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Welcome to Econnect Communication’s December 2003 newsletter.
The theme for this month’s newsletter is "Celebration" (as we've been having so many recently…)
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support this year and hope you continue to enjoy our newsletters in 2004.
If you have any feedback or ideas you’d like to add to our newsletter, we’d love to hear from you.
Cheers, Econnect Communication Jenni Metcalfe, Michelle Riedlinger, Terri Telford This month – December 2003 Celebration 1. Christmas Quiz2. Filipino Landcare and the Christmas spirit3. Drugs in school – no problem!4. Citizen Science Toolbox: Linking communities, scientists and decision-makers5. Feedback from last month's "Science meets arts" newsletter6. Subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter7. Contact Us1. Christmas quiz
By Michelle Riedlinger
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A family in a barangay in Claveria who have embraced Landcare |
Bright red and yellow handmade 3-D stars hanging from bamboo poles throughout the small villages or ‘barangays’ in the Philippines reminded me that Christmas was almost upon us. I was driving through rural areas in the Philippines a few weeks ago helping to prepare a book on Landcare. In more affluent barangays, the Filipinos demonstrated their love of neon with unbelievable displays of small lights dripping from coconut palms and intricately erected shapes and structures. The fairyland effect of such displays brought back childhood memories of driving past Geelong’s oil refineries at night with my parents in county Victoria. |
Beyond the festive displays were the people. Unlike Australian rural towns, small children seemed to be everywhere. This country has one of the highest population growth rates in the world and the Claveria municipality I was visiting in northern Mindanao has a population growth rate of about 4.5%. This results in an astonishing poverty level. More than 70 percent of people in the region live below the poverty line of 12,000 pesos a month (about A$300) for a family of six. Most live on a mere 6,000 pesos a month and have many more than four children. This is humbling data for a consultant working to help them promote Landcare concepts through the publication of a book (supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, ACIAR). It is with mixed emotions that I realise that my greatly reduced daily fee for this project could feed several families for a month.
Yet despite the level of poverty and the hardships created by difficult political conditions, people seem to emanate a sense of joy. Driving helmet-less on a motorcycle around the small island of Camiguin off the northern coast of Mindanao, people siting on makeshift benches outside their bamboo shanties or walking along the dusty road would shout out: “Hi friend” whenever we passed by and beam big smiles of welcome.
In the barangay villages we visited, Landcare has helped motivate people to take pride in their front yards with exquisite displays of potted plants and flowers. A Barangay Captain told us that Landcare had lead to better sanitation, a greater community spirit and improved health for the residents. About 20 million Filipinos, a quarter of the total population, rely on upland farming for their livelihood. Landcare offers hope for greater sustainability in the face of huge erosion rates and loss of soil fertility.
Landcare began in the Philippines from farmers working with researchers for a better future. It began before they were even aware of the Australian movement. During my visit to the Philippines, I heard inspiring stories from true pioneers – farmers, village leaders, researchers, facilitators and entrepreneurs – people who wanted a better future, people who were willing to challenge the status quo to make this happen. Personally, I found it to be a humbling and rewarding experience.
Returning to Australia during the pre-Christmas consumerism rush, the contrast with western greed struck me anew. A greed that is also affecting the struggling attempts of developing nations such as the Philippines. Listening to AM this morning on Christmas Eve, I heard an interview with Richard Eckersley from the Australian National University about wealth and consumer spending. His simple message was that having more goods and money does not lead to happiness. My experience in the Philippines makes me wonder whether perhaps the path to achieving this elusive emotion might lie in active community participation – giving of one’s time and resources locally and globally for the greater good.
By Sue Monteath
Year 11 and 12 chemistry may soon be unrecognizable from the traditional textbook chapter by chapter approach. Teachers have been asked to write programs in context. What is this new context approach – you may well ask!
A context based approach “allows meaningful development of the key concepts of the syllabus through learning experiences that are embedded in real world situations”.1
Tapping into these “real world” topics which interest typical teenagers, ensuring linkage with key concepts and providing the students with more opportunities to take control of their learning have resulted in some motivated students who are enjoying their chemistry.
Aspley State High students have spent a whole term on wine! They were asked to make, monitor, investigate, bottle, label and present some wine.
During the term they visited Mt Nebo winery and took a sample of their wine to the University of Queensland to perform a gas chromatography analysis to check the values obtained during their school based alcohol titrations. The traffic police brought the roadside breathalyser along and explained the chemistry involved. A local wine judge came along to judge the wine and teach the students how to judge wine (using non alcoholic wine).
The culminating activity for the context was the “wine education evening” where the students presented their wine for tasting to their parents. Parents were invited to judge the wine using assistance (explanations of the criteria) from their adolescent child. A great evening was had by all!
This context approach appears to have motivated more students to study and continue to study chemistry. Hopefully another spin off is that the students will have a more responsible approach towards drinking at schoolies.
1 Trial Pilot Chemistry Syllabus 2002 Queensland Studies Authority.
The Citizen Science Toolbox (http://www.coastal.crc.org.au/toolbox/index.asp) is a free resource of principles and strategies to enhance meaningful stakeholder involvement in decision-making. Stakeholders include not only communities, but also scientists and decision-makers. Meaningful involvement of all stakeholders occurs through a commitment to social learning - learning on the part of communities, other stakeholders and institutions. While the Toolbox has a focus on coastal and catchment environments, the principles and tools can be used in many other areas for a wide range of issues. The on-line toolbox includes: (1) over 60 community involvement tools, from public meetings to consensus conferences; (2) case studies of the uses of various tools and the reflections of stakeholders who participated; (3) an annotated bibliography of over 500 citizen science references and (4) theoretical discussions of citizen science issues.
The Toolbox was launched on December 16th. Feedback on the Toolbox is welcome, particularly concerning content, layout, navigation and utility. All reviewers before January 30th will receive a complementary book ‘Australian Estuaries: A Framework for management’ published by the Coastal CRC. Contact James.Whelan@griffith.edu.au for details.
From Simon Torok
Just a quick plug on the science art theme about a project I started at the Tyndall Centre where I obtained a ridiculous amount of pounds to find an artist and work with her to see how climate change as a topic could influence her art. The key was to let Janice, the artist, take the lead so she could do what she wanted to do, with science only playing a role as subject material rather than the driver. That way, she was pleased with the product and pushed the boundaries in her field, rather than being not much more than a science illustrator.
Interestingly, while we are used to the stereotypical view of scientists, I also found that the scientists I introduced Janice to had a stereotypical view of artists. They were expecting someone to turn up with easel and smock, and that the product would be a painting. The finished exhibition was much more than that, and was launched in Norwich last week.
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