Tourism Development in Niue and the Impact of New Zealand's Aid

Being among the smallest self-governing states in the world, Niue – the ‘Rock of Polynesia’ – experiences development challenges because of its small size, isolation, remoteness and fragile natural environment. Development strategies have ranged from growing various crops for export to small-scale manufacturing but developing the tourism industry has been the only option that has experienced significant growth and gained consistent support from the Niue government and from New Zealand’s aid since the 1970s, with a renewed effort since 2009. Research by the UN and academics alike show the positive role tourism can have in small island developing states (SIDS). Current research suggests that where other industries fall behind due to the unique disadvantages of SIDS, tourism shows potential to create employment, diversify the economy and generate foreign exchange. However, to be successful, to mitigate associated risks and retain these benefits in the destinations there must be local control, and prioritisation of the environment and local needs. This research overviews the nature of Niue’s tourism industry in 2018, explores the barriers and opportunities that exist and the needs for further tourism development. Gaining an understanding and analysing the relationship between New Zealand’s aid and Niue’s tourism industry is a key objective of the research. The implications of this relationship may alter the model of Niue’s political economy which is currently defined by the MIRAB (migration, remittances, aid and bureaucracy) model. The small population and lack of resources in Niue are significant barriers to success in gaining significant tourism numbers, which is why a high-end market has been targeted, although it needs to be determined if the corresponding requirements of a high-end demand can be met. This research was informed by interviews with key informants from the tourism industry, the Government of Niue, New Zealand High Commission and local leaders. Local and tourist perspectives were gathered through questionnaire-surveys and a literature and documentary analysis were also drawn on. The findings provide a detailed insight into the nature and current situation of Niue’s tourism industry. Based on the findings and consideration of the literature this thesis concludes by giving recommendations for the Government of Niue, the tourism industry and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to consider. The study helps address a potential gap in recent literature regarding Niue and considers an alternate model to describe the country’s political economy

Children’s Voices in Physical Activity Research:A Qualitative Review and Synthesis of UK Children’s Perspectives

Background: Physical activity during childhood is associated with multiple short-and long-term health benefits. Physical activity levels decline throughout primary school emphasising a need for effective strategies to promote more activity in children. Children have rarely been involved in the intervention development process. This gap is an important omission and there is much to be learnt from existing qualitative studies with children, which could serve as a starting point for specific projects. This systematic review aimed to synthesise qualitative studies with primary school children in the United Kingdom to identify children’s perspectives on why physical activity is important, the factors that influence their physical activity and what they like when it comes to physical activity. Methods: A search of seven databases (conducted in October 2019) identified 26 papers for inclusion. Data extraction and synthesis were conducted using qualitative thematic synthesis. The quality of papers was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist for qualitative research. Results: Across the diverse range of studies, several key themes were identified in relation to the three research questions. Children have a comprehensive understanding of the various benefits of physical activity, including benefits for health, fitness and skills development. A range of social agents and practical issues influence children’s physical activity, with friend and peer influences being particularly salient. Most children like to have choice over the activities they undertake and the opportunities for creative physical play such as making up active games. Conclusions: The findings suggest that future interventions should utilize peer relationships, ensure a variety of activities are offered to cater to a broad range of children’s physical activity preferences and incorporate child-led activities where possible. The included studies also highlight a need for more diversity in qualitative research in this area, particularly in terms of ethnicity and age, and combining traditional qualitative methods with creative methods, such as photography, may provide richer insights than when using a single mode of data collection. We also highlight several methodological challenges, and in particular, the need for greater acknowledgement of the role of the researcher in qualitative work with children.</p

