The impact of professional development on early childhood educators’ confidence, understanding and knowledge of education for sustainability

In recent times, Australia has recognised and enacted a range of initiatives at service, system and community levels that seek to embed sustainability into the early childhood sector. This paper explores the impact of a professional development (PD) session that provided opportunities for early childhood educators to learn and share ideas about the theory and practice of sustainability generally and early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) specifically. The PD was entitled ‘Living and Learning about Sustainability in the Early Years’ and was offered on three occasions across Tasmania. A total of 99 participants attended the three PD sessions (one 5 hour; two 2 hour). The participants had varying levels of experience and included early childhood teachers, centre based educators and preservice teachers. At the start and end of the PD, participants were invited to complete a questionnaire that contained a series of likert scale questions that explored their content knowledge, level of understanding and confidence in regards to ECEfS. Participants were also asked at the start and end of the PD to ‘list five words you think of when you consider the word sustainability.’ A model of teacher professional growth was used to conceptualise the results related to the changes in knowledge, understanding and confidence (personal domain) as a result of the PD related to ECEfS (external domain). The likert-scale questions on the questionnaire revealed significant positive changes in levels of knowledge, understanding and confidence from the start to the end of the PD. Differences as a function of length of PD, level of experience and role are presented and discussed. The ‘5 words’ question showed that participants widened their understandings of ECEfS from a narrow environmental focus to a broader understanding of the social, political and economic dimensions. The early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector has been characterised as having a pedagogical advantage for EfS suggesting that early childhood educators are well placed to engage with EfS more readily than might educators in other education sectors. This article argues that PD is necessary to develop capability in educators in order to meet the imperatives around sustainability outlined in educational policy and curriculum documents in ECEC.

Pathway to sustainability : the Lady Elliot Island hybrid solar power station

The Lady Elliot Island eco-resort, on the Great Barrier Reef, operates with a strong sustainability ethic, and has broken away from its reliance on diesel generators, an initiative which has ongoing and substantial economic benefit. The first step was an energy audit that led to a 35% reduction in energy usage, to an average of 575 kWh per day. The eco-resort then commissioned a hybrid solar power station, in 2008, with energy storage in battery banks. Solar power is currently (2013) providing about 160 kWh of energy per day, and the eco-resort’s diesel fuel usage has decreased from 550 to 100 litres per day, enabling the power station to pay for itself in 3 years. The eco-resort plans to complete its transition to renewable energy by 2015, by installing additional solar panels, and a 10-15 kW wind turbine. This paper starts by discussing why the eco-resort chose a hybrid solar power station to transition to renewable energy, and the barriers to change. It then describes the power station, upgrades through to 2013, the power control system, the problems that were solved to realise the potential of a facility operating in a harsh and remote environment, and its performance. The paper concludes by outlining other eco-resort sustainability practices, including education and knowledge-sharing initiatives, and monitoring the island’s environmental and ecological condition.

Exploring sustainability themes in engineering accreditation and curricula

Purpose This paper aims to present key findings from an inquiry into engineering accreditation and curricula renewal. The research attempted to ascertain conceptions of requisite sustainability themes among engineering academics and professionals. The paper also reflects on the potential role of professional engineering institutions (PEIs) in embedding sustainability through their programme accreditation guidelines and wider implications in terms of rapid curricula renewal. Design/methodology/approach This research comprised an International Engineering Academic Workshop held during the 2010 International Symposium on Engineering Education in Ireland, on “accreditation and sustainable engineering”. This built on the findings of a literature review that was distributed prior to the workshop. Data collection included individual questionnaires administered during the workshop, and notes scribed by workshop participants. Findings The literature review highlighted a wide range of perspectives across and within engineering disciplines, regarding what sustainability/sustainable development (SD) themes should be incorporated into engineering curricula, and regarding language and terminology. This was also reflected in the workshop discussions. Notwithstanding this diversity, clusters of sustainability themes and priority considerations were distilled from the literature review and workshop. These related to resources, technology, values, ethics, inter- and intra-generational equity, transdisciplinarity, and systems and complex thinking. Themes related to environmental and economic knowledge and skills received less attention by workshop participants than represented in the literature. Originality/value This paper provides an appreciation of the diversity of opinion regarding priority sustainability themes for engineering curricula, among a group of self-selected engineering academics who have a common interest in education for SD. It also provides some insights and caveats on how these themes might be rapidly integrated into engineering curricula.

