Ken Matthews Chair, Partnership Working Group 31 July 2013 Report of the Partnership Working Group on Improving Arrangements for National Urban Water R&D Ken Matthews Chair, Partnership Working Group 31 July 2013

Background - report back on work program 26 Sep 2012 First National Forum Oct 2012 – July 2013 Partnership Working Group (PWG) 31 July 2013 Today’s 2nd National Forum - report back on work program - decide next steps

Outcomes of first Forum Some perceived needs Reduce fragmentation of the national R&D effort Clarify national R&D goals and priorities Improve dialogue among parties Pursue opportunities for collaboration Provide opportunities for Australian industry Improve Australia’s processes for planning and delivering R&D PWG Tasking How to advance collaboration? Clarify national urban water R&D goals Practical suggestions to improve the R&D “system” Report back

The Partnership Working Group (PWG) Comprising the “four pillars” of urban water R&D: Governments, utilities, industry, researchers CEO or senior level Independent chair Wide consultation

The PWG Report Summary Overview Detailed supporting papers Draft statement of Urban Water R&D Needs Set of practical initiatives to improve the R&D “system” Proposals for carrying forward the work

Clarifying national urban water R&D goals First Major Task Clarifying national urban water R&D goals

Australia’s Research Needs & Challenges in Urban Water National Goal of Urban Water Management Safe, secure, efficient and sustainable urban water services to Australian communities Target Outcomes of the National Urban Water Research Effort More liveable urban areas Improved community engagement & enhanced customer value Improved water system security and resilience Improved institutional and governance arrangements and economic signals Improved preparedness for climate change and extreme events More effective utilisation of future technologies Assured water quality Improved waterway health Better integration of urban water systems

But the PWG did more than list national R&D challenges… …it also identified specific lines of research (projects) with best prospects for collaboration…. …and lead agents have already volunteered for the work

Criteria for short-listing the best opportunities for collaboration Nationally relevant challenge (not isolated to one jurisdiction or sector) More than one sector, organisation or jurisdiction is involved / interested Has at least some existing resourcing (and therefore a natural lead agent/s) An agreed priority by a number of beneficiaries (e.g. utilities, jurisdictions, private sector)

Three categories of potential projects Category 1: Maximising value from past investments - improving knowledge-sharing & adoption of past R&D Category 2: Maximising current effort - collaborating better on current R&D Category 3: Gaps & emerging needs - better planning & collaboration on future R&D

Category 1 projects (past investments): examples Outcome area: Improved water system security & resilience National need: To learn the lessons from rapid implementation of water infrastructure in recent crisis periods Suggested lead: WSAA and/or WaterAUSTRALIA 2 Assured water quality To collate, curate and make available the knowledge gained from many years of water quality research WQRA

Category 2 projects (current): examples 1 Outcome area: Improved water system security & resilience National need: To understand the performance & interactions of decentralised systems Suggested lead: CSIRO 2 Assured water quality To develop a nationally-accepted validation framework for water treatment technologies AWRCoE

Category 3 projects (emerging needs): examples 1 Outcome area: Improved community engagement and customer value National need: To develop and apply better methods for engaging with the community and customer Suggested lead: WSAA 2 Improved institutional and governance arrangements and economic signals To design better ways to integrate water planning into urban planning CRC Water Sensitive Cities

Second Major Task Advice on any concrete, practical improvements to Australia’s R&D “system”

The PWG suggests 5 principles for enhanced collaboration Participants share their urban water R&D priorities in an open and transparent way Participants share their urban water data, information and knowledge generated by research Participants evaluate the effectiveness of R&D and report evaluation outcomes Participants share information on opportunities for collaboration and facilitate collaboration Participants support industry development (economic) opportunities associated with the Australian urban water R&D effort

Principle 1: Share R&D priorities All parties’ research plans to be made available through the portal Membership of research planning / advising committees to be made available through the portal All parties to collaborate in maintaining and periodically reviewing the national urban water R&D needs statement

Principle 2: Share research data & knowledge A national urban water data collection to be developed and maintained by Australian National Data Service A national urban water knowledge portal to be developed (steering committee already formed) A review of IP to be carried out by a joint industry / researchers group

Principle 3: Evaluation Good current practices for evaluation of urban water R&D to be shared and best practice guidelines to be developed

Principle 4: Facilitate collaboration An annual urban water knowledge collaboration symposium to be conducted - in conjunction with OzWater - R&D users and providers in the same room at the same time

Principle 5: Support Industry Development A WSAA / Water AUSTRALIA test-bedding demonstration process to be developed Review of industry involvement in current projects. Key opportunities to be selected

The PWG: a unique process? All parties (“the four pillars”) Growing enthusiasm and volunteering Not reliant on governments, but consistent with COAG Not “owned” by any single party Resourced in-kind, plus temporary $$ contributions by some Self-help

Record of the PWG A clearer picture of Australia’s needs and challenges in urban water R&D A range of practical improvements to Australia’s processes for delivering urban water R&D Establishment of self-help liaison machinery and a collaborative mindset Successful engagement with industry A menu of options for future projects

Guidance from today’s Forum Reactions to the draft statement of ‘Australia’s Research Needs & Challenges in Urban Water’ Comments on the initiatives proposed to improve the processes for planning and delivering urban water R&D Assessment of the success or otherwise of the process to date Decisions on the future of the PWG and next steps

Future of the PWG: Proposal The ad-hoc PWG to be formalised into a standing committee (secretariat) of the Forum The PWG to finalise the forward work program in light of comments / guidance at today’s Forum Forum to convene again in 2014 and 2015 to review progress by the PWG

Report of the Partnership Working Group on Improving Arrangements for National Urban Water R&D