Through each of the strategic discussions, the consideration of risks and projects also raises the issue of gaps and barriers to action that could, or should, be addressed. Similar themes emerged at the regional partners’ level as in the Municipal strategic discussions, including information and governance.
To overcome the gaps and barriers identified, a range of actions were identified as part of the workshop. These opportunities fed into the actions discussed and prioritised as part of the Project Reference Group meeting on 11 November and were used to develop a list of priority project themes for the Region. Further detail on these projects and the assessment process is detailed in Section 9 and Appendix 5.
Limited resources
The extensive list of risk statements and possible actions developed also present a dilemma – Councils and Partners do not have the resources to implement all actions. Disciplined qualification of the risks and benefits of action is essential to ensure effective allocation of scarce resources. Prioritisation should take account of multiple criteria which may include:
- Significance of risk and remedy to regional wellbeing. This covers both the scale of the impact and its immediacy i.e. will the risk play out in the short, medium or longer term
- Complexity of action and extent to which early wins can be crystallised
- Resources and funds required to implement the action, and availability of separate funding sources
- Opportunities to add to the collective national and global knowledge bank through the identification of innovative and collaborative options.
In the prioritisation process, detailed in Section 9, these considerations are taken into account through simple multi-criteria analysis that picks up on these key constraints and considers them in the assessment criteria. The weighting of the criteria is a secondary layer to qualifying the projects and reflects the most important components in the assessment for the Councils and Partners.
Knowledge gaps
Gaps in information and knowledge were identified as part of the analysis of exposure and sensitivity in Stage One. The strategic discussions also identified risks that were based on perceptions and ‘beliefs’. These gaps are explored below along with some considerations for the development of responses. These gaps were also included in the development of the list of regional projects.
- Thresholds and tipping points – this refers to the key unknowns associated with the implicit resilience of assets, infrastructure and flora and fauna. That is, what is the impact on the reliability of supply and operational limits of essential services when under pressure (from both increased demand as well as climatic-related events), at what pace can ecosystems and species adapt before they die out, at what point are certain industries no longer viable?
- Mapping and modelling – there is an array of additional considerations that could be modelled or mapped to provide further information on which to base decisions. This includes hazard mapping, bushfire modelling to incorporate climate change, demographics, etc.
In some cases, issues are relevant to, and support, broader national or global understanding. Advocacy and public policy engagement may be considered to encourage other bodies to ‘own’ certain research actions. Collaboration with research institutions may be considered.
Service providers should consider questions on reliability of supply and engage with Councils to enable risks to be appropriately qualified.
Lack of control
Knowledge gaps discussed above highlight a key challenge: interdependencies of risks and impacts complicate analysis and prioritisation of actions. In many cases risks flow from areas that are outside the control of councils, partners or the geographic boundaries of the Region e.g. downstream impacts of catchments outside the Barwon South West Region.
The lack of control can be partly addressed through strong governance and highly effective stakeholder engagement. These actions will bring together, motivate and ultimately mobilise resources both within and outside the bounds of control of the councils and partners, to the extent possible.
A lack of control is also often a symptom of poorly identified roles and responsibilities and a lack of ownership or management. These issues were raised in the strategic discussions as barriers to building climate resilience in the Region.
Actions
Interdependencies
