National NRM Knowledge Conferences bring together regional NRM organisations from around Australia, along with NRM practitioners from Australian and State/Territory agencies and non-government organisations, to share knowledge and experiences in Natural Resource Management. The Conferences have been held every two years since 2006.
9th National Knowledge Conference
The ninth National Knowledge Conference is scheduled to be held in north Queensland, August-September 2025.
Further details coming soon.
8th National Knowledge Conference
Resilience through Transformation- Margaret River 31 Oct-2 Nov 2022
Our 8th conference was held in Margaret River, WA from 31st October to 2 November 2022 and addressed the theme . This built upon our 2019 theme and was a much-anticipated opportunity to gather again with our peers, friends and as yet undiscovered inspirations.
We were delighted to co-host the conference with South West Catchments Council! The South West Catchments Council has been the peak Regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) organisation for the South West since 2001. SWCC work in partnership with the community to ensure that our iconic landscapes, waterways, coastline and agricultural land are protected for current and future generations.
7th National Knowledge Conference
The 7th National NRM Knowledge conference was held at The Cube, Wodonga, Victoria from 17 to 20 November 2019, its theme was Creating Resilience through Natural Resource Management – how do we do it? Over 275 delegates attended the conference and the Organising Committee was pleased to receive extremely positive feedback about the conference.
One of our conference objectives to have a highly interactive conference with very different types of sessions that facilitated networking and sharing between delegates.
Our second objective was for the conference is to identify a shared future for Australian natural resource management – and actions we will collectively pursue to address the Conference theme – we named this our Call to Action.
Our provocateurs (keynote speakers) were selected based on them providing a range of thought-provoking ideas. They came from vastly different backgrounds, but all shared a passion for sustainable use of our natural resources.
Indiah Fletcher and Charlotte Caling (year 10 students from Bright Secondary College) challenged the conference to address climate change challenges. Sue Middleton (former Chair of the National Landcare Advisory Committee) responded recognising and supporting those challenges and suggesting ways delegates could address these issues.
The Hon Sussan Ley, Minister for the Environment, outlined the policies and programmes of the Australian Government. Professor Gretchen Daily from Stanford University joined us by video link and outlined the international context and the Natural Capital Project (www.naturalcapitalproject.org), an international effort focused on achieving this integration through research, practical tools, and policy-oriented demonstrations in contrasting places around the world.
Dr Debra Parkinson outlined her research that illustrated the importance of recognising “gendered expectations” in preparing for and responding to natural disaster. Gabriel Bani, of the Wagadagam people, Mabuiag Island, Torres Strait challenged delegates to recognise the importance to indigenous Australians of the link between language, family and caring for our land.
Sean O’Reilly, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) and CEO of Viridis Agriculture presented a snapshot of MIRA’s investment Australian agriculture and how his company is responding to a low carbon future and addressing the international Sustainable Development Goals.
Our Change Agent Panel
So how do we respond? The Conference assembled a panel of speakers to share their experiences and aspirations in generating change. Warwick Long (local ABC Radio rural reporter) was the convener and panel members included Lucinda Corrigan (Farmers for Climate Action), Mary-Anne Scully (Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship), Brad Moggridge (NESP) and Vicki-Jo Russell (Nature of SA and Amongst It).
More information about the Conference
The following reports from the Conference are available to you:
- Conference Abstracts. This page provides a summary of all of the presentations (in person, videos, posters etc) made to the Conference. If you would like more information about these presentations please contact the presenter.
- Conference Booklet. This is a PDF of the Conference Program and details (including the abstracts above) that conference delegates received.
- Call to Action. The Organising Committee has requested that NRM Regions Australia progress the the conference's Call to Action statement. More information will follow on this but the attached document represents the report presented to the final session of the conference.
- 7th National Knowledge Conference Report. This is the summary of the conference along with delegates feedback.
Click on the links below to view programs from previous years' conferences.
3rd National Knowledge Conference Program, 2010 - Darwin, NT
4th National Knowledge Conference Program, 2012 - Adelaide, SA
5th National Knowledge Conference Program, 2014 - Launceston, TAS
6th National Knowledge Conference Program, 2016 - Coff's Harbour, NSW