Some of the best minds, community entrepreneurs and business brains from the world’s deserts will gather at the Alice Springs Convention Centre from November 1-3 to share success stories, new insights and practical lessons.

The Desert Knowledge Symposium: Global Desert Opportunities is a rare opportunity to sample the expertise and creativity of desert regions, home to one sixth of humanity.


The full media release can be found here.

An Aboriginal business leader from Western Australia has been elected as Deputy Chair of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre Board, the organisation’s Chair, Mr Paul Wand, announced today.

Mr Wand also welcomed two new directors to the Desert Knowledge CRC Board, Ms Christine Charles and Mr Mark Chmielewski.

Please find the full media release attached here.

Two Central Australian Aboriginal organisations have joined with the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre to create new research training, employment and enterprise opportunities for desert people.

They are Tapatjatjaka Community Governance Council, which runs Titjikala community near Alice Springs, and Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi Aboriginal Association (Waltja), an Aboriginal women’s non-government organisation which supports families and services on remote Central Australian communities.

The full media release can be found here.

Wealth Creation and Service Revolution at the Heart of Sustainability of Indigenous Communities Conference

Sweeping changes to the way services are delivered to remote Aboriginal settlements and new thinking about wealth creation have been urged by researchers at a national conference in Perth today.

For remote settlements to be sustainable we must find a better way for services providers and consumers to work together, starting with a reduction of the administrative overload, said a key note speaker at the Sustainability of Indigenous Communities conference at Murdoch University.

Please find the full media release here.

We wish to employ a Research Fellow/Post Doctoral Fellow Integrated Systems Modelling to work on the Thriving Desert Regions Project.

The successful candidate will live in Canberra. A salary package between $62,614 and $74,355 will be negotiated depending on experience.

Please submit applications, addressing the selection criteria and providing referees, to alice.roughley@csiro.au, or send them to GPO Box 284, Canberra ACT 2601, by 31 July 2006.

Most Australians get their messages on the internet or the phone – but desert Australians will soon be able to receive theirs from the sky.

Remote desert settlements are set to take advantage of a new generation of simple and effective electronic communications using ordinary household TV sets, a national conference in Perth on the sustainability of Aboriginal communities will be told today.

The Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has successfully tested an innovative, low cost way for spreading messages about important local events - from storm warnings and road closures to social and ceremonial gatherings - to communities thousands of kilometres apart.

Read the full release here.

Position Title: Research Fellow
Responsible to: TRG (Technical Resource Group) Research Manager
Location: Alice Springs
Remuneration:
Negotiable based on experience. Base salary in the low $60,000s,
plus superannuation, plus salary sacrifice packaging, giving a total
package in the high $70,000s.
Closing Date: 4 August, 2006

Vocational Education and Training System Fails Desert Aboriginal People

Where the wind blows the dust flies – now the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is developing a new technique to help land managers map areas at risk of wind erosion.

The Australian Land Erodibility Model (AUSLEM), the brainchild of Nick Webb of the University of Queensland, will be presented to an international wind erosion conference in Canada next month.


Find the full media release here.

Desert 4WD Travellers compete to tell their Tales from the Track

A writing competition called "Tales from the Track" has been launched to discover the essence of desert 4WD travel.

Today the report: Population and Mobility in the Town Camps of Alice Springs was launched at Tangentyere Council.

The full media release can be downloaded here. The report is available under 'What's new?' on our home page.

For further information, contact

David Vadeviloo from Tangentyere Council on 0418 355 441
or
Elke Wiesmann at the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre on
0427 009240

Building houses with north facing verandas is not the best way to save energy in the desert, research by the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has revealed.

A study of a common house type at Hermannsburg, west of Alice Springs, challenges popular assumptions. It shows that rectangular houses with deep east and west facing verandas use less total energy over the course of the whole year.



The full media release is here.

Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre announces further funding for telecommunications projects in desert Australia.

