Community music-making in regional Australia: creating, improvising and performing at a festival

Community arts in Australia, as in many other countries, continue to permeate society, illuminating the past and shaping the future. This article situates itself as an aspect of community music through creative music-making within a larger research project that started at Deakin University (DU) (Melbourne, Australia) in 2011 called ‘Flows and Catchments’. Through the lens of creative arts and music-making, I argue that community partnerships between local communities and tertiary institutions are a fertile ground to celebrate arts practice where the cultural and artistic life of the community is promoted, fostering respect and understanding between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. In 2012, I presented a music workshop at the 8th Annual Lake Bolac Eel Festival (LBEF) in Western Victoria. Using the African term Masakhane, which means ‘let us build together’, I provide a snapshot of my experience through journaling and anecdotal feedback as I reflect in and on the teaching and learning episode of the volcanic composition. The community partnership between DU (academics in an urban space) and the LBEF (local community in a regional place) provided an opportunity for people of all ages to engage, explore and experience music-making collectively in a social context. As a tertiary music educator, I propose more pathways being established with regional communities in order to deepen the knowledge and understanding of them; schools, communities, artists, academics and tertiary students can form cultural synergies in place-based settings like those of festivals.

The show must go on’ : older entertainers making music in the community in Melbourne, Australia

Globally countries are faced with an aging population and Australia is no different. This creates challenges for the maintenance of well-being which can be enhanced by active engagement in society. There is extensive research that confirms that engagement in music by older people is positively related to individual and community wellbeing. Music engagement encompasses a range of social participation and has the potential to recognise the contribution of older people to their local communities. Music participation can contribute to a better quality of life, particularly in relation to health and happiness. There are many possible forms of music engagement. This study is part of an on-going Deakin University and Monash University research project, Well-being and ageing: community, diversity and the arts in Victoria. This article focuses on three members of a mixed voluntary singing group formed by older residents of an outer suburban community in Melbourne, Australia. This group, The Skylarkers, were established in 1999 as a four-part choir. Over the years the nature of the choir has changed under subsequent music directors. Since 2009 the group has focused on music theatre repertoire and performance style. Membership of the group is fluid reflecting changing life circumstances of the members but the ensemble is resilient. This small amateur music theatre group is based in suburban Melbourne, rehearses weekly and performs regularly at retirement villages, nursing homes and facilities for senior citizens. This article presents a phenomenological qualitative single case study of members of the Skylarkers. In this study, interview data were gathered in 2011-2012 and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two significant themes emerged that concern musical self-identity and gaining a sense of purpose and fulfilment. The Skylarkers are more than a choir; they are an amateur entertainment troupe that engages with each other and the wider community. This resilient group holds true to the motto ‘the show must go on’.

Coproduction and Casula's Pacifica Program: Initial research findings

This research takes Casula Powerhouse Art Centre’s Pacifica program as a case study to investigate the ways in which museum and galleries are involved in coproduction with culturally diverse communities. Coproduction is defined here as:Museum and gallery practice conducted jointly with communities or other external partiesThe benefits of coproduction are that it leads to more effective and efficient public services (including arts and cultural services) while also building the skills and capacity of the community. However coproduction is not easy, particularly because it requires public service providers and communities to work in ‘equal and reciprocal’ relationships.As an organisation with strong and strategic alliances to its governing body (Liverpool City Council), Casula brings a strong capacity for coproduction. Internally it has support and commitment to coproduction from across the organisation. The staff at Casula bring exceptional relational skills. The organisation’s capacity to coproduce draws heavily on their skills as cultural brokers and experience in community cultural development practice. The communities Casula works with bring strong cultural knowledge and practice, along with a desire to maintain and preserve these community resources. Casula’s coproduction work also meets external political needs for public services to deliver increased public value as well as a greater diversity in the profile of arts audiences.The key challenge for Casula Powerhouse’s coproduction work is the extent to which it aims for joint delivery of public services through ‘equal and reciprocal’ relationships with the community, or uses coproduction as a tool for community engagement and audience development. Advocates of coproduction in the public sector argue for its value as a means of delivering more effective and efficient public services while at the same time building the skills and capacity of local communities. A critical element of coproduction according to these writers and scholars is the development and delivery of public services through ‘equal and reciprocal’ relationships between providers and users.The value of coproduction for Casula Powerhouse and the Pacifica program is its use as a means of community engagement and audience development. Coproduction is a feature of the components of Pacifica that enable the participation of the community and provide entry points for audiences to engage with contemporary art. Evidence of this approach to coproduction can be seen in the dual ‘stakeholder’ and ‘audience’ role that the community have within the Pacifica program. The community is therefore both a contributor to Pacifica and a beneficiary of this work. The benefits Casula Powerhouse receives from the community’s involvement in Pacifica are greater public value of its work and stronger engagement with communities and audiences.Although coproduction may not be the focus of all aspects of Pacifica, the involvement of Pacific Islander communities in the program results in exhibitions and public programs that are not typical contemporary art gallery offerings. Pacifica is further evidence of Casula Powerhouse’s innovative and entrepreneurial approach to gallery practice. The use of coproduction also ensures Pacifica offers an authentic and distinctive gallery experience.

