 |
|
|
|
|
RIRDC Completed Projects in 2005-2006 & Research in Progress as at June 2006
To Human Capital, Communications & Information Systems completed Projects
Human Capital, Communications & Information Systems
RESEARCH IN PROGRESS 2005-2006Extension, Education and Training
PROJECT No PROJECT TITLE RESEARCHER PHONE ORGANISATION CSL-25A Bridging the gap between theory and practice—a commercialisation case study Dr Richard Stirzaker (02) 6246 5570 CSIRO Land and Water Farm Health and Safety
PROJECT No PROJECT TITLE RESEARCHER PHONE ORGANISATION UMO-32A In-depth investigation of farm machinery injury Dr Lesley Day (03) 9905 1811 Monash University US-141A Farm safety studies A/Prof Lyn Fragar (02) 6752 8210 Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety WDH-1A Sustainable farm families: the human resource in the triple bottom line Ms Sue Brumby (03) 5551 8460 Western District Health Service WDH-2J Sustainable farming families—building and extending our future Ms Sue Brumby (03) 5551 8460 Western District Health Service
Cooperative Venture for Capacity Building
PROJECT No PROJECT TITLE RESEARCHER PHONE ORGANISATION CSW-37A Participative evaluation of learning and impacts from "farmer-driven RDE" Dr Peter Carberry (07) 4688 1377 CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems GSA-2A Maximising the connection between R&D providers and agribusiness Mr Gordon Stone (07) 4615 2255 Gordon Stone and Associates JMA-2A Incorporating CVCB outputs into member programs Mr John McKenzie (02) 6366 5000 John McKenzie & Associates Pty Ltd NAT-2 Communication services to the Cooperative Venture for Capacity Building Ms Anne Currey (02) 6628 7079 Naturally Resourceful Pty Ltd RRE-3A Capacity building for innovation: national education extension evaluation—Phase 2 Dr Jeff Coutts (07) 4638 9119 Roberts Evaluation Pty Ltd UNE-91A Nesting community-based NRM for regional accountability and grassroots cooperation Dr Graham Marshall (02) 6773 3250 University of New England UWA-92A The roles for capacity building in regional NRM Dr David Pannell (08) 9844 8659 University of Western Australia Extension, education and training
Project Title: Bridging the gap between theory and practice—a commercialisation case study RIRDC Project No.: CSL-25A Start Date: 01-Oct-2004 Finish Date: 31-Aug-2006 Researcher: Dr Richard Stirzaker Organisation: CSIRO Land and Water
PO Box 1666
Canberra ACT 2601Phone: (02) 6246 5570 Fax: (02) 6246 5560 Email: richard.stirzaker@csiro.au Objectives ·1 To demonstrate and document a successful ‘Public Good Commercialisation Model’ built around the wetting front detector (WFD), which is a tool that can improve the management of water, salt and nutrients. Current Progress To go from an idea to commercial product that is widely available takes most scientists across uncharted waters. Prior to the commencement of this project we had walked the minefield from getting patents to getting a manufacturer. This project is about building the public good component around the commercialisation of the FullStop Wetting Front Detector. First, we used our networks, workshops and field days to promote the potential of the detector and invited key player to evaluate it under their own conditions. About 1000 units were sold during this period.
Second, we built a comprehensive website at www.fullstop.com.au . The website not only covers the basics of installing and using the wetting front detector, but also some of the science behind how it works and how to interpret salt and nitrate readings from the water sample captured by the detector.
Third, we built simple visualisation ‘games’ and loaded them onto the website. The irrigator can use the games to determine how deep to put the detectors based on their current irrigation regime, or they might use the outputs to help them learn from their experiences with the detectors.
Finally the distribution rights for the product were passed on to Australian company MEA (Measurement Engineering Australia) in December 2005.
Project Title: In-depth investigation of farm machinery injury RIRDC project no: UMO-32A Start Date 01-Jul-03 Finish Date 30-Nov-06 Researcher Dr Lesley Day Organisation Monash University
Accident Research Centre
Building 70
Wellington Road
Clayton VIC 3168Phone: (03) 9905 1811 Fax: (03) 9905 1809 Email: Lesley.Day@general.monash.edu.au Objectives · To identify machine factors associated with farm machinery injury, and to explore the interaction of machinery factors with human factors. Current Progress This project involves in-depth investigations of the safety features of specific agricultural machines involved in serious injury events, and comparison with similar equipment which has not been involved in such events. Human factor issues are also being examined. Injured farmers are being recruited through hospital emergency departments, and comparison farmers are being recruited by random telephone survey. As of May 2005, 23 injured farmers had agreed to a machinery inspection and 20 of these have been completed. Thirty-six comparison farmers had agreed to a machinery inspection and 15 of these have been completed. Recruitment of farmers is ongoing and the aim is to have completed 40 case inspections, and 80 comparison inspections by January 2006. The analysis will compare the features of machinery involved in injury, with the features of machinery not involved in injury to facilitate recommendations which would prevent, or reduce the severity of, serious injury.
