housing for sustainable livelihoods: the role of schooling and personalisation exploring links,...

Housing for Sustainable Livelihoods: the role of schooling and

personalisation

Housing for Sustainable Livelihoods: the role of schooling and

personalisation

Exploring Links, Gaps, and Livelihood Based Principles

Dr Kurt Seemann:Core Program Leader: Sustainable Desert Settlements

Desert Knowledge CRCSouthern Cross University

WhereWhere

Potential about Remote Aboriginal Schools and Housing

Potential about Remote Aboriginal Schools and Housing

• Almost all remote communities have, or have access to, a school system at least up to yr 6.– Run by professionals (teachers) and institutionally

linked into family lives– Most have access to or can reach basic health

institution– Most have access to a store/retail outlet

• Presents a potential for Diffusion and communication

• But R&M is seen as adult based– Not many communities have a technical institutional

base!

Two ideasTwo ideas

• “Housing for Livelihood” V “Housing for Health”?– Is it time to explore another dimension in policy for

remote area housing?

• Schooling: growing up with informed housing technology and design knowledge & skills– The gap in educational continuity after primary and

before VET technical training– Where do people learn and grow up with design and

technology skills and knowledge before age of VET training kicks in?

– Do we wonder why housing R&M and choices seem complex for people?

Assumed problems V Assumed solutionsAssumed problems V Assumed solutions

• It costs a lot to deliver domestic houses compared to the urban centres

• Its more than the house its also the ‘reticulated infrastructure’ to service the house

• Its more than Capital, its also R&M

• Training Adults in Urban VET standards is the assumed starting point

• Schooling is assumed to provide technology education in the years leading up to VET age

• Equity based on ‘sameness’ of house technology as in the urban centres: Supplier driven?

• Connecting houses to urban service technologies is always better, equitable?

• Send in crews to repair monthly, retrofit or refurbish every few years - for many that’s dreamin’?

Does Equity of Input lead to equity of Outcome?


• Yes, Housing links to health. – But should it also be oriented to improve local

livelihood outcomes? “Housing for local livelihoods”??

– When the goal of house lifecycle is contribution to local user livelihood, house design shifts its focus, and house lifecycle affordability begins to include

• local conditions of skills, ideas, climate and R&m accessory access and affordability

• Householder enabled to personalise their dwelling becomes a marker of greater lifecycle value for the dwelling itself: extending house life means reducing housing lifecycle costs.

Basic Total System: Point of Human - Physical interaction (functions in settlements)

Basic Total System: Point of Human - Physical interaction (functions in settlements)

FEEDBACKContingent Valuation

PROCESSESSocial/Physical

INPUTSPhysical/Social

OUTPUTS(Lifecycle)

CONTEXTDist, Pop, Econ, Climate, Other

OutcomesLivelihood?Economy?Sustainable

Capital?

ContextContext

Social-Physical Capital: Inputs & Processes

Social-Physical Capital: Inputs & Processes

Feedback ManagementFeedback ManagementSustained Housing ??Sustained Housing ??

Exploring technacy context of remote householders

Exploring technacy context of remote householders

What foundations exist in the assumed level of capacity of householders to

engage in housing technologies both as choice basis and as skills?

Capability Indicators? Householders tools for R&M

Capability Indicators? Householders tools for R&M

Occurrence of toolsamongst individuals

% Occurrence of toolsamongst councilworkshops

%

Axe/tomahawk 78.8 Shifting spanner 84.8Spear 75.8 Screwdriver 81.8Broom 72.7 Hacksaw 81.8Garbage bin 69.7 Socket set 81.8Digging stick 63.6 Tyre repair tools 81.8Television 60.6 Oxy welding set 81.8Fishing tackle 54.5 Hammer 78.8Riffle/gun 54.5 Pliers 78.8Utility Knife 45.5 Shovel 78.844-Gallon drum 45.5 Crowbar 78.8Electric extension cord 42.4 Spanner set 78.8Shovel 39.4 Measuring tape 78.8Hammer 33.3 Tyre bead breaker 78.8Screwdriver 33.3 Arc welding set 78.8Shifting spanner 33.3 Vice grips 75.8Video recorder/camera 30.3 Stilsons wrench 75.8Pliers 27.3 Woodsaw 69.7Wood rasp 27.3 Cold chisel 69.7Boat 24.2 Nails, screws, glues etc. 69.7Metal file 21.2 Electric extension cord 69.7

