2019-05-07 P&E Agenda - Item 3 - Attachment 1 - Noosa Sustainability Institute - Concepts and Options Report

5           Conclusions and Recommendations
5.1         Summary
A variety of opinions were obtained relating to the potential concept for a Sustainability Institute. The
search of existing Institutes both within Australia and Internationally showed that there were two
major Institute types, the community-based institutes and the institutes run by Universities that had
important information that could be used for consideration for a “Noosa Sustainability Institute”.
There was also a smaller business led group of institutes considered. The community institutes focus
on building sustainability in the local community while the University institutes are more intent on
providing a research focus for students and staff and education of students. The business-led
Institutes operate on a greater fee for service model. None of the institutes examined provided an
absolute match or fit for a Noosa specific Institute. Instead a range of points were able to be garnered
from across the examples examined.
Along with examining the characteristics of existing Institutes, the opinions of Council staff and some
local community members on the need and operations of a “Noosa Sustainability Institute” were
sought. These opinions ranged from “an institute shouldn’t be formed and all work should be done
just through the Council ” ,through to “an Institute should have a physical presence that is not only
used as a focal point for research, but also a place for community activities, art and science
fairs/presentations”.
One factor that everyone agreed upon was that any effort needs to work to ensure that the outputs
of any research directly adds value to the Noosa region. No “research for research’s sake”.
Using all of the information obtained above, three different models of a potential Institutes were
constructed, from a basic model which merely organises the projects undertaken but does not
attempt to set research topics or direction, through to a complex model that set research directions,
calls for projects, monitors research projects and facilitates research outcomes. All of the options
have pros and cons that need to be considered in the process of advancing the idea of a research
institute choosing up the most appropriate structure for a Noosa Institute.
The most complex model (Option 3) has the best potential to create an international reputation for
the Noosa region and attract funding outside of the Council, however, the complexity of the Option
3 means that effort and time would be required to become established from a base start. The simplest
model (Option 1) is the easiest to get underway but is essentially a formalisation and centralisation
of the research activities already undertaken within the Council. The middle model (Option 2) is more
similar to Option 3 than it is to Option 1. This was deliberately done with the consideration that the
Council could consider commencing the Noosa Institute under the Option 2 model with the aim to
progress to the Option 3 model as the Institute became successfully established. However, there
could be a progression from Option 1 to 2, or from Option 2 to Option 3 should it be determined that
this is the most appropriate way to go.




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