Polycentrism and Flux in Spatialized Management: Evidence from Maine\u27s Lobster (Homarus americanus) Fishery

Spatial approaches to fisheries management hold great promise but require continued conceptual and policy development. Polycentrism and flux emerge as useful concepts, drawing lessons from more customary, informal resourceuse patterns to produce more innovative “spatialized” policies within existing governance architectures. Empirical evidence from Maine shows that pioneering efforts have been limited by the single-species focus of conventional management hierarchies. As entry limits have consolidated the fishing fleet and eliminated flexible, diversified, and adaptive business strategies, cross-species and habitat externalities have become problematic. State lobster (Homarus americanus Milne- Edwards, 1837) comanagement zones have achieved some successes, including trap limits and improved industry-management communications, but incur significant transaction costs and raise equity and stewardship concerns. Kindred proposals for spatial refinement of groundfish management and locally based area-management councils lack support from the state Department of Marine Resources, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, New England Fishery Management Council, and National Marine Fisheries Service. Broader and more transparent deliberation of explicitly spatial and ecosystem approaches might be advanced by citizen panels convened to foster polycentric decision structures and accommodate more integrative management strategies

Boundary Management and Communication Technologies

We live in a world of communication overload, where there is a wide range of platforms and devices to choose from, each providing massive content, offering different affordances, and fighting for our attention. Mobile technologies have contributed to expectations of anywhere anytime connectedness, making it hard for individuals to switch off. As a result, it can be hard to feel truly disconnected from work. A lack of control over work-home boundary cross-overs and interruptions can reduce post-work recovery, reducing productivity and increasing stress. Technology is not inherently good or bad, but rather, the way it is adopted and used can positively or negatively color one’s experience. As such, in this critical review we take a social constructionist approach to emphasize how communication technologies are challenging, as well as supporting, work-home boundary management. In doing so, we bring together work from occupational psychology (boundary theory) and human-computer interaction (computer-mediated communication and cross-device interaction). Understanding how these aspects interact and influence each other is important in order to support individuals appropriately, inform policies and guidelines, and ensure both social and digital interactions are designed carefully

The Campaign for Urban Eco-Literacy: Communicating ecological principles in the urban landscape

Though built by humans, a native species to the planet, the city is often seen as something unnatural. Cities are perceived as being separate from nature. Humans may think of “nature” as places that are separate from where they live and work. Organisms thrive and biological processes persist in urbanized environments in spite of the concrete, air, water pollution, dense human population and otherwise seemingly harsh conditions. This condition of the city as nature illustrates the ecological principles of survival, adaptation and resilience. Through a deeper understanding of these complex interconnections between other organisms, our physical surroundings and ourselves, we as a society become more ecologically literate. Cities provide a wealth of opportunities, a venue and an audience to accomplish this. Landscape architects, dedicated “stewards of land,” have a history of integrating ecologically educational elements into public spaces. However, the educational messages integrated into designs are often left to interpretation. It remains unclear whether these messages are being received, or whether the intent behind these designs is fully understood by the public. This thesis investigates how the application of proven communication theories and mass media communication strategies can enhance the ability of landscape architects to reach a wider audience with their ecological messages. The result of this investigation is the “Campaign for Urban Eco-literacy.” The Campaign is a series of virtual, spatial, and experiential interventions that will appeal to a wide audience by utilizing visual and interactive communication techniques, increasing the reach and effectiveness of the campaign’s overall message. The interventions intend to increase awareness of the ecological concepts of adaptation, evolution, and interconnectedness within the urban landscape. The Campaign’s message will be integrated into the urban fabric of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, to reach the diverse mix of people present in the space. Taking this approach to increasing eco-literacy allows for multiple levels of interaction from the audience, thus enhancing their experience in the urban landscape and imparting important ecological lessons

Design Principles for IT in Doubly Distributed Design Networks

Information systems research that focuses on design activity tends to emphasize (1) individual designer cognition, (2) data integration in a design context; or (3) social processes at the boundaries between communities in a design context. However, there is limited research into the distribution of design activity across both distributed designers and the heterogeneous technologies that are embedded in their practices _ across what we described as doubly distributed design networks. In our cross-case analysis of five doubly distributed design networks in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, we elicit six principles for the design of IT intended to support doubly distributed design network. From these principles we derive a set of theoretical propositions that question the applicability of the prevailing, singlemodel /unified infrastructure paradigm for such networks. Further, this research reconceptualizes the notion of design iteration in such contexts

