Co-creating The Learning and Teaching Journey with Postgraduate Research Students Who Teach

Post-graduate research students (PGRs) often have teaching roles during their studies with little formal training or support (Lueddeke, 1997). Previous support at Edinburgh Napier University consisted of voluntary, unpaid on-campus Learning and Teaching (L&T) training over three days (pre-pandemic). During lock-down, this course transitioned online to a voluntary 3.5-hour workshop and a follow-up Moodle course.To have a student-centred approach (Pedersen & Liu, 2003; Hannafin & Hannafin, 2010) and understand the needs and wants of PGRs who teach, we aimed to co-create with students (Cook-Sather, Bovill & Felten, 2014) effective PGR support and evaluate its impact.Students were employed as partners (Matthews 2018; Dollinger et al. 2022) to assess support needs and explore options available for PGRs at 11 other UK Universities. Based on the assessment findings, a new programme was co-designed between the student-partners and L&T academics: three 1-hour online workshops and three corresponding peer-led discussion sessions. The student-partners also created a Microsoft Teams workspace for students to build community: sharing their own L&T experiences, practice, and engagement with relevant theories.These findings support our plans for upcoming mandatory and paid introductory teaching workshops, as a foundation for this longitudinal development of peer-relations and practice. This new structure and format has cultivated a community of practice constructed by students, for students (Wilson, Wilson & Witthaus, 2020).An autoethnographic approach has been taken with the student interns and lecturers as both researchers and participants (Wall, 2008; Méndez, 2013; Cooper & Lilyea, 2022), by means of writing a narrative based on self-reflection on the process. This will be analysed by thematic coding (Gibbs, 2008) to discuss the experiences, thematic ideas, emotive language, and feelings expressed by students interns and lecturers in this co-creation journey

Integrating Blue: How do we make Nationally Determined Contributions work for both blue carbon and local coastal communities?

Blue Carbon Ecosystems (BCEs) help mitigate and adapt to climate change but their integration into policy, such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), remains underdeveloped. Most BCE conservation requires community engagement, hence community-scale projects must be nested within the implementation of NDCs without compromising livelihoods or social justice. Thirty-three experts, drawn from academia, project development and policy, each developed ten key questions for consideration on how to achieve this. These questions were distilled into ten themes, ranked in order of importance, giving three broad categories of people, policy & finance, and science & technology. Critical considerations for success include the need for genuine participation by communities, inclusive project governance, integration of local work into national policies and practices, sustaining livelihoods and income (for example through the voluntary carbon market and/or national Payment for Ecosystem Services and other types of financial compensation schemes) and simplification of carbon accounting and verification methodologies to lower barriers to entry

Investigating the Social-ecological Trade-offs Between Removing and Preserving Mangroves in New Zealand

How we perceive and interact with the natural world will govern our future in times of great environmental change. In New Zealand, the indigenous mangrove species Avicennia marina (subsp.) australasica has expanded within estuaries in the North Island at a rapid rate over the past few decades. This has led to polarity in public perceptions and attitudes towards mangrove preservation and removal. Although protected, removal of large areas of mangroves has occurred and continues to take place. This thesis investigates the social-ecological trade-offs between removing and preserving mangroves in New Zealand. The research approach employs a mixed methods Holistic Mangrove Framework, which explores gaps in the social-ecological monitoring of mangroves both nationwide and specifically at four sites of removal in the Manukau Harbour, Auckland. Chapter two’s review of the literature on mangrove social-ecology showed that prominent knowledge gaps remain in ecological monitoring of mammals, reptiles, insects and spiders, which is also true globally. In a social context, little is known about the cultural value of mangroves (manawa) to Māori or the intrinsic value of this ecosystem. Chapter three showed the creation of a novel framework to investigate the creeping environmental problem of mangrove expansion in New Zealand. This framework has the capacity to be applied to any social-ecological system for a holistic understanding of interactions between humans and nature. Chapter five’s integrated biodiversity assessments revealed that there is much heterogeneity in habitat complexity, species richness and abundance among sites. The study site adjacent to the largest mangrove removal area possesses the greatest abundance of bird species, and richness and abundance of arboreal arthropods compared to all other study sites. This highlights that a site- by-site management approach is required and generalisations about the i habitat value of mangroves for wildlife cannot be made in the New Zealand context. Chapter six’s exploration into perceptions and attitudes towards mangrove preservation and removal revealed significant disparity in attitude between community groups and conservation organisations. Sediment and nutrient retention properties of mangroves are the highest rated ecosystem services. The desire for reversion of estuaries to a pre-urban state is the greatest issue affecting mangroves. Iwi recommend monitoring of water quality and contaminants in mangrove soils. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended to look beyond mangroves as an ecosystem which has expanded and replaced other adjacent habitats and start thinking about managing our coastal landscapes in a holistic manner. Embracing connectivity and complexity of coastal landscapes and addressing wider land-based issues of sedimentation and nutrient run-off is a necessity. It is advisable for us to work with and be part of our natural environment in order to create a more sustainable future in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is true for interactions with social-ecological systems globally. This study has added to baseline data on social and ecological information on New Zealand’s mangroves and contributes to the international body of work on this coastal ecosystem using a mixed methods approach

Muddied Waters: Perceptions and Attitudes towards Mangroves and Their Removal in New Zealand

Seaward expansion of New Zealand’s mangrove Avicennia marina (subsp.) australasica in estuaries has led to disparity in opinion over their social-ecological value. This study investigated existing stakeholders and interested parties’ perceptions and attitudes towards mangroves, focusing on four sites in Auckland. A mixed methods design was used consisting of semi-structured interviews, ratings of importance of mangrove ecosystem services and issues and Q-sorts on mangrove social-ecological statements. 29 participants were interviewed in person. Results revealed a disparity in perceptions and attitudes towards mangroves. Community Groups displayed strongly negative opinions towards mangrove preservation and Conservation Organisations expressed a strongly positive stance. The occupation of participants was a significant factor in the ratings. Overall, sediment and nutrient retention were rated as the most important ecosystem services. The desire for reversion of estuaries to a “pre-mangrove” state is the greatest issue affecting mangroves. Q-analysis revealed loading of participants onto two factors representing (1) a pro-preservation attitude towards mangrove and (2) a neutral view. Managing sediment loads and nutrient run-off in the wider catchment were highlighted as ways to reduce mangrove expansion. Improving water quality and the health of the harbour was of utmost priority to kaitiaki (Māori guardians of the environment). This study provides critical insights into the management of mangroves as social-ecological systems

A Review on Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, and Perceptions of New Zealand’s Mangroves: Can We Make Informed Decisions about Their Removal?

Mangrove cover is increasing in estuaries and harbours in many areas on North Island, New Zealand. The expansion of mangroves has been attributed to anthropogenic land-use change, including urbanisation and conversion of land to agriculture. Rapid expansion of mangroves in the coastal landscape has created discord in local communities over their importance in terms of the services they deliver to both wildlife and people. Some community groups have been advocates for the large-scale removal of mangrove habitat, whilst other local residents oppose this removal. This review paper investigated and discussed pertinent biodiversity and ecosystem services studies based in New Zealand mangroves from 1950 to 2017. Results showed that the majority of biodiversity studies have targeted particular species or groups of organisms, with a focus on benthic invertebrate communities. Deficits remain in our knowledge of this expanding forest and shrub ecosystem, notably the terrestrial component of biodiversity, species community-shifts with landscape fragmentation, and associated cultural values. It is recommended that broader species assessments and a longer-term approach be applied to biodiversity monitoring in mangroves, coupled with Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and western science for holistic management of this coastal ecosystem