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Brokering for knowing— a spectrum of options

an Australian caseAuberge du Lac a la Loutre 18.9.07

Andrew Campbell

www.triplehelix.com.au

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Outline• Inform• Consult

• Matchmake

• Engage

• Collaborate

• Build adaptive capacityRetrofitted to an Australian case

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Land & Water Australia♦♦ One of 14 Rural R&D Corporations and relatedOne of 14 Rural R&D Corporations and related

companies - Statutory Authority (PIERD Act 1989)companies - Statutory Authority (PIERD Act 1989)

♦♦ research to support sustainable resource managementresearch to support sustainable resource management

♦♦ we buy, broker and manage research, we donwe buy, broker and manage research, we don’’t do itt do it

♦♦ managed corporately, independent Board (CAC Act)managed corporately, independent Board (CAC Act)

♦♦ $12.8m appropriation; ~$33m R&D spend (2005-6)$12.8m appropriation; ~$33m R&D spend (2005-6)

♦♦ >45 co-investing partners>45 co-investing partners

♦♦ WeWe’’re in the knowledge businessre in the knowledge business

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Possible cases of policy-drivenLWA-funded research

• Conservation of native vegetation on private land• Irrigation water use efficiency• Climate risk management in agriculture• Water property rights• Environmental water allocation• Managing riparian lands• Market-based instruments for environmental services• Servicing the knowledge needs of the Regional

Investment Model for NRM

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The regional model:an integrated approach

• The regional model (56 catchment bodies) is an ambitiousattempt to implement sustainable NRM at a landscape scale:– Devolve decision making & resource allocation to appropriate scale

– Tap into and build on deep local knowledge and connection to place– Work across issues and industries in an integrated way

• integration means making whole– across scales, issues, land tenures and land uses– in the users’ context

• that requires excellent relationships

• And comprehensive knowledge

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Inform

• submission to both political parties during 2004election campaign– seeking $40 million (of which $8m for regional knowledge

brokering)

• liaison with key NGOs

• follow up with key officials post-election

• submission to Ministerial review

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Consult• in-depth research with six regions (serendipity)

• face to face contact with many more

• systematic phone, email and postal survey

• creation of an informal working group

• An e-newsletter:

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Ag. serviceproviders

UDV

Factories

Consumer

DairyAustraliaTAFE

Dairyfarmers

Financialinstitutions

Privateconsultants

Other govt.SRW DPI

West Vic.Dairy

UniversitySWWA

EPA

DSE

Indigenousgroups

Localgovt.

LWA

CMA’s

Landcare /env’t

services

Information & Knowledge FlowsSouth-West Victorian dairy farmers

• Note no direct connect betweenCMA and dairy farmers

• Nor from DSE or EPA to dairyfarmers

• Distance from dairy farmers toLWA is even greater

• Dairy Australia connect isstronger

• Milk factory, DPI and consultantconnect is strongest

• CCMA needs to work morethrough Milk factory, DPI andag service providers to get todairy farmers

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What regional NRM bodiesare telling us:

INFOGLUT and FRAGMENTATIONConcerns expressed by regional bodies:

‘Where is it and how do we get to it?’

“I’m aware of websites, but sometimes telling staff to look at a website islike being asked to go look at the National Library”

• Fragmentation of information sources• Volume, Relevance and Accessibility of information• Information sharing between regions and between national

organisations• Two-way flow between regions

and national organisations

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Matchmake & engage Collaborate and build adaptive capacity

• $2.8m pilot project announced 2005

• technical working group (key blockers)

• Enthusiasts working group - key facilitators

• Dedicated team recruited (5 staff)

• Many workshops & meetings in nice places

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Many workshops & meetings in nice places

Many workshops & meetings in nice places

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Research directory•Programs•Projects•Specialist contactsfor advice

Publications•Reference books•Journal articles•Research reports•Pamphlets•Magazines•Conference proceedings

Spatial datasets

Researchreport

Conferenceproceedings

Journal articles

Magazines

Anecdotal evidence

Reference books (Guidelines and

manuals etc)

Decision support tools•Models•Decision frameworks•Spreadsheets

Knowledge assets of interest

Current research projects

Specialistadvice

Models

Decision frameworks

Spreadsheets

Knowledge needs

Current research programs

Funding opportunities

3 strategies to expose assets

AANRONational Library

ASDDSpider of specified

NRM sites

Manual collation of assets by team

Database & search index

FSKS Gathering

tool

GOOGLE

WWWPersonal

library

Strategy 1: A search of major NRM asset

repositories + a spider of

significant sites

Strategy 2: the teamwill manuallycollate some

significant assets

Strategy 3: individualssearch the www andadd assets to theirpersonal library, then exposed for

other users

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NRM Toolbar interface

NRM searchGoogle AustraliaOrganisationassetsAdvanced

[Searches onselection]

Square iconindicateswhichsearchengine isselected

[Click to see currentalerts plus accessalert settings]

[Click name tosee librarianservices]

Includes formfor requestinginformation fromthe librarian

[Click to logout orlogin as someoneelse]

[Click name toopen My library]

Click dropdownto view list offolders(Playlists) thatstays open toallow drag anddrop fromsearch results

R&D Directory

This Worked Here!

Knowledge needs

Events and funding

Decision tools

Knowledge market

reportAdd/Deletedatabases

My profileCustomise mytoolbarUpdate toolbarUninstall toolbarHelpContact us

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Targeting mechanisms atknowledge flow

KnowledgeBrokers /

Facilitators

NationalNRM R&D

RegionalNRM

Organisations

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We’re working onFunding the arrows:• Regional to National mechanisms

• Regional to Regional mechanisms

• National to Regional mechanisms

• Knowledge Broker mechanisms– Building skills within and between regional bodies– Helping regions to plug into appropriate expertise and advice

• National R&D mechanisms– Getting our own act together– Publishing analyses

that make systemic issues more visible

Example of an adoptability filter - farm scale

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Knowledge Managementtake home messages

the job is relatively straightforward, it’s about:• knowledge targeted to user needs

• which informs the research process

• making knowledge more accessible & interactive

• and ensuring that ‘old’ stuff remains accessible

• BUT incorporating different knowledge domainsmandates good soft systems,not just fancier databases

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for more info:for more info:www.triplehelix.com.auwww.triplehelix.com.auwww.lwa.www.lwa.govgov.au.auwww.www.aanroaanro.net.net