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Community encouraged to join workshop and drop-in session on regenerative farming of the NSW South Coast

August 22, 2023

Community encouraged to join workshop and drop-in session on regenerative farming of the NSW South Coast

Blue Economy CRC project team working alongside community, Indigenous rights holders and other marine estate users

  • The Blue Economy CRC and University of Wollongong continue to roll out a strong community engagement program as part of their collaboration on regenerative farming on the South Coast of NSW.
  • The project team and industry leaders are hosting a series of community sessions as they continue to identify the social, cultural, and economic impacts and opportunities that may be associated with development of Kelp and Mussel farming on the South Coast of NSW.
  • Two upcoming community sessions including a research workshop in Eden and drop-in session in Wonboyn offer a chance for the project team to directly hear from local community on their views, experiences and aspirations.

The Blue Economy CRC and University of Wollongong project into regenerative farming on the NSW South Coast has the project team working alongside community, Indigenous rights holders and other marine estate users to understand what matters to them when it comes to growing the blue economy, and what is needed to address community sentiment and grow community support for regenerative aquaculture opportunities in the local area.

Upcoming events include a Seaweed Farming in Disaster Bay: information session and research workshop and a drop-in session at Wonboyn. Outputs of the upcoming community events will examine the potential to further develop regenerative farming in the waters off the south coast of NSW.

These activities will be a chance for the project team to listen and learn from local community experiences and aspirations. The results will form advice to industry and Government partners about potential pathways for meaningful and genuine collaborations when they undertake formal impact assessment and approval processes. 

Seaweed Farming in Disaster Bay: information session and research workshop 

The Disaster Bay workshop brings together a local business that is proposing a seaweed farm in Disaster Bay, and a UOW research team interested in understanding the way communities will respond to new and emerging offshore industries.

The event has two purposes. Firstly, to provide an opportunity to introduce the Eden community to the proposal to develop a seaweed farm at Disaster Bay. The aim being to begin ongoing conversations with the community around the potential development of the farm which will require formal public consultation as well as social and environmental impact assessments in the future. Note: The Disaster Bay kelp lease is not in any way considering or proposing the addition of shellfish farming.

Secondly, the associated research workshop will use the Disaster Bay proposal as one of three case studies in the UOW and BECRC project which aims to explore community reactions and response to these future offshore industries.

The information session and the research workshop are being held in conjunction for researchers to observe and record the experiences of both industry and the community and capture live sentiment to help inform the development of a region wide report.

The drop-in session in Wonboyn will give a further opportunity for the community to discuss the proposal, provide feedback and share their thoughts.

Upcoming information sessions and workshop

Seaweed Farming in Disaster Bay: information session and research workshop

Wonboyn Drop-in session

More about the Blue Economy CRC 

The Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is established and supported under the Australian Government’s CRC Program, grant number CRC-20180101. The CRC Program supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community. With a 10-year life, the Blue Economy CRC brings together 44 industry, government, and research partners from ten countries with expertise in aquaculture, marine renewable energy, maritime engineering, environmental assessments and policy and regulation. Further information about the CRC Program is available at www.business.gov.au.

More about the Blue Futures Translational Research Initiative, UOW 

The Blue Futures Translational Research Initiative (BF-TRI) is a collaboration between researchers from across the University of Wollongong, including the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), the Australian Centre for Environment, Society and Space (ACCESS) and the Faculty of Business and Law. The initiative incorporates a number of projects focused on the Illawarra and South Coast region and aims to generate, translate and apply interdisciplinary knowledge to create a sustainable, inclusive Blue Future in partnership with local communities. https://www.uow.edu.au/ancors/bf-tri/

This project was successful at securing funds from the Regional NSW – Business Case and Strategy Development Fund - Round 1. Find out more about the project and sign up to the project mailing list at https://blueeconomycrc.com.au/collaborativeproject/regenerative-aquaculture-nsw/

 

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