International development

Clean technology applications in tourism accommodation

Civil Society WASH Fund Panel

Effective community based tourism

Refocussing the SIG RAMSI People’s Survey

Quality assurance for Philippines Australia Sustainability Program

Clean technology applications in tourism accommodation
Client: Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre

The Institute’s expertise in clean energy systems and the principles of sustainable tourism led to the development of a framework for understanding the key issues and barriers to the introduction of clean energy in tourist accommodation following a review of relevant international literature. This framework was then used to collect information on best practice examples of the use and management of clean energy technologies in hotels and small scale rural and remote accommodation establishments. The resulting manual will assist decision makers to choose locally appropriate options on sourcing energy from either renewable (geo-thermal, solar, wind etc) or low impact forms of generation. The manual also outlines the energy savings that can be achieved from using appliances that are energy efficient and engaging people to use energy more wisely by, for example, turning lights off when not in the room. The research found that by being more energy and water wise, operators of small to medium accommodation establishments in rural and remote areas such as hostels, small hotels, and guest houses can achieve cost savings. The manual will be used as a tool for APEC economies to provide training and engage with their local communities. The project was undertaken as a partnership with the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC), APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and AICST (the APEC International Centre for Sustainable Tourism).

Daly, J., Glassmire, Jo., Langham, E. and Paddon, M. 2010 Clean technology in tourist accommodation: a best practice manual [prepared for APEC Tourism Working Group], Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, Gold Coast, Australia. Download/view

Effective community based tourism
Client: Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Center

Institute researchers worked with tourism experts at the University of Technology, Sydney as well as the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Center and the APEC International Centre for Sustainable Tourism. Together they developed a framework for understanding the key issues and barriers to the development of CBT based on a review of relevant international literature. This framework was then used to collect case studies that illustrate the principles of good practice in sustainable tourism and community development. The manual focuses on thermal tourism and showcases best practice examples of CBT in rural and remote communities in APEC economies. The manual identifies the underlying processes and practices that make CBT successful while also identifying key challenges and risks. The manual includes some of the best published tools including worksheets, models and questionnaires. Community based tourism facilitates the protection of natural and socio-cultural resources and improves the welfare of local people while enhancing monetary gains and market access. The manual will help NGOs, regional tourism agencies, APEC governments and communities in rural and regional areas to develop community based tourism that is sustainable. A manual on the practical issues to be considered when planning community based tourism (CBT) in APEC economies that was produced by Institute researchers based on this research was presented at an international tourism workshop in Cusco, Peru in March 2010.

Asker, A., Boronyak, L., Carrard, C. and Paddon, M. 2010 Effective community based tourism: a best practice manual, prepared for APEC Tourism Working Group, Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, Gold Coast, Australia. Download/view

Civil Society WASH Fund Panel
Client: AusAID

The Institute’s Dr Juliet Willetts has an on-going leadership role in the water, sanitation and hygiene services (WASH) sector as executive committee member of the WASH Reference group, which comprises NGOs, academic institutions and the Australian Water Association. She is also team leader of the Monitoring Review Panel for the $31m WASH Fund that supports eleven non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to undertake WASH work in poor and vulnerable communities in Africa, Asia and Pacific. She provides support to improve NGO’s monitoring and evaluation processes, a mid-term review of the program and travelled to Bangladesh and Nepal for a series of monitoring visits, and will lead analysis and synthesis of the achievements of the Fund.

