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The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the definition of a European perspective on Digital Earth (DE), identify some actions that can contribute to raise the awareness of DE in the European context and thus strengthen the European contribution to the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE). The paper identifies opportunities and synergies with the current policy priorities in Europe (Europe 2020, Innovation Union and Digital Agenda) and highlights a number of key areas to advance the development of DE from a European perspective: (1) integrating scientific research into DE; (2) exploiting the Observation Web with human-centred sensing; and (3) governance, including the establishment of stronger linkages across the European landscape of funding streams and initiatives. The paper is offered also as a contribution to the development of this new vision of DE to be presented at the next International DE Conference in Perth, Australia, in August 2011. The global recognition of this new vision will then reinforce the European component and build a positive feedback loop for the further implementation of DE across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many parts of the world, higher education is viewed as a prime 'motor' for the development of a knowledge-based economy. Under the banner of this 'new economy', higher education policies, programmes and practices have been increasingly co-opted and shaped by wider geo-strategic political and economic interests. This paper explores three, interlinked, higher education policy spaces - in Europe, the United States, and Australia. It explores how the growing range of educational initiatives at the European level has affected - both directly and indirectly - American and Australian policymaking in higher education. The European higher education project, which is increasingly perceived as having some significance to the global economy, has set off a series of dynamic reactions in both Australia and the United States, which is leading to multiple new logics and new imaginaries about the global higher education landscape. Through this, a more integrated and relational global system of higher education is emerging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the 'loss of chance doctrine' with a comparative perspective, across three different jurisdictions: China (where the loss of chance doctrine is in its infancy); continental Europe (in which many countries have adopted loss of chance to solve medical malpractice cases) and Australia (where loss of chance has been excluded by the High Court and is no longer a valid defense for negligence where causation is otherwise difficult to prove). The article compares these three different approaches to establish a line of development, from initial acceptance, through its widespread application, to finish with its judicial rejection, which might be a prediction about the future of this doctrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been gaining in popularity and is influencing ways in which various non-European countries approach bilingual education. For example, some Australian bilingual programmes are now being officially referred to as CLIL programmes. Although CLIL methodology shows potential outside Europe, this article argues that certain aspects of CLIL should be subject to scrutiny before programmes are adopted in an Australian context. In the article, these aspects relate primarily to organisational and affective factors, which are considered to have a substantial influence on successful programmes. The article specifically addresses Australian primary and secondary public education because public bilingual education programmes may offer a way to address the high attrition rates and the decline in languages taught. The article will focus on ways in which CLIL arose and is defined through the European context for which it was designed. Then it will identify some of the bilingual programmes on offer in Australia and explore issues related to applying/expanding the CLIL approach to Australian mainstream education – English language dominance, language choice and human resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates the Gillard Labor government's efforts to revive Australian multiculturalism at a time when other liberal democracies have declared it a failure. It argues that despite a controversial history, Australian multiculturalism has many of the characteristics of institutional path dependency, representing a highly contested set of policies, programs and norms that evolved in specific historical contexts and developed their own self-reinforcing logic. The Australian experience offers salient reminders of the difficulties of overturning the social and political consequences of immigration decisions made long ago. The general success of multiculturalism as a migrant-integration strategy suggests that it may be the best available option for liberal-democratic governments to manage the politics of cultural diversity in the 21st century. There is a need, however, for governments to renew their commitment to migrant rights and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Remote access laboratories (RALs) were first developed in 1994 in Australia and Switzerland. The main purposes of developing them are to enable students to do their experiments at their own pace, time and locations and to enable students and teaching staff to get access to facilities beyond their institutions. Currently, most of the experiments carried out through RALs in Australia are heavily biased towards electrical, electronic and computer engineering disciplines. However, the experiments carried out through RALs in Europe had more variety, in addition to the traditional electrical, electronic and computer engineering disciplines, there were experiments in mechanical and mechatronic disciplines. It was found that RALs are now being developed aggressively in Australia and Europe and it can be argued that RALs will develop further and faster in the future with improving Internet technology. The rising costs of real experimental equipment will also speed up their development because by making the equipment remotely accessible, the cost can be shared by more universities or institutions and this will improve their cost-effectiveness. Their development would be particularly rapid in large countries with small populations such as Australia, Canada and Russia, because of the scale of economy. Reusability of software, interoperability in software implementation, computer supported collaborative learning and convergence with learning management systems are the required development of future RALs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]