2019 GCSP Stories and Events

On 27 September 2019, we had a privilege to hear from Dr Sue McAvoy and Professor Bill Bellotti. Establishing and maintaining sustainable food production and food security is a major global challenge. Sustainable food production is fundamental for establishing food security, which is defined as when all people at all times have access to safe, sufficient, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.  

In her seminar, Dr Sue McAvoy presented to the Global Change Scholars her multidisciplinary research in estimating the potential disruption of artificial red meat produced from stem cell technology in the traditional meat industry. She highlighted that artificial meat may help to sustainably manage protein demand in the face of population growth, as it requires less water and land to be made, and produces less greenhouse gases than traditional meat sources such as cattle. However, the implementation of artificial red meat as a major protein source is limited due to constraints on the volume of product which can be produced, the higher energy footprint during production, and the current unknown effects of removal of cattle from farmland will have on the respective ecosystems.   

Professor Bill Bellotti then presented his research on interventions aimed to improve food security and sustainability in India, China and Indonesia. Bill underlined the impact of interventions on the livelihoods of people in farming communities by improving cropping systems and resource utilisation. Bill outlined the importance of empowering individuals and communities through improving food security. His research enabled women in India to transition from roles of labourers to farmers, to researchers, to inventors and innovators, and finally to teachers within their communities. The men also form a major part of the solution for food security within these communities, by supporting and facilitating these transitions of women’s roles.  

On Tuesday 28 August, The 2019 Global Change Scholars cohort had a double session, including an informative session about the Internship Program with Harmony Jones, and an interactive Seminar by Helen Ross, Professor at the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Queensland.

Harmony James from the Graduate School provided an introduction to the Placement program, one of the activities that are part of the Module nº 5 of the Global Change Scholar Program. The scholars could clarify all their questions related to this experience in order to plan their next module.

After this session, Professor Ross conducted an interactive seminar about Community Development and Resilience. The first activity allowed to open the discussion, giving the scholars the opportunity to present their thoughts about the meaning of Resilience from an individual, a community and an environment view. Then, Professor Ross presented a stimulating talk about current research developed in this area, clarifying the scholars' ideas. With this background, they worked on an example of how to build community’s resilience. Organised in groups, the Scholars chose three scenarios: the Amazonas rainforest communities threatened by the fires, dairy farming communities facing several risk conditions, and island communities vulnerable to the effect of cyclones enhanced by climate change. Guided by professor Ross, the scholars identified key factors related to these critical topics and worked on the design of a community development process to help these communities to build their resilience.

The Global Change Scholars were treated to special guest lectures from ABC Radio National Host, Robyn Williams AO and Dr Ashley Hay of the Griffith Review. Robyn discussed the out-churn of misinformation and what we should do to combat it for scientific communication. He shared fantastic examples of modern scientific communication, from books to popular podcasts so we can all stay up-to-date. He called for a push for innovation in reaction global climate change and ensuring the research we conduct branches out to the right people, so we can all make important strides for change.

Dr. Ashley Hay also gave a beautiful presentation on the parts and pieces of stories which resonate with us all and the power of words on the page. She focused on sharing excerpts from one of her favorite pieces of creative non-fiction writing, "Ghost Species and Shadow Places" by Cameron Newman. In his story, Dr. Hay says Cameron "thinks like a historian" and intertwines all the previous chapters of the story of the birds on Lord Howe Island. His story did not begin with him, but with the researchers who first started observing how seabirds were consuming plastics, and the effects that this had on their populations. 

With their new set of reading lists, podcasts, and fresh copies of the latest Griffith Review, the scholars thanked their speakers and were inspired to engage more in sharing their own stories through a variety of outlets.

On 11 July 2019, we had the pleasure of participating in a leadership and engagement workshop with Professor Karen Hussey, Director of the Centre for Policy Futures. Professor Hussey provided valuable insights on the governance landscape and how as academics we can best position ourselves to ensure a voice for our research.

