RRS Discovery Cruise 365, 11 May-02 Jun 2011. The Extended Ellett Line 2011

The Extended Ellett Line is a full-depth hydrographic section between Iceland, 60°N 20°W, Rockall and Scotland. The original Ellett Line across the Rockall Trough was first occupied in 1975 when measurements were attempted four times a year. In 1996 the line was extended to Iceland and since then has been occupied approximately annually. The data form a 35 year time series of the oceanic conditions west of the British Isles.The section monitors the characteristics of the warm water inflow into the Nordic Seas and thence to the Arctic, and observes part of the returning cold water outflow with easurements of the Iceland-Scotland Overflow and the overflow of the Wyville-Thomson Ridge into the Rockall Trough.The 2011 occupation, RRS Discovery cruise 365, was curtailed by both technical problems and bad weather. 45 of the 48 CTD stations were worked between the Iceland and Scotland shelf edges. Line G, part of the SAMS observation network of the Scottish continental shelf was partially completed, with 4 stations at the western end not worked. Samples were taken for CFC and SF6 analysis, DIC and alkalinity, inorganic nutrients, aluminium, POC, bacterial abundance and biomass, and for phytoplankton community structure. Plans to repeat stations, to collect validation data for the SAMS glider and to investigate eddies in the Rockall Trough had to be abandoned

Historical Exploration - Learning Lessons from the Past to Inform the Future

This report examines a number of exploration campaigns that have taken place during the last 700 years, and considers them from a risk perspective. The explorations are those led by Christopher Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Franklin, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Company of Scotland to Darien and the Apollo project undertaken by NASA. To provide a wider context for investigating the selected exploration campaigns, we seek ways of finding analogies at mission, programmatic and strategic levels and thereby to develop common themes. Ultimately, the purpose of the study is to understand how risk has shaped past explorations, in order to learn lessons for the future. From this, we begin to identify and develop tools for assessing strategic risk in future explorations. Figure 0.1 (see Page 6) summarizes the key inputs used to shape the study, the process and the results, and provides a graphical overview of the methodology used in the project. The first step was to identify the potential cases that could be assessed and to create criteria for selection. These criteria were collaboratively developed through discussion with a Business Historian. From this, six cases were identified as meeting our key criteria. Preliminary analysis of two of the cases allowed us to develop an evaluation framework that was used across all six cases to ensure consistency. This framework was revised and developed further as all six cases were analyzed. A narrative and summary statistics were created for each exploration case studied, in addition to a method for visualizing the important dimensions that capture major events. These Risk Experience Diagrams illustrate how the realizations of events, linked to different types of risks, have influenced the historical development of each exploration campaign. From these diagrams, we can begin to compare risks across each of the cases using a common framework. In addition, exploration risks were classified in terms of mission, program and strategic risks. From this, a Venn diagram and Belief Network were developed to identify how different exploration risks interacted. These diagrams allow us to quickly view the key risk drivers and their interactions in each of the historical cases. By looking at the context in which individual missions take place we have been able to observe the dynamics within an exploration campaign, and gain an understanding of how these interact with influences from stakeholders and competitors. A qualitative model has been created to capture how these factors interact, and are further challenged by unwanted events such as mission failures and competitor successes. This Dynamic Systemic Risk Model is generic and applies broadly to all the exploration ventures studied. This model is an amalgamation of a System Dynamics model, hence incorporating the natural feedback loops within each exploration mission, and a risk model, in order to ensure that the unforeseen events that may occur can be incorporated into the modeling. Finally, an overview is given of the motivational drivers and summaries are presented of the overall costs borne in each exploration venture. An important observation is that all the cases - with the exception of Apollo - were failures in terms of meeting their original objectives. However, despite this, several were strategic successes and indeed changed goals as needed in an entrepreneurial way. The Risk Experience Diagrams developed for each case were used to quantitatively assess which risks were realized most often during our case studies and to draw comparisons at mission, program and strategic levels. In addition, using the Risk Experience Diagrams and the narrative of each case, specific lessons for future exploration were identified. There are three key conclusions to this study: Analyses of historical cases have shown that there exists a set of generic risk classes. This set of risk classes cover mission, program and strategic levels, and includes all the risks encountered in the cases studied. At mission level these are Leadership Decisions, Internal Events and External Events; at program level these are Lack of Learning, Resourcing and Mission Failure; at Strategic Level they are Programmatic Failure, Stakeholder Perception and Goal Change. In addition there are two further risks that impact at all levels: Self-Interest of Actors, and False Model. There is no reason to believe that these risk classes will not be applicable to future exploration and colonization campaigns. We have deliberately selected a range of different exploration and colonization campaigns, taking place between the 15th Century and the 20th Century. The generic risk framework is able to describe the significant types of risk for these missions. Furthermore, many of these risks relate to how human beings interact and learn lessons to guide their future behavior. Although we are better schooled than our forebears and are technically further advanced, there is no reason to think we are fundamentally better at identifying, prioritizing and controlling these classes of risk. Modern risk modeling techniques are capable of addressing mission and program risk but are not as well suited to strategic risk. We have observed that strategic risks are prevalent throughout historic exploration and colonization campaigns. However, systematic approaches do not exist at the moment to analyze such risks. A risk-informed approach to understanding what happened in the past helps us guard against the danger of assuming that those events were inevitable, and highlights those chance events that produced the history that the world experienced. In turn, it allows us to learn more clearly from the past about the way our modern risk modeling techniques might help us to manage the future - and also bring to light those areas where they may not. This study has been retrospective. Based on this analysis, the potential for developing the work in a prospective way by applying the risk models to future campaigns is discussed. Follow on work from this study will focus on creating a portfolio of tools for assessing strategic and programmatic risk

