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Item The role of teachers in a sustainable university: from digital competencies to postdigital capabilities(Springer Nature, 2023-02-06) Markauskaite L; Carvalho L; Fawns TAn increase in online and hybrid education during and after the Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the infiltration of digital media into mainstream university teaching. Global challenges, such as ecological crises, call for further radical changes in university teaching, requiring an even richer convergence of ‘natural,’ ‘human’ and ‘digital’. In this paper, we argue that this convergence demands us to go beyond ‘the great online transition’ and reframe how we think about university, teachers’ roles and their competencies to use digital technologies. We focus on what it takes to be a teacher in a sustainable university and consider emerging trends at three levels of the educational ecosystem—global developments (macro), teachers’ local practices (meso), and daily activities (micro). Through discussion of examples of ecopedagogies and pedagogies of care and self-care, we argue that teaching requires a fluency to embrace different ways of knowing and collective awareness of how the digital is entwined with human practices within and across different levels of the educational ecosystem. For this, there is a need to move beyond person-centric theorisations of teacher digital competencies towards more holistic, ecological conceptualisations. It also requires going beyond functionalist views of teachers’ roles towards enabling their agentive engagement with a future-oriented, sustainable university mission.Item Why do some social enterprises flourish in Vietnam? : an integration of pivotal social entrepreneur and ecosystem factors : a thesis by publication presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2022) Nguyễn, Hiếu Thi MinhSocial enterprises have been promoted by the United Nations Development Programme as a new model for poverty reduction through targeted employment creation and support for human services (social, educational, and health) in marginalised communities. Social enterprises in Vietnam, a low- to middle-income country, have become a significant but as yet under researched aspect of the country’s plan to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eradicate poverty. The key focus of this research is to explore potential multilevel interactions of social entrepreneurs (micro-level), social enterprises (meso-level) and ecosystems (macro-level) in fostering positive social impacts and contributing to the country’s SDG achievements. The thesis employs a mixed-method approach comprised of a quantitative survey (Study 1, N =352) and one-off go-along interviews (Study 2, N = 20) with social entrepreneurs. Study 1 develops and explores an integrative model predicting that Vietnamese social enterprises would enhance social enterprise performance (both commercial and social) through a combination of social entrepreneur attributes (e.g., social identity) and ecosystem supports, including networking, training, mentoring, and funding. Unexpectedly, ecosystem supports factored into quantity and quality, whilst performance factored into commercial and social. The quantity of ecosystem supports directly predicted commercial performance, but the quality of them predicted social performance. The material amount of support boosted profits, while the quality of support predicted social performance. Hence commercial and social performance were directly supported by different aspects of the same ecosystem. Turning to social entrepreneur attributes, self-interest, risk innovation and proactiveness each predicted commercial performance, while risk innovation was the only, and strong, predictor of social performance. No mediating roles were evident for ecosystem supports, meaning they could be helpful, but were not necessarily pivotal. However, ecosystem supports did show moderate links between social entrepreneurs and performance. These moderations were confined to commercial performance. Both types of support interact with risk innovation and communitarian identity to predict commercial performance. Surprisingly however, the ecosystem supports sampled in this survey study have no apparent moderating roles, on links between social entrepreneurs and social performance. Study 2 probed this surprising gap further, through interviews with a subset of the sample from study 1. The interviews offered qualitative evidence indicating the importance of the multilevel fit between (1) social entrepreneur leadership, (2) core societal and traditional Vietnamese village values, and (3) the structure and functioning of their enterprises. The mutual fit of these elements appears to be foundational to the achievement of social enterprises’ prosocial missions to secure a better quality of life for disadvantaged groups and more sustainable community development. Across both studies 1 and 2, this research reveals a symbiotic relationship between social entrepreneurs, social enterprises, and the ecosystem. The shape, character and function of social entrepreneurship is influenced by the ecosystem via supports which can enhance the ability of these organisations to realise their prosocial missions to create and sustain decent livelihoods (SDG-8) and reduce poverty (SDG-1). At the same time, successful social enterprises also draw on traditional village values to perform socially (redefined as prosocial efficiency). This prosocial efficiency created by social enterprises