Search results
1 – 10 of over 4000To better understand the key issues surrounding Global Ecopolitics, it may be beneficial to examine the background to the environmental movement over time. The environmental…
Abstract
To better understand the key issues surrounding Global Ecopolitics, it may be beneficial to examine the background to the environmental movement over time. The environmental movement is perhaps the most significant contemporary global movement to have emerged in recent decades. The relationship between humankind and nature has been the subject of much debate and enquiry over time. The environmental movement had its cultural origins in literary accounts of humanity's relationship with nature, beginning from the romantic poets such as William Blake, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron, whose works were concerned with the reconciliation of man and nature. This aesthetic could also be found in subsequent transcendentalist American literature, such as Henry David Thoreau's Walden, published in 1854 (Shabecoff, 2003, pp. 37–71). The transcendentalists were interested in the spiritual connections that connected humankind and nature with God and could be seen as the forefathers of deep green ecologists. Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species was published in 1859, creating further interest in the understanding of nature. George Perkins Marsh wrote of the destructive impact of agriculture in his book Man and Nature in 1864. President Teddy Roosevelt would develop the National Parks with Gifford Pinchot of the Forestry Service in the early 1900s. In the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution, concerns about protecting wildlife led to the emergence of a progressive conservation movement, alongside federal regulation of natural habitats and the establishment of national parks. Influential conservation groups included the National Audubon Society, founded in 1886, and the Sierra Club, founded by John Muir in 1892. Muir and Pinchot would become adversaries in the campaign to prevent the building of a dam in Yosemite National Park in the early decade of the nineteenth century (ibid.).
Laurence Jacobs, Charles Keown, Reginald Worthley and Kyung‐Il Ghymn
The Lüscher colour test is used to compare colourassociations in China, South Korea, Japan and the United States.Respondents were asked which colour they associate with words such…
Abstract
The Lüscher colour test is used to compare colour associations in China, South Korea, Japan and the United States. Respondents were asked which colour they associate with words such as expensive, happy, love and dependable. They were also asked to relate the colours to countries, such as Italy and France; institutions, such as restaurants and theatres; and product packages, such as a soft drink label and a box of headache remedy. The findings show that, while some colours seem to show cross‐cultural consistency, other colours, such as purple and grey, hold opposite meanings in different cultures.
Details
Keywords
Chloe A. Thompson, Madeleine Pownall, Richard Harris and Pam Blundell-Birtill
An important facet of student’s sense of belonging is students’ relationships with, and time spent in, the university campus. The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion…
Abstract
Purpose
An important facet of student’s sense of belonging is students’ relationships with, and time spent in, the university campus. The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion that access to campus “green space”, including parks, fields and gardens, may bolster students’ sense of belonging, improve well-being feelings and promote place attachment.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed students in different locations (including three green and one non-green campus spaces) across a large UK campus-based Northern institution. 146 students participated in the study in one of the four campus locations. The authors investigated how being in green spaces on campus may impact students’ sense of belonging, well-being and place attachment. The authors also qualitatively explored students’ perceptions of campus spaces through Ahn’s (2017) 10 Words Question measure.
Findings
Analyses demonstrate that students surveyed in green spaces reported significantly more positive sense of belonging, compared to students surveyed in non-green campus spaces. Campus location did not impact well-being, however. Students associated green spaces on campus with “calm”, “positive emotion” and “nature” words and non-green spaces with “busy”, “social” and “students”.
Practical implications
Taken together, the results of this paper suggest that access to green spaces can be important for campus sense of belonging. Thus, efforts should be made to ensure the sustainability of these important spaces across university campuses.
Originality/value
This study crucially examines how occupying green spaces on university campuses may impact students’ feelings of belongingness. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that uses field-based methods to understand students’ feelings whilst occupying green spaces.
Details
Keywords
Paul Bowen, Ian Jay, Keith Cattell and Peter Edwards
The purpose of this paper is to investigate value management (VM) practice by professional architects in South Africa. A primary aim is to test the assertion of Kelly et al. that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate value management (VM) practice by professional architects in South Africa. A primary aim is to test the assertion of Kelly et al. that VM has “evolved to become an established service with commonly understood tools, techniques and styles.”
Design/methodology/approach
A web‐based, online questionnaire survey was employed to establish VM practice by South African registered architects. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the survey response data.
Findings
The results suggest that awareness of VM is not widespread among South African architects, and that its actual practice is minimal. Where VM was used on projects, it was invariably cost‐minimization driven in terms of both the project and the VM process itself. These findings are in direct conflict with the assertion of Kelly et al. There is also a mismatch between clients' value system key performance variables and objectives defined for VM studies. Use of VM for project brief facilitation is not widespread, and the integration of VM with risk and quality management systems is not pervasive. Where VM was undertaken, no attempt is made to benchmark VM activities against international standards.
Practical implications
Professional architectural associations in South Africa should adopt a proactive role in promoting the use of VM by architects; facilitated by continuing professional development programmes.
Originality/value
The originality of the research lies in determining the nature of, and extent to which, architects in South Africa practice VM.
Details
Keywords
John Kelly, Kirsty Hunter, Geoffrey Shen and Ann Yu
To identify the management tools and variables that impact briefing, assess the nature of current briefing practices, review the need for more structured techniques and determine…
Abstract
Purpose
To identify the management tools and variables that impact briefing, assess the nature of current briefing practices, review the need for more structured techniques and determine the place of facilities management in briefing.
Design/methodology/approach
A detailed literature review to analyse and critique the briefing process was followed by a brainstorming session to explore relevant technical frameworks. A questionnaire survey investigated opinions of structured approaches to briefing.
