People in the Lake Eyre
Basin spend time and money looking after their country. Governments
implement policies, and invest in programs and events to help
communities get the best outcomes from the resources they depend
on.
Interface organisations include all of the groups that work
between communities, industries and governments to improve the use
and management of natural resources.
This study is interested in these interface organisations
– their programs and activities; in how they work; in how to
monitor them so they are more responsive and effective as
people’s attitudes and behaviour towards natural resources
change.
Methods
This study will investigate engagement approaches and success
factors of LEB interface organisations. The study will be completed
in four parts:
• Developing resource, social and economic profiles
• Surveying success factors of government and community
initiatives in the LEB
• Compiling case studies which show how to transfer, implement
and improve NRM engagement
• Building a framework to monitor and improve community
engagement in NRM.
Part 1: Developing resource, social and economic profiles
Firstly, we have prepared a series of maps and descriptions of
socio-economic and ecosystem service characteristics in the LEB
using data such as census information. These profiles will be
available early in 2007.
Part 2 – Surveying engagement and success factors for LEB
intgerface organisations
This survey will analyse government and organisational
literature to look at engagement success factors in the different
areas of the LEB. We will select community researchers and ask them
to talk with people in their region about what they think makes
interface organisations successful. We will also ask people from
government departments about success factors for interface
organisations. This part of the research will be completed by the
middle of 2007.
Part 3 – Compiling case studies
which show how to transfer, implement and improve NRM engagement
and success factors
During 2007, interface organisations that would like to transfer
and develop some of the engagement success factors identified in
Part 2 of the study will be asked to participate in case studies
to:
• trial selected engagement success factors
• identify what structures and practices have to change in the
interface organisations as the operating environment changes
• develop timely and effective responses to these changes so
that community engagement improves.
Part 4 - Building a framework to monitor and improve community
engagement in NRM.
The final part of the study will use the results so far to
develop a monitoring framework for governments and interface
organisations to:
• identify important social and economic
changes that mean the engagement approaches have to
change
• suggest strategies to make sure of timely
and effective responses.
Background
The Lake Eyre Basin (LEB) Ministerial agreement requires
reporting to the state and federal governments, each decade,
on the state of the rivers and associated resources in the
LEB. The LEB community suggested to Ministers that effective
natural resource management means reporting on the wellbeing and
management practices of the people who rely on these resources,
along with reports on the state of the resources. As a result, this
project was proposed and funded through an NHT competitive grant
which runs from July 2005 to end of June 2008.
The Desert Knowledge CRC is operating the project in
collaboration with the Community Advisory Committee, and the
Scientific Advisory Panel of the LEB research is being undertaken
by CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.
This study is designed to gather information about the people of
the Basin, how they interact with the natural resources and each
other, and how they make decisions concerning natural resource
management.
