Torres Strait Islander Perspectives Research Articles

Challenging deficit discourse in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition and dietetics research: A critical discourse analysis

Prior to colonisation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples used detailed knowledges on food and nutrition to develop sustainable practices which supported strong and healthy ways of life. Despite this, there is often a focus in the nutrition and dietetics literature on the deficits relating to food and nutrition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, rather than the strengths. This study used a critical discourse analysis to investigate how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are portrayed in the discourse of peer-reviewed research relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition and dietetics. In doing so, this study explored the extent to which these portrayals perpetuate deficit discourse and the implications of this for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health, and nutrition and dietetics research. Four prominent themes were identified: problem describing, comparison, acknowledgment of colonisation and inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. The results indicate that deficit discourse dominates nutrition and dietetics literature, and a lack of strengths-based discourse is evident. This study brings awareness to, and emphasises the importance of, challenging and changing these discourses to ones that are more strengths-based.

Stoking the Fires of Pre-service Educators through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ways of Learning

Great emphasis has been placed on embedding Indigenous knowledges and perspectives in western-based education systems and pedagogical practices. This study discusses the results of a four-month program for pre-service teachers that targeted best-practice Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pedagogy.  The program challenged existing notions of western-based teaching and learning through innovative approaches to the design of learning. Specifically, the program has been underpinned by the 8 Ways Aboriginal Pedagogical Framework which focuses on interconnected learning experiences which have been developed through Aboriginal systems, protocols, values and processes. The program embedded authentic practices aimed at empowering pre-service teachers. The research design explored four dimensions of empowerment relating to embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives: knowledge, understanding, perceptions and attitudes. Quantitative survey data was gathered pre and post program and paired samples t-tests were conducted and found all four dimensions of empowerment improved significantly following the program (p < 0.05). The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessing through the lens of the 8 Ways Aboriginal Pedagogical framework to increase teacher agency to become more culturally responsive educators.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives on forensic risk assessment

Risk assessment instruments are used to estimate risk of recidivism and aid in decision-making and treatment planning. However, many of these instruments, including the Level of Service/Risk, Need, Responsivity (LS/RNR), are validated on predominantly Western populations, and research has questioned whether the factors included in the LS/RNR adequately capture the experiences and needs of non-Western communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The current study aimed to canvas the opinions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community justice workers as to the suitability of the LS/RNR for use with this population. A general qualitative methodology was adopted to gain in-depth information through the facilitation of a focus group, and data were analysed thematically. Whilst participants agreed that the LS/RNR risk factors are relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders, they reported that the instrument did not adequately capture relevant culturally specific considerations and made suggestions to improve the LS/RNR.

Homesickness at Home: A Scoping Review of Solastalgia Experiences in Australia.

Solastalgia is a term used to describe the pain and distress experienced by those witnessing their home environments destroyed or changed in unwelcome ways. Solastalgia is expected to become more prominent as climate change worsens and transforms landscapes. This scoping review examines and maps the existing literature on solastalgia in Australia, particularly focusing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences. Four focus questions guided the review to explore how solastalgia is conceptualized, highlight risk and protective factors, and identify strategies for addressing solastalgia. Eighteen papers met the criteria for inclusion. Overall, our results show a minimal evidence base on solastalgia in Australia with an even greater gap in exploring solastalgia from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. A strong connection to home environments was suggested as both a risk and protective factor for experiencing solastalgia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are considered at risk due to intimate connections to home environments, and since the invasion, have experienced mental distress resulting from significant, damaging changes to landscapes and home environments. We recommend further exploration of lived experiences of solastalgia across a greater diversity of Australian contexts, particularly amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including a focus on practical implications.

