"Who Are You" by DeepBlue Orchestra - Artistic Producer of Show

The production of a two hour show "Who Are You" which which began touring Australia and Asia in 2012.

Circle Stories

Research background: Circle Stories was a live performance curated by Brydie-Leigh Bartleet, Naomi Sunderland, Gavin Carfoot and the Winanjjikari Music Centre as part of the Desert Harmony Festival 2013. The performance was the culmination of five years of research into intercultural performing arts practice, undertaken in partnership with Barkly Regional Arts. This work has built on existing scholarly work in community service learning by Marilynne Boyle-Baise, approaches to intercultural music making with Australian First Peoples by Karl Neuenfeldt, and studies of Indigenous popular music by Peter Dunbar-Hall and Chris Gibson. The performance followed the popular songwriters’ circle approach, in which Aboriginal musicians and elders presented their songs along with tertiary music students, as part of a broader dialogue with each other and the audience. Each performance provided an opportunity to highlight the importance of music in the development of intercultural knowledge and understanding. The project asked the research question, how can collaborative music performance foster mutual learning, intercultural knowledge and reconciliation? Research contribution: The project development and performance of Circle Stories identified that mutual learning and intercultural knowledge can result most effectively through long-term and meaningful relationships underpinning collaborative creative practice. Research significance: Following a general call for proposals, the performance was peer reviewed and selected for inclusion in the Desert Harmony Festival program. The research context of the work is detailed in Brydie-Leigh Bartleet and Gavin Carfoot 2013. "Desert harmony: Stories of collaboration between Indigenous musicians and university students." International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives 12 (1): 180-196.

ÉLET [LIFE]

Élet [pronounced air-let] is the Hungarian word for Life. The work is informed by the lyrics of six songs performed by French cover band Nouvelle Vague. Whilst Élet [Life] is created to be absorbed and interpreted openly by each individual, at the core of the choreography lies a desire to move forwards, to communicate – to be seen and heard. The work embraces aspects such as loneliness, joy and tension that we experience in our lives and relationships. As the movement opens out from these ideas, the physical shapes of our personal moments are infused with the elements of sound, colour and rhythm. A rich translation of personal movements through life.

Dance to Gardot

The sublimely cool and mouldering elegance of Melody Gardot’s songs is the inspiration and driving force of DANCE TO GARDOT. This work, in 11 sketches, echoes the sultry moods and yearning sensations of Gardot’s tunes - intimations of suffering and resolve. A classic jazz chanteuse, Gardot’s rich-toned voice along with luscious orchestrations, provide a stylish sonic expression of the place were music meets life.

The impact of a congestion charging exemption on the demand for new low‐emission vehicles

