Privately-owned estates dominate Scotland's uplands, and their owners' decisions greatly influence rural communities. While the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 has altered power relations in rural areas, its impact on landowner-community dynamics has received little attention. Discourse on the contemporary ‘estate community' and factors determining its ‘sustainability' has also been minimal. The research reported here, involving in-depth case studies on six, upland, private estates, aims to address these knowledge gaps and contribute to Scottish policy on sustainable land use and community development. Scoping interviews with a group of expert commentators informed the design of a national survey of private landowners, and this, in turn, facilitated case study selection. The research questions were explored through a triangulated method of household questionnaires, interviews with key actors (in the local community and in estate management), and participant observation. This grounded, ethnographic approach generated an in-depth understanding of the threats and opportunities facing rural communities and private landowners in upland Scotland, in addition to the key factors required to promote their sustainability, and the constraints to achieving this goal. The results showed (i) that many key factors and constraints are shared by the estate and the community; (ii) that their sustainability is interlinked; and therefore (iii) that estate-community interaction and positive engagement is crucial. Evaluation of estate-community interaction and engagement processes reveals opportunities and challenges for effective approaches. Evaluation of the prospects for landowner/estate-community partnership working illustrates the opportunities for mutual benefits, and the need for greater community empowerment to ensure partnership success. These findings are reinforced from a Habermasian perspective. Private landowners are recommended to adopt three key roles - as contributor, enabler and partner - in order to contribute positively to estate community sustainability, and, in turn, to private estate sustainability and public legitimacy. The research informs a concluding set of best practice recommendations.

No description available.

No description available.

It is a commonly held notion among many Aboriginal people that one’s worldview, knowledge, values and identity are shaped through the connection one has with the physical and spiritual components of their traditional territory; the land and waters, the beings which occupy these places and one’s ancestors. For the members of Missanabie Cree First Nation, the connection with their traditional territory was disrupted as a result of the failure of the Crown to set aside land in the treaty process in the early 20th Century. Through a review of literature on the Cree of Northern Ontario and Quebec, this thesis answers questions raised by the community concerning their ancestors’ traditional resource management methods, and the kinship roles associated with these methods. Q-method is used to determine the current day values the members hold regarding the land and waters in and around Missanabie. Knowledge of these values, where members agree and disagree, can assist leadership in making decisions about how to proceed in the reestablishment of a viable Aboriginal community within the traditional territory. From the Q-method, three factors which represent the members values emerged; Cultural and Spiritual Values, Economic and Conservation Values, and Community Infrastructure Values. The factors demonstrate that the First Nation holds a mix of traditional and contemporary values with differences appearing in how each factor describes members’ connection to the land and the desires of what members want the land to provide. To move forward in their journey toward reestablishment on their traditional lands, compromises and accommodations within the community need to be reached, and can best be achieved through comprehensive land management planning. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

In 1997 South Africa came out with a policy aimed at addressing the legacy of apartheid in respect of an unequal division of land in the country. About 3.5 million people were moved from rural and urban areas between 1960 and 1980 and deposited in the reserves or areas designed for the exclusive occupation of black people. The new land policy attempts to deal with the resultant problems. The policy advocates a three-pronged approach to land reform encompassing (i) land restitution, (ii) land redistribution and (iii) land tenure reform. A number of projects have been carried out under these three aspects. This study aims to investigate and evaluate the results of a completed land restitution case. The Mfengu of Tsitsikamma was chosen as a case study because the people have moved back and are now living on their land. The Mfengu were dispossessed of their land in 1977 by the apartheid government and their land was returned in 1994. Although this case was processed outside of the land restitution legislation (Restitution of Land Rights Act, 22 of 1994), all restitution cases where people return to their original land have to deal with the problems of resettlement. From its involvement in various involuntary resettlement projects, the World Bank concluded that the new communities of resettlers should be designed as a viable settlement system equipped with infrastructure and services and integrated in the regional socio-economic context. The host communities receiving the resettlers should be assisted to overcome possible adverse social and environmental effects from the increased population density. These concerns are valid for the South African situation, and the question is, whether this resettlement encapsulates the above. The goals of the research are twofold. To evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the resettlement project and its sustainability. In particular focussing on the constraints to the implementation of the land policy. Research questions include the following: How was the project carried out? Is the resettlement integrated into the socio-economic and development planning of the area? How viable and sustainable is the new settlement? What are the major problems and challenges facing this area and how can they be overcome?

The identification and subsequent treatment of contaminated land and groundwater is currently being regulated by the Environment Agency. The closure of gasworks sites during the late 1960s left areas of land contaminated with undesirable residues of the manufactured gas process, which were left to cause further pollution by leaching into surface and groundwater. The techniques available to remediate these contaminated media are numerous, but most tend to suffer from at least one major disadvantage, usually time or cost.

The World's ever increasing demand for communication capacity has been the catalyst for the development of a range of next generation satellite reflectors. This new generation are significantly larger than those currently in orbit. Their dimensions prohibit transportation into space in their operational configuration. This thesis investigates the use of deployable tetrahedral trusses for the reflecting surface support structures of a 50 m diameter Land Mobile Communication System. A deployable structural system was selected ahead of other possible forms, as it satisfied the majority of the criteria of low part count, quick assembly times and an economical packaging volume thereby minimizing transportation and on-orbit fabrication costs. The composite material examined is formed from a polyethersulphone thermoplastic matrix reinforced with high strength, low modulus carbon fibres, C-PES.The modal characteristics of a series of scaled sub-units of the proposed structure were examined. These units, manufactured from the two types of material considered, C-PES and Perspex, were subjected to a range of excitation functions. The C-PES units were thermally cycled under high vacuum to simulate the space environment. The accelerated thermal cycling of the composite structural units revealed that a shift in resonant frequency occurred, together with some surface cracking which could affect the long term stability of the material. The effects of surface pigmentation on the thermal response were also considered. An algorithm has been developed which allows low cost materials to be used to predict the behaviour of geometrically similar units manufactured from the composite material. The interaction between the predicted dynamic structural behaviour and the electrical performance of the satellite is also addressed and suggests that some form of active control system will be required if the maximum defocus parameter is not to be violated.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis investigates land reform coverage at the time of the land summit through quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Hard news reports, editorials and opinion pieces that appeared in the daily newspapers Beeld, Business day, Sowetan and Sunday newspapers Rapport and Sunday Times between July and September 2005 were analysed in terms of what they reported , issues that received little attention, portrayal of certain issues and sources used. The findings were used to make inference about the degree to which the newspapers in the study fulfill their societal roles. / South Africa

Magister Artium - MA / This study aimed to contribute towards understanding how the dynamics of class formation and differentiation impact on and are in turn impacted upon by land restitution processes. It was conducted against the backdrop of both land reform and restitution programmes of the democratic government being viewed by communities, scholars, commentators, civil society and opposition parties as generally a failure.The objectives of the study were twofold: firstly to develop a view of the class structure before and after land restitution in Dysselsdorp and, secondly, to consider the different ways in which classes were differentiated, combined and reconstituted to different effect in relation to the three restitution models.

Abstract not available.