Monitoring and conservation of the critically endangered Alaotran gentle lemur Hapalemur alaotrensis

The Alaotran gentle lemur Hapalemur alaotrensis is a Critically Endangered lemur, which exclusively inhabits the marshes around Lac Alaotra in northeast Madagascar. In the past decades the population of H. alaotrensis has experienced a dramatic decline due to poaching, habitat destruction and degradation. Surveys have been carried out periodically to follow the status of the population. Here we present the results of a survey carried out between May and June 2008 in the southwestern part of the marshes around Alaotra and discuss the key findings derived from the analysis of the data collected. Our study indicates that the probability of detecting the species in an area where it is present is very low and depends on factors that vary in space and time. These results stress the need to account for imperfect detection when monitoring this species, an issue especially relevant when reporting population trends. Our analyses also show that habitat fragmentation is a key determinant of habitat suitability for H. alaotrensis, with fragmented areas of marsh showing low suitability. Finally, our observations and analysis suggest that the protection provided by the local community to H. alaotrensis in Andreba is contributing to the conservation of this Critically Endangered species. This highlights the need to continue working on engaging the local communities in the conservation of the marshes at Lac Alaotra as a critical element to secure the future of H. alaotrensis.

Mobility and emplacement in north coast Papua New Guinea: worlding the Pacific marine industrial zone

On the north coast of Papua New Guinea, the construction of the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone is catalysing movements of people, capital and things, as well as of the ideas and imaginings which accompany and make them meaningful. Drawn from literary and postcolonial studies, the concept of worlding offers a narrative framework through which to think through these movements and the ways in which they complicate prevailing narratives of globalisation. At the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone, the neoliberal worldings that inform the project do not simply catalyse movements, but also act to impose barriers to movement. Local communities assert connection to place, but also generate new circuits of mobility, and rearticulate ideas of kastom (custom) that have movement at their core. An emphasis on worlding-drawing particularly on Heidegger's distinction between world and earth-allows for a more complex reflection on the relationship between mobility and emplacement, one that more fully illuminates the complexity of the relationship itself, and the way it is experienced at the PMIZ site.

Vertex re-identification attack using neighbourhood-pair properties

There has been a growing interest in sharing and mining social network data for a wide variety of applications. In this paper, we address the problem of privacy disclosure risks that arise from publishing social network data. Specifically, we look at the vertex re-identification attack that aims to link specific vertex in social network data to specific individual in the real world. We show that even when identifiable attributes such as names are removed from released social network data, re-identification attack is still possible by manipulating abstract information. We present a new type of vertex re-identification attack model called neighbourhood-pair attack. This attack utilizes the information about the local communities of two connected vertices to identify the target individual. We show both theoretically and empirically that the proposed attack provides higher re-identification rate compared with the existing re-identification attacks that also manipulate network structure properties. The experiments conducted also show that the proposed attack is still possible even on anonymised social network data.

The geo-historical legacies of urban security governance and the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

In 2004, the discourse of ‘legacy’ was woven into the constitutional fabric of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Bidding for Olympic events is now premised on procuring post-event legacies that will resonate through local communities and host countries long after the flame is extinguished. Given vast expenditures in security, policing, and emergency management operations at major sporting events, it is notable that the IOC and its official partners have disproportionately under-represented security and policing legacies. This paper addresses research into security and policing legacies of major events by turning much needed empirical attention towards institutional level geographies of security and policing – particularly on legacies of policing and militarisation in Olympic host cities. Accordingly, the paper traces the institutional trajectory of the Military Liaison Unit (MLU) in the Vancouver Police Department who were heavily involved in coordinating the joint civilian–military effort throughout the lifecycle of the Vancouver 2010 inter Games. Theoretically, the paper furthers Stephen Graham’s (2010) New Military Urbanism that considers the circulation of military expertise between neo-colonial frontiers of military intervention with Western urban spaces. In doing so, this paper unpacks an empirically guided temporal approach that discerns key drivers of militarisation as localised, empirical-based ‘trajectories’ of development of security and policing institutions, which are linked to, and circumscribed by, critical juncture episodes in the context of mega event security. The paper traces processes of the MLU to explain how conditions underpinning the civil–military divide in urban policing, as a series of jurisdictional, institutional, and by extension, geographical configurations have continued, changed or been abandoned in the context of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. As such, this paper contributes to much needed debate on the controversies and opportunities inherent in security legacies and major events, which implicate the wider securitisation and militarisation of Western cities.

The value of the sense of community and neighbouring

Today, urbanites are less involved in local communities which has resulted in a claim that the significance of local communities and the role of space and neighbourhood layout in the creation of local communities has been exaggerated. Such claims imply that feeling a sense of community among neighbourhood’s residents or an attachment to the community is not a value to the neighbourhood. Community research has developed a few indices for evaluating the sense of community and community attachment, but has not focused on the significance of a sense of community in neighbourhoods. The aim of this paper is to explore and review the significance of the sense of community, community attachment and neighbouring in the context of neighbourhoods. This review suggests that feeling a sense of community, attachment to community and neighbouring relationships can increase the feeling of safety and security, residential satisfaction, community identity, civic participation and mental health and well-being.

