David Nichols – författare

There has been a recent expansion of interest in cultural approaches to rural communities and to the economic and social situation of rurality more broadly. This interest has been particularly prominent in Australia in recent years, spurring the emergence of an interdisciplinary field called 'rural cultural studies'. This collection is framed by a large interdisciplinary research project that is part of that emergence, particularly focused on what the idea of 'cultural sustainability' might mean for understanding experiences of growth, decline, change and heritage in small Australian country towns. However, it extends beyond the initial parameters of that research, bringing together a range of senior and emerging Australian researchers who offer diverse approaches to rural culture. The essays collected here explore the diverse forms that rural cultural studies might take and how these intersect with other disciplinary approaches, offering a uniquely diverse but also careful account of life in country Australia. Yet, in its emphasis on the simultaneous specificity and cross-cultural recognisability of rural communities, this book also outlines a field of inquiry and a set of critical strategies that are more broadly applicable to thinking about the "rural" in the early twenty-first century.This book will be valuable reading for students and academics of Geography, History, Literary Studies, Cultural Studies, Anthropology and Sociology, introducing rural cultural studies as a new dynamic and integrative discipline.

Neighbourhood open space ranks highly as a key component in suburban liveability assessments, originating from the development of urban planning as a profession and the proliferation of the garden suburb. Community Green uniquely connects the past, present and future of planning for small open spaces around the narrative of internal reserves.The distinctive planned spaces are typically enclosed on every side, hidden within residential blocks, serving as local pocket parks and reflecting the evolving values of community life from the garden city movement to contemporary new urbanism. This book resuscitates the enclosed, almost secretive reserve from history as a distinctive form of local open space whose problems and potentialities are relevant to many other green community spaces. In so doing, it opens up even wider connections between localism and globalism, the past and the future, and for connecting community initiatives to broader global challenges of cohesion, health, food, and climate change. This fully illustrated book charts the outcomes and implications of this evolution across several continents, injecting human stories of civic initiatives, struggles and triumphs along the way.Community Green will be of interest to a wide readership interested in studying, managing and improving the quality of all small open spaces in the urban landscape.

Neighbourhood open space ranks highly as a key component in suburban liveability assessments, originating from the development of urban planning as a profession and the proliferation of the garden suburb. Community Green uniquely connects the past, present and future of planning for small open spaces around the narrative of internal reserves.The distinctive planned spaces are typically enclosed on every side, hidden within residential blocks, serving as local pocket parks and reflecting the evolving values of community life from the garden city movement to contemporary new urbanism. This book resuscitates the enclosed, almost secretive reserve from history as a distinctive form of local open space whose problems and potentialities are relevant to many other green community spaces. In so doing, it opens up even wider connections between localism and globalism, the past and the future, and for connecting community initiatives to broader global challenges of cohesion, health, food, and climate change. This fully illustrated book charts the outcomes and implications of this evolution across several continents, injecting human stories of civic initiatives, struggles and triumphs along the way.Community Green will be of interest to a wide readership interested in studying, managing and improving the quality of all small open spaces in the urban landscape.

Return on Ideas is a practical guide to getting more from the resources you put into your innovation process. David Nichols clearly shows why current innovation funnel models stifle rather than encourage new ideas, and offers a new methodology, ‘rocketing’, to tackle the problem. The first book to look in detail at innovation as a business-driving imperative, Return on Ideas provides the tools, techniques and processes to actually upgrade the way you tackle innovation, illustrated with examples from innovative companies such as Yo! Sushi, Apple, Vodafone, Unilever, P&G, Danone, Amex and Ben & Jerry’s – as well as unconventional sources such as theatre and comedy.

This refreshingly simple, practical guide demonstrates how brand management can boost business performance. It is the ideal inspiration for creating growth in today's tough economic times. Following the template of the highly successful original version, the book consists of a programme of 8 "workouts" that will help marketers raise their own game in key areas such as: insight, portfolio strategy, positioning and innovation. The tools and techniques in the book have been road-tested on over 100 brandgym projects out of the last 8 years, making this book extremely practical. Based on the inside stories of brand leaders who have achieved success: Tesco, T-Mobile, Unilever and Proctor and Gamble. These companies share their tips, tricks and warn of the traps to avoid.50% of the content is new or updated with the latest thinking on "recession proof branding", how to win when times are tough, communication briefing, growing the core business and new research with marketing directors on the key success factors of brand leaders.The authors are most influential, appearing in The Guardian, Marketing, Brand Strategy, Market Leader and The Marketer. The CIM have called David Taylor one of the "World's 50 most important marketing thinkers".

Plants in Design emerged from Brad E. Davis’s and David Nichols’s love for plants and well-designed landscapes and a previous frustration with landscape design guidebooks. While most landscape and garden design resources focus either on design principles or on plant materials, the unique strategy of Plants in Design provides a palette of options organized by mature size and scale, covering many genres of plants from grasses to herbaceous perennials, woody shrubs and trees, and even annuals and interior plants—all of which are necessary for consideration when composing a well-designed landscape.Plants in Design combines two fundamental components of landscape and garden design: (1) principles and uses of plant material (e.g., color, line, texture), and (2) resource information for analyzing and selecting a broad range of plant materials, from annuals and ground covers to shrubs and trees, for southern landscapes (USDA hardiness zones 6 to 9). Introductory chapters discuss plants and their uses in creating outdoor landscapes in settings ranging from small-scale applications (e.g., courtyards, walkways) to medium- and large-scale projects (e.g., streetscapes, parks). Richly illustrated with approximately 1,750 color photographs, Plants in Design depicts plant shape, form, characteristics, and landscape use, both to aid identification and to envision how individual plants might appear in a composition. The authors promote the use of native species to benefit native wildlife and point out the dangers of many nonnative plants widely used in the past and now threatening natural ecosystems. Featuring five hundred southern landscape plants organized into fifteen categories, ranging from large trees to ferns and flowering annuals, plant accounts include scientific and common names, hardiness zones, flowers and fruit, growing conditions, and pests and diseases. The guide also includes drawings, a hardiness zone map, glossary, bibliography, index, and design-use tables for quick reference.

There has been a recent expansion of interest in cultural approaches to rural communities and to the economic and social situation of rurality more broadly. This interest has been particularly prominent in Australia in recent years, spurring the emergence of an interdisciplinary field called 'rural cultural studies'. This collection is framed by a large interdisciplinary research project that is part of that emergence, particularly focused on what the idea of 'cultural sustainability' might mean for understanding experiences of growth, decline, change and heritage in small Australian country towns. However, it extends beyond the initial parameters of that research, bringing together a range of senior and emerging Australian researchers who offer diverse approaches to rural culture. The essays collected here explore the diverse forms that rural cultural studies might take and how these intersect with other disciplinary approaches, offering a uniquely diverse but also careful account of life in country Australia. Yet, in its emphasis on the simultaneous specificity and cross-cultural recognisability of rural communities, this book also outlines a field of inquiry and a set of critical strategies that are more broadly applicable to thinking about the "rural" in the early twenty-first century.This book will be valuable reading for students and academics of Geography, History, Literary Studies, Cultural Studies, Anthropology and Sociology, introducing rural cultural studies as a new dynamic and integrative discipline.

This is an invaluable resource for anyone passionate about Australian film, society, culture, history, heritage, music and art.