Economic contribution of the whale-watching industry for the Madeira Archipelago

The beauty of Madeira does not finish with just wonderful landscapes and mountains, tropical gardens, old villages and famed wines. Water that surrounds the island is filled with so much beauty too. In the Archipelago of Madeira, we can observe around 35% of the worldwide species of marine mammals. Whale-watching in Madeira is a quite recent but fast-growing activity. The commercial activity of whale-watching began on the south coast of Madeira in the beginning of 2000s. Nowadays there are more than 12 companies dedicated to this business. Most of them are located in the main island of Madeira but there is also one in Porto Santo doing whale-watching during the touristic season. I had a great opportunity to make my master degree project in cooperation with “Ventura| Nature emotion” company. It is a nature tourism company based in Madeira Island, Portugal with a clear ambition – organizing birdwatching tours, whale and dolphin watching tours and outdoor activities around Madeira Island, Desertas islands and Selvagens islands on a classic sailing boat. During my 9-month internship, I worked in the sea and on the land. The internship program has offered me a great opportunity to grow and develop. Working in “Ventura| Nature emotion” as an intern was not only an honor and privilege but a lifelong experience that will forever shape my professional life. I have studied detailed information of marine life of the Madeira Archipelago, learnt the operation system of an ecotourism company business and obtained financial data about whale-watching activity which I used for my final innovation study. Moreover, the background of my first degree in finances was an advantage to develop the proposed study. The main goal of this innovation study is to calculate the economic contribution of the whale-watching industry to the Madeira archipelago in 2015, and to show all financial benefits that each individual species and each individual animal brings to the community. The total direct income from the 12 main companies which conduct whale-watching activity in Madeira Archipelago in 2015 amounted €4 186 364.For this innovation study, we used a few qualitative methods: document analysis, client interviews, active observations and sighting data analysis. By combining data from the active participation of marine- life observation and numbers from whale-watching operators, it was possible to estimate the direct economic contribution of whale-watching. By client interviews, we identified target audience for this kind of activity and key ideas of promotion strategy for whale-watching. This can help to promote Madeira Island as a worldwide whalewatching destination. Finally, directions of future work in a field of whale watching activity in the Madeira Archipelago were determined. This innovation study includes abstract, 5 chapters, conclusion, bibliography and annex.A beleza da Madeira não se baseia apenas nas suas paisagens magnificas. Montanhas, jardins tropicais, aldeias e vinhos famosos. O mar está repleto de muitas belezas. No arquipélago da Madeira podemos observar cerca de 35% de espécies de mamíferos marinhos, a nível mundial. Observação de baleias na Madeira é uma atividade recente, mas com crescimento rápido. A atividade comercial relacionada com observação de baleias começou na parte sul da ilha nos anos 90. Atualmente existem mais de 12 companhias dedicadas a este tipo de negocio. Maior parte está localizada na ilha da Madeira com algumas a praticarem esta atividade no Porto Santo durante o verão que existe mais atividade turística. Tive uma grande oportunidade para realizar o meu projeto de mestrado com a companhia de animação turística “Ventura| Nature emotion”. Esta empresa pratica turismo de natureza baseada na ilha da Madeira. Tem uma ambição clara – organizar atividade de observação de aves, observação de baleias e golfinhos e atividades nas redondezas da ilha da Madeira como por exemplo visitar as ilhas Desertas e Selvagens. Durante o meu estagio de 9 meses trabalhei no mar e em terra. O estágio proporcionou-me a possibilidade de crescer e me desenvolver. Trabalhar com a “Ventura| Nature emotion”, a título de estagiária, não só foi uma honra como um privilegio, mas também uma experiência que irá ter um marco significativo na minha vida profissional. Estudei detalhadamente informações relacionadas com a vida marinha do arquipélago da Madeira, aprendi o modo de operação de uma companhia com vertentes no ecoturismo e obti data financeira sobre a atividade de observação de baleias que utilizei nas minhas calculações finais. A minha licenciatura anterior em finanças foi uma mais valia para o desenvolvimento do estudo proposto. O principal objetivo de este estudo de inovação é de calcular a contribuição económica da industria da observação de baleias no arquipélago da Madeira em 2015, de modo a apresentar todos os benefícios financeiros que cada espécie individual de animal trás á comunidade. Os proveitos directos dos 12 principais empresas que desenvolvem atividade de observação de baleias no arquipélago da Madeira em 2015 totalizaram € 4 186 364. Para este estudo de inovação nós usamos alguns métodos qualificativos: analise de documentos, inquéritos a clientes, observação ativa e obtenção de data. Combinando informações através de uma participação ativa de vida marinha e números fornecidos por operadores de observação de baleias é possível estimar a contribuição direta a nível económico da observação de baleias. Podemos identificar o publico alvo através de inquéritos aos clientes para este tipo de atividade e delinear novas estratégias de promoção para esta atividade. Estas ações podem ajudar a promover o destino Madeira a nível mundial como um destino de excelência para a observação de baleias. Por fim, foram determinadas a direção que deve prosseguir esta atividade. Este estudo de inovação inclui o abstrato, 5 capítulos, conclusão, bibliografia e anexo

Knowing Where To Hit It: A Conceptual Framework for the Sustainable Development of the Himalayas

This paper originated in a short exploratory piece of work for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in the nature of a "strategic reconnaissance" of a complex knot of environmental-social problems. However, early forays indicated strong underlying parallels with issues being explored in other case studies in the Institutional Settings and Environmental Policies (INS) project at IIASA. For this reason, and despite its limited external resources, the Himalaya work written up here took its place as one part of a troika INS project, that also involved research on hazardous waste management and on energy policy modeling. Though the main effort has been on hazardous waste management, the intellectual connections between these apparently diverse research fields have proved most instructive. These connections have to do with the ways in which uncertainties (both technical and social) are defined by institutions, especially regulatory and policy analytic bodies. The thrust of research on all these fronts has been to better characterise different kinds of uncertainty and to explore the origins and policy implications of conflicting problem definitions. The practical aim in this effort has been to encourage better policy design. An understanding of the institutional roots of uncertainty and of multiple problem definitions opens the way for an anticipatory style of policy formulation that is capable of evaluating the implementability, and thus viability, of different policy options and institutional arrangements. This strategic concern is a direct evolution from the previous work of the Risk Group--the predecessor to INS

