In an era of climate change, the need to manage our water resources effectively for future generations has become an increasingly significant challenge. Indigenous management practices have been successfully used to manage inland water systems around the world for thousands of years, and Indigenous people have been calling for a greater role in the management of water resources. As First Peoples and as holders of important knowledge of sustainable water management practices, they regard themselves as custodians and rights holders, deserving of a meaningful role in decision-making. This book argues that a key (albeit not the only) means of ensuring appropriate participation in decision-making about water management is for such participation to be legislatively mandated. To this end, the book draws on case studies in Australia and New Zealand in order to elaborate the legislative tools necessary to ensure Indigenous participation, consultation and representation in the water management landscape.

Planning for Urban Country addresses a major gap in knowledge about the translation of Aboriginal values and Country Plans into Australia’s built environment contexts. How do you ‘heal’ Country if it has been devastated by concrete and bitumen, excavations and bulldozing, weeds and introduced plants and animals, and surface, aerial and underground contaminants? How then do Aboriginal values and Country Plan aspirations address urban environments? In this book, David Jones explores the major First Nations-informed design and planning transformations in Djilang / Greater Geelong since 2020. Included are short-interlinked essays about the political and cultural context, profiles of key exemplar architectural, landscape and corridor projects, a deep explanation of the legislative, policy and statutory precedents, opportunities and environment that has enabled these opportunities, and the how Wadawurrung past-present-future values have been scaffolded into these changes.

In the age of economic globalisation, do art and heritage matter? Once the domain of elitist practitioners and scholars, the governance of cultural heritage and the destiny of iconic artefacts have emerged as the new frontier of international law, making headlines and attracting the varied interests of academics and policy-makers, museum curators and collectors, human rights activists and investment lawyers and artists and economists, just to mention a few. The return of cultural artefacts to their legitimate owners, the recovery of underwater cultural heritage and the protection and promotion of artistic expressions are just some of the pressing issues addressed by this book. Contemporary intersections between art, cultural heritage and the market are complicated by a variety of ethical and legal issues, which often describe complex global relations. Should works of art be treated differently from other goods? What happens if a work of art, currently exhibited in a museum, turns out to have originally been looted? What is the relevant legal framework? What should be done with ancient shipwrecks filled with objects from former colonies? Should such objects be kept by the finders? Should they be returned to the country of origin? This book addresses these different questions while highlighting the complex interplay between legal and ethical issues in the context of cultural governance. The approach is mainly legal but interdisciplinary aspects are considered as well.