ORCID Profile
0000-0001-8322-2124
Current Organisation
RMIT University
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Environmental Science and Management | Urban Design | Community Ecology | Conservation and Biodiversity
Urban and Industrial Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Expanding Knowledge in Built Environment and Design |
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 08-02-2011
Abstract: In many places extreme heat causes more deaths than floods, cyclones and bushfires. However, efforts to manage the health implications of heat and increase the adaptive capacity of vulnerable populations are in their infancy, requiring urgent attention from research and policy. This paper presents a case for research exploring the influence of social and contextual factors on vulnerable populations' capacity to adapt to heat in the context of climate change. We argue such research is imperative given current prioritization of short-sighted policy solutions such as installation and use of greenhouse-intensive domestic air-conditioners as moderators of heat stress. Globally, vulnerability to heat stress is most often assessed by epidemiological analysis of past morbidity and mortality data yet a range of other factors need to be accounted for in interpreting and understanding these patterns of ill-health and loss of life, and further in determining how vulnerability is created, exacerbated and alleviated by broader societal conditions. Such factors include: the cooling technologies and infrastructures available to householders, practical knowledge about how to moderate heat stress, and social and cultural understandings of comfort and vulnerability. To investigate these factors, new methodologies are required. Social practice theory, which conceptualizes the dynamic interactions between in iduals and wider systems of power, infrastructure, technologies, society and culture as components of practices such as household cooling, is presented as a way forward. The development of a practice-based methodology and conceptual framework to understand adaptation to heat will provide a multidimensional, systems-oriented understanding of how vulnerability can potentially be reduced.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 27-06-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-2009
DOI: 10.1007/S10393-010-0282-5
Abstract: It is estimated that half of the world's population now live in urban environments. Urban living necessitates a removal from nature, yet evidence indicates that contact with nature is beneficial for human health. In fact, everyday urban places, such as where people live, study, and work, provide opportunities to bring nature back into cities to contribute to positive, healthy environments for people and to foster the human-nature connection. The inclusion of more nature in cities could have additional environmental benefits, such as habitat provision and improving the environmental performance of built environments. In the context of climate change, outcomes such as these assume further importance. This article explores how common urban places can foster links between people and nature, and generate positive health and well-being outcomes. We achieve this by exploring nature in the everyday settings of schools and residential housing.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-05-2022
DOI: 10.1002/PAN3.10339
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-04-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-05-2017
DOI: 10.1111/AREA.12351
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.SOCSCIMED.2015.02.005
Abstract: This paper is Part 1 of a realist review that tries to explain the impacts of residential energy efficiency interventions (REEIs) on householder health. According to recent systematic reviews residential energy efficiency interventions may benefit health. It is argued that home energy improvement are complex interventions and that a better understanding of the latent mechanisms and contextual issues that may shape the outcome of interventions is needed for effective intervention design. This realist review synthesises the results of 28 energy efficiency improvement programmes. This first part provides a review of the explanatory factors of the three key pathways, namely warmth in the home, affordability of fuel and psycho-social factors, and the pitfall of inadequate indoor air quality. The review revealed that REEIs improved winter warmth and lowered relative humidity with benefits for cardiovascular and respiratory health. In addition, residential energy efficiency improvements consolidated the meaning of the home as a safe haven, strengthened the householder's perceived autonomy and enhanced social status. Although satisfaction with the home proved to be an important explanation for positive mental health outcomes, financial considerations seemed to have played a secondary role. Evidence for negative impacts was rare but the risk should not be dismissed. Comprehensive refurbishments were not necessarily more effective than thermal retrofits or upgrades. A common protocol for the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of interventions would facilitate the synthesis of future studies. Householder and contextual influences are addressed in Part 2.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-01-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-10-2021
DOI: 10.1002/PAN3.10263
Abstract: Whether new technologies will have a positive impact on how societies experience nature depends on how particular devices and populations come to interact. This paper reviews two bodies of work that have sought to understand and influence these interactions with reference to the smartphone. The first is associated with a group of researchers interested in how smartphone apps might help people to engage with their surroundings in beneficial ways. The second comes from a set of scholars hoping to learn from the analysis of the social media datasets associated with smartphone interactions outdoors. After comparing these how these two bodies commonly see the social world, the paper considers how other approaches might augment these endeavours. We argue for more studies that explore what different social groups have to say about life with the smartphone and how norms of technology use emerge. We also suggest that this area of research might engage more fully with wider academic work on how smartphones are reshaping our societies. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-06-2018