As we mapped out the four quadrants of the governance landscape in Queensland (political, policy, community, and interest groups), stimulating discussion emerged about both the decision-making processes in place and how an understanding of that process, along with some networking, can allow us to motivate and create change.

On 19 June 2019, we had our inaugural event ‘Create Positive Change’ at which we welcomed over 150 UQ staff members, Global Change Scholars (2017, 2018, 2019 cohorts) and their friends and family.

We showcased 30 Global Change Scholars (30 Ideas in 30 Minutes) as they presented one-minute presentations on how their research at UQ is creating positive change. We also had a privilege to hear from Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe, AO as he shared his expertise on the topic of ‘Grand Societal Challenges and Global Trends’.

This event was beautifully wrapped up as we celebrated the successful completion of the GCSP for the 2017 cohort.

On 30 May 2019, we had the honour of hearing from Professor Winnifred Louis and Associate Professor Kelly Fielding on the topic of “Psychology and Behaviour Change”. Their talks focused on changing human behaviour to tackle environmental problems. This involved promoting and implementing change by understanding people’s behaviour; identifying what the drivers are, how people make decisions and why they support certain policies, with the goal to develop effective behaviour change programs with evaluated interventions. Key learnings:

Historically we have looked at how the environment affects us, nowadays how we impact on the environment. We want change, but not necessarily in our own lives. We want action, but not necessarily act ourselves. We’re not good at knowing why it is what we do or don’t do. We look towards other people’s behaviour, which is seen as accepted and we, not always consciously, do the same behaviour.

However, change IS possible. A big part of the solution is changing human behaviour. We can take learnings from the past, learnings from each other from countries around the world. Technology can be part of the solution, recognising its limitations (consumption growth, rebound effects). Drivers include the involvement of knowledge, values, responsibility, attitude, control, habits and norms. Change can happen in the face of a crisis, and can be influenced by radicalisation and leadership. For change to happen, it requires uptake and support, willingness and engagement, at the personal level, organisational level and governmental level.

Further discussions led to more insights from the speakers and the group on how to make the change on a personal/individual and group level, involvement and understanding of communities’ context, and the actions now for the future to involve the political wheel-power and build momentum and regulation.

Thank you to the speakers, for we can take these learnings on changing human behaviour to drive positive change for the environment but also apply these learnings to our own and related disciplines.

Further reading:

• Model for encouraging pro-environmental sustainable behaviour - Steg & Vlek (2009)
• Community-based social marketing - McKenzie-Mohr
• DIME model: Louis, Thomas, McGarty, Amiot & Moghaddam (2016-2018)
• Psychology of democracy (2015), psychology of dictatorship (2013) - Fathali Moghaddam
• International relations and political violence - Erica Chenoweth

On Monday 27 May the 2019 Global Change Scholars participated in their first workshop with Professor Robert Costanza and Associate Professor Ida Kubiszewski. Discussion focused on the wellbeing economy and re-focusing economic goals to include traditionally non-economic sources of value, measuring wellbeing and the shortcomings of current economic measures, ecological economics, and uncovering the value of ecosystem services. Scholars then took a hands-on approach and developed their first systems models of the global food system.

The 2019 Global Change Scholar cohort has now been finalised and is comprised of 30 students from 21 different schools and institutes across UQ. Our new scholars recently commenced their 18-month journey with the program and we are excited to learn more about them.

View their profiles

Photograph by Bernadette Hyland-Wood

The Module 3 Showcase for the 2018 cohort took place on 27 Feb 2019. Drawing on the exploration of global trends in Module 1, Scholars produced multi-media projects that communicated both the value of their research to a broad, non-specialist audience, and demonstrated its importance in relation to particular global trends. The night was a huge success, genuinely inspiring and at times deeply moving. A true testament to the talented and dedicated 2018 GCSP cohort.

Photographs by Bernadette Hyland-Wood