Community Solutions

PROVISION OF POLICY ADVICE

Learn More About Community Solutions' Work by Following These Links...

• Sustainable Natural Resource Management
• Social Planning
• Community Consultation, Facilitation & Engagement
• Consensus Building, Mediation and Conflict Resolution
• Advocacy Support
• Organisational Diagnosis and Development
• Provision of Policy Advice

Policy Development

We will thoroughly research your area of interest, using academic and internet resources, as well as more ephemeral and non-published material. We will develop policy recommendations which are practical and achievable, and which maximise their likely acceptance by those who will be implementing them. You will be provided with a finished product which is both well documented and effectively targeted to its reading audience.

Projects completed include:

National Water Quality Management Strategy Workshop
Judy Lambert was engaged as expert advisor to the Urbis project team evaluating the impacts of a National Water Quality Management Strategy Workshop Series (March – May 2008).

Humane Society International (Australia)
Preparation of National Heritage nominations for natural areas of high biodiversity significance occurring in ‘Biodiversity Hotspots’, work completed in 2007.

WWF Australia threatened species recovery
During 2004 Community Solutions worked with WWF Australia to bring together with diversity of technical and professional skills to begin developing a new approach to threatened species recovery in Australia. Using parallels between the health care system and environmental care, the preparatory paper and workshop discussions provided WWF with a report on which to base its policy work at both State and Federal levels.

Humane Society International (Aust) biodiversity policy
In the lead-up to the 2001 Federal election, Community Solutions worked with the Humane Society International's Australian arm to develop a major position paper 'The Extinction Debt and How to Deal With It', addressing policy and program opportunities for Commonwealth and State Governments to impove biodiversity conservation.

NSW Native vegetation Advisory Committee
During 1999, Community Solutions prepared for the NSW Native Vegatation Advisory Committee a policy paper addressing social issues and values of native vegetation. This paper was one of a series of papers prepared as background to the work of the NVAC and its role in native vegetation protection and management in NSW.

World Wide Fund for Nature (Aust) Environmental Tax kit
In the lead-up to the 1998 Federal election, Community Solutions worked with the World Wide Fund for Nature, to prepare for them a position paper on opportunities for the introduction of environmental taxes to assist in acheiving ecological sustainability.

Bioregional planning for biodiversity conservation
In October 1995 the Commonwealth Department of the Environment sponsored a national conference on 'Approaches to Bioregional Planning'. In the lead-up to that conference, the partners in Community Solutions led a team, with Alan Chenoweth and Stephen Cole from Chenoweth & Associates, that prepared a case study based discussion paper on bioregional planning for biodiversity conservation. Based on identified elements of best practice and local successes, the project team developed a model process capable of being adapted to bioregional planning across the diversity of regions and needs for biodiversity conservation found throughout Australia.

Consumers' review of Telstra's consumer consultative processes
In conducting this review funded by Telstra and conducted for the Consumers' Telecommunications Network, Community Solutions sought survey responses from major user groups and individuals, conducted both phone and face-to-face interviews and held roundtable meetings with Telstra Regional Consultative Councils in two locations. The resulting report assisted CTN in making submissions regarding future consultation both by Telstra and more broadly within a deregulated telecommunications industry.

NSW Rural Women’s Satellite Project analysis
In September 1993, the NSW Departments of Health and Agriculture together with the Board of Adult and Community Education and NSW TAFE, conducted satellite conferences and workshops with more than 500 women in 26 locations across the state. The partners in Community Solutions worked with the project steering committee to analyse the considerable amount of data arising from that satellite project and to develop ideas for action in support of rural women across the state.

Additional Projects include:

Development of a Meat & Livestock Australia response to the Commonwealth's Natural Resource Management paper
Incentives for the conservation of biodiversity
‘Missed Opportunities’ project on Women in Australian Agriculture
Sutherland Shire SIA
Social needs of women and children in Warringah
OWA Family Violence Project