Social inclusion : policy, practice, people and place

In 2010, the UN legitimised social inclusion as a central concept of social policy in Europe and elsewhere. Social inclusion describes the ideal situation whereby individuals can participate in the relevant institutions of society; while conversely social exclusion describes the manifold consequences of poverty and inequality. Through a case study of West-Central Sydney in NSW Australia, this thesis explores how social inclusion outcomes can be enhanced in the older suburbs of one of Sydney’s most culturally diverse sub-regions, by increasing property and neighbourhood value without displacing poorer households. Socio-economic polarisation within suburban Australia over the last twenty years is evidenced by a combination of rising wealth and increasing deprivation. For many in West-Central Sydney there are now more opportunities and more choice, but these are not universally shared. West-Central is the area with Australia’s highest number of new migrants and contains large proportions of low income households and experiences poor employment and education participation rates, high car dependence and limited accessibility to facilities and services. Yet the sub-region is targeted by the NSW government for a substantial population increase, requiring 96,000 new dwellings and 98,000 more jobs by 2036; further stressing the area’s limited resources. Some suburbs suffer multiple deprivation which can have a depressing influence on the life experiences of all living there; whatever their individual circumstances. Following a review of related literature, the research for this thesis adopts a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach to evidence-based research into the wide-ranging interrelated factors impacting on urban regeneration policies. The empirical data draws largely from semi-structured interviews conducted with key regional stakeholders, supplemented with census statistics and information contained in government and industry reports. Examining overseas examples of the effectiveness of government policy interventions to reduce inequality, the thesis demonstrates how a more integrated approach to urban regeneration could be formulated. It explores how such an approach might require combining market demands with innovative public interventions, a better understanding of the drivers of housing and job supply and the role of public transport in the regeneration process; all in the context of an evolving Metropolitan Strategy. The research brings together cross-disciplinary findings and assesses current policy settings which are attempting to deal with West-Central’s problems. Key insights emerge when socio-economic disadvantage is explored through the lens of a social inclusion agenda, revealing the strong association between social exclusion and housing, employment and transport policies, together with the role of individual agencies and structural factors in determining poverty and inequality. Three interwoven conclusions emerge from this research: the first calls for a broader holistic approach to framing policies explicitly endorsing and nurturing social diversity, providing compassionate responses to disadvantage. The second recognises the link between disparate housing, employment and transport policies to strengthen social inclusion and to avoid exacerbating social exclusion. The third requires a review of governance arrangements, to embrace a social inclusion agenda and the development of new skills in sustainable urban management

Novel approaches to catalyst characterization in planar and porous systems

Catalysts are critical to nearly all industrial processes. They transform toxic effluents to more environmentally friendly compounds, they make fiscally unattractive processes economically viable, and reduce the quantities of feedstock needed to make a product. Understanding how a catalyst functions enables one to better utilize a catalyst’s efficacy but can require a host of characterization techniques. This dissertation focuses on characterizing catalysts by transforming them to planar, model systems and by probing high surface area, realistic catalysts with an operando x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) reactor. The operando XAS technique was first validated, then used to probe the WGS reaction over Pt and Au catalysts, then further utilized as a technique for aqueous phase glycerol reforming over a Pt-Mo/C catalyst. Model catalysts were developed such that all the catalytically active material was exposed on the surface of a planar substrate, where surface science studies are well suited. Additionally, an ultra high vacuum (UHV) apparatus with XPS, STM, and a batch reactor was designed, constructed and tested to accommodate these model systems. To create the planar model catalyst, a TiO 2 (110) single crystal was loaded with Pt using two deposition techniques: mass selection deposition (0.03 ML Pt and 0.01 ML Pt) and atomic layer deposition (0.02 ML Pt). Characterization of these surfaces showed them to be heavily contaminated by carbonaceous species and, thus, inactive for ethylene hydrogenation. However, the concept of the model catalyst and the custom built, validated UHV system are expected to be powerful tools for future surface science studies. To create operando catalyst characterization, a fixed-bed, plug-flow reactor was designed and built to allow XAS and kinetic data to be measured simultaneously. Analysis of a well characterized Pd-Zn/Al 2O3 water-gas shift (WGS) catalyst under reaction conditions revealed that the degree of Pd-Zn alloy formation was smaller than what was observed by ex-situ extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), demonstrating the importance of characterizing the catalyst under reaction conditions. In addition to traditional XAS, the reactor was utilized in a novel approach to quantify adsorbates on catalysts under reaction conditions with difference x-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (ΔXANES). This unique type of analysis was critical to understanding why the turnover rate for the WGS reaction of 1.4 nm Au/Al2O3 was approximately 20 times higher than that of 1.6 nm Pt/Al2O3. Adsorption of CO, H 2 or H2O led to changes in the L3 XANES spectra that were used to determine the surface coverage of the individual species. Analysis of the operando ΔXANES led to adsorbate surface coverages during the WGS reaction. The results showed that Pt catalysts adsorb CO, H2, and H2O more strongly than the analogous Au, in agreement with the lower CO reaction order and the observed higher rates over Au. The ability of operando XAS to probe a catalyst while concurrently measuring a reaction rate also has applications in aqueous phase reactions. For the first time, the coverages of H2, CO, and H 2O were measured on the surface of a Pt-Mo/C glycerol reforming catalyst at true reaction conditions, 260 °C and 25 bar, in a 30 wt% glycerol aqueous solution. It was shown that the Pt and Mo form a Pt rich alloy under reaction conditions and that, in a separate gas phase analysis, the Mo enhanced the WGS rate of per total Pt by a factor of 10. Because the WGS reaction and glycerol reforming are so closely linked, as evidenced by the presence of CO on the surface of Pt from XANES analysis and by effluent CO in low CO/CO2 ratios, high throughput WGS experiments are proposed to help select the best glycerol reforming catalysts

Response to Sydney Over the Next 20 Years: A Discussion Paper

We welcome the opportunity to provide comment on the Discussion Paper: Sydney Over the Next 20 Years. This submission arises from the discussions of staff and doctoral students at the Urban Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney. At the outset we make five general statements about inadequacies in the structure and content of the discussion paper and thereby point to what we see as crucial underpinnings of a successful metropolitan strategy for Sydney. While some of the issues we raise are mentioned to a greater or lesser extent in the discussion paper, our view is they require enhanced treatment and more informed discussion than is presently provided

A framework to support personalising prescribed school curricula

There is a recent advocacy for students to experience their learning as personalised, but this expectationposes challenges for teachers tasked with addressing prescribed curricula. In this article, wedraw on relevant literature and our analyses of three case studies to propose a framework withinwhich teachers can achieve both goals. We first clarify what we mean by personalising learning, notingproblems in how it is currently conceptualised and enacted. We suggest that any attempt to supportstudents to personalise their learning needs to be contextualised within broader curriculargoals, and that its developmental nature entails progressions in specific learner capabilities, andtherefore the need for students to be supported in this process. In proposing a framework for thissupport, we focus on general principles around the what and how of this process rather than onparticular discipline areas