The project has collaborative links with a similar Canadian study, and the recruitment of farmers is being undertaken as part of another project with funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Project Title: Farm safety studies RIRDC Project No.: US-141A Start Date: 15-Oct-2005 Finish Date: 31-Jul-2007 Researcher: Associate Professor Lyn Fragar Organisation: Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety Phone: (02) 6752 8210 Fax: (02) 6752 6639 Email: lfragar@health.usyd.edu.au Objectives ·2 The objective of this project is to improve the ability of Australian Agriculture to manage risk of injury through the: - provision of accurate, timely, concise and relevant data about injury occurring on farms or due to agricultural work - establishment of a population of people who have agreed to participate in a five-year of enterprise OHS risk factors and personal health related to work and life in agricultural production.
Current Progress Occupational health and safety is a major issue of concern and cost to Australian agriculture. Previous and current work of the Farm Injury Data Centre and of specific Commodity Reference Groups has established the key risk factors that are generic to most agricultural and horticultural enterprises and those that are specific to commodity production systems—tractor safety, farm machinery guarding, farm workshop safety, child safety, commodity programs, falls in older farmers. Little is documented about the perceptions of and attitudes to safety on farms or how the increasing body of information about farm OHS is received and used on farms, what impediments and costs are associated with uptake and the practical benefits that accrue from increased attention to safety. The project builds on the previous RIRDC-funded National Farm Injury Data Collection project which has been highly successful in providing the underpinning data for development of the Farmsafe Australia Programs as well as providing guidance for identification of appropriate strategies for the improvement of agricultural health and safety and in comparing the performance of industries.
The project will establish, maintain and expand a longitudinal study of farm health and safety that will provide the most valuable research program for Australia into the future.
The output from this project will be published in reports and papers:
·3 Technical reports for publication and posting on the RIRDC website: These resources will be available for use by trainers and producers, and are available on the Farmsafe Australia website www.farmsafe.org.- Australian Farm Fatalities (July 2000 to December 2004) ·1 Published papers in peer-reviewed professional journals- Farm Injury Optimal Dataset
- Occupational Health and Safety on farms in Australia
- Practical Guidelines publications
- Mental health and wellbeing and its impact on farms in Australia
·2 A Translation Plan to be developed in association with Farmsafe Australia to ensure that relevant findings are integrated with current OHS programs and rural health service plans that will include:
-1 short reports in lay language for use in newsletters and websites -2 presentations at relevant conferences and industry forums
-3 publication of Sugar Cane package
-4 report of perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of participants in longitudinal study
-5 report on pathways to adoption of OHS on farms
Project Title: Sustainable farming families—building and extending our future RIRDC Project No.: WDH-2J Start Date: 15-Oct-2005 Finish Date: 31-Jul-2007 Researcher: Ms Susan Brumby Organisation: Western District Health Service
PO Box 283
Hamilton VIC 3300Phone: (03) 5551 8460 Fax: (03) 5572 5371 Email: susan.brumby@wdhs.net Objectives ·1 To expand the Sustainable Farming Families network into other agricultural industries by initiating training and development opportunities for rural health professionals working in other parts of Australia. Current Progress Currently the Sustainable Farm Families’ (SFF) project continues to provide valid evidence-based research on the state of rural farming families throughout agricultural industries. Western District Health Service (WDHS) and its collaborative partners have endeavoured to value-add research funding provided by RIRDC and further assess the health status of Australia’s agricultural industries. Additional funding from RIRDC saw the extension of the SFF project to encompass the sugar and cotton industries. To date we have completed the first of two years of research into the state of farm families’ health in cotton populations in the Wee Waa and Dalby areas and research in the sugar industry regions of Ayr and Ingham.
Current outcomes from all research conducted has revealed significant health and occupational health and safety issues and a considerable number industry specific concerns that will assist in future policy and management developments.
