SFF Project Summary
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| Final Report | |
| Template for successfully profiling research [MSW 46K] | |
| Other Documents: | Green Waipara flyer [PDF 1.42M] |
| SLURI Presentation | |
| Updated: | 10 September 2007 |
Project description
The project aims to identify projects around sustainable landuse through:
- Identifying the collective science and research capabilities within the member organisations of the Lincoln Resource.
- Communicate this collective capability to farming and landcare groups and in return understand their practical farming needs around sustainable landuse.
The opportunity
The "collective" knowledge of these research organisations around environmental sustainability provides an enormous and on-going opportunity for the farming community and landcare groups.
The "collective" identification and communication of these science and research capabilities is important. The relationship of these capabilities to practical farming needs around sustainable landuse (as communicated by farming and landcare groups) will lead to new research opportunities and collaborative projects.
The context/background
The Lincoln Resource consists of 9 organisations collectively employing 1000 people focussed on science and research. www.thelincolnresource.com
Each of the member organisations are undertaking research addressing these issues.
The collective experience and research background of cluster members presents an opportunity to further develop dialogue between organisations and present a collective opportunity for the farming community and landuse groups.
Methods
- Identify collective science and research capabilities around sustainable landuse within the member organisations of the Lincoln Resource.
- Provide seminars to discuss these collective capabilities and identify core areas of focus into a presentation format.
- Communicate these collective capabilities to the farming community and landcare groups through a series of workshops and in return understand their practical farming needs around sustainable landuse.
- Identify how these core capabilities may be able to provide practical farming solutions and identify potential projects.
Final Report
Objectives
To present the "collective" knowledge of "Lincoln" research organisations around issues of environmental sustainability to the farming community and land care groups.
The communication of these science and research capabilities is important. The relationship of these capabilities to practical farming needs around sustainable landuse (as communicated by farming and land care groups back to researchers) ultimately may lead to new research opportunities and collaborative projects.
Approach
Identify key personnel working around issues of sustainability across the organizations of The Lincoln Resource
Identify collective science and research capabilities around sustainable land use within the member organisations of the Lincoln Resource.
Initiate a seminar programme - to bring researchers in sustainability together from across the different organizations to build better knowledge of the people and work undertaken
Communicate these collective capabilities to the farming community and land care groups through a series of workshops and in return understand their practical farming needs around sustainable land use.
Identify how these core capabilities may be able to provide practical land use/farming solutions, by allowing interaction and feedback from each of the presentations.
Information dissemination beyond these workshops
Outcomes to Date
Summary of Results
Internal networking
Getting the different organisations together to interact over issues of sustainability.
The Lincoln Resource used topics of mutual interest to engage researchers interest from across the different organizations. This included a seminar on "what affects the uptake of research by farmers?", "what does a sustainable farm look like?"
Dissemination of information from collaborative research programmes to the wider public and targeted, interested land care groups
In discussions with the farming and land use communities they were keen for research to be presented and wanted to have the opportunity to feedback into the researchers the practical application of their work, value etc…
As a result of the Lincoln Hot science with The Kim Hill’ researchers could see the benefits of a well facilitated presentation of their work on a regular basis. Potentially targeting different audiences.
Two presentations, SLURI and SIDDC agreed to present prior to Christmas 2006 and then The Greening Waipara project asked to use the successful template set up to engage the wider community in North Canterbury about their collaborative research.
Presentation of results
All (SLURI, SIDDC and the Greening Waipara project) presentations were interactive in nature, both attracted good numbers (SLURI 60+, SIDDC 90+, Greening Waipara 50+)
A detailed database has been built around those interested parties in the wider community and it is much wider than either research programme had or expected - this is a major and unexpected benefit to come from this project.
Having experienced success the SIDDC and SLURI groups have looked at repeating their presentations elsewhere (e.g. SLURI in the lower North Island+)
Presentations were held at the Rolleston Community Centre and the interactive section of the presentation facilitated by ECAN for SLURI, and held at Lincoln University and facilitation of the interactive section for the SIDDIC presentation was undertaken by Dexcel. The Greening Waipara project was facilitated by ECAN and was held in Waipara North Canterbury.
