Dear friends and colleagues -
Getting more value from research
With a view to getting more for the Australian public and industry from its research dollar, the Australian Government has made CRC research more end-user driven, with the guidelines stating that ‘CRCs must undertake ... medium to long-term end-user driven collaborative research’. This means that the actual conception and design of the core research within a CRC begins with and is driven by the end-users, especially those who are CRC partners. They identify the primary research needs which the CRC will try to satisfy.
This iterative process begins with a discussion between partners and researchers, to explore how these needs can be met, who can meet them and how the research will evolve. We started this process with the research project workshops while we were shaping the bid, and we are continuing it with the workshops now underway. This process gives research the best possible chance of adoption by the end-users - so returning more value to the nation on the public R&D investment.
In quite a different process from previous CRCs, if a researcher has an idea to explore it now needs to come through the partner institution’s CRC-REP representative, and that person gives advice on the needs of our programs and projects to see where researchers can fit in with them.
Researchers’ ideas will then be discussed within a participatory process that includes end users, the CRC-REP General Manager of Research and possibly the CRC Board, so ensuring it has a strong chance of being taken up at the end of the project.
At CRC-REP we are convinced this will produce a better fit between the outputs of research and the needs of end-users.
Beyond mining
Fiona McKenzie, who leads our Enduring Community Value from Mining project, recently attended a Pilbara Cities Visioning Workshop. "This was such a privilege," she says. "Port Hedland is one of two remote communities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for which the Western Australian government through the Royalties for Regions Scheme has released ambitious plans to revitalise towns. It is planned that these towns (Pt Hedland and Karratha) will become cities capable of housing at least 50,000 people and with amenities comparable to places such as Darwin and Cairns. Plans include more than 100 homes which will be reserved especially for service workers and rented at below market rates."
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Old housing in Port Hedland, where people are living in makeshift arrangements on verandahs and in backyards due to housing scarcity. | New developments in Port Hedland that are expensive (frequently more than $1000 rent per week) and built with little consideration for the hot environment. |
Fiona was invited to speak on the role of housing and social infrastructure on the sustainability of remote and regional communities. "I suggested that the planners not plan around mining, but plan for beyond mining. I have subsequently been asked to work with the planners on housing and social infrastructure and the aesthetic opportunities presented by the Pilbara environment to make Port Hedland a city which is uniquely Western Australian, remote and Pilbara in character - but also highly liveable."
Fiona says these developments are highly relevant to her research program in CRC-REP. "It is about building a city of the future which will service not only mining but a range of other industries - and making this remote city resilient to the inevitable highs and lows of market forces in different industries. Also making it one where people of diverse backgrounds can choose to live out their whole lives because they can, thanks to the services, amenity, work and lifestyle opportunities it offers."
Working for enduring value
In March the Enduring Community Value from Mining project, part of the Regional Economies program, held a second research agenda meeting in Adelaide. The first was held in February in Perth. The focus at both workshops was how the benefits from mining can be translated into a flow of enduring benefits to communities and SMEs during and beyond the mine's life.
Workshop participants were keen for the agenda to focus on:
- Work with communities and mining companies to develop models that turn the short-term economic benefits from mining into long-term community assets
- Improved beyond life of mine planning processes that capture the development aspirations of local communities and create locally based structures and organisations that function after mine site decommissioning
- Corporate social responsibility to have long-term socio-economic benefits that are closely aligned to community development strategies devised by community and corporate representatives together with the full lifecycle of a mining venture in mind
- Generating strategies that remote communities can use to build resilience from sudden shocks and global changes.
Key themes are being synthesised from the meeting to develop the first part of the research agenda for the Regional Economies program.
Planning housing with care
Fiona is also attending the 9th International Conference on Humanities in Spain, where she will present a paper entitled "Housing and mining: A social sciences agenda item or issues for hard nosed business analysts?"
