Australian Journal of Environmental Education
Volume 20(1) 2004
Special Issue: Effective Sustainability Education
Abstracts
Negotiating Nature: Collaboration and Conflict Between Aboriginal and Conservation
Interests in New South Wales, Australia
Michael Adams .......................................................................................................................... 3
Faced with the paradox of a large global increase in conservation reserves and a simultaneous global decrease in
actual effective protection for biodiversity, conservation scientists and policymakers are questioning established
conservation theory and practice. I argue that the fundamental premises, the foundational myths, for Westernstyle conservation also need to be questioned. The statistics on Indigenous land claims, and conservation
reserves, in Australia and more specifically the state of New South Wales (NSW), reveal a landscape of policy
failure in both arenas. Focusing on Australia, I use spatial analysis and policy histories to demonstrate converging
trajectories of land use priorities for conservation needs and Indigenous peoples’ needs. This intersection, while
generating much potential for conflict, also creates new political landscapes. A combination of spatial and
cultural analyses can create a clear picture of new “operational landscapes”, and an understanding of the
(sometimes) complementary values of different cultural groups negotiating about these landscapes. From the
basis that environmental problems are fundamentally social problems, this paper contributes to explorations of
new paradigms supporting new social-ecological relationships, and new relationships between Indigenous and
non-Indigenous peoples.
How Research Helped Us To Move From Awareness to Action and Then to Systems
Development
Patricia Armstrong & Jim Grant............................................................................................... 13
How can an organisation move from awareness raising, in the form of natural history poster production, to the
development of systems that change organisations? Through close integration of research and practice, the Gould
League has achieved this transformation. It began with extensive research into best practice environmental
education, going beyond the traditional boundaries of environmental education to areas that included the
psychology of culture change, business management, systems thinking, governance, drug education, marketing
and organisational psychology. This broad approach to research has led to the development of highly effective
sustainability education programs, such as Waste Wise Schools and Sustainable Schools.
The Waste Wise Schools Program, funded by EcoRecycle Victoria and managed in consultation with the
Gould League, is an action-based waste education program. Originating in Victoria in 1998, it has been adopted
by over a third of Victorian schools and has led to widespread outcomes, including waste reductions of up to
95%. There is strong evidence from surveys that this program is sustainable in schools over time and research
confirms that the program is contributing to changes in the waste-wise thinking and behaviour of the families of
the children at these schools.
A model for culture change in schools, based on the experiences of the Waste Wise Schools Program, has
also been developed. This model, a valuable tool in the continual improvement of Waste Wise Schools, has
applications to sustainability education in general.
How Organisational Change is Contributing to a Sustainable Bushfire Program
Angela Baker & Andrew Stanton .............................................................................................. 25
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC)’s Bushfire Program is unique amongst conservation
organisations. The Program has been running for over ten years, focusing its campaign work mainly on
government policy, legislation and commissions of inquiry. However, the Program was originally initiated to
provide support to over 70 conservation representatives on bushfire management committees (from state to
regional levels)
In 2003, the Community Bushfire Education Project (CBEP), which is funded by the Environment Trust
(ET), was developed as an extension of the Bushfire Program. The CBEP’s main focuses have included
coordinating community and professional workshops, field trips and school visits.
The design and advocacy principles of the Bushfire Program have been significantly influenced by the CBEP.
Principles associated with Education for Sustainability, including capacity building, partnerships and critical
thinking, have been key drivers in this.
Traditionally, the NCC Bushfire Program has been a strong advocate of enforcing environmental assessment
and controls through regulation. However, to date, bushfire regulations have only had limited success in
changing unsustainable practices. We have learnt that a complimentary approach to regulation is voluntary
action. This entails a participatory approach to bushfire management planning. We feel this change in philosophy
can apply to all land management and environmental issues and may parallel a larger shift within the
environment movement.
Through this paper we will show how the Bushfire Program has developed to incorporate community
education as a central pillar of, rather than in addition to, its core campaign; the difficulties this presents and the
strengths it provides. The NCC now sees community participation and empowerment as a key component of any
natural resource management campaign.
