Education for Climate Change Adaptation in the Built Environment Sector

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Shifting Towards SustainabilityEducation or climate change adaptation in

the built environment sector

Anna Lyth, Sandra Nichols and Daniella Tilbury

October 2007


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Prepared by the Australian Research Institute inEducation or Sustainability (ARIES)

Shifting Towards Sustainability

Education or climate change adaptation in

the built environment sector

Anna Lyth,

Sandra Nichols

and Daniella Tilbury

October 2007


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Published by

Australian Research Institute in Education or Sustainability (ARIES)Graduate School o the EnvironmentMacquarie UniversityNorth Ryde, NSW 2109

ISBN: 978 1 7418 256

Copyright: Commonwealth o Australia 2007

Inormation contained in this publication may be copied or reproduced or study, research, inormation or

educational purposes, subject to inclusion o an acknowledgement o the source.

Disclaimer

Te views and opinions expressed in this publication are those o the authors and do not necessarily reectthose o the Australian Government or the Minister or the Environment and Water Resources.

CitationLyth A, Nichols S and ilbury D (2007) Shiting owards Sustainability: Education or climate changeadaptation in the built environment sector A report prepared by the Australian Research Institute inEducation or Sustainability.

Front Cover and Design

Kathie Mason, Centre or Flexible Learning, Macquarie University, 5th October 2007


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Project Sta

Tis research project is a response to a recognised research need by the Australian Greenhouse Oce(AGO) in the Australian Government Department o the Environment and Water Resources (DEW). Itwas ramed and developed by the Australian Research Institute in Education or Sustainability (ARIES) inassociation with DEW. Involved in this project were:

Anna Lyth (Project Leader) Anna worked in consultation with DEW during the various planning andimplementation stages o the project. She co-directed and ramed the project and provided specialist inputinto the climate change adaptation and built environment components. She engaged the project partners,designed and acilitated the two workshops and undertook project management. Anna is the lead author othis report.

Sandra Nichols (Project Coordinator) Sandra coordinated the project and was the main ARIES contact orthe proessional institutions. She provided mentoring and support or the proessional institutions as theyworked through their action inquiry and assisted in the acilitation o the workshops. She is a co-author othis report.

Daniella Tilbury(ARIES Director) Daniella ramed the research project and was responsible or seekingunds or its development. She co-directed the research, specically providing input on the methodology andproject design. She assisted with capturing the recommendations arising. She is a co-author o this report.

AcknowledgementsARIES is grateul to the Australian Government Department o the Environment and Water Resourcesand the Natural Heritage rust or providing unding or this project. Te authors would like to extend their

thanks to those proessional institutions that participated in and supported this project and the participantsor devoting their time and eforts to make change towards sustainability. Particular thanks are extendedto:

Paul Costigan and Edwina Richardson (Australian Institute o Landscape Architects)Liz de Chastel and Rosalie Roberts (Planning Institute o Australia)Martin Dwyer, Alan Bradley and Paul Versany (Engineers Australia)Martha Liew (Royal Australian Institute o Architects) and Lorina Nervegna (ormerly RAIA).

ARIES also appreciates the contributions o many other people and organisations who provided inputinto the research. In particular, it is grateul to Gail Broadbent (World Wildlie Fund o Australia), LindaCorkery (University o NSW) and Cheryl Desha (ormerly Cheryl Paten, Te Natural Edge Project, GrithUniversity) who acted as key inormants and peer reviewed this report. Ed Blakely (University o Sydney)also provided useul advice in the early stages o the project. Tanks are also extended to John Merrick who

edited the report.

ENGINEERS

AUSTRALIA Australian Instituteof Landscape Architects


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Who is this document or? Tis document will be o interest to you i youare involved in educating built environmentpractitioners in climate change adaptation, or i youare interested in the development o skills that willacilitate an efective response to climate change inthe built environment sector.

What is this document about? Te document reports on a scoping study which investigated the proessional trainingand development needs o architects, landscapearchitects, planners and engineers in climate changeadaptation through engaging relevant accreditinginstitutions in an action inquiry process. Te projectsought to go urther than a normal scoping study would, as it aimed to also assist the proessionalinstitutions involved to begin to think about, andtake action on, proessional development in climatechange adaptation.

Tis document highlights:

the need or education in climate change ad-aptation or built environment proessionalsthe current status o education or climatechange adaptation in Australian tertiary in-stitutions and in continuing proessional de-velopment programshow the project led to organisational changeand initiatives that promoted education aboutand or climate changethe outcomes o the project both or the indi-

vidual proessional institutions and collectively

3 Exetive SySiti Tws Sstibiity: Eti itee ptti i te bit eviet set

project ndings and recommendations or

promoting education in climate change ad-aptation.

What was the purpose o the project?Te Australian Research Institute in Education orSustainability (ARIES) undertook the study orthe Australian Government Department o theEnvironment and Water Resources (DEW). ARIES was asked to investigate opportunities to improvethe capacity o graduate practitioners and existing

practitioners to efectively respond to climate changeadaptation challenges through accredited universitycourses and proessional development.

How does the project complement other

Australian Government initiatives? Te project complements the AustralianGovernments National Climate Change AdaptationProgramme(2004-2008) which aims to help prepare

Australian governments, vulnerable industriesand communities or the unavoidable impacts oclimate change. One o the our key objectiveso this our year program is to build capacity tosupport the development o efective and targetedadaptation strategies1. Te Australian Governmenthas also recently launched a strategy that outlines itsapproach to the United Nations Decade o Education or Sustainable Development(DESD). It commitsto Develop education or sustainable developmenttraining and proessional development initiatives orspecic sectors.2


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Tis project acknowledges that proessionaldevelopment in climate change adaptation is in

its inancy in Australia. It sought to identiy howproessional institutions and bodies which accreditbuilt environment education programs can embeda response to climate change within educationprograms. Trough a process o critical inquiry byeach o the proessional institutions participatingin the project, it was hoped that organisationalchange would occur to promote incorporating orembedding education or climate change adaptationin tertiary education programs and proessionaldevelopment courses.

Primarily concerned with climate change adaptation,the project recognises that past emissions have alreadycontributed to global warming presenting diversechallenges or the built environment now and in theuture. Te ocus on climate change adaptation doesnot understate the parallel importance o developingskills in climate change mitigation however.

What is climate change adaptation?As dened by the IPCC climate change adaptation

is:an adjustment in ecological, social and economicsystems in response to observed or expected changes inclimatic stimuli and their eects and impacts in order toalleviate adverse impacts o change or take advantage onew opportunities.5

Built environment proessions will be requiredto embrace three objectives that orm the basis opurposeul adaptation planning:

reducing the sensitivity o built environments

and their communities to climate changealtering the exposure o built environmentsand their communities to climate change

increasing the resilience o built environments,communities and planning systems to copewith impacts or changes6.

Who was involved in the project?

Commencing towards the end o August 2006, theproject recruited our proessional institutions asproject partners. Tey were deemed to be crucialstakeholders in the process o strengtheningeducation or climate change adaptation. Allinstitutions have responsibility or quality assurancein proessional education or their proessions:

Engineers Australia (EA) representing 80,000members

Royal Australian Institute o Architects (RAIA)representing 9,500 members

Planning Institute o Australia (PIA)representing 5,000 members

Australian Institute o Landscape Architecture(AILA) representing 1,000 members.

Te project provided the proessional institutionswith the opportunity to spend time and resourceson an issue that they recognised as important, andin some cases urgent, but had not yet begun toaddress.

Why was the project needed and what

did it try to achieve? Te recently released Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Changes (IPCC) Fourth AssessmentSummary Report or Policy Makers and the SternReview Report on the Economics o Climate Change4

strongly highlight the scientic and economic basisor urgent action to reduce global greenhouse gas

emissions and prepare or climate change throughadaptation responses. Te complex and uncertainnature o climate change will require increasedoresight and the application o a range o practicalskills across many sectors and proessions. In thebuilt environment sector, there is a need to reecton the adequacy o current knowledge, skills andpractices that will be required to efectively prepareand respond to climate change and build resiliencein communities, resources and industries.


