Motivations, expectations and experiences of Australian rural and regional planners

Despite playing an extremely important role in shaping communities, the role and contribution of planners is not widely understood or acknowledged. At the same time, there is a shortage of planners in Australia, especially in non-urban areas. Thus, though an online survey of 185 rural and regional planners, this research explores their motivations, expectations and experiences. Most enjoyed and felt confident in their role, explaining that they valued the relaxed family orientated rural lifestyle and the varied nature of the planning work. Although they sometimes felt isolated, the non-urban location provided quicker progression to senior roles, the ability to engage directly with the community and to see the consequences of their decisions. Only half felt their education had prepared them well for their role, citing gaps in terms of computerised modelling, team leadership and conflict resolution skills. Their feedback centred on providing a more practical course, focussing more on regional planning, and encouraging urban and rural experience placements. As the first study to quantifiably explore rural and regional Australian planners perceptions of their role and challenges, the findings illustrate current experiences, key planning challenges, perceived educational gaps and future priorities

Discussion paper and working paper series : Motivations, expectations and experiences of Australian rural and regional planners

Despite playing an extremely important role in shaping communities, the role and contribution of planners is not widely understood or acknowledged. At the same time, there is a shortage of planners in Australia, especially in non-urban areas. Thus, though an online survey of 185 rural and regional planners, this research explores their motivations, expectations and experiences. Most enjoyed and felt confident in their role, explaining that they valued the relaxed family orientated rural lifestyle and the varied nature of the planning work. Although they sometimes felt isolated, the non-urban location provided quicker progression to senior roles, the ability to engage directly with the community and to see the consequences of their decisions. Only half felt their education had prepared them well for their role, citing gaps in terms of computerised modelling, team leadership and conflict resolution skills. Their feedback centred on providing a more practical course, focussing more on regional planning, and encouraging urban and rural experience placements. As the first study to quantifiably explore rural and regional Australian planners perceptions of their role and challenges, the findings illustrate current experiences, key planning challenges, perceived educational gaps and future priorities

Review of Insecticide Resistance and Its Underlying Mechanisms in <em>Tribolium castaneum</em>

The red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum has emerged as the genetically tractable model insect for population genetics, functional genomics, and evolutionary studies. This agricultural pest is notorious for its potential to severely damage stored products. T. castaneum has developed resistance to almost all insecticides. The reports of insecticide resistance from different parts of the world show that sustained insecticide usage has only aggravated the problem. As insecticides continue to be the mainstay of pest control programs, it is essential to identify the factors influencing insecticide resistance for implementing effective pest-management strategies. The development and progression of insecticide resistance in T. castaneum is thus an escalating global issue requiring immediate solutions. Several studies have investigated the multiple resistance mechanisms found in T. castaneum, such as reduced cuticular penetration, increased metabolic detoxification, and target-site insensitivity. The availability of Whole Genome Sequence and recent advances in Next Generation Sequencing technology has furthered a geneticist’s grasp of resistance study in Tribolium. The strategic containment of this organism calls for an in-depth understanding of resistance development. The review mainly focuses on different kinds of resistance mechanisms and genes mediating insecticide resistance. Also, it exhaustively explores the CYP450 gene superfamily in Tribolium to emphasize its role in governing resistance. The consolidated insights from this study will facilitate further research on identifying biological targets, thereby developing novel control strategies for effective insect control

Party political conferences - a key site for research impact

Party political conferences provide a unique opportunity for academics to engage with politicians and the policymaking process, as well as a variety of different stakeholders in any given policy issue. In this post, Dr Grace Lordan, Professor Tony Travers, Dr Anna Valero and Megan Marsh describe how academics and the public affairs team at LSE have used party political conferences to contribute to ongoing policy debates and drive the impact of academic research

