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Social Context - Coggle Diagram
Social Context
Outside the University
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Print Media
Censored: Australian scientists say suppression of environment research is getting worse
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Sentiment Surveys (all from Jan/Feb 2020, and covid has obvs changed this dramatically) - shows the hierarchy of concerns
There was an even larger increase in the proportion of people who believe global warming or climate change will impact their lives.Nearly three-quarters (72.3%) of respondents said global warming was a very serious or fairly serious threat, a substantial increase from the 56% who said so in 2008.The majority of those living in capital cities said they felt global warming was a very serious problem (62%) or a threat (74.9%). Perhaps even more surprising, however, was the fact these views were shared by people in non-capital cities (52% said it was very serious, 65.5% said it was a threat).
New in-depth research from Roy Morgan shows a record high 41% of Australians regard Environmental problems as the major concern facing Australia – up 17% points since June.A further 22% (down 12% points) cited Economic problems. This is the lowest level of concern for Economic issues since April 2006, prior to the Global Financial Crisis.
Averages can be misleading. Sensibly, we’re not all worried about all issues to the same extent. So, despite Australians – as a collective – selecting The Environment as the top national concern (41%), Millennials (48%) and members of Generation Z (45%) expressed most worry, followed by Boomers (42%) and Generation X (37%). Even though 30% of Builders nominated The Environment as a top national issue, they were actually more worried about Healthcare (40%) and Crime (35%).
Anxiety about climate change is informing a good chunk, but not all, of the worry. When we unpacked the reasons why Australians selected The Environment as a top national concern in January, citizens mostly attributed their worry to climate change, drought and bushfire. Some citizens linked these topics (e.g. climate change = bad drought = conditions for even worse bushfire), and others discussed climate change and drought in relation to natural resource management failings related to water (e.g. bad river management = dead fish) and land (e.g. climate change + high fuel loads = bushfire). Beyond listing their current concerns, many discussed their future worries (e.g. dead fish today, dead planet tomorrow) and some citizens also wrote about an urgent need for Australia to actively transition to more renewable energy sources. Link Title
Australian Youth Survey on Values (people aged 15-19) = The three most highly valued items for respondents from VIC were friendships (other than family), family relationships and mental health. The next most highly valued items were school or study satisfaction and mental health.
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Friendships (other than family) were considered extremely or very important by 85.5% of respondents from VIC (extremely important: 47.6%; very important: 37.9%).
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Over eight in ten (83.5%) respondents indicated that family relationships were extremely or very important to them (extremely important: 51.5%; very important: 32.0%).
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Around seven in ten respondents from VIC placed a high value upon mental health (72.9%), school or study satisfaction (71.5%) and physical health (68.2%). 
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Covid19
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Waste - potential increase in interest around food waste (composting), but decreased interest/ability in actions around plastics waste (as seen in increased takeaway containers in the name of supporting local businesses, and in other covid-related single-use items in the name of safety/health)
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Other large events - BLM AU/US and AU deaths in custody - this was not related to environment but increased understanding and momentum around racial/colonial social justice issues
Volunteering
The decline in volunteering during COVID-19 has been substantial, with 65.9 per cent of volunteers estimated to have stopped volunteering between February and April 2020. The researchers estimate that this reduction in volunteering is equivalent to 12.2 million hours per week.
Volunteers over the age of 65 were more likely to have stopped volunteering than other age groups.
Female volunteers were also more likely to have stopped volunteering compared to male volunteers.
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Within the university
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The campus as socially fragmented and having a transient population of people who are mainly 18-25, and staff (what demographics?)
Volunteering at the uni
SCU presentation and website focus on the recognition that comes with volunteering - LICA, Green Gown etc. They also focus on the job readiness/employability that volunteering gives you (CV building)A third focus was on community/making friends - this aligns most with the Volunteering Victoria data, and may be of increased importance after Covid19Unclear if these are the ACTUAL drivers for volunteers OR just what the SCU think make volunteering 'sticky'
There are other volunteering programmes at the university - mostly run at the departmental/faculty level: UMSU volunteering, GSA, Alumni, Faculty of Science. These programmes all seem to focus on peer mentoring - exam, host new students, career mentoring etc. I did find one programme in BioSciences that was focused on technical skill, rather than interpersonal/community ties, The Herbarium at the uni - https://biosciences.unimelb.edu.au/engage/the-university-of-melbourne-herbarium/volunteers. This made me think that the current perspective or social climate for volunteering at the uni is mostly on community building - and there is an opportunity for more technical/skills based programmes (or training volunteers in whatever it is we do)
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Faculties
Likely to be different degrees of awareness/priority regarding volunteering and/or environmental issues amongst different faculties
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