This 16 month pilot study has received University of Queensland seed funding. During 2012 it documented the nature of the impacts of multiple primary industries – cropping, grazing, mining and coal seam gas extraction – on the human capital, society, economy, infrastructure and environment of regional communities. The scale and pace of change in regions where these industries are proximate, coupled with limited regional planning for sustainable (economic, social, and environmental) development poses a number of challenges, resulting not only from the effects of resource development, but from the cumulative impacts of multiple human activities and the potential competition and interactions of past, present and future industries. The premise is that we cannot understand regional development options by focussing on separate activities or without accurate knowledge of the context. The project is being implemented by a multidisciplinary team from across the University of Queensland: CSRM, other SMI centres (CMLR and CWiMI) and the UQ Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation Institute and the School of Agriculture and Food Science.

Associated CSRM Staff / Students

• Dr. Jo-Anne Everingham
• Associate Professor Will Rifkin
• Nina Collins