WDHS looks forward to continuing this research and working with our collaborative partners to further assess the state of rural farming families’ health and improve this through education, assessment and preventative care.
Capacity Building for Innovation in Rural Industries Cooperative Venture
Project Title: Maximising the connection between R&D providers and agribusiness RIRDC Project No.: GSA-2A Start Date: 23-Aug-2005 Finish Date: 28-Feb-2007 Researcher: Mr Gordon Stone Organisation: Gordon Stone and Associates
PO Box 7642
fsTOOWOOMBA MC QLD 4352Phone: (07) 4615 2255 Fax: (07) 4615 2330 Email: gordon@stoneco.com.au Objectives ·2 Establish and test a management system that will facilitate the transfer of RDE through Agribusiness to farmers. Current Progress Insights have been sought from a number of the RD&E service providers concerning their use of agribusiness as an information conduit to levy payers and stakeholders. Few use agribusiness to increase their understanding of this issue, but a number are interested in these project outcomes. Three case study areas have been established based on Bendigo, Vic; Wagga Wagga, NSW and Oakey, Qld. Connections have been made with agribusinesses (national organisations and independent consultants, and grower clients) to investigate relationships, information needs and requirements of RD&E service providers.
Investigations of the agribusiness, grower and RD&E service provider connections are at an early stage. A range of roundtable meetings has been undertaken. The development of a feedback loop model from agribusiness to RD&E service providers has commenced.
Easy access by agribusiness and growers to RD&E outcomes is an emerging issue. The extent, form and level of complexity of this information, plus the location and management of such an information repository, are being investigated.
The project is on track to deliver outcomes that give an appreciation of growers’ information needs, the role of the widest range of agribusiness in this process and the form of a feedback loop to RD&E service providers.
Project Title: Incorporating CVCB outputs into member programs RIRDC Project No.: JMA-2A Start Date: 03-Mar-2006 Finish Date: 31-Dec-2006 Researcher: John McKenzie Organisation: John McKenzie & Associates Pty Ltd
20 Quarry Farm Road
Forest Reefs NSW 2798Phone: (02) 6366 5000 Fax: (02) 6366 5142 Email: mckenzj@ix.net.au Objectives
·3 To ensure that all relevant outputs from the work of the CVCB are available to all member organisations and action learning projects are instigated by members to use and evaluate the findings of CVCB projects. Current Progress Meetings have been held with six Cooperative Venture members to discuss workshops or other activity to consider the relevant outputs of the CVCB. Three workshops have been conducted with staff and providers from SRDC, LWA and DAFF. In all cases awareness of the CVCB and its outputs was raised and further activities planned.
Project Title: Communication strategy for the cooperative venture: capacity building for innovation in rural industries - consultancy RIRDC Project No.: NAT-2A Start Date: 12 Dec-02 Finish Date: 31-Jul-03 Researcher: Ms. Anne Currey Organisation: Naturally Resourceful Pty Ltd
PO Box 355
ALSTONVILLE NSW 2477Phone: (02) 6628 7079 Fax: (02) 6628 7209 Email: anne@naturallyresourceful.com.au Objectives
The objectives of the communications strategy are to: ·1 reach the audience who needs to know about or will use the CV’s outputs A number of activities were identified as part of a process to develop a communications strategy for the cooperative venture. These activities were: researching the CV’s market, identifying the needs of the market that can be serviced by the CV, benchmarking to allow evaluation at a later date, and development of a limited number of strategic communications products.·2 ensure understanding and ownership of the CV and its activities by senior management and directors of participating organisations.
Current Progress Benchmarking: In 2003 and 2004 two small qualitative surveys were completed to gauge awareness of the CV and of the concept of capacity building. In November 2005, a much larger quantitative survey was completed as part of the capacity building workshops that were held around Australia. A report detailing the results of this feedback was completed and is housed on the CVCB website. Contact database: A contact database containing names of 600+ people who have applied to be added to the Cooperative Venture email list has been developed. Around fifty of these names were added as a result of requests from people who attended the capacity building workshops in November 2005.
Email newsletters: The first issue of the newsletter was emailed in February 2003. Since then 12 newsletters in total have been produced and emailed to the distribution list. All editions can be downloaded from the CVCB’s website. Newsletters are also emailed to the communications staff of the CVCB partner organisations with an offer to tailor write any article for their audience.
Email updates: In October 2005, December 2005, and March 2006 short updates were emailed to newsletter recipients.
