The focus of this VCCCAR Visiting Fellowship was participation in the project ‘Implementing tools to increase adaptive capacity in the community and natural resources management sectors’. This project aimed to improve understanding of the adaptation capabilities and needs of three types of government service providers and funded agencies (catchment management authorities, community sector organisations and primary care partnerships). The intention was to draw on my experience of working at the UK Climate Impacts Program (UKCIP) and with projects in Europe to inform the development of this project and the way it might support adaptation efforts in Victoria.

Creating an effective learning culture for adaptation involves actively seeking new ideas and other ways of working, welcoming dissonant information that does not fit with current practice and thinking , retaining institutional learning and knowledge, and the creation of, and support for, ‘informal spaces’ to experiment and innovate through processes of dialogue that enhance collaboration rather than debate and argument. Learning organisations work to engage the hearts and minds of employees in the process of productive change that is designed to achieve results they and their stakeholders genuinely care about.