Ocean governance: the New Zealand dimension

  The Oceans Governance project was funded by the Emerging Issues Programme, overseen by the Institute of Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. Its primary goal is to provide interested members of the public and policymakers with a general overview and a description of the types of principles, planning tools and policy instruments that can be used to strengthen and improve marine governance in New Zealand. The major findings of this study are that the existing marine governance framework in New Zealand emphasises a traditional sector-by-sector approach to management and planning and that this fragmented governance framework contributes to a number of institutional challenges. In addition, the study identifies a number of factors that influence marine planning and decision-making in the country, including but not limited to; the relationships between economic use of marine resources and the maintenance of marine ecosystem services and goods; Māori interests, perspectives and treaty obligations; the role of international treaties and conventions; the synergistic and cumulative impacts of multiple use and climate disturbance on marine ecosystems, and the role of scientists and science in marine planning and decision-making.The report makes two general recommendations.  First, with respect to the territorial sea (which includes the marine area out to 12 nautical miles) the report recommends that regional councils develop integrative marine plans where conflict between users and users-ecosystems is likely to develop in the future.  Second, the report recommends the adoption of new role for central government to support an ecosystem-based approach to integrative marine planning and decision-making

Living up to the brand: greening Aotearoa’s marine policy

The recent oil spill in the Bay of Plenty along the east coast of New Zealand has intensified debate over the future of marine activities in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). An estimated 350 tonnes of oil has leaked from 775-foot vessel Rena, which struck the Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty on 5 October 2011. The vessel subsequently broke in two and much of it is now under water. Large numbers of containers have been washed up on the shore or have sunk. Well over 1,300 birds have died as a result of the spill, but this number of marine life casualties is an estimate at best. The spill is New Zealand’s worst environmental disaster in decades. Yet these are the types of impacts that can occur when marine areas are developed or used in areas of close proximity to sensitive island and coastal marine ecosystems of high biodiversity value.&nbsp

Public Subjects: Wayne State, Institutional Texts, And Public Rhetoric

Applying a public sphere approach to Wayne State, I argue that the university has defined itself as a public subject within public debates about race, educational access, and economic development in the city of Detroit, even when such commitments to its local urban public sphere have existed uneasily alongside its ambition to function as a research university with a primary research mission within a wider public sphere of peer research universities. I focus on Wayne State University’s urban mission and open for consideration the ways the university has both expanded and contracted its relationships to its local and academic public spheres in the past century and a half. This argument is developed by tracing the past, present, and possible future of the University’s urban mission through readings of what I identify as institutional texts—texts created by, within, or on behalf of the University which make legible the ways in which Wayne State’s role within its constituent publics has been continuously articulated and rearticulated since its founding nearly 150 years ago. The work in this dissertation contributes to scholarship in publics theory and public rhetoric, first, by arguing that tensions between publics are legibly inscribed in institutional texts; and second, by demonstrating a critical methodology for understanding institutions as public subjects

Synthesis and Coordination Chemistry of Azulene- and Ferrocene-Based Isocyanide Ligands

Nonbenzenoid aromatic isocyanides feature attractive structural and electronic properties for the potential design of optoelectronic devices. Prior to the work of Barybin and coworkers, examples of nonbenzenoid isocyanides were limited to isocyanoferrocene and 1,1'-diisocyanoferrocene. This thesis describes the design of nonbenzenoid isocyanides featuring ferrocene and/or azulene moieties. The first nonbenzenoid aromatic isocyanide featuring both azulene and ferrocene in one molecule is described. Electrochemical results indicate stable redox activity leading to the potential use in the design of redox-addressable materials. A new bis-iridium complex of 1,1'-diisocyanoferrocene was synthesized and showed the possible existence of two isomeric forms when in solution. Redox properties indicate reversibility which is likely iron-based. Preliminary crystallographic data for this complex features a symmetrical structure with C-N-C angles of approximately 176°. A synthetic pathway for the formation of 2,2'-diisocyano-6,6'-biazulenylacetylene π-linker is documented. This diisocyanide exhibits a relatively stable stepwise two-electron reduction process on the electrochemical time scale indicating the likelihood of a closed shell dianion. Coordination chemistry of the mono and dinuclear tungsten diisocyanide complexes illustrates evidence for a metal-to-bridge charge-transfer. A self assembled monolayer of the ligand coordinated to Au(111) indicates an upright orientation when on the surface. Synthesis of a tetranuclear(I) gold rectangle featuring the 2,2'-diisocyano-6,6'-biazulenyl linker is presented and its interesting luminescent properties will be compared to relevant complexes. A crystallographically defined half gold ring featuring the 2-isocyanoazulenyl moiety exhibits an aurophilic interaction between two Au(I) centers. An optimized regioselective amination of 2,2'-biazuene is presented in good yield. This ligand undergoes a stepwise, reversible two-electron reduction according to an electrochemical study . This ligand acts as a precursor to the targeted 6-isocyano-2,2'-biazulene. The formation of a self assembled monolayer featuring 6-isocyano-2,2'-biazulene coordinated in an upright fashion on a Au(111) surface is mentioned. The first accessible planar-chiral isocyanide ligand is presented in high enantiomerically purity. This ligand exhibits robust redox activity upon coordination on the electrochemical time scale. Results from the electrochemical studies in addition to the other spectroscopic evidence will be presented