Dear colleagues, please be aware that we have a new letterhead which makes these documents (letters, faxes and with compliments slips) match the suite which includes reports and fact sheets.

I have posted these documents to the intranet. There are 3 files:
2006 Letterhead
2006 Fax coversheet
2006 With Compliments.

If you have any questions about using them, please contact me.

Ruth Davies
Publications Officer
Desert Knowledge CRC
Ph: 08 8950 7130
email: ruth.davies@csiro.au

Desert Knowledge Australia and the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre are pleased to announce the call for papers for the second Desert Knowledge Symposium, to be held in Alice Springs from 1-3 November 2006.

Aboriginal leader, Ms Glenise Coulthard, has joined the Desert Knowledge CRC Board. The full media release is here.

The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of new member, Ms Glenise Coulthard.

An Aboriginal leader from South Australia has joined the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre board, the organisation’s chairman, Mr Paul Wand, announced today.

Ms Coulthard is an Adnyamathanha woman from South Australia’s Flinders Ranges, and is the Coordinator of Aboriginal Health Services at the Port Augusta Hospital and Regional Health Services.

Postgraduate Research Scholarships

Desert Knowledge CRC seeks applications from potential PhD or Masters by Research candidates to undertake research. Please read the general information about the scholarships and the scholarship guidelines. Further information about the DK-CRC and its research priorities can be found in the Annual Report, Strategic Research Directions and the IP Protocol.



Applications close 27 March 2006.


For further information, please contact

Alicia Boyle, Education Coordinator, DK-CRC, on 08 8646 7267 or 0408 175 832 or alicia.boyle@cdu.edu.au

Please find attached an announcement for a short course,


‘Conservation and Business: Natural Resource-Based Enterprise Development & Local Livelihoods’


Presented by Professor Anthony (Tony) Cunningham, Desert Knowledge CRC & School for Environmental Research, CDU


8-13 April, CDU Campus, Alice Springs.

Please provide an application addressing the Selection Criteria (see attached pdf document), including a CV and nominating at least 3 referees, by email to ruth.brown@csiro.au or by post to Ruth Brown, Desert Knowledge CRC, PO Box 2111, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0871 by close of business (5pm CST) Monday 13 March 2006.

Please call Ange Vincent on (08) 89507141 if you wish to discuss the position further or email ange.vincent@csiro.au

What is Business Networking? How can networking help your business grow? Why participate in cross-border business networks? How can businesses 'cooperate to compete'? HEAR international examples of business networking, and strategies used in the DKA cross border project to link local business networks with other like networks across desert Australia.

Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).
Dr Dean Carson, of Charles Darwin University’s Tourism Research Group, says desert 4WD tourism remains unexplored territory even though the demand for off-road experiences is soaring.
“Concerns about the impact and safety of increasing numbers of self-drive adventurers on the one hand and the desire of desert communities to benefit from this growing market on the other means we urgently need to build our collective knowledge about this form of tourism.”
Titled On Track, the interdisciplinary research project aims to improve the capacity of desert settlements to provide viable 4WD tourism products while protecting cultural, social and natural values. It will also help four wheel drivers to keep safe.

Researchers are lifting the lid on the secret reproductive life of one of the bush foods industry’s greatest hopes, the bush tomato or desert raisin (Solanum centrale).
“Many people think that bush tomatoes reproduce only from seed. Our detailed study of the plant’s biology shows that it’s much more common for the plants to use their very extensive underground root system,” says Dr Maarten Ryder, who leads the bush produce project of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).

POSITION VACANT

DIRECTOR - CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABLE ARID TOWNS, Alice Springs.
Commence: May-June 2006.
Applications close: 5pm Fri 3 March 2006.

The current Director of CSAT finishes on 30 June 2006. A new Director is sought.

CSAT is an established sustainability consultancy & research-development organization in Alice Springs. It provides broad expertise in water, energy, waste and sustainable building development.

