Engaging the community

BioCity@UniSA conducts research and provides education relating to the complex environmental issues which cities encounter. The other five themes of the research centre highlight these issues and the interplay between them. One more vitally important component is community, the sixth theme of BioCity@UniSA. It is the community who can inform, learn, and change, to conserve biodiversity and create green cities. It is the community who use land and water, and as a community we face new environmental hazards.

Humanity seeks sustainability of its economies, social structures, and environmental conditions. To achieve these goals, changes are required. BioCity@UniSA is focused on changes in environmental conditions, behaviours that impact on our environment, the cities we build, and our management of resources. These changes need to be well informed and underpinned by a thorough understanding of the natural, built, and social environments they address.

BioCity@UniSA seeks to play an important role in achieving sustainability by drawing together universities, government, and private enterprise, and providing research and education. However, change is not effective without community involvement. Communities need to be informed of the challenges that face them, and inform decisions regarding their future, allowing a sense of ownership over their future. Most importantly, communities need to be engaged.

Information exchange

For BioCity@UniSA, information exchange is a two-way process. Research is focussed on gathering information on issues of sustainability and on disseminating information to the community, governments, and private organisations. Projects, such as Operation Bluetongue, will involve the community, making use of community resources to gather data on the environmental distribution of important local species. Conversely, information is disseminated to the public through this website, through mass media including newspaper, books, radio, and television, and through publishing in academic journals. In this way, the community is engaged with its environment, promoting the discussion and debate of topical issues.

Education

Sustainability is incorporated into teaching, research, and facilities. Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are designed to provide students with a diverse set of theoretical knowledge and practical skills that will enable them to tackle issues that will frame the sustainable development of society. BioCity@UniSA is developing new models for education involving multidisciplinary approaches to teaching and research in sustainability, including practice-based learning and strategies to improve social inclusion.

Educational facilities

There are a growing number of exciting facilities available within the School of Natural and Built Environments. Importantly, they are used in research and education of University staff and students, and for educating the community.

EcoCentre

The EcoCentre is a new teaching and research facility being developed at the University’s Mawson Lakes campus, alongside a wetland that supports more than 30 species of local and migratory birds. The EcoCentre is planned in three stages.

Stage one is complete and includes a climate controlled greenhouse and a propagation laboratory. These facilities use sustainable technologies such as photovoltaic solar energy collection. Water Sensitive Urban Design technologies have also been incorporated, including rainwater collection tanks, permeable pavement car parking, and a vegetated biofiltration swale. These technologies are presented to facilitate understanding for industry partners and community members, as well as university and school students who can visit the site.

Fauna Centre

The School of Natural and Built Environments maintains the Fauna Centre at Mawson Lakes for teaching, research, and community education programs. The Centre houses a number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates, most of which are Australian native species. The fauna centre facilities promote biodiversity and encourage university education. Primary and High school students visit the centre frequently. Short courses in animal husbandry are offered each year.

Planetarium

A planetarium is a room with a dome-shaped ceiling used to represent the night sky and can be used to show the relative positions of constellations, stars, and planets.
The Adelaide Planetarium is housed at the University of South Australia's Mawson Lakes campus. Over 8,000 people visit the Planetarium yearly to learn more about the night sky.

A number of courses are run at the Planetarium for the general public, primary and secondary schools, and tour groups. These courses include: The Night Sky, Discover the Planets, Tour of the Solar System, Discover the Stars, The Universe and Beyond, Starlore and Solar System Astronomy, and Aboriginal Skies. More information on these courses is available on the Planetarium Course Page.