Building Australia through citizen science

BACKGROUND Citizen science brings scientists and the wider community together to work on important scientific projects. It has played a central and celebrated role in the advancement of global knowledge. From amateur astronomers tracking the transit of Venus in 1874 to the Audubon Society’s 114 year-old Christmas Bird Count, people with a passion for science have worked alongside scientists for the benefit of the community. Today, more than 130,000 Australians are active in over 90 citizen science projects, predominantly in environmental science fields. Many kinds of organisations are also involved, including universities, all levels of government, schools, industry groups, community groups and museums

Futures in primary science education – connecting students to place and ecojustice

After providing a background to futures thinking in science, and exploring the literature around transdisciplinary approaches to curriculum, we present a futures pedagogy. We detail case studies from a year-long professional learning action research project during which primary school teachers developed curriculum for the Anthropocene, focusing on the topic of fresh water. Why fresh water? Living in South Australia—the driest state in the driest continent—water is a scarce and precious resource, and our main water supply, the River Murray, is in trouble. Water is an integral part of Earth’s ecosystem and plays a vital role in our survival (Flannery, 2010; Laszlo, 2014). Water literacy therefore has a genuine and important place in the school curriculum.Working with teachers and their students, the Water Literacies Project provided an ideal opportunity to explore a range of pedagogical approaches and practices which connect students to their everyday world, both now and in their possible futures, through place-based learning. We describe the use of futures scenario writing in an issues-based transdisciplinary curriculum unit on the theme of Water, driven by Year 5 teachers and their students from three primary schools: two located on the River Murray and one near metropolitan Adelaide. All three schools focused on a local wetland. The research was informed by teacher interviews, student and teacher journals, student work samples, and teacher presentations at workshops and conferences. We report on two aspects of the project: (1) the implementation of futures pedagogy, including the challenges it presented to the teachers and their students and (2) an emerging analysis of students’ views of the future and implications for further work around the futures pedagogical framework. Personal stories in relation to water, prior knowledge on the nature of water, experiential excursions to learn about water ecology and stories that examine the cultural significance of water—locally and not so locally—are featured (Lloyd, 2011; Paige & Lloyd, 2016). The outcome of our project is the development of comprehensive adventurous transdisciplinary units of work around water and connection to local place

Typically Diverse: The Nature of Urban Agriculture in South Australia

In our visions of the future, urban agriculture has long been considered an integral part of the ‘sustainable city’. Yet urban agriculture is an incredibly diverse and variable field of study, and many practical aspects remain overlooked and understudied. This paper explores the economic sustainability of urban agriculture by focusing on the physical, practical, and economic aspects of home food gardens in South Australia. New data from the Edible Gardens project online survey is presented on a broad range of current garden setups, including a figure illustrating the statistically typical South Australian food garden. The differences between the survey data and a recent optimized garden model further highlight the gap in knowledge regarding existing home food gardens. With regard to the financial accessibility and economic sustainability of home food gardens, there is also still much more work to be done. Although saving money is a top motivation, with many survey respondents believing that they do succeed in saving money, it remains to be seen whether their current gardening practices support this aspiration. Measurement of the full costs of different gardens would allow for better predictions of whether growing food can save household’s money and under what circumstances

Management of Pet Cats: The Impact of the Cat Tracker Citizen Science Project in South Australia

Domestic cats (Felis catus) are popular pets worldwide and play an important role in the lives of many of their owners; however, there is growing awareness of the potential negative impacts of cats. Accordingly, there is increasing interest in pet cat management, including changing the attitudes and behaviours of cat owners. The Cat Tracker citizen science project was conducted in South Australia to better understand domestic cats, their movement, and related community views. The project was deliberately designed to engage cat owners and assist them to make informed decisions about the management of their pet cats. The project collected data through an online social survey (n = 3192) and GPS tracking of pet cats (n = 428), conducted between February 2015 and September 2016. A public report was published in February 2017 and an evaluation survey (n = 410) was conducted between March and May 2017. This study evaluates the project and examines its impact on participant knowledge, attitude, and behaviour. We found that participation in the tracking activity had a statistically significant influence on participant-reported learning. For participant cat owners, we recorded statistically significant increases in the level of importance placed on containing cats (both during the day and at night). Participants reported that they changed their behaviour with existing pet cats and reported intentions to change behaviour with future pet cats. We discuss impacts beyond what we set out to measure, including impacts on project onlookers, profound impacts on participants, and how the rebound effect (which can generate negative impacts) may be avoided. We describe social science applied to citizen science and advocate for further research in this area to understand how projects can drive positive changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours

