Heritage designation and scale: a World Heritage case study of the Ningaloo Coast

© 2015 Tod Jones, Roy Jones and Michael Hughes As heritage research has engaged with a greater plurality of heritage practices, scale has emerged as an important concept in Heritage Studies, albeit relatively narrowly defined as hierarchical levels (household, local, national, etcetera). This paper argues for a definition of scale in heritage research that incorporates size (geographical scale), level (vertical scale) and relation (an understanding that scale is constituted through dynamic relationships in specific contexts). The paper utilises this definition of scale to analyse heritage designation first through consideration of changing World Heritage processes, and then through a case study of the world heritage designation of the Ningaloo Coast region in Western Australia. Three key findings are: both scale and heritage gain appeal because they are abstractions, and gain definition through the spatial politics of interrelationships within specific situations; the spatial politics of heritage designation comes into focus through attention to those configurations of size, level and relation that are invoked and enabled in heritage processes; and researchers choice to analyse or ignore particular scales and scalar politics are political decisions. Utilising scale as size, level and relation enables analyses that move beyond heritage to the spatial politics through which all heritage is constituted

Consolidated list of publications, reports and conference presentations by staff of and consultants to the Supervising Scientist 1978-30 June 2003

Made available by the Northern Territory Library via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).Date:2003-1

Transformative Science Education

How can we prepare science teachers with professional knowledge and skills for ensuring that teaching and curricula meet the global challenges of the twenty-first century, among which learning to live sustainably on planet Earth is one of our most pressing concerns? Education for environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability has been a key focus of the United Nations for the past decade, underpinned by the Brundtland Report’s advocacy of an “intergenerational conscience” which recognizes that meeting the needs of the present should not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (UNWCED 1987). The recent “Rio + 20” United Nations conference on sustainable development ratified this view

Integrated assessment of wetland services and values as a tool to analyse policy trade-offs and management options : a case study in the Daly and Mary River catchments, northern Australia

This report presents the results of a study carried out between May 2004 and May 2005 as a contribution to the Tropical Rivers Inventory and Assessment Project (TRIAP) of Australia's Tropical Rivers Program. The aim was to provide a framework for the analysis of the ecosystem services provided by the wetland and riverine ecosystems of northern Australia. The analyses drew heavily on the conceptual framework provided by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) where ecosystem services were defined as 'the benefits people obtain from ecosystems'. These benefits include: provisioning services such as food and water; regulating services such as flood and disease control; cultural services such as spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits; and supporting services such as nutrient cycling that maintain the conditions for life on earth. The term 'ecosystem services' is now broadly used to encompass what can also be referred to as ecosystem goods and services and/or ecosystem functions and, at times, also environmental services. For the purposes of this report ? given that the study was undertaken using the recognised 'function analysis framework' ? the terms ecosystem services and functions are considered to be interchangeable unless a distinction is made otherwise. In accordance with the above, an assessment of the ecosystem services and values (ecological, socio-cultural and economic) of selected wetlands in northern Australia (with a focus on the Daly and Mary River catchments) was undertaken and the results incorporated into a practical framework and guidelines for integrated assessment and valuation of wetland services. Relevant policies and management strategies that address wetland functions and services in the Daly and Mary River catchments were analysed and trade-offs that contributed to the development of options for the sustainable 'multi-functional use' of the wetlands highlighted. The assessment entailed consultation and active involvement with many stakeholders, such as governmental organisations, local associations and corporations, NGOs and community-based groups, and land-owners and managers to collect information and incorporate their views and respective interests. As this was a pilot study, the level of focus was primarily at the institutional level; more interviews would be needed to sufficiently quantify results on an individual basis, for example, for farming or Aboriginal communities. The benefits of this approach were multiple in that it enabled the collation and analysis of existing information that could be used to support existing conservation, natural resource management, and social initiatives within the study areas and identified information gaps. In this respect it was based on the outcomes and approaches suggested in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment for undertaking social and ecosystem-based analyses in complex systems.Made available by the Northern Territory Library via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).1. Introduction -- 2. Framework and guidelines for integrated assessment of wetland services and values -- 3. Inventory of ecosystem services provided by wetlands in the Northern Territory -- 4. Ecological importance of wetlands in the Northern Territory -- 5. Socio-cultural importance of wetlands -- 6. Economic value of goods and services -- 7. Stakeholder analysis -- 8. Policy and institutional analysis -- 9. Management implications -- 10. Discussion -- 11. Recommendations -- References.Date:2008-09Cover title