scholarly journals Indigenous knowledge and federal environmental assessments in Canada: applying past lessons to the 2019 impact assessment act

FACETS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren E. Eckert ◽  
Nick XEMŦOLTW_ Claxton ◽  
Cameron Owens ◽  
Anna Johnston ◽  
Natalie C. Ban ◽  
...  

Policy-makers ideally pursue well-informed, socially just means to make environmental decisions. Indigenous peoples have used Indigenous knowledge (IK) to inform decisions about environmental management for millennia. In the last 50 years, many western societies have used environmental assessment (EA) processes to deliberate on industrial proposals, informed by scientific information. Recently EA processes have attempted to incorporate IK in some countries and regions, but practitioners and scholars have criticized the ability of EA to meaningfully engage IK. Here we consider these tensions in Canada, a country with economic focus on resource extraction and unresolved government-to-government relationships with Indigenous Nations. In 2019, the Canadian government passed the Impact Assessment Act, reinvigorating dialogue on the relationship between IK and EA. Addressing this opportunity, we examined obstacles between IK and EA via a systematic literature review, and qualitative analyses of publications and the Act itself. Our results and synthesis identify obstacles preventing the Act from meaningfully engaging IK, some of which are surmountable (e.g., failures to engage best practices, financial limitations), whereas others are substantial (e.g., knowledge incompatibilities, effects of colonization). Finally, we offer recommendations for practitioners and scholars towards ameliorating relationships between IK and EA towards improved decision-making and recognition of Indigenous rights.

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-109
Author(s):  
Heba Aziz ◽  
Osman El-Said ◽  
Marike Bontenbal

The objective of this study was to measure the level of cruise tourists' satisfaction as well as the relationship between satisfaction, recommendation, return intention, and expenditure. Also, the impact of factors such as nationality, length of the visit, and age on the level of expenditure was measured. An empirical approach for data collection was followed and a total of 152 questionnaires were collected from cruise tourists visiting the capital city of Oman, Muscat, as cruise liners anchor at Sultan Qaboos Port. Results of the regression analysis supported the existence of a causal relationship between satisfaction with destination attributes, overall satisfaction, recommendation, return intention, and expenditure. It was found that the average expenditure varies according to age and length of the visit. Recommendations for policy makers were suggested on how to increase the role of cruise tourism in strengthening the economy.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 566
Author(s):  
Khuram Pervez Amber ◽  
Rizwan Ahmad ◽  
Mina Farmanbar ◽  
Muhammad Anser Bashir ◽  
Sajid Mehmood ◽  
...  

In Pakistan, data for household electricity consumption are available in the form of monthly electricity bills only, and, therefore, are not helpful in establishing appliance-wise consumption. Further, it does not help in establishing the relationship among the household electricity consumption and various driving factors. This study aimed to unlock the household electricity consumption in Pakistan by analyzing electricity bills and investigating the impact of various socioeconomic, demographic, and dwelling parameters and usage of different appliances. The methodology adopted in this study was survey-based data collection of the residential sector. For this purpose, data were collected from 523 dwellings through surveys and interviews in Mirpur city. The results of the data analysis revealed that the average household electricity consumption is 2469 kWh/year with an average family size of seven and an average floor area of 78.91 m2. Based on possession of various appliances, the households were categorized into four types and their consumption patterns were established and compared. Air Conditioned (AC) houses consume 44% more electricity compared to the non-AC houses, whereas an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) consumes electricity equivalent to an AC. The research findings are useful for policy makers and building designers and are discussed in the conclusion section.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leib Litman ◽  
Zohn Rosen ◽  
Cheskie Rosenzweig ◽  
Sarah L. Weinberger-Litman ◽  
Aaron J. Moss ◽  
...  

AbstractSociety is becoming increasingly dependent on survey research. However, surveys can be impacted by participants who are non-attentive, respond randomly to survey questions, and misrepresent who they are and their true attitudes. The impact that such respondents can have on public health research has rarely been systematically examined. In this study we examine whether Americans began to engage in dangerous cleaning practices to avoid Covid-19 infection. Prior findings reported by the CDC have suggested that people began to engage in highly dangerous cleaning practices during the Covid-19 pandemic, including ingesting household cleansers such as bleach. In a series of studies totaling close to 1400 respondents, we show that 80-90% of reports of household cleanser ingestion are made by problematic respondents. These respondents report impossible claims such as ‘recently having had a fatal heart attack’ and ‘eating concrete for its iron content’ at a similar rate to ingesting household cleaners. Additionally, respondents’ frequent misreading or misinterpreting the intent of questions accounted for the rest of such claims. Once inattentive, mischievous, and careless respondents are taken out of the analytic sample we find no evidence that people ingest cleansers to prevent Covid-19 infection. The relationship between dangerous cleaning practices and health outcomes also becomes non-significant once problematic respondents are taken out of the analytic sample. These results show that reported ingestion of household cleaners and other similar dangerous practices are an artifact of problematic respondent bias. The implications of these findings for public health and medical survey research, as well as best practices for avoiding problematic respondents in surveys are discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 389-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothée Cambou