Review of Indigenous Offender Health

This review provides an overview of health issues facing the Indigenous offender population, including some of the social and historical factors relevant to Indigenous health and incarceration. In doing so, it is important to first understand how Indigenous people conceptualise health. Health as it is understood in western society is a fairly discrete category, which differs from the traditional Indigenous perspective of health as holistic [1]. This is made explicit in the 1989 National Aboriginal health strategy that states \u27health to Aboriginal peoples is a matter of determining all aspects of their life, including control over their physical environment, of dignity, of community self-esteem, and of justice\u27 ([1] p.ix). For this reason, considering health in a justice context is of particular relevance to Indigenous people, as the restrictions imposed upon offenders represent a threat to individual and community health. Some of the sources referred to in this review originally used only the term Aboriginal, even though it is evident that in many, if not most, cases the reporting did not differentiate between Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander people. Population figures reveal that substantial numbers of Torres Strait Islanders or people of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent live in all jurisdictions, except the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Therefore, the term Indigenous has been used throughout this review to refer to both the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander populations. This review is largely structured under key topic headings, such as chronic disease or the social determinants of health. Much of the general information about offenders refers to both men and women, and, in some instances, to some juveniles, but specific sections are also devoted to women and juveniles

Forecasting Population Changes and Service Requirements in the Regions: A Study of Two Regional Councils in Queensland, Australia

Forecasting population growth to meet the service needs of a growing population is a vexed issue. The task of providing essential services becomes even more difficult when future population growth forecasts are unavailable or unreliable. The aim of this paper is to identify the main methods used in population forecasting and thereby select an approach to demonstrate that such forecasting can be undertaken with certainly and transparency, barring exogenous events. We then use the population forecasts to plan for service needs that arise from changes in population in the future. Interestingly, although there are techniques available to forecast such future population changes and much of this forecasting occurs, such work remains somewhat clouded in mystery. We strive to rectify this situation by applying an approach that is verifiable, transparent, and easy to comprehend. For this purpose we select two regional councils in Queensland, Australia. The experience derived from forecasting shows that forecasts for service needs of larger populations are more easily and accurately derived than for smaller populations. Hence, there is some evidence, at least from a service provision point of view, to justify the benefits of council/municipality amalgamation in recent times in Australia and elsewhere. The methodology used in this paper for population forecasting and the provision of service needs based on such forecasts will be of particular interest to policy decision-makers and planners.Regional Population forecasting, service provision, Box-Jenkins model

Forecasting population changes and service requirements in the regions: a study of two regional councils in Queensland, Australia

Forecasting population growth to meet the service needs of a growing population is a vexed issue. The task of providing essential services becomes even more difficult when future population growth forecasts are unavailable or unreliable. The aim of this paper is to identify the main methods used in population forecasting and thereby select an approach to demonstrate that such forecasting can be undertaken with certainly and transparency, barring exogenous events. We then use the population forecasts to plan for service needs that arise from changes in population in the future. Interestingly, although there are techniques available to forecast such future population changes and much of this forecasting occurs, such work remains somewhat clouded in mystery. We strive to rectify this situation by applying an approach that is verifiable, transparent, and easy to comprehend. For this purpose we select two regional councils in Queensland, Australia. The experience derived from forecasting shows that forecasts for service needs of larger populations are more easily and accurately derived than for smaller populations. Hence, there is some evidence, at least from a service provision point of view, to justify the benefits of council/ municipality amalgamation in recent times in Australia and elsewhere. The methodology used in this paper for population forecasting and the provision of service needs based on such forecasts will be of particular interest to policy decisionmakers and planners.Regional Population forecasting, service provision, Box-Jenkins model

Cold Modelling of an Internally Circulating Fluidized Bed Membrane Reactor

A novel fluidized bed membrane reactor with internal catalyst circulation is being developed for the production of high-purity H2 from an autothermal reformer. In order to provide guidance to pilot reactor testing, a cold model was built to study the influence of reactor configuration on hydrodynamics and catalyst circulation. It was found that catalyst circulation was reproducible, but that parallel non-communicating flow channels could lead to flow instability. Solids circulation was found to be adequate for design of the autothermal reformer