ProfessorDarla Hatton MacDonald

Project Total: $642,045; Water is a primary national strategic asset, and obviously highly valued, with a need for effective management. This project will provide evidence-based practice on the benefits and costs of policy measures that improve water security, focussing specifically on the Murray-Darling Basin. It will closely link to ongoing United Nations (UN) global initiatives such as Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: Ensure availability & sustainable management of water & sanitation for all by 2030 (UN 2022). Lessons from this project will provide insights for Tasmania on the sustainable management of water in the face of future climate change. This project brings together 3 industry partners and 7 expert water and resource ECR, MCR and senior economic researchers from three universities: Professors Sarah Wheeler and Alec Zuo, Dr John Kandulu (Flinders University); Professors Quentin Grafton, Long Chu, Dr Paul Wyroll (Australian National University (ANU)); and Professor Darla Hatton MacDonald (University of Tasmania (UTAS)). The projects partners include South Australias (SA) Department of Environment and Water (DEW); SA Water (SAW); and Murray-Darling Conservation Alliance (MDCA) an alliance of four environmental groups across four states (Queensland, NSW, Victoria and SA). This project has partners strongly committed to co-designing improved water management. Short-term outcomes include rigorous analysis and assessment of the state of knowledge and gaps in water management planning and estimates of the value of environmental water. Such research and capacity building will be essential for partners in supporting their objectives of a more sustainable MDB, as well as any research that addresses water security issues in Australia helping meet Closing the Gap (2008) priorities. Given the billions of dollars currently spent (and forecast to increase) on water security and sustainability issues in Australia (Lee & Ancev 2009), there is huge potential for this project to value-add in guiding more effective water investment, as well as providing input into the next review of the MDB Plan (Zuo & Wheeler 2024). Program One: Enhancing water security: A comprehensive review and analysis of water management frameworks, water security and data gaps [Yrs 1-4] Program Two: Exploring water security values: social, cultural, economic and environmental insights [Yrs 1-4] One of the major gaps in understanding the benefits of the MDB Plan, and for water security issues in general, is in quantifying the direct/indirect (ecosystem and other benefits) and non-use (option, bequest, existence, cultural) values. Program 3: Empowering water security: Innovative tools and guidelines for collaborative and adaptive planning [Yrs 2-4] Building on from findings in Programs 1 and 2, new tools and guidelines will be developed to aid partners adaptative water management planning. Design collaborative pathways for implementing policy options, based on Program 1 research and Partner input. This will include developing guidelines, frameworks and new tools for managing water security values in urban, rural and remote areas. Funded by: Australian Research Council - Grant-Linkage Projects; Flinders University; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $0; Through the IMAS Hx international partnership program, as part of an earlier Expression of Interest, we secured 4 berths on three Antarctic voyages. We will be undertaking qualitative and quantitative data collection through in-depth interviews (n=2~4 per interviewer per day) and collection of a paper-based/ipad based survey on-board. The survey will travel diaries, psychometric scales and socio-demographic information for the purpose of modelling time-use on the expeditions. Funded by: HX (Hurtigruten Expeditions) - Voyage Berth; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $49,931; In this project we will be assembling a suitable set of economic values to align with biophysical health indicators for a temperate coastal marsh. The project is being led by Blue Carbon Services. This project will align with the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting. Funded by: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water - Tender; Blue Carbon Services; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $24,586,664; This research centre will be one of three delivering forestry and forest products industry focussed research under the AFWI grant Funded by: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Grant ($24,586,664); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $99,359; Previous FRDC research on specific issues (e.g. animal welfare best practice, safety at sea) have identified a range of factors that inhibit and/or enabling cultural and behavioural change and adoption of best practice. These include structural factors (i.e. regulation), economic factors (i.e. costs, incentives) and psychological factors (i.e. how the change is framed). There is a need to build on this research to identify opportunities where behavioural insights - using psychological factors such as cognitive biases, social norms, and emotions - can be used to 'steer' behaviour change towards preferred outcomes. For this research we: 1. Review previous fisheries and aquaculture R&D which has identified psychological factors influencing behavioural change to identify opportunities for behavioural interventions to achieve positive outcomes 2. Using the information in (1), prepare and deliver two training webinars accompanied with supporting materials on when, how and which behavioural interventions are effective, the methods which could be used, and the resources required. This will be made available on the FRDC website 3. Make recommendations for further focused trials/intervention research which could be undertaken to support and expedite desired outcomes for the fisheries and aquaculture sector as a whole and which has been identified in the current FRDC RD&E plan. Funded by: Fisheries Research & Development Corporation - Grant-Annual Open Call Round ($99,359); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $60,031; This project will investigate the veracity of using certification, verification or related schemes for