Students as co-creators of an Aboriginal & Torres Strait heritage garden and interactive maps

Over the last decade in response to the Universities Australia National Best Practice Framework for Indigenous Cultural Competency (2011), Australian Higher Education curricula have become increasingly permeable to First Nations ways of knowing being and doing. Online Campus Floras ("Turning campus grounds into botanical learning and teaching spaces,"Quinnell, The University of Sydney, 2020) can offer valuable teaching resources for biology and for experiential place-based learning beyond biology (e.g., in ecology, human geography, storytelling) as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage walking trails (Muecke & Eadie, 2020), and as portals to translate intergenerational knowledge by offering cultural, experiential learning for everyone (Muecke & Eadie, 2020).  Partnerships between schools, two Australian universities (one in Brisbane and one in Sydney) and respectful working practices with First Nations knowledge holders in use of co-designed citizenship science projects to create, curate and disseminate location and information about Indigenous Knowings in plants by incorporating learning objects (photos, videos) derived from observations of campus flora at a university in Brisbane, Queensland, is the first of its kind to create a distinctive learning environment celebrating co-creation alongside Indigenous Knowings in curriculum via use of technology. The value of outdoor learning in the context of First Nations’ cultural connections to the living worlds is well-documented, with most botanical gardens and universities offering Aboriginal heritage trails (e.g., Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology("RMIT Keelbundoora scarred trees and heritage trail," 2020), Murdoch University ("Murdoch University: Ngoolak, Poolgala and Koorloo Walk Trail," 2020), Monash University ("Monash University:Aboriginal Trail," 2020)), The University of Sydney (“Patyegarang Language Trail, 2016). In addition, citizen science approaches offered the means for students and knowledge experts to collaborate in an online environment whilst working outdoors (e.g., Pettit et al., 2014; Struwe et al., 2014). Citizen science applications like iNaturalist App, resolve the challenges for collaborators (students and knowledge experts) when unable to physically meet due to remote locations and COVID-19 restrictions, to meet online and work in equal partnership to develop their digital literacies and resources. Here, First Nations plant knowledge was gathered in partnership from an external Indigenous plants/garden local consultant for Brisbane with students from our school collaborators via regular guidance and consultation. Learning objects (i.e. plants, yarning circles, native beehives) were crafted into a virtual educational tour using an online mapping system iNaturalist App to facilitate blended learning experiences. Students follow up by participating in development of appropriate inclusion of this information in the curriculum. Use of these online resources can widen participation outcomes and deeply embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into school and university curricula leading to preservation and promotion of Indigenous Knowings both to a national and international audience. Permission to disseminate and share this information as a teaching resource between First Nations, participating schools and the two participating universities was secured. Implications for further practice include co-creation and development of online Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander heritage walking trails at other universities, linking to local and national botanical gardens and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resource websites.

Building capacity in those who deliver palliative care services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Summary The role of culture in palliative care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples builds on over 60 000 years of history and includes meaningful practices to support a good “finishing up”.The Gwandalan National Palliative Care Project aims to build capacity in those who deliver palliative care to embed culturally responsive care in all end‐of‐life settings.Community consultation, value co‐creation and user‐centred design ensured that diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives informed the Gwandalan curriculum.Emerging communities of practice serve as yarning circles where barriers to and enablers of service delivery can be shared and addressed collaboratively.

Implementing Optimal Care Pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People With Cancer: A Survey of Rural Health Professionals' Self-Rated Learning Needs.

Objective:In 2018, the Optimal Care Pathway (OCP) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer was developed in Australia to improve the cancer care experiences and outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.Methods:Our study examined health professionals’ learning needs to meet the clinical practice requirements of the new OCP. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 120 health professionals providing oncology care in two rural areas in Victoria, Australia. Questions included demographics, practice, cancer OCPs and implementation recommendations. Descriptive, chi-square and thematic analyses were undertaken.Results:Fifty-two health professionals from medicine (21%), nursing (37%) and allied health (37%) responded. All OCP sub-categories were selected, with a mean of 23 sub-categories identified as areas requiring additional learning. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives, Treatment, and End of Life were the categories of higher interest. Care After Initial Treatment and Recovery was the category of lower interest. For respondents without cultural training, sub-categories involving practical tasks were of significant interest. Cultural education, connecting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services, putting learning into practice and respect emerged as themes.Conclusion:Strategies to address gaps included cultural safety training, person and family centred practice, and partnerships and connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations across primary and tertiary sectors.