Numerous initiatives have been employed around the world in order to address rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions originating from the transport sector. These measures include: travel demand management (congestion‐charging), increased fuel taxes, alternative fuel subsidies and low‐emission vehicle (LEV) rebates. Incentivizing the purchase of LEVs has been one of the more prevalent approaches in attempting to tackle this global issue. LEVs, whilst having the advantage of lower emissions and, in some cases, more efficient fuel consumption, also bring the downsides of increased purchase cost, reduced convenience of vehicle fuelling, and operational uncertainty. To stimulate demand in the face of these challenges, various incentive‐based policies, such as toll exemptions, have been used by national and local governments to encourage the purchase of these types of vehicles. In order to address rising GHG emissions in Stockholm, and in line with the Swedish Government’s ambition to operate a fossil free fleet by 2030, a number of policies were implemented targeting the transport sector. Foremost amongst these was the combination of a congestion charge – initiated to discourage emissions‐intensive travel – and an exemption from this charge for some LEVs, established to encourage a transition towards a ‘green’ vehicle fleet. Although both policies shared the aim of reducing GHG emissions, the exemption for LEVs carried the risk of diminishing the effectiveness of the congestion charging scheme. As the number of vehicle owners choosing to transition to an eligible LEV increased, the congestion‐reduction effectiveness of the charging scheme weakened. In fact, policy makers quickly recognized this potential issue and consequently phased out the LEV exemption less than 18 months after its introduction (1). Several studies have investigated the demand for LEVs through stated‐preference (SP) surveys across multiple countries, including: Denmark (2), Germany (3, 4), UK (5), Canada (6), USA (7, 8) and Australia (9). Although each of these studies differed in approach, all involved SP surveys where differing characteristics between various types of vehicles, including LEVs, were presented to respondents and these respondents in turn made hypothetical decisions about which vehicle they would be most likely to purchase. Although these studies revealed a number of interesting findings in regards to the potential demand for LEVs, they relied on SP data. In contrast, this paper employs an approach where LEV choice is modelled by taking a retrospective view and by using revealed preference (RP) data. By examining the revealed preferences of vehicle owners in Stockholm, this study overcomes one of the principal limitations of SP data, namely that stated preferences may not in fact reflect individuals’ actual choices, such as when cost, time, and inconvenience factors are real rather than hypothetical. This paper’s RP approach involves modelling the characteristics of individuals who purchased new LEVs, whilst estimating the effect of the congestion charging exemption upon choice probabilities and subsequent aggregate demand. The paper contributes to the current literature by examining the effectiveness of a toll exemption under revealed preference conditions, and by assessing the total effect of the policy based on key indicators for policy makers, including: vehicle owner home location, commuting patterns, number of children, age, gender and income. Extended Abstract Submission for Kuhmo Nectar Conference 2014 2 The two main research questions motivating this study were:  Which individuals chose to purchase a new LEV in Stockholm in 2008?; and,  How did the congestion charging exemption affect the aggregate demand for new LEVs in Stockholm in 2008? In order to answer these research questions the analysis was split into two stages. Firstly, a multinomial logit (MNL) model was used to identify which demographic characteristics were most significantly related to the purchase of an LEV over a conventional vehicle. The three most significant variables were found to be: intra‐cordon residency (positive); commuting across the cordon (positive); and distance of residence from the cordon (negative). In order to estimate the effect of the exemption policy on vehicle purchase choice, the model included variables to control for geographic differences in preferences, based on the location of the vehicle owners’ homes and workplaces in relation to the congestion‐charging cordon boundary. These variables included one indicator representing commutes across the cordon and another indicator representing intra‐cordon residency. The effect of the exemption policy on the probability of purchasing LEVs was estimated in the second stage of the analysis by focusing on the groups of vehicle owners that were most likely to have been affected by the policy i.e. those commuting across the cordon boundary (in both directions). Given the inclusion of the indicator variable representing commutes across the cordon, it is assumed that the estimated coefficient of this variable captures the effect of the exemption policy on the utility of choosing to purchase an exempt LEV for these two groups of vehicle owners. The intra‐cordon residency indicator variable also controls for differences between the two groups, based upon direction of travel across the cordon boundary. A counter‐hypothesis to this assumption is that the coefficient of the variable representing commuting across the cordon boundary instead only captures geo‐demographic differences that lead to variations in LEV ownership across the different groups of vehicle owners in relation to the cordon boundary. In order to address this counter‐hypothesis, an additional analysis was performed on data from a city with a similar geodemographic pattern to Stockholm, Gothenburg ‐ Sweden’s second largest city. The results of this analysis provided evidence to support the argument that the coefficient of the variable representing commutes across the cordon was capturing the effect of the exemption policy. Based upon this framework, the predicted vehicle type shares were calculated using the estimated coefficients of the MNL model and compared with predicted vehicle type shares from a simulated scenario where the exemption policy was inactive. This simulated scenario was constructed by setting the coefficient for the variable representing commutes across the cordon boundary to zero for all observations to remove the utility benefit of the exemption policy. Overall, the procedure of this second stage of the analysis led to results showing that the exemption had a substantial effect upon the probability of purchasing and aggregate demand for exempt LEVs in Stockholm during 2008. By making use of unique evidence of revealed preferences of LEV owners, this study identifies the common characteristics of new LEV owners and estimates the effect of Stockholm's congestion charging exemption upon the demand for new LEVs during 2008. It was found that the variables that had the greatest effect upon the choice of purchasing an exempt LEV included intra‐cordon residency (positive), distance of home from the cordon (negative), and commuting across the cordon (positive). It was also determined that owners under the age of 30 years preferred non‐exempt LEVs (low CO2 LEVs), whilst those over the age of 30 years preferred electric vehicles. In terms of electric vehicles, it was apparent that those individuals living within the city had the highest propensity towards purchasing this vehicle type. A negative relationship between choosing an electric vehicle and the distance of an individuals’ residency from the cordon was also evident. Overall, the congestion charging exemption was found to have increased the share of exempt LEVs in Stockholm by 1.9%, with, as expected, a much stronger effect on those commuting across the boundary, with those living inside the cordon having a 13.1% increase, and those owners living outside the cordon having a 5.0% increase. This increase in demand corresponded to an additional 538 (+/‐ 93; 95% C.I.) new exempt LEVs purchased in Stockholm during 2008 (out of a total of 5 427; 9.9%). Policy makers can take note that an incentive‐based policy can increase the demand for LEVs and appears to be an appropriate approach to adopt when attempting to reduce transport emissions through encouraging a transition towards a ‘green’ vehicle fleet.

