Chasing the honey bee: enhancing leadership for sustainability

This paper explores the ways in which different conceptions of leadership can contribute to the sustainability of economic productivity, social equity and, of course, the natural systems and resources upon which all social and economic development depend. It begins by briefly defining leadership and outlining the major approaches to leadership studies in terms of trait and social theories of leadership. In particular, the paper argues that transformational leadership and what Western (2013) calls “eco-leadership” are most consistent with the systemic, ethical and learning dimensions of sustainability. This involves contrasting what Avery and Bergsteiner (2011, 2013) call the “honey bee” and the “locust” approaches to leadership. With these authors, the chapter argues that the “honey bee” approach of critical, transformational leadership is most consistent with sustainability. The paper concludes with an example of how capacities for “honey bee” leadership and eco-leadership can be developed and enhanced through a university programme

Leadership tools for wicked problems

Leadership for the Greater Good is not easy to achieve. Many of the issues leaders face are so complex that they have been called ‘wicked problems’ – not in the sense of being evil, but because they seem almost intractable. Patience, insight and collaboration are required to resolve wicked problems and, even then, many preferred solutions often lead to unintended consequences that demand new actions that, unfortunately, too often descend in a cycle of quick-fix solutions. Policy failure and crisis management often result, as seen in wicked problem areas such as climate change, resources tax policy, refugee responses, and Indigenous health. This Working Paper utilises Grint’s 2008 model of critical, tame and wicked problems to differentiate between the needs and uses for command, management and leadership approaches to the exercise of authority in working with them. The paper suggests that the increasing complexity of the problems leaders in all sectors of society are facing, together with the increasing volatility and uncertainty of contemporary social, business and political affairs, demand special efforts to develop and enhance leadership for wicked problems. Five tools for working with wicked problems are suggested: collaboration, character, continuity of commitment, competence and communication

Swinburne leadership survey: index of leadership for the greater good

Summary The Swinburne Leadership Survey is the flagship research program of the Swinburne Leadership Institute that examines Australian’s beliefs about the nation’s leaders and citizens. Conducted in late 2014, the Swinburne Leadership Survey is a benchmark study and underpins our goal of contributing to the renewal of Leadership for the Greater Good in Australia. The aim of the Swinburne Leadership Survey is to benchmark public opinion about: The trustworthiness and competence of leaders across different social and economic sectors The responsibilities of leaders in contributing to the Greater Good How well national political leaders are delivering on these responsibilities How Australians would like our leaders to address our major challenges The roles ordinary citizens can play as change agents or local leaders of change for the Greater Good The Survey provides Australians with a rigorous snapshot of leadership in Australia and, over time, a powerful tool to measure the direction in which Leadership for the Greater Good in Australia is heading. The inaugural Swinburne Leadership Survey and Index of Leadership for the Greater Good will be released in April 2015. The Swinburne Leadership Institute will conduct the Survey annually, to measure changes and trends in Australian perceptions of leadership

Education for sustainable living: An international perspective on environmental education

No Abstract

Nonmalignant portal vein thrombi in patients with cirrhosis consist of intimal fibrosis with or without a fibrin-rich thrombus

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a common complication of cirrhosis. The exact pathophysiology remains largely unknown, and treatment with anticoagulants does not lead to recanalization of the portal vein in all patients. A better insight into the structure and composition of portal vein thrombi may assist in developing strategies for the prevention and treatment of PVT. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Sixteen prospectively and 63 retrospectively collected nonmalignant portal vein thrombi from patients with cirrhosis who underwent liver transplantation were included. Histology, immunohistochemistry, and scanning electron microscopy were used to assess structure and composition of the thrombi. Most recent CT scans were reanalyzed for thrombus characteristics. Clinical characteristics were related to histological and radiological findings. All samples showed a thickened, fibrotic tunica intima. Fibrin-rich thrombi were present on top of the fibrotic intima in 9/16 prospective cases and in 21/63 retrospective cases. A minority of the fibrotic areas stained focally positive for fibrin/fibrinogen (16% of cases), von Willebrand factor (VWF; 10%), and CD61 (platelets, 21%), while most of the fibrin-rich areas stained positive for those markers (fibrin/fibrinogen, 100%; VWF, 77%; CD61, 100%). No associations were found between clinical characteristics including estimated thrombus age and use of anticoagulants and presence of fibrin-rich thrombi. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate that PVT in patients with cirrhosis consists of intimal fibrosis with an additional fibrin-rich thrombus in only one-third of cases. We hypothesize that our observations may explain why not all portal vein thrombi in patients with cirrhosis recanalize by anticoagulant therapy

Proceedings of the ANDROID Doctoral School

The Doctoral School initiative which was set up by the ANDROID network is a core element of the overall project that aims to strengthen the link between research and teaching in the area of disaster resilience. The mixed teaching space that we have developed as part of this ongoing project has attempted to encourage and promote the work of doctoral students in this field. The ANDROID disaster resilience network doctoral school consists of two programmes: 1. Online Doctoral School (ODS) and 2. Residential Doctoral School (RDS) The interlinked programmes work together to deliver on a varied number of teaching and research driven objectives. The online doctoral school which was conducted in Spring 2013 provided an innovative platform to transfer and develop the knowledge base of doctoral candidates. This was achieved through the conduct of a series of domain expert presentations along with thematic sessions aimed at engaging the doctoral researchers in knowledge discovery through detailed discussion. The online doctoral school will be rolled out again in Spring 2014

Association of Forced Vital Capacity with the Developmental Gene <i>NCOR2</i>

Background Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) is an important predictor of all-cause mortality in the absence of chronic respiratory conditions. Epidemiological evidence highlights the role of early life factors on adult FVC, pointing to environmental exposures and genes affecting lung development as risk factors for low FVC later in life. Although highly heritable, a small number of genes have been found associated with FVC, and we aimed at identifying further genetic variants by focusing on lung development genes. Methods Per-allele effects of 24,728 SNPs in 403 genes involved in lung development were tested in 7,749 adults from three studies (NFBC1966, ECRHS, EGEA). The most significant SNP for the top 25 genes was followed-up in 46,103 adults (CHARGE and SpiroMeta consortia) and 5,062 chi

Genome-wide association analysis identifies six new loci associated with forced vital capacity

Forced vital capacity (FVC), a spirometric measure of pulmonary function, reflects lung volume and is used to diagnose and monitor lung diseases. We performed genome-wide association study meta-analysis of FVC in 52,253 individuals from 26 studies and followed up the top associations in 32,917 additional individuals of European ancestry. We found six new regions associated at genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10−8) with FVC in or near EFEMP1, BMP6, MIR129-2–HSD17B12, PRDM11, WWOX and KCNJ2. Two loci previously associated with spirometric measures (GSTCD and PTCH1) were related to FVC. Newly implicated regions were followed up in samples from African-American, Korean, Chinese and Hispanic individuals. We detected transcripts for all six newly implicated genes in human lung tissue. The new loci may inform mechanisms involved in lung development and the pathogenesis of restrictive lung disease