The Quest for Sustainable, Healthy Communities
Alan W. Black ......................................................................................................................... 33
Sustainability is a contested concept. Whilst the “triple bottom line” is sometimes used to describe the economic,
social and ecological dimensions of sustainability, there are differing conceptions of what this notion implies.
There are nevertheless some recurring themes that are outlined in this paper. There has also been some
convergence in notions of “sustainable communities” and “healthy communities”. Balanced integration of
economic, social and ecological dimensions remains a challenge for policy-makers, educators and community
members.
Successful Environmental Education: Adapting to the Educational Habitat
Janet Buchan ........................................................................................................................... 45
As a matter of survival, we need to educate current and future generations to live sustainably. We need to ensure
that future generations have access to quality environmental education.
This paper provides guidelines for educators and managers to use to better understand and manage the learning
environment in which environmental education, particularly sustainability, programs take place. This is done
through the introduction of two tools. Firstly, through a model of the learning environment that can be used to
understand the educational environment and its various interactions and secondly, through the introduction of an
Adaptive Management Conceptual Framework. This framework provides a step by step approach to guide the
process of assessing the state of the current learning environment, and to guide the processes of decision making
and implementation by educators.
These tools have broad application to a variety of educational environments; schools, universities and community
education. A specific case study of the application of these tools in a university environmental science degree is
outlined.
Sustainability and Small to Medium Sized Enterprises - How to Engage Them
Linda Condon ......................................................................................................................... 57
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have a major advantage over larger organisations in regard to
addressing sustainability issues – their size means they are able to react very quickly to changes in the business
environment. They are disadvantaged, however, by lack of information on marketplace changes that make
sustainability an opportunity to innovate, and to inspire employees. While some SMEs are leaders in sustainable
practices, others lack the sort of strategic mindset which views changes in the business environment as
opportunities – seeing the tasks which require more change as an additional burden, rather than a source of
potential advantage.
The National Centre for Sustainability has worked with a group of SMEs (with sponsorship through a Research
Agreement with Sensis) in a series of workshop environments. Through this work a set of indicators was
developed to measure their progress towards more sustainable practices. Key members of industry associations
and government agencies were engaged in an advisory capacity to ensure that the work undertaken was relevant
and innovative.
In addition, a comprehensive industry research study was undertaken to determine the key priorities for business
and government relating to sustainability. This work provided insight into the needs and trends in sustainable
practices in various sectors including manufacturing, service industry, education and government. The outcomes
of the research have determined the need to develop flexible, adult centric and work-based learning models to
educate for sustainability and create organisational change.
This paper explores the value of innovative and engaging educational practices to create an environment which is
most conducive to facilitating the implementation of economic, environmental and social aspects of work
practices.
Community Gardens as a Platform for Education for Sustainability
Linda Corkery .......................................................................................................................... 69
Community gardens fulfil many roles, including the reclamation of public space, community building, and the
facilitation of social and cultural expression. This paper discusses a nexus between research and education for
sustainability that evolved out of an examination of the role of community gardens in fostering community
development and neighbourhood improvement in Sydney’s Waterloo Public Housing Estate. It argues that they
are also an educational resource providing a valuable platform for learning about multiple dimensions of
sustainability.
The paper is based on interdisciplinary research undertaken by a team from UNSW’s Faculty of the Built
Environment and the School of Social Work. The findings of this research affirm the importance of community
gardens for public housing tenants, and present the gardens and their associated activities as an effective platform
for education for sustainability.
Enjoying Our Backyard Buddies – Social Research Informing the Practice of Mainstream
Community Education for the Conservation of Urban Wildlife
Richard Davies & Lynn Webber ............................................................................................... 77
Supporting urban communities to make changes that contribute to sustainable living is a challenge that
many environment and conservation organisations embrace. However, many community education and
involvement initiatives to date have tended to appeal mostly to those with knowledge and enthusiasm for
protection and conservation of the environment, leaving the majority of the community relatively
unengaged. In a NSW Environmental Trust supported initiative seeking to enhance the protection and
conservation of wildlife in urban environments, a major social research project was undertaken to
investigate community understandings of wildlife conservation, for application to urban community
education programs. The research incorporated both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to gain
insights that practitioners can use to develop, monitor and evaluate urban environment and conservation
initiatives that engage and involve the wider community. This paper presents some key findings of the
research and provides case examples of environmental education initiatives bringing this research into
practice. The research indicates that community understandings of conservation are broad ranging. The
research reveals that prominent conservation language and concepts, well understood by keen and
knowledgable environmental educators, have little relevance to mainstream audiences. Other findings
identify how conservation can have high relevance and meaning for the broader community as an integral
part of their everyday life.
