In last Monday's Age (19/02/12), I caught the wash up to the previous Monday's discussion of yourview, which I had missed. The aim of the site is to support discussion between informed people about current policy issues in Australia, and with its presence as a public forum, to be something of a counterweight to the sloganeering of vested interests, and the dumbing down going on in the media.

Count me in, I said to Tim van Gelder, but I had some questions and a couple of observations for him.

I am working with a community-based advocacy group to develop their strategies of influence. The one hour session at their last meeting articulated their five principal objectives, and a set of strategic priorities for the next two years. This has left us with the question of actions, and measures. With the small working group formed to prepare for the next meeting, in relation to actions, I suggested that delegates prepare themselves in the following way ….

Community-based governance in social-ecological systems: An inquiry into the marginalisation of Landcare in Victoria, Australia, 2006-10. PhD, 2011.  Using action research, peer groups of staff and members of management committees of Landcare Networks met to improve their effectiveness and influence in landscape change. Initial meetings identified a breakdown in collaboration with government NRM planners and programs, in particular with CMAs. Participants developed a critique of this situation, and initiated stronger advocacy and some activism on behalf of community interests. This change is theorised as a process of reframing within a community of practice, in which doubt leads to examination of failure and a search for more effective action. Analysis also developed a description of Landcare Network governance practice as supporting relationships of mutual responsibility that will maintain the momentum of change across the social-ecological system.