Andrew Harwood

Feral travel and the transport field: Some observations on the politics of regulating skating in Tasmania

Abstract This paper summarises skating regulation around Australia, focusing on Tasmania. Such analysis is timely; the Australian Road Rules adopted in December 1999 expand skating from recreation to a mode of transport whose legitimacy assumes access to roads and footpaths, and deploys complex politics of identity and space, citizenship and access, and mobility.

Place influences in framing and understanding climate change adaptation challenges

The climate change literature emphasises the importance of geographical understanding for guiding adaptation, in which “place” perspectives are particularly significant. After “scale”, the term “place” within the climate change adaptation literature is most often implicitly used in reference to a delineated and localised region, such as place-based risk assessment or place-based adaptation planning. Here, we use a case study of the Australian island-state of Tasmania to demonstrate the importance and particularity of place in the formation of climate change adaptation issues, problem definition and framing, and the dynamics of knowledge and praxis development across a range of research and industry sectors. We describe the significance of the place Tasmania with regard to its geographical location; its portrayal as an island place; and its cultural meaning and relations. Through a synthesis of climate change adaptation research, policy literature and engagement with researchers and stakeholders, we identify three emergent thematic place characterisations of Tasmania. We find that these characterisations have contributed directly or indirectly to the: initiation and extent of research and practical activities; the framing of adaptation issues and perspectives on potential adaptation responses in different sectors including the marine biodiversity and resources sector, small business and human health sectors. Exposing these influences is essential for focusing future adaptation activities, including research, planning, investment and practice, in Tasmania and other locations where place is a central issue.

The benefits of embedding experiential learning in the education of planners

Abstract In a future of complexity, uncertainty and fragmented governance we envision planning graduates who will be better prepared for the real world of planning as a result of an experiential learning (EL) approach in undergraduate tertiary education. In this paper, we present the findings of an Australian research project in which planning educators developed and tested a range of experiential planning principles based on sound pedagogical theory. Embedding EL principles and activities within the planning curriculum provides a structured programme of engagement between theory and practice over the four years of an undergraduate Australian planning programme, including opportunities for work-integrated learning. Students gain experience in negotiated decision-making involving a wide range of interactions with planning practitioners. Students become more adaptable—cognizant of mechanisms influencing change, and recognize the value of lifelong learning founded on critical reflection. We propose that a more systematic approach to integrating experiential learning in tertiary planning education culminating in ‘work integrated learning’ would provide a vehicle for further partnerships with responsive local practitioners and communities. Finally, this paper also argues that applying experiential learning does not compromise the quality of planning education based on greater academic rigour.

Baseline survey of current experiential learning practice in Australian and New Zealand planning schools

Experiential Learning (EL) activities within higher education planning programmes provide opportunities for students to learn workplace skills and knowledge within ‘real-world’ contexts. Despite the documented theoretical benefits of EL there is a lack of information on current EL practice in tertiary institutions. Researchers undertook a baseline survey of current EL activities and associated assessment practices used in accredited university planning schools in Australia and New Zealand. Survey responses were received from 18 universities, with 15 out of 23 accredited planning programmes in Australian universities and 3 out of 4 equivalent planning programmes in New Zealand universities. The survey results suggest that some planning programmes are using EL activities to a greater extent than others and there is a diverse understanding and inconsistent vocabulary associated with EL activities. While having a guest speaker was the most used EL activity less than half were linked to assessment. By comparison, other EL activities, such as work experience, always had an assessment component. The survey provided a foundational understanding of current EL practice to inform a larger multi-university research project Experiential Learning in Planning Education (see www.usc.edu.au/explearning) which aims to develop a consistent approach to EL and resource materials for tertiary planning education.

Regional development and the Toowoomba Surat Basin Enterprise organization

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the development of the Toowoomba Surat Basin Enterprise economic development organization and how it used marketing and marketing support activities to enhance the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and foster entrepreneurial activity by local firms.

Applying a community entrepreneurship development framework to rural regional development

ABSTRACT This article develops a community entrepreneurship development (CED) framework and illustrates its use in a case study of the current and potential value of agriculture to the Barossa Valley in South Australia. The CED offers a framework for rural regional development that both practitioners and policymakers can use to develop and leverage entrepreneurial competencies and other forms of community capital to foster entrepreneurship at the community level. It assesses the potential for leveraging Emery and Flora’s [(2006). Spiraling-up: Mapping community transformation with community capitals framework. Community Development, 37(1), 19–35] community capital framework to build entrepreneurship and innovation. The findings suggest that the success of firm-level entrepreneurship is often dependent upon leveraging the rural region’s idiosyncratic natural capitals with human and social/entrepreneurial capitals to result in community-level entrepreneurial market development initiatives.