Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.44
Liaison William Van Ausdal
Submission Date July 9, 2024

STARS v3.0

Flinders University
IL-65: Innovation A

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the innovative outcome, program, or initiative:
South Australian Climate Resilience Discovery Farms and Innovator Sites

Does the innovation represent a new, extraordinary, unique, ground-breaking, or uncommon outcome, program, or initiative that addresses a sustainability challenge and is not covered by an existing credit?:
Yes

Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the innovation:

South Australian Climate Resilience Discovery Farms and Innovator Sites
Led by Flinders University and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), with support from 39 research partners including farming and agri-business communities, this $11.7 million program aims to pioneer climate-resilient solutions for sustainable agriculture. Harnessing innovative applied science to enhance the climate resilience of cropping, livestock, and mixed farms, this initiative conducts extensive, long-term trials spanning South Australia's pastoral, low, medium, and high rainfall zones. Dr. Rhiannon Schilling, Flinders Affiliate Associate Professor and SARDI Agronomy Program Leader, emphasises the program's collaborative approach, uniting the farming community with leading researchers through a network of long-term research trials to test applied science and climate resilient solutions.
" This research partnership will drive the development of solutions to tackle drought preparedness here in South Australia and beyond and Flinders University is excited to be part of this next era of pioneering research," says Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling.

Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Clare Scriven, underscores the state government's commitment: "Through SARDI, we are thrilled to partner with Flinders University, farmers, and other stakeholders to deliver cutting-edge research advancing sustainability, resilience, and prosperity in South Australia’s primary industries."

https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2023/08/16/new-ag-engine-flinders/

Expertise from Flinders academics include programs focused on dryland farming systems (Schilling, Cook, Pearce), crop and pasture agronomy with cereals, legumes, weed management (Schilling, Cook, Pearce, Ramesh, Sweetman, Bulone), soils including soil health, soil microbiome, soil constraints/amelioration (Schilling, Breed, Liddicoat, Eijkelkamp), social science (Arbon, Crouch, Pourazad), hydrology (Guan, Banks, Batelaan) and AgTech (Kalkofen, Schilling), comprising a multidisciplinary team with extensive skills and scientific knowledge. Flinders academics include members of the Torrens Resilience Initiative and the National Groundwater Centre for Research and Training. 

Overall, this initiative represents a comprehensive approach to enhancing the resilience of cropping, livestock, and mixed farms in South Australia through scientific innovation, strategic integration of farming systems, and robust data-driven decision-making support.


Notes about the information provided for this credit:
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Additional documentation for this credit:
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