Background. Access to health care in northern and rural communities has been an ongoing challenge. Training undergraduate medical students in regional sites is one strategy to enhance physician recruitment and retention in rural regions. With this goal in mind, in 2004, the Northern Medical Program was created to bring undergraduate medical education to Prince George. The NMP is also hypothesized to have wider impacts on the community. This study aimed to describe perceptions of the broader impacts of the NMP. Methods. In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with community leaders in various sectors of Prince George. The interviewer probed about perceived current and anticipated future impacts of the program, both positive and negative. A descriptive content analysis was performed. A conceptual framework of hypothesized impacts was created based on the literature and a model of neighbourhood social capital by Carpiano (2006). Findings. Comments were overwhelmingly positive. Impacts were described on education, health services, economy, politics, and media. Some reported negative impacts included tension between the NMP and other departments at UNBC, and a strain on health system resource capacity. Participants also reported that the NMP has impacted social capital in the region. Social capital, defined as the resources belonging to a network of individuals, was a pervasive theme. Impacts on social cohesion, various forms of social capital, access to social capital and outcomes of social capital are described. Conclusions. The full impact of the NMP will likely not be felt for at least a decade, as the program is still relatively new to Prince George. Findings suggest that an undergraduate medical education program can have pervasive impacts in an underserved community. Evaluation of the impact of such programs should be broad in scope. Findings also suggest that impacts of the program on other community sectors and on social capital may in fact lead to greater human capital gains than originally anticipated. A comprehensive communication strategy should be developed and maintained to ensure continued stakeholder support for the program. Next steps include identifying key quantifiable indicators of community impact to track changes in the community over time.

Climate change will affect Arctic plant communities directly, by altering growth and recruitment, and indirectly, by increasing the frequency of natural disturbance. Since the structure of northern vegetation influences global climate, understanding both temperature and disturbance effects on vegetation is critical. Here, I investigate the influence of temperature and disturbance on Low Arctic vegetation at several spatio-temporal scales in the Mackenzie Delta Region, N.W.T. To disentangle the relative impact of temperature and disturbance on forest-tundra and tundra ecosystems, I sampled microenvironmental variability, plant community composition, and green alder abundance, growth, and reproduction on disturbed (burns and thaw slumps) and undisturbed sites across a regional temperature gradient. Disturbed areas showed increases in alder productivity, catkin production, and seed viability, as well as differences in plant community composition and microenvironment. The magnitude of plot-level responses to disturbance compared to variation across the temperature gradient suggests that in the short-term, increasing the frequency of disturbance may exert a stronger influence on tundra ecosystems than changes in temperature. At the plot level, increases in alder seed viability and recruitment at warmer sites point to the fine-scale mechanisms by which shrub abundance will change. To examine the relative influence of temperature and biophysical variables on landscape-level patterns of shrub dominance, I mapped Low Arctic vegetation using aerial photos. At this broader scale, correlations between temperature and the areal extent of shrub tundra suggest that warming will increase the dominance of shrub tundra. To assess the magnitude of changes in temperature and thaw slump activity, I analyzed climate records and mapped retrogressive thaw slumps using aerial photographs. An increase in thaw slump activity in recent decades, coincident with higher temperatures, suggests that continued warming will change the area affected by thermokarst disturbances like slumps. Taken together, my research indicates that the effects climate change will be magnified by shifts in the frequency of disturbance, initiating changes to Arctic vegetation with significant implications for global climate. My work also shows that to fully understand the influence of patch-landscape feedbacks on Arctic vegetation dynamics, the effects of disturbance must be examined across longer temporal and broader spatial scales.