Protocols for an Aboriginal-led, Multi-methods Study of the Role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers, Practitioners and Liaison Officers in Quality Acute Health Care

Objectives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers/Practitioners and Liaison Officers play an important, often critical role providing advocacy and cultural and emotional support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. The main goals of this research are to explore i) how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers/Practitioners and Liaison Officers are integrated in the routine delivery of care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in hospital, and ii) how the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers/Practitioners and Liaison Officers facilitates quality health outcomes. Methods This study is being conducted in three different hospitals using a multi-method approach including: yarning and Dadirri, patient journey mapping, survey and semi-structured interviews. Ethics approval has been provided from four ethics committees covering the three project sites in Australia (Adelaide, South Australia; Sydney, New South Wales and Alice Springs, Northern Territory). Significance This study uses innovative methodology founded on the privileging of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges to collect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and understand patient journeys within acute health care systems. This project is led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers and guided by the Project Steering Committee comprised of stakeholders. Implications There is limited research that explores quality acute care processes and the integration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers/Practitioners work within health care teams. This research will make a valuable contribution to understanding how hospital services can achieve quality acute health care experiences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Subjects in a Graduate Diploma of Midwifery: A pilot study

Background: Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council prescribes midwifery accreditation standards that support students’ development in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and cultural safety to be deemed practice ready. However, the impact of training programmes are not widely explored. Aim: This study aimed to assess the impact of a mandatory 8-week online subject focussed on the development of culturally safe practices among midwifery students. Methods: The Ganngaleh nga Yagaleh cultural safety assessment tool was used to collect online quantitative data from post graduate midwifery students at the commencement and completion of an online subject. Results: Through a purposive sample (n = 10) participant perceptions of culturally safe practices remained relatively unchanged, except for three items of the Ganngaleh nga Yagaleh cultural safety assessment tool. Discussion: Findings demonstrate that when post graduate midwifery students are exposed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives of Australia’s colonial history it impacts their sense of optimism, personal values and beliefs about the healthcare they will provide to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, midwifery students who self-identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, reported a decline in optimism when imagining a healthcare system free of racism. Conclusion: The subject did not impact on cultural safety scores. This may be due to prior learning of student midwives. Educators should consider building on prior knowledge in post graduate midwifery to ensure the content is contextualised to midwifery.

‘You’ll Never Get Cultural Competence in Science’: An Australian Perspective on Integrating Cultural Competence into Science Teaching Via Cultural Accountability

In the last decade, the Australian higher education sector has championed the inclusion of cultural competence (CC) as a key graduate quality. Diverse disciplinary learning and teaching approaches requiring careful consideration about how best to achieve the end goal of supporting graduates on their individual, life-long pathways to engage with CC. Science can be viewed as an inflexible and immovable discipline. This perception seems particularly prevalent with respect to scientists acknowledging epistemes outside of a western cultural frame. It follows that eliciting curriculum reform with respect to CC broadly, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives more specifically, was perceived to be a significant challenge. Through interviews with eleven non-Indigenous academics across the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney, we uncovered several strategies for including multiple knowledges in science, with academics traversing these new horizons by building on the work of and collaborating with Indigenous Elders and academics to create enriched learning spaces. Alongside these strategies are staff reflections on their CC journey, which indicate that this endeavour entails necessary and vital discomforts that ultimately enable transformation. This process while guided by CC, led to experiences of cultural humility and a conviction in the role of cultural accountability.

Perspectives of my lived experiences for addressing suicides among aboriginal communities in the North Queensland tropics

This article contextualises my perspectives of Indigenous knowledge within a cultural cosmology, used to address the suicide epidemic in an Indigenous Community in the Far North Queensland Tropics of Australia. I use my personal narrative from the philosophical standpoint theory of an Indigenous female with first-hand experience of living under the residues of the Queensland Government Act (1897). Through the lens of a social constructivist worldview and theoretical underpinnings of Indigenist research, I give honour to Indigenous knowledge, cultural values and privilege the voices of local people. As a PhD researcher at James Cook University, I apply to my research, “Healing after experiencing the suicide of a young person—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives informed by Indigenous Knowledges” with three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. This research also aligns itself to the JCU Strategic Intent, Peoples and Society in the Tropics.

Physical activity interventions to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: a systematic review protocol.

