Communication And Environment Sustainability And Risks Penerbit Usm

There is a dearth of literature on environmental communication within the non-western world. The few existing ones are scattered and not easily available.Thus, there is a dire need to document research and literature in the field. The opportunity arose at the 2009 International Conference on Communication and Environment held in Penang, Malaysia. The international conference with the theme “Transformation for a Sustainable Tomorrow”, organised by the School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), attracted scholars, practitioners and activists from around the world to listen and deliberate on various aspects of communication and environment. The post-conference review resulted in the selection of 24 papers to be compiled into this edited volume. The escalating degradation of environment locally and globally was the main concern that prompted discussions on how sustainability can be advocated. The development process in many countries, economic activities and political decisions on issues such as deforestation for timber logging, rapid urbanisation, pertinently points out that environmental degradation and any communication on environmental change has to be grounded and located within the wider context of social, politics and economics of the society. Communication and environmental communication for that matter have also to be understood within these wider contexts. Many would agree that a constant and consistent flow of information communicated through different channels to different stakeholders at the right time and destinations can help raise awareness and consciousness of environmental problems, protection and preservation. This vital information can enable the public and stakeholders to make informed choices, and take actions whenever possible. A lack of communication and information will inordinately exacerbate the situation of environmental degradation. This book thus highlights how the environment is being treated in the media, communicated to the society and impacted nations. The chapters are grouped into the following sections: Theoretical and conceptual issues; Media content and the environment; Politics, communication and the environment; Corporate social and environmental responsibility; and Citizen participation, human rights and the environment. The editors acknowledge the excellent contributions of all the authors and are indebted to the members of the review panel, the external reviewer, USM Publications Committee and staff of Universiti Sains Malaysia Press for their help in ensuring the quality of this volume. Most importantly, we express our gratitude to USM for providing the financial support for the international conference and making it possible to publish this book. The Editors January 2012 Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia

As the higher education landscape is ever evolving, sustainability continues to be an essential concern. This publication covers existing sustainability matters ranging from internationalisation and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to university social responsibility. The main contribution of this book is to reveal the efforts and issues of internationalisation of higher education for sustainable tomorrow from global perspectives. Since the institutions educate current and future decision makers, the play a key role in building more sustainable entities and creating new paradigms. The articles are written by a number of experts with various backgrounds in higher education that give global perspective on the issues of sustainability. Specific country studies give a timely review on the substantial growth of higher education institutions in certain parts of the world. This publication provides invaluable knowledge and skills to guide the reader in designing appropriate frameworks in critical problem solving of current higher education issues.

USM became the first institution of higher learning to be inducted in Malaysia’s APEX in early September 2008. With induction into APEX, the Ministry of Higher Education (MQHE) is expecting USM to be amongst the world‘s top I00 universities by the year 2013, and in the elite 50 by 2020. Excellence and Sustainability." USM and the APEX Jozlrney, Volume I: The Road Ahead charts the experiences of the University’s community (staff and students) drawn from the research findings of the APEX University Research Agenda (AURA) Project (2008-2014). AURA’s researchers focused on the pre-APEX phase (last quarter of 2008), the period prior to the implementation of the transformation plan. Basically, Volume I: The Road Ahead examines the readliness of staff (academic and non-academic) and students (undergraduates and postgraduates) in gearing themselves for the challenges ahead in the context of APEX.

In this new era, changes and innovations that happen in the construction industry force the industry players to increasingly seek knowledge to enhance their firm and project competitiveness. Small as well as large industry players has no exceptions from identifying their strategy for business survival and success. To accommodate those needs, this book presents the new management approaches that could be learned and applied in managing firms and projects. The book goes on to explore the strategic management and project management approaches of business and project entities in construction. Knowledge and ideas discussed in this book were contributed by scholars who are closely involved with research in the industry. Having read their ideas, improving performance would be a significant contribution of this book to the existing and future industry players in construction. Being simultaneously dependent upon each other, this book sees the need to incorporate the various approaches in managing projects and businesses in the construction industry. There will be no doubt, by understanding and practising the approaches, the competitiveness of the industry will be improved.

In building sufficient, efficient human resources, massification of higher education is a common phenomenon. It is to this end that sustainability and inclusiveness have become such critical issues in higher education and its literature. This book looks into the major question of financial sustainability for the higher education institution, revealing the university’s struggles in the face of limited public funds. Coping strategies and feasible alternatives are extensively examined. The authors also tackle the area of higher education systems and collaboration in ensuring sustainability. Here, matters such as the public-private equilibrium, sustainable alumni networks, and research and publication competitiveness are deliberated. One distinguishing feature of this publication, however, is its discourse on higher education access, giving unique insight into the plight of certain underrepresented groups in higher education. The writers champion inclusiveness by analysing and recommending the best practices in bolstering these marginalised factions towards academic success. Readers will certainly gain a more profound understanding of sustainable and inclusive higher education. Keywords: Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malayia, Penerbit USM

Silent Death documents mass murder by the use of banned Uranium weapons. The spread of genetic disorders is among the most heinous and criminal forms of modern warfare. Its ever lasting impact on humans is inherently genocidal. Such weapons have since 1991 been used in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Lebanon. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia

This book is an eclectic collection of articles written in English that explores the assimilation of spatial information technology (SIT) such as remote sensing, global positioning system, geographic information system and maps to enhance and sustained the local knowledge. The goal to SIT integration is to make the invisible knowledge visible and beneficial to be used by others. It is a technology that transfers the local knowledge from owners into the form of maps and analysis. The maps play a key role in locating the presence of different local knowledge thus, help stakeholders in future planning, development and resource allocation. The editors have chosen topics to embody the SIT in multidisciplinary nature of local knowledge in this region.

Local knowledge refers to knowledge and expertise, which originate from local and indigenous cultures that have developed over time. Its practices have been absorbed naturally and effortlessly into the local communities. However, due to globalization and modernization, much of this knowledge has not been practiced and will be lost in time if efforts are not taken to preserve, conserve and transfer it to the community. Through the discussion of six articles written based on local and international research findings, this book brings together researchers committed to local knowledge in sharing the process of documentation on local knowledge transfer issues and challenges, and the methodology of knowledge transfer. Thus, new ideas are presented to promote the practice of preserving and conserving local knowledge to the practitioners, students and communities.