5.2 New Zealand's changing environment In this study I want to explore some possible effects of this new trade on the environment of one of the countries involved. I've chosen New Zealand, partly because the developments we have just been discussing happened only a few decades after the first large-scale settlements of Europeans, and had a strong influence on the direction of its economy. Some background information will help to set the scene. New Zealand consists of two mountainous islands with a total area similar to that
7 Conclusion One might think of the different interpretations of internationally recognised notions of rights and justice as running along a spectrum, from which we shall now identify four different positions. The first interpretation would argue that, overall, the extension of rights to the international sphere has been benign and effective. It has led and will lead to further successful claims for justice. Evidence for the development of a globa
2.2 The origins of a rights discourse In some form, the ideas of ‘rights’ and ‘justice’ could probably be found in all societies and cultures. They are moral concepts because they are concerned with moral ideals; with how things should be rather than describing how things are. However, the notion of rights now has a prominence in political debate in a way it has not had in other times and places. In the political thought of the ancient world, for example, a key question was how individuals could best contrib
2.1.1 Where did the attempt to define notions of rights internationally come from? To some extent, this ideology of rights was new because it was expressed at the international level with new vigour, with the horrors of the Second World War and the calculated extermination of Jews, gypsies and others in mind. The discourse of individual rights had a stronger impact on international politics than at any time previously, as did the notion of a right to national self-determination. Yet this new departure for international politics also built upon ideas about rights that had be
1 International human rights: an introduction There are many examples of claims for rights in the international sphere. One example was reported in September 2002. The British government was asked to make efforts to have a British man held by the Americans at Guantanamo Bay deported to Britain to face charges of terrorism there in connection with the attacks on 11 September 2001. Concerns were expressed about the denial of this man's human rights at Guantanamo Bay. Are alleged terrorists entitled to human rights? Can the denial of
Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence The material below appears in: Understanding Environmental Issues (2003) (eds) Steve Hinchliffe, Andrew Blowers and Joanna Freeland
References
Introduction We begin this unit by looking at an estuary, a place where sea, land and sky meet. We have chosen a particular estuary: the Blackwater estuary on the Essex coast in eastern England. Although the Blackwater has its own unique characteristics, it is used here as a setting, a device for approaching the study of environments. Like any other estuary, the Blackwater brings together a diverse range of processes, elements and issues that constitute the environment. It offers us a way into thinking ab
Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material within this book.
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References 2.1.1 Preparation
Prepare to watch the video in just the same way as you would prepare to study written material. You will need to have a suitable environment in which you should be relatively undisturbed and able to concentrate for the full length of each video extract. You will need to be able to take some notes as you watch – it is easy to forget the key points if you leave note taking until the video is finished, and it will be important to record your immediate reactions to some of the images.
I References 3.1 (4A) Exploring dynamic relationships using sign graphs Here is where things start getting really interesting in terms of system dynamics! So far, most of your modelling work has been pretty static, with a limited sense of how things change over time. In fact, the behaviour of complex systems is rarely stable. Sometimes change is exponential (e.g. the growth of the World Wide Web); sometimes systems crash and burn (e.g. extinction of populations); but often systems demonstrate repetitive patterns of behaviour (e.g. economic boom and bust cycles). 3.2 Exploring your quality of life In this activity the aim is to develop and use a range of interdisciplinary indicators that describe your quality of life. 2.5 Interdependence The first step in transforming the way you think involves coming to terms with the fact that you are not an independent, isolated object, but rely on Author(s): 3.2 (2B): Developing a relational model of the Powerdown Show programme In this activity you will be challenged to reinterpret the following programme extracted from the Powerdown Show DVD: Energy Descent Pathways. The reason this programme was selected, from the many audio-visual programmes currently available online that tackle environmental and social issues, was because it presents an "ecotopian" approach to tackling the converging social, economic and environmental crises. Your challen 3.1 (2A): Exploring the global implications of different mindsets In this activity the aim is to investigate the implications of different mindsets with regards to the future unfolding of events on a global scale. So far, you have focused your attention on exploring your personal cognitive 2.6 Mathematical communication When you looked at the title of this reading, did you experience unease? Most people shudder at the thought of dealing with anything mathematical, remembering the torturous lessons at school trying to grapple with calculus, statistics and logic. Yet most of us use mathematical com 2.3 Communication techniques In the introduction to communication, I focused on the problems of getting a message through, but Author(s): 6.2 Refining the specification The ideas for the boiler cut-out switch can now be based on some real knowledge about temperature effects. You are now ready to tackle the next exercise. List four temperature-dependent changes in material properties t
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Activity
Exercise 7