Abstract A ban on seal product for animal welfare concerns had been adopted by the EU Parliament in 2009. This article examines whether the ban can be contested on the grounds of its effect on indigenous rights. It will first be determined whether the directive encroaches on the rights of indigenous peoples, as proclaimed by the UN Declaration. Despite the clause that exempts the purchasing of seal products, of which the Inuit are benefactors of; it is still believed that the Declaration has been breached, and thus constitutes a violation of their cultural and economic rights. The second section examines how the Inuit have challenged the Directive Regulation on Seal product. Overall, through the examination of this case, the goal of this article is to highlight the legal challenges facing Europe vis-à-vis the development of indigenous peoples’ rights.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Shahriyar Mukhtarov ◽  
Ilkin Mammadov ◽  
Sugra Humbatova

This paper investigates the impact of government’s education expenditures, gross capital formation and total population on economic growth in Azerbaijan during 1995-2018 using the different cointegration methods, namely, ARDLBT, DOLS, and CCR. The results from cointegration methods approve presence of long-run relationship among the variables. The estimation results show that government’s expenditures on education, gross capital formation and total population have a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth in the long-run. The paper concludes that a concerted effort should be made by policy makers to increase educational investment in order to escelate economic growth.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Burridge

This paper provides an overview of discourses of the movement for national reconciliation prevailing within the Australian socio-political context since the inception of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1991, to the national apology delivered by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 13th February 2008. It provides an framework for the various discourses of reconciliation, by exploring and analysing the accrued meanings to such terms such as ‘genuine’, substantive or ‘true’ reconciliation; the Howard’s Government’s ‘practical reconciliation’ and the Rudd government’s great attempt at ‘symbolic’ reconciliation in the national apology to Indigenous Australians. In the changing political context in Australia today this paper revisits the debates on reconciliation, and endeavours to locate the movement solidly within a human rights framework that includes first nation rights. This requires an examination of the roots of the reconciliation movement including community attitudes to reconciliation and the nature of the peoples’ movement as well as the differing perspectives of policy makers, politicians and of course, Indigenous peoples. It asks crucial questions about the progress of reconciliation and the type of reconciliation mainstream Australians will accept. In truth therefore, was the ‘National Apology’ a grand symbolic gesture by mainstream Australia to maintain the status quo and divert our eyes from the more searching questions of the ‘unfinished business’ of ‘substantive’ reconciliation which encompasses first nations rights for Indigenous peoples.


2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 393-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Luiz de Campos

The experience of the UK Research Councils in assessing the impacts of their research funding is discussed, including a report on the findings of research which reviewed the impact studies implemented by the Research Councils. The response of the Councils to the challenge of demonstrating the impacts of their funding and the main methodologies used are presented and the implications of both for the Research Councils and policy makers elsewhere are outlined.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (6(J)) ◽  
pp. 146-152
Author(s):  
Christine Ivy Hurasha, ◽  
Tafara Chiremba

Abstract: The purpose of the study was to explore the impact of electronic commerce on business performance with specific focus on business organisations in Harare, Zimbabwe. This was achieved through investigating the relationship between e-commerce investment and indicators of business performance such as cost operations, service operations and profit levels. A structured questionnaire was developed and administered to 40 respondents from 10 e-commerce organisations. The study revealed that there was a positive relationship between e-commerce investment and business performance. It was revealed that an investment in e-commerce by organisations in Zimbabwe would increase profit levels, improve service operations and reduce transaction costs. The researchers recommended that organisations that have already adopted e-commerce should raise customer awareness and interest in e-commerce and promote the usage of the technology. They also recommended that policy makers such as the Government must take a leading role in the funding of education and the development of infrastructure in order to encourage more organizations and consumers to participate in e-commerce.Keywords: E-commerce, Business performance, Business organisations, Service operations, Cost operations


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Patrick Shepherd

Developments in Canada’s constitutional and legal framework since 1982 set the stage for the current Liberal government’s nation to nation policy which recognizes Indigenous rights and seeks to build a relationship of respect and partnership through reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. These developments have important implications for those engaged in policy and program evaluations who are now called upon - not only by their own professional ethics but by the legal principles flowing from section 35 - to reimagine their approach and work as partners with Indigenous nations based on the recognition of Indigenous rights, reconciliation and the Crown’s duty to act honourably in all of its dealings with Indigenous peoples. There are no off the shelf answers for how this can be done. Evaluations professionals will need to be guided by these key legal principles and the progressive view set out in the Liberal government’s Principles Respecting the Government of Canada’s Nation to Nation Relationship with Indigenous Peoples.  


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
JON GLASBY ◽  
YANAN ZHANG ◽  
MATTHEW R. BENNETT ◽  
PATRICK HALL

Abstract Drawing on a 2010 analysis of the reform and costs of adult social care commissioned by Downing Street and the UK Department of Health, this paper sets out projected future costs under different reform scenarios, reviews what happened in practice from 2010-19, explores the impact of the growing gap between need and funding, and explores the relationship between future spending and economic growth. In the process, it identifies a ‘lost decade’ in which policy makers failed to act on the warnings which they received in 2010, draws attention to the disproportionate impact of cuts on older people (compared to services for people of working age) and calls for urgent action before the current system becomes unsustainable.


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