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What is education or climate change

adaptation? Te ocus o education on climate change in thebuilt environment proessions to date has largelybeen on:

acknowledging climate change as an issuei.and learning the context and/or science othis phenomenon, which can be reerred toas education about climate change; and morespecically,

education about mitigation, particularly a ocus onii.

ways o reducing greenhouse gas emissions rombuilt environment activities and structures.

Education or climate change adaptation has beenthe missing component in built environment tertiarycourses. Education or climate change adaptationborrows rom the experience o Education orSustainability (ES). Education or climate changeadaptation is about the development o adaptivecapacity - increasing the ability o individuals,groups, or organisations to adapt to changesassociated with climate change. Tis approach

promotes the development o critical skills necessaryor understanding the complexity associated withclimate change issues and the systemic changesneeded to address these.

How was the project conducted?A collaborative action inquiry process was used togather the data alongside a desktop investigation othe status o climate change adaptation proessionaldevelopment initiatives in Australia. An action

inquiry process involves striving to understand aquestion(s) which stimulates new ideas or urtherinterrogation and action. Te process involved theproject partners thinking about, and reecting on,the role and work o their institutions and proessionalsector and how they might use (or incorporate)education or sustainability techniques in relationto climate change adaptation. Tis approach wasintended to promote development in thinking aboutclimate change adaptation thus leading to action.

Te core questions around which the action inquiryrevolved were:

How skilled are built environment graduates andi.young practitioners in climate change adaptation?

How are engineering, planning, architecture, andii.landscape architecture proessionals able to gainknowledge and skills in sustainable climate changeadaptation?

How is climate change adaptation being incorporatediii.into proessional development courses?

What are the needs o the proessions teachers?iv.

How are the accrediting bodies responding to thesev.needs?

Outcomes achieved Te project achieved tangible outcomes. Each othe project partners progressed their thinkingand actions in working towards better addressingclimate change in proessional development. Somedeveloped actions to better address the climate

change adaptation proessional development issue.Examples o outcomes specic to individual projectpartners include:

Raised awareness amongst those responsible oraccreditation and education policies about theneed to address education about and or climatechange adaptation (all participants).

Changes to proessional institutions policies andcharters to embrace climate change issues andadaptation responses (AILA).

Mainstreaming o sustainability as an assessable

component oall industry recognition awards -not just environmental or sustainability awards(AILA).

More accessible resources and inormation onclimate change and climate change adaptationvia proessional institutions websites and otherpractice publications (AILA, RAIA, PIA).

Project partners committed to encouraginguniversity educators to begin to include climatechange adaptation case studies within existing

curricula (all participants).


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Summary o ndings and recommendations

Finding 1: Variable existing skills and access to proessional development

All proessional institutions identied that there was a variable skills base in the area, with some signicant skill gaps. There was variable

access to, and availability o, proessional development in climate change adaptation. This conrmed the need or attention in this area.

Finding 2: Need or government leadership

to set new benchmarks and new support or

proessional development initiatives

The proessional institutions pointed to the

important role o governments in leading

the way, setting new benchmarks and

altering operational environments (practiceenvironments and systems in which built

environment practitioners work).

Recommendations

That the Australian Government:

a. release clear statements about the critical and urgent need or Education for

Sustainability in all higher education programs associated with the built envi-

ronment, and the critical need or education or both climate change adaptation

and mitigation.

b. take a lead in incorporating sustainability and preparedness or climate change

into any uture built environment project bries or which it is responsible.

c. demonstrate leadership and commitment to implementing action in climate

change adaptation through the monitoring and reporting o indicators in cli-

mate change adaptation proessional development initiatives.

Finding 3: Need or education or both cli-

mate change adaptation and mitigation

While there was clear recognition that

proessional education or climate change

adaptation was limited and urgentlyneeded, it was strongly stated by the proes-

sional institutions and their members that it

should be integrated with education about

and or climate change mitigation, as they

are complementary and o equal urgency.

Recommendation

The study recommends that education about and or climate change adaptation in

accredited courses be addressed in an integrated way with education about and or

climate change mitigation.

Finding 4: Need or rapid adoption o educa-

tion about and or climate change adaptation

in accredited course programs and ongoing

proessional development initiatives

It is important to ensure that education

about and or climate change adaptation is

incorporated into the core curricula o ac-

credited programs. Due to long lead times

or reviewing, modiying and re-accrediting

courses and given the urgent need to address

this issue, voluntary adoption is also

Recommendations

To assist with the voluntary adoption, the study recommends:

a. That the accrediting bodies amend their education policies to reect climate change

adaptation requirements in the short term.

b. The ormation o partnerships (and building o already established partnerships)to acilitate an integrated approach to proessional development and climate change

adaptation including:

- identication o ways o raising standards and implementing them in the built

environment sector (i.e. regulatory environments, building codes, government

policy development and strategic planning).

- Investigation o opportunities or a national series o cross-disciplinary seminars

on climate change.


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encouraged, while proessional develop-

ment activities in climate change adapta-

tion (i.e., short courses) are required in the

meantime to meet existing demand or skill

development.

c. Using opportunities or immediate amendments to existing curricula and pro-

grams

In order to acilitate this, however, there will need to be a range o mechanisms and

incentives provided by the proessional institutions, universities and governments.

These may include provision o:

- unding or teachers to study in a new area

- curriculum development grants or teachers to renew their existing programs/

subjects and develop new programs where appropriate

- university or government research grants or university staf to undertake practi-

cal research (thus contributing to research kudos or the teacher and the possibil-

ity o increasing research led teaching in the curriculum).

d. Provision o support or proessional development initiatives (particularly short

courses)

e. Participatory research approach to acilitate learning and change

The Australian Government, in partnership with the accrediting bodies, needs to pro-

vide opportunities to review existing programs and the application and context or

relevant competency standards to address education or climate change adaptation

within proessional courses. The proessional institutions recommend a participatory

research approach which is not threatening to stakeholders, enables them to take

learning and change at their own pace and enhance their own competencies in the

process o undertaking the study with the delivery o practical outcomes within the

medium term.

Finding 5: Necessary changes to orm and content o education

There were some important issues raised that relate to the orm and content o education about and or climate change adaptation in

accredited courses and other proessional development initiatives.

1. The research indicated that proessionals understand the need or climate change adaptation but not the practical implications.

Thereore, proessional development that ocuses on what we should be doing on the ground is needed, supported by quality as-

sured resources and processes to support tertiary teachers, trainers and practitioners

2. The proessional institutions agreed that the ability to efectively respond to climate change adaptation challenges should be built

out o a strong grounding in sustainability principles. They considered that, while there will be many specialist competencies to

develop or each proession, there are a number o generic sustainability competencies that graduates and established practitioners

need to develop (such as being able to work in integrated teams to solve problems, lateral thinking, and being able to engage with

creative ideas outside practice norms).3. It was recognised that educators (including program assessors) also need to review and develop their knowledge in climate change

adaptation and skills in education or climate change adaptation. In addition to providing new resources (i.e., teaching materials on

climate change adaptation) it was agreed a new educational paradigm whereby teaching and learning is seen through the prism o

climate change was needed.

4. It was acknowledged that there will be an increasing need or built environment proessionals and students to work in cross-

disciplinary teams to be able to understand problems related to climate change, collectively solve them, and share best practice

case studies. This is likely to require partnerships between proessional institutions and increased resources (nancial and time) to

acilitate collaborative teaching and learning initiatives.

5. The proessional institutions opposed the idea o a sole ocus on specialised courses on climate change. It was agreed that such an

approach would limit the ability to embed core competencies across the proessions and might oster an inequitable distribution o

competency across Australian communities, thus limiting adaptive capacity in some places and sectors.