Corporations are actively pursuing business model innovation and organizational agility in the quest for sustainable competitive advantage in today??s global marketplace. The paradigm of service-oriented computing (SOC) has emerged as a popular approach to flexibility and agility, not just in systems development but also in business process management. The associated concept of service-oriented architecture (SOA) enables the defining of business flows as technology independent services, potentially providing avenues for agility in business process transformation. This architectural concept is growing in popularity and is being rapidly adopted by industry organizations. Studies of the practical impacts of adopting SOA are crucial because it involves a non-trivial and expensive overhaul of both business and technology infrastructures. There is, however, a paucity of critical research on the adoption of SOA. What is needed is a focus on the study of the real-world adoption of SOA across the enterprise and the factors that aid or impede such adoptions. This research examines the organizational use of SOA, both analytically and empirically through case studies, and posits a diffusion framework for the adoption and implementation of SOA as an enterprise strategy. The SOA Diffusion Framework addresses the following key areas ?? the organizational factors influencing the decision to adopt SOA, the organizational aspects of adopting and implementing SOA, and the outcomes or realized benefits of implementing SOA across the enterprise. For researchers, this study (i) fills a crucial knowledge gap because there is little empirical evidence of the practical use of SOA, (ii) adds to the innovation diffusion literature, (iii) introduces a tool to assess the organizational impact of SOA, and (iv) provides direction for future research into the organizational factors relating to the enterprise adoption of service-orientation. For practitioners, this study provides an adoption framework and a set of guidelines to help implement SOA successfully across the enterprise.

Title page, abstract and table of contents only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library. / Australia is one of the few countries to have legislative provisions for EIA monitoring and auditing, yet monitoring and auditing remain weak or neglected within the EIA process. This study identifies four major areas for analysis and evaluation of current procedures and practices of EIA monitoring and auditing in three Australian jurisdictions: institutional arrangements; public accountablity, transparency and community involvement; approaches and techniques; and resources and capacity. Case studies involving EIA projects and surveys and interviews with EIA practitioners were conducted in South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1283764 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2007

This thesis project explores, through art practice that is informed by sociological and theoretical considerations, a transition taking place on Waiheke Island, in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The project focuses on, and investigates change. The research examines the heightened public profile, which has impacted upon the development of the Island. The study explores states of human occupancy, in particular how we view and inhabit the land.As a photographer, it is my intent to consider how modern properties experience place, via the constructed aperture of the window.This is a creative production1 project, that utilises the medium of photography, to explore the notion of change through a representation of images. The exhibition of outcomes is divided into three distinct sections. I am employing analogue and digital technologies to contrast old and new Waiheke. The link between past and present, indicated by the movement of people to and from the Island, is delineated through a journey through the space of the installation. This passage, provides a metaphor for the transition.

Corporations are actively pursuing business model innovation and organizational agility in the quest for sustainable competitive advantage in today??s global marketplace. The paradigm of service-oriented computing (SOC) has emerged as a popular approach to flexibility and agility, not just in systems development but also in business process management. The associated concept of service-oriented architecture (SOA) enables the defining of business flows as technology independent services, potentially providing avenues for agility in business process transformation. This architectural concept is growing in popularity and is being rapidly adopted by industry organizations. Studies of the practical impacts of adopting SOA are crucial because it involves a non-trivial and expensive overhaul of both business and technology infrastructures. There is, however, a paucity of critical research on the adoption of SOA. What is needed is a focus on the study of the real-world adoption of SOA across the enterprise and the factors that aid or impede such adoptions. This research examines the organizational use of SOA, both analytically and empirically through case studies, and posits a diffusion framework for the adoption and implementation of SOA as an enterprise strategy. The SOA Diffusion Framework addresses the following key areas ?? the organizational factors influencing the decision to adopt SOA, the organizational aspects of adopting and implementing SOA, and the outcomes or realized benefits of implementing SOA across the enterprise. For researchers, this study (i) fills a crucial knowledge gap because there is little empirical evidence of the practical use of SOA, (ii) adds to the innovation diffusion literature, (iii) introduces a tool to assess the organizational impact of SOA, and (iv) provides direction for future research into the organizational factors relating to the enterprise adoption of service-orientation. For practitioners, this study provides an adoption framework and a set of guidelines to help implement SOA successfully across the enterprise.

Title page, abstract and table of contents only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library. / Australia is one of the few countries to have legislative provisions for EIA monitoring and auditing, yet monitoring and auditing remain weak or neglected within the EIA process. This study identifies four major areas for analysis and evaluation of current procedures and practices of EIA monitoring and auditing in three Australian jurisdictions: institutional arrangements; public accountablity, transparency and community involvement; approaches and techniques; and resources and capacity. Case studies involving EIA projects and surveys and interviews with EIA practitioners were conducted in South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1283764 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2007

Bibliography: leaves [i]-vi.