Megaprojects, Affected communities and sustainability decision making

Increasing scrutiny from the wider community is contributing to a shift towards the delivery and operation of major projects that meets and maintains the sustainability priorities of the community. This is especially significant for large economic projects which have a global track record of social benefit shortfalls, cost overruns, and underestimation of risks. Major industrial and infrastructure projects that cost more than US$1 billion are typically called mega-projects. Globally, investment in mega-projects has exceeded $10 trillion in the last ten years. With so many projects in the pipeline -and many taking place in emerging economies – the effectiveness of the sustainability decision making process is particularly important. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the existing sustainability decision making processes and strategies address the potential challenges facing communities affected by mega-projects. It highlights issues with current operational level approaches to social sustainability assessment at the project level, and argues that to improve accountability and transparency of project outcomes, positive externalities that flow from goods and services provided by the social and cultural systems of the community must be incorporated into decision making.

Embedding nature into cities – a case study of economic lessons from Singapore

Built environment design around the world faces a number of 21st Century challenges such as rising urban heat island effect and rising pollution, which are further worsened by consequences of climate change and increasing urban populations. Such challenges have caused cities around the globe to investigate options that can help to significantly reduce the environmental pressures from current and future development, requiring new areas of innovation. One such area is ‘Biophilic Urbanism’, which refers to the use of natural elements as design features in urban centres to assist efforts to address climate change issues in rapidly growing economies. Singapore is an illustration of a thriving economy that exemplifies the value of embedding nature into its built environment. The significance of urban green space has been recognised in Singapore as early as the 1960s when Lee Kuan Yew embarked on the ‘Garden City’ concept. 50 years later, Singapore has achieved its Garden City goal and is now entering a new era of sustainability, to create a ‘City in a Garden’. Although the economics of such efforts is not entirely understood, the city of Singapore has continued to pursue visions of becoming a biophilic city. Indeed, there appears to be important lessons to be learned from a city that has challenged the preconceived notion that protecting vegetation in a city is not economically viable. Hence, this paper will discuss the case study of Singapore to highlight the drivers, along with the economic considerations identified along the way. The conclusions have implications for expanding the notion of biophilic urbanism, particularly in the Australian context by discussing the lessons learned from this city. The research is part of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre, and has been developed in collaboration with the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute.

The mining boom and Western Australia's changing landscape : towards sustainability or business as usual?

The practices and public reputation of mining have been changing over time. In the past, mining operations frequently stood accused of being socially and environmentally disruptive, whereas mining today invests heavily in ‘socially responsible’ and ‘sustainable’ business practices. Changes such as these can be witnessed internationally as well as in places like Western Australia (WA), where the mining sector has matured into an economic pillar of the state, and indeed the nation in the context of the recent resources boom. This paper explores the role of mining in WA, presenting a multi-disciplinary perspective on the sector's contribution to sustainable development in the state. The perspectives offered here are drawn from community-based research and the associated academic literature as well as data derived from government sources and the not-for-profit sector. Findings suggest that despite noteworthy attitudinal and operational improvements in the industry, social, economic and environmental problem areas remain. As mining in WA is expected to grow in the years to come, these problem areas require the attention of business and government alike to ensure the long-term sustainability of development as well as people and place.

Managing cost implications for highway infrastructure sustainability

Highway construction works have significant bearings on all aspects of sustainability. With the increasing level of public awareness and government regulatory measures, the construction industry is experiencing a cultural shift to recognise, embrace and pursue sustainability. Stakeholders are now keen to identify sustainable alternatives and the financial implications of including them on a lifecycle basis. They need tools that can aid the evaluation of investment options. To date, however, there have not been many financial assessments on the sustainability aspects of highway projects. This is because the existing life-cycle costing analysis (LCCA) models tend to focus on economic issues alone and are not able to deal with sustainability factors. This paper provides insights into the current practice of life-cycle cost analysis, and the identification and quantification of sustainability-related cost components in highway projects through literature review, questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews. The results can serve as a platform for highway project stakeholders to develop practical tools to evaluate highway investment decisions and reach an optimum balance between financial viability and sustainability deliverables.

