In a first for Australia, a new research network will be launched at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Thursday 8 November to focus on environmental justice and governance in Australia. The new group is part of CSU’s Institute for Land Water and Society (ILWS)  and will be known as the Environmental Justice and Governance for Social Change Strategic Research Area. Co-leaders of the new group, Dr Helen Masterman-Smith, an environmental sociologist, and Associate Professor Vaughan Higgins, a rural sociologist, said, “This new Strategic Research Area is one of the first research concentrations or networks in Australia that focuses on the fields of justice and governance in environmental issues, including climate change.”

About 60 Year Six students from Peak Hill Central School and Kandos Public School will participate in workshops at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Tuesday 13 November as part of a Future Moves program, Check It Out Day. The event gives the students first-hand experience of a university. Ms Tonya Graham, Future Moves coordinator, said, “By introducing young people to the experience of university study we hope to encourage them to become more engaged in school studies and more confident to consider tertiary study as a later option. The Future Moves program is directed at students who have the potential to succeed in tertiary education and who come from families with little or no experience of higher education. Students who participate often say, ‘I never considered university, but now I really want to go’. Events like the Check It Out days are a great way to start a conversation with students and their families about the options available to them when they finish school.” The Year Six students will engage in a range of fun interactive workshops delivered by CSU courses staff, including paramedics, nursing, art education, communications, and theatre/media. The day will conclude with students dressing in graduation attire for a mock mini-graduation.

There will be plenty of flappers and feathers on show at this year’s 2012 Vintage Dinner at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga, with the evening showcasing a 1920s theme. The Head of CSU in Wagga Wagga, Mr Adrian Lindner is hosting the popular event on Friday 9 November, now in its 35^th year. Pre-dinner drinks will be held under the lemon-scented gum trees from 7pm with a three course dinner served at 7.45pm at the Convention Centre, CSU in Wagga Wagga. Guests will be entertained by renowned Sydney jazz band, The 1920s Jazz Gang. Tickets for the annual event have been sold out.

The success of schools in Finland has been praised in recent times, with teachers attaining high status in the community and students topping international test results. Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Education in Albury-Wodonga will host an informal and informative question and answer session with guest Dr Tuija Turunen, a senior lecturer in teacher education with Finland’s University of Lappland, to address questions on the Finnish model. A former teacher and teacher educator in Finland, Dr Turunen is a research fellow at CSU. She also has a son attending an Australian high school for the past three years. Dr Turunen will present her insights into both school systems. The informal Q & A session is open to the public and will start at 5.30pm on Monday 5 November in the CD Blake Lecture Theatre, CSU in Albury-Wodonga, off Elizabeth Mitchell Dive, Thurgoona.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) ecologist will present his ideas on how looking into history can help conserve and manage freshwater resources, including the Murray Darling Basin. Dr Paul Humphries, a researcher with CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS), will present a public lecture on the use of historical approaches to understand past environmental conditions. “This will tell us how the Murray Darling Basin has got to the state it is in today, and how this knowledge can be used to set more realistic environmental targets and so help improve river management,” Dr Humphries said. The lecture will start at 4pm on Thursday 1 November in Room 202, CD Blake Lecture building (751), CSU in Albury-Wodonga, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona.

Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga have presented the organisation Country Hope with more than $5 500, the rewards of their on campus fundraising events throughout 2012. Regional Manager of Country Hope, Mr Chris Blake recently accepted a cheque for $5 525.95 from medical science and biotechnology student and Residential Advisor, Mr Bobby Porykali and pharmacy student and Head Resident Mr Chris Hill. “One of our activities which raised a hefty

$2 200 involved Bobby shaving off his dreadlocks,” Mr Hill said. “We decided to collect money for Country Hope because it is a local charity and we felt strongly that we should give back to an organisation that supports people in regional areas.” Donations were also collected throughout the year at on campus activities during the London 2012 Olympics and regular social evenings at The Crowbar. The fundraising efforts were spearheaded by the four Head Residents of the Halls of Residences at CSU in Wagga Wagga.

Nursing student from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga, Ms Carol Mudford, has been recognised for her enthusiasm for nursing in rural and remote areas with a national award. The 26 year old, who has also studied with the Flying Fruit Flies and completed her schooling at Beechworth Secondary College, was one of five students nationally to be accepted into the Emerging Nurse Leader (ENL) Program sponsored by the Australian College of Nursing. Born on a sheep-wheat farm near Gilgandra in the NSW central west, Ms Mudford has completed an Arts degree and travelled and worked around Australia and overseas before becoming a volunteer leader at Mittagundi Outdoor Education Centre, an adventure program for young people on a farm in the Victorian High Plains. “That experience motivated me to pursue a career in nursing, with which I hope to work for rural and remote communities,” Ms Mudford said. “My varied life experiences, particularly at Mittagundi, have helped me appreciate community relationships and activities, so I have been motivated to become involved with local and national health student networks.”

Indonesia's commercial forestry sector needs to maintain good relationships with the communities that surround the forests. Charles Sturt University (CSU) doctoral student, Ms Kristiana Wahyudiyati, is investigating how forestry companies can make their corporate behaviour more socially acceptable. “Corporate social responsibility is increasingly being applied to commercial forestry in Indonesia and globally. My research looks at how well these companies work with communities in South Kalimantan in Indonesia,” Ms Wahyudiyati said. This week, she is meeting with her Indonesian co-supervisor, Professor Udiansyah from University of Lambung Mangkurat in South Kalimantan. He is familiar with local community attitudes and how positive relationships between communities and companies are developed. Professor Udiansyah is an expert in managing forest resources in Indonesia, and researches in environmental economics and rural development. He is also meeting with Ms Wahyudiyati’s main supervisor, Dr Digby Race, at CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society, based in Albury-Wodonga.