It is one of the few consultancies in the world specialising in arid zone sustainability, with a vision for "efficient, cost-effective and well-understood resource use in arid Australian towns".

This is a unique opportunity for a motivated individual to lead this diverse, vibrant and growing organisation.

For details see attachment or
http://www.alec.org.au/site/index.cfm?display=33294#CSAT


Further information: Contact Glenn Marshall.

Director
Centre for Sustainable Arid Towns
PO Box 2796 Alice Springs NT 0871
Ph 08 8952 6066 Fax 8953 2988
Mob 0419 855 249
csat@ozemail.com.au

2006 is the International year of Deserts and Desertification. In this series we examine the importance of deserts to the world's ecosystems and the problems associated with desertification.

Former Desert Knowledge CRC CEO, and current project leader of the Science of Desert Living, Mark Stafford Smith spoke to Michael MacKenzie of Bush Telegraph on Monday January 30, along with Dr Margaret Friedel, officer in charge at the CSIRO Arid Zone Research Centre, and Dr Dave Mouat, the chair of the Group of Experts advising the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

The audio of this interview is available at the ABC Bush Telegraph website:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/telegraph/

The aim is to assist and promote the Indigenous entrepreneur and allow a sharing of business knowledge, expertise and insight for the upliftment of First Nations peoples.

Greening Australia and Land & Water Australia invite you to Veg Futures 2006, a national conference that will share information for regions to manage native vegetation in productive landscapes.

The United Nations has declared 2006 the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.

As the focal point for the Convention on Deserts and Desertification, the Department of the Environment and Heritage will be the National coordination point and is encouraging interested parties to pick up the theme and is inviting organisations and communities to register activities for inclusion in Australia's calendar of events for the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.

The year will highlight the growing threat that desertification represents for humans, and celebrate the unique ecosystem and cultural diversity of deserts worldwide.

For further information log onto: http://www.deh.gov.au/events/iydd/index.html

The partnership between one of Australia’s largest food manufacturers and the country’s leading indigenous food company is set to double the size of the fledgling bush foods industry and create jobs for Aboriginal Australians.

The 14th Biennial Conference of the Australian Rangeland Society will be held in Renmark, South Australia from Monday 4 September through to Thursday 7 September 2006. The venue for the Conference is the Chaffey Theatre.

The Linked Business Network, a joint project of Desert Knowledge Australia and the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre is helping industry to address the challenges of doing business in the inland.

Alice Springs businesses have teamed up with minings services businesses in Broken Hill, the Upper Spencer Gulf, Mount Isa and Kalgoorlie-Boulder to form the first profit boosting one-stop shop for mining service businesses across desert Australia.

Presentation proposals are now being sought for the Enviro 06 Conference to be held in Melbourne from 9th to 11th May 2006, the theme of which is "Building Sustainable Cities".

For further information please log onto:
http://www.enviroaust.net

The Alcoa Foundation's Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program offers a great opportunity for people with good ideas to take some time to think through their ideas, nurture them to a stage where they can be implemented , and then put them into practice. IUCN is looking forward to support the fellows in their work and hopes that they will be able to bring new knowledge into the conservation field and stimulate others to conserve,” said Jeffrey A. McNeely, IUCN Chief Scientist at the launch of the fellowship programme.

For further information log onto

http://www.nt.gov.au:8501/dberd/research_innovation/awards/index.cfm

Desert Knowledge CRC Media Release - 12 September 2005

The Threatened Species Network is working with CSIRO to try to stop the spread of the African big headed ant in Alice Springs. It is a huge nuisance in houses – chewing through the grout in tiles and pavers, eating electrical wiring, and infesting food areas, carpets and irrigation systems. It displaces native insects, particularly other ant species, directly through aggression. As such it is a serious threat to biodiversity.

