The major need this project will aim to address is to build and enhance seafood industry representational capacity at the local and regional level. To achieve this, the project will meet the following specific needs for:
• novel ways to address barriers to the uptake of representative roles
• an entry through to intermediate-level training program which is a precursor to leadership training, and therefore contributes to a structured leadership training pathway
• training opportunities to upskill industry and non-industry representatives in areas of fisheries management principles, governance and decision-making processes, and basic representational skills, which use effective training delivery mechanisms and are supported by viable funding models
The needs this project targets are drawn directly from needs articulated in the background section of this proposal and in the following two reports.
Firstly, the FRDC’s People Development Program Plan 2008-2013has identified that there is “an urgent need to develop people within all sectors who have the skills to effectively contribute to debate and policy development for significant challenges confronting industry”. One of the objectives of the Program is therefore to “build industry capacity to drive change to achieve goals”.
To achieve this objective, the Program has recognized the following needs:
• strengthen governance and representational capabilities of industry organisations
• increase the capacity of industry organisations to represent the views of members
• enhance industry’s ability to contribute to debate and policy development
• build industry committee member competence and confidence
Secondly, the FRDC TRF Final Report ‘Understanding the Drivers of Fisher Engagement in Industry Bodies’ (Project 2009/335) has identified the need for the following:
• governance training program for fishing industry associations;
• industry associations to focus on representation as their major role;
• leadership training to be developed for teams of industry, and to be strategically funded.
Final report
This project has developed a comprehensive training package that builds representational capacity at the foundational level of the Australian seafood industry.
The “Charting Your Own Course” training package incorporates four key training resources:
- Resource 1: Participant Workbook
- Resource 2: Facilitator Guide
- Resource 3: Self‐Paced Learning Manual
- Resource 4: Advisory Committee Member Guide
These resources can be downloaded from the sections below.
This multi‐tooled training package approach will allow seafood industry associations and advisory groups to select the content and delivery style suited to their members’ needs.
The concept of self‐paced learning has been included in the “Charting Your Own Course” training package. This training delivery method falls outside the seafood industry norm of workshops. Although workshops still hold a valuable place in seafood industry training, this project found that engagement with workshops by members of the seafood industry with no or minimal representational experience (the target audience) was poor. Self‐paced learning provides a delivery model that maximises flexibility in both the timing, cost and delivery of course content, which in turn should improve engagement with the training package content.
