Progressing Projects

All organisations are under increasing pressure to lift their productivity, expand their influence, meet new challenges and be proactive about future demands.

Kismet Forward can help you to bridge the gap between what is expected and what is possible, with our unique combination of skills, experience and our extensive networks and information-gathering across a variety of sectors including natural resource management, planning and welfare.

We can assist you in a variety of ways – from managing projects through to developing solutions to complex strategic problems, or undertaking planning processes.

We can undertake consultation or engagement activities, incorporating the results of these important processes into comprehensive, professionally written and well-researched reports.

Developing and Evaluating Strategies

Here are some examples of the many strategic and evaluation projects that we have undertaken in recent times:

2011 Kookaburra Awards - Jen chaired the judging panel for the 2011 Kookaburra Awards for Parks Victoria. The awards include 7 categories, each of which recognises the efforts of volunteers in Victoria's parks.

2011 Port Phillip & Westernport CMA's Regional Catchment Strategy - Jen was engaged to undertake the background research and to write the first drafts of RCS chapters for the Mornington Peninsula, Port Phillip Bay, Western Port and Melton/ Wyndham/ Moorabool/ Geelong.

2011 Strengthening DSE - Jen was commissioned to assist working groups to develop new regional structures. This followed a decision to restructure DSE in order to create regions that would better strengthen its capacity to plan for and respond to regional challenges and opportunities.

2011 Communication Strategy for Indigenous Community Organisation - Jen developed a communication strategy to assist an Indigenous community organisation work through the issues associated with an emergency health risk at their offices and community centre. The work was commissioned by Department of Health.

2011 Evaluation of Alpine Resorts Collaborative Learning Workshops - Jen facilitated and then evaluated the effectiveness and impact of a series of workshops designed to assist Alpine Resorts Management Boards to better integrate community engagement, Indigenous partnerships and biodiversity management into their planning and operations.

2011 Alpine Resorts Coordinating Council Performance Assessment - Jen assisted Council members and key stakeholders to undertake a review of Council's performance against a range of parameters.

2010 Evaluation of the Early Start Program - this pilot program was aimed at engaging 3-year-old children, who were known to Child Protection, in kindergarten programs. Jen undertook an extensive evaluation of the City of Greater Geelong pilot, involving interviews with some 40 stakeholders including case workers from a variety of welfare service providers, kindergarten teachers and parents.

2010 Evaluation of a Waste Contamination Reduction Program - through convening focus groups involving a range of community members across the City of Greater Geelong, Jen undertook a qualitative evaluation of a program aimed at reducing the instance of plastic bags being placed in municipal recycling bins.

2010 Attracting Corporate and Philanthropic Investment in NRM Activities - arising from an action in the Land & Biodiversity White Paper, Jen suggested a process for working with the corporate and philanthropic sectors to ecourage investment in natural resource management activities. The work included assembling potential contents for an invitation to invest (or prospectus), and provision of advice to government to ensure its policy to recruit private investment is achievable. Undertaken on behalf of Corangamite Catchment Management Authority for Department of Sustainability and Environment.

2010 Evaluation of the SafeStart Program - Jen worked with stakeholders of the pilot SafeStart Program, which aimed to reduce the risk of early childhood injury across the City of Greater Geelong. The evaluation included assessing the effectiveness of the program's implementation and its overall impact, as well as the identification of opportunities for improvement of future programs of this nature.

2009/2010 Linking People and Spaces 2010 - Janine was the Project Manager for the interagency team preparing Linking People and Spaces 2010, which is the 20 year strategy for Melbourne’s open space network. Janine undertook this work for Parks Victoria; project partners included Melbourne Water, DSE, DPCD and Growth Areas Authority.

2009 Evaluation of DSE's Social Resilience Program - Jen undertook an internal evaluation of the suite of projects implemented by Department of Sustainability and Environment following the 2009 bushfire season.

