NRM Practice Change

Much of the investment in Natural Resource Management (NRM) in Australia is targeted towards fostering changes in land management practices. There is therefore value in developing tools and resources that will help regional NRM bodies and other investors to understand the people whose practices they are seeking to change and hence, how that change can best be fostered.

The "Making Successful Investments in NRM Practice Change" project was a four year action learning project, with the project team from GHD working in close collaboration with staff from ten regional NRM bodies across Australia.

Funded by the Australian Government, Land and Water Australia and the Department of the Environment and Water Resources, the project was successful at enabling better informed and more effective investments in NRM practice change through regional NRM bodies. The key outcomes included:

• Improved capacity of participating regional NRM bodies to plan, manage, review and adapt their investments and strategies for NRM practice change leading to improved natural resource condition
• Lessons learnt from the project communicated to policy makers to enable continuous program and policy improvement for targeted and effective regional investment in NRM practice change

Initial workshops in each of the ten selected regions helped to identify their regional needs, existing frameworks, skills and resources, and to clarify their expectations in relation to their involvement in the project. Over the four years of the project, an annual forum was also held to review the work achieved to date and to develop work plans for each of the regions for the following year.

The project has developed a range of tools, processes and templates to assist regional NRM bodies to effectively plan, manage, review and adapt their NRM investments and strategies. In addition to the tools developed through the project, a number of fact sheets have also been prepared to support NRM practice change.

The Practice Change Planning Framework has proven to be an effective and useable foundational model for NRM planning. Regions are using it as a sounding board for reviewing their own processes, and to identify areas where they can apply the other tools.

Click here to find out more about the NRM Practice Change Project.