Ocean Governance: The New Zealand Dimension Full Report

The primary goal of this report is to provide interested members of the public and policymakers with a general overview and a description of the types of principles, planning tools, and policy instruments that can be used to strengthen and improve marine governance in New Zealand. As extractive uses (hydrocarbons and minerals, in particular) ramp up and others are explored and brought on line in the marine areas of New Zealand, the need will increase for a more integrative, ecosystem-based approach to marine governance. This study is based on the following types of analysis: • a review of the literature on the existing governance framework in New Zealand • a comprehensive review of the scientific literature on integrative, ecosystem-based marine governance • an evaluation of case study materials on offshore oil and gas development, marine aquaculture, marine life protection, and marine minerals exploration • a examination of New Zealand’s marine policies and legislation • a synthesis of materials and input from participants in the project’s four workshops on the subjects of marine farming, aquaculture, marine science and technology, and marine governance • an assessment of the information and materials gained from a series of confidential, one-on-one and group interviews, conducted in person or by telephone during 2010 and 2011, with a selection of ocean stakeholders including academics, members of non-government organizations, regional and national resource managers, members of the public service, and representatives of major ocean industries, such as offshore oil, commercial fishing, and mining interests. The major findings of this study are that the existing marine governance framework in New Zealand emphasises a traditional sector-by-sector approach to management and planning, and that this fragmented governance framework contributes to a number of institutional challenges, such as: • a spatial and temporal overlap of human activities and their objectives, causing conflicts (user–user and user–ecosystem conflicts) • a lack of connection between the various authorities responsible for individual activities • a lack of connection between offshore activities and resource use and onshore communities that are dependent on them • a lack of protection of culturally and ecologically sensitive marine areas. In addition, the study identifies a number of factors that influence marine planning and decision-making in the country, including but not limited to: • a lack of institutional capacity and capability to govern marine resources and address ecosystem issues across administrative jurisdictions and management sectors • general scientific uncertainty and a paucity of information with respect to the resources and the more general ecological features of the marine area • the relationships between economic use of marine resources and the maintenance of marine ecosystem services and goods • Māori interests, perspectives and treaty obligations • increasing pressures from the use of marine areas, including the impacts of terrestrial inputs from coastal waterways on nearshore marine ecosystems and resources • the role of international treaties and conventions • the synergistic and cumulative impacts of multiple use and climate disturbance on marine ecosystems • the role of scientists and science in marine planning and decision-making. This report describes two general recommendations. First, with respect to the territorial sea (which includes the marine area out to 12 nautical miles) the report recommends that regional councils develop integrative marine plans where conflict between users and users-ecosystems is likely to develop in the future. Second, the report recommends the adoption of a new role for central government to support an ecosystem-based approach to integrative marine planning and decision-making. Within central government, stronger interagency coordination and new public policy are needed to address future marine resource conflicts and to support an ecosystem-based approach to integrative marine planning and collaborative decision- making for the EEZ. There is also a new role for place-based collaborative decision-making and planning to address conflicts in marine areas that are likely to be developed in the future. A range of new principles of marine governance, planning tools and policy instruments are described that support a marine ecosystem-based approach to integrative planning across management sectors for the EEZ

Reflections on the Ostroms’ Contributions to the Social Sciences

Keynote memorial address and panel discussion of the life and work of Elinor Ostro

Symmetric Entrenchment: A Constitutional and Normative Theory

In this article, we defend the traditional rule that legislative entrenchment, the practice by which a legislature insulates ordinary statutes from repeal by a subsequent legislature, is both unconstitutional and normatively undesirable. A recent essay by Professors Eric Posner and Adrian Vermeule disputes this rule against legislative entrenchment and provides the occasion for our review of the issue. First, we argue that legislative entrenchment is unconstitutional, offering the first comprehensive defense of the proposition that the original meaning of the Constitution prohibits legislative entrenchments. We show that a combination of textual, historical, and structural arguments make a very compelling case against the constitutionality of legislative entrenchment. In particular, the Framers incorporated into the Constitution the traditional Anglo-American practice against legislative entrenchment, as evidenced by early comments by James Madison - comments that have not been previously discussed in this context. Moreover, legislative entrenchment essentially would allow Congress to use majority rule to pass constitutional amendments. On the normative issue, we offer a new theory of the appropriate scope of entrenchment: the theory of symmetric entrenchment. Under our theory, there is a strong presumption that only symmetric entrenchments - entrenchments that are enacted under the same supermajority rule that is needed to repeal them - are desirable. The presumption helps to distinguish desirable entrenchments that would improve upon government decisions from undesirable ones that simply involve legislatures protecting their existing preferences against future repeal. To be desirable entrenchments must generally be symmetric, because the supermajority rule that is applied to the enactment of entrenched measures would improve the quality of these measures and therefore compensate for the additional dangers that entrenchments pose. This theory steers a middle path between a strict majoritarian position, which would prohibit all legislative entrenchments, and a position that would allow legislative majorities to entrench measures