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Finding 6: Need or quality control and com-

petency standards in climate change adapta-

tion education

There is an evident need or core com-

petency standards and quality control

o proessional development or climate

change adaptation. Proessional institutions

responsible or accrediting courses and

setting competencies are the appropriate

bodies to acilitate action in this area, but

support is required to do this.

Recommendations

a. Identiy core competencies in climate change adaptationAccrediting bodies and other relevant proessional institutions to work with stake-

holders (university program directors, teachers, students and industry employers) to

identiy the climate change adaptation context or the application o competencies

specic to each proession.

b. Integrate climate change adaptation as a core area within policies and procedures

o accrediting bodies

A review o accreditation policies and processes is needed. Accrediting bodies and rel-

evant stakeholders need to embed the competencies within their systems.

c. Assure minimum levels o competence

Accreditation bodies and proessional institutions need to play a role in assuring cli-

mate change adaptation is a core area within ormal accredited university programs

and ongoing proessional development.

Finding 7: Need or a national strategy or

the sharing and dissemination o climate

change inormation and resources

Feedback via the action inquiry process

re-iterated the need or quality assured and

useul inormation and resources to be used

by practitioners and teachers. The project

partners consequently recognise the need

or a national strategy or the sharing andready access o climate change inormation

and resources or practitioners and teachers

(across sectors).

Recommendation

The project partners support a national and multi-stakeholder strategy or identiy-

ing the mechanisms or sharing and disseminating climate change and adaptation

inormation (including teaching resources). Mechanisms or dissemination might in-

clude the establishment o a clearinghouse which would disseminate resources, pro-

er advice on accessing quality assured inormation, and acilitate multi-sector and

specialist proessional development activities. Online inormation and proessional

development courses would promote equitable access to training across the country,

particularly or those practitioners unable to attend ace to ace proessional develop-ment activities. For example, the Built Environment Design Proessions Environment

Design Guide (BEDP-EDG) provides an immediate structure through which to deliver

this. In addition, education or climate change adaptation could also be incorporated

into the charter o the proposed Australian Centre or Climate Change Adaptation.


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Abbreviations

AACA Architects Accreditation Council o Australia

AASA Association o Architecture Schools o Australasia

AGO Australian Greenhouse Oce

AILA Australian Institute o Landscape Architects

ALGA Australian Local Government Association

ANZAPS Australian and New Zealand Association o Planning Schools

ARIES Australian Research Institute in Education or Sustainability

BEDP-EDG Built Environment Design Proessions-Environment Design Guide

CPD Continuing proessional development

DEW Australian Government Department o the Environment and Water

Resources

DESD Decade o Education or Sustainable Development

EA Engineers Australia

ES Education orSustainability

ESD Ecologically sustainable development

HCCREMS Hunter & Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

LGSA Local Government and Shires Association

MSS Manly Sustainability Strategy

NEC National Education Committee (RAIA)

NYPG National Young Planners Group (PIA)

NEnvCNational Environment Committee (RAIA)

PDP Proessional development program

PIA Planning Institute o Australia

RAIA Royal Australian Institute o Architects

RMIT Royal Melbourne Institute o Technology

SCCG Sydney Coastal Council Group

SONA Student Organised Network or Architecture

TNEP

The Natural Edge Project


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Contents

3 Executive Summary xi

Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiv

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 The research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2.1 Commissioned research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2.2 The research ocus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2.3 The research components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2.4 The research methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.2.5 The project partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.2.6 Project outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.2.7 Collective outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 Proessional Development in Climate Change Adaptation 11

2.1 Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2 What is meant by climate change adaptation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.3 The need or attention to both adaptation and mitigation . . . . . . . . . 13

2.4 Embedding climate change adaptation education into core curricula . . . . 14

2.5 Education about and or climate change adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3 Proessional Responses to Education or Climate Change Adaptation 17

3.1 Accredited courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

3.2 Continuing Proessional Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3.3 Scoping study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

4 Opportunities to improve proessional responses to education

or climate change adaptations 25

4.1 Findings o action inquiries o project partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.1.1 Planning PIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.1.2 Architecture RAIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.1.3 Engineering - EA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4.1.4 Landscape architects AILA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4.2 Summary o common ndings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

5 Summary o ndings and recommendations 41

6 Glossary 47

7 Endnotes 51

8 Reerences 53


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Itti | 1

1Itti

1.1 OverviewClimate change is now top o mind within the communityat large. Te recently released Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Changes (IPCC) Fourth Assessment ReportSummary Report or Policymakers7 and, prior to that, theStern Review Report on the Economics o Climate Change8,highlighted the scientic and economic basis or globalaction on climate change. Popular media, such as thelm An Inconvenient ruth9, have also contributed tothe heightened community awareness. Tere is anunderstanding that the implications o changes to our

global climate system will have diverse environmental,social and economic impacts at all scales.

Whilst built environment proessionals have alwayshad to deal with climate variability, human-inducedclimate change will require innovative strategiesto cope with new situations that emerge romanticipated, unexpected and non-linear climatechange. Te complex and uncertain nature oclimate change will require increased oresight,whilst systematic exploration o adaptation options will need to respond to local circumstances.Planners, architects, landscape architects andengineers already have many o the skills and toolsthat will assist in meeting these challenges; howeverthere is a need to reect on the adequacy o currentknowledge, skills and practices that will be neededto efectively prepare or respond to climate changewithin built environments.

Box 1

The global consensus within the scientic

community is that warming o the climate is

unequivocaland while numerous long term

changes in climate have already been observed

around the world there are likely to be many

more changes during the 21st century. The

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

asserts that:

continued greenhouse gas emissions at or above

current rates would cause urther warming and

induce many changes in the global climate system

during the 21st century that would very likely be larger

than those observed during the 20th century.

Source: IPCC 2007 p5

Box 2

The Stern Reviewrecommends that action be

taken as soon as possible to adapt to climate

change to avoid prohibitive costs in the uture, andconrms the important role o built environment

practitioners, among other proessionals, in

preparing or, and responding to, climate change:

Adaptation will be crucial in reducing vulnerability

to climate change and is the only way to cope with

the impacts that are inevitable over the next ew

decades.

Source: Stern 2006 p403


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2 | EducaTIon or clImaTE changE adaPTaTIon

1.2 The research

1.2.1 Commissioned research Te Australian Research Institute in Educationor Sustainability (ARIES) undertook the studyor the Australian Government Department othe Environment and Water Resources (DEW) to work with the built environment sector to considerthe adequacy o current competencies or climatechange adaptation in the built environment sectorand to seek ways to embed climate change adaptationcompetencies within proessional education.In addition, ARIES was asked to investigateopportunities to improve the capacity o graduatepractitioners and existing practitioners to efectivelyrespond to climate change adaptation challengesthrough ormal accredited university course programsand proessional development (such as proessionalshort courses, training sessions and special seminarprograms). Although the study ocuses on buildingthe capacity or adaptation practice in the builtenvironment sector, the researchers recognise thatequipping built environment proessionals to beable to develop and implement sustainable practices,

including strategies or mitigating global warming via the reduction o greenhouse gas emissions andenhancement o greenhouse gas sinks, is also o theutmost importance.

Te project complements the Australian Govern-mentsNational Climate Change Adaptation Programme,which commenced in 2004, and aims to help prepareAustralian governments, vulnerable industries andcommunities or the unavoidable impacts o climatechange. One o the our key objectives o this ouryear program is to build capacity to support the de-velopment o efective and targeted adaptation strate-

gies10.Te Australian Government has also recentlylaunched a strategy that outlines its approach to theUnited Nations Decade o Education or SustainableDevelopment (DESD). It commits to Develop edu-cation or sustainable development training and pro-essional development initiatives or specic sectors11.Tis project is very relevant to this commitment.

