Australian Environment Research Articles

“I Guess You Could Call It Plant Racism”: Making Kin in Australian Environmental Workfare

ABSTRACT Some scholars have drawn associations between Australian environmentalism and racism. Others have argued that natural resource management policies go beyond the science in justifying policies that have their real foundation in Australian nationalism. Yet applying semiotic analyses to focus upon such associations can risk obscuring efforts to actively loosen the nature–culture binary. Australia has a unique history of three decades of national environmental youth training programs such as Green Corps and Green Army. This environmental workfare engages a diverse range of actors: from university-qualified scientists to unemployed urban and rural youth. If any workplace culture is likely to generate a naïve environmentalist eco-nationalism, then the pseudo-military setting of national environmental workfare programs would be worthy of close examination. Based upon data collected from participants in Australian environmental workfare programs, this article explores how young workers display critical reflexivity, engaging creatively and ironically, embracing the more obscure Others. While attempting to generate cultural capital, particularly in the field of environmental science, they actively spurn naïve environmentalism. From the midst of the Australian bush, young people are answering Haraway’s call to “make kin in the Chthulucene”.

Long-Term Impact of Historical Mining on Water Quality at Mount Lyell, Western Tasmania, Australia

During the twentieth century, inadequate management of mine waste at the Mount Lyell Copper Mine affected the ecology of the Queen–King Rivers and Macquarie Harbour, western Tasmania, Australia. Over the past two decades, the water quality of the river system has been measured semi-annually to investigate the long-term hydrochemical and environmental impacts caused by these historical mine practices and the waste associated with the Mount Lyell mine to the Queen–King Rivers. At sample sites below the confluence of Haulage Creek, the water pH was below pH 3.5, remaining below pH 5 across all sites to Macquarie Harbour. Local baseline rivers ranged from pH 4.0 to 8.4. Elemental concentrations of dissolved metals in water samples downstream of Haulage Creek were above the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) water quality guidelines. Copper, Fe, and Zn were not attenuated along the length of the river, with concentrations remaining elevated to the King River Delta. Mineralogical analyses demonstrated secondary minerals in sediments at Haulage Creek and pyrite concentrated at the King River Delta. Static tests on mining-affected sediments indicated risk of AMD and metal(loid) leaching in the river system. Since 2016, after flooding of the Prince Lyell mine, dissolved metal levels in the Queen–King Rivers have decreased; however, concentrations remain above guidelines. Almost three decades after legacy mine waste disposal ended, it still poses a long-term risk to the downstream environment, implying that without effective management of these historical mine wastes, the Queen–King Rivers will continue to be severely impacted.Graphical

A Research Translation, Implementation and Impact Strategy for the Australian Healthy Environments and Lives (HEAL) Research Network.

Healthy Environments And Lives (HEAL) is the Australian national research network established to support improvements to health, the Australian health system, and the environment in response to the unfolding climate crisis. The HEAL Network comprises researchers, community members and organisations, policymakers, practitioners, service providers, and other stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and sectors. HEAL seeks to protect and improve public health, reduce health inequities and inequalities, and strengthen health system sustainability and resilience in the face of environmental and climate change, all with a commitment to building on the strengths, knowledge, wisdom, and experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culture, and communities. Supporting applied research that can inform policy and practice, and effective research translation, implementation, and impact are important goals across the HEAL Network and essential to achieve its intended outcomes. To aid translation approaches, a research translation, implementation, and impact strategy for the HEAL Network was developed. The strategy has been created to inform and guide research translation across HEAL, emphasising communication, trust, partnerships, and co-design with communities and community organisations as well as the decision-makers responsible for public policies and programs. Development of the strategy was guided by research translation theory and practice and the Health in All Policies and Environment in All Policies frameworks. As described in this paper, the strategy is underpinned by a set of principles and outlines preliminary actions which will be further expanded over the course of the HEAL Network's activities. Through these actions, the HEAL Network is well-positioned to ensure successful research translation and implementation across its program of work.