THE ROLE OF SHARKS IN THE HUMAN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS OF ISLA CEDROS, BAJA CALIFORNIA

Remains of sharks are found worldwide in various archaeological contexts, but generally, the relationships between humans and sharks have been rare research topics. This thesis will present and discuss the shark remains found during the archaeological investigations at Isla Cedros, an island off the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula. I will discuss the distinct species of sharks in the assemblage, the types of remains, the contexts they were found in, and incorporate what is known about each species to interpret the diverse types of relationships humans have with sharks at Cedros. By incorporating human-behavioral ecology and symbolic behavior frameworks, I will discuss how the sharks’ role in human ecological systems may influence behavior and ideology

Small scale sport events and sustainability: A case study in Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile

Small-scale sport events have been argued to be sustainable form of tourism development for communities (Gibson, 1999). The purpose of this study was to analyze four small-scale sport events all operated by NIGSA (Nómadas International Group SA) in the Magallanes region of Chile. The four events at the core of this study were: Patagonian Expedition Race, Patagonian International Marathon, Ultra Trail Torres del Paine, and the Ultra Fiord which operate partially or completely inside the Torres del Paine National Park. As a biosphere reserve established by the United Nations, Torres del Paine National Park requires a sustainable perspective of event sport tourism. A 2011 alteration of biosphere reserve qualification criteria from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has heightened the need for protection, preservation, and responsible management of Torres del Paine National Park and the small-scale sport events being studied. This document includes sustainability and event sport tourism literature, a detailed methodology, findings and discussion from the data collected, and a few suggestions for the industry and event organizers. This study aimed to reveal development potential or lack thereof as a result of small-scale event sport tourism in the Torres del Paine National Park. Thus, this report addressed the main question: are the annual small-scale sport events hosted by the NIGSA a sustainable form of sport event tourism in a biosphere reserve and its extended host community

Comparative evaluation of the MAZI pilots (version 3)

This deliverable is the third of three, reporting on the comparative evaluation of MAZI pilots (Deliverable 3.10). Across the course of MAZI, the pilots have engaged with communities in different ways, for different purposes. Common to all pilots has been the focus on using and developing the MAZI toolkit in order to facilitate Do-It-Yourself (DIY) networking. This has involved collaborations characterised by inter-disciplinarity, where academic and community partners have worked together to find effective ways of engaging the communities in meaningful ways. In the previous version of this deliverable (D3.9), we defined our analysis methodology, which builds on the logic set out in the first report (D3.8). In this report, we will discuss the results of using of Realist Evaluation (RE) to form case studies (characterised by context, mechanism, outcome configurations) and Activity Theory (AT) to characterise each pilot as a separate activity system. To identify the generative mechanisms, we investigated the tensions and conflicts between the technical and semiotic levels of the pilots’ activity systems. Evidence generated was presented alongside the insights from the MAZI handbook to inform best practice for supporting the MAZI toolkit. Comparing across the pilots’, we reveal tensions and conflicts between the technical and semiotic levels of the activity systems and the generative mechanisms used to meet the project and communities’ objectives. This emphasised the importance of understanding the context, e.g. by valuing the time spent with communities and the importance of learning their language and vocabularies, and respecting others capital. It revealed mechanisms for understanding location, the importance of stories and storytelling, designing collaborative activities and embracing opportunities for conversations. It also echoed the need to identify key roles, guises and actors for DIY networking and the importance of the principle of adding value rather than adding work

