Collaborative networks for system transformation

Chief investigators

Jason Nielsen (Climate KIC)

Seb Mueller (CSIRO)

Purpose of project

Achieving Australia’s climate targets will require an extraordinary level of collaboration and coordination across regions, industries and sectors. Industries and regions will need to adopt new low-carbon, renewable and removal technologies at scale. At the same time, this transition must protect local economies, support workforce transition and attract investment in new industries – all while ensuring regional communities continue to thrive.

Collaborative networks bring organisations and individuals together to share and develop knowledge, resources and facilitate action. They are powerful tools for innovation by enabling learning, coordination and collaboration between industry, government, research and allied organisations. However, despite their widespread use, evidence of how and when collaborative networks deliver impact remains limited. 

Collaborative networks offer to help build the capacity of industries and regions to navigate – and accelerate – the shift to net zero emissions.

The Industrial Regions Network (IRN) is a collaborative network that aims to accelerate net zero transitions in Australia’s industrial regions with diverse participants from business, finance, industry groups, government, not-for-profits and research. The IRN has been designed to share knowledge, facilitate collaboration and amplify learning. It includes forums, spotlight sessions on relevant topics, working groups, and will produce knowledge-resources such as case studies, insight papers and transition maps for network participants.

This project will utilise the IRN as a test bed for understanding the role of collaborative networks in systems transformation. The IRN will also be used to better understand and refine good network practice. In this project, we will develop a fit for purpose monitoring, evaluation and learning framework for collaboration networks.

We will also carry out a comparative analysis of collaborative networks in Australia and globally. This will support learning about network practice. It will also enable the IRN to be improved upon – and enable the development of a robust evidence-base for the value and impact of collaborative networks in supporting system transformation. These insights and lessons will be translated and shared broadly to support similar networks in other contexts.  

Some of the core questions this research project seeks to answer include: 

• Which network activities, analysis and tools best support learning, collaboration, coordination and system transformation?  
• What are the most important elements to consider in designing and establishing impactful networks?  
• How can network performance and outcomes best be tracked and improved?  
• How can we effectively and efficiently share the lessons of network outcomes and practice more broadly?

Impact of project

In simultaneously running the Industrial Regions Network, monitoring its effectiveness and refining it for maximum impact, we will help accelerate the transition to net zero in industrial regions. This project will also support the development of collaborative networks to drive transitions in other contexts.

Project partners