Policy for sustainable entrepreneurship: a crowdsourced framework

Sustainable entrepreneurship—entrepreneurship with social and ecological gains as well as economic ones—has the potential to play a significant role in addressing societal and environmental challenges. However, sustainability and entrepreneurship have hitherto been addressed through separate policy regimes, and it is not clear how policymakers can encourage sustainable entrepreneurship specifically. The authors develop a policy framework for sustainable entrepreneurship, using an open innovation approach with policymakers, business executives, academics, entrepreneurs and other relevant actors, including an online crowdsourcing event with 150 participants. The framework incorporates five policy domains: creating awareness and skills; building networks; funding and investing; measuring impact and performance; and innovating government. The article proposes a modified version of the multi-level perspective (MLP) on how socio-technical transitions occur, since the findings suggest that policy can catalyze the facilitation and aggregation of innovations coming from the niche level, thereby evolving the socio-technical regime, in addition to the role of policy described in earlier work in stabilizing the socio-technical regime. Contributions to entrepreneurship policy literature include the policy domain of measuring impact and performance, as appropriate success measures are non-trivial in a triple bottom line environment, and the potential for open policy innovation in entrepreneurship policy. Contributions to sustainability policy literature include the requirements for support mechanisms and capacity building to empower individuals to contribute as innovators and entrepreneurs and not just consumers. The sustainable entrepreneurship framework can be applied by policymakers to develop context-specific policies: this is illustrated with a worked example of EU policy recommendations. The paper also outlines a method for crowdsourcing policy innovations

Policy for sustainable entrepreneurship: a crowdsourced framework

Sustainable entrepreneurship—entrepreneurship with social and ecological gains as well as economic ones—has the potential to play a significant role in addressing societal and environmental challenges. However, sustainability and entrepreneurship have hitherto been addressed through separate policy regimes, and it is not clear how policymakers can encourage sustainable entrepreneurship specifically. The authors develop a policy framework for sustainable entrepreneurship, using an open innovation approach with policymakers, business executives, academics, entrepreneurs and other relevant actors, including an online crowdsourcing event with 150 participants. The framework incorporates five policy domains: creating awareness and skills; building networks; funding and investing; measuring impact and performance; and innovating government. The article proposes a modified version of the multi-level perspective (MLP) on how socio-technical transitions occur, since the findings suggest that policy can catalyze the facilitation and aggregation of innovations coming from the niche level, thereby evolving the socio-technical regime, in addition to the role of policy described in earlier work in stabilizing the socio-technical regime. Contributions to entrepreneurship policy literature include the policy domain of measuring impact and performance, as appropriate success measures are non-trivial in a triple bottom line environment, and the potential for open policy innovation in entrepreneurship policy. Contributions to sustainability policy literature include the requirements for support mechanisms and capacity building to empower individuals to contribute as innovators and entrepreneurs and not just consumers. The sustainable entrepreneurship framework can be applied by policymakers to develop context-specific policies: this is illustrated with a worked example of EU policy recommendations. The paper also outlines a method for crowdsourcing policy innovations

A game for all seasons: lessons and learnings from the JRC’s scenario exploration system

The European Commission Joint Research Centre’s (JRC) Scenario Exploration System (SES) is a foresight gaming system developed to facilitate the application of futures thinking to policy-making. It was originally geared at engaging EU policy-makers with scenarios in a facilitated process with a low learning curve. Specifically, the SES was designed to help participants, in less than three hours, to engage in systemic thinking with a long-term perspective and to explore alternative futures on specific issues and themes. When applied in various contexts, the SES proved to have a broader range of applications, which led to communities of practice emerging around the tool. Successful responses to various requests to apply the tool beyond its original focus demonstrated the versatility of the SES. Specifically, we discovered its ability to accommodate a large array of scenarios to discuss a very diverse range of issues. The experience accumulated through several adaptations of the SES allows the analysis of the various strengths and weaknesses of the tool as a platform for futures thinking and sharing more broadly the know-how for the creation and application of new versions. Ultimately, this article seeks to contribute a series of design suggestions for futures practitioners seeking to develop a playful mode of interaction with scenarios, or those seeking to repurpose the original SES system for use in their own project

International genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new primary biliary cirrhosis risk loci and targetable pathogenic pathways.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined<5 × 10(-8)) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine-cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist

Engaging stakeholders in sustainablilty-orientated innovation.

