Cairns Institute Seminar Series

Striving for Societal Impact: Reflections from the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program

Presented by Dr Tori Graham

20 October 2022 | 12.00pm

Cairns Institute D3-063

Zoom: https://jcu.zoom.us/j/85453466075?pwd=amM5MlpYZVRCSzhQcFJpU3g1U0Nhdz09

Changes in the ways that humans manage ecosystems in response to climate change are likely to generate social, cultural and economic impacts, both positive and negative. While global environmental change calls for more innovative and resilience-based approaches to protected area management, understanding the range and distribution of these impacts is fundamental to shaping just and sustainable futures. How though can we anticipate the impacts of novel management in the Great Barrier Reef, while the technologies to support such management remain largely prospective? Exploring this question requires methodologies for impact assessment that are adaptive to a high degree of uncertainty, scalable across space and time, and relevant to multiple emerging technologies. This seminar will discuss how this work is being progressed in the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, despite the high degree of uncertainty, and share reflections on challenges in striving to create lasting societal impact from a large, interdisciplinary research program.

Image: Matt Curnock