NESP MaC Project 3.1 – Regional planning in northern Australia: Building a community of practice and sentinel case studies for supporting improved approaches to achieve ESD, 2023-2024 (JCU)

Research Project

Researchers: Dale, Allan (Principal investigator) ,  Lawrey, Eric, Dr. (Point of contact) ,  Wolfe, Kennedy (Dr) (Point of contact) ,  eAtlas Data Manager (Point of contact) ,  mailto:b.robson@aims.gov.au (Point of contact)

Brief description This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub small-scale study - "Regional planning in northern Australia: Building a community of practice and sentinel case studies for supporting improved approaches to achieve ESD". This project grows momentum from NESP MAC Hub Project 1.32, which engaged northern Australians on the need for improved regional planning to deliver Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) outcomes. Project 1.32 identified Stage 2 investment to build: (i) a strong regional planning community of practice across the north; and (ii) three longer-standing sentinel case studies for improving regional planning practice within northern regions (WA, NT and Qld). In a methodological sense, the northern Australian community of practice will build on the network foundations established in Project 1.32, and will focus on scanning best practice approaches across the north, exploring innovative ways to communicate these approaches, and ensuring the network is strengthened through regular newsletters and targeted symposiums. The sentinel case study approach will inform policy and practice improvement at the jurisdictional and Commonwealth scales, and will apply Governance Systems Analysis approaches developed under previous NERP and NESP investments. This innovative method employs highly deliberative and evidence-based approaches to the practical analysis of complex governance systems in highly contested landscapes like northern Australia. Given the emerging Commonwealth focus on regional planning effort based on the Samuel review, this project represents perfect timing to focus on best practice, including knowledge management, as well as the opportunity to support emerging Commonwealth, State and Territory efforts regarding these reforms. It particularly addresses the headline issue identified in the MaC Hub 2023 Research Plan which seeks to “address the governance requirements and barriers for regional planning nationally”. This particularly includes an emphasis on northern Australia (i.e. de-risking landscapes). Planned Outputs • Case Study Governance Analysis [dataset] • Final technical report with analysed data and a short summary of recommendations for policy makers of key findings [written]

Notes Credit
Alan Dale (JCU), Ellie Bock (JCU), Shannon Burns (JCU), Umberto Barasi (QUT), Jenny McHugh (JCU)

Notes Credit
National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub

Notes Credit
Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE), Australian Government

Notes Credit
In addition to NESP (DAWE) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.

Notes Purpose
Project aims and objectives: The outcomes from this project will inform decision making about the national development and deployment of policy related to regional planning, particularly as this relates to the implementation of the Samuel review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. It will also inform the development of transferable de-risking methodologies (both current and emerging) under the Developing Northern Australia White Paper, and other government and Native Title and other Indigenous frameworks. Equally within WA, the NT and Queensland, it will directly support decisions about continuous improvement related to emerging regional planning initiatives (via the sentinel case studies. This will guide improved environmental, social and economic outcomes from regional scale decision making, and guide more local scale development assessment decisions.

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