Sponsored by Murdoch University, this is the first announcement and call for papers. Fremantle, Western Australia 10 - 13 July 2006. See attached for details

The Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has launched a new research project to help desert towns and communities attract and keep good workers.

A contract for the design of the Business and Innovation Centre at the Desert Knowledge Precinct has been awarded to Alice Springs’ architectural team, Susan Dugdale and Stephen Lumb.

Australia is in the grip of a ‘dust age’, a five year-long spell in which the winds sweep tens of megatonnes of topsoil from the face of the continent.

Prof. Grant McTainsh from Desert Knowledge CRC's DustWatch project is looking for p/t people with local knowledge who are interested in working with Aboriginal students in desert schools to “stimulate their interest in making the DustWatch observations and measurements and acting as role models”.
Several Aboriginal schools have already agreed to be part of the project (see attached), among them Laramba, Finke, Docker River, Canteen Creek, Walungurra, Titjikala and Stirling.
Desirable: interest in environmental issues and Aboriginal kids, based in Alice or bush, who could work with Griffith Uni researcher Craig Strong and visit the schools, say 4 times a year.
Contact G.McTainsh@griffith.edu.au or 0409 279 700.

Ms Jan Ferguson has been appointed the new Managing Director of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, the organisation’s chairman, Mr Paul Wand, announced today.

Ms Jan Ferguson is the new Managing Director of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre. She replaces the inaugural CEO, Dr Mark Stafford Smith, who is stepping down at the end of 2005, as fore-shadowed two years ago
Jan brings a love and knowledge of desert Australia to the job. She lived for many years in the small Flinders Ranges community of Beltana in the north of her home state of South Australia.

Her excellent leadership skills have served her well over the past decade in senior change management roles in several large South Australian infrastructure departments. Jan is a previous winner of the Telstra Businesswomen's award for her innovative approaches to public sector reform and has a strong record of engaging with Aboriginal communities.

Mark is not leaving Desert Knowledge CRC but is returning to his first love of research. He will continue to contribute to desert knowledge research from his new base at the Canberra labs of CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems. Mark will be focusing on systems research of relevance to Desert Knowledge CRC, as well as leading an effort to synthesise desert knowledge science into a book about the 'Science of Desert Living' – the concept behind Desert Knowledge CRC - and an important product of its work.

Jan and Mark will overlap for a 3 month handover period, with Jan starting on 28th Sept 2005, and Mark finishing at the end of the year. This period covers a Board meeting and other important dates in the Desert Knowledge CRC cycle to ensure a smooth transition.
Click PDF for Jan Ferguson's Profile

Industry Issue Paper - a discussion paper informing the development of an Australian Outback Tourism Strategic Plan.

This book has been developed for people involved in projects of all types in organisations. The purpose of this guide is to present some common-sense techniques that have been shown to help project teams to plan and deliver successful project outcomes.

Faced with the high cost of bringing normal telephone service to remote communities in inland Australia, scientists are planning a phone network that works without expensive infrastructure – wires, optic fibres, masts, satellites and technicians.

Faced with the prohibitive cost of building a normal telephone infrastructure throughout the vast realms of Central Australia, scientists in the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) are working on a neat solution.

The $6000 prize, awarded for the first time by the Northern Territory Research and Innovation Board, recognises Dr Stafford Smith as the driving force behind setting up the Desert Knowledge CRC in mid-2003 as well as his intellectual leadership in developing his idea of the “science of desert living”, on which the organisation’s research program is based.

Higher grazing profits and sustainable pastoral landscapes can go hand-in-hand, according to new research starting in the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).

Curtin University economist, Professor Murray McGregor, announced today that the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has committed funding to help up to 10 outback operators, including indigenous enterprises, to increase profits by matching them with one of the centre’s 28 research partners nationwide.

Ten small businesses in desert Australia will get a chance to lift their bottom line this year by taking advantage of a $10,000 research opportunity each.
Curtin University economist, Professor Murray McGregor, announced today that the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has committed funding to help up to 10 outback operators to improve profitability by matching them with one of the centre’s 28 research partners nationwide.

