This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.
Previous research regarding PhD students’ well-being (PhD-WB) has lacked a comprehensive and systemic analysis. This research engages with a systems approach to examine the multiple variables, including feedback mechanisms, which influence PhD-WB over time. The model was developed using a structural analysis method (Cross-impact analysis MICMAC) that informed a causal loop diagram (CLD). The aim was to understand what promotes (drivers) and inhibits (barriers) PhD students’ well-being. The results show that PhD students’ well-being reflects an interplay between university, financial support, students’ mental and physical health, and family/friends. However, the analysis shows that the role of the drivers is dynamic, and they can become barriers in certain circumstances. This insight validates the application of systems thinking to illustrate the complexity of PhD students’ well-being.
Nina Dhirasasna; Emiliya Suprun; Stefen MacAskill; Mehdi Hafezi; Oz Sahin. A Systems Approach to Examining PhD Students’ Well-Being: An Australian Case. Systems 2021, 9, 17 .
AMA StyleNina Dhirasasna, Emiliya Suprun, Stefen MacAskill, Mehdi Hafezi, Oz Sahin. A Systems Approach to Examining PhD Students’ Well-Being: An Australian Case. Systems. 2021; 9 (1):17.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNina Dhirasasna; Emiliya Suprun; Stefen MacAskill; Mehdi Hafezi; Oz Sahin. 2021. "A Systems Approach to Examining PhD Students’ Well-Being: An Australian Case." Systems 9, no. 1: 17.
Coral reefs are among the most fragile ecosystems that provide essential services to local Small Island Developing States (SIDS) communities. As such, exploring the characteristics and interactions shaping regime shifts of coral reefs is of paramount importance in managing system pressures; enhancing resilience; aiding their regeneration and recovery process; and restoring habitat complexity. However, understanding the dynamics of coral reef ecosystems regime shift requires employing an approach capable of dealing with systems being affected by multiple climatic and socio-economic non-climatic pressures as well as an effective treatment of systemic embedded uncertainties. This study applies Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) in a participatory stepwise and systematic procedure to reflect dynamic casualties and temporal changes of coral reef ecosystem regime change over a long-time perspective. This mapping technique allows conceptualising dynamic models to represent causalities and modelling input values to simulate fluctuations within a complex temporal system. Port Resolution on Tanna Island in Vanuatu was selected as the case study region representative of Pacific-SIDS geography and human communities. As an initial outcome and an indicator of multidisciplinary of this study, twenty-seven principal influential factors and their corresponding causal relationships were identified. Subsequently, the coral reef regime shift was analysed under four main plausible scenarios representing major climatic and non-climatic trajectories. The results indicate that climate change factors play pivotal roles in the regime shift of the coral reef ecosystem globally. At the focal scale of this study, the tourism industry and coral fisheries are the most vulnerable services provided by coral reefs. As such, coupled local management interventions and global efforts in mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change is likely to yield better coral reef ecosystem services at a local community level.
Mehdi Hafezi; Alyssa L. Giffin; Mohammad Alipour; Oz Sahin; Rodney A. Stewart. Mapping long-term coral reef ecosystems regime shifts: A small island developing state case study. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 716, 137024 .
AMA StyleMehdi Hafezi, Alyssa L. Giffin, Mohammad Alipour, Oz Sahin, Rodney A. Stewart. Mapping long-term coral reef ecosystems regime shifts: A small island developing state case study. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 716 ():137024.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMehdi Hafezi; Alyssa L. Giffin; Mohammad Alipour; Oz Sahin; Rodney A. Stewart. 2020. "Mapping long-term coral reef ecosystems regime shifts: A small island developing state case study." Science of The Total Environment 716, no. : 137024.
Planning and decision-making vastly benefit from a holistic and systematic understanding of the long-term impacts of climate change and other non-climatic stressors on the health and resilience of coral reef ecosystems, and the efficacy of adaptation strategies and management interventions on mitigating these impacts and maintaining ecosystem condition and associated ecosystem service. This study reports on an approach to modelling coral reef stressors and possible adaptation interventions using the coral reef ecosystem of Port Resolution on Tanna Island, Vanuatu as the case study serving as a microcosm of endangered Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS). A novel participatory modelling framework was developed and followed in a stepwise manner to integrate local and long-term climate change pressures by coupling structural analysis and the Bayesian Network (BN) techniques. The BN model was quantified through an advanced consolidated data-induced, evidence-based, and expert-driven approach that incorporated: (1) projections of future climate conditions and changing human activities; (2) the influences of multiple stressors including physical environmental and sociological factors; and (3) spatial variability in the key processes and variables. The first and second phases conceptualised the whole system by providing a graphical presentation of system variables within the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact (DPSI) framework using the structural analysis technique. In the third phase, the BN technique was used to integrate the outcomes of multidisciplinary assessments and analysis with experts’ opinion. The BN modelling phase was completed based on evidence extracted from literature which reported the results of regional and downscaled climate models, GIS-based analysis, parametrised data obtained from the region, and tacit knowledge elicited from experts. The validated model was employed to anticipate the future health and resilience condition of coral reefs under different sets of climatic trajectories and adaptive responses scenarios. The results predict the risks to the health and resilience of the Port Resolution coral reef system from the adverse impacts of climate change and harmful human activities and the possible success of adaptations strategies. A sobering conclusion was that despite the current satisfactory condition of coral reefs in the case study zone, their health and resilience would be severely threatened by 2070 in the absence of implementing adaptation strategies and associated sustainable management interventions.