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-2016
Abstract: In international energy policy, programmes and consumer research, a dominant ideal consumer is emerging. This consumer is typically a human adult who has the agency to make autonomous, functional and rational decisions about his or her household’s energy consumption. This article seeks to disrupt this dominant anthropocentric conceptualisation of the consumer and provide new ways of knowing and potentially intervening in the lives of energy consumers. Drawing on qualitative research conducted with householders living in Sydney, Australia, and theories of practice, materiality and agency from sociology and science and technology studies, we seek to understand consumers as human and nonhuman actants operating in distributed assemblages of practice. We explore the implications of conceptualising non-traditional consumers of energy, such as babies, pets, pests and pool pumps, as performers of or materials in practices that consume energy. Our analysis provides new ways of potentially intervening in patterns of energy consumption. We argue that policy makers need to refocus their attention on finding routes into assemblages of practice to achieve change. We conclude by calling for further exploration and recognition of the myriad curious consumers found in households.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: 11-08-2016
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 16-02-2016
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 26-06-2018
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 29-09-2017
Publisher: Landscape Online
Date: 18-05-2018
DOI: 10.3097/LO.201859
Abstract: The increasing process of urbanisation has major implications for the environment, bio ersity, and health and well-being of urban residents. Empirical evidence for urban greening benefits suggests that it is an appropriate planning and policy approach for tackling some of the problems associated with urbanisation, including bio ersity loss and heat island effects. Gardens on private residential lots represent a substantial proportion of greenspaces in low density cities with extensive suburban areas. Drawing on a qualitative study of residents in Sunshine North, Melbourne, Australia, this paper discusses three questions about the relationship of private gardens to public greenspaces:1) how does residents’ use of private gardens impact their use of other neighbourhood greenspaces ) can private gardens address inequality of access to greenspaces in lower income neighbourhoods and,3) what does this imply for planning and neighbourhood design?Contrary to previous research, the findings did not show a meaningful relationship between residents’ use of their gardens and local greenspaces, and further, that large yards and gardens do not substitute for poor access to local greenspaces. The paper concludes that policy makers and planners cannot assume private gardens and public greenspaces are interchangeable. While private gardens and local greenspaces can both provide positive benefits to residents, private gardens do not act as a substitute for local greenspaces in neighbourhoods of varying socio-economic status.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2005
DOI: 10.1071/AR04148
Abstract: This study consisted of a survey of dairy farmers and their milking sheds at 198 Victorian dairy farms to examine the relationships between physical features in the milking shed and a number of job-related characteristics of the farmer, such as attitudes to handling cows and job satisfaction. Furthermore, farmers’ opinions of the effects of specific design features of the milking shed on cow behaviour were sought. A further objective of this survey was to use the relationships between shed characteristics and job-related characteristics of the farmer to identify, for future research, possible features of the milking shed that may affect cow behaviour. There was substantial variation in both the behavioural beliefs of farmers about cow behaviour in the milking shed and reports by farmers on comfort and working conditions in the dairy, indicating that considerable opportunities exist to improve these key job-related characteristics. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the responses to the questions on job-related characteristics of the farmer identified 6 factors: 2 of the factors identified were related to behavioural beliefs by farmers about cow behaviour (labelled ‘Cow Movement’ and ‘Cow Behaviour’) one of the factors related to comfort of the farmer in the shed (labelled ‘Operator Comfort’) and 3 of the factors related to aspects of the quality of life of the farmer (labelled ‘Workload’, ‘Farmer Mood’, and ‘Job Characteristics’). Positive beliefs about both cow movement (factor called Cow Movement) and cow behaviour (factor called Cow Behaviour) were correlated with farmers being more positive about working in the dairy (factor called Operator Comfort P 0.05 and P 0.01, respectively) and the characteristics of the job (factor called Job Characteristics P 0.01). These relationships suggest that improvements in cow behaviour may lead to improvements in both job satisfaction and the quality of life of the farmer. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that a number of the shed features, such as height of the breast rail, presence of stall gates, length and width of the platform and solid side on first milking bail, were significant predictors of one or more of these 6 PCA factors. Although these results may not reflect causal relationships, these relationships between shed characteristics and a number of job-related characteristics of the farmer highlight the potential importance of shed design to both the cow and the farmer and provide a valuable guide in identifying features of milking sheds that require future examination as to their effects on cow behaviour.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 18-11-2014
Publisher: Unpublished
Date: 2016
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2001
DOI: 10.1071/MU00025
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 16-10-2009
DOI: 10.1108/09654280911001185