Extension of results
Both SIDDC and SLURI have loaded the results on to their respective websites: www.sluri.org.nz and www.siddic.org.nz
- The Greening Waipara Group have summarized the outcomes of their event in their newsletter
- The SFF have delivered summary results via their e-newsletters
- SLURI presentation was covered by the Country-wide Magazine
- The SIDDIC presentation was covered by CTV, Country-wide, Dairy exporter magazine, Straight Furrow
- Work on the SFF project was also included on a CTV interview that went to air on business in Canterbury in December 2006
- The Greening Waipara project was covered by Country-wide two North Canterbury newspapers, six minute interview for the research group leader on CTV - that went to air locally and nationally in June and a feature article to be delivered in the near future in the "Listener" on the project.
Summary
In summary this project has been far more difficult to facilitate than envisaged - a lot of the SFF funding has gone into building an environment and template from which researchers are happy to present their work to the wider community. The final results are coming as expected and with a great deal of success. A detailed database has been built and the interaction from the wider community looking to The Lincoln Resource for future presentations has been another interesting and unexpected outcome of this project.
The future
The opportunity now exists to continuously role out research under this independent banner of The Lincoln Resource.
There are a number sustainability research projects that can be presented in 2007 and The Lincoln Resource will continue to encourage collaborative research groups to profile their research to the wider community.
With the loss of SFF in 2007/8 we hope that research groups will see the added value that the development of this template can provide for their engagement with the wider community and hope they will be prepared to invest to cover the costs of facilitating it.
MAF, ECAN and CCC independently sponsored the 2nd series of Lincoln Hot Science this year which was an outstanding success with crowds averaging 1000 in number (3 events) coming to listen to the science in behind Hot Issues facing Canterbury.
Quarterly Update: September 2006
Many meetings have taken place incl. ECAN, Dexcel, LCT, CRI’s etc. – many in person and a number by phone as to how best to interact with the wider community (land use stakeholders) on the research being undertaken on sustainability as well talking with the researchers about getting the information on their research out there.
Progress:
1. Initial talks started with the Senior Managers of Communications team for
each of the Lincoln Resource member organisations to try and encourage
development of a series that could profile the research going on within Lincoln
for use by land use stakeholders.
2. Researchers agreed to contribute to a focused series on sustainability.
3. ECAN agreed to act as facilitators for this series (contact Phil Mc Guigan)
4. First evening is to be held on the SLURI research – a collaborative research programme between AgResearch, Hort Research, Landcare Research and Crop & Food Research on the top 15cm of soil.
5. Talks have started with Prof. Keith Cameron head of the Centre for Soil and Environmental Quality at Lincoln University to coordinate a presentation on the work they are doing with SIDDC (South Island Dairying development Centre). Date to be determined after the 12 September.
6. Talks have started with Dr Gill Worth of Canesis. Sustainability work within Canesis on Ecological footprint – on farm, the recycling of wool carpet as a soil conditioner and in rapid revegetation and weed control, Research on decision drivers and farmer perspectives.
7. Other ideas forwarded – Water management
December 2005
After the identification of key capabilities in "Environmental Sustainability" across the member organisations the Lincoln Resource held two seminars in the second half of 2005 targeting these researchers. While acknowledging that good collaborative research already exists, the "collective" capability of the resource is far from exploited.
The topics of common interest to bring scientists together included:
"Uptake of Science by the Farming Community", Presented by two extension organisations – FAR and DEXCEL, and two farmer representatives from Arable and Dairying. The questions posed were:
- What makes science credible for farmers?
- How do farmers like to receive their information?
- What science do they uptake and why?
- What science don’t they uptake and why?
"What Does a Sustainable Farming System Look Like?" Presented by the Natural Step – Dr Lin Roberts.
The Natural Step has worked with a group of North Canterbury Farmers considering this question on their own farms. This seminar was to get scientists to consider this question from the farmer’s perspective and then consider how their science/research fits into this "whole-farm" or "whole-system" scenario.
Reference: www.naturalstep.org.nz
2006 will see emphasis on communicating with land use organisations and the farming community. Communicating the capability that exists "collectively" at the Lincoln Resource while providing "fresh", interesting and relevant series of field days/workshops that engages the farming community. The intention is gain clear feedback to the research organisations about the community’s priorities and any new research opportunities that may exist with regards land use issues.
