Managing Australian landscapes and natural resources

— design principles for intelligent research investment

Andrew CampbellTriple Helix Consulting

Outline

1. The intent of this conference

2. Drivers for ‘big picture’, integrated NRM research

3. The funding and management of applied R&D– lessons from LWRRDC and LWA

4. Design principles for intelligent research investment

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For more information

e.g. The Getting of KnowledgePaddock to Plate

Policy Propositions for Sustainable Food Systems & Background Paper

Powerful Choices: towards a biofuel economywith Barney Foran

Climate Change Primer for regional NRMManaging Australian Soils

www.triplehelix.com.au

The intent of this conference

• A content-rich celebration of an important knowledge legacy

• An opportunity to reflect, and to distil key lessons and insights– about important knowledge gaps that remain– about how best to fill such knowledge gaps

• A ‘message in a bottle’ for future research investment

2. Drivers for ‘big picture’, integrated NRM research

• Climate• Water• Energy• Food• Resource degradation• Competition for land & water resources• Risks of collateral damage and unintended

consequences

Source: WBCSD & IUCN 2008; Harvard Medical School 2008

ClimateThe core problem: population & carbon

emissions

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Water

• Each calorie takes one litre of water to produce, on average

• Like the Murray Darling Basin, all the world’s major food producing basins are effectively ‘closed’ or already over-committed

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Food• The world needs to increase food production by

about 70% by 2050, & improve distribution• We have done this in the past, mainly through

clearing, cultivating and irrigating more land– and intensification, better varieties, more fertiliser, pesticides

etc • Climate change is narrowing those options, with

limits to water, land, energy & nutrients• Concern among rich consumers about modern

industrial food systems– human health, animal welfare, environment, fair

trade

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But maybe we ain’t seen nothin yet….

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Energy & nutrients

• The era of abundant, cheap fossil fuels is coming to a close

• Rising oil costs = rising costs for fertiliser, agri-chemicals, transport and food

Australia

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World

Energy (2)“ a significant risk of a peak in conventional oil production before 2020. The risks

presented by global oil depletion deserve much more serious attention by the research and policy communities.”

UK Energy Research Centre, An assessment of the evidence for a near-term peak in global oil production, August 2009

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“we have to leave oil before oil leaves us, and we have to prepare ourselves for that day” Dr Fatih Birol, Chief Economist IEA, 3 August 2009“The challenge of feeding 7 or 8 billion people while oil supplies are falling is stupefying. It’ll be even greater if governments keep pretending that it isn’t going to happen.”

George Monbiot, The Guardian 16.11.09

Resource Degradation

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Perspectives from the top (1)Terry Moran, Institute of Public Administration, 15 July 2009:Reflecting on the challenges of public sector reform:“ By and large, I believe the public service gives good advice on

incremental policy improvement. Where we fall down is in long-term, transformational thinking; the big picture stuff. We are still more reactive than proactive; more inward than outward looking. We are allergic to risk, sometimes infected by a culture of timidity….

The APS still generates too much policy within single departments and agencies to address challenges that span a range of departments and agencies… We are not good at recruiting creative thinkers. ”

http://www.dpmc.gov.au/media/speech_2009_07_15.cfm

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Perspectives from the top (2)Dr Ken Henry, QUT Business Leaders’ Forum, 22 October 2009:“Are Australia’s natural resource endowments, including water, capable of sustaining

a population of 35 million? What are the implications for environmental amenity of this sort of population growth? Must it mean an even greater loss of biodiversity…?

…with a population of 22 million people, we haven’t managed to find accommodation with our environment. Our record has been poor and in my view we are not well placed to deal effectively with the environmental challenges posed by a population of 35 million.”

http://www.treasury.gov.au/contentitem.asp?NavId=008&ContentID=1643

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Perspectives from the top (3)Dr Ken Henry, QUT Business Leaders’ Forum, 22 October 2009:

“…substantial additional investment, in both private and public infrastructure, economic and social, will be required to support our larger human population. … quite sophisticated infrastructure planning is going to be required…

…the imposition of a price signal to reflect the negative externalities of greenhouse gas emissions is intended to cause a significant shift in the structure of the Australian and global economies over coming decades; quite possibly the largest structural adjustment in economic history.

