Journal of Educational Computing Research, Feb 9, 2022
A problem-based immersive virtual environment (IVE) about bushfire safety was developed as a lear... more A problem-based immersive virtual environment (IVE) about bushfire safety was developed as a learning tool for children aged 10–12. Its effectiveness was assessed in relation to children’s ability to determine how to be safer in a bushfire incident. A series of experiential activities were developed in the IVE with digital storytelling and two-stage embedded assessments providing children with an opportunity to engage with tasks and solve problems while receiving feedback on their performance. Changes from pre- to postsurvey results showed positive learning outcomes as evidenced by significant improvements in children’s knowledge of bushfire safety and confidence in their ability to contribute to decisions during a bushfire incident. The significant change in children’s knowledge as well as their performance at two-stage embedded assessments was independent of their gender, background knowledge and perceived ability in responding to bushfire hazards. This suggests that when appropriately designed and implemented within educational settings, immersive virtual learning tools can effectively engage children and enhance learning outcomes associated with bushfire safety. The paper also argues that such immersive problem-based learning can improve self-efficacy amongst children in relation to coping with a bushfire situation. Implications of the findings are also discussed.
This paper focuses on one particular risk threatening residents of peri-urban fringes across the ... more This paper focuses on one particular risk threatening residents of peri-urban fringes across the world’s Mediterranean biome, namely the risk of wildfires, termed bushfires in Australia. Communities across the Mediterranean biome (in south-east Australia, California, the Mediterranean basin and Chile) can experience destructive wildfires causing property damage and, in some cases, loss of life, but especially in peri-urban fringes. In such locales housing is often located close to areas of forest in both natural and semi-natural environments. In recent years impacts have been especially severe in Portugal, the south of France, Victoria (Australia) and California. For example, over the last thirty years, 353 people have died due to wildfires in southern Australia and all southern Australian states have experienced serious fires this century, most destructively in Victoria in 2009 and 2003. Yet, while the peri-urban fringes of many towns and cities across the Mediterranean biome are extremely vulnerable to wildfires, they are simultaneously highly attractive places to live and work. Hence, the fringes can represent a growing and profound ‘risk environment’ in which wildfires constitute a ‘manufactured risk’ in that they are related to a high level of human agency both in the production and mitigation of the risk.Guy M. Robinson, Douglas K. Bardsley, Delene Weber and Emily Moskw
Climate change provides a wonderful example of the need for transdisciplinary research. However, ... more Climate change provides a wonderful example of the need for transdisciplinary research. However, the difficulties of bringing various partners together to contribute to climate change research in a strategic manner has thwarted many well-intended researchers. Whilst the use of geographical information system (GIS) technology in mapping biodiversity, hydrology and even fire risk has been prolific, little attention has been provided to how this technology can also facilitate the collection of social data and provide a platform that allows for integrated and coherent results among disciplines. A study in a selection of parks in the Adelaide metropolitan area revealed strong support for strategies such as improving public transport, increasing use of water sensitive grass, addition of urban forests, and the establishment of community gardens. Low levels of support were associated with strategies such as allowing natural water features to dry up, increasing the amount of paved areas and seasonal closure of some parks. A prototype internet based PPGIS system with a Google map interface has been developed to enable participants to map the areas of the parks they use, how they use them and indicate whether or not they would still use them this way, if the temperature increased. They can also map those areas they feel would be most appropriate for a variety of climate mitigation strategies. The project is the first step in a larger project that will provide valuable insights into how we can optimise use of Adelaide's parks, from a variety of perspectives, including climate change, economic, biodiversity and health.
The marginalisation of people from natural areas has dominated conservation approaches in post‐co... more The marginalisation of people from natural areas has dominated conservation approaches in post‐colonial societies such as Australia. Yet the approach is limited, in part because people are also excluded from co‐managing their local environments, an effect that raises important questions about the future of conservation in a reflexive era where account must also be taken of how to manage risks such as bushfires. To address the complexity of social processes that influence conservation, new forms of co‐management between governments and community stakeholders are evolving but do not always achieve their participatory aims. In this article, discrepancies between perceptions of conservation governance and the responsibilities and activities of the South Australian Government are examined by reference to original research involving a residential survey and a follow‐up focus group discussion with local community and non‐profit environmental organisations. Findings suggest that local environmental groups are knowledge‐rich and strong relationships exist between local conservation actors and government officers, but those partnerships receive only limited support. In addition, opportunities for co‐management between government and non‐governmental environmental organisations are hindered by insufficient acknowledgement within government of the importance of unique, actionable local knowledge; an inability to effectively coordinate activities across and between government and non‐government actors; and an unwillingness to engage with stakeholders in a manner that develops and maintains trust.
