Program 10 will focus firstly on developing a systems
understanding that incorporates appropriate knowledge across a
range of research disciplines and geographic regions to address
user defined problems, concerns or opportunities. Secondly,
it will facilitate the incorporation of this system level
understanding into useful information for the management and
sustainable use of the natural assets in North Queensland.
The project areas within Program 10 will
synthesise and integrate information from the outputs of MTSRF
Programs 1 to 9 and will also draw on scientific literature,
datasets, and scientific models. Importantly, the products
will incorporate knowledge held by key end-users including the
private sector, local communities and Indigenous peoples, and will
be targeted to meet their needs.
It is envisaged that the outcomes of
Program 10 be used primarily for reporting purposes that could be
further refined as an instrument to identify priorities for
management action. It will provide tools for planning,
management and exploring and analysing the consequences of
decisions affecting North Queensland ecosystems and the well being
of industries and communities dependent on these. The
outcomes will help to identify response options to achieve
sustainability goals, and aim to help build individual and
organisational capacity to undertake integrated assessments and to
act on their findings.
Program 10 has two core modes of
operation. The first is a design and baseline mode which will
design templates, frameworks and guidelines that will help to
ensure that MTSRF Projects and Programs deliver products that can
be integrated to achieve solutions to end-user problems and
establish baselines that enable the current state of knowledge to
be captured and the effectiveness of the MTSRF to be
measured. The second is a synthesis and integration mode
through which the Program will deliver integrated and synthesised
products targeted to user needs. Largely, but not
exclusively, the Program will start in the design and baseline mode
focused on developing the frameworks, templates and guidelines for
projects and then shift to the synthesis and integration mode to
develop the key final products of MTSRF.
To ensure the effective uptake of design
mode frameworks and guidelines, Program 10 will broadly and
intensely engage with MTSRF Program Leaders and key end-users to
ensure that the designs that emerge are a functional synthesis of
end-user needs and best scientific knowledge. Much of this
work will be achieved through facilitated workshops involving key
end-users and Research Providers in the first months of the MTSRF
Programme.
During Year 1 (2006/2007) the frameworks
needed to create these products will be designed and baseline
reports of current state of knowledge and initial results will be
published. An integration step is an essential, and innovative
approach to linking the work across the Programs, and ensuring the
research work delivers maximum return on the investment.
Program 10 currently involves three
Projects:
Project
5.10.1 - Visual documentation of MTSRF Projects (Research
Providers: Digital Dimensions)
Project
5.10.2 - Communication, engagement and enhanced delivery for
tourism operators in the Wet Tropics rainforests (Research
Providers: Tourism Tropical North Queensland)
Project
5.10.3 - Communication, engagement and enhanced delivery for
Indigenous knowledge of the Wet Tropics Rainforests (Research
Providers: Aboriginal Rainforest Council)