Reports and factsheets: Four final reports were edited: RRE-2A, UM-62A, GSA-1A, RRE-1A. Ten factsheets, based on RRE-1A and RUE-2A, were prepared and uploaded onto the CVCB website.
Website: The CVCB website is a repository for information about the CVCB, capacity building reports and newsletters. The website is regularly updated.
Capacity building workshops: A background paper outlining the format of the workshops was developed with the program manager. Assisted with organisation, and attended and facilitated four workshops. Feedback from survey forms was collated and a report prepared, and a paper written and presented at APEN, March 2006.
Communications plan: A draft communications plan was prepared in July 2006.
Project Title: Capacity building for innovation: national education extension evaluation—Phase 2 RIRDC Project No.: RRE-3A Start Date: 01-Oct-2004 Finish Date: 31-Mar-2007 Researcher: Dr Jeff Coutts Organisation: Roberts Evaluation Pty Ltd
PO Box 2681
TOOWOOMBA QLD 4350Phone: (07) 4638 9119 Email: jeff@couttsjr.com.au Objectives
· Review and update outcomes of RRE-1A—national education extension review · Promote and rethink extension/education arrangements of government, industry and community groups so that they respond to new and changing environments and promote enhanced learning and practice
Current Progress Project 1: Establish a web-based database The first objective was to convert the Excel project database which arose out of RRE-1A, into a web-based format so it could be viewed by those interested. The second objective was to put in place an updating capacity. The data base has been converted to a web based format (31 October 2004) and to date two updates have occurred. From these, 10 new or revised projects have been entered under the applicable extension models developed in the previous project. The project is on target to finish on 1 March 2007.
Project 2 Human Capacity Indicators
The objective of this project was to examine what questions are needed to ascertain and assess change in human capacity particularly in the higher skills such as critical thinking, planning, cooperation. A literature review has been completed and higher capacity building indicators developed. Interviews have been conducted with key people in the field to obtain their reaction and input on the indicators. The project has been completed; a final report submitted in May 2006.
Project 3 Better aligning extension to VET
The objective of this project is to identify the blockages to the better accreditation of extension courses to the VET sector and to produce two booklets: one for extension providers and one for participants to explain the pathways to achieving VET accreditation. The first draft of each of the booklets has been completed and the next phase is to refine and trial the content with a sample of trainers and participants. The project has been completed and is being analyzed.
Project 4 Making better use of consultants
Here the objective is to examine the role of consultants and their professional development needs. The approach adopted has been to conduct paired case studies with 7 consultants and producers who use them. In addition, a web based survey of agricultural consultants across Australia has been employed. From the data from the web survey and the case studies, guidelines and recommendations will be made. The project has been finalized.
Project Title: The roles for capacity buidling in regional NRM RIRDC Project No.: UWA-92A Start Date: 01-Aug-2005 Finish Date: 31-Jul-2007 Researcher: Dr David Pannell Organisation: University of Western Australia
ALBANY WA 6330Phone: (08) 9844 8659 Fax: Email: david.pannell@uwa.edu.au Objectives
·1 Allow CMAs to better identify issues and areas where capacity building is the most appropriate and effective response for NRM outcomes, focusing on the example of salinity.
Current Progress The project has progressed extremely well. Collaboration: We have established strong working collaborations with North Central Catchment Management Authority in Victoria, and the South Coast Catchment Council in Western Australia. We are also working closely with scientists in state agencies and the private sector in both states.
Analysis: We have completed initial application of the framework and provided recommendations to North Central CMA regarding their investments in on-ground works and community capacity building. Research on the implications of demographic changes in the region, and on the capacity needs of the CMA and its service providers is continuing. The work in Western Australia has commenced.
Communication: We have established a comprehensive web site for the project at www.sif3.org, including articles, discussion papers, funding proposals, PowerPoint presentations, details on the project team and collaborators, and a long list of news/activities. We have made numerous presentations to audiences ranging from landholders to senior bureaucrats and politicians.
Impact: Both regional bodies are very enthusiastic about the project. NCCMA has indicated that it will implement our recommendations. South Coast is already positioning itself to respond positively.
SIF3 was the subject of a positive recommendation in the recently delivered Senate report on salinity.
Site map Contact us Feedback Links Disclaimer Privacy Statement 
Last updated: October 2006 Copyright © RIRDC 2006
http://www.rirdc.gov.au/comp06/hcc2.html
