| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.44 |
| Liaison | William Van Ausdal |
| Submission Date | July 9, 2024 |
Flinders University
EN-5: Civic Engagement
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
5.00 / 8.00 |
Does the institution have one or more programs to support student civic engagement?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the institution’s civic engagement programs for students:
Many students follow Community Based Learning activities as part of their curriculum. At Flinders this is called Work Integrated Learning (WIL). This has many benefits for both the students and the organisations they go to. These activities are part of a regular topic, which means participation is assessed as per the Handbook and students receive credit for completing WIL activities. These topics are regular parts of a course (e.g. Bachelor). The duration of a WIL activity is usually between a few days and up to two or three months, although some activities can be spread out across 6 to 12 months. This depends on the type of activity and the requirements of the topic(s).
For 2023, 15510 student community-based WIL activities were confirmed and completed for the period 1/1/2023 – 31/12/2023. This includes 1325 activities with not-for-profit organisations and 11,498 activities with governmental organisations. For more details see below.
These activities were undertaken by 6242 separate individuals (students), across 160 different topics.
Data:
Category # activities
Government 11498
International 84
Not for Profit 1325
Private Sector 1885
Education 418
other 299
Total 15509
Our Up the Hill program is an example of a community service program outside of the regular curriculum. This program is intended for severely disabled people who are not students at Flinders University, to allow them to participate as students with the help of student mentors who volunteer for that role. The Project aims to provide an inclusive and supportive opportunity at Flinders University enabling people with a severe disability, with support from a Peer Mentor, to access the University environment, develop social skills and social networks, and experience a range of educational opportunities and activities. Note that Flinders University has other support options for students with a disability. This program is specifically intended for people in the community who would otherwise not be able to attend a university.
https://www.flinders.edu.au/engage/community/clinics/up-the-hill-project
Another example of community service is the Flinders Legal Centre. This Centre provides real advice to members of the public, as part of the network of Community Justice Centres. Students provide the service, supervised by professionals. This is designed to improve public access to legal information, from a social equity perspective. The activity of the Centre is closely tracked and monitored.
https://www.flinders.edu.au/engage/community/clinics/flinders-legal-centre
Percentage of students that participate in community service and/or other civic engagement programs:
Approach used to determine the percentage of students that participate in civic engagement programs:
Narrative outlining how student participation in civic engagement programs was determined:
We looked at all community based learning (WIL) activities in 2023. Each activity that is part of a topic, is recorded in a central system. Students are recorded to each activity with their unique student code. This allowed us to check how many individual students were part of at least one community-based learning activity in 2023.
The number of students in WIL activities was 6242 in 2023. The total number of students (headcount) at Flinders in 2023 was 25,750 (inlcuding in person, online only and mixed attendance mode, including undergraduate and post graduate, domestic and international students, including non-award and foundation students).
This gives a percentage of 24.2%.
Points earned for indicator EN 5.1:
Does the institution have one or more programs designed to support employee community service?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the institution’s programs to support employee community service:
Flinders University staff actively participate in many small and large community-focused events and activities, e.g. Science Alive or the Tonsley Science Fair.
One specific example is that Flinders University has been one of the leading businesses who support blood donations with the Red Cross Lifeblood program. Flinders teams have for years been one of the most active contributors. The Enterprise Agreement explicitly provides paid leave for blood donation (section 34.3) and donating is actively promoted through regular calls to action to both staff and students. As a result Flinders staff and students collectively saved over 10,000 lives in two years through blood donations in 2022 and 2023.
Flinders University has been the #1 tertiary institution in South Australia for donations for years. for the latest Tertiary Challenge 2024, Flinders University was #1 in South Australian and #11 (out of 87 participating institutions) nationally, competing with mostly larger universities. There are several Flinders University staff and student teams that participate.
https://blogs.flinders.edu.au/fit/2024/06/18/flinders-people-are-saving-lives/
Flinders University has been #1 in South Australia in the previousTertiary Challenges as well. The data is publicly available on https://my.donateblood.com.au/app/red25_tallies and https://my.donateblood.com.au/app/challenge/details/challenge_id/11 (it takes a while to load).
Does the institution support employee volunteering during regular work hours?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the institution’s support for community volunteering during regular work hours:
The Enterprise Agreement clause 34 (Community Services leave) supports several specific items for community services during work hours. This includes Jury Service, Voluntary Emergency Activity, and paid Blood and Plasma Donor Leave.
In addition, for academic staff the academic profile document has a dedicated section on expectations for community service activities as part of their employment. For details including the relevant documents please see AC 8.2.
Points earned for indicator EN 5.2:
Have one or more individuals affiliated with the institution helped develop public policies that address sustainability challenges within the previous three years?:
Narrative outlining how individuals affiliated with the institution have helped develop local or regional public policies that address sustainability challenges:
Flinders University staff have been involved with local and regional public policies. Below are some examples.
Shark management, shark conservation and eco-tourism
Professor Charlie Huveneers and academics in his lab have a long track record of research on shark behaviour. His research has influenced shark management policies and supported choices on use of personal shark deterrents for divers and surfers world wide. This study was in collaboration with the NSW Department of Primary Industries Shark Management Strategy.
Recent research from Prof Huveneers has investigated the combination of shark management measures with tourism.