Refocussing the SIG RAMSI People’s Survey
Client: AusAID

The potential for The People’s Survey to inform decision-making and policy-development by the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) and RAMSI has been strengthened following a series of stakeholder workshops and interviews conducted by Institute researchers Professor Cynthia Mitchell and Katie Ross. The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) asked the Institute to engage a range of stakeholders including SIG and RAMSI to identify more relevant and useful questions for the nation-wide survey. The People’s Survey was piloted in 2006, and has been conducted annually since then to gather information on the effectiveness and public acceptance of RAMSI interventions. An independent review of the survey conducted by the Institute in 2008 recommended that it be revised to better reflect the emerging partnership arrangement between the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) and RAMSI. In 2009, a design mission for the new SIG RAMSI People’s Survey occurred, with the Institute in the role of technical expert. However, as the Request for Tender (RFT) for conducting the SIG RAMSI People’s Survey was released later than anticipated, RAMSI invited the Institute to conduct the first phase of the new design to ensure the feasibility of a 2010 People’s Survey. The process of identifying topics and questions for the revised Survey was highly collaborative. Four one-day workshops were conducted with more than 60 representatives. About 15 additional interviews were conducted with key ministries and stakeholders.

Quality assurance for Philippines Australia Sustainability Program
Partner for: Cardno ACIL

The Institute’s Mick Paddon led a quality assurance panel that mentored the local teams who ran the AusAID funded Philippines Australia Sustainability Program (PALS). The panel of three international and one national expert ensured the outputs from the project met its overall development objectives. The Program which ran over six years from 2006 to 2010, with a total budget of AUD 22.83m, helped communities and Local Government Units plan and manage activities that improved the livelihoods of the rural poor in the province of Misamis Occidental in the Southern Philippine island of Mindanao. The Program developed participatory planning at community as well as local, municipal and provincial government levels. A Program Development Facility funded activities identified by communities through these planning processes. PALS supported 725 projects which were estimated to have benefited 11,759 households, over 80% of which live below the official poverty line. Typical community activities included agricultural sector livelihoods activities and small-scale infrastructure, especially basic water and sanitation.

Knowledge networks in the water sanitation and hygiene sector

Review of the Solomon Islands Peoples Survey

Promoting the impact of the Community-Based Avian Influenza Risk Reduction Program

Providing mentoring and quality assurance to the Philippine-Australia Local Sustainability Program

Water and Sanitation Initiative performance assessment framework

Workshop program on sustainability initiatives in local government for delegation of Chinese leaders

Australian Leadership Awards Fellowships Mr Iftikhar Hussain from Pakistan took up a five month research fellowship with the Institute supported by an AusAID Australian Leadership Award. During his Fellowship, Iftikhar’s research focussed on the critical issue of capacity development in the water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector and more specifically, the role of effective knowledge networks in the sector. He worked with ISF researchers on a program designed to improve WASH capacity development in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The research team undertook an analysis of the effectiveness of different types of knowledge networks in the Asia-Pacific region. They developed criteria for “effectiveness”, and then assessed how existing networks perform against the criteria relevant to them as well as analysing critical enabling and constraining factors. While participating in this research, Iftikhar collaborated closely with the Australian Water and Sanitation Reference group – a community of practice of non-governmental organisations, academic institutions and the Australian Water industry.

Hussain, H., Willetts, J.R. & Carrard, N.R. 2009, ’Knowledge networks in the water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector in south east Asia and the Pacific’, Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS, Sydney, Australia.
View/Download

Review of the Solomon Islands People’s Survey
Client: AusAID

Research Directors Cynthia Mitchell and Mick Paddon undertook an independent review of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) People’s Survey. The People’s Survey is an annual assessment of the perceptions, opinions and attitudes of Solomon Islanders on key development and social issues related to RAMSI’s program. ISF was invited to undertake a review of the survey to determine if the process is an effective, valuable tool towards measuring RAMSI’s progress in achieving its goal of a peaceful, well-governed and prosperous Solomon Islands. Findings of the review identified opportunities to build on the successes of the People’s Survey, including engaging with the Solomon Islands Government to enhance joint ownership of the People’s Survey and align the Survey with Government needs and development objectives.