Navigating the social dimension of sustainability decision making of mega-projects

Until recently, sustainable development was perceived as essentially an environmental issue, relating to the integration of environmental concerns into economic decision-making. As a result, environmental considerations have been the primary focus of sustainability decision making during the economic development process for major projects, and the assessment and preservation of social and cultural systems has been arguably too limited. The practice of social impact and sustainability assessment is an established and accepted part of project planning, however, these practices are not aimed at delivering sustainability outcomes for social systems, rather they are designed to minimise ‘unsustainability’ and contribute to project approval. Currently, there exists no widely recognised standard approach for assessing social sustainability and accounting for positive externalities of existing social systems in project decision making. As a result, very different approaches are applied around the world, and even by the same organisations from one project to another. This situation is an impediment not only to generating a shared understanding of the social implications as related to major projects, but more importantly, to identifying common approaches to help improve social sustainability outcomes of proposed activities. This paper discusses the social dimension of sustainability decision making of mega-projects, and argues that to improve accountability and transparency of project outcomes it is important to understand the characteristics that make some communities more vulnerable than others to mega-project development. This paper highlights issues with current operational level approaches to social sustainability assessment at the project level, and asserts that the starting point for project planning and sustainability decision making of mega-projects needs to include the preservation, maintenance, and enhancement of existing social and cultural systems. It draws attention to the need for a scoping mechanism to systematically assess community vulnerability (or sensitivity) to major infrastructure development during the feasibility and planning stages of a project.

Sustainability in post disaster road infrastructure recovery projects and asset management

Civil infrastructure and especially roads are being impacted with increasing frequency by flood, Tsunami, cyclone related natural and manmade disasters in the world. Responding to such events and in preparing for more regular and intense climate-change induced events in future, the road governing agencies are reviewing how postdisaster road infrastructure recovery projects are best planned and delivered. In particular, there is awareness that rebuilding such infrastructure require sustainable asset management strategies across economic, environmental and social dimensions. A comprehensive asset management framework for pre and post disaster situations can minimize negative impacts on our communities, economy and environment. This research paper is focused on post disaster management in road infrastructures and road infrastructure asset management strategies used by road authorities. Analyzing the implications of disruption to transport network and associated services is an important part of preparing local and regional responses to the impacts of disasters. This research paper will contribute to strategic infrastructure asset planning, management leading to safe, efficient and integrated transport system that supports sustainable economic, social and environmental outcomes. This paper also focuses on proper asset management, governance and engineering principles which should be followed and adopted in post disaster recovery projects to maximize sustainability in environmental, social and economic dimensions.

A Triple Bottom Line Planning Tool for Measuring Sustainability : A Systems Approach to Sustainability Using the Australian Dairy Industry as a Case Study

Sustainability is a key driver for decisions in the management and future development of organisations and industries. However, quantifying and comparing sustainability across the triple bottom line (TBL) of economy, environment and social impact, has been problematic. There is a need for a tool which can measure the complex interactions within and between the environmental, economic and social systems which affect the sustainability of an industry in a transparent, consistent and comparable way. The authors acknowledge that there are currently numerous ways in which sustainability is measured and multiple methodologies in how these measurement tools were designed. The purpose of this book is to showcase how Bayesian network modelling can be used to identify and measure environmental, economic and social sustainability variables and to understand their impact on and interaction with each other. This book introduces the Sustainability Scorecard, and describes it through a case study on sustainability of the Australian dairy industry. This study was conducted in collaboration with the Australian dairy industry.

Resource Curse or Cure?: On the Sustainability of Development in Western Australia

Addresses often unanswered questions about the costs and benefits of resource-based development The first book to offer a suitably comprehensive critique of Western Australia's development path Provides a multi-facetted perspective thanks to its truly cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional authorship Globalisation and rapid social and environmental change in recent decades have brought into sharper focus not only the benefits but also the costs of economic development. The once assumed link between economic development and societal well-being is being increasingly questioned in the face of growing social and environmental problems and unfulfilled expectations concerning political and commercial decision-makers. The orthodox development dogma is being tested in particular in resource-based economies such as Western Australia, where globalisation pressures and the concomitant rise in the demand for natural resources highlight the difficulties of effectively balancing broader societal interests with those of industry and the state. This book provides a critical review of the socio-political, environmental and cultural state of play in Western Australia, offering an analysis of how resource-based developments are shaping the state and its people.

