Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The thesis is partly a response to the increasing numbers of people expressing concerns over a number of environmental issues (i.e. impact of climate change; greenhouse gas emissions; and, depleting natural resources). Governments, in response, are trying to develop a more sustainable approach to urban development. The thesis proposes a sustainable area planning (SAP) framework to incorporate sustainability principles (social/cultural, environmental, and economic) in urban planning within different sized areas, including: local; district; local government; and, region. The thesis examines current urban planning schools (land use planning, natural resource planning and sustainable urban planning). The research focuses on the extent that these schools incorporate principles of sustainability within urban planning frameworks. The research aims to condense and build on these frameworks to develop a more coordinated and holistic framework. The proposed SAP framework is a five (5) step process with templates developed to accompany each step. The thesis acknowledges the wide range of sustainability data sources available, and shows how these sources can be utilized within the framework. Both qualitative (i.e. SAP survey step) and quantitative (i.e. SAP sustainability scorecard step) methods are used within the framework. A case study urban growth area of North Wyong District (in the Greater Metropolitan Region of Sydney) is nominated to test the framework. As the framework is developed, questions posed on how best to measure the environment leads to the development of indicators of sustainability. Sustainability scorecards are also developed to record these indicators of sustainability. A system of sustainability ratings (using green, amber and red) is proposed. The thesis then tests aggregating (scaling up) these ratings to larger areas. The final research aim is to test whether the scorecard results can form the basis of a sustainability report (with actions and monitoring components) for a subject area. The thesis draws a conclusion that the SAP framework does work and can be used as a tool to incorporate principles of sustainability into urban planning. Finally, suggested future research directions are outlined, including: 1. adopting a systems program for the SAP framework application; 2. using the framework for environmental performance monitoring; and, 3. broadening the framework to accommodate the social and economic components of sustainability.

Ecotourism as sustainable travel to biodiversity-rich areas advocates the utilisation of modes with minimal impacts to the environment. Yet most often the modes available to the public and the transport network that serves the destination undermine its aims of sustainability. The research looks into the relationship between an ecotourism destination and the transport network that serves it. The objective of the study is to identify policies and structures that contribute to improve its sustainability. (For complete abstract open document)

This thesis aims to investigate what principles should guide the development of land administration infrastructures to adequately address the governance needs of evolving rights, restrictions and responsibilities between government, corporate bodies, community groups and individuals to better support sustainable development objectives. (For complete abstract open document)

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The thesis is partly a response to the increasing numbers of people expressing concerns over a number of environmental issues (i.e. impact of climate change; greenhouse gas emissions; and, depleting natural resources). Governments, in response, are trying to develop a more sustainable approach to urban development. The thesis proposes a sustainable area planning (SAP) framework to incorporate sustainability principles (social/cultural, environmental, and economic) in urban planning within different sized areas, including: local; district; local government; and, region. The thesis examines current urban planning schools (land use planning, natural resource planning and sustainable urban planning). The research focuses on the extent that these schools incorporate principles of sustainability within urban planning frameworks. The research aims to condense and build on these frameworks to develop a more coordinated and holistic framework. The proposed SAP framework is a five (5) step process with templates developed to accompany each step. The thesis acknowledges the wide range of sustainability data sources available, and shows how these sources can be utilized within the framework. Both qualitative (i.e. SAP survey step) and quantitative (i.e. SAP sustainability scorecard step) methods are used within the framework. A case study urban growth area of North Wyong District (in the Greater Metropolitan Region of Sydney) is nominated to test the framework. As the framework is developed, questions posed on how best to measure the environment leads to the development of indicators of sustainability. Sustainability scorecards are also developed to record these indicators of sustainability. A system of sustainability ratings (using green, amber and red) is proposed. The thesis then tests aggregating (scaling up) these ratings to larger areas. The final research aim is to test whether the scorecard results can form the basis of a sustainability report (with actions and monitoring components) for a subject area. The thesis draws a conclusion that the SAP framework does work and can be used as a tool to incorporate principles of sustainability into urban planning. Finally, suggested future research directions are outlined, including: 1. adopting a systems program for the SAP framework application; 2. using the framework for environmental performance monitoring; and, 3. broadening the framework to accommodate the social and economic components of sustainability.

Wilderness is crucial for global conservation. Contemporary research established that between 33% and 52% of the Earth qualifies as wilderness. It is a fragile, threatened resource which needs a global conservation framework. This role could be successfully fulfilled by the World Heritage Convention. The founding notion of the World Heritage idea ?? Outstanding Universal Value ?? bears a striking resemblance to the attributes and characteristics of wilderness. The two notions possess an indisputable cultural and historic affinity, embodied by their ??iconic?? dimension. This makes the synergy between wilderness and World Heritage extraordinarily effective, as the history of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area demonstrates. The Franklin Dam dispute, solved after the World Heritage nomination of the Tasmanian wilderness, is emblematic in this respect. It gave birth to the world‟s only protected area which includes close to 100% of the local wilderness resource, and which coincides entirely with World Heritage status. The classic wilderness character of the region matched and enhanced the iconic power of the World Heritage, and the outcome represented a watershed for Australia‟s wilderness politics. Locally, it also paved the way for the establishment of a thriving ecotourism industry, providing the core of Tasmania‟s ??green?? brand. Its lesson is still invoked in unresolved wilderness conflicts throughout the country, and could be applied to other similar international contexts, as a model of proactive wilderness reservation through World Heritage nomination and of economic development based on wilderness tourism. On the other hand, despite the cultural affinity wilderness was never chosen as a criterion for World Heritage identification, and therefore the Convention cannot coherently fulfill this role of wilderness protection framework before solving this paradox. The unresolved dispute over Tasmania‟s wilderness forests indicates that the lack of an official endorsement of wilderness as a World Heritage criterion deprives the Convention of the conceptual tools needed to successfully address those environmental conflicts affecting existing World Heritage areas, in which the resource at stake is namely wilderness. Including wilderness as a World Heritage criterion would fill this gap and provide the global community with an effective framework for the preservation of remaining wilderness regions.

