Suchergebnisse

The economics of natural resources has become an area of considerable interest for tertiary students in recent years, with subjects in this area introduced in various degree programs. This is a subject area where the interest of students in the natural world and environmental issues can be capitalized upon to gain student enthusiasm, provided the practical relevance of the economic theory for government and industry can be conveyed. A number of innovations have been trialed in teaching a third year undergraduate unit in economics of natural resources at The University of Queensland. The unit attracts students from a variety of backgrounds, including students in economics, commerce and natural resource management degrees, study abroad and exchange students, and postgraduate students from developing countries. Specific measures trialed to capture student interest and maximize morale in the subject have included provision of a large set of dedicated reference materials, use of guest lecturers, a class debate, use of newspaper clippings, a resource-type focus for lecture topics, and an opportunity for specialization in topics. Students exhibit particular interest in landrights issues, economics of renewable resources and economics of outdoor nature-based recreation. Survey evidence indicates a favourable attitude to lecture support materials. © 2003 Economic Society of Australia (Queensland) Inc.

This paperexamines procedures and findings in estimation of the 'visual disamenity cost' associated with installation of high-voltage overhead power lines in the Wet Tropics of Queensland. The study was performed within a short timeframe and small budget, hence the need to design a relatively simple and cost-effective approach, yet one which would yield acceptable information on environmental values. An extensive literature review and advice from a number of resource economists indicated that there was little information from previous studies to support benefit transfer methodology. It was found possible to estimate disamenity costs to ecotourism operation (using a simplified travel cost approach), agricultural operations (based on compensation payments) and residential property values (through a simplified hedonic price approach). A planned contingent valuation of the intrusive effect of the transmission lines through rainforest areas did not proceed, due at least in part to the political sensitivity of this issue. © 2002 Economic Society of Australia (Queensland) Inc.

Media Space: 20+ Years of Mediated Life is loosely divided into three different, but interconnected, approaches to media space research. Each part opens with an introduction that lays out how readers can best approach the book, and provides a basic guide to the theory and research literature, technological developments and other notable events to help contextualize the book. The 'social ' approach uses the rhetoric and methods familiar to a CSCW audience, but moves into actual situations that involve close working bonds, broken trust, shared joy, community building, interpersonal tension, anxiety etc. The section on 'spatial' approaches guides the reader through an intellectual landscape of spatiality, the 'communications' part is a field guide to sense-making in the as-lived mediated condition, demonstrating that media space sense-making combines an understanding of in-the-moment alongside sense made of existence in the world and reflecting upon it.