During the February visit to Alice Springs the Lifecycle Team made a number of visits to communities and community organisations to intorduce the Lifecycles Project and to canvas research interests within the projects.

Hunter Lovins, world-renowned sustainability expert says a ground-breaking partnership between Aboriginal knowledge and cutting-edge science is leading the way in smart and profitable desert living.

“Alternative Nobel Prize” winner, renowned author and international sustainability champion, Hunter Lovins, will outline to Alice Springs decision makers how desert Australia can position itself to be part of the next wave of innovation.

Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is giving 60 local movers and shakers an exclusive chance to hear her ideas – can our region build a more profitable and sustainable economy by embracing the ideas in her groundbreaking book “Natural Capitalism – Creating the next Industrial Revolution?”.

Australia’s deserts are poised to give the world food menu its biggest shake-up since Columbus. The exotic, succulent, spicy and stimulating flavors of the Indigenous foods of Central Australia are heading for home dining tables, restaurants and TV cooking shows worldwide, thanks to a partnership between Aboriginal communities, scientists, food companies and supermarkets.
Indigenous communities and researchers from the
Desert Knowledge CRC (Cooperative Research Centre) are trialing a gourmet feast of desert delights— the staple fare of the people of Central Australian for tens of thousands of years but still unfamiliar to the global palate.

Desert Knowledge Australia Linked Business Networks Project - Outback Australia is pioneering a whole new way of doing business. Separated by vast distances from customers, suppliers, partners and ideas, the enterprises of the inland are latching onto technology and networks to build global reach.

The Lifecycle project aims to extend the life of community housing and infrastructure through research and development.

Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre gathers the creative minds behind some 40 research projects for a three day conference in Alice Springs

Desert Knowledge could become the nations next billion dollar export sector.

This newsletter updates what is currently happening in regions throughout Australia and the future aims of the project.

Media Release regarding the recent appointment of the Senior Indigenous Research Fellow.

The Hassell Group as been named as design team for the Desert People Centre

Building Effective Indigenous Governance Conference Paper - http://www.governanceconference.nt.gov.au

DKA and DK-CRC are hosting four workshops in Alice Springs to identify networking and business development opportunities.

There will be a Business Cluster Workshop held this month in Broken Hill. This is part of the Linked Business Network Project.

Some of Australia's most respected scientists, business leaders and government representatives will be meeing in Alice Springs from 6 to 8 Sept for the SEGRA conference.

Desert Knowledge CRC and Desert Knowledge Australia are hosting a world class workshop in Alice Springs to help industries network together to improve business in the future.

Desert Knowledge CRC presented a session covering the importance of relationships in the food value chain.

A recent Desert Knowledge Australia mission to the US and Mexico has made significant steps in building partnerships.

A new engagement strategy targeted to assist small business will be launched today by Minister for Science, the Hon Peter McGauran on behalf of Desert Knowledge CRC

The Alice Springs Town Council and Desert Knowledge Australia have combined to organise the Alice Springs Desert Innovation Festival as part of the Australian Innovation Festival.

A Desert Knowledge briefing was held on Thursday 1 April 2004 at the Waite Institute, Urrbrae.

Dr Toyne said the $27.8 million Desert Knowledge precinct is a project that will put Alice Springs at the forefront of innovation in arid areas.

Legislation to commence the Desert Knowledge Australia Statutory Corporation came into operation on September 22, 2003

Chief Minister, Clare Martin, today said that the Territory has been successful in securing Commonwealth funding under the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program for Desert Knowledge

Chief Minister, Clare Martin, today congratulated Alice Springs on hosting one of the most extraordinary events of the Year of the Outback, Outback Central 2002

Chief Minister Clare Martin today announced former Rio Tinto executive Paul Wand will become the chairman of the proposed Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).