In order to consolidate a sustainable renewable energy infrastructure, the Australian state of Victoria requires an advancement and development of any feasible renewable energy alternatives. There is a large onshore wind energy market in Victoria but the state currently has no offshore wind technology under consideration or proposal. Australia, and Victoria, has a vast coast line with desirable wind resources for offshore wind implementation. In order to definitively investigate the potential for such technology, a simulation was designed to test the amount of power that could be produced in Victoria by using real life wind speed data sets. The simulation output was analyzed in conjunction with an analysis of the social, political, environmental and economic considerations that could increase or decrease the potential for this technology. 11 simulation scenarios were tested and analyzed, two of which produced a positive net present value by the conclusion of its commissioned operational life. It was found that there is the potential for development of this technology within certain locations in Victoria but it would face several barriers to implementation. The most prominent barriers are competition with a thriving coal and fossil energy industry and competition with more economically desirable alternative renewable technologies such as onshore wind energy.

Intrigue and tragedy are inherent in murder. Justice is not. What role does wealth play? At the very least, money buys access to limitless expert witnesses and the best and brightest attorneys. Today, all killings are felonies except those deemed justifiable. But that was not the case in Victoria, Texas, in 1976 when young, handsome and wealthy rancher Hampton C. Robinson III shot young, handsome and wealthy rancher Thomas Traylor Bauer in the back of the head. Criminally negligent homicide was a misdemeanor. And unlike the law today, the judge was allowed to reduce the full range of charges and provide jurors only two: murder or criminally negligent homicide. Convicted of a misdemeanor, Hampton Robinson served less than a year in jail. His crime began a downward spiral that took other lives and led to his self-destruction. / text

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This thesis seeks to explain how site-scale design decisions can assist retention of rare plant communities concentrated in and near settled areas. To do so it focuses on a specific species and development context. Explanations are sought through examination of case studies of landuse developments in proximity to retained Garry oak plant communities located in the perimeter of Victoria, British Columbia. In the study region, exponential declines in species populations, health, and diversity of rare Garry oak ecosystems have been largely attributed to impacts from land-use developments. Over the past century, land-use developments have transformed the floral, spatial, structural and functional characteristics of the settled landscape. Isolated islands of imperiled plant associations remain on protected bioreserves: for recruitment and connectivity, these rare fauna rely on private-land greenways. Architectural teams have the potential to influence the decision-making processes that create ecologically-vital greenspace on private land, thereby enhancing survival for declining plant communities. Case-study evidence for the importance of land-use decisions on diminishing Garry oak meadow is gathered through vegetation surveys conducted on Garry oak meadow in proximity to six architectural projects on Victoria's western edge. Observed changes in growth extensions are then categorized in relation to human activities associated with built form, and correlated with principles from Landscape Ecology. An ARC of design strategies, developed in primary research by K. D. Rothley is adapted for architectural use as follows: firstly, AREA of a plant community is kept free of encroachment by the orderly frame established around vegetation; secondly, RARE SPECIES and habitat are identified with borders or signage; thirdly, CONNECTIVITY between retained landscapes is secured by siting roads and buildings to minimize ecosystem fragmentation. To effectively communicate preexisting landscape ecology principles, grouped under the ARC of strategies, illustrations and key-word phrases are developed. These principles, when integrated into architectural teams' structural knowledge, extend the architects' perceived role beyond aesthetics and economic efficiency. Enhancing habitat value through retention or restoration of rare ecosystems at the margins of suburban development, becomes an additional realm of influence for professional teams designing the spatial configurations of peri-urban landscapes.

This M.A. thesis written at the University of Victoria during 1968-69 seeks to determine the causes, nature and effects of the Great Depression of 1929-1939 on the important Western Canadian metropolitan centre of Greater Victoria, British Columbia. Comprised of four municipalities - Victoria City, Esquimalt, Oak Bay and Saanich - Greater Victoria had an image of itself as an affluent, conservative, geographically isolated urban centre. Furthermore, the capital city region had, from the turn of the century, become less and less important in relation to its larger, burgeoning sister, Greater Vancouver; which in turn provided a perfect opportunity for life in the Island community to become even more insular than it had before. As the critical decade of the 1930's began, however, events forced Victorians to discard their protective coccoon in order to survive as a city. Compounding their difficulties, the city's overall economic decline was broad and swift; while recovery, when it finally did occur between 1933 and 1939, was slow and sporadic. In the early years of the Depression, however, many citizens in the area still tended to regard their fundamental economic and social problems as local ones; and therefore, attempted to marshal local resources in the forms of charities, municipal governments', and service organizations so as to bring a measure of relief to everyone. Yet their efforts were not enough. Sometimes, as in the case of Victoria City for example, there were insufficient economic and financial resources on hand. / Graduate / 0334