2009 Barwon Moorabool Leigh Program - Jen brought a diverse range of stakeholders together to develop a vision and outcomes for a major program to improve the environmental quality of the Barwon, Moorabool and Leigh River catchments. A component of this project was the production of a major Caring for our Country submission. (Undertaken for Corangamite Catchment Management Authority)

2009 Good Neighbour Program Communication Plan – developed by Jen for the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

2008/2009 Coast and Marine Asset Risk Analysis - Jen and Nicole Brown worked with a variety of organisations to identify and rate priority coastal and marine natural assets and threats around Port Phillip Bay and Western Port. (Done in collaboration with Marine Group Australia for Port Phillip Western Port CMA, drawing on earlier work undertaken by Deakin University)

2008/2009 Urban Parks Initiative Project - Janine researched and collated demographic data and the leisure and recreation needs and trends for the growth corridors of Toolern and Melton. The project aims to provide base information and stimulate thought about how urban parks can be better planned and managed, ensuring they are relevant to the community and take into account contemporary issues. (Undertaken for Parks Victoria)

2008 Review of Park Management Planning Framework - Jen and Nicole Brown worked with a range of Parks Victoria’s internal and external stakeholders to develop a new format for management plans. The format formed part of a framework which better links the plans with Parks Victoria’s strategic approach, as well as its obligations at the state, national and international levels. (Produced for Parks Victoria)

2008 Hesse Rural Health Service Strategic Plan - Jen worked with HRHS Board and staff to produce a Strategic Plan which, for the first time, incorporated the views and aspirations of staff and other stakeholders.

2007-2009 Weeds and Pests/Public Land Invasive Species - Jen worked with DSE (and relevant cross-agency teams) over an 18-month period to evaluate the former Weeds and Pests Initiative, and then to develop program logics for the Steering Committee and 12 individual projects for the new Public Land Invasive Species Initiative.

2006/2007 Integrated Catchment Management - Jen facilitated a workshop involving community and agency stakeholders of the degraded Watson Creek environment. We used the outcomes of the workshop to develop a model for the development of Integrated Catchment Management arrangements in Victoria. (Produced for the Central Coastal Board and the Port Phillip Western Port CMA.) The model was then applied in a subsequent workshop for the Merri River catchment near Warrnambool (for Parks Victoria and project partners)

2006/2007 Levels of Service Framework for the Coast - Levels of Service is a model developed by Parks Victoria to provide strategic priorities for investment in park infrastructure, whilst providing direction as to the type, scale and quality of services that should be delivered. Jen undertook a major study of the Parks Victoria model and detailed the means by which this framework could be modified and applied to the Victorian coast. Produced for the Victorian Coastal Council and the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

2006/2007 Facilitating Implementation of Marine and Coastal Actions – We investigated the extent to which the marine and coastal actions in the PPWCMA’s Regional Catchment Strategy were being implemented, and identified opportunities to facilitate further progress. This involved bringing together a number of stakeholders variously across more than a dozen key actions. (Undertaken for Central Coastal Board and Port Phillip Western Port Catchment Management Authority, supported by Pragmatic Consulting).

2006 Community Capacity in Corangamite's Landcare Networks - Jen detailed the outcomes of ten workshops with Landcare networks in the Corangamite region relating to the nature, level and opportunities for building relationships and networks that drive NRM in the region. Produced for the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority as a key input into its landmark Community Engagement Strategy.

Project Management

We have project-managed and made major contributions to:

2009 Kinglake National Park Office - Jen coordinated the development of options for the reconstruction of the burnt Kinglake National Park office, involving extensive community and stakeholder input (for Parks Victoria).

2008 Project Management for Parks Victoria, Commercial Services Division - Janine has led a number of projects including the negotiation and development of commercial and community leases and licenses for use of areas within Parks Victoria’s park network.

The developmental stages during 2007 of the Western Coastal Board's Priorities for Victoria's West Coast: Planning and Natural Resource Management – Jen did the initial project planning in the lead-up to the tendering of a major consultancy project.

The 2006/7 development of Parks Victoria’s Junior Ranger Program, which involved Jen overseeing the creation of characters, a website, operational guidelines for a children’s club, fee structures, interpretive material, a newsletter, and stories over an 18-month period. (Character development and interpretive materials were developed by Airbag and Magnum Opus, and Loggo respectively).

Helping Clients Respond to Strategies and Funding Opportunities:

We have assisted a variety of organisations by working with their stakeholders to develop responses to draft strategies such as the 2008 Land and Biodiversity at a Time of Climate Change Discussion Paper, 2007 draft Victorian Coastal Strategy, 2007 River Red Gum Forests Investigation, and the 2006 draft Access Guidelines for the West Coast.

Each year we are also asked to assist program development and/or project submissions for federal or state NRM funding.