Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemVictorian Food Supply Scenarios: Impacts on availability of a nutritious diet -Summary.(VEIL, 2011)There are resource allocation and management decisions being made now in Victoria, and Australia, that will have significant implications for the flexibility and options for our food supply in the next decades and for future generations of Australians. This research explores how these decisions will impact on our ability to provide a reliable surplus of the foods required for a nutritious diet, whilst providing for ongoing health of the environment, the economy and ultimately the wellbeing of people and communities (both farming and urban communities). The Victorian Food Supply Scenarios project has been a 12-month research project funded by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) through the Healthy Eating stream of their Research Innovation grants, provided to research a new concept or methodology relevant to the theory, policy and practice of health promotion. The primary purpose of this project was to develop and demonstrate a new methodology to link land and resource use with availability of a nutritionally adequate food supply for Victoria’s population. The research made new use of an existing physical model of the Australian economy developed by CSIRO (one of the project partners) to track the complex interaction of land and resource systems as they affect the availability of food. The research was undertaken within strict time and resource constraints and there was consequently a limit to the analysis of data sets and settings. The assumptions, approximations and generalisations are noted throughout the report. The tensions identified through this work are significant, in spite of levels of uncertainty resulting from the project constraints. They strongly suggest that a sophisticated and strategic approach to resource allocation is urgently required, if the multiple objectives of food security, energy security, greenhouse emissions reductions, sustainable resource use, a healthy environment and a viable economy are to be achieved. The outcomes do not provide any easy answers, or suggest that one approach to these issues is clearly better than another. It sets out a framework for more detailed investigation of some very critical questions, by developing and demonstrating a methodology that can be extended to test various options for ‘food security policy’. The key messages, context, assumptions, methodology and results are explained and discussed in detail in the full report, with a high level summary provided below.
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ItemVictorian Food Supply Scenarios: Impacts on availability of a nutritious diet(VEIL, 2011)There are resource allocation and management decisions being made now in Victoria, and Australia, that will have significant implications for the flexibility and options for our food supply in the next decades and for future generations of Australians. This project sets out a framework for more detailed investigation of some very critical questions, by developing and demonstrating a methodology that can be extended to test various options for ‘food security policy’. This research explores how these decisions will impact on our ability to provide a reliable surplus of the foods required for a nutritious diet, whilst providing for ongoing health of the environment, the economy and ultimately the wellbeing of people and communities (both farming and urban communities). The Victorian Food Supply Scenarios project has been a 12-month research project funded by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) through the Healthy Eating stream of their Research Innovation grants, provided to research a new concept or methodology relevant to the theory, policy and practice of health promotion. The primary purpose of this project was to develop and demonstrate a new methodology to link land and resource use with availability of a nutritionally adequate food supply for Victoria’s population. The research made new use of an existing physical model of the Australian economy developed by CSIRO (one of the project partners) to track the complex interaction of land and resource systems as they affect the availability of food. The research was undertaken within strict time and resource constraints and there was consequently a limit to the analysis of data sets and settings. The assumptions, approximations and generalisations are noted throughout the report. The tensions identified through this work are significant, in spite of levels of uncertainty resulting from the project constraints. They strongly suggest that a sophisticated and strategic approach to resource allocation is urgently required, if the multiple objectives of food security, energy security, greenhouse emissions reductions, sustainable resource use, a healthy environment and a viable economy are to be achieved. The outcomes do not provide any easy answers, or suggest that one approach to these issues is clearly better than another.
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ItemDistributed Water Systems: A networked and localised approach for sustainable water services(VEIL, 2009)An unprecedented water crisis is unfolding across southern Australia, driven by the compounding impacts of climate change, over use and a legacy of short sighted water policies. As many water strategists re-apply traditional methods to meet this ‘perfect storm’ of supply and demand challenges, a quiet evolution is occurring in water system design. This evolution has emerged as a strong and coherent trend with positive and radical implications for creating a sustainable water future. This briefing paper draws on case studies and research to describe the emergence of ‘distributed water systems’ - a highly networked and localised approach to water infrastructure and critical water services. Cases from Australia, Europe and the US show how distributed water systems can generate positive outcomes that enhance and supplement those provided by our existing infrastructure models. They are able to: • Reduce costs and resource use • Improve service security and reduce risk of failure • Strengthen local economies • Strengthen community wellbeing • Regenerate and protect the natural environment • Redefine traditional water systems Distributed systems represent an innovative approach for responding to risk and uncertainty. They can build adaptive capacity by increasing the diversity and flexibility of water systems without locking utilities, customers and future governments into rigid pathways for delivering critical services. By creating distributed water systems through infrastructure design choices at the household-to-regional level, Victoria can reduce social, economic and environmental vulnerability to climate change and energy supply shocks. In the distributed systems model, infrastructure and critical services (for water, food and energy) are positioned close to points of demand and resource availability and linked within networks of exchange. Services traditionally provided by a single, linear system are instead delivered via a diverse set of smaller systems - tailored to location but able to transfer resources across wider areas. Much more can and should be done to understand and foster the evolution of distributed water systems. Support for innovative projects and a reassessment of existing models of governance is required to enable further adaptation in the water sector. A re-evaluation of the impacts that large water projects have on emerging water sector innovation is also required. The inability of existing tools to assess and compare the long-term or non-financial benefits derived from distributed systems highlights the need for research and practical experimentation to build experience and capacity in this area.
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ItemSustainable and Secure Food Systems for Victoria: What do we know? What do we need to know?(VEIL, 2008)This report provides an overview of our food production and consumption system, its impacts on the environment and its vulnerability to environmental problems and resource constraints. The aim of the report is to identify any significant challenges to the future security of the food system in Victoria that arise from environmental and resource issues, and the risks, constraints and social or political responses to these. The report also considers a range of response strategies being developed and explored at various points across the food system.