Customs Mapping and Analysis of South Asian Agricultural Trade Liberalization Effort

This paper maps the agricultural trade liberalization effort of the South Asian Economies(SAEs) and it consists of four sections. The second section presents the nature of agricultural trade in the SAEs. The third section presents the agricultural policy changes and employs various approaches to measure the levels of agricultural trade liberalization. The forth section presents institutional development that has led to agricultural trade liberalization of SAEs and the final section presents conclusions, based on the findings of the previous sections.South Asia, Agricultural Trade Liberalization

Studies in Trade and Investment - AGRICULTURAL TRADE - PLANTING THE SEEDS OF REGIONAL LIBERALIZATION IN ASIA

this chapter maps the agricultural trade liberalization efforts of the South Asian Economies (SAEs).agricultural trade, South Asian Economies

The Camera as a Political Tool: Examining Photography and the Sri Lankan Civil War

This research project is based on an analysis from photographs from newspaper and online media archives. All of the images the newspapers published from three specific media sources will be examined. These photographs have been accessed through online archives. This study will focus on images from the tail end of the war specifically from the years 2007-2009, as the war ended in May 2009. This project will focus on international sources and how they portrayed images of the Sri Lankan war. Domestic sources were not considered due to the inherent bias Sri Lanka has with the Civil War. News sources like Aljazeera, The Guardian, and The New York Times will be highlighted in this research project. It will be important to understand how various international news agencies depicted the Sri Lankan conflict as each country has their own prejudices and geopolitical agendas. The research question at hand dealt with how international sources depicted the Sri Lankan Civil War to global audiences. I argue that due to complicated geopolitical relationships with Sri Lanka, the Middle East, England, and the United States portray the Civil War in different ways that suit their own global interests. I did not want to consider South Asian news sources because of their proximity to the conflict. In addition, this thesis considers the historical context and relationship of the Middle East, England, and the United States in relation to Sri Lanka. This was done in order to gain a better understanding of why they depicted the Sri Lankan Civil War the way they chose to. In addition to a written thesis, a podcast has been made where I explore my family’s memories of growing up during the Civil War. This project has allowed me to investigate the war through an academic and personal lens

Eclipse–The Moon in the Sun Kingdom: Islamic Architecture in Spain

This art history thesis focuses on the structure of the Alhambra and the significance of elements of the palace complex. This text provides historical context to the Nasrid Empire in Spain as well as the history behind the Alhambra palace. Most importantly, this thesis analyzes the role of religion and examines how Islamic ideals are expressed through architecture. Setting the stage and providing historical context to the history and relationships between Muslims and Christians are important portions of this thesis. The Alhambra is an extraordinary structure because of its scale. The Alhambra can be thought of as embodying a relationship between poetry and decorative programs. Understanding the religious symbols and significance is important to better examine the Alhambra. The Great Mosque of Cordoba is considered in order to provide some background into other Islamic architectural projects in Spain. This thesis includes a close analysis on the specific structures and components of the Alhambra. The way the materials of the palace respond to the issues of climate indicate the artists’ intentions by incorporating the topography and geography of the space. The decorative program such as inscriptions, stucco carving, and muqarnas stucco decoration provide character to the palace complex

DigiExplanation driven assignments for personalising learning in construction education

Personalising learning is critical for universities to achieving excellence in education.  It entails maintaining an education system that is responsive to the learning needs, aptitudes and interests of individual students.  Rather than imposing a ‘one-size fits all’ model, personalising learning is anticipated to ensure that every learner achieves his/her highest potential. Pedagogical literature suggests that learning-oriented assessments that are engaging, authentic and relevant are an effective mode for personalisation. DigiExplanations is a novel approach that requires students to create short digital media to communicate their ideas to ordinary audiences. It offers an opportunity for research-based authentic learning by harnessing digital media that exist outside of their institution and their digital competencies to create personally relevant and interesting resources. The aim of the research was to investigate the effectiveness of digiExplanations driven assessments for improving personalised learning in construction education. A case study strategy was adopted in the research. A first-year subject from the construction management degree was chosen as the case, which had a class of 159 students. A new assignment scheme was introduced for which students were required to develop digiExplanations in groups of five. The assessment criteria comprised: rationale for the study; depth and breadth of the discussions for the topic; appropriateness of media used in the discussions; creativity in the use of media (storyboarding); design of digiExplanation; quality of conclusion; and proper acknowledgement of materials used. After the submission deadline, an online survey was conducted with the students to assess how the new assessment approach facilitated personalised learning. Several findings emerged from the study. The digiExplanations based assignment provided similar learning experiences for students with different characteristics concerning their first language, domestic/international student status, work situation and digital competencies. Moreover, the study found that some considerations are more significant than others in designing assessments that can drive personalised learning, which are: personally relevant/interesting, engagement, harnessing internet resources and progressive feedback. The survey findings further suggest that while the new pedagogical approach achieved its intended aim, few students perceived it a cumbersome method as it required more efforts than traditional assignments

Evidence-based post-occupancy behaviour framework for energy consumption in BASIX-compliant dwellings in Sydney, Australia