Moving Beyond a Strange Spectatorship

What can nonhuman road trauma, more commonly referred to as ‘roadkill’, teach us about ecological crises and human culpability? Incidents of nonhuman road trauma could be described as strange encounters, revealing the shared trauma of the nonhumans and humans involved while simultaneously highlighting the supposed inevitability of such events. I argue that the choice to check the rearview mirror – to exhibit attentiveness and care in self-reflection – is an act of radical correspondence with the more-than-human. Such correspondence functions as a kind of non-spoken letter to both nonhumans and other human drivers; a letter calling for acts of care and attentiveness that acknowledge the nonhuman experience, mourn losses, and possibly instigate radical change when it comes to how nonhuman road trauma is thought about now and hopefully avoided in future. In her work on the ‘Anthropocene noir’, Deborah Bird Rose speaks of ‘the Anthropocene parallel’ in which humans are spectators of the suffering of nonhumans, and also spectators of a suffering that is our own. Written as both an essay and a personal log of my own experiences with nonhuman road trauma, this work draws on Rose’s idea in an attempt to reconcile the concept of what I term a ‘strange spectatorship’, in which humans observe, are implicated in, and turn away from the phenomenon of nonhuman road trauma and what such trauma reveals about human-nonhuman relations, particularly for settler-colonial Australians. Reflecting on anecdotal experiences as well as the representation of roadkill in Australian literature, I explore the strangeness perceived in how settler-colonial Australians are both actors and spectators in nonhuman road trauma. I grapple with the idea of such trauma as a means of better understanding the settler-colonial impact on Australian natural environments, and the consequences for both humans and nonhumans if we do not better address the ethical and ecological consequences of our modern road infrastructure.

The Context of the 2018–20 “Protracted” El Niño Episode: Australian Drought and Terrestrial, Marine, and Ecophysiological Impacts

Abstract A “protracted” El Niño episode occurred from March–April 2018 to April–May 2020. It was manifested by the interlinked Indo-Pacific influences of two components of El Niño phases. Positive Indian Ocean dipoles (IODs) in 2018 and 2019 suppressed the formation of northwest cloud bands and southern Australia rainfall, and a persistent teleconnection, with enhanced convection generated by positive Niño-4 region sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and strong subsidence over eastern Australia, exacerbated this Australian drought. As with “classical” El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, which usually last 12–18 months, protracted ENSO episodes, which last for more than 2 yr, show a similar pattern of impacts on society and the environment across the Indo-Pacific domain, and often extend globally. The second half of this study puts the impact of the 2018–20 protracted El Niño episode on both the Australian terrestrial agricultural and marine ecophysiological environments in a broader context. These impacts are often modulated not only by the direct effects of ENSO events and episodes, but by interrelated local to region ocean–atmosphere interactions and synoptic weather patterns. Even though the indices of protracted ENSO episodes are often weaker in magnitude than those of major classical ENSO events, it is the longer duration of the former that poses its own set of problems. Thus, there is an urgent need to investigate the potential to forecast protracted ENSO episodes, particularly when the mid-2020 to current 2022 period has been experiencing a major protracted La Niña episode with near-global impacts. Significance Statement The major 2018–20 Australian drought and its terrestrial and marine impacts were caused by a “protracted” El Niño episode, exacerbated by global warming. Indo-Pacific ocean–atmosphere interactions resulted in a persistent positive western Pacific Niño-4 sea surface temperature anomaly during the period 2018–20 and positive Indian Ocean dipoles (IODs) in 2018 and 2019. These suppressed rainfall across eastern Australia and limited northwest Australian cloud band rainfall across southern Australia. Australian agricultural and ecophysiological impacts caused by protracted El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) episodes permeate, overstress, and expose society, infrastructure, and livelihoods to longer temporal-scale pressures than those experienced during shorter “classical” ENSO events. Thus, there is an urgent need to investigate the potential to forecast protracted ENSO episodes.

