Rural Social Research Group

---

Research Projects (current)                            download workplan small PDF here

Sense of Place (Vanclay)

‘Sense of Place’ here refers to a group of activities associated with the concept of place, including the editing of a book, Making Sense of Place, to be published by the National Museum of Australia, following the April 2006 Senses of Place conference for which Prof Vanclay was convenor. It also includes Prof Vanclay’s activities with the Place Research Network. Sense of Place is a long-term interest and conceptual underpinning for Prof Vanclay. It is relevant to agriculture and NRM in that a sense of place is one of the social factors that makes farming more than just a business, and it is a motivating issue in terms of NRM.

Improving community engagement in forestry (Dare, Vanclay)

 This social research project, which is part of the Forestry CRC,  seeks to assist communities and forest industries by improving the processes of community engagement practiced in forestry. By examining a wide range of forestry encounters with communities and by drawing on the experience of other industries (e.g. mining) as well as the field of public participation, the project will develop recommendations for improving community engagement processes and practice. It will consider how forestry industries can engage constructively with a range of stakeholders, including landowners, immediate neighbours, other local landholders, planning authorities and the wider community. By liaising with another project that seeks to understand landowner and community attitudes to different forestry activities, the project will determine whether different processes are needed at different stages of forestry operations. This will be an action research project that will require working closely with forestry industries to ensure implementation of the recommendations.
 

Technology Assessment that considers the social consequences (TASC), or Managing innovation with a policy-relevant framework to assess the social consequences of technological developments (Vanclay, Russell, Aslin, Kimber).

The social consequences of new technologies need to be considered in policy decisions about technology development and governance. This requires a comprehensive approach to assessing technologies positioned to inform policy-making. By combining useful approaches from the related but independent fields of Social Impact Assessment, Technology Assessment and Policy Analysis, this project will develop an assessment framework and methodological approach for assessing the social consequences of new technologies which will be tested using case studies of agricultural biotechnologies. This is an ARC Discovery Grant funded project.
 

Social Impact Assessment (Vanclay)

 Social Impact Assessment (SIA) includes the processes of analysing, monitoring and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions (policies, programs, plans, projects) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions. Its primary purpose is to bring about a more sustainable and equitable biophysical and human environment. My research program on SIA includes consideration of the full range of social impacts (both perceptual and tangible) that are experienced by people and their communities; the techniques by which these impacts can be assessed and predicted; how SIA can be implemented effectively in the planning process; and how it can be extended to the policy level. There are also questions about how to resource and facilitate public participation in the assessment and decision making processes, and how to prevent the subversion of the process by those with the resources and power to do so.

Community resistance to climate change (Hope, Vanclay)

This research seeks to increase farmers’ adaptation to climate change by improving extension practice. The research straddles the academic disciplines of adult education and rural social research, by looking at the application of adult learning and critical literacy theories in an agricultural context. It examines the reasons for farmers’ resistance to extension messages. The research will consider the processes of extension including: who is responsible for providing information to farmers about climate change; the ways this information is provided; and the ways farmers understand and utilise the information. It is imperative that the new scientific understandings are communicated to wider audiences through effective extension. The research will focus on providing both a theoretical understanding of the causes and effects of resistance as well as practical strategies to reduce resistance and thereby improve extension practice.
 

Comparing approaches to Landcare and natural resource management in Germany and Australia (Prager, Vanclay)

The research explores the development trends of multi-stakeholder partnerships in natural resource management (NRM). Specifically, it will be a comparison of the Australian Landcare movement, the developing NRM system in Australia, and the German Landschaftspflegeverbände (LPV), which can also be translated as Landcare. It is funded by the German Academic Exchange Program.
 

Styles of farming (Vanclay)

 Research in this area considers the various worldviews of farmers and their different farm management strategies. It questions whether identification of styles is feasible for the better targeting of extension messages.
 

Triple Bottom Line, Sustainability and Social indicators (Vanclay)

 Develop and pilot appropriate social indicators that measure socio-economic dimension relevant to natural resource management, social capital formation in rural communities, and rural community development.
 

Extending extension (Vanclay)

Various research projects look at the effectiveness of agricultural extension from a range of perspectives. Extension involves the use of communication and adult education processes to help rural people and communities identify potential improvements to their practices, and provide them with the skills and resources to effect these improvements. Historically, extension has been concerned with agriculture and natural resource management, but increasingly there is a concern with rural communities in general.
 