Government energy policy framework and regulation play a critical role in driving reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions in the building sector; for example, the BASIX policy framework regulates energy, water and thermal performance requirements for residential buildings in NSW. More than 140,000 dwellings have been built in NSW under BASIX, since it was launched in 2004. However, recent studies have found discrepancies between the modelled and actual energy performance in BASIX-complaint dwellings. Hence, the NSW government initiated a large research project in collaboration with the CRC for Low Carbon Living (CRCLCL) to investigate and identify the causes of this energy performance discrepancy in BASIX-compliant dwellings and this doctoral research is a subset of this large research project. The aim of this doctoral research is to understand post-occupancy behaviour in BASIX-compliant dwellings that may lead to the discrepancy between modelled and actual energy performance and inform the BASIX policy framework, design decisions and government education programme. In alignment with this aim, there are four objectives defined in this research: 1. Investigate the key post-occupancy energy-related behaviour that may cause the energy performance discrepancy in BASIX-compliant dwellings. 2. Identify the influential attributes that may affect post-occupancy energy-related behaviour in higher energy consumption. 3. Identify complex associations among post-occupancy energy-related behaviour and multi-dimensional influential attributes, that may contribute to the higher energy consumption in BASIX-compliant dwellings. 4. Draw on key findings to establish an evidence-based post-occupancy behaviour framework for residential energy consumption to inform BASIX policy framework, government education programmes, and building design/construction. A literature-based, conceptual analysis framework was initially developed in this research, and guided the data collection and in-depth analysis. The research was conducted in both the cool season and the warm season in 2017. The primary data collection was through three activities: face-to-face interviews with households in 30 BASIX-compliant dwellings; site and dwelling inspections; and behaviour observations. These data were analysed using systematic thematic analysis method. As this study is part of CRCLCL BASIX project, secondary data derived via a demographic survey, real-time electricity monitoring, indoor thermal environment monitoring, and building diagnostic methods of the same dwelling sample were used to triangulate with primary data to establish credibility and trustworthiness of findings. The findings of the in-depth analysis verified and refined the theory based initial conceptual analysis framework and informed the development of the Post-occupancy Energy-related Behaviour (PEB) framework, which supports to comprehensively understand the higher energy consumption in BASIX compliant dwellings with energy performance discrepancy. It established that energy-related behaviours in dwellings are a combination of direct energy-use behaviour, adaptive behaviour, and investment behaviour; however, in dwellings with higher energy consumption, direct energy-use behaviour was identified to be predominant, and occupants used energy excessively and inefficiently for air conditioning, lighting and hot water consumption. Those inefficient practices were identified to frequently occur for reasons beyond traditionally anticipated human needs of achieving thermal or visual comfort and were due to reasons, such as season independent habits, forgetfulness, lack of awareness, work efficiency concerns, and health and wellbeing of occupants. The in-depth investigation identified that those behaviours are shaped by five attributes: personal, social, building and environmental, economic, and governance, in simple to complex hierarchical associations. Personal attributes, such as preferences, perceptions, awareness, personal characteristics, and attitudes, social attributes, such as family lifestyle and spatial utilisation pattern, and community practices were identified as directly influencing energy-related behaviour in those dwellings with higher energy consumption. For example, most dwellings had home offices, which supports the growing trend of occupants working remotely and spending more time inside their dwelling during the day. In addition, the research identified that the occupants’ thermal comfort related perceptions, preferences, awareness and attitudes in energy consumption in those dwellings with higher energy consumption were influenced by the construction systems and building envelope quality of dwellings, construction market and cost concerns and lack of governance support. Many complex patterns of associations were derived from the in-depth analysis of this research that further support understanding of the higher energy consumption in those BASIX-compliant dwellings. Examples of such identified associations are: – associations between occupants’ perceptions on thermal comfort, income concerns, building conditions, and geographic location of dwellings influence intensive use of air conditioners for cooling and less passive strategies for thermal comfort; – associations between the availability of air conditioning systems in dwellings, occupants’ thermal comfort preferences, and the level of awareness on the use of air conditioning influence direct energy-use behaviour in intensive cooling; and – associations between characteristics and conditions of dwellings’ that facilitate thermal comfort and occupants’ level of awareness on strategies for thermal comfort, influence occupants’ thermal perceptions that in turn influence Investment behaviour on heating/cooling appliances and direct energy-use behaviour in intensive heating/cooling practices. The key insights and implications derived from the findings of this study provided recommendations for BASIX policy, government education programmes and building design/construction. This research is significant as it is a unique investigation into post-occupancy energy-related behaviour in BASIX-compliant dwellings with energy performance discrepancy, and key findings fill the current knowledge gap. Unlike previous studies of post-occupancy energy-related behaviours that have conducted quantitative studies, this study adopted an in-depth qualitative approach to develop comprehensive understanding into BASIX-compliant dwellings in Sydney, with energy performance discrepancies. The findings of this research have already informed 2018-2019 updates in the BASIX Policy Framework and could further inform government educational programmes to promote sustainable energy use behaviour. This would ultimately improve low carbon dwellings to facilitate the transition towards net-zero carbon outcomes in 2050