agdots - Projects - innovative projects in WA and beyond

PROJECTS

INVESTMENT STRATEGY + REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT + BRAND DEVELOPMENT + FACILITATION
PROJECT:

Midwest Development Commission: Blueprint and Brand
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2022-2023

In 2022 agdots worked with a branding specialist, Prime Flow to develop a narrative for the development of the Midwest region and define the purpose and approach of the Midwest Development Commission (MWDC). Through this project, agdots identified and defined six key strategic areas for regional investment and target leverage points.

Following on from this initial work, agdots is preparing the MWDC Strategy 2023-2026 which identifies key strategic initiatives to create opportunities for the Midwest region.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT + STRATEGY + BUSINESS MODELLING
PROJECT:

Shire of Dumbleyung: Dumbleyung Landcare Re-structure
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2022-2023

agdots was engaged to work with the key community, NRM and farming stakeholders to develop options to ensure sustainability of Shire of Dumbleyung’s investment in Landcare and Dubleyung Landcare Group.

agdots undertook consultation with the farming community, investigated funding options that would enable sustainable and profitable farming in Dumbleyung.

M&E DESIGN + DIGITAL SOLUTIONS + RESEARCH
PROJECT:

Agrifutures Australia: Producer Technology Uptake Program M&E Framework
LOCATION:

National
TIMEFRAME:

2022-2023

Following on from designing and implementing a successful monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for nationally delivered pilot of Rural Edge’s Farm Tech workshops, agdots was engaged to review and develop the M&E for the Producer Technology Uptake Program.

agdots developed a theory of change for the $1 million producer-focused investment to assess producers’ agtech adoption capacity. agdots developed and successfully piloted an M&E system which captures and quantifies outcomes, outputs and impacts (including a new maturity rating) of the PTUP. Together with digital solutions expert, More than Machines, a bespoke automated digital scorecard tool was then created by agdots to present key evaluation metrics to inform future investment and high-level reporting. The framework and scorecard were then extended to capture the impact of the PTUP Schools program.

DESIGN CONCEPT + RESEARCH + BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT + STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT + INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT:

DPIRD: Pemberton Freshwater Knowledge Centre
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2022

agdots along with Yellow Window and H+H Architects were engaged to assist the Hatchery (Pemberton Freshwater Research Centre) to share the centre’s story with the public but manage the biosecurity and site restrictions of the current facility. agdots led the in-depth research, analysis, stakeholder engagement and an innovative approach to conceptual design, the agdots project team created a concept plan which showcases the current and historical role of the Hatchery and cultural significance of freshwater ecology in the region.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT + REVIEW & RECOMMENDATION + FACILITATION
PROJECT:

WA Local Government Association: Local Emergency Management Arrangements Review, Local Government Consultation
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2022

agdots was engaged to undertake a process of engagement with WA local governments to review and investigate improvement options for the Local Emergency Management Arrangements Review (LEMA). agdots facilitated five face to face and four online workshops engaging over 80% of the 137 WA Local Governments. The workshops explored the resourcing, implementation, governance structures and community and stakeholder roles and responsibility within the LEMA through the Emergency Management framework of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery (PPRR).

agdots independent LEMA Review Workshop Consultation Report and WALGA’s LEMA Review Consultation Summary and Recommendations Report were released in March 2023. These reports will inform the State Emergency Management Committee Business Unit’s LEMA Improvement Plan which is due for release in mid 2023.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT + FACILITATION
PROJECT:

Australian Rural Leadership Foundation: Drought Resilient Leaders Development Program
LOCATION:

Northern Territory & Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2022

agdots was engaged by ARLF as the Regional Lead for Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Elizabeth Brennan facilitated residency and online intensives to groups of between 10- 40 regional leaders from WA’s midwest, wheatbelt, gascoyne and the Northern Territory.

The program attracted leaders from diverse regional, rural and remote communities, businesses and backgrounds, and created a network of future-focussed people committed to embedding resilience thinking and influencing positive change in their communities.

Taking place during the WA Covid-19 border reopening in 2022, agdots adapted the structure and content of the program to work within changing government health and social restrictions. Whilst many other residency-based programs were canceled or delayed the almost 100 WA and NT participants were able to maximise the content and networks of this experiential learning program and gain valuable insight into their lived experiences of climate change and how it affects their respective communities.