Table 3.2.3: Top 20 tools possessed by individuals and the council workshop incommunities

-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

SOLAR ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEMS

GAS HOT WATER SYSTEMS

POWERTOOLS

TELEPHONES

ELECTRIC HOT WATER SYSTEMS

REFRIGERATOR

SOLAR HOT WATER SYSTEMS

TELEVISIONS/ARIAL

ELECTRIC SURFACE WATER PUMPS

TWOWAY RADIO

WOOD FUELED HOT WATER SYSTEMS

EXTENSION POWER CORDS/PLUGS

WATER SEWERAGE SYSTEMS

WATER TAPS & FITTINGS

PORTABLE GENERATOR

FLUSH TOILETS

DIESEL SURFACE WATER PUMPS

OXY WELDING SETS

LAWN MOWER

EVAPORATIVE DRAINS

MECHANICAL TOOLS

WINDMILL BORE

MOTORBIKES

BOATS

UNVENTILATED PIT LATRINES

CAR TRAILERS

CANOES

CAR BATTERY

RIFFLE/GUN

CARS

TYRE REPAIR EQUIPMENT

VENTILATED IMPROVED PIT LATRINES

BICYCLES

AQUAPRIVVY

FISHING EQUIPMENT

INTRODUCED COOKING EQUIPMENT

DIGGING STICK

TRADITIONAL COOKING EQUIPMENT

SPEAR

Proportionally more

repairs done by

resident non-Aborigines

Technologies most repaired by

resident Aborigines compared to

resident non-Aborigines

Sample of technologies

usually repaired by

Aborigines

Proportionally more

repairs done by

resident Aborigines

Sample of technologies

usually repaired by

non-Aborigines

residents in

communities

In Urban Context, DIY and the local Hardware store chains are booming - tend to see more tools like the Right Hand list.

What DIY do people do in R&M?Suggests degree of technacy alignment, if any, to Housing R&M?

What DIY do people do in R&M?Suggests degree of technacy alignment, if any, to Housing R&M?

-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

TELEPHONE

SOLAR ELECTRIC POWER

TWOWAY RADIO

TELEVISIONS

REFRIGERATOR



RIFLE/GUN


POWERTOOLS


AQUAPRIVVY


OXYWELDING SETS

WINDMILL BORE


MECHANICAL TOOLS


LAWN MOWER

FLUSH TOILETS


PORTABLE GENERATOR

CARS

CAR BATTERIES

EVAPORATIVE DRAINS

MOTORBIKES





CAR TRAILERS

FISHING EQUIPMENT

BOATS


BICYCLES

CANOES

DIGGING STICK


SPEAR

Technologies most repaired within

community resources compared to

external agencies

Proportionally more

repairs done by

external agent

Proportionally more

repairs done by

community

Technologies usually

maintained within

community resources by

both resident Aborigines

and non-Aborigines.


maintained by

external agents

Housing for Local LivelihoodHousing for Local Livelihood

• Housing for Shelter:– House is a unit of capital:

job’s done when built.– Householder not engaged

with the house ‘sense of owning?

– Design is standardised, generalised

– Policy goals move to cheaper housing units, or

– Centralised regional (far away) management

– R&M is ‘brought in’ and householder not encouraged to R&M

• Housing for Livelihood– Houses must leave a

livelihood foot print for householders/community

– Householder drives design and encouraged/resourced to accessorise

– Design is semi-standardised– Policy goals seek housing

technology and designs that link to local R&M DIY potential: access to furniture, plug and replace whitegoods, minor fittings and fixtures, shelves and storage all DIY



• Yes, there is the imperative to fill the gaps of shelter to houseless families ASAP.– But are urban standards in house technologies & designs end-

user sustainable (economic or social)?• Community and householder economic capacities

• Community and householder management support/capacities

• In many remote small communities, the supplied type of house and its service technologies are beyond local capabilities or economies to sustain them.

