Women on Farms Gathering Heritage Project
This is a community partnership between rural Victorian women and Museum Victoria. The partnership is building a collection that records and acknowledges the diversity of rural women’s experiences, documents the broader contemporary issues facing rural Victoria, and empowers rural women by their active participation in the process of collecting, interpreting and sharing their memories.
The project is developed with the input of a community Heritage Group, comprising women from rural Victoria and representatives from Museum Victoria, Monash University and Department for Victorian Communities.
An Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant application has been submitted.
Project contacts: Rebecca Carland and Liza Dale-Hallett
Drought, Risk & Rural Endurance: Rethinking the Australian Climate
This project is based on interviews with Mallee farmers and others in the region about their experiences of drought and their perceptions of climate change. It explores the changes in perceptions of drought, from a periodic, unpredictable occurrence to an event that is shaped by fundamental issues such as rural environmental change, cultural survival, economic struggle and sustainable agriculture.
Project contacts: Deb Anderson, The University of Melbourne, and Liza Dale-Hallett
Water Smart Home
Innovative responses to the increasing scarcity of water and the onset of drought have been the focus of the Water Smart Home project.
The project aims to engage with the community to educate and inform about water conservation and inspire behavioral change as a result. The project includes an informative and entertaining interactive installation, an educational website that focuses on real examples of water saving, and a comprehensive, dynamic suite of public programs dedicated to communicating the water conservation message in different ways.
In addition, through the Water Smart Home project, Museum Victoria is building its collection of water related objects, educational material, trade literature, and images for future research and display.
Supported by the Smart Water Fund.
Project contacts: Liza Dale-Hallett and Sarah Rood