Marine spatial planning and offshore wind: preliminary principles for Australia

Australia is endowed with some of the richest and most diverse renewable energy resources. Its offshore wind resources alone equate to an estimated 5,000 Gigawatts (GW) of electricity potential. Given these substantial estimates, offshore wind energy will likely represent a key pillar of Australia’s future renewable energy mix. Australia’s palpable offshore energy potential is increasingly understood and acknowledged. Yet, the critical legal and policy question remains of how its new regulatory framework to enable offshore wind development, the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021 Act (Cth) (OEI Act), will interact with existing marine sectors and the marine environment. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) may provide the missing process puzzle piece to enable more strategic coordination of the Australian offshore wind sector within the marine environment. This article adopts a socio-legal approach, examining and drawing upon international experiences to explore the potential adoption of MSP in the Australian offshore wind context. In so doing, the article argues for a coordinated approach to develop a federal MSP process to support and promote strategic offshore wind operations with existing sea users while preserving the Australian marine environment.

Built pedagogy and educational citizenship in an Australian alternative learning environment

The impact of built pedagogy has received increased focus within educational research, however to date there has not been a sustained focus on alternative learning environments. The research reported in this paper explored the experiences of young people enroled in a Flexible Learning Options (FLO) programme in South Australia. Interviews with 30 young people were undertaken both at the beginning and end of the school year in 2021, and ethnographic observations of the learning space were also undertaken. Thematic analysis identified four key aspects of the built pedagogy in the programme space, with a specific focus on safety and educational citizenship. The space allowed young people to take time out for themselves, helping them to feel they were in a safe place. The space also facilitated a sense of place through its open plan, though aspects of the built pedagogy potentially introduced an emphasis upon normative understandings of educational citizenship. The paper concludes by considering recommendations for how FLO programmes may, through their built pedagogy, better meet the needs of all students.

Mapping soil corrosivity in an Australian arid environment and comparing corrosion rates of exclusion fence netting with different zinc coatings

Exclusion fencing and feral-free nature reserves are a key component of many threatened species recovery strategies in Australia. Soil corrosion damage (rust) sustained on exclusion fence netting can create entry points for feral animal incursions into areas of high conservation value. The use of soil physicochemical data to produce corrosivity risk maps is an approach used by project managers to identify the type of corrosion control measures (e.g. use of galvanised zinc coatings) needed to sufficiently limit the deterioration of buried metal infrastructure. This approach is commonly used in subsoil environments (e.g., underground piping), but very few studies have investigated the corrosivity potential of surfaces soils. This paper used surface soil pH, salinity and texture data collected from 69 field sites to map soil corrosivity potential (i.e., fence corrosion risk) at the Arid Recovery nature reserve in South Australia. The majority (72%) of soils in the reserve were predicted to be moderately corrosive and only 16% were predicted to be highly/very highly corrosive. Standard zinc-aluminium fence netting samples buried at six field sites for 18 months were used to validate map predictions. Zinc corrosion on netting samples at field sites were highly variable, particularly at the highly saline (ECe ≥ 5 dS/m) sites. Maximum predicted zinc corrosion rates were within 1.3 μm/year of measured maximum rates at four of the six sites. The fence corrosion risk mapping method used was able to reliably predict areas of low to moderate fence corrosion, but further research is needed to refine its ability to identify high risk areas. An accelerated corrosion experiment (9-month incubation at 65% WHC and elevated ambient temperatures) was used to assess the relative performance of standard zinc-aluminium (124 g/m2 zinc coating), heavy zinc-aluminium (410 g/m2) and heavy galvanised (650 g/m2) fence netting in different soil environments present on the nature reserve. The standard zinc-aluminium wire coating provided sufficient corrosion-resistance for use in the weakly saline (ECe < 5 dS/m) soils (Rhodic Arenosols, Calcic Chromic Solonetz and Chromic Cambisols). However, the increased corrosion-resistance of the heavy zinc-aluminium is needed in the highly saline (ECe ≥ 5 dS/m) Chromic Luvisol. None of the tested fence products were suitable for use in the highly saline Cambic Calcisols. A more corrosive-resistant alternative such as stainless-steel would be more suited for this very highly corrosive environment. Further research is recommended to confirm the long-term (>5 year) suitability of these products in these different soil types.

