30 research outputs found

    Taking the complexity turn to steer carbon reduction policy: applying practice theory, complexity theory and cultural practices to policies addressing climate change

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    Achieving the Scottish Government’s carbon reduction targets requires not only the decarbonisation of industry and electricity generation, which is now largely underway, but also significant changes in the actions and decisions of millions of individuals, whose carbon emissions fall outside the areas which Government can control. Transport, much of it undertaken by individuals, accounts for around 20% of Scotland’s carbon emissions. Policy aimed at changing individual travel behaviours will therefore become increasingly important. Commonly applied behaviour change strategies based on rational actor theory face conceptual problems and cannot overcome the lack of agency experienced by individuals buffeted by a range of influences in a complex world. Practice theory relocates the site of analysis from the individual to the social and helps to overcome these problems, but it is not clear how to deliberately change practices to achieve the carbon reductions required. Understanding practices as emergent properties of complex social systems suggests that working to alter the complex social system may lead to different emergent properties, i.e. more sustainable practices. My research explored this approach by conducting an experiment in Aberdeen that sought to influence the complex social system within which audiences travel to a large theatre in the city. Emergent properties of the system encouraged travel by private car: problems of (in)convenience and insecurity were shaping individuals’ travel practices. Collaboration between actors powerful enough to affect the system – a transport provider, a local authority and the theatre itself – was needed to influence it sufficiently to bring about a change in the main travel mode from private cars to public transport. Analysis of this case identifies the need to acknowledge the relevance of complexity theory when developing carbon reduction policy. Perverse incentives encouraging public organisations to focus on their own ‘direct’ carbon emissions need to be replaced with a duty to collaborate with others to reduce society’s overall carbon emissions. Those making policy and those implementing it will therefore need to understand and apply complexity theory, and will need highly developed skills in managing long-term collaborative projects rather than ‘delivering’ one-off changes. These attributes may be found in practitioners from diverse and less obvious fields, including the cultural sector

    The road to nowhere? A critical case study of the political discourses in the debates around the decision to construct a bypass road around Aberdeen.

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    This research examined the role of communication “ and in particular public relations (PR) and public affairs activities “ in the decision-making processes around the proposal to build a bypass road around the city of Aberdeen. The study focused on the relative power of various discourses embodied in the arguments and strategies pursued by the promoters and opponents of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Road (AWPR) to affect eventual outcomes. The research sought to revisit theoretical accounts of democratic decision-making as conceptualised by Habermas (1984) in the deliberations of the public sphere, and Foucault (1970) on the role of discourse in structuring civil debates. In his classic study of New Haven, Dahl (2005) found empirical evidence to support a pluralist paradigm. Yet in Flyvbjergs (1998a) study of urban planning in Aalborg, Denmark, Lukess theories on the second dimension of power and a Foucauldian conceptualistion of power were found to have more acute explanatory power. These major theories have been applied tentatively to the field of public relations by Burkart (2009) who advocates for the utility of a consensus-oriented approach to public relations (COPR). Motion and Leitch (2009) theorise that discourse analysis provides important analytic tools for PR practitioners. This research used the AWPR issue as a case study spanning four key decision-making phases from 2004 to 2012. These stages include representations to the Scottish Parliament; a public local inquiry (PLI); judicial review to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, and a hearing in the UK Supreme Court. The research drew upon triangulated methodologies including Faircloughs (2012) political discourse analysis; observations at public meetings; and semi-structured interviews The research found that whilst both sides promoted a range of established discourses and PR strategies, the relative power of these discourses and the implementation of the strategies was determining. Political discourse analysis of key texts from the pivotal post PLI phase of the case study provided evidence of the dominance of discourses around economic development and community over weaker environmental discourses. Save Camphills campaign was more effective due in large part to the calibre of the professional public relations advice retained. Road Sense used public relations strategies in the early phases of their campaign but the implementation of these activities tended to be tactical, partial or counter-productive. Road Sense focused resources on a legislative strategy which largely eschewed any further attempt to engage with government, community and media stakeholders. The route of judicial review was unsuccessful due to a combination of second dimension power factors, including the reluctance of the UK courts to intervene in planning issues despite the existence of European directives to protect the environment. The AWPR case study concluded that examples of decision-making, as demonstrated by Save Camphills success in altering the route, confirm the existence of both the public sphere and pluralism in action. Yet, following Lukes (2005) and Flyvbjerg (1998a), there is equally evidence of a second dimension power variable which yielded more plausible explanatory accounts of the decision-making in favour of the Scheme at the PLI, and subsequently in the Courts. The case study also finds that a Foucauldian interpretation of discourse is required to fully appreciate the weakness of the environmental agenda at the local level especially when pitted against prevailing discourses of economic growth and the popularity of the contemporary car culture. Against this background, Road Senses PR strategies were secondary to their ultimate legislative strategy and lacked the requisite consistency on goal alignment and relationship building in lobbying and media relations. For campaigns to be effectual, public relations professionals must audit the power of prevailing discourses as theorised by Motion and Leitch (2009) before Burkarts consensus-oriented public relations (COPR) approach can realise pluralist outcomes consistent with deliberative democracy