• Skill to R7m require a level of certifications beyond local economic capacity to sustain those skills, but redesigned housing may open an intermediate level of local Skill certification that manages most “house first aid” prior to bring in the full trade: the para-trade based house design?

• So why not allow locally valued innovations in types of housing and designs? Scalable development at household level.



• Yes, all houses need reliable R&M.– But is the house technology designed and chosen to

engage householder & R&M local supplier (eg., local general store) for minor R&M?

• Its more the fixtures than the house!• And its more linked to white goods than the wall fittings.

– In remote communities, the general store ‘stock’ is a significant R&M indicator

– What would happen is a Major Hardware Store (Bunnings?) were located in or near remote communities?

Cost Critical Events: Selected FindingsCost Critical Events: Selected Findings

Technical service support & funding Standards usually supply driven, not driven by demand to meet local capacity

and performance benchmarks

Divided along technical specialisation areas (so synergy of service and

evaluation difficult)

Risky, project based, stop start bidding short-term.

This affected gender employment “Men’s” work/income was sporadic/opportunist

“Women’s” work/income was steady, developmental and able to be built upon

and programmed

Outsourcing means cash flow out:i.e., a small housing for livelihood footprint

Outsourcing means cash flow out:i.e., a small housing for livelihood footprint

-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

TELEPHONE

SOLAR ELECTRIC POWER

TWOWAY RADIO

TELEVISIONS

REFRIGERATOR



RIFLE/GUN


POWERTOOLS


AQUAPRIVVY


OXYWELDING SETS

WINDMILL BORE


MECHANICAL TOOLS


LAWN MOWER

FLUSH TOILETS


PORTABLE GENERATOR

CARS

CAR BATTERIES

EVAPORATIVE DRAINS

MOTORBIKES





CAR TRAILERS

FISHING EQUIPMENT

BOATS


BICYCLES

CANOES

DIGGING STICK


SPEAR

Technologies most repaired within

community resources compared to

external agencies

Proportionally more

repairs done by

external agent

Proportionally more

repairs done by

community


maintained within

community resources by

both resident Aborigines

and non-Aborigines.


maintained by

external agents

Cost Critical Events: Its not just the house, its what it does and doesn’tdoes and doesn’t contain for DIY value.

Stove, Bathroom, Fridge (RHS) are very sensitive ‘markers’, possibly key stone markers, so may only need to measure these in future…

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Bathroom

Stove

Fridge

Furniture

Locks

Kitchen

Air cooler

Doors

Windows

Hot water

Walls

Yard/garden

Foundations

Elec.Fixtures

Verandah

FloorRoof

Ceiling

Flush

Toilets

FACTOR 1

House components with greatest variation

in repair status across communities

(37.8% variance explained)

FACTOR 2

House components with least variation

in repair status across communities

(29.9% variance explained)

Foster Local Capacity and Stores for DIY innovations

Foster Local Capacity and Stores for DIY innovations

Personalisation => DIY innovations => extends lifecycle

However, often clipboard evaluations don’t record this.

Could represent basis for regional innovation and economic

stimulation

Potential for education and employment

Continuity gap and lack of deep social support for fostering

local ideas from K-9 education

Store and House R&M LinkStore and House R&M Link

INDPOSS

AVSHREPA

TLSHED

More transition

shelters in

communities

Less transition

shelters in

communities

Small personal

tool resource

Large personal

tool resource

Houses in poor

general repair

Houses in good

general repair

Tools possessed in household correlated with tools sold in community store.

But almost opposite to what tools were used in council depot

Store stock critical as tools possessed predicts improved rating on shelters

The Schooling LinkThe Schooling Link

• Almost all Housing education and training assumes mainstream trades and adult education.– Is this assumption effective?

• With COAG and Coordinated planing, adults are increasingly expected to be well enabled to know the pros and cons of housing and R&M options in designs and technologies– Is this assumption backup with local capability

investment?

