The future of democracy in Melanesia: What role for outside powers?

Abstract: This paper critically examines the role of outside powers, particularly Australia and New Zealand, in meeting the challenges to democracy in Melanesia. The shortcomings of the Westminster political system in the fragmented societies of Melanesia are contrasted with the possible advantages of a Presidential system. The ‘good governance’ requirements of aid donors are considered, along with more direct forms of intervention – including armed forces in the case of the Solomon Islands. The paper concludes that democracy cannot be imposed, and that attempts to do so makes nonsense of the term.     

Social and political barriers to the use of Marine Protected Areas for conservation and fishery management in Melanesia

Abstract: In this paper we examine the strengths and weaknesses of state‐supported Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) systems in two independent Melanesian states (Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea) in the context of the management of rapidly intensifying commercial and subsistence fisheries. We focus particularly on the proposed use of permanent no‐take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which are at present strongly favoured by scientists and environmentalists around the world, as the most versatile marine fishery management tool, especially in poor developing countries. We argue that, with some exceptions, typical Melanesian CMT regimes make MPAs difficult to establish, primarily due to issues of scale. We look closely at the ecological rationale for no‐take MPAs, for different coral‐reef based species, and assess the likelihood that populations of these species are self‐replacing on the same scale as CMT territories for most of coastal PNG and Solomon Islands. We argue that with some exceptions (mainly species with short‐lived larvae), the dynamics and scale of population replacement processes for most fished species make no‐take permanent closures largely incompatible with traditional CMT systems, and therefore unlikely to prove a successful management tool in this socio‐political context.     

The borders within: Mobility and enclosure in the Riau Islands1

Abstract: The border studies literature makes a strong case against claims for unfettered transnationalism and ‘borderlessness’ in our ‘globalising world’. However, its focus on movement across borders means that it fails to address bordering practices that occur within the nation‐state as a result of transnational activity. In this paper, we extend Cunningham and Heyman’s concepts ‘enclosure’ and ‘mobility’ to confront the different layers of bordering (both physical and non‐physical) that have occurred in Indonesia’s Riau Islands since they became part of the Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle.     

内蒙古河套地区小麦粉风味物质GC-IMS分析

为了研究河套小麦麦香味的本质,以期找出河套春小麦和冬小麦之间的风味及风味物质差异,采用气相离子迁移谱(GC-IMS)对河套产‘永良4号’小麦风味物质进行测定,同时选取冬小麦品种‘新麦26’和‘百农4199’作为对照品种。在3个小麦粉样品中共检测到风味物质73种,其中醛类26种,醇类15类,酮类12种,酯6种,酸3种,酚2种,呋喃类和烯类各1种。‘永良4号’检测出的风味物质中,醛类物质含量最高,占30.55%,其次是酮类占30.28%,醇类占27.80%,其余组分占比较小,分别为酚类占3.19%,酸类占1.70%,酯类占1.62%,2-戊基呋喃和α-蒎烯共占0.87%。河套地区产‘永良4号’麦芽酚、丁醛等风味物质含量高,与‘百农4199’、‘新麦26’在不同风味物质含量上具有较大差异。这些具有特殊香气的风味物质含量高,可能是导致河套小麦麦香味浓郁的物质基础。     

The peri‐urban Pacific: From exclusive to inclusive cities

Abstract: As the Pacific Islands continue to urbanise, existing models of governance and planning are coming under greater pressure and scrutiny. Both the city council approach and the ‘good’ urban governance agenda of donors have weaknesses in the region, especially in dealing with peri‐urban settlements where the most rapid urban population growth is occurring. This is resulting in increased social discontent and conflict. This paper critiques the ways in which Pacific Island towns and cities are governed and calls for an approach which is more inclusive (and less hierarchical) and informed by concepts of citizenship and social justice. Indeed, policy makers will need to broaden their concepts and practices of governance if many Pacific cities are to be socially, politically, and envir‐onmentally sustainable. However, the political‐economy of urban development in the region is not proving conducive to consensus, with conflict a more likely outcome in the foreseeable future.     

Creating community‐based indicators of gender equity: A methodology

It appears that an almost unquestioned development pathway for achieving gender equity and women's empowerment has taken centre stage in mainstream development. This pathway focuses on economic outcomes that are assumed to be achieved by increasing women's access to material things, including cash income, loans, physical assets, and to markets. Gender equity indicators, which measure progress towards these outcomes, cannot escape reinforcing them. We argue that far from being neutral, indicators are embedded in political and ideological agendas that serve as guides to the appropriate conduct of those whose performance or behaviour is being measured. Drawing on participatory feminist, diverse economies and strengths based approaches, we outline a research methodology for developing community‐based indicators that recognises women's and men's participation and relationships in all spheres of life, including the ‘non‐economic’. If indicators are grounded in local meanings and realities, we propose that community members can use them to identify aspirational goals for gender equity, and measure progress towards these goals.     

‘Outside man’ revisited: Harold Brookfield's contributions to population studies in the Pacific in the 1960s and 1970s

Abstract: Harold Brookfield's contribution to population studies has not been given much prominence in the literature. In this paper, I revisit a number of his major papers written in the 1960s and 1970s in two contexts: first, with reference to his response to the intellectual debates that were transforming the discipline of geography at this time, and second, with reference to my experiences as a postgraduate student at the Australian National University, in the ‘Brookfield school’ and, later, as a research colleague in Brookfield's interdisciplinary island ecosystems project in Fiji. Although Brookfield increasingly saw himself as an ‘outsider’ in the changing mainstream of human geography, he remained an extremely influential writer for successive generations of geographers who chose to work on population issues in the western Pacific. His research contribution was immense, and remains relevant, which is more than can be said for much that was written by those ‘inside’ the discipline in the heady years of intellectual foment that characterised the social sciences, including geography, in last quarter of the twentieth century.     

ICT and Sustainable Mobility: From Impacts to Policy

ABSTRACT The question “Will using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems enable a more sustainable mobility?” is answered through analyzing current ICT policy in the EU and the United States of America (USA), through developing a conceptual model to structure the expected direct and indirect effects of ICT systems on mobility, and through building models for three selected ICT systems to estimate their quantitative effects on mobility. Based on the models, ICT systems seem to have limited mobility reduction potential (in terms of CO₂ emissions and kilometer savings). On the short term, because of efficiency gains, ICT systems have a positive impact. In the long term, better quality of mobility will attract new demand and this will again result in an increase of travel. For policymakers this implies that ICT systems in the short run can make mobility more efficient. In the long run, to prevent the more efficient mobility from attracting new traffic, the implementation of any ICT system should be accompanied by a stronger pricing policy.     

The role of job uncertainty in inter‐regional commuting: The case of Italy

This paper studies the evolution of the determinants of inter‐regional commuting in Italy in the period 1992–2016, during which the labour market has been significantly reformed. To capture the changes in commuting patterns, the analysis of the role of individual, job, firm, and regional characteristics is performed. Specifically, the focus is on the impact of job uncertainty at both micro and macro level, through the analysis of the way the diffusion of temporary contracts has affected the decision to commute for work. The findings suggest that in more recent years workers hired on a temporary contract are more likely to commute to another region. Moreover, the higher the relative share of temporary contracts in the region of residence, the higher the probability of commuting across regions. These findings support the idea that the strong utilisation of (short) temporary contracts represents a push factor, which drives workers away in search of better job opportunities, with potentially negative consequences for poorly performing regions.     

Of social construction,politics and biology: population geographies in the Pacific

Sustained challenges by third world, black and feminist scholars have unsettled the established agenda of the social sciences in the 1990s. Unfortunately, population geographies in the Pacific have failed to engage with these debates. By avoiding the metaphysical challenges posed by contemporary theoretical debates, often by people from previously marginalised groups, population geographies have failed to provide the spark necessary for the dynamic expansion of ideas. However, an analysis of population geographies in the Pacific, almost all of which are mobility studies, reveals important contributions for advancing a more critical population geography. This paper begins with a critical review of population geography in general then looks more specifically at population geographies, mostly mobility studies, in the Pacific. It advances the argument that the humanist geographers Chapman and Bonnemaison have made critical contributions in reconceptualising population mobility. Further advances would benefit from an engagement with feminist geography and post-structural discourse analysis.     

气候变化影响粮食流通的事实与策略

当前气候变化问题已成为国际科学研究关注的焦点,更是国际政治的重要议题,对商品流通特别是粮食流通的可持续发展产生了重要影响.受气候变化影响,我国“北粮南运”基本格局可能会发生进一步变化.随着粮食流通体制改革的不断推进,国内外环境不断变化特别是气候变化也给粮食生产、粮食流通及粮食安全带来新影响,我国粮食流通面临许多新问题和新挑战,对粮食流通科技发展提出了新的战略需求.探讨了气候变化对粮食生产与流通的影响,提出了具体的科技应对策略.     

呼伦贝尔市暴雨分型研究

为了研究呼伦贝尔市暴雨环流形势特征,防范暴雨引发的洪涝灾害对农业产生的影响,使用1971—2010年呼伦贝尔市16站降水资料和NCEP再分析资料,对发生暴雨过程天气环流背景进行分型。结果表明：呼伦贝尔市暴雨过程主要影响系统大致分为4类：（1）西太平洋副热带高压与西风带系统的相互作用（71个,43.3%）;（2）西太平洋副热带高压与其西侧北上的台风共同与中高纬度环流系统相互作用（35个,21.3%）;（3）台风或热带气旋与西风带系统远距离相互作用（27个,16.5%）;（4）西风带系统的直接作用（31个,18.9%）。     

辽宁葡萄市场销售分析

根据辽宁省鲜食葡萄市场流向,将鲜食葡萄销售大致划分为3个区域。并针对鲜食葡萄如何走向国际市场提出了几点建议。