In this thesis I explore community mapping as a tool for transformative community learning and planning for sustainability. This inquiry is set within the context of “grassroots post-modernism” which prioritizes the realm of locally-based knowledge and narrative. The first part of the thesis explores the landscape of discourse and the tension between hegemonic and situated knowledge. Deconstructing the power relations behind colonial and globalized worldviews provides a foundation for examining pedagogy and its relationship to power relations and everyday life. The argument is made for an inclusive community and eco-system-based approach to knowledge production as a cornerstone of healthy and sustainable development. This leads into the second part of the thesis: the exploration of mapping and case study of community mapping as a practical application of this theoretical framework. As discourse, I look at maps as subjective reflections of the world and the culture of the mapmaker. In this sense they are paradigmatic. They reflect cultural patterns and worldviews and therefore offer a medium for inquiry that reveals the interdependence of worldview, pedagogy and planning. Maps can help to create a sense of place, provide space for dialogue, and bridge personal knowledge to community learning and planning. Mapping is also a tool for narrative, for “storied residence,” and, when applied in a community context, it can facilitate creative and engaging expression. Overall, maps have significant spatial power, reflecting social, economic, and ecological relations that influence communities and patterns of development worldwide. The thesis attempts to show how mapping discourse, grounded in ecological and social narrative, can be tied practically to asset-based community learning, and participatory planning for sustainability. This is accomplished through a case study of the Common Ground Community Mapping Project based in Victoria, British Columbia and through a profile of various approaches to, and examples of, community mapping methodologies and projects.

This M.A. thesis written at the University of Victoria during 1968-69 seeks to determine the causes, nature and effects of the Great Depression of 1929-1939 on the important Western Canadian metropolitan centre of Greater Victoria, British Columbia. Comprised of four municipalities - Victoria City, Esquimalt, Oak Bay and Saanich - Greater Victoria had an image of itself as an affluent, conservative, geographically isolated urban centre. Furthermore, the capital city region had, from the turn of the century, become less and less important in relation to its larger, burgeoning sister, Greater Vancouver; which in turn provided a perfect opportunity for life in the Island community to become even more insular than it had before. As the critical decade of the 1930's began, however, events forced Victorians to discard their protective coccoon in order to survive as a city. Compounding their difficulties, the city's overall economic decline was broad and swift; while recovery, when it finally did occur between 1933 and 1939, was slow and sporadic. In the early years of the Depression, however, many citizens in the area still tended to regard their fundamental economic and social problems as local ones; and therefore, attempted to marshal local resources in the forms of charities, municipal governments', and service organizations so as to bring a measure of relief to everyone. Yet their efforts were not enough. Sometimes, as in the case of Victoria City for example, there were insufficient economic and financial resources on hand. / Graduate / 0334

"This project has, for its central component, an epic poem, 'A locale of the cosmos'. The accompanying exegesis examines epic as an ancient, but continually evolving form. It argues that, as a contemporary example of the genre and, as a sustained poetic rumination on landscape and memory, 'A locale of the cosmos' represents a significant development within the modern tradition of autobiographical epic. In broader terms, 'A locale of the cosmos' privileges the landscape and history of a region of Australia, the Wimmera region of north-western Victoria and, in doing so, explores the cumulative effects of the physical environment as a site for sustained poetic treatment. The poem is, therefore, an epic of both historical narrative and philosophical reflection, giving meaning to and interpreting ideas of space, place and locale. "Furthermore, it explores, in particular, the psychological and spiritual effects of vast horizontal distances, created by a landscape in which endless plains and immense horizons form an analogue of the wider cosmos. The poem's themes, therefore, bear not only on the prominences of the visible locale, but also explore the salients of an interior world, a landscape of the mind to which the poetry gives shape and meaning." / Doctor of Philosophy

This research examined the outcome of a translocation of 30 koalas moved from French Island to three sites on mainland Victoria (Creswick, Enfield and Lal Lal State Forests) / Doctor of Philosophy

Arid areas are often overgrazed and dysfunctional with poor recruitment of desirable species, diminished control over resources and altered soil properties. Restoration ecology re-establishes these valued processes. State-and-transition models summarise knowledge of vegetation dynamics and tools for restoration, and encourage the incorporation of new information. The model developed here for semi-arid woodlands of north-west Victoria highlighted the unknown cause of observed, natural recruitment and the need for a technique, other than direct seeding and handplanting, for enhancing the recruitment of desirable species. I pursued these knowledge gaps for two dominant, woodland trees: Allocasuarina luehmannii and Casuarina pauper. Natural recruitment of juvenile C. pauper was found to be limited and primarily from root suckers. Extensive recruitment of A. luehmannii was shown to be mostly seedlings established following substantial reductions in grazing pressure since 1996. Seedlings were associated with areas devoid of ground flora near a female tree. The importance of competition between seedlings and ground flora, spatial variation in soil moisture and individual variation in the quantity of seed produced deserves further investigation to enhance future restoration success. Root suckers of both C. pauper and A. luehmannii can be artificially initiated, albeit in low numbers and this was found to be a feasible, new tool for restoration. Suckers are preceded by the growth of callus tissue on exposed or damaged, living, shallow roots. Both male and female trees can produce suckers and spring treatments may be more successful. Genetic fingerprinting of mature A. luehmannii and C. pauper trees in six populations did not identify any clonal individuals indicating that recruitment in the past has been from seedlings. Despite this, the high level of gene flow suggests that the impact of introducing small numbers of root suckers into existing populations is unlikely to impact negatively on the population genetics of these species. / Doctor of Philosophy