RESEARCH + ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT:

Shire of Mingenew: Structural Options for Owning Community Assets
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2022

The Shire of Mingenew engaged agdots to complete a desktop evaluation into potential business structures for a community owned commercial asset. Mingenew’s sole supermarket was at risk of closure and with the next closest grocery provider over 50km away agdots was tasked with exploring community and co-op ownership options.

The research report was published as a public document by the Shire in 2022 and helped support finding a new owner and operator for this business.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT + PLANNING + FACILITATION
PROJECT:

Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA: TC Seroja Community Recovery Planning
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2022

TC Seroja crossed the Midwest coast as a Cat 3 system on 11 April 2021 impacting 50,000 people across 16 local government areas over 170,000km. agdots was engaged to work with the most severely impacted communities to develop a Local Operational Recovery Plan. Due to other disrupting factors related to COVID-19 the recovery time frames of TC Seroja were significantly delayed which further exacerbated social, environmental, economic and built impacts on these at risk communities.

agdots facilitated community forums with the Shires of Chapman Valley, Mingenew, Perenjori and Morawa and produced practical reports that detail and prioritise recovery tasks and KPI’s. These Local Operational Recovery Plans were adopted by the Local Government and continue to inform the on-going recovery efforts of their communities.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT + RESEARCH + FACILITATION + INVESTMENT STRATEGY
PROJECT:

DPIRD: Global Transformation search to inform Regional Drought Resilience Planning
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2022

agdots undertook a global research process of key resilience topics to inform three regions within WA (Midwest, Southern Wheatbelt and Great Southern) on investment activities that build resilience to climate change. This research process underpinned the project identification stage of the Regional Resilience planning in which agdots facilitated multiple stakeholder engagement workshops.

This has led to regional projects bring defined for WA’s Future Drought Fund.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT + INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT + ADVOCACY
PROJECT:

DPIRD: Community Engagement Abrolhos Islands Project
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2021-2022

agdots undertook a survey of the fishers operating within the Abrolhos and achieved the highest ever success rate of a survey within this cohort in their history (85%). This survey and the subsequent stakeholder consultation report led to the WA State Government announcing key changes to the Management of the Islands to support multi-functional industry development (Tourism, Fishing, and Aquaculture). This outcome enables the protection of the Island group and allows the in-situ fishing community to undertake sustainable and ‘light touch’ development.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT + INVESTMENT STRATEGY
PROJECT:

Rural Edge: Growth Strategy
LOCATION:

National
TIMEFRAME:

2018-2022

Rural Edge provides business skills training building the capacity of WA farming businesses to be innovative, competitive and profitable. agdots was responsible for the business development strategy for Rural Edge from 2018 to 2022. In that time, Rural Edge launched four new training workshops, and expanded into a national market.

agdots was responsible for building partnerships for Rural Edge with GRDC, Muresk, MLA, Agworld, Bendigo Bank (and Rural Bank), CBH Group, NAB and Agrifutures, and retained RSM, Rabobank and Hopgood Gamin Lawyers.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT + FACILITATION
PROJECT:

Services for Australian Remote and Rural Allied Health : Online Leadership Program
LOCATION:

National
TIMEFRAME:

2021

agdots was engaged by the allied health professionals national peak body Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH) as the lead facilitator for this online leadership program, delivered by Elizabeth Brennan.

The program enabled participants to engage with SARRAH colleagues from across Australia, to understand networks of influence that support and enable leadership, develop leadership skills and devise clear pathways forward. The facilitated program was successful in helping participants identify the skills needed to advocate and contribute to broader conversations concerning health delivery and outcomes in rural and remote areas. The program was delivered online over two months to 30 participants from across Australia.

INVESTMENT STRATEGY + REVIEW & RECOMMENDATION + ADVOCACY
PROJECT:

Regional Telecommunications Review
LOCATION:

National
TIMEFRAME:

2021

agdots Director, Sue Middleton was one of five members appointed by the Federal Minister for Health, Regional Communications and Local Government to the 2021 Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee. The panel engaged with hundreds of regional stakeholders in 24 online meetings across the country which included industry organisations, telcos, and various agencies across jurisdictions.

The subsequent review report captured the voice of the regions, and identified implementable solutions and led to the Government announcing a $1.3bn program to solve key digital issues in regional, remote and rural Australia.

