The aim of this project is to build and demonstrate a residential-size CHP (combined heat and power plant) which utilises solar heat to generate sufficient electricity for household and make hot water available for cooking and other purposes.  Such a plant would make it possible for those around the world who are deprived from accessing the grid to generate their own electricity.  Besides those in remote Australia, this applies to about 600 million people in India, 350 million in China and more in Africa.

Read more about the Small scale heat and power plant project.

Assoc Prof Peter Vamplew is collaborating with Dr Adam Berry and Tim Moore (CSIRO Energy Technology) and Assoc Prof Doug Creighton (Deakin University) on a project to develop intelligent software to control local battery storage for household solar power systems. An inherent limitation of solar power is that production is highest during daytime hours, which may not coincide with the time when the household is actually consuming power.

Read more about the Battery storage software for households project.

Dr Wendy Wright is working with HVP Plantations Pty Ltd on a long term ecological monitoring project, tracking the outcomes of an ecological restoration project at Macks Creek in the Strzelecki Ranges in Gippsland.

Read more about the Restoration of warm temperate rainforest project.

This project aims to adapt new technologies and leverage high capacity broadband to visualise Victoria’s groundwater systems which will contribute to groundwater research and ultimately, the sustainable management of groundwater resources. The project budget of $2.23 million combines funding granted by the Victorian Government via the Broadband Enabled Innovation Program (BEIP) with financial and significant in-kind contributions from partnering organisations. 

Peter Gell has undertaken tri-annual surveys of waterbird populations, and breeding activity, at Lake Cowal in NSW since 1992 for Barrick Gold. This has provided great insight into the changing patterns of birds that use a wetland through wetting and drying cycles.

Further information
Prof Peter Gell
Email: p.gell@federation.edu.au

The Water Research Network is centred at the Mt Helen Campus of Federation University Australia. Our Network was established in late 2014 when the water research strengths of the Collaborative Research Network (CRN), Water in Drylands Collaborative Research Program (WIDCORP) and the Centre for Environmental Management (CEM) were merged. Our members have extensive expertise and connections through scientific, management and policy organisations, locally and globally.

Visit the Water Research Network website.

Further information
Prof Peter Gell
Email: p.gell@federation.edu.au 

Dr Wendy Wright is working with colleagues at Sichuan University in China to assess ecological function along a section of the Jinsha River Valley in Sichuan Province, China. The combined effects of a rain shadow and föhn winds in the area cause an unusually dry climate. Most of the hill slopes are used for agricultural production but small patches of natural habitat remain, often at higher elevations and along watercourses.

Dr Wendy Wright, Dr Fiona Hogan and Assoc Prof Jenny Mosse are working with PhD candidate Ms Faye Wedrowicz on a study of the Strzelecki koala, using genetic analysis of DNA sourced from koala scats to assess the population’s health and conservation importance of this population. Preliminary results suggest the Strzelecki population is distinct from other Victorian koalas and that there may be deeper genetic structure within the koalas of Strzelecki bioregion.

Read more about the Strzelecki koala population, distribution and health project.

In January 2014, the government accepted recommendations from the Leadbeater's Possum Advisory Group on ways to support the recovery of the Leadbeater's possum, whilst maintaining a sustainable timber industry. The Leadbeaters Possum Implementation Committee produced a series of recommendations in relation to publishing a range of historic, current and future research, information and data on aspects of the Leadbeater’s possum population, habitat and management online.

Read more about the Leadbeater's possum recovery program.

A project developed by the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI) visualising staff commuter patterns was adapted and trialled as a classroom exercise for collecting sustainability data. One of the aims of the Travellers’ Trails was to extend participants' understanding of the impact of different modes of travel on carbon emissions, relevant to their school community.

Visit the Travellers' Trails: An exciting journey in sustainability for secondary students webpage.

Further information
Prof Peter Gell
Email: p.gell@federation.edu.au

The aim of this project was to investigate farmer perceptions of riparian restoration and the benefits they received from doing it on their farms.

Federation University Australia researchers involved in the project were Michelle Graymore and Imogen Schwarz (Wimmera Research Group). Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority and Centre for Environmental Management were project partners.

Read more about the project in the Catchment restoration: Landholders perceptions – Pilot study 2012 (pdf, 1mb).

Visit the Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership website.

Read more about the Reviewing the role of women in forest governance in Nepal project.

This project will provide local government staff with the research, training and support to assist them to deliver behaviour change programs to address their social, economic and environmental sustainability priorities. The project will build the capability of the local government staff to enable them to become change agents in their communities.

Read the Building a better community reports from each local government area involved in the project.

This research aims to document the impacts of the 2011 floods and landslides in the Grampians region on individuals, businesses and community organisations, and representatives from government and non-government organisations (including emergency services organisations). The research will provide insight into the social, economic and environmental impact following the 2011 floods and landslides and to integrate these into a consolidated inventory.

Research was conducted to develop an agreed set of sustainability indicators and a framework for reporting on the sustainability of South West Victoria, in the form of the Great South West Community Report Card.

Dr Wendy Wright is working with PhD student Afentina Hut and other colleagues at Monash University to develop and implement an approach to quantify the social, environmental and economic benefits of rattan agroforestry in Indonesia.

Read more about the Valuing environmental services in Indonesian Rattan forestry industry project.