This systematic review aims to synthesize evidence to determine the effect of physical activity on the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Physical activity interventions have been shown to have a positive influence in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. A body of evidence for the impact among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is emerging, but a definitive understanding is yet to be realized. The review will include studies with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations of any age group and from any setting or region in Australia. Studies will be included if they report on physical activity interventions, programs, or activities to prevent or manage type 2 diabetes. Studies may compare physical activity interventions to usual care, alternate treatments, or no intervention, or may be pre-post studies. This review will consider studies that measure change in physical activity or exercise levels and/or change in HbA1c level. Nine databases will be searched, and studies published in English will be included. No date limits will be set. Methodological quality will be determined using critical appraisal checklists appropriate to the study design and the CREATE Critical Appraisal Tool to appraise research from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. Data extracted will include population group, study design, methods, intervention components, and physical activity-related outcomes. Quantitative data will be pooled where possible to enable a meta-analysis to be conducted. Heterogeneous studies will be synthesized narratively.

First Nations First: Reshaping the Australian Performing Arts Market Through Respectful Engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists and Companies

Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) is the Australia Council for the Arts’ key strategic engagement to develop national and international touring opportunities for Australian contemporary performing arts. Prior to delivery of the Market1 by Brisbane Powerhouse there was criticism from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performing arts sector about the lack of inclusion of Indigenous cultural products and low visibility of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and cultural protocols in the delivery of the Market. Over a sequence of three iterations from 2014 to 2018 Brisbane Powerhouse made a deep commitment to the recognition of the unique contribution that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and companies bring to a performing arts market in Australia. The respectful inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists was a palpable step-change. This article investigates how APAM became as a site for cultural resurgence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and demonstrates the activation of decolonized practices to reshape the Market.

Conceptualizing the Association Between Community Participation and CQI in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PHC Services.

Drawing from Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, we conceptualize the association between community participation and continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes in Indigenous primary health care (PHC) services. Indigenous experiences of community participation were drawn from our study identifying contextual factors affecting CQI processes in high-improving PHC services. Using case study design, we collected quantitative and qualitative data at the micro-, meso-, and macro-health system level in 2014 and 2015 in six services in northern Australia. Analyzing qualitative data, we found community participation was an important contextual factor in five of the six services. Embedded in cultural foundations, cultural rules, and expectations, community participation involved interacting elements of trusting relationships in metaphorically safe spaces, and reciprocated learning about each other's perspectives. Foregrounding Indigenous perspectives on community participation might assist more effective participatory processes in Indigenous PHC including in CQI processes.

The centrality of Aboriginal cultural workshops and experiential learning in a pre-service teacher education course: a regional Victorian University case study

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses a cross-cultural pedagogical approach, couched in a theory–practice nexus, used at a Victorian regional university to guide non-Indigenous pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and cultures. We have drawn on qualitative and statistical data, and current issues in Australian and international literature, to explore the relevance and success suggested by data from this cross-cultural pedagogical approach, in particular the notion of teacher ethnicity in racialised spaces. In doing so, we have addressed recent sentiments about a lack of quantitative and qualitative research that explores inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content and discussions of ways in which tertiary educators construct and influence teachings about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. It is anticipated that this paper will generate further dialogue and research-based evidence on ways in which other tertiary education providers may draw on cross-cultural theories to guide inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content and perspectives in PST education courses.

Consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in early childhood education: the impact of colonial discourses

In Australian early years education, consultation and partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are central to embedding Indigenous perspectives. Building sustained and reciprocal partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people supports access to local knowledges and perspectives to inform curriculum planning, as well as protocols and community processes, and contemporary responses to colonisation. Drawing on data from a doctoral study about embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in early childhood education curricula, this paper examines interactional patterns in consultations between non-Indigenous early childhood educators and Indigenous people in real and supposed form. Data is read through whiteness studies literature and related critiques to identify how the educators positioned Indigenous people in interactional patterns and how the mobilisation of colonial discourses impacted the potential for reciprocity and sustained partnerships, despite the best of intentions. Colonial traces of positioning Indigenous people as informants, targeted resources or knowledge commissioners were shown to be most salient in interactional patterns. While these findings are contextualised within Australia, I suggest they have applicability in examining approaches to embedding Indigenous perspectives in education curricula in other colonising contexts such as Canada and New Zealand.