Social factors affecting adoption of environmental management systems in agriculture (Carruthers, Vanclay)

 The study considers the social drivers/motivations and outcomes for the use of environmental management systems in Australian agriculture. The study will also consider the starting point for farmers in terms of learning styles, expectations and motivations. What is it about farmers who use EMS that encourages them to adopt this tool? Are they merely innovative across the board, and EMS is the next new thing? Do they have a suite of personality and learning styles that predisposes them to adopt a process based management strategy? Do their learning strategies/styles more readily recognise the effective use to which a process-based approach of EMS can be put? Have they already implemented a range of activities that means EMS adoption is not such a challenge as it might be for other farmers? The findings will be used to enhance training and extension programs in the EMS area.
 
 

Transforming the environment through transformational education  (Henry, Vanclay, Hiller)

The research considers the contribution of educational theory to natural resource management. The research is informed by a branch of pedagogical theory known as transformational education, derived originally from the work of Paulo Freire. This theory recognizes the inherent political and moral aspects of the education process and identifies collective social justice through the empowerment of the individual as a central concern of educators. It also places peace and sustainability at the heart of the curriculum whilst emphasizing the connections between knowledge and transformational action. To know the world is to understand it, to problematise it, and in doing so, to experience a civic imperative for action. This research shall consider the application of this theoretical position to assist in contemporary natural resource management. A crucial element is the development of critical literacies through critical pedagogies, i.e. equipping students with the capacity to critique their world and lived experience in order to imagine and create preferred futures. Critical literacy is seen as essential learning if students are to thrive in a rapidly changing world and have the capacity to create sustainable personal and world futures.
 

Climate Perception and Land Management Decisions in Western NSW and Queensland (Leith, Stratford, Vanclay)

This research examines how local and scientific climate and weather knowledge are communicated and utilised in the process of managing sheep properties. Interviews have been conducted with sheep graziers and researchers instrumental to the development and extension of seasonal climate forecasts. It is hoped that through engaging with the experience of both researchers and graziers, an improved understanding of perceptions and potential moderators to the problems associated with climate variability in Australian agriculture may be fostered. In turn such understanding will help inform how climate forecasts are developed, delivered and adapted to fit the needs of different graziers in different areas.
 

    

Research Projects (past)

Committing to Place (Vanclay, Lucas, Lane, Coates, Wills, Henry)

 The project goes beyond the rhetoric of participation to discover what factors activate communities and individuals to become involved in programs and voluntary initiatives for natural resource management. It combines the National Museum of Australia's expertise in environmental history and public communication with the imperative of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission to improve community participation in natural resource management. The potential for harnessing communications technology to facilitate new channels for participation is assessed through carefully evaluated pilot programs.
 

Natural resource management and museums (Wills, Vanclay, Lane)

 As a component of the Committing to Place project, this project will specifically address the ways consultation, participation and evaluation are understood and conducted in the museum sector and the extent to which museums can advance natural resource management.

Family farming  (Fulton, Vanclay)

 A central concern of studies in the sociology of agriculture has been understanding how and why the family farm is changing, and what direction it is taking. Four perspectives on the future of the family farm have been proposed: survival, subsumption, adaptation and competition. There is macro level empirical evidence for all four trajectories for family farms in advanced capitalist societies, particularly survival and adaptation. However, few empirical studies have examined the micro-level nature of capital penetration into family farms and the way in which these family farms have responded to the penetration of capital. The aim of this research was to identify the micro-level responses of family farms to capitalist penetration of agriculture. The research uses the Tasmanian potato industry as a case study of an industry where farm families are highly engaged with external capital

Cottage industries in Tasmanian agriculture (Gralton, Vanclay)

This study is exploring the small-scale food processing industry in Tasmanian agriculture and the attachment of cottage industry and artisanal identities/labels. Issues surrounding this labelling, and the ability of expanded cottage food enterprises to maintain an artisanal identity, are investigated. Also considered are the constructions of food quality, associated with these enterprises, and the ‘short food supply chains’ that their products are involved in. A more representative understanding of this sector is necessary if practice and policy recommendations are to be industry-appropriate. In doing so, it is envisaged that the study will facilitate the industry’s long term sustainability and their valued contribution to regional economic development in Tasmania.

Water Management Deliberation (Craig, Vanclay)

This project explores the grounds on which the legitimacy of water sharing decisions are contested.  By exploring and describing these challenges to legitimacy, we hope to contribute to an improved mutual understanding of government and communities, which will facilitate the adoption and implementation of water management decisions.