then has a positive influence on the ecosystem, which in turn promotes further social entrepreneurial development. This thesis foregrounds the importance of cultural considerations and multilevel partnerships (SDG-17) between relevant stakeholders to promote the efficacy of social entrepreneurship in Vietnam, and possibly other emergent economies. Findings from this research have been fed back into the refinement of social enterprise support system in Vietnam, in response to demand from social entrepreneurs themselves. Hence the thesis concludes with an evidence-based policy brief, as requested by leading social entrepreneurs in Vietnam. This brief focuses on the role of traditional Vietnamese village values in boosting enterprising young people’s entry into social entrepreneurship in Vietnam.Item Localising indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals : a case study in Samoa on SDG indicator 4.3.1 (participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education) : a research report presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master in International Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2020-06) Vaai Hatier, Leuaina AllisonIn July 2017, the global indicator framework comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), 169 targets and 231 global indicators, was adopted by the UN General Assembly. This framework aims to assist countries in monitoring their progress towards the goals of the Agenda 2030, allowing for global comparisons and drawing analysis of thematic issues that are pertinent to the development discourse. Despite SDG being widely used, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing Countries (SIDS) in particular, have been struggling to fulfil the data needed for reporting SDG progress. Drawing on Samoa as a case study, this research seeks to outline how a country can localise SDG4 global indicator 4.3.1, to take into consideration the country challenges and limitations, as well as provide reliable measurements of its education sector development. This research’s findings suggest that, localising SDG indicator 4.3.1 in Samoa by aligning it with government agencies reporting requirements, could allow data collection from existing sources and therefore help reducing the pressure on the country’s limited institutional capacities. Localising SDG 4.3.1 could be done notably by adjusting the units of measurement of the indicator to comprise two age ranges: 15 – 24 years old and 25 years old and over; includes gender data in surveys and adjust government reporting to account for formal and non-formal education. In localising SDG indicator 4.3.1, it would allow Samoa to meet its national and regional SDG reporting needs. For such localisation to be successful however, it would require coordination between ministries and organisations and commitment of financial and human resources.Item Values-based evaluative management : an integrated and adaptive approach to enhance inclusion, development effectiveness, governance, and sustainability : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Averill, CatherineSustainable development, an articulated goal of development practice in the 21st century (United Nations Development Programme, 2015a) now needs to be inclusive, based on multi-level systems of accountability, and have robust governance. This thesis proposes alternative evaluative management values and principles for inclusive sustainable development that are values-based, integrated, and adaptive. It suggests the way such values and high-level principles could underpin and reposition development, management, and evaluation approaches. An initial idea behind this research was that there needed to be a better way to connect strategic evaluative approaches within management and potentially the new sustainable development goals in international and national development. The impacts and significance of changes for both the broader development context and governance systems of country-level development, and the management and evaluation practices, were examined in the context of countries and donors in two Pacific settings: Papua New Guinea and Aotearoa/New Zealand. To achieve the sustainable development goals, current management theory and practices needs to be reconsidered. This research pointed to the emergence of evaluative management as an identifiable theoretical and instrumental discourse and knowledge frame repositioning and integrating existing management discourses underpinned by values and principles relating to strategic planning, performance management and governance. This thesis proposes that a new model of integrated management – called, in this context, evaluative management that is premised on three values (inclusion, partnership and participation) and three high-level principles (relationality, contextual sensitivity and adaptive response), is needed to underpin such considerations. The potential of evaluative management can only be realised if it is enacted through values and principles that are well communicated and widely understood. This may include effective interaction and communication between different levels of governments, agencies, sectors, regions and communities including non-governmental organisations, private sector, and development partners. This new model of integrated management would also provide the capacity to address inclusion, governance, accountability, and sustainable development with more effective strategic evaluative practices.Item Sustainability in the mining sector of Ghana : an