UniSC supports and organises events to promote conservation and sustainable utilisation of land, including forests (bush) and wildlands. This is crucial for preserving biodiversity and ensuring the health of our ecosystems on campus and supporting the community with knowledge and expertise in this area.

The events at UniSC include an annual Sustainability Week, educational workshops, community clean-up drives, tree planting activities, and awareness campaigns. By engaging local communities and stakeholders, these initiatives foster a sense of responsibility and collective action toward protecting natural resources. Additionally, such events can highlight the importance of sustainable practices, encouraging individuals and organisations to adopt methods that minimise environmental impact and promote long-term ecological balance.

UniSC Sustainability Week included the following specific activities on conservation and sustainable utilisation of the land:

• Anastasia Klose exhibition “For thy sake I in love am grown”
• This exhibition of new drawings, video, and performance is a response to Klose’s “random, exhausting and depressing adventures in conservation” and the artist’s growing awareness of the diminishing biodiversity in Queensland and the imminent threats to its unique landscapes.
• Community gardens networking
• An opportunity for community gardens around the Sunshine Coast, and individuals who support them, to get together and network. The theme is around financial sustainability.
• Screening of “More than a Fish Kill”
• More Than a Fish Kill, 2023, co-produced by the National Museum of Australia, Cad Factory, and Otis Filley Studios, explores the aftermath of the 2019 and 2023 fish kills along the Barka/Baaka (Darling River). It is a story of how artists, First Nations custodians, fishery managers and students came together to turn ecological disasters into catalysts for connection and revival.
  The screening was open to all staff, students and community members and provided opportunities for networking, panel discussion, question time and a twilight walk to the UniSC water battery for nature sounds and projections.
• Garden planting
• The planting session was open to all staff, students and community members to get their hands a little dirty and help improve UniSC’s garden by planting some native flora. Everything was supplied, and the soil was nice and loose, so no need to sweat.

UniSC is actively involved in community events that promote conservation and sustainable utilisation of land. Some examples include:

• Call for nature lovers
  • At the 2024 Sunshine Coast Council Open Data Expo, the theme was citizen science. Researchers from across UniSC partnered with citizen scientists to increase scientific knowledge, collect data, and share stories on various topics related to our natural environment.
• Bushfire resilience, fuelled by artificial intelligence and citizen science 
  • The National Bushfire Resilience Network (NOBURN) is a citizen science project that empowers people to use their mobile phones to collect information that helps predict bushfire hotspots and minimise their impact. Information provided by caring citizens helps researchers understand the structure, quantity, density, and dryness of forest fuels, which, with the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This project is a collaboration between UniSC, Noosa Shire Council and the University of Adelaide (Australian Institute for Machine Learning).
• Bringing science and art together to celebrate marine biodiversity
  • The Marine Bioblitz Blue Biosphere Exhibition combines science and art to celebrate the Sunshine Coast's rich marine biodiversity. In August 2024, over three days, UniSC staff and students worked alongside citizen scientists to collect biodiversity data on local marine species within the declared Sunshine Coast UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Creative Ecologies Research Cluster (CERC) members documented the experience and supported new audio-visual methods for species mapping and identification.

Summary

UniSC is pleased to be involved in organising events that promote conservation and sustainable land use, which fosters community engagement, raises awareness, and encourages practices that protect and sustain natural resources.

More information 

• Sustainability Week
• NOBURN
• Sunshine Coast Council Open Data Expo
• Marine Bioblitz Blue Biosphere Exhibition
• Great Southern BioBlitz
• Creative Ecologies Research Cluster (CERC)