Restructuring arts and cultural funding in Tanzania : expectations and impasses

In 1984, the Tanzanian government established the Tanzania Culture Trust Fund (TCTF) – well known as ‘Mfuko’ – with the support of the Swedish government. The focus of Mfuko was to enable the arts and cultural sector to strengthen its position through grant allocations. However, rural artists have limited opportunity to access financial support to strengthen their works. The challenge remains: how to restructure arts and cultural funding in line with cutting dependence on foreign aid. This article reports on the research findings of a case study based on ‘Strategies for youth employment in Tanzania: A creative industries approach’. The study was undertaken in Dar-Es-Salaam, Bagamoyo, Dodoma, Lindi and Morogoro from July to October, 2012. This study employed mixed me thods incorporating questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. This paper argues that lack of deliberate initiatives to restructure arts and cultural funding (in line with cutting dependence on foreign assistance) have prevented artists from fulfilling their desire for better lives. Hence, the severe lack of financial support to the artists remains a challenge to meeting the Millennium Development Goals and Tanzania Development Vision 2025. Although this discussion is specific to Tanzania, the significance and contribution of this case may apply to other developing countries.

The alcohol culture of mature-aged women : similarities and differences across borders

Introduction: Relatively few attempts have been made to describe and understand women’s alcohol consumption beyond adolescence and young adulthood. In particular, there has been a lack of studies focusing on the alcohol culture that surrounds and guides mature-aged women’s drinking. As part of a larger cross-national comparison, the present study sought to address this gap by identifying the shared beliefs and values that impact on drinking outcomes among mature-aged women in Sweden and Australia. Method: The study was guided by an ethnographic methodology. To generate data, a series of semi-structured interview were conducted with 17 Australian (age = 45-57 years; M = 52.1, SD = 3.9) and 19 Swedish (age = 45-58 years; M = 52.2, SD = 4.8) women. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Results: With age, the focus of alcohol as a single purpose vehicle for intoxication had given way to a focus on the enjoyment and ritual of drinking itself; taste had become increasingly important and alcohol was strongly associated with pleasurable environments and experiences. The view of alcohol as a taste experience was particularly pronounced among the Swedish women, with alcohol (most commonly wine) often seen as inseparable from food. Among the Swedish women, this view of alcohol was also associated with a strong de-emphasis of the pharmacological effects of alcohol. In contrast, several Australian women understood and used alcohol as relief for anxiety and stress. Moderate drinking was linked to the social construction of both age and gender in the two samples, while heavy or abusive alcohol consumption was associated with strong proscriptive norms and stigma. Conclusions: Australian and Swedish women share a number of beliefs and values around alcohol, however, these findings also show unique country-level differences. Implications for drinking outcomes are discussed.

