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Australian governments are early adopters of many electronic record-keeping and reporting systems, and the Australian Standard Business Reporting (SBR) Program evolves this further. This paper examines the evolution from government-centric technologies and standards to collaborative, open, and community standards-based systems. It describes the SBR Program as a case study in the development of seamless business-to-government reporting, which delivers significant reductions in reporting costs for business. The flexibility and universality of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an important element in the SBR approach. The benefits to business and government reveal immediate and practical benefits that expand with the growing number of users of these standards and technologies. The open, collaborative processes that have been driven by the SBR Program are consistent with the current directions of e-government in various countries. Technology in government is interactive and viewed in terms of a complex adaptive system, which needs to grow, respond, and interact with systems used by businesses in the Australian and international communities. The use of XBRL in the SBR Program increases the integrity of data that is provided to multiple parties, eliminating the need to transform financial data in a business’s system to the various semantic differences currently imposed.

This chapter is a description of the Urban Tree Project where high school students were engaged in the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies to determine the economic and ecological value of trees in their neighborhood. Students collected data on tree locations and conditions and then used CITYgreen to evaluate the economic and ecological value of their trees. Urban high school youth had the opportunity to explore urban ecology in their neighborhoods. Pre–post interview and written assessments were conducted across a wide sample of school contexts. The goal of these assessments was to explore the students' beliefs and understanding regarding the ecosystem services that trees and greenspace provide to a city. The results were mixed as students' understanding measured by the written assessments increased significantly. However, upon further probing, students often showed difficulty in drawing coherent concepts and ideas that depicted a robust understanding of urban ecological principles regarding green space and the services that trees provide.

To cradle and crack an eggLittle's latent creativity shone brightly in the night's earthen darkness. Unconscious self-expression was all that remained after 2 months in the reconceptualization center. For the first time in Little's life, the sun was now an unwelcome friend.Little snapped up, relieved that a soldier did not see another missed recitation. "Knowledge is power. Power shapes spaces. Spaces are shared." repeated his neighbors in the adjacent cells. Feigning calm, he centered himself on his meditation cushion on his cell floor.Everyday felt the same to Little: a loop of recitation, metaphorical group activities, team building, journaling, meals, and meditation. Meditation. Meditation. "Why do you think we are doing this?" "What do you think this represents?" "How do you think this will be relevant when you leave?" "How can we open ourselves to collective eco-work?" Through it all the smell of the same rotten egg: the desire to control with minimal resistance.At this point, Little had been resistive, but he had yet to decide if he would rot, crack, or hatch. Little watched the egg the Wiser held, imagining himself in the Wiser's left hand. Rotting was a scary thought, but morbidly satisfying to Little-at least the Wiser would have to suffer too.Little noticed a net in the Wiser's right-hand. Nodding his head affirmatively, he defiantly thought "What is today's metaphor? Was the net society? Was it meant to cradle and carry us or catch and crush us?" To Little, guessing was the best part of the activity."Little, would you hold this end of the string, please?" said the Wiser. "We are all connected, but we need just enough tension in the net to keep our egg safe. The string started to shake in Little's hand as he thought about the last words of his fellow prisoner, "I'd like to go to India someday, isn't that where this whole meditation thing came from?"

This chapter is a description of the Urban Tree Project where high school students were engaged in the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies to determine the economic and ecological value of trees in their neighborhood. Students collected data on tree locations and conditions and then used CITYgreen to evaluate the economic and ecological value of their trees. Urban high school youth had the opportunity to explore urban ecology in their neighborhoods. Pre–post interview and written assessments were conducted across a wide sample of school contexts. The goal of these assessments was to explore the students' beliefs and understanding regarding the ecosystem services that trees and greenspace provide to a city. The results were mixed as students' understanding measured by the written assessments increased significantly. However, upon further probing, students often showed difficulty in drawing coherent concepts and ideas that depicted a robust understanding of urban ecological principles regarding green space and the services that trees provide.