Promoting the impact of the Community-Based Avian Influenza Risk Reduction Program
Client: CARE Australia

A team of Institute researchers worked closely with CARE Australia to promote the national and regional impact of the Community-Based Avian Influenza Risk Reduction Program (CBAIRRP) in four Mekong countries - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. The aim of the project was to capitalise on pilot work conducted in the four countries, identifying country-level outcomes that could inform policy and practice at national and regional levels. Research Directors, Emma Partridge and Michael Paddon conducted a workshop in Phnom Penh with the four CBAIRRP country teams and the program's regional manager. The workshop assisted the teams to move from the operational to the strategic level, by using their program outcomes to develop strategies for national and regional communication and advocacy. Participants conducted a strategic stakeholder mapping exercise to inform the implementation of these strategies. The Institute continued to provide expert advice, content reviews and support tailored to each project team within their country context. This collaborative approach aimed to develop the country teams' own abilities to translate program outcomes into lessons that could inform future community-based avian influenza risk reduction programs in a broader context.

Providing mentoring and quality assurance to the Philippine-Australia Local Sustainability Program
Client: Cardno Acil Pty Ltd

ISF has been supporting the AusAID funded Philippine/Australia Local ISF is ISF is supporting the AusAID funded Philippines Australia Sustainability Program (PALS) through its Quality Assurance Panel (QAP). PALS is a long term program which helps communities and Local Government Units plan and manage activities that improve the livelihoods of the rural poor in the province of Misamis Occidental in the Southern Philippine island of Mindanaor. Participatory planning and development is occurring at community as well as local , municipal and provincial government levels. A Program Development Facility funds activities identified by communities through these planning processes. Typical community activities include agricultural sector livelihoods activities and small-scale infrastructure, especially basic water and sanitation.The QAP, chaired by ISF’s Mick Paddon, comprises three international and one national expert, who provide mentoring for the local teams running the program and ensure that all the outputs from the project meet its overall development objectives. See also AusAID’s PALS program (opens an external site) and details of PALS on the web site of the managing consulting group (opens an external site)

Water and Sanitation Initiative performance assessment framework
Client: AusAID

A framework to assess the performance of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) aid projects was developed by Institute researchers with independent consultant John Fargher. The assessment framework will be used by AusAID , the Australian government’s overseas aid program across all of its WASH activities. It was developed following a review of AusAID’s existing monitoring, evaluation and performance frameworks and research into international best practice approaches and indicators. A pragmatic, workable performance assessment system was developed following close consultation with AusAID country programs, regional programs and the Infrastructure, and the Water and Sanitation thematic group to ensure usability of the end-product.

Workshop program on sustainability initiatives in local government for delegation of Chinese leaders
Client: Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific, University of Sydney

ISF contributed a day of presentations towards a study tour for a delegation from the China National Development and Reform Commission. The program included case studies of NSW local government sustainability initiatives and a panel of experts from local government organisations. ISF also organised a one day field trip to Gosford City Council to see how how sustainability is integrated into the operation of specific council services.

Civil Society partnerships for promoting water, sanitation and hygiene in Southeast Asia and the Pacific

City Development Strategies in Vietnam

City Development Strategy for Thanh Hoa City in a regional development context

Civil Society partnerships for promoting water, sanitation and hygiene in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
Client: AusAID

In 2007 AusAID committed to providing an additional $300m for investment in water, sanitation and hygiene through the Water and Sanitation Initiative (WSI).ISF, in collaboration with the International Water Centre was engaged by AusAID to investigate NGO partnerships, capacity development and state/local government engagement in the water and sanitation sector to inform planning and investment through the WSI. The research report informed AusAID decisions about funding mechanisms and investment options and the development of a concept paper for NGO or Civil Society engagement in the WSI. Countries included in the study are Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Vanuatu and Vietnam. The findings of the study are presented in three parts:
Part 1: Strategic Approach for NGO Engagement: Presents guiding principles to maximise the effectiveness of AusAID’s engagement with NGOs, and includes recommended funding mechanisms.
Part 2: Review and Analysis by Country: Presents an analysis of the WASH country context, existing AusAID, NGO and WASH activity, opportunities for further NGO engagement and relevant funding mechanisms in the ten focus countries.
Part 3: Capacity Development and State/Local Government and Utility Partnerships: Presents an argument for why capacity development is a critical investment required in our region with lessons learned and four key recommendations in this area, as well as an analysis and preliminary scoping of how AusAID could support capacity development through state/local government and utility partnerships.