RESEARCH + CAPACITY BUILDING + ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT + PROGRAM MANAGEMENT + M&E IMPLEMENTATION
PROJECT:

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR): Transformative Agriculture and Enterprise Development Program (TADEP)
LOCATION:

Papua New Guinea
TIMEFRAME:

2015-2021

TADEP was a multidisciplinary research program that aimed to improve the livelihoods of rural men and women in Papua New Guinea through five component research projects. Elizabeth Brennan was engaged as the Program Coordinator and developed a series of correlating objectives that help realise this fundamental aim and identify key areas of change that the program sought to catalyse.

TADEP moved away from a traditional siloed research approach and harnessed systems-thinking methodology to address intrinsically interconnected and complex challenges. TADEP facilitated opportunities for cross-program collaboration and capacity building, delivered a coherent and coordinated communications strategy, developed and maintained a program-wide participatory monitoring and evaluation framework, and ensured that the guiding principles of gender equity and private-sector led development are embedded across all program-level activities.

MARKETING STRATEGY + BRAND DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT:

Moora Citrus, Bravo™ Apples, Family Tree Farms, Fruitico
LOCATION:

Western Australia and California
TIMEFRAME:

2015-2019

agdots has developed, led and implemented various fresh produce marketing strategies for one of the largest citrus operations in WA, Moora Citrus, as well as other international fresh produce brands such as Bravo™ Apples, Family Tree Farms and Fruitico.

Each strategy has increased brand awareness, product positioning, market penetration and overall sales for the varied products lines. Activities included market research, product development, brand and packaging development, promotional campaigns, written and photographic content for various media channels, event management, in-store customer engagement and merchandising, website and newsletter development, and partnerships with food service, hospitality and social media influencers.

agdots has strong insight into and relationships within the WA horticulture industry and value chains including growers, packing facilities, market agents, retailers, researchers, industry leaders and government.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT + INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT:

Moora Citrus
LOCATION:

Moora, Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2000-present

Moora Citrus is an innovative horticulture project in the WA Wheatbelt. The orchard is producing oranges and mandarins, with a focus on delivering fresh eating citrus into the local market across 8 months of each production year. Spanning 210 hectares of trees, the project is a fully integrated operation, having grown the rootstock on location through to the harvesting and packing of the citrus for supply to market.

12kms from the town of Moora, the orchard has been developed over a number of years by the Brennan Rural Group and supported by equity partners the Gillon Group.

The orchard has been developed to capitalise on the opportunity of providing fresh, local citrus to the WA domestic market. The project has focused on developing sufficient scale to fill local WA market needs as a priority and enable potential value chain development direct into supermarkets. The orchard delivers high quality fruit which exceeds market demands and establishes a demand for local fruit in the WA market.

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT + INVESTMENT STRATEGY
PROJECT:

DPIRD Investment and Partnership Opportunities Report
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2018-2019

This internal project was designed to define the growth opportunities for agriculture and fisheries in Western Australia and to outline an integrated framework that will enable Government and Industry to realise these opportunities. This work was completed by a Consortia of Consultants of which agdots was a member.

The Report identified that the WA agrifood sector has the potential to grow and contribute more to the State’s economy. The sector generates in excess of $20B to the State economy through on-farm production, processing, employment and exports.

Further investment and capital needs to be attracted to grow on-farm and post-farm gate productivity, and realise value chain opportunities. This will require a clearer understanding of what customers want; better targeted products and services; development and application of appropriate business models; supporting infrastructure; and government and industry partnerships to assist the sector to be internationally competitive.

This work has resulted in proposals to fund 3 industry partnerships in the Red Meat Industry, Wine Industry and the Oats Industry.

The Growth Framework was updated in June 2020.

REVIEW & RECOMMENDATION + BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT:

Grower Group Alliance Review
LOCATION:

Western Australia
TIMEFRAME:

2017-2018

DPIRD commissioned a Mid Term Project Review on the Grower Group Alliance (GGA). The Grower Groups have largely replaced government extension services, but there was no clear strategy for how the groups would engage with the Government in the future. agdots was tasked with the process of developing a clear value proposition for investment in the GGA, and an enduring funding model.

The Review process developed a business model and agdots then introduced the GAA to DPIRD to create an enduring funding partnership. This leverages other investment to build programs and projects across the network of grower groups. The project developed key product areas where the GGA could add value to the agricultural system.

Under this new proposed funding model, research and development and extension and adoption are considered to be integral models of an innovation system. The new knowledge generated in research will be converted to practice and trialed for adoption in the grower group network.

This review then went on to result in an outcome of a 4 year $4.38M funding announcement in July 2019 for the GGA.

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