The PlacE-Based Learning and Education (PEBLE) program fosters connections between members of the ANU community and the waterways where they live, work, play, or come from. This includes the catchments of Sullivans Creek and upper Murrumbidgee River where the ANU is located, as well as freshwater places in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and beyond which staff and students are connected to. 

A key objective is to cultivate an ethics of care and responsibility that transcends water being considered a resource or research object, and positions scientific inquiry as a social process that contributes to positive social and environmental change. Current activities taking place under this program include:

• Development of case studies on water policy reforms in the Canberra and Snowy Mountains region in postgraduate courses at the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.
• Trialling ecoacoustic methods for monitoring river and wetland ecosystem health.
• Facilitation of collective water listening experiences for ANU staff and students, policy-makers, and other members of the Canberra community whose work and actions impact local waterways.
• Convening science-art exhibitions, public talks, dialogues, and other opportunities for community engagement with local waterways.