An Improved Shallow Water Temperature Model for An Australian Tidal Wetland Environment Using Publicly Available Data

Larval mosquito development is directly impacted by environmental water temperature. Shallow water less than 1 m deep is a common larval mosquito habitat. Existing mathematical models estimate water temperature using meteorological variables, and they range in complexity. We developed a modification of an existing one-layer heat balance model for estimating hourly water temperature and compared its performance with that of a model that uses only air temperature and water volume as inputs and that uses air temperature itself as an indicator of water temperature. These models were assessed against field measurements from a shallow tidal wetland—a known larval habitat—in southwest Western Australia. We also analysed publicly available measurements of air temperature and river height to determine whether they could be used in lieu of field measurements to allow cost-effective long-term monitoring. The average error of the modified version of the heat balance equation was −0.5 °C per hour. Air temperature was the second-best performing method (x¯ error = −2.82 °C). The public data sources accurately represented the onsite water temperature measurements. The original heat balance model, which incorporates a parameterisation of evaporative heat flux, performed poorly in hot, dry, windy conditions. The modified model can be used as an input to larval mosquito development models, assisting Local Government Environmental Health officers to determine optimal mosquito development periods and the timing of mosquito monitoring activities to enhance mosquito control.

Prehospital tourniquet use in civilian extremity trauma: an Australian observational study.

Prehospital tourniquets (PHTQ) for trauma have been shown to be safe and effective in the military environment and in some civilian settings. However, the supporting civilian data are mostly from North America with a differing case mix and trauma system and may not be applicable to the Australian environment. The aim of this study is to describe our initial experience with PHTQ from safety and efficacy viewpoints. Retrospective review of all patients with PHTQ from 1 August 2016 to 31 December 2019 was conducted. Data were matched from the RMH Trauma Registry and Ambulance Victoria Registry. Clinical presentation including prehospital observations, PHTQ times, limb outcomes and complications are described. Thirty-one cases met inclusion criteria, for whom median age was 37 (IQR: 23.9-66.3), median ISS 17 (13-34) and 80.6% were male. The majority (n = 19, 61.3%) were as a result of road traffic crash, and six (19.4%) from penetrating mechanisms, usually glass. Over a quarter (29.0%) suffered a traumatic amputation. The median prehospital SBP was 100 (IQR: 80-110), the median prehospital HR was 101 (IQR: 77.0-122.3) and was the median PHTQ time was 124 min (IQR: 47-243). Complications attributable to the tourniquet were seen in 4/30 cases (13.3%). This Australian series differs from North American civilian PHTQ series with a lower penetrating trauma rate and longer PHTQ times. Despite this, complication rates are within the published literature's range. Concerns regarding limited transferability of overseas studies to the Australian context suggests that ongoing audit is required.

The Behaviour of Sheep around a Natural Waterway and Impact on Water Quality during Winter in New Zealand.

Access of livestock, such as cattle, to waterways has been shown to be a cause of poor water quality due to pugging damage and excretion entering the water. In New Zealand, regulations require that cattle, deer, and pigs are excluded from accessing waterways, but there are no such requirements for sheep. The current study utilised 24 h video cameras, global positioning system units, and triaxial accelerometers to observe the interaction of Romney ewes (n = 40) with a natural waterway. Ewes were either restricted (week 1) or given access to a reticulated water trough (week 2). Proximity data showed that ewes spent more time within 3 m of the waterway when the trough was unrestricted than when restricted (14.1 ± 5.7 and 10.8 ± 5.1 min/ewe/day, respectively; p < 0.05). Ewes travelled shorter distances on the steeper areas of paddock than flatter areas. Similarly, ewes showed a spatial preference for the flat and low sloped areas of the paddock. Concentrations of suspended sediment and total phosphorus were higher during access to a reticulated water trough which coincided with the week with more rainy days. Phosphorus and E. coli concentrations in the stream water samples were the above recommended Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council water quality guidelines, especially after rainy days, but did not appear to be directly related to sheep activity. Overall, the results suggest that during winter, ewes interacted very little with the waterway and were thus unlikely to influence the levels of nutrient and pathogens in the waterway.