The rise of East and Southeast Asians tourists in Europe: the case of Vienna

Travelers from Asia have become a potential alternative for some of the traditional European tourist markets that have stagnated due to the economic crisis. The remarkable recovery of the Japanese market, the exponential growth of Chinese and Korean markets in addition to the high spending power of Thai and Chinese tourists have painted a highly positive scenario for the tourism industry in Vienna. This paper utilizes Vienna as a case study to explore the rise of Asian tourists in Europe. Tourism statistics, media reports and materials of destination marketing organization were analyzed for evaluation of the trends and growth of Asian outbound market to Vienna. The current study contributes to the tourism industry of Austria by highlighting the fragmentations in tourist consumption patterns of tourists from East and Southeast Asia

A hermeneutic investigation of online consumer decision making

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 16/06/2005.This is a multidisciplinary information systems thesis with a strong sociological focus. Theoretically it uses the technical concerns of human-computer interaction as the background to consider the separate theories of consumer decision-making and the diffusion of innovations. Emphasis is placed on understanding how consumers make sense of the Internet and come to define the role and use of the Internet in their lives. A practical framework for hermeneutic investigation was created to access the unreflective thoughts and actions driving online consumer decision-making. Implicit within hermeneutics is the prospect of transcendental interpretations and the ability to investigate in situ new avenues of research that emerge as a result of anomalous comments or findings. Hence, this thesis presents two different, but inter-related, research inquiries and their associated findings. Initial interest was centred on consumer behaviour and interface design. Specifically, can a dedicated 'consumer interface' be designed using principles based on consumer perceptions of online convenience. The resulting data analysis created a framework of advice that interface designers can use to improve their understanding of the nature and limitations of convenient interfaces and associated consumer decision-support technologies. A second research theme emerged from the data analysis which broadened the focus into a consideration of online consumer behaviour as a distinct issue. Specifically, a new from of interactive behaviour prevalent in electronic retail markets was identified and, following a second literature review, labeled "surrogacy". Related in form to the personal shoppers found in traditional marketplaces, surrogacy differs from electronic intermediaries with regard to (i) the motivations of use and (ii) the symbolic and functional benefits of usage. The emergence of this phenomenon suggests that interactions between individuals (as consumers) and Web-based systems are maturing, albeit in a non-predictable manner. Together, the methodological refinements presented here with the accompanying research findings provide a reference point for further work in the following three areas: interface design for electronic marketplaces; Web-based consumer decision support technologies; and the development of interpretive approaches suitable for socio-technical investigations

D3.10 Comparative study of the MAZI pilots (version 3)

This deliverable is the third of three, reporting on the comparative evaluation of MAZI pilots (Deliverable 3.10). Across the course of MAZI, the pilots have engaged with communities in different ways, for different purposes. Common to all pilots has been the focus on using and developing the MAZI toolkit in order to facilitate Do-It-Yourself (DIY) networking. This has involved collaborations characterised by inter-disciplinarity, where academic and community partners have worked together to find effective ways of engaging the communities in meaningful ways. In the previous version of this deliverable (D3.9), we defined our analysis methodology, which builds on the logic set out in the first report (D3.8). In this report, we will discuss the results of using of Realist Evaluation (RE) to form case studies (characterised by context, mechanism, outcome configurations) and Activity Theory (AT) to characterise each pilot as a separate activity system. To identify the generative mechanisms, we investigated the tensions and conflicts between the technical and semiotic levels of the pilots’ activity systems. Evidence generated was presented alongside the insights from the MAZI handbook to inform best practice for supporting the MAZI toolkit. Comparing across the pilots’, we reveal tensions and conflicts between the technical and semiotic levels of the activity systems and the generative mechanisms used to meet the project and communities’ objectives. This emphasised the importance of understanding the context, e.g. by valuing the time spent with communities and the importance of learning their language and vocabularies, and respecting others capital. It revealed mechanisms for understanding location, the importance of stories and storytelling, designing collaborative activities and embracing opportunities for conversations. It also echoed the need to identify key roles, guises and actors for DIY networking and the importance of the principle of adding value rather than adding work