supporting the development of markets for rewarding good soil stewardship practices. The project involves review of literature and existing certification schemes, interviews with stakeholders about desired design features, and a participatory approach involving a series of design thinking workshops to develop a potential certification or verification solution. The solution will be further refined through the use of consumer and farmer focus groups and surveys, prior to facilitating the proposed solution through extension activities and other communications. The project builds on high levels of interest generated from earlier projects in the activation of markets to better financially reward farmers for use of soil stewardship practices, including from stakeholders in farmer groups, agri-finance organisations, and the consumer food value chain. Funded by: CRC for High Performance Soils Ltd - Grant; Charles Sturt University; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $64,382; We will prepare a report which outlines the benefits associated with the Bell Bay Green Ammonia plant for the State, commencing with the project award, and map out the benefits of a hydrogen economy to 2030. We will outline all necessary assumptions and outline where we see gaps in the grey and published literature as pertains to this project. While this is primarily a desktop review, we seek agreement to interview staff in University of Tasmania (others?) on potential impacts which require specialist knowledge. We will prepare a set of questions which we will pass by Origin and then the Social Science Ethics Committee. This process will ensure that UTAS project staff do not inadvertently disclose information which is commercial in confidence. Funded by: Origin Energy ($64,382); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $129,499; The purpose of this project is to use behavioural economics approaches to explore and analyse the perceptions and trade-offs people are willing to make in order to expand the Blue Economy. In particular the project will explore what shapes up ideas of risk and what can be done to manage risk. This work will provide a deep understanding of the factors underpinning decision-making and perceptions of what is an acceptable management of risk. These insights will contribute to understanding appropriate policy and institutional arrangements to manage these risks and ensure societal objectives are met by future Blue Economy relevant policies. Funded by: Blue Economy CRC Co - Grant - PhD Scholarship ($129,500); University of Tasmania ($5,000).

Project Total: $613,462; Cataloguing hazards and characterising risks associated with the Blue Economy is the most challenging step of any risk identification process. This project will deliver an integrative characterisation of risk across all parts of the Blue Economy CRC - engineering and technology, production, energy, sustainability and policy. The resulting integrated inventory will identify the multidimensional envelopes of risk relevant to the Blue Economy activities in the short to medium term. Opportunities (research gaps, industry needs, etc.) identified during the analysis will also be catalogued. Consequently, this project is foundational to many CRC activities, bringing immediate benefit to any industry partners undertaking trials or deployment within the next decade. Funded by: Blue Economy CRC Co - General Projects; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $3,420; Funded by: University of Tasmania; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $49,396; The blue economy concept varies substantially across studies and countries. There exist different approaches to planning and evaluating blue economy. This study reviews and develops economic assessment frameworks for Sustainable BE Developments (RP5). A systematic review will be conducted to draw upon the knowledge and experience across countries/regions. Based on this, economic assessment frameworks, including national economic accounting, input-output tables, computer general equilibrium, stated, revealed and deliberative monetary valuation approaches and ecosystem service value and natural capital accounting frameworks will be developed for both market and non-market goods and services. Funded by: Blue Economy CRC Co - Scoping Study Projects ($49,396); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $458,786; The project will initially investigate what consumers know about soil stewardship and the demand which currently and may potentially exist for its use in agricultural value chains. Specific research unpacking consumers' notion of 'environmentally friendly production' may open up opportunities for better informing and subsequently promoting the information flow to consumers about soil management practices. The project will then develop and trial a range of different communication materials to educate and promote soil stewardship to consumers. The project will also engage with value chain stakeholders to better understand their potential demand for information about consumer willingness to pay, perceived obstacles for its usage, and specific informational requirements for rewarding farmers for quality practices. The results from this initial body of research will then be directly employed in subsequent quantitative projects assessing consumers' willingness to pay for products which promote soil stewardship. Funded by: CRC for High Performance Soils Ltd - Grant; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $60,000; Hedonic pricing involves relating the price of a good, in this case property prices, to its features using regression analysis. This provides insight into the value of the features. Our goal is to understand how soil management practices influence property prices, so farmers can better understand the pay-off from investments in improving soil management. Funded by: CRC for High Performance Soils Ltd - Grant; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $47,350; An extended literature on the economics of soil management Funded by: CRC for High Performance Soils Ltd - Grant; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $948,572; Funded by: Fisheries Research & Development Corporation - Grant-Annual Open Call Round ($948,572); University of Tasmania.