North Stradbroke Island
Read an article about the 2012 Stradbroke Island field trip.
On North Stradbroke Island, off the east coast of Australia, students work in small multidisciplinary groups to identify significant water issues on the island.
North Stradbroke Island has a large source of underground freshwater which has many demands upon it – residential use, offtake for the mainland, tourism, sand mining – which must be carefully managed to avoid damage to the ecosystem.
Using pieces of driftwood and other jetsam, they create three-dimensional conceptual models in the sand to explore these issues and their biophysical, social and political consequences.
Concepts of engineering, groundwater hydrology, aquatic ecology, planning, anthropology, law and economics are woven through discussions of integrated, sustainable water management.
Students stay at the Moreton Bay Research Station and have lectures from representatives of Queensland Government Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM), the Moreton Bay Research Station, the Quandamooka traditional owners of the island, and the Stradbroke Island Water Action Group.
In this beautiful island setting water industry professionals from all over the world embark together on the exciting and challenging journey of integrated water management for the future.
Photos from past trips