M. Hafezi; O. Sahin; R.A. Stewart; Rod Connolly; B. Mackey; D. Ware. Adaptation strategies for coral reef ecosystems in Small Island Developing States: Integrated modelling of local pressures and long-term climate changes. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 253, 119864 .
AMA StyleM. Hafezi, O. Sahin, R.A. Stewart, Rod Connolly, B. Mackey, D. Ware. Adaptation strategies for coral reef ecosystems in Small Island Developing States: Integrated modelling of local pressures and long-term climate changes. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 253 ():119864.
Chicago/Turabian StyleM. Hafezi; O. Sahin; R.A. Stewart; Rod Connolly; B. Mackey; D. Ware. 2019. "Adaptation strategies for coral reef ecosystems in Small Island Developing States: Integrated modelling of local pressures and long-term climate changes." Journal of Cleaner Production 253, no. : 119864.
Widespread use of promising solar energy is an integral attribute of governments toward global efforts in mitigating future emission and reducing the fossil fuel consumption trajectory. However, the outlook of solar energy development at the strategic level is driven by inherent uncertainties in a long-term perspective. As these unpredictable volatilities come into play, they heavily influence the future trends formed by a range of exogenous and endogenous factors including Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal (PESTEL). This study aimed at identifying, characterizing, and analyzing influential PESTEL factors shaping the dynamics of Solar Photovoltaics (SPV) in an uncertain environment. For this purpose, the Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) method was employed for the case of Iran to investigate how involved factors dynamically interact and collectively behave in system. A participatory stepwise framework was developed consisting of three steps by conducting a survey and two workshops with the participation of multidisciplinary stakeholders. Aa a result, a semi-quantitative model was formed in an integrated FCM comprising 31 interwoven concepts. To further outline possible future trends, five key concepts were determined that explored four plausible projections of Iran's SPV sector. The scenario outcome suggests that the industry is profoundly affected by external economic and political factors. Two scenarios “Cornered in a Dead-End” and “At Wits' End” project that, by 2030, the sector experiences a declining growth trend. “The Period of Tolerance” scenario does not envisage a dramatic change from the current trajectory, while in only “Blue Sky” the country's SPV sector anticipate a moderate growth.
Mahdi Alipour; R. Hafezi; E. Papageorgiou; Mehdi Hafezi. Characteristics and scenarios of solar energy development in Iran: Fuzzy cognitive map-based approach. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2019, 116, 109410 .
AMA StyleMahdi Alipour, R. Hafezi, E. Papageorgiou, Mehdi Hafezi. Characteristics and scenarios of solar energy development in Iran: Fuzzy cognitive map-based approach. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2019; 116 ():109410.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMahdi Alipour; R. Hafezi; E. Papageorgiou; Mehdi Hafezi. 2019. "Characteristics and scenarios of solar energy development in Iran: Fuzzy cognitive map-based approach." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 116, no. : 109410.
Climate change adaptation planning requires the integration of disciplines, stakeholders, different modelling approaches, treatment options, and scales of analysis. An integrated stepwise planning approach is a critical requirement for effective climate change adaptation in the context of small island developing states and coastal communities. To address this need, this paper reports on a systematic review of 116 research papers from an initial set of around 650 academic peer-reviewed papers. These papers were assessed and categorised based on their planning framework or the approach utilised, measured climate change impacts, employed methods and tools, and recommended adaptation strategies or options. This study identified three important dimensions of a fully integrated climate change adaptation planning process, namely, integration in assessment, integration in modelling, and integration in adaptive responses. Moreover, it resulted in the formulation of a novel multi-layered integrative climate change adaptation planning approach. Adopting this holistic and integrative approach is more likely to yield better climate change adaptation in planning outcomes over the long term.
Mehdi Hafezi; Oz Sahin; Rodney Stewart; Brendan Mackey. Creating a Novel Multi-Layered Integrative Climate Change Adaptation Planning Approach Using a Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability 2018, 10, 4100 .
AMA StyleMehdi Hafezi, Oz Sahin, Rodney Stewart, Brendan Mackey. Creating a Novel Multi-Layered Integrative Climate Change Adaptation Planning Approach Using a Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (11):4100.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMehdi Hafezi; Oz Sahin; Rodney Stewart; Brendan Mackey. 2018. "Creating a Novel Multi-Layered Integrative Climate Change Adaptation Planning Approach Using a Systematic Literature Review." Sustainability 10, no. 11: 4100.