Some of the best minds, community entrepreneurs and business brains from the world’s deserts will gather at the Alice Springs Convention Centre from November 1-3 to share success stories, new insights and practical lessons.

The Desert Knowledge Symposium: Global Desert Opportunities is a rare opportunity to sample the expertise and creativity of desert regions, home to one sixth of humanity.

Coming at the end of the International Year of Deserts and Desertification and Australia’s Year of the Outback, the event will explore and showcase enterprises, innovations, business opportunities, science and technology solutions, culture and collective knowledge thriving in the global desert.

Over 60 national and international presenters will discuss new and innovative ways to do business in the desert and to manage and create sustainable livelihoods from natural and cultural desert resources.

Water and energy solutions for desert people, education and the desert knowledge economy, and the future of inland towns are also on the agenda.

Australian businesses will benefit from the event’s expo-style business showcase, providing an opportunity for desert enterprises and those wishing to do business in desert regions to network and promote their services and solutions globally.

Three hundred participants are expected for the two-day symposium which, according to conference organisers, the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) and Desert Knowledge Australia, and will inject an estimated $100,000 into the local economy.

The event marks the half-way point in the seven-year life of the Desert Knowledge CRC, a research network linking Aboriginal and local knowledge with science and research training.

“I am excited about this chance to share our early research results with desert dwellers from around the globe, to learn from them and strengthen our links with the world-wide desert knowledge movement”, said Desert Knowledge CRC Managing Director, Jan Ferguson.

Desert Knowledge Australia builds networks and …

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Two Central Australian Aboriginal organisations have joined with the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre to create new research training, employment and enterprise opportunities for desert people.

They are Tapatjatjaka Community Governance Council, which runs Titjikala community near Alice Springs, and Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi Aboriginal Association (Waltja), an Aboriginal women’s non-government organisation which supports families and services on remote Central Australian communities.

Jan Ferguson, the Managing Director of the CRC, welcomed Waltja and Titjikala as the newest affiliate partners of the national research network.

“The agreements with both organisations bring us a step closer to our goal of genuine participation of Aboriginal people in research that is useful to them”, she said. Tapatjatjaka Community Governance Council wants to tap into a broader knowledge network to develop their community.

Titjikala elder, Mr Johnny Briscoe, said he hoped the collaboration with the Desert Knowledge CRC would help his community.

“We like to see our projects to combine the best of our knowledge with the best of Western science. We think this is the best way forward”, he said. Titjikala, which already operates a successful cultural tourism business, is exploring the potential of traditional bush foods and medicines for enterprise development in partnership with the Desert Knowledge CRC.

Mr Briscoe became involved with the Desert Knowledge CRC when researchers started to work with his community on the Plants for People project.

The groundbreaking community development project provides research training, documents and protects Aboriginal knowledge about bush medicines and investigates the plants’ medicinal properties and commercial potential.

The Desert Knowledge CRC and its new research partners have agreed on stringent protocols that protect the intellectual property each organisation brings to the collaboration.

They also ensure that the rights to jointly developed intellectual property are shared equally between partners.

Earlier this month, Waltja and the Desert …

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An Aboriginal business leader from Western Australia has been elected as Deputy Chair of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre Board, the organisation’s Chair, Mr Paul Wand, announced today.

Mr Noel Bridge is a business development consultant with a strong track record of helping Aboriginal enterprises and not-for-profit organisations to succeed.

Mr Bridge has been a director of the Desert Knowledge CRC Board since its inception in 2003.

An inaugural member of the Telstra Country Wide Advisory Board, Mr Bridge continues to represent the interests of the people living and working outside metropolitan centres and to promote the best possible telecommunications solutions for them.

He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and also serves as a member of the Governing Council of Central TAFE in Perth.

“Noel brings more than 15 years’ experience in Aboriginal economic development, business planning and the mining industry to the Desert Knowledge CRC,” said Mr Wand. “He has been a significant contributor to the Board’s work on strategy and serves on the Audit and Risk Management Committee.”

“Coming from a remote inland town, I am always interested in the practical application of research that benefits people and communities throughout desert Australia,” said Mr Bridge.

“We need to encourage creative ideas that further support sustainable livelihoods, service provision and structures that make people want to stay and live in our deserts – this includes research that respects and builds on the knowledge and efforts of those who have come before and that links them to new ways of thinking and the new technologies of the future.”

Mr Wand also welcomed two new directors to the Desert Knowledge CRC Board, Ms Christine Charles and Mr Mark Chmielewski.

Ms Charles is the Regional Director, Environmental and Social Responsibility of the Australia/New Zealand operations of …

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Desert knowledge from around the globe will spark debate and create new business opportunities at the Desert Knowledge Symposium and Business Showcase, which kicks off in Alice Springs tomorrow.

Architects and builders have a chance to find out what the traditional architecture of the Sahara can teach them about sustainable building for desert climates.

