In 2012, a large area within the Mackenzie District of Te Waipounamu/South Island of Aotearoa/New Zealand was designated as the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve (AMIDSR). While lighting restrictions within the AMIDSR promise to protect starlight visibility in that location for the foreseeable future, this thesis considers instruments provided by the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) that could be applied in protection of starlight as a natural resource of cultural significance to Māori. The celestial realm is a vital element of Māori cosmology. Tātai aroraki/Māori astronomy was responsible for the Polynesian discovery and settlement of this nation. Traditionally the moon and stars also played a role in mahika kai/food gathering and other cultural practices. Tātai aroraki is a body of knowledge that was developed through continued observation and use of the natural resource of starlight, and both the knowledge and the natural resource itself are embedded within the whole mahika kai resource chain. Interviews with local kaumātua/elders and a Māori astrophysicist were conducted to determine whether tātai aroraki is still practiced and important to contemporary Kāi Tahu, an iwi/tribe with close ties to the Mackenzie District. Results confirmed that despite the eroding effects that colonisation, urbanisation and new technologies have had on traditional environmental knowledge in general, remnants of tātai arorangi remain and are still used by a few Kāi Tahu individuals and families. For many Māori, their cultural identity is closely linked to traditional knowledge and practices, a form of cultural capital. A strong cultural identity is an important element of cultural wellbeing. Applying the RMA to the protection of starlight from light pollution would protect a resource important for mahika kai and therefore indirectly enhance the potential for Kāi Tahu to provide for their cultural wellbeing. As the RMA is a national statute this has implications for iwi in other regions of Aotearoa who have similar astronomical traditions. This thesis extends previous research on the AMIDSR within a growing body of scholarship on starlight protection. It also makes a contribution to RMA scholarship and Actor-Network Theory literature on the natural environment by including the celestial realm within resource networks.

In astronomy, interferometry by ground-based telescopes offers the greatest angular resolution. However, the Earth´s atmosphere distorts the incident wavefront from a celestial object, leading to blurring and signal loss. It also restricts the transmission of specific wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum. Space-based interferometers would mitigate atmospheric obstruction and potentially enable even higher angular resolutions. The main challenge of implementing space-based interferometry is the necessity of matching the light´s optical path differences at the telescopes within the coherence length of the light utilizing physical delay lines. This thesis explores the potential realization of digital delay lines via heterodyne interferometry. The technique generates a heterodyne beat note at the frequency difference between the incident stellar light and a reference laser in the radio regime, permitting digitization of the delay line while preserving the phase information for image reconstruction. The primary objective of the thesis is to advance the field of astronomy by constructing a testbed environment for investigating future space-based heterodyne interferometry in the NIR light range. It requires the achievement of two main tasks. Firstly, a laboratory starlight simulator is developed to simulate a distant star´s wavefront appearance as it reaches telescopes on or around Earth. The consequent starlight simulator contains an optical assembly that manifests a point source in NIR light, aligned with a mirror collimator’s focal point, transforming the wavefront from spherical to planar. Secondly, a fiber optical circuit with interference capability is constructed, consisting of a free-space optical delay line and a polarization-controlled custom-sized fiber. The delay line matches the optical paths within the light's coherence length, while the polarization controller optimizes interference visibility. The completion of the tasks establishes the foundation to investigate space-based heterodyne interferometry in the NIR light with the potential implementation of delay line digitization.

This paper investigates how professionals within the Italian fashion industrycollaborate and communicate to develop the nation brand Made in Italy. Theproblem of brand confusion, which occurs when the different parties within anation does not cooperate towards a distinct brand message, is analysed.Based on a theoretical review of previous studies in nation branding,interviews and observations in the area of Florence and a desk study ofscientific papers, articles and literature, the model “The Nation Brand Tree”was developed. This was applied to the case of Made in Italy. Conclusions: Thecertification “100% Made in Italy” was proven to be an ineffective solution ofsaving the Italian heritage of craftsmanship and quality. The Italian nationbrand is currently being preserved by private investors, but there is a need forincreased governmental support to create a stronger and unified nation brandfor Made in Italy. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen