Regional Knowledge Resource Kit:News archive Sep - Dec 2007
From Regional Knowledge Resource Kit
Seasons greetings!
20-Dec-2007
The Friends of the Regional Knowledge Resource Kit wish you a safe and happy festive season and the very best for 2008. We look forward to working with our partners across Australia to progress the implementation of Regional Knowledge Strategies in the new year.
Implementation moves forward
19-Dec-2007
The completion this month of five pilot Regional Knowledge Strategies and the National Core Team training on 11-13 December opens the way for wider regional training and engagement in the new year.
The National Core Team training has led to the establishment of the Friends of the Regional Knowledge Resource Kit. In 2008 the Friends of the RKRK will commence supporting and assisting Knowledge Leaders to develop and implement Regional Knowledge Strategies across Australia.
To develop a Regional Knowledge Strategy, one or more staff from an NRM region first join the Knowledge Leaders training program where they will learn how to facilitate the Strategy process and access help and resources. Expressions of interest for this training are now open. The five-stage Regional Knowledge Strategy process takes an NRM region from its current situation through to tangible information and knowledge interventions and projects and an ongoing process to make sure things happen.
Knowledge providers workshop outcomes now available
07-Dec-2007
Workshops in Brisbane on 5-6 November brought together representatives of regional NRM bodies, science and research providers, Indigenous knowledge providers and local knowledge providers. The aim of the workshops was to develop content for a new "How to work with knowledge providers" section of the RKRK.
The workshop outcomes are now available for download here.
Request for tender
07-Dec-2007
A request for tender has just been released entitled: Trial provision of an independent advisory service to assist regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies select decision making approaches. This is part of the work the Knowledge for Regional NRM Program is doing to support knowledge brokering within the NRM sector. Details are available at www.lwa.gov.au/funding and it closes on 18th January 2008.
Training to set up for National rollout
05-Dec-2007
The National Core Team has been established by seeking expressions of interest from State & Territory based Australian Government NRM Facilitators, State agency officers, and State regional NRM support organisations. In 2008 the National Core Team will support and assist Knowledge Leaders to develop and implement Regional Knowledge Strategies across Australia. Next week the National Core Team will be trained in this role in 3-day workshop in Melbourne.
To develop a Regional Knowledge Strategy, one or more staff from an NRM region first join the Knowledge Leaders training program where they will learn how to facilitate the Strategy process and access help and resources. Expressions of interest for this training are now open.
The five-stage Regional Knowledge Strategy process takes an NRM region from its current situation through to tangible information and knowledge interventions and projects and an ongoing process to make sure things happen. The process has been developed and refined through working with five pilot regions. The piloting phase is currently wrapping up.
Avon and Corangamite pilots move to implementation
05-Dec-2007
Stage 4 workshops were facilitated last week by Avon Catchments Council (WA) Regional Facilitator Trish Dames, and NRM Knowledge Facilitator Sonia Mahony is currently leading the Stage 4 workshops in Corangamite CMA (VIC). Trish and Sonia are thanked for their excellent work, which has contributed to the further refining of the resources in this kit in readiness for the wider rollout to more regions across Australia in 2008.
Both Corangamite and Avon now move to Stage 5 - Implementation which includes regular reviews of progress to make sure that the Regional Knowledge Strategy delivers outcomes.
Corangamite anecdote circles completed
16-Nov-2007
Anecdote circles at Corangamite CMA have explored the experiences of staff and managers in finding, using and sharing information and knowledge. Anecdote circles are a narrative technique used widely in the business community, and they enable a rich and deep understanding of how a region manages its information and knowledge.
Anecdote circles are conducted in Stage 3 of the Regional Knowledge Strategy process. The circles are recorded, and then the anecdotes are extracted and all personal references removed, ready for use in Stage 4. There they are combined with the results of two other lines of enquiry, information mapping and surveys, in sensemaking and action design workshops.
Workshops explore working with knowledge providers
07-Nov-2007
Workshops in Brisbane on 5-6 November brought together representatives of regional NRM bodies, science and research providers, Indigenous knowledge providers and local knowledge providers. The aim of the workshops was to develop content for a new "How to work with knowledge providers" section of the RKRK in relation to:
- How regional NRM bodies can find research to close knowledge gaps.
- Identifying who are the knowledge providers to regions.
- How can regional NRM bodies best engage with these knowledge providers, including identifying any barriers to engagement.
- Identifying how to increase collaboration across regional bodies so they might jointly identify knowledge requirements and jointly fund knowledge providers to close these gaps.
Thanks to the enthusiastic input of the participants and the expert facilitation of Anecdote Pty Ltd, the workshop sessions were very productive. Not only was material relevant to the RKRK developed, but also ideas for future Knowledge for Regional NRM Program activities.
The workshop outcomes will be available in the RKRK shortly, followed by updates in regard to implementation of the outcomes.
Avon and Corangamite pilots underway
31-Oct-2007
Avon Catchments Council (WA) and Corangamite CMA (VIC) are the final two of five Regional Knowledge Strategy pilot regions, and Stage 1 workshops in these regions were successfully conducted in October 2007.
Cath Lyons (Senior Policy Officer, WA State NRM Office), Trish Dames (Regional NRM Facilitator, Avon) and Sonia Mahony (NRM Knowledge Facilitator) are thanked for their outstanding efforts in facilitating the Stage 1 workshops. Both regions are now conducting the Stage 2 online surveys.
The Regional Knowledge Strategy process has been developed and refined through working the five pilot regions. Pilots have been successfully completed with the NRM North (TAS), Central West CMA (NSW) and South West NRM (QLD) regional NRM bodies. The Avon Catchments Council (WA) and Corangamite CMA (VIC) pilots will be completed by December 2007.
South West NRM workshops complete
22-Oct-07
On 12 October South West NRM became the third pilot region to successfully complete the Regional Knowledge Strategy workshop series. South West NRM is the regional NRM body for South West Queensland.
South West NRM CEO Geoff Edwards reported that the region was happy to host the process and pleased with the outcomes. The develop of a Regional Knowledge Strategy complements the establishment of the South West Information Hub.
NRM Toolbar now live!
02-Oct-2007
Version 1.0 of the NRM Toolbar is now available at www.nrmtoolbar.net.au
The NRM Toolbar is a set of online tools and databases that make it easier for NRM professionals to find and share information.
Tools included as part of Version 1.0 are:
- NRM Toolbar interface that once downloaded to your internet browser, such as Internet Explorer, will allow you to easily navigate to different tools and databases of the NRM Toolbar website regardless of where you are on the internet.
- The NRM Search Engine searches only selected Australian NRM websites. Search results are therefore higher quality and more relevant when compared with the search results of generic search engines.
The NRM Toolbar website also has a number of specialised NRM databases, including lists of NRM professional bodies and e-networks, a regularly updated calendar of NRM Events, a comprehensive list of decision support tools and details of knowledge brokering services.
All NRM professionals can add content to these databases and recommend sources across which the NRM Search Engine should search.
Avon Catchments Council workshop schedule
04-Sep-2007
Workshops for the Avon Catchments Council pilot region will be held on 25 September 2007 (Stage 1) and from 27-30 November 2007 (Stages 3 and 4). In the Stage 3 and 4 workshops we'll be trialling the variation to the Anecdote Circle process that allows us to collect anecdotes directly from the workshop without audio recording or transcription.
