Coutts J&R are just completing (December 2011) evaluations of Sheep Connect in NSW and Tasmania. Sheep Connect Tasmania has been based on running workshops and activities across the state on topics of interest supported by newsletters and a website. Sheep Connect NSW has dealt with the distance and resource issues by moving more into a knowledge brokering role where they connect producers with information and activities from a range of providers – and doing some training themselves. A key element is the need in both cases for the program to work closely with the private sector to maximise use of resources and benefits for producers and the industry.
ReefPlan is a pilot program in the South Johnson and Herbert regions of North Queensland where extension approaches are being used across agricultural industries to facilitate changes in land management to improve water quality. The aim is to improve the great Barrier Reef water environment. In this project a Monitoring and evaluation plan was developed and data collection methods designed to maximise capturing of impact as it happened. A centralised web-based data collection system is helping a diverse project to keep M&E data consistent and in one place.
This project evaluated the impact of providing incentives on attitudes and practice changes on farms. The aim was to see how incentives facilitated changes that would result in improved water quality in the waterways and how it triggered broader changes in farm management. The study highlighted the role of incentives in bringing forward changes and/or stimulating actions that may not have occurred otherwise. The need for education/extension programs to build understanding and capacity along with funds to implement some specific on-ground work emerged from the work.
Coutts J&R completed its second round of evaluating the Stakeholder Engagement activities of the MDBA. This was, of course, and interesting phase of consultation – after the controversial guidelines were released! Stakeholders were happy to provide their feedback and we - and MDBA benefited from their insights and experiences!
We are currently undertaking a mid-term review of a very interesting program in Tasmania - Sheep Connect. This is mainly a desktop review with some input from informed persons leading up to a more intensive impact review in 12 months. Sheep Connect follows on from a very successful 8x5 Project which Coutts J&R has also had the opportunity to evaluate in the past. An interesting feature of the program has been the way it is clear about its different market segments which assisted both the targeting of activities and in undertaking evaluation.
Following an earlier foray to Port Lincoln to develop evaluation plans for a regional Climate Change Program, Jeff Coutts is now working with other program leaders to develop Log Frames, Operational Plans and evaluation for a number of other of the NRM programs.
Coutts J&R with colleague John McKenzie recently completed an evaluation of the Drought Support Worker program within Industry & Investment in NSW.
The program involved having staff help coordinate support and provide specific assistance to those rural families affected by drought. The evaluation highlighted at the positions provided a broader role than just dealing with drought – also coming to the fore at times of fires, floods and other disasters. Their role were seen as very valuable and providing a critical niche not filled by others. It was pleasing to see the that program has been continued for at least another 12 months.
Coutts J&R - through its new arm ‘Rural Survey Specialists’ - recently completed a comprehensive survey of a major extension program (http://www.evergraze.com.au/) EverGraze aimed at encouraging cattle and sheep producers in southern Australia to increase their resilience and profits by growing more perennial pastures (amongst other innovations). The survey involved surveying over 600 producers and consultants from across different regions and with different levels of exposure to the program to look at the impact of the program and factors that affected it.
We are currently involved in evaluating the TRaCK program www.track.gov.au. TRaCK (Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge) is described on its website as a research hub under the Commonwealth Environmental Research Facilities scheme, managed by the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, drawing together more than 70 of Australia's leading social, cultural, environmental and economic researchers. The program’s research focuses on the tropical north of Australia from Cape York to Broome.
Our evaluation includes secondary data analysis, a survey of researchers and informed persons and workshops with program management. It will be completed in April 2010.
Coutts J&R are currently undertaking a review for Condamine Alliance of legislation and guidelines supported by interviews with informed persons and landholders looking at the (potential) impact of clearing trends on biodiversity in a sub-catchment of the Condamine River. This will be completed in March 2010.
Jeff Coutts and Amy Samson were involved in the evaluation of an ambitious event run by Dairy Australia with support from the Federal Government called DairyLive. This event used video streaming to connect 8 venues across the country as well as using a website for those who could not attend. The evaluation included the use of participant observers at the venue and on-line, feedback sheets – including a web-survey for the on-line users, and records and statistics.
This project will involve providing training and mentoring with the Pastoral Production extension team of the Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources in the Northern Territory. A workshop will be run in August 2009 to provide an update on extension approaches nationally and explore the training and support needs of extension staff. Further actions will be negotiated after this workshop.
The ‘Evaluation of Defeating the Weed Menace R&D program’ has just been completed by Coutts J&R in partnership with Amy Samson from Amy Rebecca. This evaluation focused on researcher, staff and informed person feedback and the program management and used surveys, interviews and secondary data analysis. The evaluation found a high level of management excellence by the program manager, her team and Steering Committee, good performance by the researchers despite a shortened time frame and early indications of direct impacts on policy and R&D funding.
Coutts J&R is undertaking an evaluation of the Best Practice Salinity Management Program in Tasmania (NRM North) to assess its effectiveness in achieving its stated aims - particularly in terms of capacity building and practice change.
The Best Practice Salinity Management Project was funded by the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. Beginning 2006 and finishing at the end of June 2009 the project has a budget of $2million. The Project includes activities in the Southern NRM region of Tasmania, and a variety of sub-projects and consultants. Activities have included on-farm salinity demonstrations, trials, development of farm salinity plans, glove box guides and fact sheets, trials of plant-based salinity solutions, incentives and field days.
The evaluation process will include surveys, workshops and secondary analysis.
This project was commissioned by Burdekin Dry Tropics Natural Resource Management Regional Body in North Queensland and is a comprehensive study of the use of on-ground incentives/market based instruments (MBIs) to bring about improvements in natural resource management. The study looked at attitudes, processes and impacts and included a survey of: landholders who tool up incentives; those that applied and failed to receive funds; those that chose not to apply; and those who were unaware of the availability. It also interviewed informed persons around Australia with extensive experience in such programs as well as reviewing available reports and studies on the use of incentives/MBIs in other areas. A key outcome is a table drawing together the lessons learnt at each stage of the process providing guidelines to those planning or administering such programs. You can see the report at http://www.bdtnrm.org.au/projects/lsaincentives.html
This project has been commissioned by Condamine Alliance - a Natural Resource Management Regional Body in South Queensland - to ensure its excellence in the key areas of professional expertise in the organisation (areas such as: community engagement; facilitating adoption; economics; evaluation; HRM management). Jeff Coutts is coordinating the project team and providing expertise in the area of evaluation - including benchmarking the approaches used against best practice and working with the evaluation team as needed to strengthen this function as required.