International tertiary education students experienced difficulties in dietary transitions in Australia: A qualitative study.

More attention to the diet and nutritional status of international students in Australian universities is indicated. This qualitative research aimed to provide an in-depth understanding of dietary changes among international students after they arrived in Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with international students from China and India who were studying at a large urban Australian university. An approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed for coding and data analysis. A total of 14 interviews were included. International students were able to consume more international foods, dairy products and animal proteins in Australia as a result of increased exposure to a larger variety of these foods compared with their home countries. However, they experienced some difficulties in eating vegetables and authentic traditional foods due to limited availability and higher prices in Australia. It was challenging for these students to live independently and cook for themselves for the first time and with a limited food budget and time, but many students improved their cooking skills over time. Less frequent main meals with more snacking sessions were reported. Weight fluctuations were commonly experienced and craving for traditional foods no longer accessible may negatively impact mental health. International students adapted to the Australian food environment but believed the food choices available did not meet their food preferences or perhaps nutritional requirements. Some intervention from universities and/or government may be needed to ease the barriers to consumption of affordable and desirable meals in a time-saving manner for international students.

The motivations of stakeholders when developing university industry collaborations in an Australian university: three case studies

ABSTRACT The need for universities and industry to collaborate has been well established. In this paper, we present three cases studies, including 14 semi-structured interviews, across a range of disciplines. In the design and analysis of the study, we apply management and political science theories to better understand how stakeholder’s motivations influence the development of university industry collaboration within an Australian university environment. We present our findings across cases, and through five emerging themes: (a) stakeholder – trust and respect; (b) business alignment; (c) employability – mutual benefits; (d) commitment to cause – alignment of values; and (e) innovation/research focus. This study provides real-world insight into influencing the development of university industry collaborations enhancing the student experience, and potentially impacting employability after graduation.

Older adults' perceptions of the risks associated with contemporary gambling environments: Implications for public health policy and practice.

Rapid changes in the Australian gambling environment have amplified the risks for gamblers and pose significant threats to public health. Technological advances, saturation of marketing, and the embedding of gambling in sport have all contributed to significant changes in the gambling risk environment. Older adults have witnessed the changes to the way gambling is provided and promoted in public spaces, but little is known about how these changes have shaped the way they conceptualize the risks associated with gambling. Guided by critical qualitative inquiry, semi structured interviews were conducted with 40 Australian adults aged 55 years and older, who had gambled at least once in the last 12 months. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. Participants discussed gambling environments in Australia and how they had changed through the proliferation of gambling products, environments, and opportunities; the risks posed through the embedding of gambling in community and media environments; the role of technology in gambling environments; and the role of marketing and promotions in the changing gambling environments. Participants recognized that these factors had contributed to gambling environments becoming increasingly risky over time. However, despite the perception of increased risk, many participants had engaged with new gambling technologies, products, and environments. This research supports the adoption of public health responses that include consideration of the environmental, commercial, and political factors that may contribute to risky gambling environments.