empirical study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Amoah, PrinceSustainability in mining has received much global attention in recent years from academics, policy makers, and industry leaders, and other players. However, scant attention has been paid to examining the sustainability practices of mining companies within developing countries in addressing the proximate and long-term social and environmental impacts of mining activities. To address this knowledge gap, this study examines how large-scale mining companies address their social and environmental impacts through their sustainability practices. This study is situated within an interpretivist paradigm and employs a qualitative research methodology based on multiple cases, drawing on data from interviews with six (6) managers of multinational mining companies operating in Ghana, and 12 key stakeholder groups. This thesis contains four empirical findings chapters. The first of these examines the sustainability practices of large-scale mining companies in addressing environmental impacts throughout mine lifecycle. The findings indicate that the environmental sustainability practices are determined by regulatory compliance and corporate environmental responsibility. Although the environmental sustainability practices are predicated on the requirements in relevant policies and legislation, the findings demonstrate that regulatory pressures drive large-scale mining companies to embrace beyond compliance initiatives based on perceived ethical obligations. The second findings chapter examines the barriers to environmental sustainability implementation in large-scale mining in Ghana. The findings demonstrate that both institutional and corporate challenges are hindering effective sustainability implementation. The third findings chapter investigates the sustainability practices of large-scale mining companies in addressing social impacts throughout mining development. The findings show that large-scale mining companies have embraced a broader scope of social sustainability implementation based on a changing institutional environment. Drawing on stakeholder theory, the findings indicate that mine managers address social sustainability challenges based on instrumental and normative considerations. The fourth and final findings chapter examines the drivers for and barriers to mining companies’ social sustainability practices by drawing on stakeholder theory and institutional theory. The findings suggest that regulatory evolution, institutional pressures, post-closure legacies, transparency and disclosures, and managerial cognition are key drivers for the social sustainability implementation of large-scale mining companies. On the contrary, the barriers to social sustainability implementation stem from institutional voids and divergent stakeholder interests. Thus, by doing a critical reflection of the findings, this study contributes to theory by offering a series of propositions and suggesting a holistic framework for social and environmental sustainability implementation. Regarding stakeholder theory, the findings show that Large-scale mining companies experience fewer pressures from local communities and activists because of their lack of proactive engagement on environmental sustainability issues. Drawing on institutional theory, the findings suggest that multiple and contradictory logics within various institutional arrangements undermine social and environmental sustainability implementation. Additionally, this study provides a frame of reference for practitioners including mining companies and mine managers, regulatory officials, policy makers, and mining pressures groups who are involved in social and environmental sustainability implementation. Future research may consider data sets from other empirical domains, which might uncover differences in the emerging framework for sustainability implementation.Item From international conventions to local park management plans : an analysis of the vertical integrity of Zambia's national park system : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Management at Massey University, New Zealand(Massey University, 2018) Mwape, AckimNational parks, particularly in the Global South, are struggling to achieve their economic, ecological, and socio-cultural objectives and their sustainability is now in question. The challenges faced by national parks cross jurisdictional boundaries, cutting through vertical tiers of governance, from supranational organisations, via national governments, to sub-national entities. Given this complexity, it is extremely challenging to make system-wide improvements. Sustainable national park management requires whole-of-government approaches and policy consistency across different governance levels. Aligned policy frameworks are essential for achieving consistency, driving collaboration, and, ultimately, coherence where subnational actors work together with other actors to achieve common goals towards global challenges. Examining the alignment of policies used across the different governance levels could provide information to help improve sustainable national park management. This study focuses on Zambia’s national park laws, policies, plans, and reports, and particularly how these align with international principles for national park management. Thematic content analysis is used to examine how a set of IUCN national park management principles are considered in Zambia’s national park legislation, policies, plans, and reports. The results reveal wide variation in