1.2.2 The research ocus

Essentially a scoping study, the project investigatesthe proessional training and development needso architects, landscape architects, planners andengineers through engaging relevant accreditinginstitutions (the project partners) in an actioninquiry process. Te project sought to go urtherthan a normal scoping study. Its aim was to notonly document the state o play in climate changeadaptation education, but also assist the proessionalinstitutions involved to begin to think about, andtake action to improve, proessional education inclimate change adaptation. Tis study is premised

on proessional institutions having the capacityto promote change through their policies andaccreditation processes.

Tus, the purpose o the action inquiry was to:

assess the current needs in education about andor climate change adaptation; and

identiy realistic and relevant ways o improvingthe quality o proessional development in thiseld or engineers, architects, planners andlandscape architects.

1.2.3 The research components Te project contained three research components which provided complementary orms o data: ascan o the state o play o proessional developmentor climate change adaptation; a participativeaction inquiry including all project partners; and anindependent action inquiry process.

Box 3: What is an action inquiry?

An action inquiry examines existing ideas,

assumptions and practices through considering

a set o research questions that are exploredby a wide range o stakeholders relevant to the

organisation carrying out the research.

Box 4 : The core questions or the action inquiry

How skilled are graduates and young1.

practitioners in climate change adaptation?

How are engineering, planning, architecture,2.

and landscape architecture proessionals able

to gain knowledge and skills in sustainable

climate change adaptation?

How is climate change adaptation being3.

incorporated into proessional development

courses?

What are the needs o the proessions4.

teachers?How are the accrediting bodies responding to5.

these needs?


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Itti | 3

Te participative action inquiry brought the projectpartners together to provide an opportunity to

collectively reect and explore issues and questions. o acilitate this, two workshops were held. Terst workshop ollowed recruitment o the projectpartners but was prior to the rollout o their actioninquiries. It ocused on explaining the action inquiryprocess to the project partners, and exploringopportunities or development o their own actioninquiry approach. Core questions (see Box 4) wererened at this workshop.

Tis collective reection on the research questionsthemselves was a process o action inquiry which led

to a deeper understanding o what the institutionsneeded to learn about proessional education orclimate change adaptation in their sector, themselvesas inquirers and actors, and their stakeholders.

Te second workshop provided the opportunity orthe project partners to discuss their collective ndingsand validate the results o their action inquiries. Itwas held ater the submission o the project partneraction inquiry reports to ARIES. Te project teamalso provided guidance on data collection methodsthrough the rst project workshop, ongoing

mentoring and a teleconerence. Te workshops encouraged open dialogue andenabled people to critically reect on their existingpractice and identiy the changes necessary.Meeting with other project participants in the workshops gave the project a multi-disciplinaryperspective that broadened perspectives and gaverise to innovative possibilities or embedding climatechange adaptation education into the participantsrespective sectors.

1.2.4 The research methodology(i) Te action inquiry process A collaborative actioninquiry process was used to gather the data or thisproject. Te action inquiry process involves strivingto understand a question(s) which stimulates newideas or urther interrogation and action. Existingideas, assumptions and practices are reely examinedand, as a result, new ideas or urther interrogationand action arise. Te projects core questions orinquiry are outlined in Box 4. Te process also

involved the project partners thinking about, andreecting on, the role and work o their institutions

and how it might encompass the key componentso learning or sustainability in relation to climate

change adaptation. Tis approach was intended topromote development in thinking about climatechange adaptation by the proessional institutionsthemselves leading to action and organisationalchange through ownership o the issues.

(ii) Participatory research Tis approach, which isbased within the critical theory paradigm, encouragesthose who can make the changes to address issuesto investigate the issues themselves. It uses amethodology which allows or, and promotes, deepseated systemic change within organisations over

time by motivating and empowering stakeholderswho have the power to make change.

(iii) Data sources Te project required diferentdata sources and collection methods dependingon the inormation and outcomes being sought ateach stage o the project. Te process o combiningdiferent data sources contributes to triangulation. riangulation is used to ensure the validity andreliability o the gathered data (see Box 5).

Box 5 - Why triangulation is used

to obtain a variety o inormation on the same1.

issue

to use the strengths o each method to2.

overcome the deciencies o the other data

to achieve a higher degree o validity and3.

reliability

to overcome the deciencies o single method4.

studies

Source: Sarantokas 1998 p169

Each o the project partners developed their owndata collection methods to maximise stakeholderresponse to the core inquiry questions. Te methods varied depending on the size o the membershipo the participating institutions and the timeand resources available to carry out the research.Examples o data sources used include:

online surveys

telephone interviews

written submissions

workshops.


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(iv) Data validation Te act that changes actuallyoccurred duringthe project provides a urther pointo data validation. By understanding a diferent wayo approaching change or sustainability throughusing an action inquiry process and supported byan Education or Sustainability ramework theparticipants elt empowered to use a new way othinking and implement change. Tis type oevidence leads to a process called catalytic validity

(see Box 6) whereby the impact o the actioninquiry process alters perceived reality, so that thoseparticipating in the study gain a better understandingo the uture direction o their institutions. Teprocess can thus determine the success or otherwiseo the action inquiry process.

(v) Support Te support provided by the projectleader and coordinator or the project participants was an essential part o the project and wasacilitated by regular telephone and email contact. Te project team also provided guidance on datacollection methods through the ongoing ARIESresearch support process and a teleconerence. Teteleconerence claried and validated the approachesthat the participants were planning to use in theiraction inquiry process. Key issues discussed includedwhich stakeholders were to be involved, how thesestakeholders were to be engaged and details ocontingency plans. Te teleconerence allowed theproject partners to share their progress, while it alsoaided motivation or continued progress in ndinganswers to the core questions and in pursuing

opportunities or action.

(vi) Project limitationsTere were several limitationsto this project which are outlined below:

iming o the project: Due to the overall timerameor the project, stakeholder involvement in the actioninquiry project was scheduled rom early Decemberto mid February, which included the summer holidayseason. Tis afected the response rom online surveysin particular.

Up-to-date inormation:Since commencing the projectin August 2006, there have been many developmentsin the climate change education eld. Tis has made itdicult to include all initiatives in the climate changeadaptation education eld, even within Australia. Te

inormation collected ocused on:climate change adaptation related initiatives ratherthan on the much wider range o climate changerelated issues

initiatives that are relevant to built environmentproessions rather than other sectors (this does notdiscount, however, the potential that initiativesin other sectors might have in contributing tothe building o capacity in the built environmentproessions); and initiatives that go beyond thedissemination o climate change knowledge (e.g.

inormation reports) and provide added capacitybuilding elements.

Engaging the right stakeholders:Te large variation inthe numbers o members o each o the participatinginstitutions (rom 1,000 in AILA to 80,000 in EA)meant that it was not possible to always target thestakeholders most afected by the climate changeadaptation education issue, such as practisingproessionals and students. Te stakeholderinvolvement process was thereore necessarily skewedtowards those stakeholders that were either interested

in the research questions or had the time to completethe online survey, attend a ocus group or ace-to-aceinterview or engage in a telephone interview. Moresubstantial action research projects would allow theengagement o a wider range o stakeholders.

Lack o time and fnancial resources to implementrecommendations: Tis issue was only mentionedby one o the project partners, although the generalconsensus was that urther unding (rom theAustralian Government and other sources) wouldexpedite the process o bringing about change in this

area.

Box 6: Catalytic validity

Catalytic validity represents the degree to which

the research process re-orients, ocuses and

energises participants toward knowing reality in

order to transorm it. The argument or catalytic

validity lies not only within recognition o the

reality-altering impact o the research process,

but also in the desire to consciously channel

this impact so that respondents gain sel-

understanding and, ultimately, sel-determination

through research participation.