Microplastic pollution on hiking and running trails in Australian protected environments

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous worldwide, present even in remote areas of the natural environment. Hiking and trail running are a source of MPs on recreational trails in protected environments, which are characterised by high biodiversity and natural, ecological or cultural significance. Our understanding of the risks of microplastic pollution is impeded however by a lack of information on MPs present in the soil environment in such areas. This study characterised the quantity and physicochemical characteristics of MPs in two conservation areas in south-eastern Australia: 1) the adjacent Duval Nature Reserve and Dumaresq Dam Reserve, and 2) the Washpool and Gibraltar Range National Parks. We measured atmospheric deposition over a six-month period in the Reserves, and baseline amounts of MPs on recreational trails in the Reserves and National Parks. Atmospheric deposition averaged 17.4 MPs m−2 day−1 and was dominated by fibres, comprising 84 % of MPs. Microplastics detected on trail surfaces ranged from 162.5 ± 41.6 MPs/linear metre to 168.7 ± 18.5 MPs/linear metre and exhibited a very wide range of physical and chemical characteristics. The majority of MPs on the trail surfaces comprised polyurethane, polyethylene terephthalate and polystyrene, and 47–71 % were fibres. Microplastics were attributed to clothing, footwear, litter, and diffuse sources. Minimising and preventing MP pollution, however, is complex given there are multiple direct and diffuse sources, and several factors influencing increased MP deposition and retention in the environment.

Stool donor screening within a Therapeutic Goods Administration compliant donor screening program for fecal microbiota transplantation.

This study evaluates whether a stool donor program to supply fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) product is feasible in the Australian regulatory environment. The primary outcome was capacity to supply FMT product. The secondary outcomes were donor eligibility, retention, and output. Prospective observational cohort study using data collected from the stool donor and FMT production records from BiomeBank, South Australia. Participants were people who engaged with BiomeBank's donor screening and FMT manufacturing process between 01 January 2021 and 31 December 2021. In total 176 people registered interest in the program, 74 of 176 (42.0%) proceeded to written questionnaire, 14 of 176 (8.0%) underwent clinical assessment, and 8 of 176 (4.5%) enrolled in the program. Two people were ineligible based on laboratory tests: both had an extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing organism in stool and one also tested positive for hepatitis B core antibody. Two donors remained eligible from 2020, resulting in 10 enrolled donors in 2021; 5 of 10 (50%) male with a median age of 36.9 years (interquartile range, 30.3-42.7 years). All donors were ineligible to donate at some time point. There were 144 stool donations processed into 1480 50 mL FMT; 413 FMT were shipped to 33 Australian hospitals for treatment, 470 for clinical trials, and 89 were destroyed prior to release from quarantine. Recruitment into the program, retention, and maximizing the yield from a donation period was challenging. Despite this, BiomeBank was able to produce and supply FMT to Australian hospitals under the TGA-regulated Class 2 Biologicals framework.

'A Taste of Hell': Fires, Landscapes, Emotions, and Renewal

Australian settler fiction and poetry stage shifting notions of temporality in relation to bushfires. The fire was an important plot device in settler writing, initially adding a touch of local colour for readers back home in England through stories of melodramatic rescue. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, understandings of fire had begun to change, as settlers began to learn that fires were not simply one-off catastrophes, but rather they were recurring phenomena. Underpinning my arguments with theories of affect, in particular Brian Massumi’s work on ‘fear of future fire’ and the philosopher Alexander Bain’s work on trauma, I argue that as settlers became increasingly conscious of the cyclicality of bushfires, their understandings of time and its relation to landscape altered. Realist writing responded to this deepening knowledge of the Australian environment, and instead of emphasizing the fleeting drama of a fire, fiction began to focus on its seasonal return. These stories and poems highlight the extreme vigilance that accompanies heightened knowledge and memories of the land. We see characters waiting for fires to arrive in scenes that are often agonizing in their slow pace, leaving them caught, as Barbara Eckstein expresses it, ‘between bushfire and approaching’ (Eckstein 2014, 256). Yet we also see bushfires, both actual and anticipated, accumulate memories of fires that have come before, and the devastation they have caused. Memory and nostalgia play important and complicated roles in attempts to mediate and manage the Australian landscape, exposing the fiction of a land that could be tamed or pastoralized to become just like the home settlers had left behind. Drawing on the fire historian Tom Griffiths’ notion of the amnesia that enables survivors of bushfires to return to the site of the blaze and to build anew, I examine representations of characters who doggedly rebuild their old lives. In particular, I consider the fraught nature of ‘willed amnesia’ or the denial of the reality that fire will return, while also considering connections between memory and place. Keywords: bushfires; memory; disaster; fear; Australian settler culture

Sports foods are not all they shake up to be. An audit of formulated supplementary sports food products and packaging in Australian retail environments.

