21 February 2018

Last week Hub researchers met with staff from the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and the Queensland Department of Environment and Science to share their research and identify ways to maximise its impact.

With the Gulf and Mitchell River water plans both expiring later this year, it was the perfect time to get together with water planners to discuss how Hub research in the region can best inform the continued sustainable development of these water resources. Feedback from this workshop was positive from both researchers and government, with scientists finding it useful to learn “about the multitude of processes through which government can use science” while water planners thought the event was “very successful”.

On the following day, staff from the Department of Environment and Science participated in a popular ‘marketplace’ forum with researchers, exchanging ideas on how they could use the research and how researchers could best continue to engage with them as projects progress. Researchers found this format “extremely helpful” while research users appreciated the “keenness of researchers to conduct research useful to government”. Participants in both workshops identified multiple follow up actions to help maximise research impact.

The mix of presentations and round-table discussions proved productive.