Dr Mohammed Sherzad, an architect from Ajman University in the United Arab Emirates, will share his knowledge of adapting buildings and settlement layouts to the beautiful but harsh desert environment.

US architect Gustaaf Brest Van Kempen will talk about building design in Tunisia and Algeria with members of the Desert Knowledge Australia Sustainable Buildings Network.

The symposium will also hear how the joint cross-border business networking pilot project by Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA) and the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) managed to generate millions of dollars of extra income for desert businesses.

International business clustering expert, Ifor Ffowcs-Williams, will talk about the rewards of getting competing businesses to collaborate across state and territory borders.

John Huigen, the CEO of DKA, says desert entrepreneurs from across Australia will share their networking success stories at the Business Showcase.

“Take Joel Butcher from Alliance Engineering in Broken Hill,” he said. ”Thanks to DKA’s Mining Services Network his and four other Broken Hill businesses were able to negotiate a $5 million contract which they could not have won on their own,” said Mr Huigen.

“Business networking helps desert people in industries such as bush foods, sustainable building, mining support services and tourism to network and share ideas even though they live thousands of kilometres apart.”

“We are leading cross-border networking in Australia, and communications technologies such as video conferencing play an important part in this success.”

Virtually linking desert people, wherever they are, is the subject of a symposium …

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A comprehensive independent review has found the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is well on track to achieve its objectives and to deliver its proposed outcomes.

“The review found that we have performed extremely well in our first three years of operation,” said Desert Knowledge CRC Managing Director, Ms Jan Ferguson.

“It said that some of our research projects are likely to lead to the development of commercial processes and products. This is an exceptional result for a public good CRC.”

The review endorsed the Desert Knowledge CRC’s priorities and found that the nationwide research network had developed strong relationships with stakeholders and a reputation for making a sensitive and productive contribution.

It commended the organisation’s “unique achievements in engaging Aboriginal people in research, an outcome that is expected to be enduring”.

The panel said the organisation’s “significant Aboriginal engagement is an achievement that no other organisation or CRC could have created” as “others undertake research but do not achieve diffusion amongst local Aboriginal communities”.

The review findings were backed up by an industry survey which found that the Desert Knowledge CRC:

• is very well connected to end users and creates significant tangible and intangible value for them
•  receives strong support from end users for its approach to collaboration and engagement
•  attracts strong satisfaction from end users for its research communication, its strategies for achieving commercial outcomes from its research
•  is strongly believed to deliver improvements to the desert economy through the development of new business.

“We could not have achieved such an excellent result without the support of our partners and we would like to thank everyone who has contributed,” said Ms Ferguson.

The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) requires all CRCs to undergo an independent review after their first three years of operation.

The review …

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Aboriginal pastoral employment and enterprises across Northern Australia are coming under the spotlight as part of the most thorough review of the industry ever undertaken.

Cattle for Country is a new Desert Knowledge CRC research project that brings together pastoralists, Aboriginal organisations and enterprises, government departments and industry groups all over northern Australia.

It is the first time the cattle industry, hard hit by the national skills shortage, is funding research into Aboriginal employment initiatives.

The three-year project will find out how to best strengthen Aboriginal cattle enterprises, build productive partnerships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cattle companies and create and sustain employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal people in the industry.

The CRC’s Managing Director, Ms Jan Ferguson, said research benefits will go beyond helping to create jobready local workforces and more viable cattle businesses.

“It’s also about learning how the industry can best realise a range of cultural, environmental and social benefits.”

“Strengthening existing initiatives will lead to improvements in the governance and business management capacity of remote communities, more collaborative management operations such as joint musters between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cattle enterprises, easier access to country for traditional owners through better roads and infrastructure and a healthier environment through the control of weeds, feral animals and fires.”

Cattle for Country has three components:

• Review of Aboriginal employment in the pastoral industry
•  Evaluation of the Indigenous Pastoral Program
•  Evaluation of Kimberley Indigenous Management Support Services (KIMSS)

In the first of these, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) are cofunding the Desert Knowledge CRC to conduct a 12-month review of Aboriginal employment initiatives in the mainstream pastoral industry.

The review will document and analyse case studies of successes and failures to develop best practice employment models.

“Many northern beef producers are struggling to source labour …

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The Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has appointed a community development champion from rural South Australia to lead its research into bush products.

Born, bred and based in Port Augusta, Ms Jenny Cleary manages a national team of researchers working on a wide range of projects aimed at strengthening the bush foods industry across desert Australia.

The Bush Products Project contributes to the development of this emerging industry in areas such as horticulture and wild harvest of bush foods, wood, fibre and craft products.

Ms Cleary said the research seeks to boost the dollar value from bush products and the number of desert people, especially Aboriginal people, making a living from the industry.

“It is one of seven core research projects of the Desert Knowledge CRC and investigates the economic benefits desert people and their communities may derive from this growing industry and the capacity they need to support it.