Source: Lather 1991 p68


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Itti | 5

1.2.5 The project partners

It was essential or the success o the project thatthe key accrediting bodies or built environmentproessionals were recruited as project partners andthat the key people able to bring about systemicchange within those institutions were involveddirectly in the project. Te project team wasortunate indeed, thereore, in being able to bring onboard allthe proessional institutions responsible oraccrediting proessional courses and/or speciyingcore competencies or practitioners in the builtenvironment proessions. Te project partnersranged in size o membership rom:

Engineers Australia (EA)12 representing 80,000members;

the Royal Australian Institute o Architects(RAIA), representing 9,500 members;

the Planning Institute o Australia (PIA), with5,000 members; to

the Australian Institute o Landscape Architects,(AILA) with 1,000 members.

Each proessional institution involved two to threesenior personnel in the project.

Te timeliness o the project helped the recruitmentprocess. All o the partner institutions had realisedthat climate change education was an emergingissue or built environment proessionals. Whileone o the project partners (PIA)1 had undertakenpreliminary investigations o the issues or theirproession associated with climate change, theothers had not had the time or nancial resources topursue it. Tus the project provided the opportunity

to progress the issue in a mutually benecial andsupportive environment.

1.2.6 Project outcomesIt should be acknowledged that the period o theproject was subject to unprecedented attention toclimate change issues. Te media attention on climatechange and national concerns about drought, addedto the recognition o the timeliness o the project oreach o the project partners and provided a strong

impetus or organisational change.

Specic changes within each organisation duringthe course o the project included:

AILA

Te Landscape Charter prepared by AILA andendorsed at their annual conerence in November2006 had already mentioned global warming asa key value to be addressed within the charter14.Te project provided a justication or this. As anextension o this, AILA decided to mainstreamsustainability as an assessable component o allawards to replace previously separate environmentand sustainability awards

Other tangible outcomes included adding a sectionto the AILA website on climate change adaptationissues, approaches and resources or practitioners,and encouraging university educators to begin toinclude climate change adaptation case studies inlandscape planning. It was put by AILA that theproject was:

a timely exercise and a catalyst or change or theInstitute and the priorities we set. Education was alwaysa priority or us but we now have a concrete reason orit beingthepriority.

PIA

Te start o the project paralleled the start o aseries o national seminars run jointly by PIAand the AGO on climate change strategies orplanning practitioners. Te seminars provided anopportunity to promote the project and initiatediscussions with stakeholders. Inormation aboutthe project was also submitted to external groupsinterested in planning issues such as the Australianand New Zealand Association o Planning Schools(ANZAPS) and the Australian Local GovernmentAssociation (ALGA) or inclusion in theirelectronic newsletters. Te project also ed into anational review o planning education policy by theNational Education Committee. Meanwhile, theNational Young Planners Group (NYPG) was alsoaddressing the issue by developing an Ideal Course which included issues to do with climate change,disaster management and other areas o planning.

In addition, the project prompted the organisation oan in-house discussion by the AC Government Landand Planning Authority on skills needed or planning

or mitigation/adaptation or climate change.


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In summary, the inquiry allowed PIA to acilitatean enhanced level o discussion and thinking about

the implications o climate change or the proessionand the current gaps and needs in proessionaldevelopment through raising awareness o theproject and the projects process.

EA

Te project was timely or Engineers Australiawho will be involved as a key stakeholder, and as aSteering Committee member, in the 2007 NationalReview o Engineering Education. Tis is a Carrickunded project being undertaken by the AustralianCouncil o Engineering Deans. A signicantchange noted by those responsible or accreditationand education policies within EA is the importanceengineering schools are placing on the developmento generic capabilities such as critical analysis andcreative problem solving. Te emphasis on broadranging capabilities in graduates is permeating allengineering disciplines. An urgent need now is orthe ocus on generic skills, attributes and valuesto be ocused through a prism o climate change(EA). As one o the EA participants explained:

Many relevant skills are already being taught e.g.urban water management. Undergraduates are gettingthe underpinning skills but are not looking through theprism o climate change. Fundamentally, the issue isone o putting the right set o glasses on.

Engineers Australia have also been instrumentalin leading and supporting the development oeducation or and about sustainability in Australiaand overseas. Tis project was seen to complementestablished initiatives such as:

Te Natural Edge Project (NEP) which has

ocused on developing academically rigorousand critically reviewed content or sustainabilityin engineering education. Te development otheEngineering Sustainable Solutions Program byNEP has received major unding and in-kindsupport rom EA and also rom the Society orSustainability and Environmental Engineering(SSEE), UNESCO, DEW, and the AustralianGovernment Department o Industry, ourismand Resources.

Te Engineers Without Borders Australia(EWB Australia)15 initiative, o which EA has

been a strong in-kind and nancial supporter.EWB (Australia) works with disadvantagedcommunities to improve their quality o liethrough education and the implementation osustainable engineering projects in Australiaand overseas. EWBs education activities ocus onthe issues osustainable development,appropriatetechnology and poverty alleviation by workingwith universities, proessional institutions, highschools and industry to increase the understandingo these issues. Tere are currently more than 20Australian universities participating in the annual

EWB Challenge, which specically integratesa sustainability project and an assessment iteminto undergraduate course work (rst to nalyear students).

Ultimately, this project encouraged a reectiveprocess and strengthened understanding about theneed or integrated education or and about climatechange mitigation and adaptation.

RAIA

Te main organisational change arising rom theproject or RAIA was recognising the need orurgency in developing links with other disciplinesto acilitate a more holistic approach to the issueo sustainability and adapting to climate change.A comment rom a RAIA project participantelucidates this point:

Currently there is a ocus on contracts and tensionbetween architects and planners (e.g., through streetscapepolicies and the mismatch between the BCA(BuildingCode o Australia) and state planning provisions). Tistrend needs to be stopped and more cross-disciplinarywork done.

It was also recognised that:

A strategic approach is needed or a paradigm shit tooccur. It is important to always make sure urgency ispart o the discussion without being alarmist. We cannotuse the usual timerames to make things happen. Anincremental approach is no longer appropriate.


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Itti | 7

1.2.7 Collective outcomes

As well as individual organisational outcomesdescribed above, a number o collective outcomesresulted rom the project. A common way othinking developed that helped to clariy the issuesand move the discussion orward to a point wherea number o collective outcomes and realisationsresulted. Te action inquiry process not only helpedto build the capacity o the individual partnerinstitutions to bring about change as illustratedabove, but also maintained enthusiasm and interestin change and sustainability issues through thepartnerships and networks established between the

institutions. Tese partnerships and networks areintegral to establishing strong oundations that willhopeully continue beyond the lie o the project16. Te positive approach that the participants hadtowards the project and the action inquiry processis highlighted in the comment below:

Tere is a need to identiy opportunites rather thanproblems and to see the wider picture.17

Te collective outcomes o the project partnersincluded the need or:

(i) Competency development in sustainability andclimate change adaptation

Tere was collective agreement that in developing skillsor climate change adaptation, urther development ocompetencies associated with sustainable practicemore broadly had become more important andurgent than ever. Tis was based on a concurrencethat while there will be specialist knowledge andmany skills to develop or each proession, it wasimportant to ensure that graduates and practitioners were able to work in integrated teams to solve

problems, use lateral and integrated thinking, andengage with creative ideas outside practice norms.

Box 7 lists the generic competencies or sustainabilityand climate change adaptation that were identiedby the project partners in the rst workshop. Teyhighlight the essential need to move education aboutand or sustainability into the core o curriculum(climate change adaptation and mitigation would beimportant elements o this).

