Stakeholders’ perspectives on Australia’s land and water resources research needs

The mission of CSIRO Land and Water is ‘to undertake world-class research and technology diffusion that positions Australia as the acknowledged leader in land and water resources management’.

To achieve our mission, we must conduct science that stands out from the crowd, ensure that we have a tangible ‘offer’ for land and water managers, create sophisticated adoption pathways to ensure uptake by end-users, and to work with them to maximise the impact from our R&D. Clearly, understanding what our end-users need from R&D is a critical first step towards achieving these goals.

CSIRO undertook a major consultation exercise in late 2006/early 2007 with its key land and water sector clients, collaborators and stakeholders. This resulted in the report "Stakeholders’ perspectives on Australia’s land and water resources research needs". Over 170 people from more than 100 organisations were consulted to ascertain what they thought CSIRO should be working on in the land and water domain. This process resulted in a very rich set of perspectives that highlight stakeholder priorities for R&D in the land and water domain. We note that this study has been conducted at a time of significant land and water reform, exemplified by the National Water Initiative and the National Plan for Water Security.

Although this study was conducted for CSIRO’s internal planning purposes, we saw merit in publishing the findings so that we could share the wisdom of our clients, collaborators and stakeholders with the broader land and water sector. We are strongly of the view that the entire R&D sector will benefit by understanding the rapidly changing needs of land and water managers. The senior leadership teams of CSIRO Land and Water and the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship will use this report to inform CSIRO’s research planning in the land and water domain.

We thank Dr Michele Barson (seconded to CSIRO from the Bureau of Rural Sciences) for leading this study and the many interviewees who gave their time and wisdom so generously.

Further information on CSIRO’s R&D effort in the land and water domain can be obtained by contacting Mr Scott Keyworth or Prof Jon Olley.

Download and read the report (PDF, 1.2 MB)