Augustine's use of Scripture in the anti-Donatist writings with special reference to the marks of the Church

This thesis investigates and elucidates Augustine's use of Scripture in the anti-Donatist writings, with special reference to the debated issues ofthe catholicity, purity and unity of the church. An introductory chapter sets the context for the study by tracing Augustine's developing engagement both with Donatism and with Scripture from the time ofhis ordination in 391. A further chapter considers the hermeneutical theory, as expounded in the De doctrina Christiana, which informed his exegetical practice during the relevant period. Of special significance for our study is the interpretative function there assigned to caritas and Augustine's adaptation ofthe rules ofTyconius which provided the seed-bed for his own totus Christus construct. In the three main chapters ofthe thesis, an inductive study is offered ofAugustine's polemical handling ofbiblical texts in relation to the debated marks ofthe Christian church, whose nature was of central importance in the theological and biblical debate between Catholics and Donatists. These chapters establish the general consistency ofAugustine's exegetical theory and practice and the literal - figurative (spiritual) interpretative duality in terms ofwhich his handling of Scripture is regularly controlled. Comparison is made between Augustine's differentiated use of Scripture in the treatises and in the preached material. The depth and richness ofthe contribution ofhis figurative exegesis to his distinctive (and anti-Donatist) ecclesiology is explored, with particular attention paid to the function of his totus Christus hermeneutical tool. In the concluding chapter, our study ofAugustine's use of Scripture is related to recent important changes in scholarly assessment ofthe figurative method of interpretation - changes which have paved the way for an appreciation, lacking in the English-reading world for most ofthe twentieth century, of the enduring quality of Augustine's spiritual exegesis

Using positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) to investigate the motion of granular media in a laboratory-scale tumbling mill

Includes bibliographical references.Positron emission particle tracking is a Lagrangian, single particle tracking technique in which the trajectory of a representative tracer particle is triangulated from the decay products of the positron-emitting radioisotope with which it is labelled. Although the trajectories of a tracer particle moving in a bulk of similar particles can be of interest, it is often more informative to employ the ergodic assumption and to thus convert trajectory data in the Lagrangian reference frame of the tracer particle into a fixed Eulerian reference frame. This has, in the past, been done by dividing 3D space into voxels and assigning a location probability density to each voxel based on the number of times that triangulated tracer particle locations fall into it- a process called simple binning. A major outcome of my work has been to develop an alternative probability density based on the cumulative time spent by the tracer particle in a given voxel. This method is called residence time binning, and the resultant probability distribution- which I argue is proportional to, among other things, the mass and solidicity distributions of the tracer particle - the residence time distribution (RTD). In this work I propose, implement and test the residence time binning method, and show that it significantly outperforms the simple binning method in all situations. A second thrust of my work has been to develop a suite of general analysis routines for positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) data, based on the RTD. This suite contains routines for the triangulation, optimisation and pre-processing of PEPT data, as well as for obtaining residence time probability and time-averaged kinematic distributions in 3D space, and for aggregating and visualising the results. I have also extended this general set of routines for the special case of cylindrical symmetry through the addition of routines for the further pre-processing of RTDs, as well as for the calculation of angular measures about an arbitrary axis in space. Finally, I further extended this set of routines for application to tumbling mills. My tumbling mill analysis includes the identification of charge features and regions, and the isolation of charge in each region so-defined for further analysis. These features, particularly the shape of the bulk free and equilibrium surfaces, the angular position of the centre of circulation (CoC) of the charge, and the position of its impact toe allow me to characterise the behaviour of the charge under a range of conditions. This characterisation, together with the shear rate distributions and power draughts that I also calculate, allow me to speak meaningfully about the evolution of grinding regions in tumbling mills- information that could be used to construct charge motion and grinding models to inform the use of tumbling mills in industry. In this work, I apply these analysis routines to a small subset of the experiments performed by the UCT Centre for Minerals Research (CMR) on laboratory-scale tumbling mills, and in so-doing elucidate the behaviour of charge in its different regions- and the evolution of such behaviour with mill operating parameters- and discuss the implications of these to grinding efficacy in tumbling mills

Investigating the Effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessment in Thailand

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) was introduced in Thailand in 2005, aiming to direct decision making at the strategic level (policy, programme, plan) towards sustainable development (SD). Given reforms to the SEA requirements in 2018, it is timely to evaluate emerging SEA experience in the Thai context to inform future practice. The effectiveness of 14 SEAs was investigated based on a version of a recently published framework which substitutes ‘legitimacy’ for normative effectiveness and pluralism, modified through the addition of disaggregated sub-criteria associated with each dimension of effectiveness (procedural, substantive, transactive and legitimacy), to facilitate a richer understanding of the effectiveness of practice. This more detailed effectiveness framework enabled a comprehensive evaluation of practice, and should be transferable to other contexts. The findings suggest that SEA in Thailand currently partially achieves procedural, substantive, and transactive effectiveness. Achieving some elements of substantive effectiveness where practice is currently weak is considered to be particularly challenging, and also determinative in the achievement of legitimacy. Consequently, the majority of SEAs evaluated in this study failed to achieve legitimacy

Establishing international best practice principles for impact assessment teaching and training

