scholarly journals Rainwater's Well-come: Resettling former refugees into New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lucy Stronach

<p>There are now an unprecedented number of refugees world-wide. The global impact of this is felt in New Zealand, with the refugee quota set to increase in 2018. The refugee crisis is an important design problem that architects must engage with as refugees are a particularly vulnerable group of people. Typically refugees have been assimilated into New Zealand society, however it is known that this process can cause psychological harm.  This thesis seeks to investigate how architecture can thoughtfully and compassionately engage with refugee communities through a design-led investigation which will explore how a dwelling can meet specific cultural and spatial needs while providing opportunities for self-employment, and how a space which is specifically designed for refugee needs can embrace diversity and create opportunities for intercultural dialogue in the wider community.  To investigate this, a sociological framework is used as a lens to examine methods of integration which provide potential ways for architecture to be manifested. Refugees often arrive with few economic resources and can be more reliant on the state and their surrounding communities. The biggest issue felt over long-term resettlement for refugees is a lack of employment which has a direct impact as they don’t have enough money to meet their everyday needs. This can also contribute to a negative public opinion about refugees.  To address this issue, this thesis seeks to investigate how a hybrid building type, the shop-house, could be explored to provide refugees a dwelling that could meet their specific cultural and spatial needs and create potential opportunities for self-employment, self-determination and intercultural contact. The shop-house is a fundamental feature of a city, and can provide an economic foothold for people of all economic means. However, this thesis discovers its limitations and explores an alternative option to allow a refugee community to put down roots and make a new life in a new country which also enriches the host community.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lucy Stronach

<p>There are now an unprecedented number of refugees world-wide. The global impact of this is felt in New Zealand, with the refugee quota set to increase in 2018. The refugee crisis is an important design problem that architects must engage with as refugees are a particularly vulnerable group of people. Typically refugees have been assimilated into New Zealand society, however it is known that this process can cause psychological harm.  This thesis seeks to investigate how architecture can thoughtfully and compassionately engage with refugee communities through a design-led investigation which will explore how a dwelling can meet specific cultural and spatial needs while providing opportunities for self-employment, and how a space which is specifically designed for refugee needs can embrace diversity and create opportunities for intercultural dialogue in the wider community.  To investigate this, a sociological framework is used as a lens to examine methods of integration which provide potential ways for architecture to be manifested. Refugees often arrive with few economic resources and can be more reliant on the state and their surrounding communities. The biggest issue felt over long-term resettlement for refugees is a lack of employment which has a direct impact as they don’t have enough money to meet their everyday needs. This can also contribute to a negative public opinion about refugees.  To address this issue, this thesis seeks to investigate how a hybrid building type, the shop-house, could be explored to provide refugees a dwelling that could meet their specific cultural and spatial needs and create potential opportunities for self-employment, self-determination and intercultural contact. The shop-house is a fundamental feature of a city, and can provide an economic foothold for people of all economic means. However, this thesis discovers its limitations and explores an alternative option to allow a refugee community to put down roots and make a new life in a new country which also enriches the host community.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Sarah Hackett

Drawing upon a collection of oral history interviews, this paper offers an insight into entrepreneurial and residential patterns and behaviour amongst Turkish Muslims in the German city of Bremen. The academic literature has traditionally argued that Turkish migrants in Germany have been pushed into self-employment, low-quality housing and segregated neighbourhoods as a result of discrimination, and poor employment and housing opportunities. Yet the interviews reveal the extent to which Bremen’s Turkish Muslims’ performances and experiences have overwhelmingly been the consequences of personal choices and ambitions. For many of the city’s Turkish Muslim entrepreneurs, self-employment had been a long-term objective, and they have succeeded in establishing and running their businesses in the manner they choose with regards to location and clientele, for example. Similarly, interviewees stressed the way in which they were able to shape their housing experiences by opting which districts of the city to live in and by purchasing property. On the whole, they perceive their entrepreneurial and residential practices as both consequences and mediums of success, integration and a loyalty to the city of Bremen. The findings are contextualised within the wider debate regarding the long-term legacy of Germany’s post-war guest-worker system and its position as a “country of immigration”.


