Can birds of different feathers flock together? Developing better research collaborations in regional Australia

Collaboration is vital for addressing complex environmental issues; from supplying freshwater in the Murray Darling basin and living and thriving in Australia’s wildly fluctuating climate, to managing natural resources such as water, soil, native plants and animals around regional and rural communities that depend on and live with these resources. No one person or organisation can successfully address all these complex issues. Research institutes, government agencies and community can bring together complementary expertise, experience and resources to address these issues. But few instances of successful long-term collaboration between these groups have been recorded. Wes Ward and a group of social and environmental science researchers from Charles Sturt University are investigating the possible barriers for establishing and maintaining these collaborations, and has completed preliminary work involving organisations in the Murray River valley.