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ENGAGING COMMUNITIES IN SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT VI |
“Ready, Set, Go!” Using the ‘Community-readiness’
Method to Engage Social Networks for Sustainable Natural Resource Management
in the Queensland Murray Darling Basin
Grasby D1*, Zammit C1*, Pretty G2*
and Bramston P3*
1. Land Use Research Centre, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba,
Queensland, Australia
2. School of Psychology, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba,
Queensland, Australia
3. University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
The notion of ‘social capital’ has been the subject of considerable
academic and general discussion since the concept was revived by Coleman,
Putnam and others in the 1980s. The extent and efficacy of social networks
are, it is argued, a crucial aspect of social capital. For the purpose
of this study, it is the networks comprising natural resource management
(NRM) systems that are the focus of attention. Research, using a methodology
derived from the ‘community-readiness model’, has sought to
examine the extent to which members of NRM groups engage in, and make
use of, formal and informal social networks in the Queensland Murray-Darling
Basin region.
The ‘community readiness model’ is based on the premise
that processes of an organisation are partly determined by its stage of
development, or readiness, for accepting and implementing change. This
‘readiness’ is thought to be a major factor in determining
whether or not an initiative is sufficiently supported and effectively
implemented by an organisation, and whether organisations within a community
are adequately developed to enable effective cooperation, mutual support
and engagement.
In the context of the study undertaken, networks are primarily formed
for the purpose of enhancing natural resource management. However, research
indicates that they also serve a range of unintended ‘informal’
purposes that increase the level of ‘social capital’ within
communities. This paper argues that the use of the community readiness
model to examine social networks and social capital is an effective means
of facilitating engagement and fostering beneficial change within communities.
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