2017 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 160-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.W. Bourdôt ◽  
S. Jackman ◽  
D.J. Saville

Flupropanate (sodium 2,2,3,3 tetrafluoropropanate), a slow-acting lipid bio- synthesis-inhibiting herbicide, was recently registered in New Zealand as Taskforce (745 g/L flupropanate as the sodium salt) for the selective and long-term control of Nassella trichotoma (nassella tussock) in pastures. In five dose-response experiments in permanent hill pastures in Canterbury, conducted between 2012 and 2016, we measured the efficacy of the herbicide against established plants of N. trichotoma and its residual activity against recruiting seedlings. Mortality, as an average across the five sites, was 93% 1.5 years after applying 1.49 kg flupropanate/ha (the label-recommended rate), and 100% at 2.98 kg/ha. This indicates that an application rate higher than the label rate will be necessary for complete control of a N. trichotoma infestation. The presence of 1,000 and 6,250 visible seedlings of N. trichotoma/ha in the autumn 3.2 and 2.1 years after applying 1.49 kg flupropanate/ha (at a Greta Valley and Scargill site respectively) indicates that the herbicide’s soil residues had decayed within 12 months to a concentration lower than necessary to kill the germinating seedlings of N. trichotoma.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiran Thabrew ◽  
Karolina Stasiak ◽  
Harshali Kumar ◽  
Tarique Naseem ◽  
Christopher Frampton ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Approximately 10% to 12% of New Zealand children and young people have long-term physical conditions (also known as chronic illnesses) and are more likely to develop psychological problems, particularly anxiety and depression. Delayed treatment leads to worse physical and mental healthcare, school absence, and poorer long-term outcomes. Recently, electronic health (eHealth) interventions, especially those based on the principles of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), have been shown to be as good as face-to-face therapy. Biofeedback techniques have also been shown to enhance relaxation during the treatment of anxiety. However, these modalities have rarely been combined. Young people with long-term physical conditions have expressed a preference for well-designed and technologically-based support to deal with psychological issues, especially anxiety. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to co-design and evaluate the (i) acceptability and (ii) usability of a CBT and biofeedback-based, 5-module eHealth game called ‘Starship Rescue’ and (iii) to provide preliminary evidence regarding its effectiveness in addressing anxiety and quality of life in young people with long-term physical conditions. METHODS Starship Rescue was co-designed with children and young people from a tertiary hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Following this, 24 young people aged 10 to 17 years were enrolled in an open trial, during which they were asked to use the game for an 8-week period. Acceptability of the game to all participants was assessed using a brief, open-ended questionnaire, and more detailed feedback was obtained from a subset of 10 participants via semi-structured interviews. Usability was evaluated via the System Usability Scale (SUS) and device-recorded frequency and duration of access on completion of the game. Anxiety levels were measured prior to commencement, on completion of the game, and 3 months later using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) and Spence Child Anxiety Scales (SCAS), and at the start of each module and at the end of the game using an embedded Likert/visual analog scale. Quality of life was measured prior to commencement and on completion of the game using the Pediatric Quality of Life Scale (PEDS-QL). RESULTS Users gave Starship Rescue an overall rating of 5.9 out of 10 (range 3-10 and a mean score of 71 out of 100 (SD 11.7; min 47.5; max 90) on the System Usability Scale (SUS). The mean time period for use of the game was just over 11-weeks (78.8 days, 13.5 hours, 40 minutes). Significant reductions in anxiety were noted between the start and end of the game on the GAD-7 (-4.6 (p=0.000)), SCAS (-9.6 (p=0.005)), and the Likert/visual analogue scales (-2.4 (p=0.001)). Quality of life also improved on the PedsQL scale (+4.3 (p=0.042)). All changes were sustained at 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS This study provides preliminary evidence for Starship Rescue being an acceptable, usable and effective eHealth intervention for addressing anxiety in young people with long-term physical conditions. Further evaluation is planned via a more formal randomized controlled trial. CLINICALTRIAL Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Network Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12616001253493p;https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=371443 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6sYB716lf)


2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2110092
Author(s):  
Sarah L Holloway ◽  
Helena Pimlott-Wilson

Entrepreneurship is regarded by policy makers and politicians as an accelerant for economic development. Economic geography demonstrates that rather than stimulating entrepreneurship in general, policy makers should support specific forms of entrepreneurship that fuel wider growth. The paper's original contribution is to insist that entrepreneurship research must also explore less growth-oriented, but crucially very widespread, forms of entrepreneurial activity. The paper therefore places solo self-employment – the self-employed without employees – centre stage as an exemplar of this trend. Research is presented on private tutors who run businesses from home, offering children one-to-one tuition in the burgeoning supplementary education industry. The paper scrutinises the causes, configuration and consequences of such solo self-employment as an economically marginal, but numerically dominant, form of entrepreneurship. In so doing, it makes three conceptual advances in the exploration of heterogeneous entrepreneurship. First, in examining why individuals become self-employed, the paper moves beyond classic efforts to understand entrepreneurship through binary push/pull mechanisms in models of occupational choice. Instead, the analysis demonstrates the importance of risk in entrepreneurship and paid employment, highlighting the multiple pathways into solo self-employment as opportunities and constraints coalesce in individual's lives. Secondly, in considering how the solo self-employed think about business, the research breaks through conventional definitions of entrepreneurship to demonstrate that solo self-employment involves a distinctively entrepreneurial subjectivity and practices. Thirdly, by investigating the consequences of solo self-employment, the findings transcend dualist interpretations of self-employment as the realm of entrepreneurial wealth or economic precarity, highlighting instead a security–precarity continuum in immediate and long-term outcomes.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 758
Author(s):  
Fiona Esam ◽  
Rachel Forrest ◽  
Natalie Waran

