Note from the Editors: Australasian Journal of Regional Studies - Volume 18, Number 3, 2012

Abstract

The unifying theme in all the articles contained in this edition is one of evidence-base policy and / or strategy formulation within complex business or government arenas. Remarkably, too, four of the articles involve climate concerns broadly construed. Of these, two deal specifically with contrasting aspects of climate change management. Ananda's article is concerned with developing a public-private benefit framework to apportion responsibility among local businesses and institutions for the management of climate change. This valuable perspective, which is not often raised in debates on the subject, is discussed in the context of north-eastern Victoria. On the other hand, Zeppel focuses on the content of public and community-based planning policies in coastal Queensland designed to handle the impact of climate change on infrastructure and the environment and engender community resilience in combatting extreme weather events and rising sea level. Her empirical observes varying emphases on problems and strategies among the agencies studied. Pearce's article, co-authored with a large cast, focuses on a perennial Australian problem - that of handling water shortages during drought events. It shows that public perceptions on how to manage the problem vary between city and country and across income groups. This, in turn, leads the authors to assess the merits of uniform restrictions across South Australia given different regional attitudes and perceptions. The final climatic contribution provides us with a novel dimension of Australia's wine industry, namely spoilage in transit because of temperature fluctuations. The underlying empirical research conducted by Marquez and her colleagues measures these fluctuations both on land and at sea, and demonstrates the industry's need to focus more attention on packaging, refrigeration, insulation and other dimensions of transport logistics.