the extent to which Zambia’s national park laws, policies, plans, and reports reflect the IUCN principles. They highlight isolated outcomes of positive alignment with the IUCN principles both at national and local level, amidst a general picture of uneven support for the IUCN principles. This is because international principles are introduced, or interpreted, contingent on specific local conditions, making it difficult for policymakers to develop local policies that mirror global policy models. A balance between the respect for international principles and an understanding and appreciation of the local context thus appears to be a way for strengthening policy linkages between the global and local. International and local level policymakers retain an important responsibility in this regard.Item Evaluation of New Zealand's absolute environmental sustainability performance : development and application of a method to assess the climate change performance of New Zealand's economic sectors : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Science in Environmental Life Cycle Management, School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Chandrakumar, ChanjiefExisting environmental sustainability assessment methods such as Life Cycle Assessment and environmental footprints quantify the environmental impacts of a system and compare it to a system that is similar to the nature or the function of the examined system. Hence, they are referred to as relative environmental sustainability assessment (RESA) methods. Although they provide useful information to improve the eco-efficiency of the system at a particular economic level, they generally fail to inform the environmental sustainability performance of a system against the so-called absolute environmental boundaries. Therefore, the significance of the contribution of an examined system to the overall environmental impacts of human activities is mostly overlooked. To address the limitations associated with RESA methods, researchers have suggested the development of absolute environmental sustainability assessment (AESA) methods, which guide how human societies can operate and develop within absolute environmental boundaries. In this context, this research investigated the development of an innovative AESA framework called ‘Absolute Sustainability-based Life Cycle Assessment’ (ASLCA) based on the environmental indicators and absolute environmental boundaries proposed in three popular frameworks: Planetary Boundaries, Sustainable Development Goals and Life Cycle Assessment. The proposed framework was applied to assess the production-based climate change performance of New Zealand agrifood sector, particularly in terms of the two-degree Celsius (2°C) climate target. The results showed that the production-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of New Zealand agri-food sector and its products exceeded the assigned shares of the 2°C global carbon budget. Similar results were observed when the consumptionbased climate change performance of a typical New Zealand detached house was evaluated against the 2°C climate target. The framework was then applied to address the consumption-based climate change performance of an economic system using environmentally-extended multi-regional inputoutput analysis. This framework was used to evaluate the consumption-based climate change performance of New Zealand’s total economy (covering 16 sectors) in 2011 against the 2°C climate target, and the outcomes were compared with the production-based climate change performance in the given year. The consumption-based analysis showed that New Zealand exceeded the assigned share of the 2°C global carbon budget; the consumptionbased GHG emissions were 26% more than the assigned carbon budget share. However, the sector-level analysis indicated that three of the 16 sectors (financial and trade services, other services and miscellaneous) were within their assigned carbon budget shares. When the consumption-based GHG emissions were compared with the production-based GHG emissions, New Zealand was a net exporter of GHG emissions in 2011, and the dominating sectors were quite different. The results clearly imply that a significant reduction in GHG emissions associated with New Zealand’s consumption and production activities are necessary to stay within the assigned shares of the 2°C global carbon budget. Given that AESA methods (including ASLCA) are built upon multiple value and modelling choices, the outcomes of these studies may vary depending upon these choices. Therefore, the influence of different value and modelling choices on the outcomes of the ASLCA was investigated, particularly regarding the choice of GHG accounting method, the choice of climate threshold, the choice of approach to calculate the global carbon budget, and the choice of sharing principle to assign a share of the global carbon budget. The analysis showed that, for each GHG accounting method the largest uncertainty was associated with the choice of climate threshold, followed by the choice of sharing principle, and then the choice of calculation method for the global carbon budget. Overall, the proposed ASLCA framework aims to address the question, “Are the environmental impacts of a system within the assigned share of the Earth’s carrying capacity, and if not, what is the required reduction?” The outcomes of this research are useful to support policymakers in understanding the climate impacts of different economic sectors, goods and services, relative to global climate targets. The approach