Resource Futures
A report by Michael Dunlop, Graham Turner and Mark Howden
of Resource Futures Program, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
Accessing the Report
The document is available for download in Adobe Acrobat pdf
format. If you are unable to access or read this file format,
please contact the Resource Futures Program at CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.
cse.resfutures@csiro.au.
About the Report
Like many industries around the world, the Australian grains
industry is keen to ensure its long-term sustainability. The
Grains Council of Australia (GCA), with the support of the
Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), commissioned
CSIRO Resource Futures Program to undertake an initial examination
of the future sustainability of the grains industry. This
analysis took a long-term, strategic view of the grains industry
within the context of agriculture as a whole, rural landscapes
and regional economies. Key objectives of the consultancy
were to:
- describe current and emerging drivers of change in Australia's
rural landscapes, including sustainability issues; and,.
- explore consequences of alternative plausible futures
over a 50 year time horizon for the sustainability and development
of the grains industry.
The futures analysis reported in the consultancy used an approach developed especially to examine long-term sustainability issues for Australia. In this approach, developed in collaboration with whatIf? Technologies Inc., a representation of the grains industry is embedded in the Australian Stocks and Flows Framework (ASFF)1 that represents economic activity, resource use and environmental impact over the whole economy and provides the context for activity in the grains sector.
Each of the three scenarios explored in the consultancy reflects
a different balance between a wide range of values and outcomes
for Australian agriculture, the environment and society.
1 ASFF and the embedded grains module are implemented using the whatIf? suite of modelling tools developed and distributed by whatIf? Technologies Inc. (formerly Robbert Associates Ltd), of Ottawa, Canada.
Fact sheet and conference poster
A fact sheet giving background to this type of research and the reports key findings is available for download as an Adobe Acrobat pdf file:
The findings of this report have been presented as a conference poster at the combined 4th International Crop Science Congress / 12th Australian Agronomy Conference in Brisbane, 26 September – 1 October 2004. This poster may be downloaded as a pdf file.
Enquiries
Please send all enquries to CSE Resource Futures.
cse.resfutures@csiro.au.
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