Building communities through co-creative storytelling : sound walking in New England

The Story Project is a small, not-for-profit community media arts company based on the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It specialises in facilitating first-person storytelling. Since 2012 The Story Project has been collaborating with a small community arts organisation based in northern NSW, Uralla Arts, to record local heritage in first-person story form and to curate and present it ways that will appeal to new generations of listeners. The initial collaboration was funded by a Federal government Community Heritage program. The project successfully adapted a participatory method of life storytelling to this regional context and some 40 stories were contributed to a collection. A more ambitious suite of projects to develop soundwalks in a number of towns across the New England region has since grown from this initial collaboration. The soundwalks seek to combine local creative works in oral story, music and visual forms, and make them accessible through an application that can be downloaded to GPS-enabled mobile devices. While soundwalks are not new, the needs and challenges of creative community-building that New England soundwalks attempt to solve in this regional setting hold value for a broader range of interests than just those of the immediate project stakeholders. This paper reports on a research collaboration between The Story Project and QUT researchers that looked at The Story Project’s engagement with Uralla Arts and other New England community-based networks and organisations. It considers how this instance of story-centred, participatory media arts practice contributes to building population-wide capacity for creative expression.

Effect of biochar amendment on the soil-atmosphere exchange of greenhouse gases from an intensive subtropical pasture in northern New South Wales, Australia

We assessed the effect of biochar incorporation into the soil on the soil-atmosphere exchange of the greenhouse gases (GHG) from an intensive subtropical pasture. For this, we measured N2O, CH4 and CO2 emissions with high temporal resolution from April to June 2009 in an existing factorial experiment where cattle feedlot biochar had been applied at 10 t ha-1 in November 2006. Over the whole measurement period, significant emissions of N2O and CO2 were observed, whereas a net uptake of CH4 was measured. N2O emissions were found to be highly episodic with one major emission pulse (up to 502 µg N2O-N m-2 h 1) following heavy rainfall. There was no significant difference in the net flux of GHGs from the biochar amended vs. the control plots. Our results demonstrate that intensively managed subtropical pastures on ferrosols in northern New South Wales of Australia can be a significant source of GHG. Our hypothesis that the application of biochar would lead to a reduction in emissions of GHG from soils was not supported in this field assessment. Additional studies with longer observation periods are needed to clarify the long term effect of biochar amendment on soil microbial processes and the emission of GHGs under field conditions.

Southern New England Social and Community Plan 2009 - Covering Local Government Authorities: Armidale Dumaresq, Guyra, Uralla and Walcha

The Southern New England (SNE) Social and Community Plan is a guide to collaborative, integrated planning involving the three spheres of government, the community and commercial sectors. The Plan is based on social justice principles such as: • Equity - fairness in resource distribution, particularly for those most in need • Access - fairer access for everyone to the economic resources and services essential to meeting their basic needs and improving their quality of life • Rights - recognition and promotion of civil rights • Participation - better opportunities for genuine participation and consultation about decisions affecting people's lives. The Plan is also aimed at improving the accountability of decision-makers, and should help the councils, in conjunction with their communities meet the state government's social justice commitments. Preparation of a social and community plan is required at least every five years, and as with most councils, Armidale Dumaresq Council (ADC) has produced two already, one in 1999 and one in 2004, following the amalgamation of the former Armidale City and Dumaresq Shire Councils in 2000. Those Councils formerly prepared their own Plans in 1999, based on shared consultancy work on a community profile. This is the first joint Southern New England Plan, featuring Armidale Dumaresq, Walcha, Uralla and Guyra Councils. This Social Plan has aimed to identify and address the needs of the local community by: • describing who makes up the community • summarising key priority issues • assessing the effectiveness of any previous plans • recommending strategic ways for council and other government and non-government agencies to met community needs.

New England Youth Speeding Project: A pilot study of young drivers and risky driving: Effective strategies for preventing speeding amongst young Australians aged 16-25 years in the New England Region

Young Australian drivers aged 17 – 25 years are overwhelmingly represented in road fatalities where speed is a factor. In the combined LGAs of Armidale Dumaresq, Guyra, Uralla and Walcha in the 5 years 1999-2003 inclusive, 43% of speeding related casualty crashes involved a young driver aged less than 25 years. This is despite the fact that the 17-25 age group account for only 25% of the driving population in this area. Young male drivers account for the majority of these crashes and also tend to have a higher number of driving offences and accrue more penalties for road traffic offences, especially speeding. By analysing data from questionnaires by male and female participants this research project has been able to evaluate road safety advertisements to determine which ones are most effective to young drivers, what features of these advertisements are effective, how males differ from females in their receptiveness and preferences for road safety advertisements and specifically how to target young people especially young men in conveying road safety messages. Finally this research project has identified factors that are important in the production of media road safety advertisements and has made recommendations for how best to convey effective road safety messages to young Australian drivers in rural areas.

