Leonie Pearson

Sustainable urban agriculture: stocktake and opportunities

This paper reviews research on urban agriculture which relates to the three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. We propose that urban agriculture has three elements: urban agriculture in isolation; its interface with the people and environment within which it is situated; and its contribution to the design of built form. Additionally, we consider its scale: micro, meso and macro. The analysis draws attention to legal, social and economic constraints and opportunities. It suggests that future priorities for research should be directed towards (i) strategically identifying principles of sustainable urban agriculture that help policy makers to design resilient cities, e.g. using flood-prone areas for food and employment, and (ii) operationally trialling innovative institutional mechanisms, e.g. differential land taxes to support sustainable urban agriculture or payments for environmental services provided by urban agriculture such as carbon sequestration.

Separating Adaptive Maintenance (Resilience) and Transformative Capacity of Social-Ecological Systems

Many rural communities are vulnerable social-ecological systems (SES) that must do more than become resilient to future environmental and social shocks: they must transform to achieve sustainability. We aimed first to conceptually explore the proposition that SES characteristics (identity, feedbacks, structure, and functions) necessary for transformation may be distinct from those necessary for adaptive maintenance or resilience, and second, to propose metrics that may be used to assess these two types of system changes. We did this by interrogating literature and by investigating two rural towns in Australia using a combination of quantitative methods and focus groups to interrogate community social networks, capitals (human, natural, built, and social) and future scenarios. Results indicated that (1) it is practicable to carry out a holistic assessment of SES characteristics (identity, feedbacks, structure, and functions), and (2) purposeful, positive transformation is supported by vision, identification with place, unhappiness (with the status quo), high personal contribution to social capital, open social networks, and latent capital(s). We conclude that rural communities possess capacities for adaptive maintenance (resilience) and for system-wide transformation, and that the metrics used to assess each are sometimes discrete, sometimes common.

Review: Interpretive review of conceptual frameworks and research models that inform Australia's agricultural vulnerability to climate change

Agriculture in Australia is highly vulnerable to climate change. Understanding the sectors vulnerability is critical to developing immediate policy for the future of the agricultural industries and their communities. This review aims to identify research priorities (frameworks and models) for assessing vulnerability of the Australian agriculture sector to climate change. It achieves this through three objectives: (i) review frameworks for conceptualising vulnerability in agriculture; (ii) document operational models that may contribute to the immediate analysis of vulnerability in Australian agriculture; and (iii) identify gaps in frameworks and models capacity for analysing the vulnerability of Australian agriculture to climate change. These were achieved by undertaking a literature review and organising a workshop of Australian agricultural climate change modelling experts. Current understanding of agricultural vulnerability uses the outcome vulnerability conceptual framework, it is linear and dependant on the biophysical models which have been developed. Three priorities for biophysical modelling research were identified: expansion to cover all major agricultural industries; address spatial gaps (e.g. south-west Australia); and develop scenarios for shifting between land-uses. However, there is little known on the contextual vulnerability of the Australian agricultural sector, therefore strategic investment into contextual vulnerability frameworks is necessary, i.e. open systems, multiple exogenous impacts, use qualitative methods, and generate spatially specific outcomes.

Measuring sustainable development: the promise and difficulties of implementing Inclusive Wealth in the Goulburn-Broken Catchment, Australia

Abstract A difficulty in measuring sustainable development is integrating measures of its key components (environment, economic, and social) in a way that allows comparison and assessment of tradeoffs and communication of results. This article presents a trial implementation of a sustainability measure called Inclusive Wealth. We do this by constructing an experimental model to estimate sustainable development through the measurement of capital stocks (built, human, natural, and resilience) in the Goulburn-Broken Catchment in Australia. By trialing the model over the period 1991–2001, we address practical issues associated with identifying capital stocks, estimating shadow prices, addressing risk, assessing intragenerational equity, and dealing with price changes. Results are presented as the basis for discussing hurdles to the implementation of regional sustainability measures and for highlighting outstanding theoretical and methodological issues that need resolution for sustainability measures to become a practical policy tool.

A framework for considering externalities in urban water asset management

Urban communities rely on a complex network of infrastructure assets to connect them to water resources. There is considerable capital investment required to maintain, upgrade and extend this infrastructure. As the remit of a water utility is broader than just financial considerations, infrastructure investment decisions must be made in light of environmental and societal issues. One way of facilitating this is to integrate consideration of externalities into decision making processes. This paper considers the concept of externalities from an asset management perspective. A case study is provided to show the practical implications to a water utility and asset managers. A framework for the inclusion of externalities in asset management decision making is also presented. The potential for application of the framework is highlighted through a brief consideration of its key elements.

A social change model of health development in the Republic of Georgia

Nearly half of the world’s population lives in areas that are malarious or in which there is a distinct risk of malaria transmission. Accurate data are not available but general estimates suggest between 300 million and 500 million cases of infection a year and 1.5–3 million deaths from the disease. The majority of these are in tropical Africa, particularly among children, but the disease is a public health problem elsewhere, especially in India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Viet Nam, Brazil, and Colombia. In all malarious areas the severity of the disease varies considerably, influenced by a range of factors – biomedical, entomological, environmental, political, cultural, social, and economic.

Analysis of Property Values, Local Government Finances and Reservation of Land for National Parks and Similar Purposes

The impact on local government finances of the reservation of land for national parks in local government areas has been a bone of contention. This article analyses the situation. It identifies conditions in which the reservation of land for national parks increases total rateable unimproved property values in a local government area. The level of a local government’s receipts from rates tend to move in the same direction as the total value of rateable property in its local government area. Thus, even though national parks and similar natural areas are not rateable, it is possible that the reservation of some local government areas for such protection, can increase the receipts from rates of the local council concerned. However this is not always so and conditions for an increase in local government revenue are specified. Local governments may wish to maximise their income for discretionary expenditures rather than total receipts. Conditions are specified in which the reservation of` local areas for national parks fosters this objective, and other circumstances in which such reservation is in conflict with this objective. Depending upon the nature of the relevant functions, local government finances may benefit from the existence of national parks in a local government area or be adversely affected by their presence. As far as we are aware, the conditions for this have not been previously specified.