Finding integration pathways: developing a transdisciplinary (TD) approach for the Upper Nepean Catchment.

The recognition that natural resources and their processes support human society underpins the notion of sustainability. Key players that are engaged with balancing natural resource protection and use include: Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs); local, state and federal regulators; resource managers and policy-makers; and industrial, agricultural and domestic resource-users. Discipline specialists are often consulted, and research results may be used, in the development and implementation of resource management plans. In Australia and globally, meaningful, effective communication between discipline specialists, resource-users, communities, and resource managers is not the norm. In this study, a team of discipline-specialist researchers used the Upper Nepean sub-catchment as a case-study; addressed a key question raised by the local CMA; and worked together to develop a transdisciplinary (TD) approach that would enhance the decision-making capacity of the CMA. The TD approach addressed information pertaining to the question: What are the risks to maximising the environmental benefits expected from environmental flows? By analysing information and knowledge for both content and context (the factors influencing the CMA), after a one-year initial phase, we present results that suggest the TD approach is a transformative mechanism for contributing to natural resource sustainability.