Exploring the utilisation and sharing of new environmental knowledge in natural resource management in regional Australia

Knowledge exchange between researchers and natural resource practitioners is essential to ensure that appropriate approaches to complex socio-ecological natural resource problems are being applied. We explored the processes and constraints on knowledge-sharing and the use of new knowledge by natural resource managers in south-eastern Australia focussed on the case of an endangered frog, Sloane’s froglet. The research was founded on the reflections and insights of 11 environmental professionals who participated in semi-structured interviews. We undertook thematic content analysis of the interview transcripts. The process involved close reading to identify and categorise phrases, sentences and paragraphs with similar thematic content followed by a secondary analysis using knowledge exchange terminology to further define and differentiate aspects of the knowledge exchange process. The research revealed five key themes: the way environmental practitioners perceive what knowledge is, and how it is constructed, affects knowledge sharing and utilisation; different media for communication between scientists and practitioners are used and accepted in different ways, and influence effectiveness; environmental practitioners perceive knowledge generation and exchange as part of a process of continual learning which is considered essential in underpinning monitoring, evaluation and adaptive management; environmental practitioners hold values, and believe that scientists hold values, which affect knowledge exchange and advocacy in environmental practice; and, contextual factors and processes such as political will, institutional processes and community interests enable or constrain knowledge sharing and utilisation. The environmental practitioners who participated in this study helped build a complex and rich understanding of the nature of environmental knowledge exchange in regional Australia.