Summary

Colour brochure containing information about drought in Australia. It includes a description of drought's impact, its causes, types of drought and strategies to manage drought.

This publication was collected by Deb Anderson during her PhD research which forms the Mallee Climate Oral History Collection.

The Mallee Climate Oral History Collection is an outcome of the PhD research by Deb Anderson. In 2003 Deb Anderson received a Doctoral Research Scholarship, jointly sponsored by the University of Melbourne (Australian Centre) and Museum Victoria. The key focus of her cross-disciplinary research was the lived experience of drought and perceptions of climate change in the Victorian Mallee. A 'life history' approach was used for each participant in the oral history project. The interviews allowed participants to talk about their lived experience of drought and perceptions of climate change, in their own terms. These 22 people come from a variety of backgrounds and community involvement: farmers, financial counsellors, members of social action and welfare groups, members of local government, a newspaper editor, a nurse, educators, administrators, agronomists and researchers. The photographs and publications in this collection compliment the oral histories and place the participants in the context of their family, farm, and broader rural environment.

The oral histories and photographs in the collection are featured in a book by Deb Anderson, entitled 'Endurance: Australian Stories of Drought', published by CSIRO in 2014.

The project has direct links to individuals, locations and themes featured in three other Museum Victoria collection projects: the Victorian Women on Farms Gathering Collection, Australia's Biggest Family Album and the Future Harvest project.

Physical Description

Four page colour brochure with text, photographs and maps printed on each side.

Significance

This collection documents the lived experience of drought and perceptions of climate change in the semi-arid Mallee wheat-belt of Victoria. This project coincided with a key moment in time when Australians were confronted with the issue of climate change and its meaning for their futures. The oral histories, photographs and associated publications document the enduring historical narratives of Mallee life of endurance, adaptation and survival, which are placed in the context of contemporary concerns about drought and climate variability, and an uncertain future. This project is the first significant study on the lived experience of drought and perceptions of climate change in Australia. It explored how conceptions of drought and climate, and the associated narratives, shapesocial and cultural systems, and what this means for Australian identity in a climate change world.

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