The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on human-pet interactions within New Zealand, particularly during lockdown, was investigated via two national surveys. In Survey 1, pet owners (n = 686) responded during the final week of the five-week Alert Level 4 lockdown (highest level of restrictions—April 2020), and survey 2 involved 498 respondents during July 2020 whilst at Alert Level 1 (lowest level of restrictions). During the lockdown, 54.7% of owners felt that their pets’ wellbeing was better than usual, while only 7.4% felt that it was worse. Most respondents (84.0%) could list at least one benefit of lockdown for their pets, and they noted pets were engaged with more play (61.7%) and exercise (49.7%) than pre-lockdown. Many respondents (40.3%) expressed that they were concerned about their pet’s wellbeing after lockdown, with pets missing company/attention and separation anxiety being major themes. In Survey 2, 27.9% of respondents reported that they continued to engage in increased rates of play with their pets after lockdown, however, the higher levels of pet exercise were not maintained. Just over one-third (35.9%) of owners took steps to prepare their pets to transition out of lockdown. The results indicate that pets may have enjoyed improved welfare during lockdown due to the possibility of increased human-pet interaction. The steps taken by owners to prepare animals for a return to normal life may enhance pet wellbeing long-term if maintained.


2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manying Ip Wardlow Friesen

The new Chinese community in New Zealand (formed since 1987) is made up of immigrants from the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia as well as other countries. Initially looked upon as harbingers of the “Asian economic miracle” by the New Zealand government, the new arrivals met with numerous unforeseen difficulties. This article is based on the findings of surveys and in-depth interviews in which the primary migrants were asked about their motives for migration, the economic and social outcomes of their migration, their perception of the comparative strengths of their native land and New Zealand, and their long-term view on settlement and return migration. The surveys are also set against background statistics from the 1996 census as well as immigration figures up to 2000. The findings challenge the assumption of the importance of the economic motivation of migration, and point to the primacy of social and environmental factors. They also suggest that transnationalism is a long-term strategy, instead of a temporary expediency, but also that most Chinese migrants in New Zealand have tried to integrate with the host society when possible.


2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Catherine Kitson

Sooty shearwaters (tītī, muttonbird, Puffinus griseus) are highly abundant migratory seabirds, which return to breeding colonies in New Zealand. The Rakiura Māori annual chick harvest on islands adjacent to Rakiura (Stewart Island), is one of the last large-scale customary uses of native wildlife in New Zealand. This study aimed to establish whether the rate at which muttonbirders can extract chicks from their breeding burrows indicates population trends of sooty shearwaters. Harvest rates increased slightly with increasing chick densities on Putauhinu Island. Birders' harvest rates vary in their sensitivities to changing chick density. Therefore a monitoring panel requires careful screening to ensure that harvest rates of the birders selected are sensitive to chick density, and represents a cross-section of different islands. Though harvest rates can provide only a general index of population change, it can provide an inexpensive and feasible way to measure population trends. Detecting trends is the first step to assessing the long-term sustainability of the harvest.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 181-181
Author(s):  
Franziska Zúñiga ◽  
Magdalena Osinska ◽  
Franziska Zuniga

Abstract Quality indicators (QIs) are used internationally to measure, compare and improve quality in residential long-term care. Public reporting of such indicators allows transparency and motivates local quality improvement initiatives. However, little is known about the quality of QIs. In a systematic literature review, we assessed which countries publicly report health-related QIs, whether stakeholders were involved in their development and the evidence concerning their validity and reliability. Most information was found in grey literature, with nine countries (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and five countries in Europe) publicly reporting a total of 66 QIs in areas like mobility, falls, pressure ulcers, continence, pain, weight loss, and physical restraint. While USA, Canada and New Zealand work with QIs from the Resident Assessment Instrument – Minimal Data Set (RAI-MDS), the other countries developed their own QIs. All countries involved stakeholders in some phase of the QI development. However, we only found reports from Canada and Australia on both, the criteria judged (e.g. relevance, influenceability), and the results of structured stakeholder surveys. Interrater reliability was measured for some RAI QIs and for those used in Germany, showing overall good Kappa values (&gt;0.6) except for QIs concerning mobility, falls and urinary tract infection. Validity measures were only found for RAI QIs and were mostly moderate. Although a number of QIs are publicly reported and used for comparison and policy decisions, available evidence is still limited. We need broader and accessible evidence for a responsible use of QIs in public reporting.


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