Overview & Evaluation of the Second Water Planners Forum

The National Water Commission, in partnership with Land & Water Australia, is currently investing in a number of water planning and policy projects. As part of this investment, building an informal ‘community of practice’ for water planners through regular contact and sharing of information and ideas is a key component.

In February 2009, the second Water Planner’s Forum was held to bring together water planners from across the country to discuss issues they had identified as being important. The two issues examined in detail were the impacts of climate change for water planning, and the socioeconomic implications of water planning and policy. An overview report and evaluation of the forum was prepared by workshop co-ordinators and facilitators Claudia Baldwin, Mark Hamstead, Phil Price & Siwan Lovett.

The report provides consolidated comments are provided from the facilitation and management team that ran the event. A summary of the Forum evaluations provided by participants is also included. Overall, the event was considered successful: with 73% of participants agreeing that the forum had met their expectations.

A wide variety of initiatives were proposed by participants that could be implemented nationally to provide water planners with support to ensure effective water planning and ongoing communication.