    Lost in location: arts development and policy in rural Scotland

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    This thesis examines arts development and policy in rural Scotland in recent years. In this formerly unexplored field, it looks at the relationship between arts policy and arts development practice in rural Scotland and the impacts and (dis)connections that the nationwide arts policy has had on arts in rural Scotland, particularly during a period of major change in Scottish arts policy between 2010 and 2013. Nine rural regions with a population density of under 30 people per kilometre2 as of 2009 were selected as the key geographic regions in this research: Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Argyll and Bute, Highland, Eileanan Siar (Western Isles), Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Moray and Aberdeenshire. Examples and data on particular regions, arts organisations and events were drawn from the said regions to investigate the role of the arts in rural development and the role of local communities, local authorities and national agencies in shaping the arts in rural Scotland. This thesis will articulate and discuss the relationships between the arts and local communities and the economy in rural Scotland and further demonstrate how the arts in rural Scotland have been surviving. The thesis concludes with presenting the advantages and issues caused by common approaches in arts development for rural Scotland, advocating what is needed for the arts in rural Scotland today with suggestions for future top-level policy development

    Scottish market crosses: the development of a risk assessment model.

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    The purpose of the research was to investigate the causes and effects of stone decay and soiling upon Scottish market crosses, and to develop a risk assessment model for this monument type. Risk assessment methods are otherwise used in spheres of business and industry. This research is unique in exploring the possibility of applying these techniques to the study and prediction of monument degradation. Additionally, the research is the first synthesised study of market crosses since 1928. A mapping methodology was developed in order to record the condition of a sample of Scottish market crosses. Visible evidence of the erosion, soiling and conservation of these monuments was collected and analysed in relation to various associated weathering factors. A risk assessment model was then developed for predicting the future condition of such monuments. Integrated with this, intervention criteria and conservation guidelines were also produced aimed at those charged with the care of market crosses. The model was applied to a case study to assess the risk of degradation of the tested monument. The method was found to work in practice, and could be used by practitioners in the future. The methodology for the research can be summarised as follows. Based upon the literature review, hypotheses were formulated regarding the effect of various weathering factors upon decay and soiling patterns. Data for all surviving market crosses in Scotland was co11ected from archives and publications. A pro-forma and relational database were designed to hold an of the gathered data. A sample of 27 crosses was selected for detailed analysis. An increased level of data was col1ected for the sampled crosses, and a programme of intensive fieldwork was undertaken at these. Evidence for a11 visible decay, soiling and conservation treatment was mapped onto a detailed elevation sketch of each facade of every sampled cross. The decay and soiling were also classified according to intensity level and surface extent, based upon evidence from visual observation. In addition to the drafted mappings, the visited monuments were subject to a photographic survey. The collected data were analysed by interrogating the database and by applying a variety of statistical tests. A number of significant relationships were indicated between the various decay/soiling types and weathering agents. It was found that the patterns of decay, and particularly soiling, were greatly influenced by the monument characteristics, primarily due to the degree to which the stone was exposed to moisture ingress. Environmental factors were also found to have some influence, particularly the nature of the ground surface and the land-use type. Surprising1y, the leve1 of nearby traffic was found to have little effect. Climatic factors were shown to be significant in relation to a few decay/soiling types. However, the contradictory nature of these trends suggested that the ranges within Scotland may be too limited to have much real effect upon the observed variations in decay/soiling. Previous intervention was found to have some significant effects, particularly in the case of chemical stone cleaning. Risk levels for each significant relationship were calculated from the rate of occurrence and the amount of stone degradation observed in the sample. The sample risk model was developed to produce a pro-forma designed for use by practitioners involved in managing Scottish market crosses. Practitioners could use the designed system to regularly record the condition of other crosses and assess the extent to which they are at risk from decay/soiling due to various weathering agents existing at each site. Intervention criteria were also produced in order to advise the practitioner on when and how to intervene to stall the current decay or to reduce the risks of future degradation of crosses in their care. Methods were also suggested for interpreting and promoting market crosses to the public

    The small rural school and community relations in Scotland, 1872-2000: an interdisciplinary history