Control of energy and matter at nanoscales : challenges and opportunities for plasma nanoscience in a sustainability age

Plasma nanoscience is an emerging multidisciplinary research field at the cutting edge of a large number of disciplines including but not limited to physics and chemistry of plasmas and gas discharges, materials science, surface science, nanoscience and nanotechnology, solid-state physics, space physics and astrophysics, photonics, optics, plasmonics, spintronics, quantum information, physical chemistry, biomedical sciences and related engineering subjects. This paper examines the origin, progress and future perspectives of this research field driven by the global scientific and societal challenges. The future potential of plasma nanoscience to remain a highly topical area in the global research and technological agenda in the age of fundamental-level control for a sustainable future is assessed using a framework of the five Grand Challenges for Basic Energy Sciences recently mapped by the US Department of Energy. It is concluded that the ongoing research is very relevant and is expected to substantially expand to competitively contribute to the solution of all of these Grand Challenges. The approach to controlling energy and matter at nano- and subnanoscales is based on identifying the prevailing carriers and transfer mechanisms of the energy and matter at the spatial and temporal scales that are most relevant to any particular nanofabrication process. Strong accent is made on the competitive edge of the plasma-based nanotechnology in applications related to the major socio-economic issues (energy, food, water, health and environment) that are crucial for a sustainable development of humankind. Several important emerging topics, opportunities and multidisciplinary synergies for plasma nanoscience are highlighted. The main nanosafety issues are also discussed and the environment- and human health-friendly features of plasma-based nanotech are emphasized.

Towards prosperous sustainable cities : a multiscalar urban sustainability assessment approach

Prosperity and environmental sustainability of cities are inextricably linked. Cities can only maintain their prosperity when environmental and social objectives are fully integrated with economic goals for the purpose of a sustainable urban development. Sustainability assessment helps policy-makers decide what actions they should and should not take in an attempt to make our cities more sustainable. There are numerous models available for measuring and evaluating urban sustainability, and they focus their analysis on a specific scale—i.e., micro, mezzo, or macro. In most cases these results are inadequate for the other scales, though generating reliable results for that particular scale. The paper introduces a multiscalar urban sustainability approach by linking two sustainability assessment models evaluate sustainability performances in micro- and mezzo-levels and generate multiscalar results for the macro-level. The paper puts this approach into test in Gold Coast, Australia, and sheds light on the development of a more accurate sustainability analysis that may be interconnected with UN-Habitat’s City Prosperity Index.

A hard slog, not a leap frog : globalization and sustainability transitions in developing Asia

How does globalization influence transitions toward more sustainable socio-technical regimes in the developing world? This paper argues that transformations of regimes, the networks and institutions governing technological and environmental practices in an industry, can be positively influenced by globalization but it depends on how global forces interact with local socio-political landscapes-the political-economic institutions, values, and regulations broadly guiding an economy and its relationship to the environment. We evaluate these relationships through a comparison of two kinds of socio-political landscapes-the neo-liberal export-led development model commonly found in the developing world and the uniquely Asian capitalist developmental state. We first show how the neo-liberal model overemphasizes the power of market forces to facilitate upgrading and more sustainable industrialization. We then argue that capitalist developmental states in East and Southeast Asia have been better able to harness global economic forces for technological and sustainability transitions through an openness to trade and investment and effective public-private institutions able to link cleaner technologies and environmental standards to production activities in firms. We buttress this argument with firm-level evidence showing the evolution of socio-technical regimes in two industries-cement and electronics. The case studies demonstrate how interactions with OECD firms can contribute to environmental technique effects provided the socio-political landscape is amenable to changes in an industry's regime. Ultimately, we find the process of transition to be complex and contingent; a hard slog not a leap frog toward a potentially more sustainable future. We close by considering the limitations on the capitalist developmental state model and with comments about what else needs to be learned about globalization's role in sustainability transitions.

Examining the rhetoric : a comparison of how sustainability and young children's participation and agency are framed in Australian and Swedish early childhood education curricula

This article scrutinizes the ways that young children are described and supported as active participants for change within the Australian and Swedish national steering documents for early childhood education. A critical theory lens was applied in combination with document analysis that looked for concepts related to environment and sustainability i.e. environmental, social, economic and political dimension of development, humans place in nature, and environmental stewardship. Concepts concerned with critical thinking, and children as active participants for change were used as specific dimensions of curriculum interpretation. Analyses show that, while both the Australian and Swedish curricula deal with content connected to environmental, social and cognitive dimensions, there is limited or no discussion of the political dimensions of human development, such as children as active citizens with political agency. In other words, children are not recognised as competent beings or agents of change for sustainability within these early childhood curriculum frameworks. Hence, these supposedly contemporary early childhood education documents lack curricular leadership to support children to contribute their voices and actions to civic and public spheres of participation as equal citizens.