ABSTRACT Major fires on the periphery of Australian cities are reframing perceptions of what cons... more ABSTRACT Major fires on the periphery of Australian cities are reframing perceptions of what constitutes effective landscape planning and vegetation management. The emerging governance challenge to simultaneously mitigate wildfire risk and support improved conservation practices is reviewed in the context of pre-colonial and modern cultures within the peri-urban Mediterranean climatic region of South Australia's Mt Lofty Ranges. The analysis suggests that anthropogenic burning of landscape has been a vital historical component of risk management. During the early modern era however, improved capacities to manage wildfire risk led to complacency in light of the hazard, which in turn has led to urbanization that has not sufficiently accounted for the levels of risk. A planning conflict is emerging within the wooded uplands as there is renewed interest in wildfire risk, which is reflected in new state policies providing greater allowances for land owners to clear vegetation around dwellings. Although attempts have been made to constrain urban growth around the city of Adelaide, recent workshops with key environmental management stakeholders suggest that urbanization continues within the Mt Lofty Ranges in areas that are both highly vulnerable to fire and of great importance for biodiversity conservation, such that planning is not reflecting the cultures of risk or biodiversity value. For such risks and values to be taken into account within reflexive systems of governance, the narratives on opportunities for adaptation generated by the people who facilitate vegetation management must be accommodated into deliberations on policy. The identification and planning of particularly vulnerable and valuable spaces within the broader landscape and cultural contexts of risk and value would enable complex, targeted responses to environmental hazards, conservation and development needs in the peri-urban uplands.
Journal of Educational Computing Research, Feb 9, 2022
A problem-based immersive virtual environment (IVE) about bushfire safety was developed as a lear... more A problem-based immersive virtual environment (IVE) about bushfire safety was developed as a learning tool for children aged 10–12. Its effectiveness was assessed in relation to children’s ability to determine how to be safer in a bushfire incident. A series of experiential activities were developed in the IVE with digital storytelling and two-stage embedded assessments providing children with an opportunity to engage with tasks and solve problems while receiving feedback on their performance. Changes from pre- to postsurvey results showed positive learning outcomes as evidenced by significant improvements in children’s knowledge of bushfire safety and confidence in their ability to contribute to decisions during a bushfire incident. The significant change in children’s knowledge as well as their performance at two-stage embedded assessments was independent of their gender, background knowledge and perceived ability in responding to bushfire hazards. This suggests that when appropriately designed and implemented within educational settings, immersive virtual learning tools can effectively engage children and enhance learning outcomes associated with bushfire safety. The paper also argues that such immersive problem-based learning can improve self-efficacy amongst children in relation to coping with a bushfire situation. Implications of the findings are also discussed.