Creative industries work across multiple contexts: common themes and challenges

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the precarious nature of creative industries (CIs) work in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, with a focus on job security, initial and on-going training and education, and access to benefits and protection. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reports from a largely qualitative study featuring an in-depth survey answered by 752 creative workers in the three locations. Findings: Survey data identified common themes including an increase in non-standard forms of employment and the persistence of precarious work across the career lifespan; criticism of initial education and training with particular reference to business skills; the need for and challenges of life-long professional learning; and lack of awareness about and access to benefits and protection. Respondents also reported multiple roles across and beyond the CIs. Practical implications: The presence of common themes suggests avenues for future, targeted creative workforce research and signals the need for change and action by CIs educators, policy makers and representative organizations such as trade unions. Originality/value: While precarious labour is common across the CIs and has attracted the attention of researchers worldwide, a lack of comparative studies has made it difficult to identify themes or issues that are common across multiple locations. © 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited

Adapting to Change: What Motivates Manitoban Schools to Learn

This study assesses the relative importance of environmental, intraorganizational, and contextual factors that explain the process and outcomes of organizational learning in six Manitoba schools. Based on the data provided by 265 teaching staff and their principals, the present findings verified that transformational leadership, supportive school culture, and flexible school structure were persistent factors in accounting for organizational learning and adaptation. Environmental variables acted as motivational forces that served to break away from individual and organizational inertia. The effect of contextual factors reasserted the idea that schools were unique and that changes could not simply be transplanted without considering the characteristics of staff and their schools.Cette recherche évalue l'importance relative de facteurs environnementaux, intraorganisationnels et contextuels pour expliquer le processus et les résultats de l'apprentissage organisationnel dans six écoles au Manitoba. Reposant sur les données fournies par 265 enseignants et directeurs d'écoles, les résultats ont confirmé que le leadership transformationnel, un milieu scolaire coopératif et une structure scolaire souple constituent, de façon systématique, des facteurs explicatifs dans l'apprentissage organisationnel et l'adaptation. Des variables environnementales agissaient comme forces motivationnelles permettant de s'éloigner de l'inertie individuelle et organisationnelle. L'effet des facteurs contextuels a réaffirmé la notion selon laquelle les écoles sont uniques et que les changements ne pouvaient pas tout simplement être transposés sans tenir compte des caractéristiques du personnel enseignant ou de l'école

Creating and Implementing Professional Development with Self-Selected Literacy Content for Teachers in a Developing Country

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to identify teacher strengths and needs to create a site-specific professional development program for literacy. I was interested in studying how to identify teacher needs and strengths and explore the compatibility between teacher beliefs, current practice, and best practices in literacy. This study was guided by the following research questions: Q1 In a developing country, what process is the best fit for creating and implementing a professional development program based on an asset-driven model and self-selected literacy content? Q2 How is a balance attained among current practice, self-selected content, and known best practices in literacy instruction? This study was conducted over a two-month period in two schools, but the entire data collection period spanned nine months. Data from teacher surveys were collected from teachers at two different public-schools. Participants were six 1st-3rd grade teachers from two different elementary schools in the same district. Data sources included observational field notes, research journal notes, teacher surveys, digital correspondence, photographs, and interviews. Results for question one indicated that four themes emerged from the data: (a) addressing the three ecologies of knowing is crucial, (b) the revised process flowchart is an effective tool, (c) flexibility is necessary for this context, and (d) effective communication is vital and challenging. Results for the second question indicated that the process for achieving a balance among current practices and beliefs, identifying self-selected content, and incorporating both with known best practices was effective. Moreover, attempts to implement new strategies may be affected more by a lack of material resources than by teacher beliefs or current practices. The results of this study point to implications for professional development. I created an adapted version of a professional development model that incorporates components that address critical theory and social constructivist perspectives. Also, the process flowchart may be useful as a template for educators in creating and implementing a professional development program that is based on an asset-driven model