Community-based environmental monitoring goes to school: translations, detours and escapes

Community-school partnerships are an established practice within environmental science education, where a focus on how local phenomena articulate with broader environmental issues and concerns brings potential benefits for schools, community organisations and local communities. This paper contributes to our understanding of such educational practices by tracing of the diverse socio-material flows that constitute a community environmental monitoring project, where Australian school students became investigators of and advocates for particular sites in their neighbourhood. The theoretical resources of Actor-Network Theory are drawn upon to describe how the project—as conceptualised by its initiators—was enacted as both human and non-human actors sought to progress their own agendas thus translating the concept-project into multiple project realities. We conclude by identifying implications for sustaining educational innovations of this kind.

Crossing the faith boundary

Improving the well-being of poor and vulnerable communities often requires external resources and interventions. Existing resource constraints, existing social and political structures, existing environmental circumstances, and existing economic realities are often insurmountable. Vulnerable and poor communities cannot challenge or overcome them on their own. External resources and interventions are often vital. They can act as shocks to existing systems that maintain vulnerability, can facilitate empowerment for those submerged in the dehumanisation of poverty, and can help local communities develop the capacity to equip themselves and assume the role of change agents for their own futures. The provision of such external resources and interventions is often facilitated through the involvement of non-government organisations (NGOs) that have developed expertise in working with and alongside local communities to identify, plan, implement and evaluate development interventions. These NGOs may be local to the communities themselves or be external and sit outside the partnered community. Often international NGOs partner with local ones in assisting local communities. However, collaboration between international and local NGOs, and between NGOs and local communities, should not be assumed to be without difficulty and challenges. Trust between partners, and between external agents of potential change and the communities that are the objects of these interventions, is a core component of successful collaborations.

Changing communities: international students in local government schools

Although fewer than 10% of international students are in the primary and secondary educational sectors, recent figures show the number of these students to have increased exponentially making Australia a leading player in school education provision along with Britain and the United States. The impact of these changes on local schools and the correspondent negotiation of globalising trends on secondary schools alter the ways that identity and difference are understood and played out and the ways that policy and practice in participating schools can be understood At the same time the terms and conditions that define these demands - particularly as they characterize them as marketable commodities. English language and as global and western education need to spelt out and interrogated. In this paper 1 interrogate the ways that community members within local government schools speak about the impact of fee-paying international students on their school. 1 suggest that these discussions are defined by the material and conceptual relations of identity and difference crisscrossed by the politics of consumption and production.

Interrogating 'imagined' communities : exploring the impact of international students in local schools

This paper suggests new directions understanding the impact of international students in schools. It is concerned with the ways that community representatives discuss these students and their impact on the community of the school. Recent literatures describe communities such as those of schools as ones of perception and materiality whereby some are included differently than others. Discourses such as multiculturalism and monoculturalism, which have traditionally shaped these discussions about community relations, have always been ambivalent. They take on new forms as local/global interaction, and the individualistic and market-driven changes that lead to the arrival of international students have consequences for the everyday lives of school community members. These need to be investigated if the location of international students in local school communities is to be properly described and interrogated.

Local perceptions of sustainability indicators: issues of scale and implications for management

A key factor impacting upon sustainable development are the perceptions people hold of their local social, economic and ecological environment. These perceptions influence how communities fashion the local landscape and in turn help to condition the ways people adapt themselves to their local spatial realities. Implicit in these perceptions are indicators of sustainability that may or may not be integrated across the social, economic and ecological realms. Further, these local indicators may not accord with those adopted at the national or global scale. Accordingly, spatial scale presents a particular set of challenges in identifying appropriate indicators of sustainability. In the same way that aggregated changes at a local scale influence sustainability on a broad scale, national and global externalities profoundly affect perceptions relating to sustainable development at the finest of spatial scales.

This paper focuses on one aspect of the issue of scale in sustainable indicator selection: local perceptions of sustainability. In this paper we report on a survey of perceptions of sustainability conducted across thirty-two sub-catchments in three major catchments in south west Victoria. We sought to uncover what people within each sub-catchment perceived as socially, economically and ecologically sustainable. Responses were compared across sub-catchments to determine whether perceptions at the sub-catchment scale were shared across the region. The results indicate that perceptions of sustainability varied between sub-catchments, which means that perceptions relating to sustainability at the regional scale may mask local trends.

Governance in rural communities: the case of Victoria

State and federal government policies for rural areas have encouraged local people and organizations to play a greater role in the provision of their local services. This emphasis on local participation has been described as a shift from ‘government’ to ‘governance’. However while there is an emerging research around small towns in Australia there is very little known about the processes of community governance. This paper focuses on local development groups in small towns in rural Victoria that have emerged or have been reconstituted with a broader community focus following municipal amalgamations. The basic aim of this paper is analyse to what degree these local community development groups can be regarded as constituting a form of community governance and the implications this has for democracy and accountability in small rural areas. The paper begins with a discussion of community governance as it represented in the literature. We then analyse ten case studies from across Victoria in the light of the changing political context.