Case Study: Stakeholder workshops and community engagement in agriculture and natural resource management
Engaging key stakeholders and the wider community is essential for organisations working in agriculture and natural resource management. Engagement needs to be genuine, productive and strategic, based on agreed expectations and goals. An independent and professional facilitator who knows the local 'lay of the land' can be a crucial success factor in getting growers, graziers, industry, advocacy bodies, Traditional Owners and other stakeholders on board.
- Renée is a well-known facilitator in North Queensland's agricultural and natural resources industry, having worked on dozens of stakeholder workshops with clients including Sugar Research Australia (SRA), Sunwater, NQ Dry Tropics, Reef Catchments, Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Magnetic Island Community Development Association, and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
- Renée's facilitation work to date has included:
- Independent Chair for the Paradise Dam Reference Group and similar role for the Burdekin Falls Dam Community Reference Group, engaged by Sunwater.
- meetings of technical advisory groups, steering committees and community reference groups to gather specific input from primary producers, industry bodies, Traditional Owners, science advisors and others.
- target-setting and decision-making workshops with multiple stakeholders such as primary producers, community groups, government and industry.
- public consultation and communication forums for major initiatives such as the Paddock to Reef program, Burdekin Dry Tropics Natural Resource Management Plan and Great Barrier Reef Foundation grant funding.
- Using a range of interactive meeting methods tailored to each situation, Renée's facilitation focused on talking WITH people, rather than talking AT people, while drawing on the existing knowledge and strengths already in the room (or the paddock!) Renée used her understanding of local relationship dynamics, and background knowledge of current issues in natural resource management, to create a collaborative environment at these meetings, where participation was equalised and discussions ended with clear outcomes and an agreed way forward. "Renee facilitated 6 different sessions for us and handled Zoom attendees with ease. There were more than 60 participants from a broad mix of stakeholder groups including project staff, agricultural landholders, technical experts, science and government. Importantly, all were highly satisfied, stating that they felt included and were able to contribute meaningfully to discussions and activities. As a facilitator Renee is fantastic, everything was supplied and coordinated seamlessly, and agendas ran to time with a range of participant activities to hold everyone's attention. Renee worked to our timeframes and was adaptive to several changes that arose along the way. Renée's planning and preparation allowed clear objectives to be set and resulted in highly valuable reports for our team and for our project." - Barbara Colls, Landholders Driving Change ($15 million water quality project with graziers), NQ Dry Tropics "Renée is an incredibly capable facilitator. Renée has the ability to apply appropriate tools to facilitate large groups of disparate stakeholders to achieve agreed outcomes. Her professionalism and easy going nature, combined with skills and knowledge, shines through on every occasion." - Donna-marie Audas, Assistant Director, Environment and Sustainability, Department of Defence "Effective facilitation. Structure of workshop was good." "Everyone’s input was really valuable. Resulted in a significant amount of information to work with." - Feedback from Technical Advisory Group meeting, Lower Burdekin Extension Irrigation Action Plan "The Regional Integrated Science Forum moderated by Renée was the best-moderated online forum I have ever been to." - Michael Kern, Manager and Secretary, AgForce Cane Ltd
Feedback written on a ute during a stakeholder workshop Renée helped to facilitate with graziers in Collinsville
Stakeholders from the sugar industry, government, research and natural resource management at a workshop Renée facilitated for the Burdekin Irrigation Extension Action Plan
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