Browsing by Author "LaFlamme, Michael"

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Institutional Analysis in Outback Australia
(2008) Leitch, Anne; Lynam, Timothy; Larson, Silva; Straton, Anna; Maru, Y.; Stone-Jovicich, Samantha; Heckbert, Scott; LaFlamme, Michael; Ward, John R.; Marshall, Nadine A.; Herr, Andrew; Vella, Karen; Nursey-Bray, M.
"The Australian outback is a unique ecological and social landscape. The people who live here cope with harsh and variable environmental conditions, particularly in terms of rainfall and the availability of surface water. The human population density is very low and the dominant land use is grazing, while other land uses include agriculture, mining, tourism, defence, and nature conservation. These harsh environmental factors frame all human activities in these regions and, in turn, these activities can have adverse environmental impacts, shaping what is possible in the future. To manage these impacts, all tiers of government impose institutional constraints, such as legislation and regulations that seek to influence the activities and aspirations of individuals and communities. The research project Outback Institutions used the Institutional Analysis and Development framework to assess institutional arrangements in this context through four case studies in outback regions of Queensland and the Northern Territory. The IAD framework was found to provide an effective means for structuring an institutional analysis. However, the room left for interpretation made comparison between case studies challenging, especially when comparing different stakeholder driven processes and analysing cross-scales feedbacks and institutional dynamics. The case study analyses found that the lack of real influence and power of community members in the decision making process and the lack of rules to stipulate and govern the monitoring of water use were two of several aspects of the institutional arrangements that did not enable the alignment of formal government legislation and regulations with individual and community actions and aspirations."
An Integrated Model for Socio-Ecological Health Promotion
(2006) LaFlamme, Michael
"This study found that all specimens had toxin body burdens, but no species exceeded the EPA-determined hazard index based on the national average of fish consumption. However, this was preceded by a CRITFC study that demonstrated that due to higher tribal fish consumption rate, the hazard index is up to one hundred times greater (CRITFC 1994). These CRITFC/ EPA studies were followed by tribal efforts to regionally communicate the risk, in which I participated. We found the population at risk to be larger than tribal members alone. Many non-tribal ethnic and occupational groups have above-average levels of fish consumption. In addition, interacting toxins from a multitude of point and non-point sources are transported along a variety of exposure paths to people and wildlife having very different levels of susceptibility. For example, toxins have developmental effects on children at lower effect thresholds than those for cancer in adults, and the effects can have a long latency. Therefore toxin exposure is a regional concern that crosses all boundaries, and environmental toxins can be considered a common property for management."