Indigenous Science Conversations

As part of National Science Week in August, five hubs in the National Environmental Science Program came together to host Indigenous Science Conversations at Questacon, Canberra. Over two sessions the speakers informed, encouraged and amused the audience by sharing heartfelt stories of their journeys and the obstacles faced by First Peoples in the way the business of science has been done in Australia. The panel consisted of Brad Moggridge, Maddi Miller, David Hudson, Duane Fraser, Taleah Watego-Piggott and Luke Briscoe. Read more in the latest Urban Beat, including a reflection by science student Luke West who attended the event. 

Image: (from left) Ben Wilson, Duane Fraser, Maddi Miller, David Hudson, Taleah Watego-Piggott and Luke Briscoe​

Creating liveable cities in Australia

The Creating Liveable Cities in Australia report has won the 'Cutting Edge Research and Technology' category of the Victorian Planning Institute of Australia Awards. This report is the first "baseline" measure of liveability in Australia's state and territory capitals and is the culmination of 5 years of research by CAUL researchers Melanie Davern, Billie Giles-Corti and Julianna Rozek, as well as Lucy Gunn from RMIT University. The team have also created liveability scorecards for Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, with Melbourne and Sydney featuring in this Conversation article.

The report will now go through to the National Awards for Planning Excellence ceremony.

Image: Melbourne city. xiquinhosilva via flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Joint Organic Emissions Year-round Study (JOEYS)​

Final preparations are underway for the Joint Organic Emissions Year-round Study (JOEYS) - a collaborative campaign involving the University of Wollongong and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. The campaign will run the Biogenic Ambient Atmospheric Sampling System (BAASS), to gain measurements of chemicals emitted by trees. The testing of the optimal instrument conditions have been completed, and the sampling mast has been constructed. This will soon be installed, along with ancillary instruments to measure other aspects of atmospheric composition. The campaign will begin in earnest in the coming weeks and will form the prelude to CAUL Hub’s larger-scale International campaign COALA (Charactering Organics and Aerosol Loading in Australia). 

Image: the BAASS installed at ANSTO.

Media

Healthy cities are more than human​

Cecily Maller presented a paper for the EU Horizon 2020 NATURVATION project at the Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona. Her paper, titled 'Cities as more-than-human habitat and the politics of who nature-based solutions are for' discussed how nature-based solutions have the opportunity to transform the governance, planning and design of cities for more than just people - and how more-than-human thinking can help them achieve this.

Cecily also wrote this article for Foreground, on how more-than-human thinking can help resolve many issues with our current thinking about cities and health. 

Image: Butterfly in Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens. Luis Mata

Media

Designing cities where people and nature can flourish​

Given the importance of urban nature - for our health, the climate and biodiversity - CAUL and TSR Hub researchers have written this article, examining how to design cities where people and nature can both flourish. Sarah Bekessy, Nicholas Williams and Georgia Garrard show how biodiversity-sensitive urban design can build nature into the urban fabric, by linking urban planning and design to the basic needs and survival of native plants and animals. 

Image: Graphical representation of biodiversity sensitive urban design. S. Bekessy, G. Garrard, M.Baracco, C. Horwill, J. Ware, RMIT School of Architecture and Design.

Media

 Coping with the 50-degree city

Marco Amati featured in this article and radio interview by the ABC, which asked how well our cities are equipped to deal with climate change. The combination of rising global temperatures with increasing urban density is proving deadly, and Marco says that we are heading into "unknown territory." However, he proposes that mitigating against the worst effects of urban heat does not need to be costly or involve massive infrastructure investments.

Image: Cid Moreno Miranda via flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)