Exploration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives of Home Medicines Review

In Australia, Home Medicines Review (HMR) has been found to be an important tool to raise awareness of medication safety, reduce adverse events and improve medication adherence. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 'underserviced' by the HMR program and are the most likely of all Australians to miss out on HMRs despite their high burden of chronic disease and high rates of hospitalisation due to medication misadventure. The goal of this study was to explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives of the Home Medicines Review program and their suggestions for an 'improved' or more readily accessible model of service. Eighteen semi-structured focus groups were conducted with 102 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients at 11 Aboriginal Health Services (AHSs). Participants who were multiple medication users and understood English were recruited to the study by AHS staff. Seven focus groups were conducted for people who had already used the HMR program (User, n=23) and 11 focus groups were conducted for people who had not had an HMR (Non User, n=79). Focus groups were recorded, de-identified and transcribed. Transcripts were coded and analysed for themes. Focus groups continued and concepts were explored until no new findings were being generated and thus saturation of data occurred. Focus group participants who had not had an HMR had little or no awareness of the HMR program. All the participants felt that lack of awareness and promotion of the HMR program were contributing factors to the low uptake of the HMR program by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Most participants felt that an HMR would assist them to better understand their medicines, would empower them to seek information about medicines, would improve relationships with health professionals and would increase the likelihood of medication adherence. Most of the User participants reported that the HMR interview had been very useful for learning more about their medicines. However, many reported that they found the process confusing and confronting. The majority of participants felt HMRs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients should be organised by AHS staff, with patients being offered a choice of location for the HMR interview. Participants identified that Aboriginal Health Workers should play a key role in communication, knowledge translation, referral and follow-up. Current HMR rules impede rather than facilitate HMRs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Tailoring and remodelling of the HMR program is needed to increase the awareness, accessibility, acceptability and effectiveness of the HMR program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The legacy of racism and Indigenous Australian identity within education

It may be argued that the emerging discourses focusing on the social, emotional, educational, and economic disadvantages identified for Australia’s First Peoples (when compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts) are becoming increasingly dissociated with an understanding of the interplay between historical and current trends in racism. Additionally, and if not somewhat related to this critique, it can be suggested that the very construction of research from a Western perspective of Indigenous identity (as opposed to identities) and ways of being are deeply entwined within the undertones of epistemological racism still prevalent today. It is the purpose of this article to move beyond the overreliance of outside-based understanding Western epistemologies, and to explore not only the complex nature of both racism and identity from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, but to also explore the role of education and research in perpetuating varying levels of racism and resistance to Indigenous identity(ies) from a contemporary insider-based standpoint. It is hoped this article will shed some light on the pervasive nature of racism directed at Indigenous Australians, and highlight the need for the continual acceptance, respect, and promotion of Indigenous voices and identities within the educational environment and beyond.

Lessons from a Face-to-Face Meeting on Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives: ‘A Contract of Intimacy’

THIS PAPER PRESENTS THE findings from a conversation between an Aboriginal educator and a non-Indigenous pre-service educator about the importance and complexities of building productive partnerships. Although the participants focused on the challenges and benefits of building relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators and non-Indigenous educators in Australian early years settings, the more significant outcome of the meeting was the personal connection two young women were able to make when a friendship began to develop. The project was intended to enable an opportunity for the participants ‘to engage in reflexivity on their pedagogic work’, something Mills (2012) understands as crucial to the support of social justice and transformation in the classroom.

New Directions in Intercultural Early Education in Australia

Early education in Australia encompasses both early education and care (ECEC) and the early years of school. Educational approaches to cultural and linguistic diversity have varied not only by sector but also by jurisdiction based on distinct curriculum frameworks and policies. In Australian early education, provision for cultural and linguistic diversity has been framed largely by multicultural discourse, as defined by a complex history of progressive, yet often superficial reforms. Current initiatives serve to change this trajectory and the positioning of stakeholders. The incorporation of intercultural rather than multicultural approaches offers new possibilities for early education and directs attention to real challenges for ECEC. They re-position Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the First Australians, and direct attention to both Australia’s social, cultural and linguistic diversity and to the role of early childhood educators in enacting more inclusive pedagogies. Challenges yet to be addressed include the cultural understanding of Australian early childhood educators, particularly those who identify as Anglo-Australian, deeper policy enactment in pedagogic practice and negotiation with diverse families and communities. This paper will address the historical and current policy contexts of intercultural early education in Australia, the development of intercultural initiatives, and emerging issues as national policies are introduced. The discussion draws on responses to intercultural early education in New Zealand and Canada to consider approaches to intercultural priorities in Australia. The paper will attend predominantly to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives as a core element of change in Australian early childhood policy, focussing on ECEC.