Future Regions Lab primed for collaboration

Childhood experiences of regional towns and agriculture, and the strong desire to help the people and industries there, have shaped Associate Professor Kirsten Martinus’ research agenda.

“I grew up in the bush in the hills near Dwellingup, where my parents ran a hobby farm,” Associate Professor Martinus shared.

“We lived far from the town – it took two hours to get to school one way, so a four-hour commute each day.”

Given her background, it is no coincidence that Associate Professor Martinus now leads the Future Regions Lab at UWA, which is focused on regional development (particularly for the Australian context) and seeks to understand and address inequality within and between regions.

Image: Future Regions Lab Director Associate Professor Kirsten Martinus.

The Lab emerged to better understand the challenges and characteristics of regions under increasing globalisation, market restructuring, growing socio-economic inequalities, population pressures and ecological crises.

Its evidence-based research works to better inform strategic decision-making and policy formation across a wide range of industry and socio-economic topics, including global supply chains, labour productivity, industry transitions to net zero, technology adoption and innovation, regional decline, and community inequality and disadvantage.

Associate Professor Martinus said there were many opportunities for collaboration with The UWA Institute of Agriculture.

“We have recently completed a project into agritourism, which included a study of all agritourism providers in the southwest of WA (excluding wineries),” she said.

"Agritourism has become a critical way that agricultural regions connect communities, it provides farmers with additional incomes increases awareness of regions and regional lifestyles as well as connects those living in metropolitan areas to farming and the environment."

Associate Professor Martinus

“This project also included a study into the rise of hobbyist beekeepers in WA to understand how they support commercial industry.”

The Lab has worked on international projects, such as partnering with an Indonesian university in South Sulawesi to examine the socioeconomic impact of major rail infrastructure on agricultural communities.

More recently, they collaborated with colleagues in Japan to examine the transformation of agricultural practice and regional communities to stop or decrease the decline of rural areas and the farming sector.

In coming years, Associate Professor Martinus said she hoped to expand the Lab’s research networks in the net zero agriculture space, and in improving the efficiency in how the Australian agricultural industry engages with global supply chains.

“It would also be great to collaborate with UWA Farm Ridgefield through the Best Practice Farming Systems Project,” she said.

“Our work would fit into how the farm relates to the wider community, and also possibly trialling novel ways to improve how produce is sold in global markets.”