That is the point of doing it. ”

http://www.treasury.gov.au/contentitem.asp?NavId=008&ContentID=1643

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Perspectives from the top (4)Kevin Rudd,

Westminster Abbey, 31 March 2009, suggesting that the free market needs a moral compass:

“To these values of security, liberty and prosperity must also be grafted the values of equity, of sustainability and community.”

• Equity, Sustainability and Community…

• Scaffolding values for a 21st century NRM agenda?

Water, energy, and GDP

21from Proust, Dovers, Foran, Newell, Steffen & Troy (2007)

Energy & GDP

Water & GDP

Water and energy have historically been closely coupled with GDP in Australia

Our challenge now is to radically reduce the energy, carbon and water-intensity of our economy

Climate-water-energy feedbacks

22from Proust, Dovers, Foran, Newell, Steffen & Troy (2007)

• Saving water often uses more energy, and vice-versa

• Efforts to moderate climate often use more energy +/or water• E.g. coal-fired power

stations with CCS will be 25-33% more water-intensive

• Using more fossil energy exacerbates climate chaos

Profound technical challenges1. To decouple economic growth from carbon emissions

2. To increase water productivity— decoupling the 1 litre per calorie relationship

3. To increase energy productivity– more food energy out per unit of energy in– while shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy

4. To develop more sustainable food systems– while conserving biodiversity and– improving landscape amenity, soil health, animal welfare & human

health

5. To achieve all of the above simultaneously!— improving equity, sustainability and community…23

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We need a third agricultural revolution

• Closed loop farming systems, not leaking: (water, energy, nutrients, carbon, biodiversity)

• Smart metering, sensing, telemetry, robotics, guidance

• Better understanding of soil carbon & microbial activity

• Radically reducing waste in all parts of the food chain

• Farming systems producing renewable bioenergy (2nd generation)

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“Carbon plus” wool, beef and sheep meat

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Transition to carbon-neutral, energy-positive rural landscapes

Forestry integrated with farming Forestry integrated with farming vs replacing farmingvs replacing farming

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Forestry integrated with farming Forestry integrated with farming vs replacing farmingvs replacing farming

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We need a third AG/NRM revolution (2)

• Urban food production, recycling waste streams & urban water• New/old food marketing systems, with detailed product

specification• ‘Carbon plus’ offsets and incentives• Juicier carrots and smarter sticks (especially for

biodiversity)• Integrated regional land use planning: infrastructure,

transport, water, energy, bushfires, food, waste, carbon, biodiversity, landscape amenity, communications etc– Robust against steeply rising price scenarios: energy, carbon

and water

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SO…• the integrated landscape science agenda is huge

• it has profound social, economic and biophysical dimensions

• it extends across many policy portfolios and all levels of government

• it demands national oversight and coordination(without stifling local/regional innovation)

3. The funding and management of applied R&D— lessons from LWRRDC and LWA

• Acknowledgments– EDs, directors, staff , coordinators, partners,

end-users

• Knowledge 101• Characteristics of applied R&D• Crucial capabilities and processes for professional

research investment & management

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Knowledge 101• Knowledge happens between the ears

• An individual cognitive process and highly contextual:– “I only know what I know when I need to know it”

• Revealed in artifacts (writing, art, formulae, products etc), skills, experience, rules of thumb and natural talent (Dave Snowden)

• Across quite different domains: – Including local, Indigenous, scientific, strategic (organisational)

• And different sectors:– research, policy, management, planning, extension, education, monitoring

• people default to known, trusted, accessible sources:– credibility, dialogue, easy access & honesty all critical– timing is crucial:

knowledge is most useful when it is needed

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KnowledgeFrom a public policy perspective, there are three

main reasons to invest in knowledge:

