Housing development adjacent to agricultural production. The growing demand for land by these two uses requires considered planning to achieve on-going sustainability in Australia.

Managing contested landscapes is a key sustainability issue.

Sustainable regional development

CSIRO is improving the sustainability of Australia’s regions and communities.

  • 18 December 2008 | Updated 14 October 2011
  1. Overview
  2. Publishing History

Overview

Page 1 of 2

Overview

The 21st Century holds enormous challenge and opportunity for Australia. We are facing rapid social, environmental and economic change.

Governments, industries and communities must make difficult decisions and tackle complex cross-sectoral policy problems to ensure prosperity and well-being for current and future generations.

CSIRO’s sustainable regional development theme aims to support these decisions and inform the design, and implementation, of these policies. Our research is about how society makes choices, resolves conflicts, influences markets and governs the use of natural resources.

Addressing policy problems

Some examples of issues we are working on include:

  • Repairing our degraded land and water resources through natural resource management programs. Since 1990 Australia has committed over A$6.5 billion on large programs. How can we ensure the best possible return on investment?
  • Planning for rapid urban expansion in environmentally sensitive peri-urban areas. For example, South East Queensland must
    “SRD fills an exciting space between biophysical and socio-economic science. It combines specialised knowledge from diverse disciplines to deliver integrated solutions to policy makers.”
    Dr Stefan Hajkowicz, SRD Theme Leader
    accommodate an additional one million people by 2026. How can we resolve and plan for competing demands on limited energy, land and water resources?
  • Creating new livelihood opportunities and enhancing quality of life for Indigenous Australians living in remote and regional Australia. What are the new industries that are culturally appropriate, economically viable and environmentally sustainable?  
  • Ensuring sustainable production and consumption of raw materials across the Australian economy. Australians generate over 32 million tonnes of solid waste per year, which is a 40 per cent increase from ten years ago. How can we avoid waste and maximise reuse and recycling?
  • Maximising long-term social benefits from the minerals and commodity boom whilst protecting environmental assets. How can we help communities adjust and avoid the negative social and environmental consequences of boom-bust regional economies?
  • Planning for new infrastructure that meets the needs of industry and citizens whilst mitigating negative social and environment impacts. The Australian Government has committed A$20 billion to the 'Building Australia Fund'. How do we inform decisions and trade-offs about where, how and what is built?
  • Partnering to find solutions to complex sustainability challenges in Australian communities. How can communities adapt to climate change, environmental degradation and water scarcity and maintain social, economic and environmental well-being?

Policies that genuinely work will blend the concerns of multiple stakeholders and balance multiple objectives. As we zoom out to regional and national scales, we put more issues into the mix and, therefore, we need to integrate more knowledge, skill-sets and fields of expertise. It is in this exciting space that Sustainable Regional Development (SRD) operates. 

Our capability

The Sustainable Regional Development (SRD) theme draws together skills in economics, geography, ecology, sociology, mathematics and other disciplines to find solutions to complex, cross-sectoral sustainability problems.

We are delivering policy designs, decision support systems, community engagement strategies, impact assessment techniques and modelling systems. The people who use our products and reports work in government, industry and the community.

The overriding objective of SRD is to improve the quality of life for current and future Australians via the design and extension of innovative policy solutions. 

Current research

Research in SRD is currently focusing on several policy issues through six focal projects, which are:

Indigenous livelihoods

This project is investigating new enterprises and job opportunities for Indigenous communities based on natural resource management.

Fire and carbon in regional Australia

This project is identifying the biophysical, economic and social opportunities for remote communities relating to land management for greenhouse gas abatement, with a focus on fire management in tropical savannas.

Sustainable use of natural resources

CSIRO research is helping Australia's government, industries and consumers use resources more sustainably.

The Sustainable Communities Initiative

The Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) is a cross-sector partnership helping Australian communities respond to sustainability challenges.

Investments, risk and decision analysis

CSIRO research is helping agencies make wise investments to manage Australia’s environment and natural resources.

Environmental policy and planning

CSIRO develops and tests market based instruments, and identifies principles of organisation and planning for implementing and evaluating environmental policies.

Read more about The Sustainable Communities Initiative.