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    Seeking to fill a gap in the historiography, this study provides a closely-observed but contextualised social history of Scotland’s rural schools from the late nineteenth century through to the end of the twentieth century. Though particularly concerned with the period following the Education (Scotland) Act, 1872, consideration is given to earlier developments to ensure a depth of understanding and an appreciation of the subtleties of local experience. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, and combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, the thesis draws together three layers of research: a detailed regional case study of the Highland Perthshire parishes of Fortingall, Kenmore and Killin; a quasi-random sample of sixty-six rural districts from across Scotland; and a national overview. In doing so, it challenges oft-made generalisations about rural life and provides a more nuanced picture of change and continuity in educational policy and practice across Scotland. Focusing in on the relationship between the small rural schools and their communities, the social dimensions of educational provision are explored in depth with special attention being paid to who taught, attended and supported the schools, and how they operated as educational and social spaces. To frame and guide discussion, three core themes – gender, culture and citizenship – are explored throughout and elements of social theory are drawn on to aid analysis and interpretation

    Strategy, solvency and the state : the development of the railway system of northern Scotland, 1844-74

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    This thesis investigates the factors that stimulated and sustained the development of a railway system in northern Scotland in 1844-74 and draws contrasts with earlier railway development in Scotland and England. No continuous railway routes ran north of the Glasgow-Aberdeen axis in 1844, but, by 187 4, a railway system extended to the far north of the highlands despite the absence of substantial population or raw material sources. The state, strongly influenced by the ideology of free market capitalism, was reluctant to become involved in the planning or management of railways in Britain with the result that the railway system evolved in an unplanned way, promoted and managed by private enterprise and financed increasingly from a national capital market. This thesis contends that railway development in northern Scotland does not reflect this pattern. It questions whether the state perpetuated its detached stance towards railway development in northern Scotland, to what extent this northern railway system was planned, and how these relatively small railway companies were able to obtain sufficient capital and avoid insolvency given the unpromising economic conditions of the region. The thesis examines a coherent plan devised and authorised by the state that set out the framework of a Scottish railway network. It demonstrates that the remote northern railway system was founded upon the cogent strategic planning of regional interests based in Aberdeen and Inverness. It illustrates the substantial economies achieved in the costs of establishing northern railways compared to earlier railway development to the south, and the significance of local investment within them, increasingly made for the future indirect returns anticipated from national trade and improved land values. The critical importance of temporary credit in the financing of northern railways is highlighted and, in particular, the major role played by the banking sector

    A stable environment: surrogacy and the good life in Scotland

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    In this thesis I describe the claims that a group of people living in rural Scotland make about maternal surrogacy. For them, surrogacy is a topical issue that provokes speculative ethical judgements. This is in a context in which they are building good lives, strongly informed by environmentalist �ethical living� and local wildlife conservation. I describe the kinds of ideas they employ and reproduce in discussing the ethics of surrogacy to capture the nuanced judgements that go into ethical claim-making. I argue that, in order to understand these people�s ideas about what is natural and what is moral, they should be considered along with their more ordinary ideas and practices. I describe how some of the same concepts they use to talk about surrogacy figure in their conceptions of goodness and what makes a good life, in order to both contextualise and extend their ideas about the ethics of surrogacy. Through ethnography of their everyday lives, I show the importance of effort and care in the making of relationships with other people, animals and the land and in fashioning an ethical subjectivity. I analyse the connections between nature, kinship and ethics in lives that are structured by efforts to protect the natural world, feel closer to other people and experience a fulfilling life. I examine the importance of choice and money in enabling these lives and raise questions about the location and status of transcendent values in contemporary Britain. I discuss the temporal orientation of these people in relation to the influence of environmentalist ideas of impending ecological crisis and consider how this links with their ideas about how to live in the present as well as how these connect up with their ideas about parenthood and kinship