1. To help us make better decisions & policy

2. To underpin the innovation process

3. So that we can learn as we go along— in the words of Peter Cullen:

“at least we should be making new mistakes”

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Applied R&D

ABS defines four types of research: pure basic; strategic basic; applied; and developmental

Applied research: “seeks to acquire new knowledge with a specific application in view”

• We know the application context• We know the intended end-users & beneficiaries • We can tease out the nature of the knowledge need• We can identify prospective adoption pathways• We can predict adoptability, and measure impact and ROI

Crucial capabilities and processes • Strategic planning• Getting the questions right — scanning and scoping• Prioritisation• Portfolio planning and management• Research procurement• Research governance• Research design at project and program level• Managing knowledge for adoption• Evaluation: project, program and portfolio levels• Knowledge legacy and knowledge management

4. Design principles for intelligent research investment

• Long institutional memory and outlook• Mandate and Governance • Capabilities in people, systems and processes• Explicit investment in strategic, formative evaluation• Stakeholder/end user engagement

— without capture• A collaborative, partnership-oriented institutional

culture

Some components of the AustralianNRM Knowledge System

Universities

Knowledge Generation and

Management

Regional NRM Bodies

Community Landcare groups

Hobby Farmers

Cooperative Research Centres

•E-Water•Future Farm Industries•Irrigation Futures•Invasive Animals•Cotton Catchment Communities•Desert Knowledge•Sustainable Forest Landscapes

•Spatial Information

•CARE

Knowledge Adoption

Policy and Programs

DEWHA

DAFF

Australian Govt NRM Facilitators

Water for the Future

Caring for our Country

Water Smart Australia

Envirofund

National Landcare Program

Bureau of Rural Sciences

CSIRO ANU

Geoscience Australia

Indigenous Land Corporation

LegendDepartments of State (FMA Act)Statutory Agencies (FMA Act) within portfoliosStatutory Agencies (CAC Act) within portfoliosCorporatised R&D Corporations (Statutory Funding Agreement)Funding Programs

National Water Commission

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Horticulture Australia

Dairy Australia

Australian Wool Innovation

Australian Pork Limited

Meat and Livestock Australia

Local Governments

State NRM & Ag Agencies

Productivity Commission

National Water Initiative

Commercial Farmers

Water Authorities

Rural residential

Commercial Advisory Services

Indigenous Communities

MDBA

ABARE

DCC

Why use dedicated CAC Act agencies?Compared with CAC Act agencies set up to fund and manage R&D, policy agencies/branches/sections under the FMA Act struggle to be intelligent purchasers of R&D because:– they perform a wide range of roles other than research management;

– the FMA Act makes multi-year $ and commercial partnerships more difficult;

– staff turnover undermines continuity, cohesion, credibility and corporate memory;

– they find it difficult to train and retain sufficient staff in R&D or KM roles;

– they lack specialised R&D project and contract management systems;

– they lack dedicated outreach systems to extend research outputs (especially if results contradict the policies of the government of the day);

– they find it difficult to manage knowledge legacy issues;

– evaluation processes oriented to accountability within particular programs, rather than adaptive learning across a whole portfolio through time.

A thought experiment—what might the application of these principles look like?

• A Water, Energy & Land (WEL) R&D Corporation?

• A Sustainability Commission with a research mandate?– sister agency to the Productivity Commission?– or an expansion of its mandate?– or completely independent and whole of government, like the New

Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment?

• Much greater capacity for national leadership, coordination and management of the NRM knowledge system– To direct research priorities and resources

• Common reporting framework across all jurisdictions and agencies

– To ensure sufficient critical mass on the big, cross-cutting issues– To build capacity strategically in critical areas (people and systems)– To make data, information and knowledge assets more transparent

and accessible, and manage them better through time

Take home messages

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For more information

e.g. The Getting of KnowledgePaddock to Plate

Policy Propositions for Sustainable Food Systems & Background Paper

Powerful Choices: towards a biofuel economywith Barney Foran

Climate Change Primer for regional NRMManaging Australian Soils

www.triplehelix.com.au