Progress Report 2005-2006
This project is in its first phase and focusing on (1) building research partnerships and local linkages; and (2) scoping research issues in two case study regions. The two case study regions are in the far north region (Herbert to Mossman) and in the southern region (Bundaberg and Isis districts).

We have met with people from industry, extension, government and community sectors in the case study regions, to discuss the project objectives, obtain local feedback and advice on the project direction and identify the breadth of stakeholders and issues relevant to womens participation in the sugar industry.

Initial meetings and interviews with key collaborators have started to identify the major influences on the participation of women in decision making at the farm, sector and community levels within the sugar industry. Further interviews and workshops are planned to capture womens experiences and improve understanding of the factors that influence womens participation in the sugar industry and their preferences for future involvement.

The initial meetings and interviews with collaborators are also helping to identify the breadth of activities in each region that are working towards ensuring the social, economic and environmental sustainability of sugar communities.

The next phase of the research will involve interpreting the interview data and collaboratively identifying local activities in each region that could benefit for the greater engagement of women, to improve the social, economic and environmental sustainability in sugar communities.

Progress Report 2006-2007
What are women in the sugar industry involved in?  What are the factors that motivate or limit their participation in the sugar industry?  And what more could be done to improve their participation in the sugar industry?  These are some of the questions that are at the core of this project, which focuses on working with people in two case regions, in the north (focusing on Tully to Babinda) and in the south (Bundaberg and Isis districts), to understand and enhance the participation of women in the sugar industry.

Over the past 12 months, extensive in-depth interviews have been carried out with 42 women and 19 men across the two case regions, to explore in detail: attitudes towards the changing role and status of women in the sugar industry; levels of satisfaction with women’s participation across industry sectors; women’s levels of interest in and motivations and preferences for participation in the sugar industry; and perspectives on women’s involvement in Women in Sugar groups and sustainability initiatives. These interviews have helped to identify the major influences on women’s participation in decision-making within the sugar industry and their preferences for involvement.  Ongoing interaction with a Reference Panel in each region, consisting of people from industry, extension, government and community sectors, has also helped identify factors that influence women’s participation in the sugar industry and opportunities for improving their participation. 

‘What works for women’ workshops were also held, with women from the sugar industry in each case region (one in Bundaberg and one in Mission Beach), featuring guest speakers from other rural industries.  These workshops allowed for: feedback on the in-depth interviews; sharing of views and experiences of women across different rural industries; networking; and identification of opportunities for improving women’s role in the sugar industry.  One of the key opportunities for improving women’s participation was building women’s confidence to participate in industry decision-making at all levels.  The workshops also highlighted the need for better communication, networking and information exchange among women in the sugar industry, through a website or email network.  Workshop participants emphasised that these strategies require institutional support.  A report summarising the findings of the interviews and workshops is being prepared.     

A major outcome of this phase of the project is the establishment of an organising committee, with the aim of developing an email network to improve communication among women in the sugar industry.  The organising committee consists of 10 women who participated in the two workshops, who are interacting via email and teleconference.  The collaborative development and evaluation of this email network will be the core activity in the next action learning phase of the project. 

FINAL REPORT 2005-2008 - CSE016
Sugar communities and resilience to change
The focus of this project was to build industry and community capacity for change by
targeting the participation of women in a broad range of sustainability initiatives, as a key
opportunity to strengthen industry decision-making and the resilience or adaptive capacity of
sugar communities in the face of change.

This project explored women’s experiences with ‘sustainability initiatives’, which were defined broadly as ‘formal activities, processes, relationships or tools focused on making the industry economically, socially and/or environmentally sustainable’. Importantly, a clear need exists for new approaches to enhance the participation and engagement of women in sugar industry decision-making and training/educational initiatives and to help them embrace change.