provides a basis for developing a range of environmental impact reduction targets that can potentially catalyse innovation and investment in the environmentally-transformative activities and technologies that are needed to enable human societies to operate and develop within the Earth’s “safe operating space”.Item Achieving holistic sustainability in Chinese and New Zealand business partnerships : an integrative approach : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2020) Chen, Michelle SitongTensions in sustainability are a relatively new area and largely unexplored empirically between firms in collaborative business partnerships, particularly drawing from paradox theory and organisational ambidexterity theory. If these tensions cannot be understood and addressed adequately, it will not only have negative impacts on individuals’ interests, but also on the development of organisations and ultimately the prosperity of the society. Hence, this study examines empirically how tensions in addressing divergent sustainability issues arise, and are perceived and managed between Chinese and New Zealand firms in business partnerships. Guided by an interpretivist philosophy, this research adopts a qualitative and abductive approach as the preferred research method. In doing so, 33 in-depth individual interviews alongside one informal group discussion were carried out at 16 relatively large Chinese and NZ firms known for their commitment to sustainability that are in business partnerships. This thesis includes three empirical chapters. The first findings chapter identifies tensions in sustainability between Chinese and New Zealand firms and discovers the reasons for them. The findings reveal that the Chinese and New Zealand firms in business partnership are faced with complex and multiple sustainability tensions which are thus more difficult and challenging for them to address simultaneously. This chapter also shows that the tensions are caused by an integration of multiple reasons from individual, organisational and national levels. The second findings chapter explores how managers make sense of these tensions. The results delineate four kinds of managerial logic – paradoxical, contradictory, business and defensive – which are applied to make sense of different kinds of tensions. In contrast to prior studies, the findings reveal that paradoxical logic is the most common logic adopted by the managers at Chinese and NZ companies in business partnerships; as the other types – contradictory, business and defensive logic – are not commonly used. The third findings chapter investigates the strategies that Chinese and NZ firms adopted to manage the tensions in their business partnerships. The findings show two main approaches: trade-off and integrative. This research highlights that working through sustainability tensions using integrative approaches can bring proactive outcomes which will help these companies to advance their sustainability practice through inter-organisational learning, to enhance their mutual understanding and to strengthen their business partnerships over time, thus achieving holistic sustainability. This research contributes to scholarly understanding of tensions in sustainability between firms in collaborative business partnerships in relation to the nature of the tensions, reasons for the tensions, managerial sensemaking of tensions and the strategies for managing the tensions. This also adds value to paradox theory and organisational ambidexterity theory including structural and contextual ambidexterity, and their theoretical and practical implications for tensions in sustainability research.Item Biodiversity and sustainable development : research exercise 31.499 in partial fulfilment of an M.Phil (Development Studies)(Massey University, 1997) Cowen, JustinEconomic development has had an increasingly detrimental effect on the environment. The current level of environmental impact by humans has been unprecedented for a single species in the history of the earth. In recent years there has been an increased realisation of the detrimental impact of our actions. Along with this realisation there has been an improvement in the understanding of the fundamental importance of the environment to the human society. The aim of this thesis is to examine the possibility of sustainable development, a concept which has arisen out of this increased awareness of the dynamic interconnectedness of the environment and development. A more environmentally destmctive development path will reduce the quality of the environment not just for today but in the future. This thesis will endeavoux to show that, if we are to achieve sustainability, we need to change our attitude towards the environment. To do this I will look at two broad perspectives of what is meant by sustainable development: technocentric and ecocentric (O'Riordan 1981: 1 ). Their primary difference is in their attitude towards the environment. This thesis will highlight the technocentric perspective as it has become the dominant development throughout the globe. It will primarily focus on critiquing technocentrism, demonstrating how this approach has resulted in widespread environmental degredation. In looking at the technocentric and ecocentric perspectives I shall attempt to show the significant role that knowledge systems can have in shaping the attitudes of a society. [From Introduction]Item Tenure review : discourses around sustainable development in New Zealand : MPhil Thesis, Development Studies(Massey University, 2004) Mathias, JephNil