{"id":18236,"date":"2022-01-20T11:12:35","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T18:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/?p=18236"},"modified":"2023-08-23T23:48:26","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T06:48:26","slug":"carol-redford-monthly-star","status":"publish","type":"darksky_news","link":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/news\/carol-redford-monthly-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&amp;A with DarkSky Delegate Carol Redford from Western Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Each month DarkSky International features a DarkSky Advocate from the worldwide network of volunteers who are working to protect the night. This month we\u2019re highlighting the work of Carol Redford from Western Australia.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recently sat down with DarkSky Delegate Carol Redford to chat with her about the work she&#8217;s doing as an Advocate in Western Australia. We spoke about how she got started in the dark sky movement, how she has found success working with her local government, all about her &#8220;Astrotourism Towns&#8221; project, and why dark skies are important to the local culture where she lives. Meet Carol below!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Meet IDA Advocate Carol Redford\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/trWQ8W3ZYC4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: What got you interested in protecting dark skies? Why is this work important to you?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A: My stargazing life launched when I co-owned and operated the public observatory near Gingin in Western Australia from 2007 to 2012. It was an unexpected journey and I\u2019m quite the accidental stargazer! After standing under countless dark night skies, listening to the science and culture, a vision for WA began to emerge. During this time, I could see the impact that the city of Perth, an hour south of the observatory, was having on the darkness of the night sky. I began to understand more about light pollution and just how good WA\u2019s night sky is compared to other countries on Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perth is the most isolated city on a continent and is home to 80% of WA\u2019s 2.7 million people. The metropolitan area is only 0.25% of our State which means country and outback WA have 2.6 million square kilometres of really low levels of light pollution! In a world where light pollution is increasing, WA has a unique global advantage when it comes to the dark night sky. If we protect it now, we\u2019ll have an asset for decades and maybe even centuries to come.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: Can you tell us what \u201cAstrotourism Towns\u201d are and how they promote the protection of dark skies?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019ve been working on my <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/astrotourismwa.com.au\/astrotourism-towns-project\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cAstrotourism Towns\u201d<\/a> project since 2018. The project is all about sharing and protecting WA\u2019s dark night sky. \u201cAstrotourism Towns\u201d are communities that are willing to discover a bit about astronomy, find out what\u2019s up in the night sky, and learn how to protect the sky from light pollution. I work with 15 Local Government Authorities on this project. Together, we selected some wonderful dark sky locations to welcome visitors to bring telescopes, cameras, binoculars, or simply a picnic rug to marvel at the Southern Hemisphere Milky Way. Every year we try to hold a public stargazing event to further educate the community and to invite visitors from Perth to enjoy a dark sky night. We also work on ways to enable policy and infrastructure to reduce light pollution. In the future, we will work towards <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/what-we-do\/international-dark-sky-places\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"138\">International Dark Sky Place<\/a> accreditation.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: Can you tell us about your Aboriginal Astrotourism Project?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Aboriginal people are the first astronomers on Earth and have been studying the night sky for tens of thousands of years. This scientific knowledge is intrinsically connected to cultural values and environmental practices.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I wanted to bring the importance of this knowledge forward in Western Australia and include it with the \u201cAstrotourism Towns\u201d project. This was achieved through the Yued Aboriginal Astrotourism pilot project with the support of Regional Development Australia Wheatbelt. The project was delivered through a program called the Nyungar Enterprise Development Support which was funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The project included a lot of different activities \u2014 STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) engagement at local schools, campfire stargazing nights with Aboriginal Elders and families, art workshops with students a local Aboriginal Artist, and storytelling\/tour guide training. Through the art component, we developed Yued Aboriginal astronomy planispheres that feature different Yued constellation stories of the night sky and how they related to culture and the environment. They are so beautiful and have become a souvenir that can be sold at Aboriginal astrotourism experiences. To finish the project, we held a collaborative demonstration event that saw different parts of the communities deliver a campfire stargazing event featuring an Aboriginal astrotourism experience.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We plan to replicate this project across different Aboriginal Boodja. Boodja means \u201ccountry\u201d in Noongar language. Eventually, there will be a series of planispheres depicting Aboriginal constellations, their stories, and what it means culturally and environmentally.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter wp-image-18283\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Mooranightsky16072021_social-1048-full-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18283\" srcset=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Mooranightsky16072021_social-1048-full-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Mooranightsky16072021_social-1048-full-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Mooranightsky16072021_social-1048-full-1-480x320.jpg 480w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Mooranightsky16072021_social-1048-full-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Mooranightsky16072021_social-1048-full-1-720x480.