Desert Settlement Sustainability: a perspective on collaborative community based research.

Abstract

This paper discusses a multi-university partnership in the context of a Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) project to study the sustianability of desert settlements in Australia. Whilst telling the research story, the paper identifies the opportunies of the research and the constraints and struggles, from the particular perspective of one team member. The opportunities for the CRC, the university, the researcher and the community are examined and strategies are discussed for managing the tensions and ensuring the region's needs are prioritised. The constraints discussed include ethical constraints of community based research, both generally, and in terms of research involving Aboriginal People, and the challenges of meeting diverse outcomes and expectations. A particular emphasis is placed on how universities can support this kind of work.