Findings
The facilities manager operating within the strategic framework of the client organisation and having the necessary skills is a natural choice as brief writer. Facilities managers’ involvement is not strongly reflected in this research, indicating perhaps that they do not consider briefing a natural role or that they do not possess the skills for its undertaking. It is concluded that while briefing remains an unstructured investigative process, the skills for which are learned through experience, then architects and project managers will continue to dominate the activity.
Practical implications
Currently, briefing is unstructured, iterative, and uses a variety of media for its exposition. More formalised processes recognising strategic and project briefing are advocated in the literature. Options for improvement include a structured approach to investigative briefing and facilitated value management.
Originality/value
The limited involvement of facilities managers in briefing prompted this research. This paper identifies the structure and variables impacting the briefing process and concludes with options for formalised approaches to briefing.
Details
Keywords
Stefanie Dennis and Kelly Broughton
Bowling Green State University Jerome Library’s Web tutorial, FALCON, models a standard library instructional session on the use of the library’s Web‐based catalog. Tutorials can…
Abstract
Bowling Green State University Jerome Library’s Web tutorial, FALCON, models a standard library instructional session on the use of the library’s Web‐based catalog. Tutorials can be particularly helpful in reaching large numbers of students. The degree of interactivity and the design of a tutorial are dependent on the goals of its creators and the intended audience of the product. Several features make FALCON unique. It is interactive, self‐contained and focuses on a single resource. Interactivity is accomplished without scripts or forms. The tutorial’s self‐containment, achieved with a complex system of files and without a live catalog connection, enables users to learn how to search the catalog at their own pace, at a time or place of their choosing and without the threat of venturing into cyberspace. Future enhancements to the tutorial will include assessment and evaluation materials.
Details
Keywords
Paul Bowen, Keith Cattell, Peter Edwards and Ian Jay
This paper aims to investigate the nature and extent of value management (VM) practice by professional quantity surveyors in South Africa. The survey explores practitioners'…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the nature and extent of value management (VM) practice by professional quantity surveyors in South Africa. The survey explores practitioners' awareness and understanding of VM and the nature and extent of the use of VM techniques within their organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
A web‐based, online questionnaire survey is employed to establish VM practice by South African registered quantity surveyors. Descriptive statistics are used to analyse the survey response data.
Findings
The results suggest that, while VM (and more particularly its value engineering antecedent) is generally known among quantity surveyors in South Africa, it is less widely practiced. VM is seen predominantly as a cost reduction tool. This misperception, and the lack of awareness of the potential benefits of VM, must be remedied if quantity surveyors in South Africa are to provide clients with services that meet world's best practice standards. Quantity surveyors also need to know what those standards are.
Practical implications
Refresher courses in contemporary VM theory and practice are recommended, as well as exploration of the impacts on VM of other techniques such as risk, quality and environmental management.
Originality/value
The findings are important given the increasing globalization of construction services, especially given the international ties between designers, quantity surveyors and other built environment professionals.
Details
Keywords
Li Zhao, Jianxin Sun, Ling Zhang and Bowen Ma
This study investigated whether there are differences in the effects of green traditional media communication (GTMC) and green social media communication on consumers' intention…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated whether there are differences in the effects of green traditional media communication (GTMC) and green social media communication on consumers' intention to cocreate green value (ICGV) in post-COVID-19 China. The authors further tested the chain mediating role of cocreation efficacy and cocreation outcome expectation and the moderating role of perceived CSR image.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survey, we collected a dataset of 683 consumers through stratified random sampling in main shopping malls in four Chinese cities. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the conceptual framework and hypotheses, and bootstrapping was used to estimate the mediated standardized regression coefficients. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the moderating effect.
Findings
GTMC, firm-created content (FCC), and user-generated content (UGC) all had positive effects on ICGV. Cocreation efficacy and cocreation outcome expectation had a chain mediation effect in GTMC and ICGV, UGC, and ICGV. Perceived CSR image positively moderated the effects of both GTMC and FCC on ICGV. However, perceived CSR image did not significantly moderate the relationship between UGC and ICGV.
Originality/value
This study contributes to our understanding of the effect of green media communication on consumers' ICGV in post-COVID-19 China. It also develops the concepts of cocreation efficacy and cocreation outcome expectation. Moreover, analyzing the chain mediating role of cocreation efficacy and cocreation outcome expectation in green media communication and ICGV extends social cognitive theory to the context of green value cocreation. Finally, examining the moderating role of perceived CSR image provides a basis for understanding the boundary conditions of green media communication's effect on ICGV.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to describe the challenges of post‐traditional, distance PhD supervision and suggest pedagogical interventions to bridge the distance. The paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the challenges of post‐traditional, distance PhD supervision and suggest pedagogical interventions to bridge the distance. The paper investigates the skills and understandings necessary for mediating the supervisor‐supervisee dyad within faceless encounters.
Design/methodology/approach
Grounded in a literature review and using interview‐based narratives, the paper describes a case study investigating the needs and experiences of three part‐time, trans‐Tasman PhD students, writing practitioner‐ or practice‐led research (PLR) higher degrees by research (HDR) by artefact and exegesis.
Findings
Findings reveal the importance of proactivity, dialogue and mutual trust and the necessity of knowing which interactions, including e‐moderated supervisions and fast‐turnaround electronic communications, potentially help to bridge the gulf.
Research limitations/implications
While this small‐scale study makes no major claims that results can be generalised, the results are pertinent to those involved in distance HDR supervision, particularly in PLR.
Originality/value
As distance supervisions become increasingly commonplace, HDR supervisors need to build best practice models from shared personal and professional understandings of effective supervisory interventions in this mode.
Details