Bronte Catchment Project - Resources

Index to resources

Introduction

In 1999, the Stormwater Trust funded Waverley Council and the UNSW Schools of Social Science and Policy and Civil and Environmental Engineering to conduct an evaluation of innovative models of environmental education across Waverley Local Government Area. This project was funded by the Round 2 grants program. It is known as the ‘Evaluating Effective Models of Environmental Education’ project, or the Effective Community Education Project for short.

The work was continued in a Stormwater Trust Round 3 project grant in 2000, conducted by Elton Consulting on behalf of Waverley Council. This project has become known as ‘Enhanced Environmental Management through Local Community Participation’ or the Bronte Catchment Project for short.

Both projects were developed and conducted by a project team led by Roberta Ryan, Associate Director at Elton Consulting and Associate in UNSW School of Social Science and Policy. They are separate yet interconnected examples of source control approaches to stormwater pollution.

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The Effective Community Education Project measured changes in attitudes, values, knowledge and behaviour, as a result of innovative community education campaigns. It is important because it:

established a particular pre and post-test methodology to underpin interventions, identify content, and assess effectiveness

resulted in a series of highly targeted and locality specific education resources, across different forms of land use and localities

measured impacts which went beyond attitudes and knowledge, into changes in behaviour.

The Bronte Catchment Project built on this work, taking the focus from education into participation. It:

developed the profile of environmental values, knowledge and behaviours, into an ethnographic analysis of community relationships and participation

adapted the pre and post test methodology to develop and assess a new focus in community education (moving from visibles to non-visibles, urban design and planning issues, and emphasising the value of participation to encourage social learning, extend stewardship and lead to behaviour change)

used the above to lay the foundations for a trial of new participatory processes in stormwater management

identified changes in values, attitudes, knowledge and behaviour, as well as new dimensions in participation and institutional capacity building and relationships.

Both offer valuable lessons for dissemination across a range of audiences. They include local councils, environmental educators, community development workers, state government departments and agencies, community groups, universities, environment centres and groups. They are also relevant nationally and internationally, where they represent the cutting edge of new approaches to education, participation, governance and environmental management.

A range of resources were developed as part of each project. They include social surveys, visual and observational audit tools, and targeted and catchment-specific postcards. Targeted and catchment specific letters are also available in hard copy upon request. Please click on the relevant link, to view and/or download each resource.

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Index to resources

Q&A postcards

Water quality survey - December 1999 (PDF 64 Kb)

Water quality survey - November 2000 (PDF 68 Kb)

Effective Environmental Education - Executive Summary

(PDF 29 Kb)

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