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption pt-4 mx-5 md:mx-0 !mb-0 !mt-0\">Yued Aboriginal Astronomy Planisphere. Credit: RDA Wheatbelt\/Astrotourism WA\/Michael Goh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: Can you tell us about the Western Australian Government\u2019s Dark Sky and Astrotourism Position Statement, and how you helped with it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2021 the Western Australian Government released a draft <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wa.gov.au\/government\/publications\/draft-planning-position-statement-dark-sky-and-astrotourism\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dark Sky and Astrotourism Position Statement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It sets out principles and flexible cost-neutral land use planning measures to reduce light pollution in WA. In the initial stages, I helped facilitate a State-wide summit with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facet.asn.au\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Forum Advocating Cultural &amp; Eco Tourism<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. This summit brought together planning and tourism representatives from the Western Australian Government, our space science sector, space science communicators, Local Government, tourism organizations, and power companies.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the draft was released for public comment, I actively promoted and encouraged submissions from the many stakeholders I work with. The Department for Planning was very pleased with the number of submissions they received and the overall positive feedback. We\u2019re expecting the Position Statement to be adopted in early 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: You also drafted a Local Government Lighting Management Policy, how did you do it and what are the next steps?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I began the \u201cAstrotourism Towns\u201d project, I wrote a Lighting Management Policy to assist the Local Governments that I work with help their Councils and communities to understand and reduce light pollution. Invaluable assistance to came from the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.australasiandarkskyalliance.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Australasian Dark Sky Alliance<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to help me develop the Policy. The lighting management principles and images included in the Policy were reproduced from The Dark Sky Planning Guideline June 2016 with the permission of the NSW Department of Planning and Environment. It was a real team effort and about three of the Local Governments I work with adopted the Policy.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What I\u2019ve since realized is that the Policy I developed is not quite suited to Local Government models. When the WA Government\u2019s Dark Sky and Astrotourism Position Statement is adopted, I intend to redraft the Policy and create a separate procedure subsidiary document that will contain technical information to assist Local Government staff with implementation. I aim to have all 15 Local Governments I work with adopt the new Policy. This will add another reason for the WA Government\u2019s Western Power company to supply dark sky approved street light infrastructure choices to Local Government.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Carol-Redford-1200x1600.jpg\" alt=\"Carol Redford\" class=\"wp-image-26072\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: What has been the most effective in your dark sky outreach work? What resources have been the most useful in your dark sky work?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The most effective thing I\u2019ve done in my dark sky outreach has been to team up with regional Local Governments. When I began, I approached two groups of Local Governments who were already working together on tourism initiatives. I presented them with an opportunity to diversify existing offerings and increase overnight visitation numbers using Dark Sky Tourism. Framing the opportunity with economic development strengthened the case for the Councils I approached.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Presentations to Councils and public stargazing events have been a terrific way to educate communities about dark skies and light pollution. By far, the most valuable resources have been the networks I\u2019ve developed since 2007. I\u2019ve been able to employ professional Astronomy Guides and engage many volunteers and astronomy club members with telescopes to manage and deliver events. I\u2019ve had so many amazing people help build the momentum to protect WA\u2019s dark night sky.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: What has been the most difficult in your dark sky outreach work?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In regional WA, our main sources of light pollution come from street lights and mining operations. The most challenging part of my work is trying to secure a dark sky approved LED street light product option for Local Governments to purchase for their communities. WA is in the early stages of transitioning from the old street light technology to new LED technology. It\u2019s a golden opportunity to spend the money on the right infrastructure now and secure a Dark Sky sector for the Tourism Industry.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Currently, WA\u2019s power companies only have two choices of LED street light products for Local Governments \u2014 a 4000K and a 3000K LED fixture \u2014 neither are <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/what-we-do\/darksky-approved\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"136\">DarkSky Approved<\/a>. I have many conversations with WA\u2019s two power companies, the WA Local Government Association (that formed a Transition to LED Street Lighting Working Group) and, more recently I have corresponded with our State Government Ministers for Tourism and Energy. I even tried to see if the manufacturer of the 3000K LED fixture would put the product through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.australasiandarkskyalliance.org\/\">Australasian Dark Sky Alliance<\/a>\u2019s Dark Sky Lighting Approved Program to check the quality of the infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The challenge continues and that\u2019s okay with me. With the new Astrotourism and Dark Sky Position Statement, more Local Governments adopting Lighting Management Policies, support from our Government\u2019s Tourism WA organization, and growing community awareness, more weight will be added to the case for dark sky approved street lights. We\u2019ll get there!