Drink driving among Indigenous people in Far North Queensland and northern New South Wales: A summary of the qualitative findings

Purpose In response to the threat that drink drivers pose to themselves and others, drink driving programs form an important part of a suite of countermeasures used in Australia and internationally. Unlike New Zealand/Aotearoa, United States and Canada that have programs catering for their First Peoples, all Australian programs are designed for the general driver population. The aim of this study was to identify the factors that contribute to Indigenous drink driving in order to inform appropriate recommendations related to developing a community-based program for Indigenous communities. Broader drivers licensing policy recommendations are also discussed. Methods A sample of 73 Indigenous people from Queensland and in New South Wales with one or more drink driving convictions completed a semi-structured interview in respect of the to their drink driving behaviour. Participants were asked to disclose information regarding their drink driving history, and alcohol and drug use. If participants self-reported no longer drink driving, they were probed about what factors had assisted them to avoid further offending. Results Key themes which emerged to maintain drink driving include motivations to drink and drive, and belief in the ability to manage the associated risks. Factors that appeared to support others from avoiding further offending include re-connecting with culture and family support. Conclusions and Implications A range of recommendations regarding delivery and content of a program for regional and remote communities as well as other policy implications are discussed.

Drink driving among indigenous people in Far North Queensland and Northern New South Wales: A summary of qualitative findings

In response to the threat that drink drivers pose to themselves and others, drink driving programs form an important part of a suite of countermeasures used in Australia and internationally. Unlike New Zealand/Aotearoa, United States and Canada that have programs catering for their First Peoples, all Australian programs are designed for the general driver population. The aim of this study was to identify the factors that contribute to Indigenous drink driving in order to inform appropriate recommendations related to developing a community-based program for Indigenous communities. Broader drivers licensing policy recommendations are also discussed. A sample of 73 Indigenous people from Queensland and in New South Wales with one or more drink driving convictions completed a semi-structured interview regarding their drink driving behaviour. Participants were asked to disclose information regarding their drink driving history, and alcohol and drug use. If participants self-reported no longer drink driving, they were probed about what factors had assisted them to avoid further offending. Key themes which emerged to maintain drink driving include motivations to drink and drive, and belief in the ability to manage the associated risks. Factors that appeared to support others from avoiding further offending include re-connecting with culture and family support. A range of recommendations regarding delivery and content of a program for regional and remote communities as well as other policy implications are discussed.

Diversity of community acquired MRSA carrying the PVL gene in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia

Emergence and dissemination of community acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) strains are being reported with increasing frequency in Australia and worldwide. These strains of CA-MRSA are genetically diverse and distinct in Australia. Genotyping of CA-MRSA using eight highly-discriminatory single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is a rapid and robust method for monitoring the dissemination of these strains in the community. In this study, a SNP genotyping method was used to investigate the molecular epidemiology of 249 community acquired non-multiresistant MRSA (nm-MRSA) isolates over a 12-month period from routine diagnostic specimens. A real-time PCR for the presence of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) was also performed on these isolates. The CA-MRSA isolates were sourced from a large private laboratory in Brisbane, Australia that serves a wide geographic region encompassing Queensland and Northern New South Wales. This study identified 16 different STs and 98% of the CA-MRSA isolates were positive for the PVL gene. The most common ST was ST93 with 41% of isolates testing positive for this clone.

Collaborative destination branding : planning for tourism development through design in the Waterfall Way, NSW, Australia

This thesis develops, applies and analyses a collaborative design methodology for branding a tourism destination. The area between the Northern Tablelands and the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, was used as a case study for this research. The study applies theoretical concepts of systems thinking and complexity to the real world, and tests the use of design as a social tool to engage multiple stakeholders in planning. In this research I acknowledge that places (and destinations) are socially constructed through people's interactions with their physical and social environments. This study explores a methodology that is explicit about the uncertainties of the destination’s system, and that helps to elicit knowledge and system trends. The collective design process used the creation of brand concepts, elements and strategies as instruments to directly engage stakeholders in the process of reflecting about their places and the issues related to tourism activity in the region. The methods applied included individual conversations and collaborative design sessions to elicit knowledge from local stakeholders. Concept maps were used to register and interpret information released throughout the process. An important aspect of the methodology was to bring together different stakeholder groups and translate the information into a common language that was understandable by all participants. This work helped release significant information as to what kind of tourism activity local stakeholders are prepared to receive and support. It also helped the emergence of a more unified regional identity. The outcomes delivered by the project (brand, communication material and strategies) were of high quality and in line with the desires and expectation of the local hosts. The process also reinforced local sense of pride, belonging and conservation. Furthermore, interaction between participants from different parts of the region triggered some self organising activity around the brand they created together. A major contribution of the present work is the articulation of an inclusive methodology to facilitate the involvement of locals into the decision-making process related to tourism planning. Of particular significance is the focus on the social construction of meaning in and through design, showing that design exercises can have significant social impact – not only on the final product, but also on the realities of the people involved in the creative process.

New Evidence for Structured Telephone Support in the Management of Patients with Heart Failure [Letter to Editor]

Letter to the Editor of New England Journal of Medicine on behalf of the Cochrane Systematic Review team.