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SoE – Presentation to Pacific Environment Forum

Presented at the September 2012 Pacific Environment Forum.

This material was developed to be delivered as part of an oral presentation. The full report should be referred to for understanding the context of this information.

For more information please refer to:http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/index.htmlOr contact the SoE team via email:soe@environment.gov.au

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New cover page

Pacific Environment Forum, 3 September 2012Photo: Aerial view of the Pilbara, by Andrew Griffiths, Lensaloft

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SoE 2011 Products

Web site: www.environment.gov.au/soe

Full Report In Brief Supplementary Products

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Key project participants

Minister for Environment

Executive panel

Committee(authors)

Project team

ReviewersOther service

providers

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State of the Environment 2011 Committee

Chair

Tom Hatton (Group Executive, Energy, CSIRO)

Members

Steven Cork (research ecologist and futurist)

Peter Harper (Deputy Australian Statistician)

Rob Joy (School of Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT)

Peter Kanowski (Fenner School of Environment & Society, ANU)

Richard Mackay (heritage specialist, Godden Mackay Logan)

Neil McKenzie (Formerly Chief, CSIRO Land and Water)

Trevor Ward (marine and fisheries ecologist)

Barbara Wienecke – ex officio (Australian Antarctic Division, DSEWPAC)

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State of the Environment reporting

The Minister for Environment must table a report on the state of the environment every five years

No current regulations regarding scope, content or process

All reports so far written by independent committees

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Aims of SoE 2011

Meet legislative requirements

Provide relevant, credible and useful information

Promote and inform environmental debate

Increase awareness of environmental issues

Support evidence-based environmental management decisions that lead to more sustainable use and effective conservation of our environmental resources

Identify ways to strengthen the environmental evidence base for reporting and decisions in the future

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How can we make it as useful as possible?

Who are our readers?

What are their needs and priorities?

What is the story that needs to be to be told?

How can that information be presentedin a way that is useful?

How can we make it credible and transparent?

How can we present information in ways that accommodate people’s different styles, needs and desire for detail?

How can we prepare for better reporting in the future?

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Who are our readers?

Environmental decision-makers

Government at a local, regional and national level

NGOs, lobby groups

Conservation and grass roots environmental groups

Land owners and managers, eg farmers, irrigators and rural regional business, Indigenous communities

Institutions that generate and invest in environmental information

Educators and students

Australian community

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How can we improve the relevance of the report?

Evaluation of past reports, what people did and didn’t like

Consultation to determine what issues people want included

Review of other projects and how have our audiences responded to them

GBR Outlook report 2009

Australian jurisdictional SoE reports

Environmental reporting internationally

Specialists in areas like resilience andmanagement effectiveness

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Assessment summaries

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Example assessment summary – state and trends

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Example assessment summary – state and trends

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Example assessment summary – management effectiveness

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Quality and credibility

Independence – written by an independent committee with relevant expertise, tasked with advocating for ‘accurate, robust and meaningful environmental reporting and identification of policy issues, but not for any particular policy position’

Authors sought best available evidence from credible sources

Extensive consultation

Workshops to determine consensus in expert opinion where evidence low

Transparency about quality of evidence and level of consensus

Peer reviewed (47+ reviewers of chapters and supplementary materials)

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Improving accessibility

Visually appealing with different layers of summarising information...

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Headlines (in summary chapter)

17 headlines in summary chapter give a high level overview of the big issues

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Key Findings (in theme chapters)

‘key findings’ give an overview of more specific conclusions for each theme

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Information ‘At a Glance’

‘At a glance’ summaries for every section

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Assessment summaries

Assessment summaries provide quick access to information

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And for those who want it….

Much more detailed information within the report

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Basic process

Appoint c’ttee

Develop approach

Outline content

Draft chaptersand edit (ongoing)

Check facts

Print, prepare online material

Support impact

Evaluate

Launch & promote

DesignCommission additional info

Identify needs

Get dataID gaps Peer review

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Reader survey confirms people are finding the new features useful

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Reader survey confirms people are largely using the report for the purposes we expected

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How is the report being used? Improve or validate understanding of environmental issues and

their context

Demonstrate the significance of issues

As a credible reference to support and justify policy directions

Particular findings are stirring political debate and causing government action

The Minister and department is incorporating findings from the report into strategic planning

Research planning and prioritisation, including supporting applications for funding

Model for reporting in other contexts

As an educational resource

www.environment.gov.au/soePhoto: Aerial view of the Pilbara, by Andrew Griffiths, Lensaloft

For more information email soe@environment.gov.au

or visit www.environment.gov.au/soe