Companies increasingly collaborate with external stakeholders to deliver sustainability- oriented innovations intended to address environmental and social challenges. These partnerships have the potential to combine the diverse resources and capabilities required to implement systemic change, but suffer from conflicts and tensions arising from differences in partners’ objectives driven by their contrasting institutional logics (or ‘value frames’). Through three interconnected studies written as journal articles, this thesis contributes to our understanding of how companies can effectively engage their stakeholders in sustainability-oriented innovation. A systematic literature review integrates evidence from 88 scientific articles into a framework revealing the hierarchy of capabilities required to integrate a company’s stakeholders in sustainability-oriented innovation. Notably, a tier of second-order stakeholder learning capabilities is identified which enables companies to acknowledge, work positively with and learn from differences between themselves and their partners. These differences, as well as the mechanisms and strategies employed to navigate them, are further investigated through eight case studies of sustainability-innovation partnerships. First, findings from a subset of five business-nonprofit partnerships are synthesized into an action-oriented ‘CIMO- logic’ framework which sets out the stakeholder interventions used and the value outcomes generated. Whilst project outcomes are achieved by partners enforcing their own interests through agent control, total value is enhanced when partners recombine their resources and capabilities through resource integration; this process is facilitated by partners navigating differences between their value frames through value empathy. Second, analysis of all eight case studies focuses in on this issue of recognizing and reconciling difference. Five dimensions of difference between partners emerge (goal salience, goal instrumentality, temporal focus, language and collaborative intent) along with five strategies deployed to reconcile tensions arising from these differences (engagement logic alignment, cultural bridging, partner positioning, project scoping and success measurement). Taken together, the thesis’s findings advance our understanding of how companies can effectively integrate stakeholder perspectives into their sustainability-oriented innovation processes. They may have implications for other innovation and partnerships contexts involving stakeholders, including those from diverse institutional settings.PhD in Leadership and Managemen

Tourism Development in Niue and the Impact of New Zealand's Aid

Being among the smallest self-governing states in the world, Niue – the ‘Rock of Polynesia’ – experiences development challenges because of its small size, isolation, remoteness and fragile natural environment. Development strategies have ranged from growing various crops for export to small-scale manufacturing but developing the tourism industry has been the only option that has experienced significant growth and gained consistent support from the Niue government and from New Zealand’s aid since the 1970s, with a renewed effort since 2009. Research by the UN and academics alike show the positive role tourism can have in small island developing states (SIDS). Current research suggests that where other industries fall behind due to the unique disadvantages of SIDS, tourism shows potential to create employment, diversify the economy and generate foreign exchange. However, to be successful, to mitigate associated risks and retain these benefits in the destinations there must be local control, and prioritisation of the environment and local needs. This research overviews the nature of Niue’s tourism industry in 2018, explores the barriers and opportunities that exist and the needs for further tourism development. Gaining an understanding and analysing the relationship between New Zealand’s aid and Niue’s tourism industry is a key objective of the research. The implications of this relationship may alter the model of Niue’s political economy which is currently defined by the MIRAB (migration, remittances, aid and bureaucracy) model. The small population and lack of resources in Niue are significant barriers to success in gaining significant tourism numbers, which is why a high-end market has been targeted, although it needs to be determined if the corresponding requirements of a high-end demand can be met. This research was informed by interviews with key informants from the tourism industry, the Government of Niue, New Zealand High Commission and local leaders. Local and tourist perspectives were gathered through questionnaire-surveys and a literature and documentary analysis were also drawn on. The findings provide a detailed insight into the nature and current situation of Niue’s tourism industry. Based on the findings and consideration of the literature this thesis concludes by giving recommendations for the Government of Niue, the tourism industry and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to consider. The study helps address a potential gap in recent literature regarding Niue and considers an alternate model to describe the country’s political economy