Russell Haines, RIRDC, phone 02 6271 4033, email roslyn.prinsley@rirdc.gov.au

John McKenzie, John McKenzie and Associates, phone 0402 018 318, email mckenzj@ix.net.au

Website
For information about the Cooperative Venture and projects go to website www.rirdc.gov.au and click on the Cooperative Venture page.

Privacy Notice
This e-mail may contain personal information as defined in the Privacy Act 1988, or confidential information. Please do not disclose personal information in this e-mail, other than that of the sender, to another party without the consent of the sender. If you are not the intended recipient, or believe that you have received this e-mail in error, please do not print, copy, retransmit, disseminate, or otherwise use the information. Also, please notify the sender that you have received this e-mail in error, and delete the copy you received.

Thank you.

This newsletter is compiled by Anne Currey, Naturally Resourceful Pty Ltd.

© Copyright Cooperative Venture for Capacity Building and Innovation in Rural Industries.

What’s new. A final report on growing the capacity of rural Australia is available at http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/HCC/04-034.pdf. 

Social atlas for rural and regional Australia. For a snapshot of what the 7 million Australians who live outside capital cities check out the just released Country Matters - Social Atlas of Rural and Regional Australia. For a summary click here.

Contact correction
In the last edition of the newsletter the article about the mapping of rural industries service providers the wrong phone number for Kate Roberts was included. Kate’s correct phone number is 03 9670 0745 and email, kroberts@robertsevaluation.com.au

Handy link
A handy link for general information about building capacity, particularly in the NGO sector is http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/builder/. Particularly interesting is the page on community building, which has four modules:

• What is community building? 
• Volunteering 
• Community leaders 
• Community participation 

If you find any sites useful or interesting as far as capacity building is concerned, why not send me an email with the address and I’ll include it in the next newsletter. Email is anne@naturallyresourceful.com.au

Steering Committee membership
The Cooperative Venture is managed by a steering committee comprising representatives from the partners. The committee is as follows:

• Simon Hearn, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (Chairman)
• Roslyn Prinsley, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
• Steve Coats, Dairy Research and Development Corporation
• Paul Comyn, Program Manager 

Education & Adoption,
Australian Wool Innovation Limited 
• Vic Dobos, Grains Research and Development Corporation
• Tony Clancy, Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation
• Neale Price, Meat & Livestock Australia
• Craig Bradley, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia
• Alice Roughley, Land & Water Australia
• Alison Reid, Murray-Darling Basin Commission
• Tracy Henderson, Sugar Research and Development Corporation
• John McKenzie, John McKenzie and Associates (Program Manager and Executive Officer)

• Online survey
• Putting what works and why into action
• What's new
• Social atlas for rural and regional Australia
• Irrigation field walks - co-learning for grapegrowers
• Regional measures of service accessibility
• Research Update
• Who's in the CVCB
• Contact the CVCB
• Contact Correction

PUTTING WHAT WORKS AND WHY INTO ACTION 
After investing in the CVCB for the past three years Meat and Livestock Australia is applying the outcomes of a key program, “What Works and Why”, to their On-Farm Communications and Research Adoption portfolio.

The extension framework identified by Jeff Coutts, Kate Roberts and Finnoula Frost as part of the project outlines five major extension delivery options: 

• Group facilitation and empowerment
• Programmed learning
• Information transfer
• Technological development
• Consultancy/ mentoring

Using the report has allowed MLA to consider how existing projects and programs are categorised, and also to identify any “gaps’ there might be. 

The additional benefit is that the report provides a guide for future communication and delivery options for ongoing and future R&D projects. Having this information in an interactive web-based format allows you to look at past experiences across all industry extension programs reviewed to provide formative input into future programs.

MLA is pleased to see that a number of their projects, including Beefplan, PIRDs and EDGEnetwork, are included in the report as examples of successes but is continually seeking to improve and be innovative in their extension options for the long-term benefit of the livestock industry.  The key message from these projects is that where MLA and producers collaborate success is always more likely than when the end-users are not involved in the development and ongoing enhancement and improvement of projects.

The report is a welcome tool to support and help improve and increase producer adoption of R and D outcomes, through a wider and targeted range of extension activities.

For more information about “What Works and Why” contact Jeff Coutts, email couttsjr@bigpond.net.au or Kate Roberts, email kroberts@robertsevaluation.com.au

Field walks to look at irrigation requirements and practices were planned for winegrape grower groups in Mildura, Robinvale and Swan Hill in the winter of 2003 when cuts in allocations had been predicted by water authorities. Good falls of rain meant that allocations weren’t reduced so, being ever resourceful, we decide to switch the focus from managing under a regime of water restrictions to considering factors affecting decisions about when and how to irrigate. At the same time it was decided to study the effectiveness of a co-learning model for acquiring knowledge and skills.

How we organised the walks
At the beginning of the project, groups were formed in the three locations, each with more than one site and with veraison and pre-harvest selected as critical times for vineyard walks. Delivery method can be characterised by the following comparison:
 

Conventional teaching model Largely one-way flow of information Scope of knowledge assumed Formal presentation (classroom) Immediacy of information not apparent

Co-learning model  Multi-flow (particularly among growers) Knowledge gaps are made known Informal presentation (in vineyard) Emphasis on “what’s happening now”

Before each field walk a background on each site was compiled, with emphasis on soil types, production goals (and winery requirements), seasonal conditions and irrigation practices. Many of the key points were brought into discussion through activities like examining soils and vine condition, observing canopy and fruit development, and (later in the season) tasting berries. Growers had the opportunity to discuss issues as they were happening, such as a spate of very hot days, and accept challenges like proposing appropriate action in these circumstances.

What the growers said
Growers said they believed vineyard inspections at critical vine growth stages helped their decision-making by considering, in an active learning manner, environmental and biological factors. They were particularly interested in the technology of moisture monitoring, visual symptoms of a vine’s water needs, and patterns of irrigation (e.g. dripper emission rates, duration of irrigations and frequency of application).

According to grower interviews, the co-learning model had the following positive features:

• Activities were timed to match immediate interests.
• They were in a comfortable setting with growers “more in charge of the agenda.”
• There were more opportunities to learn what other growers are doing. The value of this was expressed not only in terms of new information, including management tips, but also as a means of reinforcing confidence in current practices.
• Relevance (eg. “Can relate to what I’m doing in my own vineyard” and “A lot of information comes from our own questions and answers”).

This project was supported by funding from Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation (GWRDC) Regional Innovation and Technology Adoption (RITA) program. 

More information. For more information you can contact Susan on email Susan.Byrne@murrayvalleywinegrapes.com.au

ARIA is the answer. ARIA (Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia) is series of databases and GIS maps available at website www.health.gov.au/ari/aria.htm. The information on this site is the result of a Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care project to measure and classify the remoteness of populated localities in relation to ‘service centres’ of various sizes (based on the 1996 Census). It defines five categories of remoteness based on road distance to service centres, and is available for a variety of geographical units including localities, Census Collection districts (CCDs), Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) and postcodes. The five categories are:

1. Highly Accessible - relatively unrestricted accessibility to a wide range of goods and services and opportunities for social interaction
2. Accessible - some restrictions to accessibility of some goods, services and opportunities for social interaction
3. Moderately Accessible - significantly restricted accessibility of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction
4. Remote - very restricted accessibility of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction
5. Very Remote - very little accessibility of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.