Private ownership of housing has, until recently, been within the grasp of most Australians. Over the last decade, however, the Australian economy has experienced phenomenal growth on the back of unprecedented international demand for resources. The impact has had far-reaching impacts resulting in critical housing issues that have social and economic implications for local and regional communities and the broader Australian economy, she says.
"Demand for housing, particularly in small remote communities where resource extraction is most prevalent, has become so tight that regional economists are now calculating the costs associated with inadequate housing supply and dysfunctional communities in relation to labour force tenure, infrastructure management and skills development.
"While my paper highlights the challenges inherent in managing housing issues in Australia during boom periods, there are likely to be lessons from the Australian experience which can be applied in international settings. These challenges include global market cycles and their impacts; changing technology and labour market practices; and differences in policy and institutional arrangements across jurisdictions. The paper concludes that unless careful strategic planning and an understanding of the economic and social role of housing are established, the market dynamics create a situation that is vulnerable to market and social failures."
More censors wanted!
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| ABS District Manager for the Anrhem region, Ms Selena Stewart discusses the Census with locals Ms Daisy Gumbula (l) and Helen Nyomba (r). Image copyright ABS. |
Australia’s largest-ever peace-time job drive has begun: the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is seeking the help in particular of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Over 1500 Census coordinators and interviewers will be employed in communities extending from the heartland of Central Australia to the remote islands of the north to help tell the story of local communities through the Census.
The 2011 Census of Population and Housing aims to accurately measure the number of people living in Australia, their key characteristics and the places where they live, as a basis for good planning for the future.
"The Census is very important to help tell the story of your community. If you are a good talker, know the local area and have skills and ideas to help us, we are keen to hear from you," says Arnhemland census manager Selina Stewart.
More information is available online at www.abs.gov.au/census or call 1800 150 858.
Our people: Tim Acker
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Tim was born in Canberra, but a keenness to explore meant living in Darwin, Balgo, Alice Springs and now Perth. He started his working life as a photographer in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and then branched out to do freelance, before going out bush and working in remote community art centres and in cultural enterprise development.
Tim is our new Principal Research Leader for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Economies Project and is excited by the opportunity to collaborate across all sectors and to take the things he knows, and those he doesn't, and push them into totally new areas. His main hero in life is Desmond Tutu, but he acknowledges a whole lot of very generous others.
Tim's list of favourite movies is a long one, but perhaps his favorite is The Boys (Australian, of course) from the mid-1990s. To keep on top of current literature he is reading Christos Tsolkas' The Slap. His idea of a favourite weekend is a mountain bike ride, pancakes for brunch, reading the paper and - the rarest of events in Perth - watching the rain fall. Worst habit? Having seconds, then thirds, of any dessert going ... but his main goal in life is not going to seed. Not much chance of this happening with Ninti One, Tim!
Remote diary
Effective Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Service Delivery
Working in partnership to improve service delivery and 'Close the Gap'
12-13 April 2011, Alice Springs Convention Centre
Stakeholder Engagement in the Mining Sector
10-11 May 2011, Novotel Perth, Langley
Cooperative Research Centres Association Conference 2011
May 17-19 2011, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Indigenous Governance for Sustained Development
18-19 May 2011, Park Royal Darling Harbour, Sydney
AIATSIS Native Title Conference
1 June 2011, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry Conference
13-17 June 2011, Aachen, Germany
2nd Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Housing and Community-centred Planning
Closing the Gap by building stronger communities
21-22 June 2011, Mecure Hotel, Brisbane
2011 Spatially Enabled Livestock Management Symposium
29 September 2011, Surfers Paradise, Queensland
Desert Knowledge Symposium
7-10 November 2011, Alice Springs Convention Centre
2nd International Future Mining Conference
22-23 November 2011, University of New South Wales, Sydney
5th State of Australian Cities (SOAC) Conference
29 November - 2 December 2011, University of Melbourne, Melbourne
With best wishes,
Jan Ferguson
Managing Director,
CRC for Remote Economic Participation