To determine store availability, total number of products, and types of Formulated Supplementary Sports Foods in Australia, along with their stated nutrition content, sweeteners added, total number, and type of claims displayed on the packaging. A cross-sectional, visual product audit of mainstream retailers. Supermarkets, pharmacies, health food stores, and gym/fitness centres. A total of 558 products were captured in the audit, 275 of which displayed the correct mandatory packaging attributes. Three categories of products were identified, based on the dominant nutrient. Only 184 products appeared to display the correct energy value based on the listed macronutrient content (protein, fat, carbohydrate, dietary fibre). The stated nutrient content was highly variable across all product subcategories. Nineteen different sweeteners were identified, with most foods containing only one (38.2%) or two (34.9%) types. The predominant sweetener was stevia glycosides. Packages displayed multiple claims, with a maximum of 67 and minimum of 2 claims. Nutrition content claims were most frequently displayed (on 98.5% of products). Claims included regulated, minimally regulated and marketing statements. Sports food consumers should be provided with accurate and detailed on pack nutrition information, to ensure informed choices are made. However, this audit showed multiple products which did not conform to current standards, appeared to provide inaccurate nutrition information, contained multiple sweeteners, and displayed an overwhelming number of on-pack claims. The increase in sales, availability, and products available in mainstream retail environments, could be impacting both intended consumers (athletes), and general non-athlete population. The results indicate underperformance in manufacturing practices which preference marketing over quality and stronger regulatory approaches are needed to protect consumer health and safety, and to prevent misleading consumers.

Development of the Circular Economy Design Guidelines for the Australian Built Environment Sector

The construction and demolition (C&amp;D) waste stream is the main source of solid waste in Australia. While there is a strong circularity drive in Australia’s and state/territory governments’ waste regulatory framework, clear guidelines for C&amp;D waste management are yet to be developed for the built environment sector in Australia. This study proposes a suite of construction industry-specific guidelines for achieving circular economy (CE) goals by reviewing issues related to “Design for Zero Waste” (DfZW) and “Design for Recycling” (DfR). To do so, this study explores the current CE practices in construction and infrastructure projects in both global and Australian contexts through a systematic literature review. In addition, barriers and enablers of CE in the built environment were identified. This study provides a list of guidelines that can help industry practitioners achieve CE in the construction sector in Australia. These guidelines draw on the main themes identified through the literature review: circularity practices, resource management, innovation, and optimisation. Thus, this study bridges the gap between theory and practice by offering clear, circular guidelines for designing out C&amp;D waste in Australia. The proposed guidelines enable industry practitioners to keep products and materials in use for a longer period and develop strategies to regenerate natural systems. Future research should focus on several aspects, including measuring emissions reductions linked to the strategies shown in the proposed guidelines.

The Act of Transitions: Exploring Cultural Aptitude Through Drama for Language Development

ABSTRACT The use of drama pedagogies in language education has fast become internationally recognised for its unique, synthesised approach to language learning. For this reason, the field has experienced large-scale growth, as evidenced by drama and non-drama specialists bringing applied and educational linguistics and drama together. This paper aims to interrogate drama’s ability to develop context-driven learning in the language classroom and looks more deeply at the affective embodied dimensions of drama for language development as a precursor to cultural aptitude. Data collected from a targeted drama program in Australia is used to discern patterns establish findings which contribute to linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes. This study suggests that drama helped students become more communicatively competent within an Australian secondary schooling environment, assisted by the cultural aptitude and skill development embedded within the program. This paper goes on to argue that that cultural aptitudes and skills can be developed as a result of the intertwinement of linguistic and cultural skills within the affective interactional contexts created by drama.