DKA is very pleased to share that its long await­ed foun­da­tion, the Desert Knowl­edge Research Insti­tute (DKRI), will launch soon. From an idea sown more than sev­en years ago, the DKRI will grow into a new oppor­tu­ni­ty for research and researchers in desert knowledge.

The DKRI will act as a con­duit and facil­i­ta­tor of desert research pro­grams, fund­ing and col­lab­o­ra­tions, work­ing to sup­port exist­ing research as well as to iden­ti­fy and gen­er­ate new research oppor­tu­ni­ties. As a reg­is­tered char­i­ty, the DKRI can access fund­ing for desert research and is in a great posi­tion to cre­ate con­nec­tions and oppor­tu­ni­ties across remote and region­al Australia. 

The three focus areas for the DKRI align with the strate­gic direc­tion of DKA.

Place

Land and coun­try is cen­tral to the work of DKA and the DKRI. Research can include:

• Cli­mate change
• Indige­nous nat­ur­al resource management
• Renew­able energy
• Agri­cul­ture and horticulture
• Inno­va­tion in the built environment

Peo­ple

Abo­rig­i­nal gov­er­nance, lead­er­ship and land man­age­ment is essen­tial to com­mu­ni­ty resilience in remote Aus­tralia. Research can include:

• Pop­u­la­tion mobility
• Retain­ing and recog­nis­ing emerg­ing Abo­rig­i­nal leaders
• Lead­er­ship and gov­er­nance includ­ing local decision-making
• Capac­i­ty build­ing for employ­ment and pro­fes­sion­al advancement

Knowl­edge

The accu­mu­la­tion, trans­la­tion and dis­sem­i­na­tion of knowl­edge is in the DNA of research insti­tutes. For the DKRI, this includes the out­comes of the research it facil­i­tates, and its part­ner­ship with DKA who host and pro­tect the many aspects of desert knowl­edge that cur­rent­ly exist. This pro­gram can include:

• Knowl­edge trans­la­tion from exist­ing accu­mu­lat­ed research into prac­ti­cal application
• Knowl­edge own­er­ship and commercialisation
  

For more infor­ma­tion, please con­tact Dr Melodie Bat.