Activating financial markets to reward soil stewardship (2020 - 2023)
Funding
CRC for High Performance Soils, $355,000
Investigators/ researchers
Dr Nick Pawsey, Professor Eddie Oczkowski, Associate Professor Julia Lynch, Dr Mark Frost, Ian Coghlan, Associate Professor Catherine Allan, Dr Tahmid Nayeem.
Research Theme
Rural and Regional Communities
Description
This project, which is led by CSU, is in collaboration with Federation University, the Western Australian No-Tillage Farmers Association, Riverine Plains Inc., Birchip Cropping Group Inc., and the University of Southern Queensland.
It is building on the findings from the Collaborative approaches to innovation project, also led by Dr Nick Pawsey, which identified how uncertainty regarding the financial returns from soil stewardship, limited financial incentives and poor connection among research, grower and financial stakeholders promotes underinvestment in soils.
While finance stakeholders believe that good stewards tend to be profitable, many also recognise a significant opportunity to further test and unpack this assumption.
This project will co-develop novel financial mechanisms that improve connections among research, grower and finance stakeholders and facilitate the activation of financial markets and mechanisms to reward soil stewardship.
A three stage approach will build on the pathways to change that were co-developed with 50 participants in 2019, leading to the development, trial and evaluation of one or more financial mechanisms to reward good soil stewardship.
Outcomes
The expected outcome of this project is one or more financial mechanisms to reward good soil stewardship.
Contact
Dr Nicholas Pawsey
Albury-Wodonga campus
August 2020