Willetts, J.R., Pedi, D., Carrard, N.R., Powell, B. & de Lacy, I. 2008, NGO partnerships and capacity development in the water sanitation and hygiene sector, The International Water Centre (IWC) and the Institute for Sustainable Futures.
View/Download paper (PDF 1.88MB)

City Development Strategies in Vietnam
Client: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

The Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation(SDC) contracted with ISF to undertake to develop projects to continue its support for City Development Strategies (CDS) in Vietnam. The projects were:
1. Support for Strategic and Cross-sector Planning in Nam Dinh Province
2. Extending CDS to Multiple Cities Through a Vietnamese Training and Coordinated Network
3. Piloting an Innovative Tool Combining CDS and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

City Development Strategy for Thanh Hoa City in a regional development context
Client: United Nations Habitat

ISF assisted UN Habitat in an assessment of the potential for a city and regional development strategy to contribute to the sustainable development of the City and Region of Than Hoa in northern Vietnam.

Assessing the experience of and providing guidance on sustainable city development in Vietnam

City Development Strategies for medium-size cities in Vietnam: Can Tho and Ha Long

Assessment of impact of Cities Alliance activities in Vietnam: City Development Strategies

Reviewing the impacts of the AusAID funded project in the Philippines to improve economic and social conditions of families affected by agrarian reform

Assessing the experience of and providing guidance on sustainable city development in Vietnam
Client: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

The Institute was commissioned by the Swiss Government Development agency (SDC) to assess the experience of cities in Vietnam which have developed City Development Strategies (CDSs) with a particular focus on the CDSs funded by SDC, in Dong Hoi and Nam Dinh. ISF worked with local and international partners to review the experience of preparing CDSs. The Institute ran local workshops to assess and confirm this experience with local participants then synthesised this experience into a Guide to developing CDSs in Vietnam. ISF also provided policy advice to SDC on how it might proceed in with supporting sustainable development strategies in Vietnam at city and provincial levels and potentially in other countries in South East Asia.

City Development Strategies for medium-size cities in Vietnam: Can Tho and Ha Long
Client: World Bank

The project prepared City Development Strategies (CDSs) for the Cities of Can Tho and Halong in Vietnam. ISF led and supervised a team of Vietnamese researchers based at the National Institute of Urban and Rural Research which undertook a systematic analysis of the economic, social and environmental status of each city and the existing plans for their development. The team synthesised this analysis into a consolidated development strategy through extensive consultation with stakeholders. The completed CDSs provide a framework for the sustainable development of the cities to 2020.

Assessment of impact of Cities Alliance activities in Vietnam: City Development Strategies
World Bank
ISF undertook a comprehensive review of the experience in Vietnam of preparing City Development Strategies (CDS) as part of an overall review of Cities Alliance activities in the country, including urban upgrading.

Reviewing the impacts of the AusAID funded project in the Philippines to improve economic and social conditions of families affected by agrarian reform
Client: AusAID

ISF was commissioned by AusAID to conduct an independent review of the outcomes of the project it funded with $10m between 2003-2006 in the southern Philippines. Under the Government of Philippines’ Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, the Department of Agrarian Reform has been responsible for redistributing 4.29 million hectares of land to about 3 million households. The project provided technical support to families who were intended to benefit from agrarian reform , to enable them to improve their economic and social conditions. The main objective was to identify lessons for AusAID in the implementation of the new Australian-Philippines Development Strategy for the period 2007-2011.

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Conference papers

Project reports

Conference papers

Project reports

Conference papers

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Book chapters