    An economic history of the distilling industry in Scotland, 1750 - 1914

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    Scanned copy in 2 volumesTypescriptThis historical survey of the Scotch whisky industry attempts to cover the period from the late eighteenth century when distilleries first emerge as commercial enterprises in Scotland, through the changes of the nineteenth century to the outbreak of the First World War. The study opens with a short introduction, which is followed by observations on the nature and state of distilling in Scotland, based on the Old Statistical Account, and by an examination of the legislative framework affecting the industry up to the year 1823. The problems of illicit distillation, such as the attitudes of landowners, and the Excise authorities, the supply of equipment, and whisky smuggling, are treated in a separate section. The proliferation of licensed pot still distilleries in the early nineteenth century is supported by case studies of individual entrepreneurs and their business activities, while the problems of the Lowland capitalist distillers are considered in a section devoted to the enterprises of the Stein family, which spans the years from c.1780 to c. 1840. The innovation of the patent still, producing alcohol by continuous distillation, took place from 1826 onwards, and it had profound effects on the structure of the Scotch whisky industry. A consideration of the changes associated with the patent still culminates in a study of the rise of the Distillers' Company Ltd. A gap in business records from 1840 to 1860 is partially bridged by material from the New Statistical Account and other contemporary sources, as well as by a review of legislative modifications during the nineteenth century. The expansion which distilling in Scotland enjoyed from 1870 to 1898 is discussed under the title of 'The Great Distillery Promotion'. This phase came to an abrupt end with the collapse of the firm of Pattisons, Ltd., of Leith, which was a substantial blending and broking organisation. The events of the period 1887 to 1914 are described from the records provided by William Grant & Sons, Ltd., Glasgow, and these demonstrate the problems of establishing a new distillery, and of promoting trade in blended whiskies both in the home market and abroad. This economic history of the Scotch whisky industry is concluded with an investigation of whisky blending, the conflicts which it provoked, such as the 'What is Whisky Case' of 1905, and the subsequent appointment of a Royal Commission in 1908, whose findings confirmed the arrival of blended Scotch whisky. The account also traces the effect of government interference on the Scotch whisky industry, which has proved such a lucrative producer of revenue and foreign exchange for the British economy.This historical survey of the Scotch whisky industry attempts to cover the period from the late eighteenth century when distilleries first emerge as commercial enterprises in Scotland, through the changes of the nineteenth century to the outbreak of the First World War. The study opens with a short introduction, which is followed by observations on the nature and state of distilling in Scotland, based on the Old Statistical Account, and by an examination of the legislative framework affecting the industry up to the year 1823. The problems of illicit distillation, such as the attitudes of landowners, and the Excise authorities, the supply of equipment, and whisky smuggling, are treated in a separate section. The proliferation of licensed pot still distilleries in the early nineteenth century is supported by case studies of individual entrepreneurs and their business activities, while the problems of the Lowland capitalist distillers are considered in a section devoted to the enterprises of the Stein family, which spans the years from c.1780 to c. 1840. The innovation of the patent still, producing alcohol by continuous distillation, took place from 1826 onwards, and it had profound effects on the structure of the Scotch whisky industry. A consideration of the changes associated with the patent still culminates in a study of the rise of the Distillers' Company Ltd. A gap in business records from 1840 to 1860 is partially bridged by material from the New Statistical Account and other contemporary sources, as well as by a review of legislative modifications during the nineteenth century. The expansion which distilling in Scotland enjoyed from 1870 to 1898 is discussed under the title of 'The Great Distillery Promotion'. This phase came to an abrupt end with the collapse of the firm of Pattisons, Ltd., of Leith, which was a substantial blending and broking organisation. The events of the period 1887 to 1914 are described from the records provided by William Grant & Sons, Ltd., Glasgow, and these demonstrate the problems of establishing a new distillery, and of promoting trade in blended whiskies both in the home market and abroad. This economic history of the Scotch whisky industry is concluded with an investigation of whisky blending, the conflicts which it provoked, such as the 'What is Whisky Case' of 1905, and the subsequent appointment of a Royal Commission in 1908, whose findings confirmed the arrival of blended Scotch whisky. The account also traces the effect of government interference on the Scotch whisky industry, which has proved such a lucrative producer of revenue and foreign exchange for the British economy

    8th European Vertebrate Pest Management Conference Berlin, Germany, 26-30 September 2011 - Book of Abstracts -

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    The 8th European Vertebrate Pest Management Conference was held 26-30 September 2011 in Berlin, Germany.  It was organised by the Vertebrate Research Group of Julius Kßhn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants and the Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture of Humboldt University. The Conference is a biennial meeting of people interested in various aspects of vertebrate pest management. Overabundant vertebrate populations can be responsible for crop loss, public and animal health concerns, structural damage and confl icts with conservation interests. The conference is a forum for all involved in basic research in vertebrate biology, ecology, methodology, legislation and the application of these topics in wildlife management.The intention of the meeting was to foster the interaction of experts from Europe and beyond specializing in diff erent fi elds of applied and basic vertebrate research because thorough knowledge of all relevant aspects is a vital prerequisite to make informed decisions in vertebrate pest management. This book of abstracts summarizes all contributions that were presented in 9 symposia: 1) Fertility control in vertebrates, 2) Invasive vertebrates, 3) Management of birds, 4) New tools and methods - alternatives to anticoagulants including a workshop, 5) Population dynamics and management of mammals, 6) Rodenticide resistance and management of commensal rodents, 7) Vertebrate management in developing/emerging countries, 8) Wild boar biology and management, and 9) Zoonotic diseases in vertebrates
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