The Schooling ProblemThe Schooling Problem

• Low completion rates among remote Aboriginal VET trade courses– And if they do complete, does the training foster local

livelihoods around remote housing choices or better livelihood fit to empty the community and move to the urban centres?

The Schooling ProblemThe Schooling Problem

• Around 50% of all desert communities have a primary school.

• 41% of WA desert communities have a secondary school.

• 8% in NT.• 25% of desert communities have access to TAFE

or other education services• There is a HUGE education participation gap in

many remote communities yrs 7-9Young, Guenther & Boyle (2006) Growing the Desert: Effective educational pathways for remote Indigenous peoples, NCVER.

Is VET (post yr 9 (15yrs) Effective?Is VET (post yr 9 (15yrs) Effective?

• VET only effective if:• you live in towns or large communities close to towns• you speak English as your first language• you are prepared to move away from home for training

and work• Emerging livelihoods activities on communities will not

reflect mainstream industry occupations• Capacity building and community development critical but

not current core business of VET

Young, Guenther & Boyle (2006) Growing the Desert: Effective educational pathways for remote Indigenous peoples, NCVER.

The technology learning GAP in Schooling

The technology learning GAP in Schooling

• Remotes community R&M training targets Adults in VET, but:– A great number of remote community children do not

continue or have access to schooling between end Primary and start of young adult VET access?

– So there is a structural supply problem to develop socially wide informed and skilled technological capability to feed into any remote R&M VET program

– This may severely limit pool of locally informed discourse with housing negotiations of choice, design and householder / housing engagement

The BIGGER GAP in SchoolingThe BIGGER GAP in Schooling

• Even if remote communities could gain continuous educational access locally in technology and housing yrs 7-9+.– Are community school curriculum's teaching as a core,

locally enhanced housing design and technology skills and knowledge (eg. are they teaching technacy, with literacy and numeracy?)

The BIGGER GAP in SchoolingThe BIGGER GAP in Schooling

• NT Gov Ramsey Review of Secondary Education Dec 2003.– This review identified the importance of developing

technacy skills – critical skills for negotiating the varying and ever changing technologies increasingly integral to daily life, even on remote communities.

– Despite technology capability recommended and noted over 36 times, the schools sector’s response to the review did not acknowledge nor comment on any technological curriculum request for NTG education to accommodate

Adding schooling/curriculum to the coordination policy mix around

housing

Adding schooling/curriculum to the coordination policy mix around

housing

Schooling (curriculum) linking in policy to housing

Schooling (curriculum) linking in policy to housing

• The access to most remote communities is already there!

• A reasonable curriculum investment years K-6 (ideally K-9) in core technacy along side the norms of literacy and numeracy oriented traditions, has huge potential to multiply up the age range.

• Local R&M VET participation and better informed local discussion about the digital and material choices in remote living may lead to better investment impact.

Curriculum may need to step up, a little, to the solution - play their role Curriculum may need to step up, a little, to the solution - play their role

• “Whole of Government” approaches are developing that hope to yield better outcomes for remote Aboriginal communities: a good thing.– COAG Trials -> 2001-2006– Establishing the OIPC

• What increased expectation will there be on local community clients/users to negotiate and discuss the nature of their local housing needs and level of R&M participation?

COAG Objectives of interestCOAG Objectives of interest

• OICP and COAG Trials core objectives:– encourage innovative approaches traversing new

territory– work with Indigenous communities to build the

capacity of people in those communities to negotiate as genuine partners with government

– build the capacity of government employees to be able to meet the challenges of working in this new way with Indigenous communities.

Main pointsMain points

• Housing for Livelihoods: house policy to leave local house technology engagement value

• The store to play a greater roll in householder minor R&M

• Policy to fill the gap in education yrs 7-9 to grow up a pool in technology and design knowledge and skills - better for livelihood housing

• Yr K-9 to have core technacy/design&technology curriculum

housing for sustainable livelihoods: the role of schooling and personalisation exploring links,...

Documents

housing rm

ideas housing

housing technologies

housing links

housing lifecycle costs

livelihood v housing

informed housing technology

remote area housing