Abstract: This paper aims to determine educators' perceptions about the benefits of contact with nature for children's mental, emotional and social health. The approach was exploratory using qualitative methods. Face‐to‐face interviews were conducted with school principals and teachers as well as professionals from the environmental education industry. Interviews focused on the perceived benefits for children's health from school activities involving hands‐on contact with nature. Hands‐on contact with nature is perceived by educators to improve self‐esteem, engagement with school and a sense of empowerment, among other benefits. Different types of activities are perceived to have different outcomes. A model is proposed to illustrate the findings. Activities involving hands‐on contact with nature may have significant health outcomes for children. Further empirical work is needed to determine the extent of the benefits and provide further evidence. Findings support the value of activities involving nature and provide further incentive to include such activities in teaching curricula. Activities involving hands‐on contact with nature at school may be a means of promoting children's mental, emotional and social health at a crucial time in their development. This paper addresses two gaps in current knowledge: much research on contact with nature and health and wellbeing has focused on adults not children despite the popularity of nature‐based activities in schools there has been no investigation into the potential of these activities to promote children's mental, emotional and social health.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-02-2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-05-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-02-2023
DOI: 10.1111/GEC3.12680
Abstract: Microbes, particularly of the viral kind, are currently preoccupying human activity and concerns due to the COVID‐19 pandemic. Although for a long time there has been fear associated with ‘germs’, notably viruses and bacteria and the diseases they cause, the pandemic has set these fears into overdrive. As serious as this ongoing event is, there are broader interests and important alternative narratives about the microbial world permeating current thinking, based on research that intersects with and includes biopolitical and relational research in geography. In an attempt at balancing the prevailingly negative discourses about microbes and the potential harms they can cause, and to encourage more geographers to contribute to understanding human‐microbial relations, this paper draws together recent research across disciplines to discuss the prevalence and role of microbes in environments and in and on human bodies. Drawing on ideas of more‐than‐human care, the paper shows how geographers and other social scientists can and are already helping reset human‐microbial relations, and where further work can productively be done.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 24-08-2017
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-2011
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.3141/2543-07
Abstract: The operation of public transport service in suburban developments, particularly new greenfield developments, can face considerable challenges. Suburban developments are often served primarily through bus transit, which struggles to balance a mass transit function against a social transit (e.g., local service) function. As a result, many suburban neighborhoods are served by infrequent, indirect services that appeal only to a captive transit ridership. This study explored the impact of a new bus service on a new development on the fringe of Melbourne, Australia: Selandra Rise in Clyde North. Three years after the development opened, a bus service was introduced to connect the development to the nearest town center and train station. Unlike many of the surrounding services, this bus service was deliberately planned to serve a mass transit function with direct, frequent service and relatively poor penetration into the suburb but high frequency. Two surveys were conducted to explore the use and the impact of the new bus service: a survey of Selandra Rise residents (including those who did not use the bus) and an on-bus survey of riders. The surveys showed that the bus serves a hybrid function as both mass transit and social transit. The implications of these findings for the planning of transit to new housing developments are discussed.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2015
Abstract: The importance of recognising structure and agency in health research to move beyond methodological in idualism is well documented. To progress incorporating social theory into health, researchers have used Giddens' and Bourdieu's conceptualisations of social practice to understand relationships between agency, structure and health. However, social practice theories have more to offer than has currently been capitalised upon. This article delves into contemporary theories of social practice as used in consumption and sustainability research to provide an alternative, and more contextualised means, of understanding and explaining human action in relation to health and wellbeing. Two key observations are made. Firstly, the latest formulations of social practice theory distinguish moments of practice performance from practices as persistent entities across time and space, allowing empirical application to explain practice histories and future trajectories. Secondly, they emphasise the materiality of everyday life, foregrounding things, technologies and other non-humans that cannot be ignored in a technologically dependent social world. In concluding, I argue the value of using contemporary social practice theories in health research is that they reframe the way in which health outcomes can be understood and could inform more effective interventions that move beyond attitudes, behaviour and choices.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2012
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-12-2018
DOI: 10.1002/PAN3.7
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-10-2023
DOI: 10.1002/PAN3.10272