Box 7: Generic competencies or sustainable practice and application o climate change adaptation

(common to all built environment proessions)

Graduates should be able to:

think about problems holistically and through the prism o climate change1.

understand principles o sustainable development2.

problem-solve using lateral and integrated thinking3.

comprehend the signicance o the climate change problem4.

interpret inormation about climate change rom a range o sources and disciplines5.

efectively interpret inormation about impacts and vulnerabilities specic to the locality, region or sector they6.

are working in to develop appropriate problem-solving strategies or climate change adaptation

make judgements or decision-making based on interpretations o degrees o uncertainty associated with7.

scenarios or local and regional impacts

think beyond social and proessional practice norms to develop creative climate change adaptation strategies8.

demonstrate resolve to make decisions despite uncertainties about local and regional climate change impacts.9.

Source: Workshop 1, 3 November 2006 Canberra


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Box 8 outlines some o the views o participantsassociated with the collective view that the ability

to efectively respond to climate change adaptationchallenges should be built out o a strong groundingin appreciation o principles o sustainability. Tereis evidence that these issues are becoming morewidely addressed.

teachers and trainers. In addition, nancial andtime resources will be required to acilitate the

production and dissemination o these teachingmaterials. Te needs o the proessions teachers varydepending on their interest, knowledge and skills inclimate change adaptation and the requirement orthem based, or example, on the areas in which they work. Teir uture needs are likely to include theability to:

understand the science o climate change and itsimplications or proessional practice

articulate the need or climate change adaptationto university stakeholders

understand policy implications, particularly atthe government level

select strategies appropriate to specic contexts

integrate climate change adaptation as a keycompetency or proessional practice

integrate adaptation principles into proessionaldevelopment programs or academics andengineers.

(iv) Registration o CPD

Tere was a recognition that it is currently dicultto reach all built environment practitioners toencourage them to update their skills in climatechange adaptation. Tis is due to inconsistencyin CPD requirements over the range o builtenvironment proessions. It was suggested bysome project participants that attendance at CPDevents related to climate change adaptation couldbe encouraged through a national registrationsystem or CPD activities or all built environmentproessionals. However, it was largely agreed that

this would be a dicult inititative to implementgiven the diferent approaches to CPD by eachproessional institution.

(v) Rapid adoption o climate change adaptationskills

eachers and course assessors are able to buildcapacity in climate change adaptation educationnow by incorporating into current courses relevantcase studies, assessment tasks and other teachingand learning activities (see Section .1.1 or the

AILA example).

Box 8: A need for grounding in sustainability

We have learnt the lessons rom the environment

agenda..it is no longer acceptable to have separate

sustainability teachers in universities.climate

change adaptation needs to be integrated into

existing courses.

Sustainability has to be embedded into everything

we do.

Source: Comments rom Workshop 2, 5 March 2007 Canberra

(ii) Continuing proessional development in climatechange adaptation

As well as incorporating new competency standardsin climate change adaptation or all graduating builtenvironment proessionals, the need to improvethe quality and variety o continuing proessional

development (CPD) opportunities throughadapting or tweaking current practice to includeeducation in climate change adaptation was alsorecognised. Tis need was highlighted as it is likelythat implementing new competency standards inclimate change adaptation into courses could takebetween three to ve years; such changes are usuallyassociated with accreditation reviews. However,two o the proessional institutions are currentlyundertaking a review o their educational practicesand competency standards which will allow themto incorporate a greater degree o attention to thecompetencies required or sustainable practice andclimate change adaptation (Engineers Australia andthe Planning Institute o Australia). ailored, short,sharp courses were considered the preerred ormatto respond to gaps in education in the immediateterm and complement ormal accreditied courseprograms on an ongoing basis.

(iii) Resources

eaching materials and websites that are up-to-date with consistent quality inormation are needed to

raise awareness and provide support or tertiary


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Itti | 9

(vi) Development o cross-disciplinary skills

It was recognised that there will be an increasing

need or built environment proessionals to havecross-disciplinary, practical application skills andthe ability to collectively solve problems related toclimate change. Skills in contingency planning,sustainability standards and risk management areparticularly relevant to climate change adaptation.Partnerships between proessional institutions andalso with government agencies, consultancies andindustries were seen as one way o progressingthe incorporation o cross-disciplinary skills intocourses. Incorporating cross-disciplinary skills into

all built environment courses was another identiedoption.

(vii) Strategic planning

Urgent attention needs to be given to a strategicapproach to bring about change in course deliveryand content to incorporate utures thinking.

(viii) Embedding climate change adaptationeducation in all courses

Rather than developing new specialised climatechange adaptation ocused university courses, it

was agreed that all existing courses should includea climate change adaptation component. Te ocus,however, should be on key impact areas and onproessional practice skills. Tis would reducethe risk o producing only limited climate changeadaptation experts and would widen the rangeo minimum competencies in climate changeadaptation throughout the proession.

(ix) A national series o cross-disciplinary seminarson climate change adaptation

Te seminars could be developed through establish-ing partnerships between the project partners andother stakeholders such as the overarching Aus-tralian Council or the Built Environment DesignProessions (BEDP).


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Pessi evepet i ite e ptti | 11

2Pessi evepet i itee ptti

2.1 ContextTe need to prepare or the impacts o climate changeacross scales and sectors has been clearly and stronglyarticulated globally, while Australian governments atall levels are acknowledging the need to acilitate ad-aptation in some orm or another. Most o the stateshave provided unding or undertaking assessmentand adaptation projects with the aim o assistingcommunities, built environment proessionals andlocal governments to better understand the implica-tions o climate change or regions and localities and

explore adaptation options in response to these.Tere is a recognition that local government authori-ties need to assess their climate change adaptationneeds, as they are the rontline government respon-sible or dealing with community and environmentalissues in the rst instance. Networking opportunitiesor local government planners, or example, have beenprovided through state government unded seminarsand programs and regional groupings o councils.

It is likely, as we learn more about the regional andlocal impacts o climate change, that economic andlegal risks will place increasing pressure on decisionmakers to regulate or pay attention to risk manage-ment and climate change adaptation in planning,building and design. Te process o reviewing stra-tegic plans, statutory planning documents, buildingcodes and design standards has already begun (seeBox 12), although it is early days and initiatives inthis area are currently sporadic. For example, plan-ners in local government areas that incorporate sig-nicant stretches o coastline are beginning to real-ise the potential impact o climate change and are

amending their strategic planning documents andcoastal management plans accordingly. State govern-ments are also acknowledging that climate change

will present new challenges requiring innovative so-lutions and new analyses.

Box 9: Project example: Understanding climate changeimpacts in north east Victoria

Funding: North East Catchment Management AuthorityLead agency: North East Greenhouse AllianceDate: 2006-2007Target group: State & local government, industry, busi-ness, special interest, community services and residentialgroupsNature of capacity building: Education & awareness pro-gram o potential threats & opportunities o climate changeExpected outcomes: Development & implementation o a

regional climate change adaptation strategy

Source: URS Australia

Box 10: Project example: NSW LGSA

Funding: NSW Greenhouse/Cabinet OceDate: 2006-2008Target group: Local government council planners and ocersNature of capacity building: Initial needs-analysis willlead to the production and distribution o a climate changeaction pack to all local councils in NSW. A program o work-shops in 2007 to roll out the toolkit and a Climate ChangeSummit in 2006 on the impacts and varying responses toclimate change to assist councils and their local communi-

ties to develop climate change action plans.Expected outcomes: Councils will develop climate changeadaptation and mitigation strategies as part o their core

business.

Source: NSW LGSA 2006

Box 11: Project example: Sydney Coastal Council Group

(SCCG)

In July 2005 the Sydney Coastal Council Group partneredwith Macquarie University to provide an inormation anddiscussion orum on climate change science, impacts and

planning implications tailored to local government ocersand decision makers (including councillors).


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Stern notes that market orces alone are unlikely todeliver the ull response necessary to deal with the

serious risks rom climate change18

and points tothe critical role o government in providing a clearpolicy ramework to guide efective adaptation. Tis changing operational environment will haveimplications or built environment proessionals working both in and with governments asgovernment directives, incentives or disincentivesrom any o the three government levels in Australia will impact directly on the skills and knowledgerequired by them.

