Planting the seeds for collaborative, strategic communications and engagement.

Collaboration and strategic partnerships are the cornerstone of the Plant Biosecurity Research Initiative (PBRI).

Established in 2017 to nationally coordinate innovative plant biosecurity research, development and extension (RD&E) initiatives for Australia’s plant industries, PBRI is a collaboration between Australia’s seven plant Rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

the project

Since the Initiative’s inception, PBRI’s partners have co-invested $69.4 million to better biosecurity outcomes for Australia’s plant industries. The growing list of projects in progress or complete has fueled a need to increase visibility and broaden communication of the impact and benefit of PBRI’s RD&E activities.

the challenge

PBRI’s target audience groups cover a breadth of government, research and project delivery partners, grower and plant industry bodies. With limited resources to deliver communication and engagement activities, we needed to

• Be strategic and prioritise channels that would maximise the reach of communication and engagement activities

• Identify how PBRI’s diverse network of co-investment partners and stakeholders could be leveraged to bolster key activities.

our solution

We partnered with PBRI to craft a Communication and Engagement Strategy that connects key stakeholders to foster collaboration and facilitate a coordinated, consistent and targeted approach to communication and engagement activities.

Together, we developed a rhythm of regular communications, and a program of engagement initiatives aligned with their strategic goals to

• Raise the profile of the PBRI as a trusted and influential authority for the identification and exploration of novel approaches and technologies for biosecurity. 

• Demonstrate the impact of RD&E to attract and leverage high value cross-sectoral investment in plant biosecurity innovation.

• Increase stakeholder engagement to drive responsive collaboration for better plant biosecurity outcomes.

The Strategy provides a tactical approach for PBRI to leverage its partner network to amplify messaging and communicate the impact and benefit of the Initiative's innovative work.