An Eyre Peninsula report card : adaptation practice and research in the far west of South Australia

The formation of Natural Resource Management Boards in South Australia provided a robust and integrated, and well resourced, regional landscape planning quasi-­‐authority in South Australia that has had major beneficial outcomes to several SA regions in being able to better co-­‐ordinate long term and creative public and private land management strategies, as well as enable several unique research projects to be tackled that would not otherwise under traditional fragmented state government agency configurations and relationships.

I vote and tote : moral panics, resistance and the failure of quiet regulation

The term moral panic has entered the media and popular culture lexicon, but retains a particular meaning for sociologists. This chapter expands on existing models of moral panics and outlines a case study that illustrates that folk devils have fought back in recent years, using technologies such as social media to present their arguments (in this instance, turning a local political controversy in Melbourne, the Australian state of Victoria, to their advantage). The battle began over a classice law-and-order issue, that is, the problem of  alcohol-related violence, expecially as it involves young people. However, the conflict took an unexpected turn when the fold devils successfully used the media to prosecute their case and force the state government's hand.

Classroom teacher effectiveness research and inquiry, and its relevance to the development of public education policy: an Australian context

This paper has as its focus an analysis of the question and problem of classroom teacher effectiveness research and inquiry. It presents an examination of what counts as valid and worthwhile research in classroom teacher effectiveness studies for the development of education policy within an Australian context, the State of Victoria. The Government’s Blueprint, the major education policy document of the Victorian State Labour Government, outlines its educational approach. Important and core features of government direction for education policy include a focus on social and economic disadvantage. A priority for the Victorian State Labour Government is tangible and measurable improvement in the performance of the public education system. A particular concern is the problem of academic underperformance within public schools, particularly those designated as low-performing and situated in socially and economically disadvantaged communities. Building the capacity of the State’s teacher workforce forms a key component of the Blueprint, and State Government direction in public education. The paper utilises a qualitative theoretical framework. Eight education policy actor/participants were interviewed and their responses analysed using a critical discourse approach. The main findings indicate that education policy actors advocate a strong belief in particular forms of evidence-based research for the development of education policy in the area of classroom teacher effectiveness.

Lessons from large-scale conservation networks in Australia

Australia has seen a rapid growth in the establishment of networks of lands managed for connectivity conservation across tenures, at landscape and sub-continental scales. Such networks go under a variety of names, including biosphere reserves, biolinks, wildlife corridors and conservation management networks. Their establishment has varied from state government-led initiatives to those initiated by non-government organizations and interested landholders. We surveyed existing major landscape scale conservation initiatives for successes, failures and future directions and synthesized common themes. These themes included scale, importance of social and economic networks, leadership, governance, funding, conservation planning, the role of protected areas and communication. We discuss the emergence of national policy relating to National Wildlife Corridors in Australia and the relationship of this policy to the long standing commitment to build a comprehensive, adequate and representative National Reserve System. Finally we outline areas for further research for connectivity conservation projects in Australia.

Modelling urban growth futures within inner metropolitan Melbourne

In the light of the Victorian State Government's move towards the development of 'Plan Melbourne' - a new metropolitan planning strategy currently being prepared to take Melbourne forward to 2050 - the following paper attempts to address the issue of how an inner city target of 90,000 new dwellings (Inner Metropolitan Action Plan - IMAP Strategy 5) will impact on existing inner Melbourne activity centres. Working with the prospect of establishing a more compact city within the inner Melbourne region, the paper will focus on key suburbs within the Port Phillip area. Working with a 'Housing Variance Model' based on household structure and dwelling type, the paper will attempt to assess the impact on urban morphology as capacity is progressively altered through a range of built form permutations.

A new urban planning code's impact on walking: The residential environments project

Objectives. We examined whether people moving into a housing development designed according to a state government livable neighborhoods subdivision code engage in more walking than do people who move to other types of developments.

Methods. In a natural experiment of 1813 people building homes in 73 new housing developments in Perth, Western Australia, we surveyed participants before and then 12 and 36 months after moving. We measured self-reported walking using the Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire and collected perceptions of the environment and self-selection factors. We calculated objective measures of the built environment using a Geographic Information System.

Results. After relocation, participants in livable versus conventional developments had greater street connectivity, residential density, land use mix, and access to destinations and more positive perceptions of their neighborhood (all P < .05). However, there were no significant differences in walking over time by type of development (P > .05).

Conclusions. Implementation of the Livable Neighborhoods Guidelines produced more supportive environments; however, the level of intervention was insufficient to encourage more walking. Evaluations of new urban planning policies need to incorporate longer term follow-up to allow time for new neighborhoods to develop.