The Discover Best Practice Farming for a Sustainable 2050 Course is based on a clear vision: imagine best practice farming for 2050, start to implement these strategies now, all the while making sure it will still be profitable. At UWA we're doing just that with the Future Farm 2050 Project, set on a mixed-enterprise farm in Western Australia and we want you to learn how it can be done in your part of the world. Although this course is based on agriculture, it's not only about farming. It is a multi-disciplinary course that addresses a wide range of issues confronting the industry, including rural communities, rural infrastructure and conservation of biodiversity in agriculture. By completing this course you will understand that feeding and clothing the planet requires a multi-disciplinary approach and upon completion you will be able to explain best practices of sustainable farming and apply them in new contexts.
Dr Susan Bailey: People
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Discover Best Practice Farming for a Sustainable 2050
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From the lesson
People and Infrastructure
Welcome to Week 6 of "Discover Best Practice Farming for a Sustainable 2050". This week you'll be introduced to the importance of People and Infrastructure for sustainable agriculture. People in regional areas face many different challenges to those residing in urban areas. The changing environment has further increased these challenges. In addition, infrastructure in regional areas is expensive to build and often not "Fit for Purpose"
Meet the Instructors
Graeme MartinProfessor
School of Agriculture and Environment
Hello, my name is Dr. Susan Bailey,
and I teach and research in the area of Ecosocial work.
Ecosocial workers emphasize the importance of working with
both social and ecological systems to understand how we can live more sustainably.
This means, we work across disciplines with a diverse variety of people,
and we take action together to come to some of the challenges
our planet and humans face in the 21st century.
Today, I'm going to outline how Ecosocial work contributes to
the UWA Future Farm Project and to rural futures more generally.
As Professor Graham Martin pointed out earlier,
we cannot longer continue doing what we have been
doing and the need for change is urgent,
but for many of us, change isn't easy.
I have no doubt that many of you will have
experienced the difficulty of change at a personal level.
In this presentation, I aim to deepen your understanding of how we are
thinking about the change process that underpins the Future Farm Project,
but first, let me begin by providing you with some context.
As you all know, from The Welcome to Country,
the Ngunnawal people are the traditional custodians of the [inaudible] region,
where the Future Farm Project is located.
Indigenous Australians' connection to the land has been estimated at over 50,000 years.
Central to their world view, are two beliefs.
One, that humans are a part of nature and two,
it is important to live respectfully alongside natural systems.
Fourmille's quote on the slide provides an introduction to indigenous world views,
Indigenous peoples have evolved complex relationships based on
systems of eco-kinship with the elements of the world that surround them,
and that often expressed through totemic relationships with various species,
as well as religious ceremonies that involve
the celebration of human-nature relationships.
In 1788, 228 years ago,
Europeans arrived in Australia.
This arrival is framed as an invasion by some,
and settlement by others.
Clearly, this is controversial and each of you will have your own perspectives on this.
My own ancestors arrived in Australia in 1855.
My great great grandfather,
whose picture is on the slide,
was a shepherd in Scotland when
the Industrial Revolution reduced his capacity to meet the needs of his family.
He and his family came to Australia seeking
a better life and began farming sheep in South Australia.
He, along with many other Europeans,
imported farming practices from their country of origin,
that we now know,
with the benefit of hindsight,
caused significant damage to Australian ecosystems.
At the same time,
over the same time period,
the rise of capitalism led to overconsumption,
to the point where we have reached ecological overshoot.
It is now very evident that people's impact on
our ecosystem has been very damaging and we are faced with severe consequences.
You can say from that very brief history that change is ever present and ongoing.
However, the change we are now facing is of
an unprecedented speed and scope
and it will impact on the future of humanity on the Earth.
There is worldwide acceptance that we now face a number of serious threats.
They include pollution, deforestation,
a loss of biodiversity, loss of habitat,
and population increase, which have led to declining access to water, climate change,
food insecurity, leading to poverty,
inequality, and an increase in conflict and violence.
So let's have a look at how a decline in access to water,
has impacted on urban and rural communities.
Those of us who live in cities or in urban locations are aware that things are different,
but the impacts on our daily life are barely noticeable.
For example, in Perth,
Western Australia, where I live,
47% of our water supply now comes from desalination plans.
The change from traditional water sources to desalination began in
2001 and happened without any interruption to water supplies.
Indeed, many people living in Perth have no idea that this has happened.
In contrast, it's a very different matter for those
who live in our rural communities, particularly farmers.
As Margaret Alston points out in her research,
The longevity of the drought and the decline in available water has led to
unprecedented hardship for rural farm families in Australia,
and have led to growing levels of debt and poverty that
have seriously eroded farmers' ability to farm productively.
Farmers are also unfairly accused of contributing to environmental degradation.
Rural communities and farming families are clearly at the front,
in terms of experiencing the consequences of the threats outlined earlier.
We need to support our farmers and rural communities,
to address the threats and consequences.
Today, this has included developing technological solutions,
understanding and working alongside natural systems,
and this could include drawing upon indigenous knowledges,
and finally, through changing people's behavior.
