Excepciones a la protección de los animales no humanos en el Estatuto Nacional de

In this section I outline four concepts which underpin the need for this research;

rights-based, use of resources, best use of my time, and quality of life. The final part of this section suggests that there is no need to justify research, as it is arguably the only truth.

2.2.1. The Rights-Based Argument

This section considers the rights-based argument as a justification for the research. The Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations 2000) provides a basic tenant for my work, stating the need for social progress:

‘Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.’

This is a foundation for a rights-based argument which justifies the need for research, and enables all participants to take fair and equal part in all activities.

2.2.2. Use of resources

In a world of limited resources, the need is to achieve positive outcomes for society without appropriate use of these resources. This is reaffirmed by the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI 2006),in their definition of sustainable development:

‘development which meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’

The environmental consequences of ‘everything for everyone’ is a concept which is increasingly well documented. A clear example of this is the amount of resources used by the city of London. According to London Remade (2006), London’s ecological footprint is more than twice the size of Great Britain.

For the designer of new equipment who ultimately utilises new resources, this conflict presents a range of challenges both during the design phase and during any subsequent manufacture. There is an important need to consider deeply the concept of trying to answer the right sporting question to minimise waste.

Much work has been done to justify the use of resources in health care, for

example the development of the Quality Adjusted Life Years as a calculation for deciding on the best use of health resources (Phillips & Thompson 2001, p.2):

‘The outcomes from treatments and other health-influencing activities have two basic components – the quantity and the quality of life. A QALY is the acronym for quality adjusted life year, which embraces both of these components and is the arithmetic product of life expectancy and a measure of the quality of the remaining life years.’

On a societal level, Endriss et al (2001) consider the way in which agents within society are able to negotiate their way into the appropriate level of resources, to enable the best outcome for a given society. This makes a quantitative

assessment of what is required by society.

2.2.3. Best use of my time – the foundation of the life of a designer Papanek (1991, p.86), in his chapter on Obsolescence and Value in Society, starts with a quote from Fuller:

‘You have to make up your mind either to make sense or make money if you want to be a designer.’

The outdoors is my ‘sense’, so on a personal note this study will formalise and legitimise an approach for future research in this area. From a Christian

perspective, Mathew 25:14-30 (International Bible Society 1988) suggests that making the best use of one’s talents is the most appropriate course of action.

This thesis provides the academic and theoretic rationale for the development of Equal Adventure (EA), a social enterprise based in the Cairngorm National Park. EA is supported by a number of commercial and charitable organisations, who provide a multidisciplinary vehicle for the long term development of

inclusive opportunities in outdoor sport for disabled people. The mission statement for the organisation is (Equal Adventure 2006):

‘Equal Adventure (EA) is a not-for-profit social enterprise, addressing the growing social responsibility required by all organisations and service providers to become more inclusive. EA has created three service areas that bridge the gap between providers, products, services and consumers. Our service areas are split into information (EAI), training (EAT) and product development (EAD).’

2.2.4. Quality of Life as Self Actualisation

Humanist approaches to psychology, such as Maslow’s whole person approach and Roger’s person-centred approach, fit with the approach of sport as they evaluate the holistic approach to human potential. I see my research in this

humanistic positivist stance. Hill (2001) discusses the work of Maslow and other humanist psychologists, and suggests that man has a number of needs or requirements to maintain a reasonable life. The hierarchy lists physical and emotional needs before the state of self-actualisation can be achieved.

I argue that providing access to an engagement with the outdoor environment can help people to achieve their state of self-actualisation by providing for their basic needs. This was illustrated to me during a conversation with David

Constantine, Director and Founder of the charity Motivation, whose mission is to provide wheelchairs for the developing world. The conversation took place at the Royal Geographical Society during the 1995 ‘Disabled Explorer

Conference’. I asked if as a recently graduated designer I should pursue my dream of developing the first ever Climbing Harness for Disabled People. I explained the dilemma that I had with regard to the focus of my efforts, in that I was struggling with the need to focus on something more basic than inclusive outdoor sport. David, who spends most of his time travelling the world using a wheelchair and some assistance, suggested that he would love to be able to sail or escape into the wilderness to help find some balance, but there was nothing which he could use to help him sit upright in a boat. This dream was taken into account when undertaking research for the AQUABAC (Equal Adventure, 2006) some years later, which in part led to this PhD research.

2.2.5. Research and Truth

Robinson and Garratt (2004, p.30) suggest that one of the basic tenets of the Philosopher Socrates was the assertion that:

‘The most important thing about human beings is that they ask questions […] real knowledge comes from discussion and argument, and

discovering, it is a cooperative venture.’

From this standpoint it is possible to suggest that there is no need to justify research so long as it is safe, as we do not know what we will find until we get there. Prejudging research therefore invalidates it.

The remainder of this chapter provides the background structure for measuring the societal benefits of this research and justifies ‘developments in inclusive outdoor adventure’ as a paradigm.