2.2 What is meant by climatechange adaptation Te denition o adaptation to climate change isoutlined in Box 1. It is taken rom the denitionoutlined by the IPCC. Adger reers to adaptationas involving both the building o adaptive capacity(increasing the ability o individuals, groups, or or-ganisations to adapt to changes) and implementationo adaptation decisions (transorming that capacityinto action)19. Built environment practitioners and

decision makers need to be engaged with both othese elements o adaptation.

Adaptations can be classied according to a rangeo attributes (including temporal and spatial consid-erations) and according to their relative autonomousor purposeul nature (i.e., anticipatory, reactive orstrategic adaptation). Te need or purposeul adap-tation is particularly relevant to built environments.Built environment practitioners are responsible or:the development o urban orm; urban, building andinrastructure design; inrastructure provision andmaintenance; environmental protection; and amen-ity and saety in human settlements. Tey conse-quently have a pivotal role in preparing us or anuncertain uture through acilitating resilience andadaptability into many aspects o society.

Box 12: Strategies addressing climate change

Manly Sustainability Strategy (MSS)

The local eects o climate change and the need or

local mitigating actions are the biggest unknowns that

may inuence the MSS. Monitoring o this situation

with regular expert review is essential as some

programs may need to be applied more urgently than

is currently recognised

Source: Drat Manly Sustainability Strategy (MSS) 2006

NSW Far North Coast Regional Strategy

Long term climate change is likely to present new

challenges that will demand careul analysis and

innovative solutions

Source: NSW DoP 2006, NSW Far North Coast2Regional Strategy,

p21

Essentially though, built environment proessions will be required to embrace three objectives thatorm the basis o purposeul adaptation planning:

reducing the sensitivity o built environments andi.their communities to climate change;

altering the exposure o built environments andii.their communities to climate change; and

increasing the resilience o built environments,iii.

communities and planning systems to cope withimpacts or changes.20

While there are diverse and numerous actions thatwil l need to be employed, some examples o the sortso actions that might relate to the roles o engineers,architects, planners and landscape architectsaccording to each o these three areas o adaptationare provided in Box 15. Such actions will requirepractitioners to draw rom existing knowledge,experiences, skills and tools, but will also require thedevelopment o new practice skills and knowledge to

be able to respond to a new set o problems.

Box 13: What is climate change adaptation?

an adjustment in ecological, social and economic

systems in response to observed or expected changes

in climatic stimuli and their eects and impacts in

order to alleviate adverse impacts o change or take

advantage o new opportunities.

Source: Adger et al 2005 p78

Box 14: Adaptive options

Adaptive options could include improving water

use eciency, providing more energy ecient

housing and revised engineering standards and

zoning or inrastructure development.

Source: Pittock 2003 p7


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2.3 The need or attention to bothadaptation and mitigationA scan o the Australian education scene (reer toSection ., Finding 1) shows that there has been arecent rush in awareness-raising initiatives on climatechange adaptation issues or built environmentproessionals. In built environment tertiary coursesthe ocus still tends to be on climate change mitigationstrategies (addressing the causes o climate change

by reducing greenhouse gas emissions or example)rather than on climate change adaptation (preparingor, and responding to, climate change impacts).

While there is a global debate about the degree opublic policy ocus on adaptation vs mitigation, thisstudy recognises that adaptation will be an essentialtask, as suggested by Pielke et al in Box 16. Tisproject does not set out to emphasise adaptation overmitigation, but instead recognises the importance ogiving attention to both mitigation and adaptationand that integrated responses are required in order

to pursue sustainability.

Te project also acknowledges that: past emissionshave already contributed to global warming which isresulting in climate change now, presenting diversechallenges or the built environment; and thateducation or and about climate change adaptation isin its inancy in Australia and thereore needs urgentattention. For these reasons, education or climate

change adaptation is the ocus here.

Box 16: Why education or climate change

adaptation is needed

Whatever actions ultimately lead to the

decarbonisation o the global energy system, it will be

many decades beore they have a discernible eect on

the climate. Historical emissions dictate that climate

change is unavoidable. And even the most optimistic

emissions projections show global gas concentrations

rising or the oreseeable uture.

Source: Pielke et al 2007 p597

Box 15: Three categories o purposeul adaptation: Examples o actions or built environment proessions

Reduce the sensitivity o the system toclimate change

Alter the exposure o the system toclimate change

Increase the resilience o the systemto cope with impacts or changes

Implement sustainable water supply and

demand management actions

Design buildings that ocus on human

comort needs o potential uture climate

Design urban landscapes and

neighbourhoods to acilitate adjusted

liestyles

Design public inrastructure (eg. stormwater inrastructure) or uture climatic

conditions

Undertake integrated strategic planning

to reduce risks, and minimise and manage

vulnerabilities

Select more resilient species in landscape

design and management

Mitigate the impacts o natural hazard

events (oods, bushres, droughts, severe

storms etc) through inrastructure and

building resilience (design, materials), land

use zoning, development controls

Mitigate climate change itsel:

reduce greenhouse gas emissions from

human activities (urban transport,

energy consumption)

reduce the removal of greenhouse gas

sinks (such as orests and woodland)

increasegreenhousegassinks(conserve

natural habitats, better integrate green

space into urban environments)

Facilitate the enhancement o the

well-being o communities and their

supportive networks and services

through social planning strategies and

neighbourhood design.

Increase resources to support the

development o preparedness and

recovery rom loss through working

with the insurance industry.

Educate diferent groups (including

individuals, public and private

institutions) about their relative

vulnerability to impacts and their

adaptive options.

Adapted rom: Lyth 2006


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2.4 Embedding climate change

adaptation education into corecurriculaTe need or education or climate change adaptationor built environment proessions has been outlined. Te task can be summarised into two challenges,specically:

acilitating the progressive inclusion o teachingi.and learning about climate change, climatechange adaptation and climate change mitigationinto proessional development including

undergraduate and postgraduate universitycourse programs and CPD (i.e., short courses);and

working towards adjusting the mindset oii.architecture, planning, landscape architectureand engineering practitioners and teachersto embrace sustainable thinking and moveeducation or climate change adaptation intosocial and practice norm.

In order to prepare built environment practitioners

or new operational environments and to ensurethat new graduates are well educated in sustainableapproaches to climate change adaptation theurgency to embed education or climate changeadaptation into core curricula o courses becomesclear. Te key word here is core, as education orclimate change adaptation is oten non-existentor relegated to optional units o study in manyproessional courses. Box 17 outlines an innovativeengineering education project that is attempting toembed sustainability into the core curriculum. Asimilar approach could be used to embed educationor climate change adaptation into core curriculum.

A urther reason or embedding education orclimate change adaptation into the core curriculumis one o equity. Climate change and varyingdegrees o resilience in ecological, social andeconomic systems will invariably result in unevenlocal impacts. Some places and communities willbe better prepared and able to cope than others. Tere is an ethical responsibility to ensure thatuture practitioners in particular have minimum

Box 17: The Natural Edge Project (TNEP)

The Natural Edge Project (TNEP) has enabled key

pieces o inormation, or so-called critical literacy

items relating to sustainability, to be incorporated

as eectively as possible into the broadest range

o engineering critieria.The program, which was

trialed at Grith University and is supported

by Engineers Australia, UNESCO, DEW, DITR &

the Society or Sustainability & Environmental

Engineering comprises a number o modules (e.g

Green engineering and chemistry), each containing

six individual technical units (e.g Protable

Greenhouse Solutions), that can be delivered in

either a ull day workshop, in a series o one hour

lessons or as part o a larger course or program.

Source: Paten et al 2005 p268

competency standards at least in climate changeadaptation so that places and communities aroundAustralia are not disadvantaged by a lack o skillsin one place or sector relative to a higher level oskill in another. Tis is particularly relevant to localgovernment planning and engineering units sincepractitioners in local government are likely to be inthe rontline o climate change adaptation.