Water Use Efficiency in Urban Food Gardens: Insights from a Systematic Review and Case Study

Water use and the cost of water are key factors when considering the net value of urban agriculture (UA). This systematic review critically evaluates past and recent UA yield research from the perspective of water use efficiency. A systematic literature search was conducted using the databases Scopus, ProQuest Agriculture and Environment, and Web of Science for references from 1975 to 2018, with 25 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Of these, only five articles had actively collected UA water use data, all on purpose-built experimental gardens. Considering the scarcity of UA water use efficiency and water measurement literature, South Australia is presented as a case study to demonstrate the considerable diversity of water pricing, water sources and irrigation methods available to urban food growers. The practical challenges of garden placement and the wide variety of cultivation techniques, water sources and irrigation methods are reviewed. Four equations to calculate the water use efficiency (WUE) of UA are proposed and demonstrated. Collection of additional UA water use data would support more robust evaluations of the water use efficiency and economic implications of different cultivation techniques. Further work in this field will enable a realistic understanding of the current and future contribution of UA to our society

Productivity, resource efficiency and financial savings: An investigation of the current capabilities and potential of South Australian home food gardens.

As the dominant form of urban agriculture (UA) in Australia, existing home food gardens potentially represent a significant resource in the context of future urban food security and sustainability. However, a severe lack of in-field data has hindered our understanding of the form and function of home food gardens which in turn may hinder innovation and improvement. We investigated the productivity, resource efficiency and potential financial savings of home food gardens in South Australia. A group of 34 citizen science participants measured and recorded inputs and outputs from their gardens. Inputs included time spent on various gardening activities, financial costs, and water use. Outputs included crop yields, from which retail value and nutritional content were then derived. The paper outlines a field-demonstrated, comprehensive methodology for continued and consistent data collection for all forms of UA. We found smaller gardens to be more intensive than larger gardens, requiring higher inputs, but also returning higher outputs per unit area. Both productivity and resource efficiency varied among the gardens, and labour requirements were significantly lower than previously estimated. Water use efficiency of the gardens were calculated and found to have comparable water use efficiency to commercial horticulture. Of the gardens involved, we calculated that 65% should break even in five or less years and save money. After applying a minimum wage almost one in five gardens were financially viable. The results represent the most comprehensive measurements on home food gardens to date, and allow practical, evidence-based recommendations for diversification, time saving and smart irrigation practices to improve garden productivity and enhance the viability of UA

Beyond Productivity: Considering the Health, Social Value and Happiness of Home and Community Food Gardens

We are living in an age of concern for mental health and wellbeing. The objective of the research presented in this paper is to investigate the perceived health, social value and happiness benefits of urban agriculture (UA) by focusing on home and community food gardens in South Australia. The results reported in this paper are from “Edible Gardens”, a citizen science project designed to investigate the social value, productivity and resource efficiency of UA in South Australia. Methods include an online survey and in-field garden data collection. Key findings include: dominant home gardener motivations were the produce, enjoyment, and health, while dominant community gardener motivations were enjoyment, connection to others and the produce. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four key factors: Tranquillity and Timeout, Develop and Learn Skills, the Produce, and Social Connection. The key difference between home and community gardeners was an overall social connection. Although home gardeners did not appear to actively value or desire inter-household social connection, this does not mean they do not value or participate in other avenues of social connection, such as via social learning sources or by sharing food with others. The combined results from this research regarding health and wellbeing, social connection and happiness support the premise that engagement in home or community food gardening may provide a preventative or supportive role for gardener health and wellbeing, regardless of whether it is a conscious motivation for participation