The project involves research on market and industry development, branding and policy related matters, on how to attract investors, the diversification of bush livelihoods and the creation of Aboriginal enterprises,” she said.

Ms Cleary joins the nationwide research network from Rural Solutions SA, a South Australian Government owned consultancy business, where she was Program Leader Community Development.

Her passion for building sustainable desert communities has seen her and her team accomplish several successful initiatives.

Among them are Outback Connect, a project funded by the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Training (DFEEST) which trains people from rural and remote communities in internet use, and a multi-agency partnership that developed an electronic tool for these communities to self-assess their capacity to take part in natural resource management.

With considerable experience in program management, community health administration and vocational education, Ms Cleary is currently completing a Masters Degree in Human …

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Ian has been appointed Business Manager at Desert Knowledge CRC and will commence on 10 April 2006. He has been a resident of the Northern Territory since 1985 with his wife Alison and their three children, and is recognised by his professional association as a Fellow of CPA Australia.

Since graduating as an accountant from Deakin University in his hometown of Geelong, Ian has gained experience in a range of positions. He initially worked as a commercial accountant in Melbourne for eight years with retail and trading companies. Since moving to the Territory 20 years ago, he has worked with a number of Aboriginal organisations and communities, which includes twelve years as financial controller with the Central Land Council (CLC).

In recent years he has been involved in Local Government and in the past two to three years as Director of Finance with the Alice Springs Town Council.

Ian has also enjoyed living and working in other parts of the Territory, including five years in the early 1990s in the Top End at Yirrkala Community and Yirrkala Business Enterprises in Nhulunbuy, and a computer company in Darwin.

Ian is no stranger to cross-cultural situations and for much of his employment at CLC was heavily involved with mineral royalty distributions through incorporated associations that were developed to encourage investment strategies. Property investments and joint venture arrangements were accessed through networks with Centrecorp Aboriginal Investment Company Pty Ltd.

Ian has a strong background in financial reporting and systems development and is very keen to participate in Desert Knowledge commercialisation.…

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Dear Network Member,

Every month from now on I’ll be sending you an email to keep you up to date with what’s happening at the Desert Knowledge CRC.

Commonwealth Review

An eventful year for the Desert Knowledge CRC has ended on a very positive note. The report from the independent Commonwealth Review team chaired by Dr John Childs is just in, and I’m pleased to say we’ve passed with flying colours.

The review found that we have performed extremely well in our first three years of operation and, while established as a public good CRC, some of our research projects are likely to lead to the development of commercial processes and products.

It endorsed our priorities for the future and commented that we have developed the strong relationships with stakeholders and reputation for making a sensitive and productive contribution that are a prerequisite for the successful conduct of social action research.

The review panel commended our ”unique achievements in engaging Aboriginal people in research, an outcome that is expected to be enduring”. It said this was “an achievement no other organisation or CRC could have created” because others “undertake research but do not achieve diffusion amongst local Aboriginal communities”.

These findings were backed up by an industry survey which found that we:

• are very well connected to end users and are creating significant tangible and intangible value for them
•  receive strong support from end users for our approach to collaboration and engagement with them • attract strong satisfaction from end users for our research communication and our strategies for achieving commercial outcomes from our research
•  are strongly believed to deliver improvements to the desert economy through the development of new business.

We could not have achieved such an excellent result without the support of our partners. A big thank you …

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A belated Happy New Year and welcome back everybody, I hope your break was as relaxing as mine. It was great to come back to Alice Springs after the recent rains which filled the waterholes, brought some welcome cooler weather and turned the Centre a vivid green. Check out the pics of the Todd in full flow!

We achieved a great deal last year and really needed this break. I’m determined that we will pace and look after ourselves a bit better this year, while still maintaining a sense of urgency about our work.

Staff News

A special welcome to our new staff members Jenny Cleary, Lynette Swan and Tahnee Brown.

Lynette and Tahnee, both from Alice Springs, are our new program assistants supporting our research, communication and commercialisation work.

Jenny takes over from Maarten Ryder as leader of the Bush Products from the Desert core project. Jenny joins us from Rural Solutions SA, a government-owned consultancy business in Port Augusta and comes with a solid reputation in community development. I’d like to acknowledge the kind support from the South Australian Outback Areas Development Trust, which allows Jenny to remain based in her home town of Port Augusta and strengthens our collaboration with our South Australian stakeholders. You can read all about her appointment in last week’s media release.

A big thank you to Maarten for helping to develop the project since 2004. He wanted more time to pursue his wider research interests but will stay involved in the Bush Products team.

Terri Harbrow has elected to return to Brisbane for family reasons. We wish her well.

The restructure of our management team has seen Craig James take on the newly created position of General Manager Communication and Commercialisation. He will shortly be moving to Canberra for family reasons.

Ruth …

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