Home > Ningaloo Collaboration Cluster: Ningaloo client outreach

Ningaloo Collaboration Cluster: Ningaloo client outreach


Posted on 03 November 2011

TitleNingaloo Collaboration Cluster: Ningaloo client outreach
Publication TypeReport
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsDzidic, PL, Syme GJ, Dambacher JM, Malkin S
Pagination1-49
Date Published06/2011
InstitutionCSIRO’s Flagship Collaboration Fund
ISBN Number9781921826405
KeywordsCluster, Ningaloo, outreach, research
AbstractThe Ningaloo Collaboration Cluster, a partnership between Murdoch University, the University of Western Australia, Australian National University, University of Queensland, Edith Cowan University, Curtin University, the Collaborative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism and CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship. The Cluster was established as a mechanism for ensuring targeted and coordinated research for the sustainable management of the Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP), namely through the delivery of systems which aid in the ecological, economic and social decision making in the region. Research varies from bathymetry through studies of fish species to the social science of visitor behaviour. One of the significant activities is the development of models of various types that will serve as a major integrating output. While there is an ’all encompassing’ model there are also activities to incorporate qualitative modelling and ‘user friendly’ modelling of components. The intention is that these efforts will result in informed decision makers and managers who will have tools that they will regularly use to reach decisions enabling them to manage the uncertainties that are associated with what is a complex socio-ecological system. To help ensure that the research has impact, CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship (WfO) created a small “Ningaloo Client Outreach” project. The research question was approached through the construction of sociograms as a means of exploring group roles and networks. This prompted us to consider critically who the ‘client’ is for the projects. There were many potential end users, particularly governance bodies whose policies could ultimately be informed by the science and research and the communities in the regions studied who may be ultimately impacted on by the science/research informed policy. The results clearly show the need to consider the ‘client’ from outset. They also show that the motivation behind research questions, the mechanism people employ in their enquiry and the role of scientists and researcher are changing. This makes for an exciting future in how scientists and researchers engage with ‘clients’ and how science and research is communicated in the future. A Ningaloo Client Outreach Community Report is also available. The report is a concise version of this technical report and has been structured to tell the ‘story’ of the research while explaining the technical aspects of the project. As such, care has been given to ensure an appropriate level of technical information (e.g. methodological and interpretive) that remains comprehensible for the general community.
AttachmentSize
Ningaloo client outreach report.pdf978.95 KB