Thesis (MSc)--Macquarie University, Graduate School of the Environment, 1998. / Bibliography: p. 115-127. / Introduction -- The Philippine environmental impact statement (EIS) system during the last decade -- Environmental impact assessment in Southeast Asia -- Environmental impact assessment: the donor agencies' perspective -- Donor agencies and the Philippine EIS system -- Synthesis and recommendations -- Bibliography -- Appendices. / This study documents and analyses the implementation of environmental impact assessment in the Philippines, comparing it with other Southeast Asian countries' EIA procedures with emphasis on the role of donor agencies. It concludes that the Philippine EIS system, in spite of some shortcomings, performed satisfactorily though implementation and enforcement ha/ a lot of room for improvement.--The Philippines has one of the most comprehensive EIA laws and policies in Southeast Asia. The Philippine Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System has undergone four phases of implementation as evidence that there is a continuous effort in improving its application. Originally conceived as a regulatory tool, the EIS system has slowly moved to being a management tool to aid decision makers in selecting the best alternative after examining the trade offs between social needs, environmental concerns and economic and financial viability of a project or activity. Recent reforms in the EIA implementing rules and regulations are expected to further enhance the administration and overall utility of EIA in the Philippines.--The Philippine EIS System is well advanced in comparison with Southeast Asia and some Western EIA systems. It has strong legal and regulatory frameworks and guidelines and procedures for its implementation are well set up. Through time, there have been amendments such as the social acceptability concept to enhance public participation, specific guidelines for scoping and the requirement of Environmental Guarantee and Monitoring Funds for compliance monitoring, which aimed at improving EIA implementation. However, compliance and enforcement are still insufficient due to the inherent problem of lack of financial and human resources and political support.--Donor agencies have been influential in the formulation and improvement in EIA implementation in the Philippines. The initial environmental policy in the Philippines that was formulated with the assistance from the US government became the foundation of the preceding environmental laws and policies. The Philippines has obtained a fair amount of EIA technical assistance from bilateral and multilateral donors to support institutional capacity building and to train EIA implementors, project proponents and non-government organisations and to build and upgrade environmental management facilities and equipment. Donors have little influence in the actual conduct of EIA in the Philippines. The Philippine EIS system has the same requirements and procedures from local and foreign-funded projects and all project proponents are required to comply. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / xiii, 143 p. ill

This study assessed the social and biophysical impacts of camping in the eucalypt forests of southwestern Western Australia. This was an integrated study examining both biophysical and social impacts in designated, developed and informal recreation areas used for camping. Four existing and proposed national parks and a Reserve, comprised of 110 designated and 12 informal campsites, provided the study sites. Previous research has focused on backcountry campsites and trails in wilderness areas in United States. A combined survey approach using multiple indicator ratings and measures was used to assess the biophysical impacts of camping. Adjustments to monitoring procedures used in backcountry areas were made so that the indicators were applicable to designated, developed campsites where a management footprint has been imposed. Visitors were surveyed at the designated campsites to establish how existing recreation opportunities were being used. Further, potential indicators and standards were identified to determine what kinds of social and resource conditions were acceptable to visitors and managers. A rating system was then developed combining biophysical and social indicators of importance to visitors and managers with their perceptions of acceptable change obtained from the surveys. Based on the indices derived from the rating system and results for a suite of associated indicators, designated campsites were significantly less impacted than informal ones. For both campsite types the amount of tree damage and litter exceeded the standards set by 50% of visitors and managers. Both visitors and managers were generally more concerned about biophysical impacts than they were about social ones, although site cleanliness was of concern. Both were generally satisfied with the size and number of groups encountered, in contrast to study findings from the United States. This study has developed and successfully applied an integrated approach to monitoring the impacts of recreational use on forested campsites in southwestern Australia. This system effectively and efficiently uses a combination of multiple indicator ratings and measures to produce an impact index, plus social surveys to provide information on conditions, indicators and standards of importance to managers and visitors. It also provides a means for the first time, of objectively monitoring designated, developed campsites where it is inappropriate to judge impacts against an undisturbed control.