Sustainability survey

University of Canberra is undertaking a project entitled, "Towards Place-Based Education in the Murray Darling Basin." The project seeks to explore understandings about the meaning, nature and objectives of sustainability held by the various community organisations within the Murray Darling Basin. The objective is to foster stronger community collaboration and improve education through developing shared understandings of sustainability.  Participants will have the opportunity to have a free community workshop on sustainability, place-based education or education for community development held in their community.

At MLi we received the email below which may well be of interest to groups in the Basin.

Towards Place-Based Education in the Murray Darling Basin  - Sustainability Survey

Participant information and consent

It is my pleasure to invite you and your organisation to participate in a short survey on sustainability and education.  The survey should take no more 3-5 minutes of your valuable time.  It seeks to explore understandings about the meaning, nature and objectives of sustainability held by the various community organisations within the Murray Darling Basin. The objective is to foster stronger community collaboration and improve education through developing shared understandings of sustainability.  Participants will have the opportunity to have a free community workshop on sustainability, place-based education or education for community development held in their community. 

I ask that you please consider participation in this short survey, and either complete it yourself or pass it to the relevant officer to complete.  Below you will find information about the survey and the project it relates to.  The link to the survey is here [click here or copy & paste the following into your browser: http://canberra.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5tGacFwIqMsnVUV]

Project Aim

The survey aims to uncover the various meanings of sustainability held by the diverse communities within the Murray-Darling Basin.  It builds upon a number of recent studies looking at sustainability, education and community development.  The study aims to foster more collaborative decision-making in relation to sustainability and broaden our understandings of this often contested term.  By surfacing various understandings of sustainability the project aims to help educators in both the school and community sector engage more effectively with ideas around sustainability in their work.   Consequently the results of this survey will inform later parts of the project looking at place-based education.  From the survey results a few communities will be invited to participate in this later component.

What it involves

Participants will be required to complete a short survey on sustainability. The survey should take no more than 3-5 minutes to complete. Questions relate to perceptions of sustainability, important aspects of sustainability and both individual and organisational priorities.  The final section asks about the organisation and is for analysis purpose only. Some questions here may be difficult for you as the respondent – that's fine, we only ask you to do your best.

Participation and withdrawal

Organisations are free to not forward or participate in this survey.  Participants are free to not complete the survey at any time.

Confidentiality

Participation is strictly confidential.  Organisational details and respondent position are sought only for the purpose of analysis and will only be reported in aggregate form.  Nothing will be reported that will enable participant identification.

Consent

Organisations give their consent to participate by forwarding the survey information and link to the responsible officer.  Participants give their consent by opening and then submitting the survey. Participants will be reminded of this at the time of completing the survey.

Community workshop

To thank you and your organisation for your participation the project team is team is offering to hold a community workshop in the areas of sustainability, education for community development, or place-based education.  These areas are within the expertise of the research team and will be conducted by one or more team members.  Participants will be asked at the end of the survey if they would like to go in the draw for this workshop, and if so to enter a contact email.  This information will be stored separately from the survey responses.  The selected participant will then work with the team to determine the topic, date and location of the workshop that best meets the participant’s organisation’s objectives.  The workshop will be provided free of charge.

Ethics approval

This project has been approved by the Committee for Ethics in Human Research of the University of Canberra. The ethics approval code is HREC 14-34.

Chief Investigator & Project Team.
The Chief Investigator for this project is Philip Roberts, Assistant Professor (Curriculum Studies) at the University of Canberra. The project team comprises experienced researchers from the University of Canberra, Charles Sturt University and the Australian Catholic University.  The project is part of the Murray Darling Basin Futures Collaborative Research Network.

Funding

This project is funded as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Futures Collaborative Research Network (MDBfutures), located at the University of Canberra. Additional funding has been provided by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority Education Directorate to support the survey. 

Further Information

For further information on this project please contact the project administrative officer, Ms Natalie Downes (Natalie.Downes[at]canberra.edu.au).  Information on the Murray Darling Basin Futures Collaborative Research Network can be found at http://www.canberra.edu.au/murray-darling-crn

Concerns in relation to the conduct of this research

To raise any concerns about the conduct of this research please contact Philip Roberts [philip.roberts[at]Canberra.edu.au].

Survey link

Finally, in case you missed it the link to the survey is here [click here or copy & paste the following into your browser: http://canberra.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5tGacFwIqMsnVUV]

If your organisation has other branches, please also consider forwarding this to them.

Regards,

Philip Roberts
Assistant Professor (Curriculum Studies)
Faculty of Education, Science, Technology & Mathematics
University of Canberra, A.C.T. Australia.