Avon River Basin 2050 research project

• Research
• Reference group 

The prospects for present and future generations of residents of the Western Australian Wheatbelt region will be shaped by a range of certain and uncertain driving forces.

Improving regional prospects requires understanding of how these forces may interact with economic, social and environmental strategies.

Research

This research investigated the future of the Avon River Basin in the Wheatbelt region between now and the year 2050. The stakeholders were residents and non-residents, a broad cross-section of economic, social and environmental strategic investors and thinkers.

Scenario planning, a technique for structured thinking about the future, was used in this project to:

• challenge preconceptions about the future
• assist key decision makers in developing long-term, evidence-based strategies in the face of significant uncertainty
• test the environmental, economic and social implications of those strategies.

The results of the project provided a triple bottom line context for the development of three Water for a Healthy Country Flagship projects aimed at improved water benefits in this region.

Reference group

The following organisations participated in Avon River Basin 2050:

• Australian Association of Agricultural Consultants
• APT Business Services
• Australian Wheat Board
• Avon Catchment Council
• Bird-Cameron
• CY O'Connor TAFEWA
• CALM Farm Forestry Unit
• Challenger TAFE
• Country Womens Association
• Mr Hendy Cowan, Landholder, former Deputy Premier of Western Australia
• CSIRO Land & Water
• CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
• CSIRO Plant Industry
• Department for Planning and Infrastructure
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Agriculture, Drylands Research Institute
• Department of Environment
• Department of Health (Wheatbelt Health Region)
• Department Conservation and Land Management
• Elders Rural Bank
• Grain Pool WA
• Mr Brendon John Grylls MLA, Member for Merredin
• Heartlands Regional Tourism Association
• Heartlands Regional Branding Group
• Indian Ocean Climate Initiative
• Indigenous Land Corporation
• Merredin Senior High School
• MR & SM McFarlane - Landholder, Doodlakine, WA
• Muresk Institute, Curtin University of Technology
• Telstra Countrywide
• WALGA nominee
• Water Corporation
• Water for a Healthy Country Flagship
• Western Australian Farmers Federation
• Western Power Corporation
• Wheatbelt Area Consultative Committee
• Wheatbelt Development Commission
• Wheatbelt Development Commission, Transport Advisory Group.

Read the Avon River Basin 2050 outcomes.

Contact Information

Location

Related Links

• Water for a Healthy Country Flagship
• Department of Agriculture Western Australia [external link]
• Wheatbelt Development Commission [external link]
• Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management [external link]

• Avon River Basin 2050 outcomes
• The year 2050 in the Avon River basin (Media release 14 Dec 04)
• Avon River Basin scenario planning links