Abstract: This special feature concerns understanding human‐nature relations through the lens of values to comprehend how values of the natural world connect with wider processes of change, action and transformation in social‐ecological systems. The relationships between values and action have preoccupied several disciplines and multiple discourses concerned with implementing change, including sustainability and health, and conservation. Focusing on the conceptual underpinnings of how values, action and change are generally understood, this paper proposes an alternate view informed by more‐than‐human thinking and theories of social practices. In doing so, it aims to closely scrutinise the relationship between values and actions in the context of creating transformative change. In highlighting this relationship and presenting some different ways to understand it, the paper aims to contribute to deepening understanding of how to relate to, value and act for nature and how this might be encouraged. One of the most common pathways assumed to generate action is based on the idea that action is driven by values, and that in order to change action, we therefore need to change values. The paper questions the assumed relationship between values and actions and its direction, and instead posits that beginning with actions is a more productive place to start. To work through these ideas, I introduce more‐than‐human theories, focusing on theories of social practice, to discuss how these theories can change how values and actions are conceptualised, how the relationships between them can be understood, and what these ideas can mean for rethinking how to achieve social‐ecological change. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-03-2017
Publisher: Landscape Online
Date: 18-08-2018
DOI: 10.3097/LO.201861
Abstract: The ever-increasing process of urbanisation across the globe has major implications for the environment, bio ersity and health and wellbeing of urbanites. Urban greenspaces are considered a promising planning tool in tackling some of the problems associated with urbanisation such as pollution and urban heat island effects. It is, therefore, important to understand what encourages the extent to which urban dwellers interact with or use greenspaces. Perceptions and preferences are different ways of exploring how users interact with greenspace, but they are traditionally considered separately in extant research. The aim of this literature review is to synthesise the existing evidence for both perceptions of and preferences for greenspaces, highlighting crossovers and synergies between these two approaches. Drawing on a review of literature found in three online databases — EBSCOhost Web, Taylor and Francis Online and Elsevier —, the paper proposes a framework for understanding perceptions of and preferences for greenspaces which can assist policy makers and planners to develop and design greenspaces with higher efficiency and use or improve existing ones, ultimately improving the liveability of urban environments.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-10-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 28-03-2018
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-09-2023
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 13-11-2014
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 22-12-2005
Abstract: Whilst urban-dwelling in iduals who seek out parks and gardens appear to intuitively understand the personal health and well-being benefits arising from 'contact with nature', public health strategies are yet to maximize the untapped resource nature provides, including the benefits of nature contact as an upstream health promotion intervention for populations. This paper presents a summary of empirical, theoretical and anecdotal evidence drawn from a literature review of the human health benefits of contact with nature. Initial findings indicate that nature plays a vital role in human health and well-being, and that parks and nature reserves play a significant role by providing access to nature for in iduals. Implications suggest contact with nature may provide an effective population-wide strategy in prevention of mental ill health, with potential application for sub-populations, communities and in iduals at higher risk of ill health. Recommendations include further investigation of 'contact with nature' in population health, and examination of the benefits of nature-based interventions. To maximize use of 'contact with nature' in the health promotion of populations, collaborative strategies between researchers and primary health, social services, urban planning and environmental management sectors are required. This approach offers not only an augmentation of existing health promotion and prevention activities, but provides the basis for a socio-ecological approach to public health that incorporates environmental sustainability.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 16-02-2017
Abstract: Recent climate change adaptation policy positions previously mundane weather events, such as heatwaves and coldsnaps, as increasingly dangerous. Within this discourse of ‘extreme’ weather, the health sector is promoting climate-controlled indoor environments as a sensible coping strategy. Such responses mask our constant and ongoing adaptations to weather, which are becoming more dynamic and varied in mobile and globalised societies. In this paper, we are interested in reconceptualising adaptation as a series of everyday and remembered experiences with weather, which are situated within and carried by bodily social practices that contribute to keeping warm and cool. We are particularly concerned with what happens to these practices when those who carry them become mobile, through migration to other countries and climates. We consider the proposition that practices involved in staying warm or cool become more adaptable and innovative when they move. We explore these ideas through a study of international students who had recently moved to Melbourne, Australia from a range of countries. Using a ‘practice memory scrapbook’ method, we consider how student practices are resurrected, modified and/or transformed on arrival to a new locale, where memories are carried forward and disrupted by local varieties. Our analysis redefines the goal of adaptation as achieving tolerable, interesting, manageable, exciting, challenging and curious conditions rather than pursuing comfort, familiarity and safety. We conclude that increasing exposure to varied weather conditions may enhance adaptive responses, and call for further research with mobile populations to provide further insight into adaptation to weather.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-04-2014
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-09-2023
Start Date: 06-2017
End Date: 12-2023
Amount: $321,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
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