Ghost ecologies: storytelling and futures in the Athabasca oil sands

Master of Landscape ArchitectureDepartment of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community PlanningJessica CanfieldThe contemporary globalized world is full of wicked problems. A wicked problem is difficult to resolve, complex, and solving one aspect of a problem may create other problems. Wicked problems are shaped by invisible forces and flows. Landscape architects are uniquely poised to address wicked problems with their skills and capacity to think across systems and scales in spatio-temporal, ecological, and cultural dimensions. Landscape architects also communicate through visually-accessible methods which tell a story. Storytelling in landscape architecture seeks to reveal, connect, and tie together relationships and processes of the past and present to inform future possibilities of a place. Methods of storytelling can be used to address wicked problems because of their utility in inquiry and ideation. Developed through an original methodology using maps, diagrams, photomontage, and photographs, this project creates a storytelling framework which iteratively uses inquiry and representation to identify dilemmas, pose questions, and address issues as a means to reveal the impacts of forces on a wicked problem. The site selected to test this proposed methodology is the Athabasca oil sands in northern Alberta, Canada. Visible from space, the potential minable area of the oil sands spans an area the size of New York State. The world’s quest for oil has placed this landscape and its people on center stage. Billions of dollars’ worth of industry investment has put the landscape and people under siege through ever-shifting visible and invisible forces and flows. Dilemmas created by the region’s mining industry not only directly impact local people and landscape, but the greater world as well. Hampered with environmental, social, political, and economic issues, the future of this region is largely unknown, as there are few formal plans and regulations to ensure landscape reclamation and guide urban development. To tell the story of the oil sands, four themes—oil, infrastructure, environment, and people were analyzed. These themes—referred to as "ghost ecologies" because of their inconspicuous nature—when considered together, reveal key regional dilemmas and highlight new opportunities for future directions. Analysis inspired thinking toward future scenarios that imagine a series of new, highly productive and programmatically-integrated futures for the oil sands and its people. The unique process of inquiry and discovery led to a final project framework that identified methods for landscape architects to use in addressing wicked problems. A variety of audiences can consume this work to address the challenges of the Athabasca oil sands and other wicked problems in the world. To the public, the work serves as an evocative display of critical dilemmas worthy of future consideration. For professional and student landscape architects, the work reveals methods of inquiry to address wicked problems through the discipline

Investigation of Intergroup Bias in Two Neuromaturationally Distinct Age Cohorts: An ERP Study

Currently, sociological investigation of adolescent behavior focuses on the intersection of biography, history, and structure to explain adolescent risk-taking, reward-seeking, impulsivity, novelty-seeking and peer-salience. However, the preponderance of the evidence points away from social ecology and to a significant neuromaturational restructuring event between the 12th and 25th years of life as the root of adolescent behavioral tendencies. As a result, sociological social psychology can benefit from engaging in basic research using neuroscience methods. The present study expands the dual systems model of brain development to account for maturational changes in the social brain network as a way to explain social cognitive differences between adolescents and adults specific to intergroup processing. Central questions driving this research are: why are adolescents disproportionately involved with ultra-tribalistic coalitions and why do they engage in higher rates of coalitional violence than at any other time period in the lifespan? Current social and behavioral evidence suggests that adolescents think about their social worlds very differently than do adults. However, traditional self-report methods and functional magnetic resonance imaging are unable to access early neural responses to intergroup stimuli that are largely unavailable to introspection and require techniques that offer high temporal resolution such as electroencephalography and the event related potential technique. To address these methodological concerns, the present study used notional groups based upon subjects’ political orientation and a complex memory and evaluation task to assess differences in adolescent (18 – 19 yr) and adult (30 – 35 yr) processing of ingroup versus outgroup stimuli on congruent and incongruent trials (5,000 milliseconds [ms]). The 2x2x2x3 design investigated the within-subjects variables of group (ingroup & outgroup), congruency (congruent & incongruent), and electrode (Fz,Cz,Pz) on the P2 and N2 ERP component amplitude. The study had two hypotheses: 1) that an age-mediated activation pattern would be discernable and 2) that N2 amplitude would be higher for adolescent ingroup members versus adult ingroup members due to increased emotional sensitivity to group membership. Neither hypothesis was supported due to statistical constraints arising from group size disparities, however, many interesting additional results were observed. These included different activation patterns predicted by social brain network maturation, as well as, different motivational drivers for adults versus adolescents