro-fabric and microtextures across the Eastern Segment. Rocks of granitic and gabbroic compositions show a close relationship between the mode of recrystallization and the resistance to fragmentation and wear. Changes in the state of recrystallization reflect the differences in the metamorphic temperature and availability of hydrous fluids. As a result, rocks show variations in the mineral assemblage, size, and shape of the crystals. High performance of aggregates is linked to high textural complexity, which is characterized by non-uniform grain-size distributions and irregular grain boundaries. In granitic and gabbroic rocks, these textural parameters stemmed from metamorphism under low availability of hydrous fluids and at variable temperatures, below 600 °C and above 750 °C. In granites, the recrystallization of quartz and feldspar at these conditions yielded complex rock textures. In gabbroic rocks, however, the textural complexity is determined by the preservation of relict igneous textures due to limited hydration. High-grade metamorphism associated with hydration and partial melting yielded low resistance of granitic and gabbroic aggregates to fragmentation and wear. This investigation illustrates how knowledge of metamorphic processes effectively supports the prediction of functional properties of bedrock aggregates.Two following studies focus on the metamorphic evolution within the easternmost deformation zone of the Sveconorwegian Province. Textural analysis linked to petrological and geochronological data was performed on samples from a key locality of Mesoproterozoic syenodiorite, in which the syenodioritic rock preserves different states of deformation and metamorphic recrystallization. The textural relationships show partial to complete replacements of the primary igneous minerals, including the formation of metamorphic zircon at the expense of igneous baddeleyite and zirconolite. The findings demonstrate that metamorphic reactions were induced by the influx of hydrous fluid in deformed zones. The deformation assisted the infiltration of hydrous fluid, resulting in different states of recrystallization and deformation: while fully recrystallized rocks record equilibrium at 540–600 °C and 9–12 kbar, rocks in undeformed domains remained in a metastable near-pristine igneous state. This study contributes to the understanding of the metamorphic processes that operated at depths of 35–40 km within a ductile deformation zone in the easternmost part of the Eastern Segment and the frontal parts of the Sveconorwegian orogen
- …