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Community Detectives Project comes to Albury/Wodonga
The Australian National University in collaboration with the Bureau of Rural Sciences, Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry are conducting a research project called ‘Community Detectives’. We are examining the use of science cafes as a means of getting people talking about volunteer biosecurity monitoring or potentially becoming what we are terming a ‘community detective’. Interested persons are invited to meet in Albury/Wodonga on December 9th at the Cafe Cosmo in Albury. Please RSVP to Jacqueline through the contact details given here.
| What |
|
|---|---|
| When |
Dec 09, 2008 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm |
| Where | Cafe Cosmo 488 Dean St Albury |
| Contact Name | Dr Jacqueline de Chazal |
| Contact Phone | 02 6125 5008 |
| Add event to calendar |
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NATIONAL CENTRE FOR EPIDEMIOLOGY & POPULATION HEALTH
ANU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE & HEALTH SCIENCES
For further information:
Dr Jacqueline de Chazal T: 02 6125 5008 E: jacqueline.dechazal@anu.edu.au
Dr Anna Carr T: 02 6272 4929 E: Anna.Carr@brs.gov.au
COMMUNITY DETECTIVES PROJECT
MAC0804017
Current and emerging pests and diseases constitute major biosecurity risks to agricultural and other
landscapes in Australia. Once in Australia, early and widespread detection helps minimise spread
and advance control efforts. Enlisting the support of ‘community detectives’ with experience in the
diversity of Australian landscapes will greatly assist meeting these goals. Having many eyes and ears working together on this will complement existing biosecurity detection measures and foster local stewardship. Getting the attention of experienced community detectives is at the core of this project. The National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH) at The Australian National University will conduct the Community Detectives research project with support from the Bureau of Rural Sciences and funding from the Australian Centre for Excellence in Risk Analysis.
Key goals
Ultimate goal: increased community detection, monitoring and surveillance of biosecurity
Intermediate goal: network of community detectives for biosecurity
Project goal: explore the use of ‘biosecurity forums’ to engage community detectives
Some starting questions
• In what ways might community detectives work towards biosecurity?
• What kind of people might act as community detectives? What expertise is needed to detect
threats to biosecurity?
• How and to whom will community detectives report biosecurity issues? How can they support existing biosecurity reporting processes?
• How do we best proceed with biosecurity detection at different scales, across different landscapes, cultures and industries?
Researchers will answer these questions based on an innovative public engagement approach termed ‘science cafés’ in combination with focus groups and tailored surveys. Science cafés (biosecurity forums) are informal friendly meetings, typically held in a bar or café, featuring expert short talks followed by open-floor questions, discussion and debate. We hope to interest a wide range of potential community detectives such as rural producers,
retirees, scientists and volunteers in selected locations around Australia. We envisage that many potential community detectives will also belong to naturalist, gardening, Landcare and wildlife groups.
