Sustainability into the engineering curriculum

Higher education institutions have made some progress towards Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD). There is however a ‘time lag dilemma’ facing engineering educators, where the pace of traditional curriculum renewal may not be sufficient to keep up with potential market,regulatory and institutional shifts.

Engaging decision makers in the business case for biophilic urbanism

The cognitive benefits of biophilia have been studied quite extensively, dating as far back as the 1980s, while studies into economic benefits are still in their infancy. Recent research has attempted to quantify a number of economic returns on biophilic elements; however knowledge in this field is still ad hoc and highly variable. Many studies acknowledge difficulties in discerning information such as certain social and aesthetic benefits. While conceptual understanding of the physiological and psychological effects of exposure to nature is widely recognised and understood, this has not yet been systematically translated into monetary terms. It is clear from the literature that further research is needed to both obtain data on the economics of biophilic urbanism, and to create the business case for biophilic urbanism. With this in mind, this paper will briefly highlight biophilic urbanism referencing previous work in the field. It will then explore a number of emergent gaps in the measurable economic understanding of these elements and suggest opportunities for engaging decision makers in the business case for biophilic urbanism. The paper concludes with recommendations for moving forward through targeted research and economic analysis.

You're hot, then you're cold: Creative industries policy making in Australia

Much compelling evidence has emerged over the last two decades demonstrating the importance of Australia’s creative industries. In 2014, the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed that culture is ‘big business’ in this country. Yet despite this, interest by policy makers at all levels of government has been intermittent, at best. This chapter gives a brief history of policy development, and offers a number of reasons for why policy and politics have not focussed more resolutely on Australia’s creative economy. It finishes with a discussion of Australia’s ‘unfinished agenda’, one which demands attention not only by government, but also industry and higher education, if we are to properly meet both the challenges and opportunities before us.

Capacity building of early career researchers through cross-institutional mentoring

Most early career researchers in the first five years following doctoral qualification are faced with research challenges and opportunities, which necessitate the ability to navigate and overcome barriers, and to identify and benefit from possibilities. In this chapter, the authors outline an intentional mentoring initiative aimed at building the capacity of early career researchers within the Excellence in Research in Early Years Education Collaborative Research Network (CRN) in Australia. The initiative involved partnering early career researchers with experienced researchers and the inclusion of an early career representative on the network planning committee. The chapter discusses the many benefits for the mentee arising from the initiative including increased publication, momentum and confidence, as well as exposure to new methodologies, theoretical frameworks, and productive collaborative partnerships. It is hoped, however, that the findings will be of relevance to similar and diverse (funded/unfunded) research programs and collaborative networks wherever mentoring is applied as a capacity building strategy to assist researchers.

Evaluating China’s aspirations for cultural soft power in a post-globalisation era

‘Soft power’ has been a concept that has generated great political and scholarly interest in China, as it raises the question of how to achieve cultural standing commensurate with the nation’s growing economic significance. But from the perspectives of communication and cultural studies, we can identify limits with both ‘soft power’ as a concept and how it understands culture and communication, and the assumptions made about the capacities of state cultural promotion through media to appeal to global audiences. Drawing upon case studies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Japan and South Korea, this article identified challenges and opportunities for China in growing its international cultural soft power in a ‘post-globalisation’ era.

Dancing into the second phase of creative industries

As we enter the second phase of creative industries there is a shift away from the early 1990s ideology of the arts as a creative content provider for the wealth generating ‘knowledge’ economy to an expanded rhetoric encompassing ‘cultural capital’ and its symbolic value. A renewed focus on culture is examined through a regional scan of creative industries in which social engineering of the arts occurs through policy imperatives driven by ‘profit oriented conceptualisations of culture’ (Hornidge 2011, p. 263) In the push for artists to become ‘culturpreneurs’ a trend has emerged where demand for ‘embedded creatives’ (Cunningham 2013) sees an exodus from arts-based employment through use of transferable skills into areas outside the arts. For those that stay, within the performing arts in particular, employment remains project-based, sporadic, underpaid, self-initiated and often self-financed, requiring adaptive career paths. Artist entrepreneurs must balance creation and performance of their art with increasing amounts of time spent on branding, compliance, fundraising and the logistical and commercial requirements of operating in a CI paradigm. The artists’ key challenge thus becomes one of aligning core creative and aesthetic values with market and business considerations. There is also the perceived threat posed by the ‘prosumer’ phenomenon (Bruns 2008), in which digital on-line products are created and produced by those formerly seen as consumers of art or audiences for art. Despite negative aspects to this scenario, a recent study (Steiner & Schneider 2013) reveals that artists are happier and more satisfied than other workers within and outside the creative industries. A lively hybridisation of creative practice is occurring through mobile and interactive technologies with dynamic connections to social media. Continued growth in arts festivals attracts participation in international and transdisciplinary collaborations, whilst cross-sectoral partnerships provide artists with opportunities beyond a socio-cultural setting into business, health, science and education. This is occurring alongside a renewed engagement with place through the rise of cultural precincts in ‘creative cities’ (Florida 2008, Landry 2000), providing revitalised spaces for artists to gather and work. Finally, a reconsideration of the specialist attributes and transferable skills that artists bring to the creative industries suggests ways to dance through both the challenges and opportunities occasioned by the current complexities of arts’ practices.

Commonwealth government agency libraries review: Literature review

Ongoing financial, administrative, and technological changes present significant challenges and opportunities for government libraries in delivering services to their clients. Determining how government library and information services might best confront these challenges and take advantage of new opportunities is crucial for the future of the sector. The Australian Government Libraries Information Network (AGLIN) has commissioned a review of service delivery models in Commonwealth Government libraries. As an initial step in the project, a literature review was undertaken in order to consider the issues which impact directly on government library service provision today. The literature review builds on and updates the review prepared for the Queensland Government Agency Libraries Review (QGALR) five years ago.