Investigating early childhood education for sustainability : insights from history and literature

Seemingly straightforward tasks often have a way of becoming complex. This was the case for our guest editorial team charged with creating Early Childhood Australia’s Best of Sustainability publication drawn from the the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood and Every Child. The complexities we encountered ranged from the varied terminologies and understandings of constructs such as education for sustainable development, environmental education and education for sustainability, through to the fundamental lack of published research on which to draw as the basis for a special issue. It is timely to explore these complexities as we face the global challenges of The Critical Decade (DCCEE, 2011) including rising sea levels, extreme weather events and food security. At a local level, the early childhood field in Australia is seeking to interpret sustainability with systemic support from the National Quality Standards(NQS) (ACECQA, 2011), while elsewhere environmental/sustainability education is encouraged through national curricula documents (for example, Singapore Ministry of Education, 2008; Swedish National Agency for Education,2010; Ministry of Education of Korea, 2011). Both The Critical Decade and the NQS provide imperatives to drive early childhood education’s engagement with sustainability. In other words, sustainability in early childhood education is no longer optional, but essential (Elliott, 2010). While some twenty years of advocacy has led to this somewhat subdued celebratory position, in this publication we do recognise the historical contexts that have led to early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS), as we (Elliott & Davis) phrase it, becoming almost ‘mainstream not marginal’ (Davis, 1999)— a stitching together of the isolated ‘patches of green’, first identified a decade ago by Elliott (NSW EPA, 2003). Here we weave together, through these articles, a story of the evolving history of ECEfS from our particular perspective. In so doing, we also acknowledge that there are other perspectives or ‘paths’ for this field as identified by Edwards and Cutter-McKenzie in their concluding paper to this compilation.

Sovereignty, song and 'The Sapphires' (Wayne Blair 2012)

With its foregrounding of the political issue of the denial of Aboriginal Australian sovereignty by British invaders in its big budget, mainstream narrative, 'The Sapphires' (Wayne Blair 2012) is shown to be another example of a "fourth formation" (Starrs 2012) in Moore and Muecke's 1985 model. Blair's feel-good movie features an all-Aboriginal Australian troupe of singers, The Sapphires, who undertake a journey of self-discovery whereby they learn the importance of choosing the protest songs of black Soul over the white coloniser's "whining" Country and Western songs and this is historically contextualised with a discussion of Aboriginal Australians and popular radio. Furthermore, this paper argues the iconic 'Welcome to Country' is twice subverted to reinforce this theme, firstly in the Cummeragunja pub and secondly in war-torn Vietnam. Finally, the prediction is made that a "fifth formation", in which seeking recognition of Aboriginal Australian sovereignty is no longer the goal because it has become the ongoing reality, will soon be the project of Australian film-makers as they celebrate this long overdue societal shift.

Sexual abuse prevention education

Child sexual abuse is a serious problem that has received increased attention in recent years. From an ecological perspective, in which social problems are viewed in the context of characteristics of individuals, families, and broader societal systems (Prilleltensky, Peirson, & Nelson, 2001), preventing child sexual abuse involves strengthening capacity to intervene at individual, family/relationship, school, and community levels. School-based education programs have been developed in efforts to prevent child sexual abuse before it happens and to provide children who may already be experiencing it with help seeking information. Use of these programs must be based on evidence rather than ideology. Evaluations of these programs have demonstrated that sexual abuse prevention education can provide children with improved knowledge and skills for responding to and reporting potential sexual abuse. However, this learning does not seem to be maintained over time which means further attention should be given to repeated learning, opportunities for concept reinforcement and integration with other topics. School-based programs typically present information to children by presenting a series of core concepts and messages which are delivered using engaging pedagogical strategies such as multi-media technologies, animations, theatre and songs, puppets, picture books, and games. This chapter will outline the key characteristics of effective child sexual abuse prevention programs, and will provide directions for future research and practice.

Human Fly

Human Fly, originally choreographed as a trio existed as one section of a larger work titled Élet [the Hungarian word for Life). Informed by the lyrics of six songs performed by French cover band Nouvelle Vague, Élet [Life] was created to be absorbed and interpreted openly by each individual. In the reworking of Human Fly I have endeavored to keep to the original intent; embracing aspects of promiscuity and seduction.

