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Ecotourism is a burgeoning sector of the tourism industry offering a relatively guilt-free environment in which to satisfy the desire for travel and adventure. The discourse is firmly entrenched within the dominant conception of sustainability where nature is seen as a privileged ‘other’, untouched by humans. This ideology is also prevalent in the design of ecotourism facilities, which are generally predicated on a model of minimal intervention. This low-impact approach is not problematic in itself, but it misses the opportunity to engage in a more productive and ‘regenerative’ relationship with place. Conversely, Philip Cox Richardson Taylor's design for the resort town of Yulara in central Australia sought a more constructive relationship with place and questioned the conventional notion of ‘resort’. Although this resort, constructed in 1984, predates the current ecotourism industry and certification programs, it remains an early exemplar of innovations in this area and offers the benefits of hindsight. Through an exploration of the ideals and realities of the design and subsequent occupation of Yulara, this paper questions the potential challenges and opportunities of the design of ecotourism facilities to engage in a more ‘regenerative’ agenda. In particular, it identifies the social context and consideration of spatial practice as a key area of opportunity for the built environment to contribute to the ecotourism goal of interpretation and education through a more reflexive form of environmental awareness.

Present concerns for sustainable development have led to a revival of traditional building practices using natural or recycled resources. There is a perception that buildings constructed from such materials are environmentally benign. This perception is questionable, as often no evaluation is undertaken to assess the associated environmental impacts. Rammed earth is one such construction technology that has seen renewed interest in recent years. The energy required to manufacture materials (i.e. embodied energy) is a significant component of the life cycle energy associated with buildings. This paper assesses the embodied energy of rammed earth construction relative to brick veneer and cavity brick construction. Rammed earth was found to have significantly less embodied energy than cavity brick construction (to which it is closer in thermal performance), but was approximately equivalent to brick veneer construction. Topics of further research identified include thermal performance and strategies for reducing the embodied energy of cement used for earth stabilisation.

When looking at recent debates on sustainability one can observe that implicit within these debates is a criticism against the values, attitudes, and tools by which most of the built environment has been produced over the years, that has led to social alienation and environmental depletion. Several definitions of sustainability correspond with this criticism, where some definitions focus on environmental criteria while others integrate socio-cultural aspects into environmental concerns. The main idea behind the notion of sustainability is to create an effective system of resource distribution and utilization with a long term perspective in mind (ECE, 1996). A sustainable society in this respect is one that can persist over generations, one that is far sighted enough, flexible enough, and wise enough not to undermine either its physical or its social systems of support.

The purpose of this commentary is to reflect on some of the themes presented in the associated article “Vocational training for livelihood and rehabilitation of persons with intellectual disabilities” and provide considerations for future close-to-practice research in the area of vocational training models and rehabilitation provisions.

This commentary considers the literature in relation to rehabilitation provisions centred around vocation, highlights the need for a person-centred focus and reiterates the potential of vocation as a route to social inclusion and wider social networks.

The focus on adapting supports and vocational training programmes to fit within the context of low-income areas and country-specific legislation should be afforded particular consideration, alongside ways to achieve high-quality research rigour, which still puts the person supported at the centre of any outcome measures.

This commentary is aimed in part at practitioners working in the field of learning disabilities and employment/vocation, who are keen to conduct close-to-practice research.

Major original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in the international automotive industry require their first‐tier suppliers to obtain QS‐9000 registration. One of the requirements included in the registration criteria is to have a process in place to evaluate all suppliers or subcontractors. Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) Automotive Systems Group, a major first‐tier supplier, chose to request QS‐9000 registration of their suppliers (second‐tier). QS‐9000 does not require Tier‐1 suppliers to mandate that their suppliers (second‐tier) obtain registration. Since quality registration indicates that a quality system is in place, does it ensure that the operational measures of quality parts per million (PPM) or delivery performance are optimized? Do the organizational variables associated with QS‐9000 registration directly impact achieving it? For this study, a survey of JCI North American QS‐9000‐registered second‐tier suppliers was conducted to gather information about selected organizational variables, perceived performance outcome and results, and actual quality PPM and delivery performance. This study looks at the relationships between organizational variables and performance outcome and results.