Best Practice Principles for Impact Assessment (IA) Teaching and Training were developed for the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA). Research conducted throughout 2018 and 2019 encompassed seven iterative steps: an initial practitioners workshop; comprehensive review of 40 years of literature on teaching IA; initial survey of teachers and trainers; follow-up interviews; development of draft set of principles; final survey of the importance of the draft principles to university teachers and professional development trainers in IA; and a final workshop at IAIA19. The resulting principles are grouped in relation to content (what is taught), pedagogy (how content is taught) and skills development. From 29 draft principles, those identified as ‘Extremely Important’ or Very Important’ (28 in total) in the final survey were included in the Principles published by IAIA. Differences in relative importance of the principles are apparent between teachers and trainers, reflecting their different teaching contexts and objectives. It is hoped that the principles can contribute to more consistent and more effective IA education, contributing in turn to improved IA practice

Exploring the relationship between context and effectiveness in impact assessment

Impact Assessment (IA) has been adopted worldwide typically to ensure the achievement of its goal(s), which might be one or more of sustainable development, environmental policy integration, and democratic governance. Researchers have developed and applied effectiveness frameworks in order to evaluate whether IA achieves its goal(s). The application of these frameworks often identifies some areas of ineffectiveness, and the frameworks are rarely transferable to other cases either within or across different jurisdictions, which makes national and international comparisons problematic. Context is frequently cited as a reason why ineffectiveness is identified in a case, and yet context is not clearly understood in relation to effectiveness. Our aim in this paper is to unpack the notion of context in order to better understand how IA can achieve its goal(s). Based on literature review and a subsequent conceptualisation of context drawing, for the first time, on Integral Theory, we propose that the notion of context can be understood as a range of mediators, which act either as enablers or barriers to the ability of IA to deliver its goal(s). It is these mediators which lead to very different IA system performance in terms of goals achievement, despite applying similar procedural steps. Our conceptualisation provides a significant contribution as it clarifies the validity of claims about contextual elements in the literature, explains the nature of different elements of context, provides a framework with which they can be meaningfully considered and makes an initial attempt at identifying strategies for ensuring mediators act as enablers rather than barriers. It also potentially serves to help unify literature on the meaning of context for IA effectiveness, effectiveness dimensions, and causation in IA, thus providing clarity over the challenges of goals achievement and the appropriateness of capacity development interventions

Global megatrends and their implications for environmental assessment practice

This paper addresses the future of environmental assessment (EA) practice in light of a rapidly changing world. We apply a literature review-based methodology to firstly identify key global megatrends and then reflect upon the implications for EA practice based on some known challenges. The key megatrends identified are synthesised into six categories: i) demographics, ii) urbanization, iii) technological innovation, iv) power shifts, v) resource scarcity and vi) climate change. We then discuss the implications of these megatrends for EA practice against four known EA challenges namely: dealing with i) complexity and uncertainty, ii) efficiency, iii) significance and iv) communication and participation. Our analysis suggests important implications for EA practice such as: increased difficulties with accuracy of prediction; the need for facilitative adaptation; an increase in the occurrence of unexpected events; higher expectations for procedural efficiency; challenges with information and communication management; dealing with significance judgements; and mitigation amidst resource scarcity and increasing pressures on earth systems. The megatrends underscore the need for continued evolution of EA thinking and practice, especially moving away from seeking a predictable single future or outcome towards the possibility of multiple scenarios with associated adaptability and enhanced system resilience capable of responding to rapid change

Distilling and applying criteria for best practice EIA follow-up

Follow-up is an essential component of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) if the success of EIA in improving the sustainability of a project once implemented is to be determined. This paper aims to establish universally-applicable criteria for EIA follow-up to evaluate project performance once assessed and underway. A suite of 24 criteria is derived from EIA follow-up best practice principles published by the International Association for Impact Assessment. The criteria are categorized according to the five dimensions of EIA follow-up: monitoring, evaluation, management, communication and governance. Posed as questions, the criteria support qualitative assessments of EIA follow-up performance for a project. Through application of the criteria to a case study currently under construction (the Shell Cove Marina project in eastern Australia), we found they provided an effective basis for a document review process delivering a short but informative account of the follow-up performance of the case study. The more robust evaluation of some of the criteria, particularly in the governance category, would require supplementary techniques such as interviews

Measuring Kruger visitors’ place attachment to specific camps

Tourists become emotionally, physically and socially attached to national parks as they become familiar with the park’s settings and endow it with value. Researchers have pointed out that place attachment leads to environmentally responsible behaviour and higher levels of visitor satisfaction. Therefore, increasing the level of attachment that visitors feel is vital for park and camp managers, and to do so a greater understanding of the various dimensions of it is needed. While attachment to parks has been evaluated previously, attachment to specific camps in parks has not been done. The main purpose of this research study was to measure the extent to which visitors to the Tamboti and Satara camps in the Kruger National Park feel attached to these camps. We also determined whether differences exist between visitors in terms of the level of attachment that they experience towards these camps. Finally, we established the variables that influence place attachment. A self-administered paper-based questionnaire was distributed to visitors to the Tamboti and Satara camps, with 201 questionnaires completed. The results show that visitors generally have a neutral feeling towards the camps. Furthermore, the differences in visitors’ levels of attachment could be attributed to their nationality, wild card membership and frequency of visits. Various managerial implications are drawn and recommendations made on how to increase place attachment to these camps. Conservation implications: This results indicate that visitors do not show particularly strong attachment towards Tamboti and Satara. Recommendations are given for camp managers to increase place attachment to the camps. If camp managers can succeed in fostering stronger levels of attachment to these camps, visitors are more likely to display environmentally responsible behaviour in the camps, with positive conservation implications