Indie 100 2013

The Independent Music Project is centred around the development and creation of new music, and includes research into copyright, business models of the future, new technologies, and new audiences. The music industry is undergoing the most radical changes it has faced in almost a century. New digital technologies have made the production, distribution, and promotion of recorded music accessible to anyone with a personal computer. People can now make high-quality digital copies of music and distribute them globally within minutes. Even bastions of the established industries, such as EMI and Columbia, are struggling to make sense of the new industry terrain. The whole employment picture has changed just as radically for people who wish to make a living from music. In Australia, many of the avenues that provided employment for musicians have either disappeared or dramatically shrunk. The advertising industry no longer provides the level of employment it used to prior to the Federal deregulation of the industry in 1992. In many places, new legislative pressures on inner-city and suburban venues have diminished the number of performance spaces that musicians can work in. Just as quickly, new sectors have opened to professional musicians: computer games, ringtones, sound-enabled toys and web advertising all present new opportunities to the enterprising musician. The opportunity to distribute music internationally without being signed to a major label is very attractive to many aspiring and established professionals. No doubt the music industry will face many more challenges as technologies continue to change, as global communication gets easier and faster, and as the challenges to copyright proliferate and change. These challenges cannot be successfully met on a single front. They require research and expertise from all sectors being affected, and this is why the independent music project (IMP) exists.

Between rocks and hard places

A travel article about the Aland Islands, Finland, that discusses the mix of Swedish, Finnish, and Russian cultural influences in the area. On the map, Finland seems to end in fragments. The gods have stomped their heels on the southwestern corner, and between the cities of Helsinki and Turku it is jagged, rocky islands that form the final landmarks...

Indie 100 2014

The Independent Music Project is centred around the development and creation of new music, and includes research into copyright, business models of the future, new technologies, and new audiences. The music industry is undergoing the most radical changes it has faced in almost a century. New digital technologies have made the production, distribution, and promotion of recorded music accessible to anyone with a personal computer. People can now make high-quality digital copies of music and distribute them globally within minutes. Even bastions of the established industries, such as EMI and Columbia, are struggling to make sense of the new industry terrain. The whole employment picture has changed just as radically for people who wish to make a living from music. In Australia, many of the avenues that provided employment for musicians have either disappeared or dramatically shrunk. The advertising industry no longer provides the level of employment it used to prior to the Federal deregulation of the industry in 1992. In many places, new legislative pressures on inner-city and suburban venues have diminished the number of performance spaces that musicians can work in. Just as quickly, new sectors have opened to professional musicians: computer games, ringtones, sound-enabled toys and web advertising all present new opportunities to the enterprising musician. The opportunity to distribute music internationally without being signed to a major label is very attractive to many aspiring and established professionals. No doubt the music industry will face many more challenges as technologies continue to change, as global communication gets easier and faster, and as the challenges to copyright proliferate and change. These challenges cannot be successfully met on a single front. They require research and expertise from all sectors being affected, and this is why the independent music project (IMP) exists.

Sweden of the Sagas

In this paper, I discuss the representation of Sweden and Swedes in the Íslendingasögur, with an emphasis on identifying patterns across the works, both in terms of narrative structure and content. The aim in doing so is to shed light on modes of representing non-Icelanders in the Íslendingasögur, as well as on medieval Icelandic conceptions of Sweden as a distinct region within Scandinavia. I also aim here to add to a longer-term project that examines the place of foreign visitors to Iceland in the saga corpus more generally. As the scope of this paper is limited to Swedish characters, I am cautious about drawing broad conclusions about their representation – observations given here will need to be framed by a wider study, and one that reads for the characterisation of Swedes in the context both of other genres of saga literature and representations of characters from other regions beside Sweden. However, it is clear that some similarities exist in saga episodes involving Swedish characters: in four of the Íslendingasögur, Swedes are given roles as intruders or outsiders who threaten the community of the saga and whose deaths bring about a change in the for- tunes of their killers.