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Thursday, 29 November 2012

By Lindy Brophy

The Pilbara – home of a massive minerals and energy industry, ancient landscapes and culture, and of course, the iconic Red Dog.

It might soon be another home for UWA.

The University is examining the possibility of establishing facilities in the Pilbara to bolster our research, professional development and undergraduate outreach and support but also to contribute to the region’s innovation, productivity and community development.

It is an expansive, hot, dry, cyclonic, sparsely-populated region but it is the heaving heart of the resources economy, with iron ore, oil, gas and other resources feeding the growth to our North that will make this the ‘Asian Century’.

A UWA Pilbara Taskforce is assisting Ben Killigrew from UWA’s Energy and Minerals Institute (EMI) to examine the many areas of the University’s research, professional development and outreach capabilities that could be delivered through UWA Pilbara. The taskforce is keen to discover all of our links to the region.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Johnson , recently toured the region with Dr Killigrew and EMI’s Tim Shanahan to get a feel for a possible UWA presence in the Pilbara.

Some areas include energy and minerals, the Centre for Rock Art Research and Management , the School of Indigenous Studies , the Oceans Institute , the Centre for Social Impact , the Rural Clinical School of WA and Aspire UWA “There is a bright future for the Pilbara,” said Dr Killigrew, who recently lived in the region for two years. “There is an enormous scope for industry-related research in energy and minerals, which is what the EMI, under the direction of Tim Shanahan, is already doing well.”

But that’s only part of the story.

“The Pilbara has a 2.9 billion-year-old landscape, the oldest in the world, and the rapid change occurring in the region due to resource exploitation and investment, although exciting for Australia, can put enormous strain on the communities and environment. The drive for economic diversification, preservation of the natural history, the social problems of the fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workers, the health and well-being of Aboriginal people: the complexity of the Pilbara’s problems are such that they have been difficult to resolve,” Dr Killigrew said.

“With a UWA presence in the Pilbara, we are more likely to be able to apply our expertise in a wide variety of fields from off-shore foundation systems to anthropology and diabetes research to enable positive outcomes for industry, communities and the environment.”

Dr Killigrew aims to determine what facilities may be appropriate to engage the myriad of UWA’s activities in the region. Such a facility might include accommodation, meeting rooms, basic laboratories, and even conference facilities. As well as UWA research and professional development for industry leaders, the centre would enable our outreach programs to better support the region’s development and cater to its demographic.

“I see us supporting region-specific research initiatives, community engagement and collaborative partnerships with regional stakeholders,” he said. “UWA Pilbara would flag to industry and government that we are focused on and committed to the region and to the growing geopolitical influence of the North-West of Australia as it develops into a service centre for our northern neighbours.”

Dr Killigrew said the seeds of the idea were sewn a few years ago, when the former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Robson, toured the Pilbara with the UWA Executive. “He visited a group of rock art students who had been camping for two weeks on the front lawn of a Rio Tinto employee’s house because there was no accommodation for them in Karratha.

“UWA performs a lot of research in the Pilbara and we realised then that, while resource-sector related projects might be easier to perform in the region, it is much more difficult to do so if your project is focused on rock art or community health or a range of nonresource related issues.

“A UWA-Pilbara facility could offer opportunities for students and researchers from all UWA disciplines, to spend valuable time in the region and positively impact on the region’s development.”

The proposed facilities would enable the building of multi-disciplinary, collaborative partnerships with industry, government, community and researchers, addressing a range of regional issues such as industry innovation and productivity, sustainability, rock art conservation, education, biodiversity, health, water, arid-zone agriculture, oceans research, and regional development.

Indigenous community participation would be a strong focus of a Pilbara presence, enhanced through many of UWA’s disciplines. Our research and engagement could, for example, assist Indigenous communities to document and protect their cultural identity and further enable them to benefit from the region’s development.

UWA Pilbara supports the State Government’s Pilbara Cities vision to develop diverse sustainable and vibrant places to live and work in the region. It is proposed that the University centre would set a benchmark for development in the Pilbara with architecturally and technologically advanced buildings and infrastructure, embodying the University’s long-term commitment to the region’s development.

Published in UWA News , 26 November 2012

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