2.5 Education about and orclimate change adaptation Te issue o climate change has entered thediscourses o educators and is now appearing withvariable but increasing requency within accreditedtertiary course programs and other proessionaldevelopment activities. However, the ocus o thiseducation in the built environment proessions to

date has largely been on:acknowledging climate change as an issuei.and learning the context and/or science othis phenomenon, which can be reerred to aseducation or climate change; and/or

education about and or climate changeii.mitigation, particularly a ocus on ways oreducing greenhouse gas emissions rom builtenvironment activities and structures.


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Box 18: Education or Sustainability principles applied to this project

Core principles Key words

Futures thinking Engaging the representatives rom the various proessional groups to dene the uture proessional

needs and competencies needed in the area o climate change adaptation.

Critical thinking and refection Engaging representatives rom the various proessional groups in reecting critically about the

educational approaches needed to achieve the competencies identied.

Participation in decision

making

Engaging representatives rom the various proessional groups in decision-making regarding

their own proession. Rather than an external researcher identiying opportunities and needs or

decision-making, engaging the participants directly in making those decisions and generating

recommendations or next steps.

Partnerships Engaging representatives rom the various proessional groups in collaborative partnerships to

address the issue.

Developing learning networks and combining resources and experiences.

Systemic thinking Engaging in dialogue proessionals working across the built environment sector to address the

issue more systemically.

Engaging with those who have the opportunity to inuence proessional development across

institutions rather than working with a specic institution. These participants act as key multipliers

in the system.

Education or climate change adaptation hasbeen the missing component in built environmenttertiary courses. Education or both climate changemitigation and climate change adaptation borrowsrom the experience o EducationorSustainability(ES) which is an established eld o learning.Education or climate change mitigation is aboutthe development o mitigative capacity (increasingthe ability o individuals, groups or organisations tomitigate the potential or negative climate changeimpacts) and the implementation o mitigation

decisions (transorming capacity into action).Education or climate change adaptation is aboutthe development o adaptive capacity - increasingthe ability o individuals, groups, or organisationsto adapt to changes associated with climate change.

Tis approach promotes the development o criticalskills necessary or understanding the complexityassociated with climate change issues and thesystemic changes needed to address these.

Tis study encourages an education or climatechange adaptation approach that embraces particulartechniques to develop proessional competencies,such as: critical thinking; systemic thinking andparticipation in decision making. Te approach alsoallows proessionals to promote the mainstreaming

o this approach within the proession and/ororganisations they are working with. Box 18 outlineshow the core principles o education or climatechange adaptation were applied to this project.


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3.1 Accredited coursesUniversity degree programs or built environmentproessionals aim to develop competenciesor proessional practice and are accredited byproessional institutions (see Box 19). TroughoutAustralia there are some 9 accredited undergraduateand postgraduate courses in the built environmentproessions o architecture, planning, landscapearchitecture and engineering. Box 20 shows thedistribution o programs by proession and state.Each o the proessional institutions participatingin this project assess university degree programs orcompliance with their competency standards andare involved in accrediting programs either directlyor indirectly.

Box 19: Why accredit courses?

The process o accrediting courses includes a

holistic review by a visiting expert panel o a

tertiary institutions ability to produce students

with adequate competencies or proessional

practice. The review, which takes place once

every 4 or 5 years, considers curricula, student

outcomes and resources such as teaching materials

and accommodation. It is important or built

environment courses to be accredited to ensure

both consistency in the quality o graduates and

minimum competencies.

Box 20: Australian accredited university courses in the our built environment proessions, 2007

Sate or Territory Architecture Landscape21 Planning22 Engineering23Architecture

VIC 3 2 2 13

NSW 4 1 5 17

QLD 2 1 4 16

SA 2 1 1 3

TAS 1 0 1 2

WA 2 1 1 4

ACT 1 1 0 1

NT 0 0 0 1

TOTAL 15 7 14 57

Source: www.pia.org.au; www.ea.org.au; www.aila.org.au; www.raia.org.au


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Te accreditation process or each o the projectpartners varies between proessions, but generally

involves a visit by an expert panel to the tertiaryinstitution running the course once every our tove years. Accreditation o planning and landscapearchitecture courses is relatively straightorwardwith both the Planning Institute o Australia (PIA)and the Australian Institute o Landscape Architects(AILA) directly responsible or the accreditationprocess. Architecture courses are jointly accreditedand recognised by the Royal Australian Institute oArchitects (RAIA), the Architects AccreditationCouncil o Australia (AACA) and relevant state/territory accrediting authorities whereas registration

o architects is the responsibility o state/territoryaccrediting authorities.

National Generic Competency Standards orEngineers are the means by which EngineersAustralia (EA), on behal o the engineeringproession, sets its perormance standards or theproession. Stage 1 Competency Standards denethe level o preparation necessary or entry topractice and can be used by universities as a platormor establishing a detailed specication o targetedgraduate outcomes or their engineering educationprograms. Stage 1 Competency Standards areseparately dened or the separate career categorieso Proessional Engineer, Engineering echnologistand Engineering Ocer. Te Stage 1 CompetencyStandard provides a undamental reerence or:

setting accreditation criteria and assessingundergraduate engineering education programs

the assessment and accreditation o engineeringundergraduate programs

the assessment by registered Stage 1 assessors

o applicants eligibility or membership oEngineers Australia

the assessment o applications associated withthe Skilled Migration Program.

Stage 2 Competency Standards provide reerence orthe assessment o competencies developed duringthe ormation period subsequent to the achievemento Stage 1 competencies. During this ormationperiod a graduate is expected to practice under thesupervision o a senior, experienced engineer. Stage

2 competencies dene the units and elements o

competence and the dening activities that can beused to assess proessional skills and judgement,

and thus the ability to practise in a competent,independent and ethical manner. EngineersAustralia assesses Stage 2 competency as the basisor awarding Chartered status and or admission tothe National Proessional Engineers Register andthe National Engineering echnologists Register.Engineers Australia operates a ProessionalDevelopment Program (PDP) with a wide rangeo partner employers or nurturing the proessionalormation o graduate engineers as they worktowards demonstrating Stage 2 competence.

3.2 Continuing proessionaldevelopmentContinuing proessional development (CPD) reersto opportunities that are provided to practitioners todevelop their skills and proessional expertise. Tisis traditionally characterised by ormalised shortcourses run by universities, specialist educationproviders or proessional institutions; and inormalproessional development initiatives in the ormo inormation orums, and specialist or expertseminars showcasing better (or new) practice. Suchcourses and orums are usually demand driven asnew issues or practitioners emerge and demand ornew skills is identied. A proessional developmentprogram (PDP), on the other hand, is a structuredprogram undertaken by new graduates to improvetheir competency levels or proessional practice.

Reecting on a demand or inormation, it is notsurprising that there has been a recent rush o CPDinitiatives on climate change topics. It is likely thatthere will continue to be demand or training andCPD initiatives in climate change adaptation inthe immediate term. Te less ormalised orm oeducation, such as orums and seminars on climatechange issues, have become very popular or time-poor proessionals trying to keep abreast o allthe latest developments. Such events also serve toprovide excellent opportunities or networking anddeveloping useul partnerships or dealing with, andseeking innovative solutions to climate change.

Te Engineers Australias PDP establishes apartnership between the young EA member, their


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employer and EA to guide their ormation andultimate attainment o the Stage 2 competencies

expected o experienced engineers engaged inunsupervised engineering practice. Te AustralianInstitute o Landscape Architects (AILA) runs amentoring program along similar lines.

Tere appears to be a general acceptance o theimportance o sustainability education in generalin each o the built environment proessions.For exa

Documents

Education for Climate Change Adaptation in the Built Environment Sector