How Can the VET Sector Drive the Adoption of Sustainable Practices in Industry?
Jenny Kent .............................................................................................................................. 89
Vocational education and training (VET) is often considered the enigma of education. For those that work in or
research sustainable education within the schools and higher education sections, VET appears somewhat like the
mysterious second cousin: often difficult to access and difficult to understand. VET differs quite markedly from
the other education sectors. Its industry, skill and competency foci have been established through a distinct range
of national and international drivers. Both the limited understanding of how VET operates and its institutional
characteristics has bound the integration of sustainable education practices within the sector. This paper provides
a brief overview of the VET sector within Australia and provides some insight into how sustainable education
practices are being developed in VET. The recognition of elements of common ground between VET and
sustainable education are proposed as an entrée into the sector that can influence the adoption of sustainable
practices by industry.
Identifying Training Needs to Improve Indigenous Community Representatives Input into
Environmental Resource Management Consultative Processes: A case study of the
Bundjalung Nation
David Lloyd & Fiona Norrie ................................................................................................... 101
Despite increased engagement of Indigenous representatives as participants on consultative panels charged with
processes of natural resource management, concerns have been raised by both Indigenous representatives and
management agencies regarding the ability of Indigenous people to have quality input into the decisions these
processes produce. In order to determine how to more effectively engage Australian Aboriginal peoples in the
management process, this article describes the results of interviews with Elders of the Bundjalung Nation and
other community representatives who represent their community’s interests on natural resource management
boards within their traditional country. Community representatives identified the factors they considered
important in understanding natural resource management and administrative processes and where training would
enable them to make a significant contribution to the consultation process. It also highlighted a need for nonIndigenous managers to gain a greater understanding of Indigenous knowledge systems and protocols.
Is Sustainability a Breakfast Cereal? Public Program Based Research into Community
Understandings of Sustainability
Lynette C. McLoughlin ........................................................................................................... 115
What meanings and values does the community (the general public) attach to the term “sustainability”? As this
complex concept is widely used in academic, political and policy arenas and gradually becomes embedded at
institutional level, it is possible that the community does not share the understandings of sustainability that are
guiding developments in many spheres which affect their lives. Use of terminology at policy level which is
unfamiliar to the community is not unusual, so does it matter in the case of “sustainability”? This paper reviews
research, both qualitative and quantitative, undertaken between 2000 and 2004 for the NSW Department of
Environment and Conservation in the context of development of a sustainability education program known as
Our Environment: It’s a Living Thing. This research both explored understanding and concepts of sustainability and
developed a community segmentation on the basis of environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. The
implications of this research for future research and for programs aimed at developing community understanding
of, and commitment to, sustainability are also discussed.
Local Environmental Risk Assessment as a Sustainability Education Tool
Garry Smith & Ingo Koernicke ............................................................................................... 129
Experience in Australia has demonstrated that problems arise when sustainability requirements appear to conflict
with individual development rights or local lifestyles. Community partnering between government and the public
is therefore of fundamental importance in working towards sustainable development. Unfortunately genuine
partnering is only rarely achieved today, and consultation is a poor working alternative.
Research at Sutherland Shire Council has concluded that citizens are prepared to undertake genuine partnering,
including personal involvement in understanding and initiating lifestyle changes. However such willingness is
subject to being provided with adequate information and with a genuine government commitment to take action.
The paper describes a local environmental risk assessment procedure which successfully informs citizens about
local risks and which demonstrates government commitment to openness and facts-based sustainability planning.