This paper focuses on one particular risk threatening residents of peri-urban fringes across the ... more This paper focuses on one particular risk threatening residents of peri-urban fringes across the world’s Mediterranean biome, namely the risk of wildfires, termed bushfires in Australia. Communities across the Mediterranean biome (in south-east Australia, California, the Mediterranean basin and Chile) can experience destructive wildfires causing property damage and, in some cases, loss of life, but especially in peri-urban fringes. In such locales housing is often located close to areas of forest in both natural and semi-natural environments. In recent years impacts have been especially severe in Portugal, the south of France, Victoria (Australia) and California. For example, over the last thirty years, 353 people have died due to wildfires in southern Australia and all southern Australian states have experienced serious fires this century, most destructively in Victoria in 2009 and 2003. Yet, while the peri-urban fringes of many towns and cities across the Mediterranean biome are extremely vulnerable to wildfires, they are simultaneously highly attractive places to live and work. Hence, the fringes can represent a growing and profound ‘risk environment’ in which wildfires constitute a ‘manufactured risk’ in that they are related to a high level of human agency both in the production and mitigation of the risk.Guy M. Robinson, Douglas K. Bardsley, Delene Weber and Emily Moskw
Climate change provides a wonderful example of the need for transdisciplinary research. However, ... more Climate change provides a wonderful example of the need for transdisciplinary research. However, the difficulties of bringing various partners together to contribute to climate change research in a strategic manner has thwarted many well-intended researchers. Whilst the use of geographical information system (GIS) technology in mapping biodiversity, hydrology and even fire risk has been prolific, little attention has been provided to how this technology can also facilitate the collection of social data and provide a platform that allows for integrated and coherent results among disciplines. A study in a selection of parks in the Adelaide metropolitan area revealed strong support for strategies such as improving public transport, increasing use of water sensitive grass, addition of urban forests, and the establishment of community gardens. Low levels of support were associated with strategies such as allowing natural water features to dry up, increasing the amount of paved areas and seasonal closure of some parks. A prototype internet based PPGIS system with a Google map interface has been developed to enable participants to map the areas of the parks they use, how they use them and indicate whether or not they would still use them this way, if the temperature increased. They can also map those areas they feel would be most appropriate for a variety of climate mitigation strategies. The project is the first step in a larger project that will provide valuable insights into how we can optimise use of Adelaide's parks, from a variety of perspectives, including climate change, economic, biodiversity and health.
The marginalisation of people from natural areas has dominated conservation approaches in post‐co... more The marginalisation of people from natural areas has dominated conservation approaches in post‐colonial societies such as Australia. Yet the approach is limited, in part because people are also excluded from co‐managing their local environments, an effect that raises important questions about the future of conservation in a reflexive era where account must also be taken of how to manage risks such as bushfires. To address the complexity of social processes that influence conservation, new forms of co‐management between governments and community stakeholders are evolving but do not always achieve their participatory aims. In this article, discrepancies between perceptions of conservation governance and the responsibilities and activities of the South Australian Government are examined by reference to original research involving a residential survey and a follow‐up focus group discussion with local community and non‐profit environmental organisations. Findings suggest that local environmental groups are knowledge‐rich and strong relationships exist between local conservation actors and government officers, but those partnerships receive only limited support. In addition, opportunities for co‐management between government and non‐governmental environmental organisations are hindered by insufficient acknowledgement within government of the importance of unique, actionable local knowledge; an inability to effectively coordinate activities across and between government and non‐government actors; and an unwillingness to engage with stakeholders in a manner that develops and maintains trust.
ABSTRACT Major fires on the periphery of Australian cities are reframing perceptions of what cons... more ABSTRACT Major fires on the periphery of Australian cities are reframing perceptions of what constitutes effective landscape planning and vegetation management. The emerging governance challenge to simultaneously mitigate wildfire risk and support improved conservation practices is reviewed in the context of pre-colonial and modern cultures within the peri-urban Mediterranean climatic region of South Australia's Mt Lofty Ranges. The analysis suggests that anthropogenic burning of landscape has been a vital historical component of risk management. During the early modern era however, improved capacities to manage wildfire risk led to complacency in light of the hazard, which in turn has led to urbanization that has not sufficiently accounted for the levels of risk. A planning conflict is emerging within the wooded uplands as there is renewed interest in wildfire risk, which is reflected in new state policies providing greater allowances for land owners to clear vegetation around dwellings. Although attempts have been made to constrain urban growth around the city of Adelaide, recent workshops with key environmental management stakeholders suggest that urbanization continues within the Mt Lofty Ranges in areas that are both highly vulnerable to fire and of great importance for biodiversity conservation, such that planning is not reflecting the cultures of risk or biodiversity value. For such risks and values to be taken into account within reflexive systems of governance, the narratives on opportunities for adaptation generated by the people who facilitate vegetation management must be accommodated into deliberations on policy. The identification and planning of particularly vulnerable and valuable spaces within the broader landscape and cultural contexts of risk and value would enable complex, targeted responses to environmental hazards, conservation and development needs in the peri-urban uplands.
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Papers by Delene Weber