28 research outputs found
Linking adaptation science to action to build food secure Pacific Island communities
Climate change is a major threat to food security in Pacific Island countries, with declines in
food production and increasing variability in food supplies already evident across the region. Such impacts have already led to observed consequences for human health, safety
and economic prosperity. Enhancing the adaptive capacity of Pacific Island communities is
one way to reduce vulnerability and is underpinned by the extent to which people can
access, understand and use new knowledge to inform their decision-making processes.
However, effective engagement of Pacific Island communities in climate adaption remains
variable and is an ongoing and significant challenge. Here, we use a qualitative research
approach to identify the impediments to engaging Pacific Island communities in the adaptations needed to safeguard food security. The main barriers include cultural differences
between western science and cultural knowledge, a lack of trust among local communities
and external scientists, inappropriate governance structures, and a lack of political and technical support. We identify the importance of adaptation science, local social networks,
key actors (i.e., influential and trusted individuals), and relevant forms of knowledge
exchange as being critical to overcoming these barriers. We also identify the importance
of co-ordination with existing on-ground activities to effectively leverage, as opposed to
duplicating, capacity
Complex resource supply chains display higher resilience to simulated climate shocks
Global resource supply chains deliver products such as fish, rice and minerals from producers to consumers around the world, linking disparate regions and economies. These supply chains are increasingly exposed to the impacts of a changing climate, yet receive little attention relative to the study of the production phase. Too often, business learns from experience if and how their supply chains can withstand and recover from climate shocks with little insight on proactively developing climate resilient supply chains. We use a network-based simulation
approach to estimate the resilience of supply chains, particularly to disruption experienced during climaterelated
extreme events. We consider supply chain examples from three Australian resource industries – fisheries,
agriculture and mining – that have experienced climate shocks in recent years. We derive four supply chain
indices – evenness, resilience, continuity of supply and climate resilience – to estimate the performance of simple
and complex supply chains in each industry. As with ecological systems, we show that complex supply chains
with a large number of nodes and links are more resilient to disruption. Critically, all chains, regardless of their
complexity, will have diminished resilience as climate disruptions become more frequent. This highlights the
importance of considering the broader economic benefits of diversified chains, leading to risk reduction and
improved design post-disruption. It also reinforces the importance of a systems approach to risk management in
supply chains, particularly in considering adaptation options for addressing direct and indirect impacts on the
chain as well as the global challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.This work was supported by CSIRO Land and Water
How to Overcome the Equivalent Mutant Problem and Achieve Tailored Selective Mutation Using Co-evolution
The use of Genetic Algorithms in evolution of mutants and test cases offers new possibilities in addressing some of the main problems of mutation testing. Most specifically the problem of equivalent mutant detection, and the problem of the large number of mutants produced. In this paper we describe the above problems in detail and introduce a new methodology based on co-evolutionary search techniques using Genetic Algorithms in order to address them effectively. Co-evolution allows the parallel evolution of mutants and test cases. We discuss the advantages of this approach over other existing mutation testing techniques, showing details of some initial experimental results carried out