Poster presented on March 6-8, 2002 at the conference on Communicating the Future: Best Practices in Communication of Science and Technology to the Public, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, and NIST. Poster topics were selected as "best practices" through a formal peer review by a committee of distinguished science writers, educators, and researchers.

Special Forever: Uniting Children Across the Murray-Darling Basin in Southeastern Australia
Program conducted by: Murray-Darling Basin Commission and Primary English Teaching Association of Australia

Summary
Special Forever is a unique environmental communication project undertaken across the Murray-Darling Basin in southeastern Australia. It is funded by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and is implemented by the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia. The project provides the opportunity for the personal involvement of primary school students in thinking, writing and drawing what is important to them in the Basin, and provides guidance in how to effectively express their views and values.

Through the involvement of over 400 schools (25% of the total in the Basin) and approximately 25 000 children each year, it has created:

• a 'sense of belonging' and pride in the Basin by students;
• greater discussion of the Basin in schools and families; and
• greater awareness of the topography, land use, cultural heritage and flora and fauna of the Basin.

The program has been successful in making a unique connection between English and science. Special Forever has given students another dimension to their science based field activities by guiding and encouraging them to write and express what they value about the environment.

Special Forever is a substantial long-term investment in encouraging future generations to value the many natural and social assets of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Project Management
An essential feature of the success of Special Forever is the use of a national professional organisation such as the Primary English Teaching Association. This has ensured an extremely high level of quality assurance and adherence to current national best practice in English teaching.

The project is assisted by 25 volunteer regional coordinators across the Basin who are either English teachers or librarians. Guidelines for the project are based on the development of modules by the regional coordinators ensuring relevance to local and regional curriculum.

Budget
$1.2 million (AUS) over three years.

Research and Evaluation
The project was independently evaluated in 1999 using quantitative and qualitative analysis. Key findings indicated a high degree of satisfaction with the primary school teachers, students, and a perception by the funding partners of being a very high standard. Since this review, many of the detailed recommendations for improvement have been implemented. The project now has agreed objectives and performance indicators and is subject to a biennial independent evaluation.

Contact
Lawrie Kirk, Manager Communication
Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC)
GPO Box 409 Canberra ACT Australia 2601
Phone 61 2 6279 0107
FAX: 61 2 6248 8053
Email: lawrie.kirk@mdbc.gov.au

Web Sites
Murray-Darling Basin Commission - www.mdbc.gov.au
Primary Teaching Association - www.peta.edu.au/project/project.htm

Created: 4/9/2002
Last updated: 8/17/02
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov

"A Place to Live and Enjoy," Illustration by Katie Teasdale, Age 11, Werrimul P-12 School, Werrimul, VIC, 3496, Australia

Full poster in PDF format (327 KB). Requires Adobe Acrobat.