And this is the area that I want to focus on.
Understanding how people change and resist change is important if
we are going to ask our fellow humans to make changes and live more sustainably.
Changes are resisted for a number of reasons: habits,
things have always been done this way; feeling judged,
lectured at, or attacked;
could be that there's a denial of need to change;
it could be connected to a fear of the unknown;
it may be that the idea of change is too overwhelming;
it could be that broader systems don't support
change and that there may be some political inertia;
and the threats that we're facing are slow moving and gradual.
For example, while I believe that the threats are
real and there is a real need for action,
I still behave in unsustainable ways.
Think about how you have changed your attitude or behavior in the past.
Was that when someone gave you information?
Was it when they told you some facts and figures?
Was it when they sent you a Facebook post?
To be told to do something generally makes people defensive and can be polarizing.
People are more likely to change when someone listens, focuses on strengths,
and then understands your perspectives as a beginning point,
so our relationship is central to this change process.
Ways to develop our relationships with a range of people within the Pingelly community,
is the Asset Based Community Development Approach, or ABCD.
As the name suggests,
this approach focuses on assets or strengths in communities.
There was a lot written about this approach and I've included
some references for those of you who might want to explore this further.
For the Future Farm Project,
this has involved Ecosocial workers,
spending time with community members and building
trust relationships as a solid foundation.
We also encourage our students from
a wide range of disciplines to spend time in Pingelly,
undertaking a range of activities,
including rural studios, community work,
asset mapping and others.This has led to some really exciting community events.
For example, AstroFest, an astronomy festival held in Pingelly,
which brought together people from the city and
regional areas to enjoy the Western Australian night sky.
There are also other collaborative projects,
for example, a new cultural and recreation center,
is being built in Pingelly,
and this was designed by Patrick Beale,
an architect at the University of Western Australia,
who is connected to the Future Farm Project.
You will hear from Patrick shortly.
What we didn't do,
is arrive in the community as the experts and tell people what they need to be doing.
As I highlighted earlier,
this approach is likely to alienate rather than to
build relationship and lead to effective change.
Over time, it became very clear that the community of Pingelly were very
resilient and responding in innovative ways to the challenges that we're facing.
However, it was also clear that the Future Farm Project and the University more
broadly had resources and information that are vital for rural communities.
The challenge that we face was to bring the two together in a way
that was respectful and non-judgmental,
and I've used the Loss and Grief Framework,
to enable that process to happen.
Many researchers have used the Loss and Grief Model,
to understand what is happening in rural communities across the world.
This quote from Margo Alston research highlights what's happening,
There is this whole aspect of grieving going on,
there is this humongous grieving for the loss of the land,
for the loss of heritage,
for what is familiar,
and a loss of financial security.
In fact, there were losses at all levels.
The dual process model of coping with loss is a way of
understanding grieving devised in 1999.
This approach outlines that
generally a grieving person engages in two primary types of coping with a loss.
The first is Loss Oriented Coping where there is a concentration on,
and dealing with an aspect of the loss,
and the second is Restoration Oriented Coping,
and this is where the person attends to the life changes,
and begins doing new things,
and engaging in new activities,
and developing a new identity.
The key to enabling a healthy change process is oscillation or movement between the two.
So how do these concepts apply to the future of farming?
As highlighted earlier, it is evident that rural communities in Australia,
and indeed across the world,
are experiencing deep and profound losses.
Loss of familiar landscapes,
loss of income, loss of identity.
And it is understandable that these losses have
significant impacts on farming families and rural communities.
For many people in rural communities,
there are limited opportunities to access restorative coping examples.
Consequently, they remain stuck in the loss orientation.
Our aim is to provide examples and opportunities,
to enable farmers to imagine how they can be different or do things differently,
and this is a really important first step.
The Future Farm Project provides rural communities and
farmers with many examples of restoration oriented coping strategies.
One of my favorite examples is a research project undertaken at
the Future Farm by Professor Phillip Vercoe and his colleagues.
His research explored how native flora could be used to feed sheep.
The team discovered that using native flora could improve profitability
by up to 24% in low to medium rainfall areas.
As well, there was a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and erosion,
so this research provides farmers with an opportunity to engage with new ways of farming.
To revisit the dual process model,
it enables farmers to move to restoration orientation
focused activities and to facilitate change in a hopeful way.
It is our intention that you all, through this move,
will be introduced to new technologies and different ways of doing things,
through the work being undertaken on the Future Farm Project.
Today we have covered.
The specific historical context of the Future Farm,
Current threats and impacts on urban and rural communities,
Understanding change and the importance of relationships,
Rural futures and loss and grief.
You were introduced to the dual process model of coping with the Future Farm,
as an example of a restorative oriented activity,
which leads to hope for change and hope for the future.
And finally, I want to reiterate that Ecosocial workers
emphasize the importance of working with both social and ecological systems,
to understand how we can live more sustainably.
This includes thinking about the houses that we occupy for a good part of our lives.
Now, I'm pleased to hand you over to Professor Patrick Beale,
who is going to introduce you to the Possibilities of Sustainable Housing.
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