Masters in Philosophy Scholarship at UNSW – Climate Change and Urban Forestry in Sydney

 

 

Faculty	Arts & Social Sciences
School	Social Sciences
Residency	Domestic & International
Program level	Masters of Philosophy (MPhil)
Value	$26,670 pa
Tenure	2 years (maximum)

 

Research Project Background

 

The research project is to assess the social, economic and cultural aspects of urban trees in relation to climate change in Sydney.  The aim of the work will be to identify what promotes or works against the further planting of trees in Sydney’s suburbs.  This will provide a socio-economic perspective on the problem of increasing the urban trees in Sydney.

 

By 2036, Sydney’s population is expected to reach 6 million, an increase of 1.7 million since the 2006 ABS Census. This means Sydney will need to provide 770,000 more homes than in 2006. Much of this development will be suburban infill and redevelopment at higher density leading to potential losses of green space. The twin trends work against the well-documented positive impacts that green spaces and especially trees can have on the sustainability performance of suburban areas.  Trees and green spaces can reduce the need for storm water provision, prevent floods and save on air conditioning, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and improve biodiversity. Since more than 80% of Australia’s population lives in urban areas which will be affected by climate change and peak oil, there is an urgent need to understand the barriers that exist to further planting of trees in suburban areas. While a great deal of research exists internationally on urban forests, little work has been undertaken that is appropriate to Australian conditions, which include soils with a uniquely low nitrogen content and the frequent drought conditions to which Australian flora is subjected.

The purpose of the Contribution is to award a Scholarship for a Master of Philosophy by research at the School of Social Sciences, UNSW under the principal supervision of Dr Krishna K. Shrestha.

Eligibility

• Applicants may be either new or existing students
• Applicants must be enrolling full-time in a Masters in Philosophy (by research) at the School of Social Sciences, UNSW
• To qualify for the Scholarship as a stipend applicants must be Australian or NZ Citizens or Australian Permanent Residents
• International candidates may be considered for a tution fee only (no stipend) scholarship
• Candidates may not concurrently hold other Awards (eg) APA / IPRS
• Candidates will hold either an Honours or a Masters by coursework qualification in social sciences, geography, urban planning, anthropology, environmental management, sustainable development or a closely related discipline.

Selection Criteria

Candidates will show high academic achievement in an Honours or Masters by coursework program in social sciences, geography, urban planning, anthropology, environmental management, sustainable development or related discipline.

Candidates are requested to submit:

• Brief (3-5 pages) research proposal
• An academic writing sample
• A brief statement outlining how their output will contribute to their academic field and the broader community
• Curriculum Vitae including 3 referees.

Conditions of Scholarship

• The Scholarship has the following conditions:
• The scholarship is payable as a fortnightly stipend, subject to satisfactory academic progress.
• The scholarship does not provide for any additional allowances.
• Domestic students: the scholarship may pay a stipend only.
• International students: the scholarship may pay tuition fee only.
• Extensions to the scholarship will not be granted.
• No additional paid leave entitlements are available.
• Scholarship may be be suspended for 1 or 2 semesters with approval of the awarding panel.
• The Scholarship must be taken up in the semester for which it is awarded. Take up may not be deferred.

Supervision

Principal Supervisor:       Dr Krishna K. Shrestha, School of Social Sciences, UNSW

Associate Supervisors:   A/Prof. Phil MacManus, University of Sydney

Dr Marco Amati, Macquarie University

 Completed application forms and any supporting documentation should be scanned and emailed (preferably as a single PDF document) to the Graduate Research School (contact details below)

Denise Miles: UNSW Graduate Research School

denise.miles@unsw.edu.au

Indonesia to Host Asia Pacific Infrastructure Forum

Indonesia is scheduled to once again host Asia-Pacific’s largest infrastructure forum, The Indonesia International Infrastructure Conference and Exhibition 2012 (IIICE’12), which will be held in conjunction with the Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Sustainable and Inclusive Infrastructure Development 2012 (APMC-SIID’12) on 2-5 May 2012 at Balai Sidang – Jakarta Convention Center.

read more: http://www.indonesiainfrastructure.org/

Seminar with visiting ‘Green Universities’ delegation from China

The Sustainable Design and Development Research Cluster is pleased to welcome another visiting delegation from China. The delegation represents the China Green University Network, and includes staff from Tongji, Tianjin, Jiangnan and Zhejiang universities and the South China University of Technology.

The proposed program for their visit is as follows:

11.00 am Monday 26^th March – arrive on campus, meet at Red Centre building (Built Environment Faculty) for brief campus tour led by one of our Chinese PhD students.

12.00 noon-2.00pm – Seminar

·         Member of Tongji delegation to speak on green buildings/university greening in China (approx. half hour including questions);

·         Paul Osmond to speak on Australian Green Star rating and UNEP university greening project (approx. 20 min. including questions);

·         Three built environment PhD students whose work relates to green buildings / ratings (Weifeng Lee, Yuning Ou and Syafiq Salehudin) to present for approx. 10 minutes each on their topics, followed by feedback and general discussion.

GREENRIGHT International Conference 2012

 

GREENRIGHT International Conference 2012 will be on 11 – 13 April 2012 on Jakarta Convention Center.

First Day, 11 April 2012 – Opening Ceremony & Plenary Session at Assembly Hall.

Second and Third Day, 12 & 13 April 2012 –  Track session.

Two days of three track session consist of :

a. HEALTHCARE

The main focus of Green Building is health, with main objective is to improve  quality of human life. Healthcare as a building that has a direct relationship with this objective, get a proportions and great emphasis in Green Building concept application .
Application of the concept design, management and the involvement of actors in Healthcare need to implement concept of sustainability.

b. HOSPITALITY

The main gate of a country is tourism. With tourism, a country can promote ones richness, diversity, quality and achievements of its nation. Good management and also supporting concept will strengthen credibility of a country.
Discussion of design, construction management, and management of a systems that implement sustainability will make Indonesia have a better value in International forum.

c. GREEN BUILDING

Information and knowledge of Green Building principles and elements involved in it.

For participant registration just click http://gbcindonesia.org/greenright-registration.html

read more: http://greenright.gbcindonesia.org/en/about-the-conference.html

World in Transition – A Social Contract for Sustainability

In this report, the WBGU explains the reasons for the desperate need for a post-fossil economic strategy, yet it also concludes that the transition to sustainability is achievable, and presents ten concrete packages of measures to accelerate the imperative restructuring. If the transformation really is to succeed, we have to enter into a social contract for innovation, in the form of a new kind of discourse between governments and citizens, both within and beyond the boundaries of the nation state. 

For a full report, please download from the following link:

http://www.wbgu.de/en/flagship-reports/fr-2011-a-social-contract

Top five environmental concerns for nations

Ipsos has conducted an online omnibus survey 2nd -14th February 2011. Respondents were asked what are the three most important environmental issues facing your country today?

It is interesting to see how countries differ.

http://www.slideshare.net/IpsosMORI/key-environmental-concerns-by-nation-ipsos

Sustainable urban and building solutions from Finland

Download from here:

http://www.sitra.fi/julkaisut/Esitteet/2011/World_class_sustainable_solutions_from_Finland.pdf