John P. Rayner

Developments in Australian Agricultural and Related Education.

While the calm waters metaphor might explain the changes navigated by Australian agricultural education through most of its history, the last 20 or so years have been very turbulent. Now, the new millennium sees agricultural education in both Australia and the Western world facing a different and less certain future. This paper analyses some of the structural changes to occur in the provision of agricultural higher education and revisits some of the key themes addressed in the McColl Report, the last substantive review of Australian agricultural and related education. While this report foreshadowed a weakening demand for education places, it did not foresee the extent of the decline in agricultural enrolments nor the profound changes to the provider landscape, particularly in the State of Victoria. Curriculum trends are also having an impact on upon the visibility of agriculture within higher education and this has implications for education-to-career transparency.

Extension Approaches for Horticultural Innovation

The focus of this chapter is towards the changing extension climate surrounding the horticultural industry and the implications for horticultural extension now and into the future. Extension as a function and a practice is being redefined in many countries alongside changes in the institutional arrangements for extension, changing funding models and varying degrees of involvement of the private sector. The chapter analyses: industry/sector changes and implications for extension traditional and more recent interpretation surrounding extension definitions and delivery models the evolving enabling environment, resource constraints and institutional roles surrounding extension service delivery the extension practitioner (their skills, competencies, roles) elements of a model suited to support industry needs with high, ongoing innovation requirements.

Engaging Students with Environmental Sustainability at a Research Intensive University: Examples of Small Successes

The University of Melbourne’s Vision for Education for Sustainability is “To develop graduates who will lead change for a sustainable future” (University of Melbourne 2011). This goal is for all graduates and many aspects of a student’s experiences will cumulatively contribute toward this outcome. While the individual experiences of students will vary, in particular in the formal curriculum depending on that student’s specialization, there are elements of sustainability in the formal and hidden curriculum that all students will experience or can access. This chapter will first explore students’ perceptions and concerns regarding environmental sustainability, as gauged through a biennial survey, and then discuss some examples of ways that students of the University of Melbourne engage with aspects of environmental sustainability, including through research, the formal curriculum, the hidden curriculum of the campus, and campus operations.