Improved Land Management

The social researchers at the Institute of Melbourne School of Land and Environment interpret social interaction as a way to improve land management. Together, they believe opportunities for positive change can be found through appropriate and well designed social research. Their research is attuned to the ways people learn and share knowledge. Users of this social research are able to gain insight into their own practices and those of others. This benefits scientific and technical researchers, policy makers, educators, primary producers and other land managers, especially when they need to work together.

Within the ILFR social research platform there are four programs, each with a different research emphasis. Underlying the different social research programs are alternate theoretical understandings of what the role of social research is, how it intervenes in situations, and how it should proceed. Common to each research program is a commitment to assisting land managers to make the changes they see as necessary to achieve sustainable land management.

Between the four programs there are different research methodologies used, chosen in response to the research and field conditions of the different projects. Some methodologies like action research feature in many social research projects. While other ways of doing research are more particular to one program or another, selected depending on the philosophies of each researcher and the type of change they hope to bring about.

The ILFR social research programs and researchers are;

• Innovation and Change Management - Dr Mark Paine, Dr Ruth Nettle, Anne Crawford
• Landscape Sociology - Dr Ruth Beilin
• Environmental Psychology - Dr Kathryn Williams
• Community Based Natural Resource Management - Dr John Petheram

Each program has a commitment to participatory engagement with the communities and clients they do research for, using the methods of action research. This way of doing research is highly adaptable to different contexts and social conditions, and can be used to assist communities faced with the complexities of managing land for sustainable production, environments and societies. The researchers from the different ILFR social research programs often work together on projects where their collective expertise can be used to greater effect.

ILFR social research focuses on understanding and changing people-to-people relationships to achieve sustainability. This is in contrast to traditional agricultural science that focuses on the interactions between soil, water, and other environmental conditions as they relate predominantly to production, but also sustainability. The processes of change, and the changes people make, can be shared by paying attention to how people do things together. These shared learning experiences enable new ways of doing things to become instituted in everyday practice.

• Social research projects and consultancies

ILFR social research projects establish collaborative, learning relationships with external partners. To date, these have included research staff in state government departments, private research and evaluation companies, national industry research and development corporations, community groups, groups of farmers, and other academics. The results from these projects include a greater understanding of the abilities and possibilities of rural and regional communities pursuing improved ways of doing things.