Stakeholder engagement and communications

To ensure the outcomes of the Flow-MER program meet the decision-making needs of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and the broader stakeholder community, we have shared knowledge in a variety of ways to inspire, inform and support positive environmental water outcomes. By integrating science with practice, we provide a range of communication products and knowledge sharing opportunities that are meaningful, relevant and targeted to stakeholder needs.

Image: Annual Flow-MER Forum 2024  Photo credit: Chris Walsh

LATEST UPDATES

ABOUT STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

OUR APPROACH

CURRENT ACTIVITIES

OUR TEAM

Latest updates

Community Engagement Cross Cutting Themes Indigenous Engagement Murrumbidgee
Closing the Gap: Water Calendars, Aboriginal art and Teapots.
by Anna Turner and Ashleigh Pengelly • June 27, 2023
Community Engagement Indigenous Engagement Murrumbidgee
The role of Totems in conservation, kinship, and spiritual connectivity with the land
by Anna Turner Kai McKenzie • June 30, 2022
Community Engagement Cross Cutting Themes Edward/Kolety–Wakool Indigenous Engagement
Riverside community field day highlights collaboration
by Margrit Beemster • June 30, 2022
Community Engagement Indigenous Engagement Lachlan Selected Areas
Getting out on-Country the best way to inspire our next generation of freshwater ecologists
by Will Higgisson and Adam Kerezsy • April 26, 2022
Community Engagement Gwydir Indigenous Engagement Warrego-Darling
New Cultural Advisors for Gwydir and Warrego-Darling regions
by FLOW-MER • December 15, 2021
Community Engagement Indigenous Engagement Vegetation
Supporting culturally significant native plants with environmental water
by FLOW-MER • June 29, 2021

More Updates

How stakeholder engagement and communications assists in achieving environmental water outcomes?

Flow-MER stakeholder engagement and communication activities are all about sharing information and knowledge about the science and practice of managing water for the environment. We want our stakeholders to have confidence in, and to use, the information generated through Flow-MER. Our team is committed to inspiring, enabling and building the collaboration capabilities of Flow-MER team members, CEWH staff and key stakeholders, to deliver and communicate meaningful, culturally appropriate and inclusive information on environmental water outcomes.

Activities are informed by expert scientific advice, and based on relationships between Flow-MER, CEWH, state and territory government agencies, and community and First Nations groups. This targeted approach builds stakeholder relationships that support Flow-MER and ensure outcomes are thoughtfully and professionally shared for greatest impact.

We believe that effective engagement and communications are about the connection between people that allows for the exchange of thoughts, feelings, and ideas, and which leads to mutual understanding.

Our approach

Stakeholder engagement and communications is a core component of Flow-MER. We support and enable the Flow-MER team to engage with key stakeholders (as shown below) to both inform and communicate the outcomes of monitoring, evaluation and research. We also work with the Selected Area teams to add value to their activities at the Basin-scale.

Our stakeholders are:

Commonwealth Environment Water Holder (CEWH)

We work with the CEWH to deliver Flow-MER outcomes in ways that complement their environmental water management activities and meet the needs of key stakeholders.

Environmental water managers

The work of Flow-MER is focused on supporting the institutions and people involved in managing water for the environment.   We engage this group through established CEWH and partner networks, and retain close connections with those involved in the former EWKR and LTIM Projects.

Water agencies, non-government organisations, and land & water managers

We work within existing CEWH and Flow-MER partner communication networks to reach people and institutions involved in managing the natural resources of the Murray-Darling Basin.

First Nations

We value First Nations wisdom and seek to incorporate language, knowledge and understanding of water within our Flow-MER work.

Science communities

This target audience is reached through existing scientific channels such as professional associations, journals and conferences. The personal networks of the scientists involved in the Flow-MER team will be another valuable way to extend the reach of our work.

Basin communities and general public

This target audience is able to access the Flow-MER website, social media and online resources that has  stories, environmental water information and links to our work.