Wilderness is crucial for global conservation. Contemporary research established that between 33% and 52% of the Earth qualifies as wilderness. It is a fragile, threatened resource which needs a global conservation framework. This role could be successfully fulfilled by the World Heritage Convention. The founding notion of the World Heritage idea ?? Outstanding Universal Value ?? bears a striking resemblance to the attributes and characteristics of wilderness. The two notions possess an indisputable cultural and historic affinity, embodied by their ??iconic?? dimension. This makes the synergy between wilderness and World Heritage extraordinarily effective, as the history of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area demonstrates. The Franklin Dam dispute, solved after the World Heritage nomination of the Tasmanian wilderness, is emblematic in this respect. It gave birth to the world‟s only protected area which includes close to 100% of the local wilderness resource, and which coincides entirely with World Heritage status. The classic wilderness character of the region matched and enhanced the iconic power of the World Heritage, and the outcome represented a watershed for Australia‟s wilderness politics. Locally, it also paved the way for the establishment of a thriving ecotourism industry, providing the core of Tasmania‟s ??green?? brand. Its lesson is still invoked in unresolved wilderness conflicts throughout the country, and could be applied to other similar international contexts, as a model of proactive wilderness reservation through World Heritage nomination and of economic development based on wilderness tourism. On the other hand, despite the cultural affinity wilderness was never chosen as a criterion for World Heritage identification, and therefore the Convention cannot coherently fulfill this role of wilderness protection framework before solving this paradox. The unresolved dispute over Tasmania‟s wilderness forests indicates that the lack of an official endorsement of wilderness as a World Heritage criterion deprives the Convention of the conceptual tools needed to successfully address those environmental conflicts affecting existing World Heritage areas, in which the resource at stake is namely wilderness. Including wilderness as a World Heritage criterion would fill this gap and provide the global community with an effective framework for the preservation of remaining wilderness regions.

Since the Rio de Janiero Conference held in 1992, there has been greater pressure worldwide to vigorously pursue the conception of sustainable construction for the purpose of creating a healthy built environment using resource-efficient, ecologically-based principles. / This dissertation aims to examine the impact of environmental issues on a construction firm???s strategy and action and to provide a theoretical and practical framework for the construction industry to move towards sustainability. / After reviewing the literature on sustainable construction, corporate environmentalism, stakeholder theory and environmental management systems, a theoretical framework was proposed. Relationships among stakeholder pressures, a top management commitment, the pro-activeness of an environmental strategy, a perceived environmental performance and competitive advantages were hypothesised. / A two-stage methodology was employed. The first stage involved exploratory interviews with managers of six local contractors. These interviews have provided a list of items for measuring the domain of constructs. In the second stage, the hypothesised model was empirically tested based on the findings of the questionnaire survey. / Evidently, small contractors in Hong Kong are different from large contractors in their culture and some of their practices of sustainability. Most small contractors adopt the reactor approach inasmuch as they take action only when confronted by an internal or external crisis. However, the large contractors usually adopt ???beyond compliance??? environmental policies. Their more proactive strategies are associated with a deeper and broader coverage of their stakeholders. / The data from this research further suggests that top management commitment emerges as a key variable of pro-activeness of an environmental strategy. A proactive environmental strategy influenced environmental performance and competitive advantage / To encourage contractors to continuously improve their suitability performance, there must be close co-operation among the government, clients, educational and professional institutions, contractors, subcontractors, and industry practitioners at all levels. To give contractors the opportunity of implementing sustainability, clients should give consideration to sustainability performance in tender evaluation and a sustainable certification scheme should be implemented by the government to recognise the outstanding performance of organisations. The government should rely on direct regulatory controls only if the industry becomes hazardously environmentally inefficient. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006

Prelude A short piece to prepare the way (Sadie and Tyrrell, 2001) Education for sustainability and educational leadership are the two faces to my research. Although there are differences between the concepts of environmental education and education for sustainability they are often confused. Environmental education deals with awareness raising and encouraging behaviour change to support environmental management and conservation. On the other hand, education for sustainability recognises the transformative role of education, while implicitly referring to intergenerational equity, ecological sustainability and the fair distribution of resources. The confusion is evident at the school level. Leadership is also a term fraught with confusion and misinterpretation. While there are many definitions of leadership, two common perspectives which have persisted over time are definitions of leadership as a matter of influence and of leadership as a skill. In educational terms sustainable leadership represents a shift to capture and merge contemporary leadership theory with the international pressure for sustainability through education. There is a dearth of information available to describe education for sustainability despite recognition by both Australian and Western Australian governments of its importance in this, the early years of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The aims of this qualitative research are to capture leaders’ understanding of how education for sustainability is conceptualised, incorporated across the curriculum and led in Western Australian government secondary schools. In addition this study seeks to determine how education for sustainability becomes embedded and sustained in these schools. The research re-conceptualises leading for sustainability. Four key concepts are identified as essential for embedding education for sustainability into Western Australian government secondary schools. These key concepts are: understanding sustainability; imagining the future; building relationships; and taking action. Combined, they enhance the meagre knowledge base about leading for sustainability in Western Australian secondary schools and provide a springboard for further research in the fields of sustainability and educational leadership.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-117). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.