Quote: “Department for Environment and Water spokesperson Tim Hall said South Australia's White Shark Tour Licensing Policy set rules and guidelines to ensure white shark tourism at Neptune Islands continued to be environmentally sustainable, socially responsible, and economically progressive. “We’ve worked closely with tour operators and our research partners at Flinders University to ensure that our policy and management of white shark tours is evidence-based,” Mr Hall said. “Using 20 years of data collected by tour operators and 8 years of scientific monitoring and research, we can track the effects of white shark cage-diving tourism on shark residency. The State Government is committed to ongoing research so we can continually improve our understanding of the effects of white shark tourism on the sharks themselves.” Professor Charlie Huveneers, Director of Flinders University Marine and Coastal Research Consortium and leader of the Southern Shark Ecology Group, said that through this partnership, researchers had been able to establish Neptune Islands as an international focal point for white shark research and raise awareness about white sharks and their conservation.” Mr Hall said South Australia’s approach to managing shark cage diving was setting an example globally. “Here in South Australia, the data and research show that our policy and management is sustainable – we aren’t seeing changes to shark residency as a result of tours,” he said.
An assessment of the integration of coastal hazard risk into local government strategic and adaptation planning in SA
The Flinders University Climate and Sustainability Policy Research group is set up to support evidence-based policy making for sustainability and environment related issues. This includes projects and research around climate resilience, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation in the Indo-Pacific. An example is an overview of how coastal hazard risk assessment is integrated into local government adaptation planning, which was created for the Department for Environment and Water. https://www.thecaspr.org/2022/10/10/new-research-an-assessment-of-the-integration-of-coastal-hazard-risk-into-local-government-strategic-and-adaptation-planning-in-sa/
PIRSA/SARDI collaboration
Flinders University has a long-standing collaboration with the Department of Primary Industries
and Regions (PIRSA) and South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI). Through shared research projects and the shared use of facilities, Flinders researchers have directly and indirectly supported policy development and policy evaluation related to marine science, fisheries and aquaculture.
In 2022 this collaboration led to a memorandum of understanding with PIRSA and SARDI, allowing our researchers to further share the use of facilities and to work on projects together. This is mentioned in the 2022 annual report on page 8 (quote: “Flinders has negotiated an agreement with the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) and South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) to advance a progressive research agenda in South Australia, focussing on food and agriculture, aquatic and marine sciences, aquaculture and water research. This strategic alliance will streamline collaborative engagements between PIRSA, SARDI and Flinders for joint funding proposals, commencing with a co-funded Partnership Seed Grant scheme to help leverage high-quality external grant applications.”).
https://www.flinders.edu.au/content/dam/documents/about/annual-reports/2022-annual-report.pdf
To support further development of collaborations, Flinders University – SARDI established the Partnership Seed Grants scheme, which provides funding for research projects that are a collaboration between the two partners. In 2022 four projects were funded in the Priority Areas of Fisheries & aquaculture (2 projects); Coastal oceanography & geomorphology; and Crop physiology & soil microbiology.
https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2022/02/23/blue-economy-alliance-for-sa/
Over 30 projects have been established since 2022. Some examples are the Snapper Science Program https://www.frdc.com.au/charting-course-snapper-recovery-snapper-science-program which supports fisheries management; APY Lands groundwater quantity and quality investigation which supports the National Water Grid and has a key focus on social, economic, and environmental considerations to support healthy remote communities access reliable and safe groundwater supplies in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands; a project for the Australian Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to improve our understanding of threats to Australian sea lion populations (one of the projects described here https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2024/06/06/grants-target-endangered-species/); and a project on Hatchery development for commercially important native seaweeds to support the National Seaweed Industry Blueprint (funded by the SA Drought Hub). All these projects are collaborations between Flinders and SARDI researchers, supporting government.
Narrative outlining how individuals affiliated with the institution have helped develop national or international public policies that address sustainability challenges:
Flinders University staff have been involved with national and international public policies that address sustainability challenges. Below is one example.
Plastic pollution parliament inquiry
Professor Sophie Leterme and PhD Candidate Elise Tuuri, on behalf of Flinders University, have provided a submission to the Parliament of Australia's inquiry into plastic pollution in Australia's oceans and waterways. The submission from Flinders University included 13 recommendations, with a summary highlighting the following key requirements for future policies:
i. Promote a circular economy model.
ii. A strong role for industry through adopting sustainable practices.
iii. Funding for research into technologies for recycled plastic production and disposal.
iv. Targeted education (including addressing misinformation and ‘greenwashing’ practices) to bring about behavioural change in the wider community.
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Climate_Change_Energy_Environment_and_Water/Plasticpollution/Submissions (submission 67 on page 4)
The final report from the Committee was tabled to Parliament on 28 May 2024 and includes 22 recommendations.
Has the institution advocated for public policies to advance sustainability during the previous three years?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the institution’s advocacy for public policies to advance sustainability:
Below is one example of Flinders University's advocacy.
The 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice Referendum.
The Australian Indigenous Voice Referendum was a constitutional referendum from the Australian Government, “to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice”. Flinders University issued a public statement supporting healthy debate through education and raising awareness for this proposal. Quote: “The call for a Voice to Parliament is also an opportunity to enhance cultural learning and further support the vision of the University’s inaugural Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, ‘in building understanding and acceptance of our shared histories, as we work towards a shared future’. The University envisions that this historic call is an opportunity for allyship and self-learning.” This included providing resources and organising information sessions, public lectures and community panels. https://staff.flinders.edu.au/colleges-and-services/oise/voice-to-parliament . One of these events was the Voice to Parliament Lecture from Prof Tom Calma AO, with the recording made publicly available afterwards.
https://www.flinders.edu.au/fearless/conversations/voice-to-parliament
Documentary evidence of the institution’s advocacy for public policies to advance sustainability:
Online resource that provides evidence of the institution’s advocacy for public policies to advance sustainability:
Points earned for indicator EN 5.3:
Notes about the information provided for this credit:
Additional documentation for this credit:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.