Our objectives

Our work is guided by seven objectives:

  1. engage with stakeholders thoughtfully, value their knowledge, develop trusting relationships, respect cultural and local contexts, and seek shared outcomes.
  2. collaborate with the CEWH and their environmental water delivery partners to ensure that the outcomes from monitoring, evaluation and research are informative and meet their needs.
  3. explain how Flow-MER supports the delivery of water for the environment so that it can benefit the Murray-Darling Basin’s rivers and communities.
  4. inform a broad stakeholder audience about Flow-MER to increase community confidence in the science informing environmental watering policy and decisions.
  5. work with Selected Areas to increase awareness and understanding of the multiple benefits that water for the environment provides to ecological and human communities.
  6. include First Nations culture throughout all activities by ensuring language, place names and cultural references are fundamental parts of our strategy and delivery. We ensure all intellectual property is protected, and agreements established where knowledge transfer occurs.
  7. maintain a website, as well as digital and print resources to share the science undertaken through Flow-MER, and provide access to scientific information using stories, workshops, videos and images for our various target audiences.

To achieve our objectives we will be working closely with all members of the Flow-MER team, CEWH and stakeholders, to ensure that we maximise opportunities to share knowledge widely and further improve the ecological outcomes of managing water for the environment.

Current activities

Develop engagement and communications infrastructure

We maintain a website, social media presence (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram) and explanatory materials explaining the Basin-scale Flow-MER Project and why it is important. Over time, the content of these has moved from raising awareness, to sharing findings, implications of findings for management, and recommendations for ongoing environmental water investment. Story-telling is a key engagement and communications approach, along with photographs, infographics and maps that people can explore (see image).

The underlying principle for Flow-MER communications is that one story is used multiple times, and on many platforms, to extend reach and cater to a wide range of audiences. To enable this to happen, stories are made available in a range of formats so that they can be easily shared and used on different website platforms and media. We also develop and maintain relationships with key partner communications personnel so that they can tailor content so that it is meaningful for their networks.

Image:  Flow-MER Annual Forum 2023 interactive video page.  Source: Pat Gudhka

Communications support for the Basin-scale MER Project team

We provide support and advice to the Flow-MER team as they develop and deliver their engagement and communication strategies, organise activities and interact with stakeholders. We are in close contact with the teams so that we know about the work they are undertaking and can build engagement and communications activities throughout their projects. We focus on ways to achieve both local and Basin-scale communication and engagement outcomes, while at the same time retaining the authenticity of local community connections and culture.

Image: Reading the River: Goulburn Selected Area tailored product.

Incorporate First Nations wisdom and knowledge

We want Flow-MER to strive to deliver messages about how water for the environment can benefit First Nations peoples.   Wherever possible, and with permission, we incorporate First Nations knowledge into our Flow-MER communications so that it enriches the work we do together to care for the Basin.

Image: Artwork by Kai Mackenzie entitled “My community, Your community, Our community”

Synthesise knowledge for Basin-scale understanding

One of our key roles is to synthesise knowledge from the Selected Areas and Themes to provide Basin-scale understanding about the outcomes of e-watering research, monitoring and evaluation. Each year we work with the Flow-MER team to develop communications outputs that contain key messages drawn from our research and monitoring and evaluation activities. This knowledge is used to underpin website stories, Flow-MER Fridays and the Annual Forums.

Image:  Dynamic foodweb illustration, a collaborative effort between James Hitchcock and the ARRC team  Source: Pat Gudhka

Forums / Gatherings / Conferences

Each year Flow-MER has an Annual MER Forum, as well as other conference and meeting opportunities to share findings from across the portfolio of activities. We target environmental water managers, and anyone interested in the work we are doing. We use a mix of presentations, on-country interpretive walks, and social events. In addition to these events, we target relevant conferences and workshops for Flow-MER  team members to attend.

Image:
Full house audience at the Fish and Flows Community Forum. Photo credit: SARDI

Our team

Dr. Siwan Lovett

Inspiring, skilled and effective, Siwan is a familiar face in the Australian river restoration community, with her work in communications, public speaking, leadership and on-ground riparian rehabilitation well-known and respected. She enjoys facilitating and empowering others to value themselves and their knowledge so that rivers and waterways can be managed confidently, in partnership with nature.

Andy Lowes

Andy is passionate about improving river health through improved flow regimes. With over a decade of experience working with water for the environment in the Murray-Darling Basin, his focus is on the collaboration and communication required between First Nations, communities, scientists, industries and government agencies, to improve our waterways.

Pat Gudhka

Pat carries a strong understanding of the digital landscape, enabling him to plan and produce web and social media content that engages the intended target audiences.

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