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019m already looking forward to my next challenge which will be to create the world\u2019s first dark sky friendly mining site!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled-480x360.jpg 480w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG_2590-scaled-2160x1620.jpg 2160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: What is your greatest success in dark sky conservation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">My greatest success in dark sky conservation so far is to take Tourism WA over to the dark side! Tourism WA is our State Government\u2019s statutory authority that promotes Western Australia as a tourist destination and they\u2019ve always viewed Dark Sky Tourism as a niche and a very small part of the industry. However, when 15 Local Governments demonstrated their interest to develop Dark Sky Tourism, Tourism WA recognized that there was more to it than met the eye.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">From here, Tourism WA commissioned an Australia-wide market research study to inform the strategic development and marketing of Western Australia as a Dark Sky Tourism destination. The<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tourism.wa.gov.au\/Markets-and-research\/Specialised-Research-Reports\/Pages\/Dark_Sky_Research_Report.aspx#\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dark Sky Tourism Market Research Report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> indicates there is a large market interested in a variety of dark sky experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tourism WA now recognizes WA\u2019s dark sky as a valuable asset in the Tourism Industry. Product and destination development are now at the top of the agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: Do you have a funny story to share about dark skies?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019m always on the lookout for meteors when I\u2019m out stargazing. I\u2019m a citizen scientist with WA\u2019s<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/fireballsinthesky.com.au\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fireballs in the Sky<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> team and always report sightings using their app. They have a series of cameras set up across WA that take hundreds of night sky images every night, hoping to capture a meteor. The idea is to secure three images of the same meteor and then triangulate the data to find the meteorite.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Halloween night in 2016, I saw a brilliant fireball from my farm north of Perth. It was long and spectacular, breaking apart into several pieces on its way to earth. A couple of weeks after reporting my Halloween meteor, the Fireballs team called me up to tell me that their camera network and my report had helped them locate and recover the meteorite! I was part of the action when the find was announced to the media. Strangely, I feel quite connected to that rock! It\u2019s called Dingle Dell and it\u2019s now in the WA Museum in Perth. I still can\u2019t quite believe that I\u2019ve held a meteorite that I saw as a meteor!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: Why are dark skies important to the culture in Australia? What does your culture value about dark skies?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A: I met an Aboriginal Elder in northern WA once, and we were talking about the light pollution that comes from mining sites. I was explaining how light pollution blocks the views of the stars and it makes it harder for us to see them.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He said to me, for him the stars are like the GPS on a smartphone. He said if we lose the GPS, we\u2019d lose our way. If Aboriginal people lose the stars, we\u2019ll lose our way.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ancient Aboriginal culture uses the stars to find the way, to know what season it is, what food is available, and when cultural and social customs are carried out. The dark night sky reflects the land, sea, and people.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a changing climate, we need these cultural values more than ever before.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learn more<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/astrotourismwa.com.au\/\">astrotourismwa.com.au<\/a> for info about astrotourism in Western Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>Learn more about the <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/who-we-are\/advocates\/\">DarkSky Advocates Network.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DarkSky Delegate Carol Redford discusses her journey in the dark sky movement, the Astrotourism Towns project, Aboriginal astrotourism, and the importance of dark skies in Australian culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":18237,"template":"","categories":[1287,633],"tags":[833,351,830,116,683,835,681,832,834,831,829],"advocacy_type":[123,285],"events_terms":[],"locations_terms":[],"admin_issue":[],"class_list":["post-18236","darksky_news","type-darksky_news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monthly-star","category-news","tag-ancient-aboriginal-culture","tag-astrotourism","tag-carol-redford","tag-darksky-advocate","tag-darksky-delegate","tag-led-street-lights","tag-monthly-star","tag-nyungar-enterprise-development-support","tag-southern-hemisphere-milky-way","tag-western-australia","tag-yued-aboriginal-astronomy-planisphere","advocacy_type-advocacy","advocacy_type-monthly-star"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/darksky_news\/18236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/darksky_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/darksky_news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18236"},{"taxonomy":"advocacy_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/advocacy_type?post=18236"},{"taxonomy":"events_terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events_terms?post=18236"},{"taxonomy":"locations_terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/locations_terms?post=18236"},{"taxonomy":"admin_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/admin_issue?post=18236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}