On Thursday 21 November the QWMN Engagement team sat down with Callym Dunleavy. For 3 months, in a secondment role as a Strategic Associate within the QWMN, Callym spent time reviewing a sub-set of the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) projects that focus on water quality issues.
From this Callym has developed a detailed set of insights on a sample of projects from the QWMN RDI portfolio culminating in a comprehensive report.
In this session Callym stepped us through the report, explaining his methodology and highlighting key findings.
Key Findings from Project Analysis
Over the three (3) month secondment Callym analyzed 18 water quality-focused projects out of 50+ total QWMN RDI projects. Some of the key findings from this work include:
• Projects evolved from technical model improvements to more stakeholder-driven approaches
• Geographic spread concentrated in Great Barrier Reef catchments and SE Queensland
• Nutrient management was a major focus area across projects
• Limited incorporation of climate change impacts, emerging contaminants, cultural perspectives
• Stakeholder engagement methods varied widely between projects.
The work highlight the successes and areas for improvement to guide the QWMN project team with strategic planning for future RDI projects.
Stakeholder Feedback
Throughout the secondment Callym conducted an end-user survey, a project-team survey and project team interviews. The following includes some of the key findings:
• High overall satisfaction with QWMN among users surveyed
• Desire for improved communication/awareness of project outputs
• Interest in more climate change adaptation focus
• Need for better feedback loops between project developers and end users.
Literature Review Insights
Another key step in the strategic associate work was a literature review which identified international case studies and modeling approaches relevant to QWMN. The literature review found QWMN’s work was often comparable to international examples. It did highlight potential new areas to explore (e.g. cultural water quality modeling).
Recommendations
A number of recommendations are presented within the report. These recommendations are centered around:
• Implementing post-project monitoring and evaluation
• Requiring stronger stakeholder engagement in projects
• Making project outputs more openly accessible
• Diversifying network participants beyond modelers (e.g. planners, agriculture)
• Focusing on emerging topics: climate change, urban water quality, contaminants
• Socialising the RDI projects at QWMN in-person events.
What’s next
Next Steps
• Finalise the report
• QWMN team to review recommendations and determine implementation priorities
• Consider how to incorporate findings into future RDI project selection and execution.
Further Resources
Read updates about the QWMN and the latest news about the water modelling and use sector, both in Australia and abroad.
