Catchment and community environment groups in Aotearoa New Zealand: Survey design and research plan

Abstract

The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) has commissioned the Cawthron Institute to create a survey instrument to find out more about catchment and community environment groups: how they are organised, what they are doing, and what support they would most benefit from. The Ministry also asked us to recommend a research plan to explore other questions that could not be accommodated in the survey format. While there have been previous studies of such groups, there remains no comprehensive list of catchment and community environment groups and poor understanding of their objectives and needs, among other things. There are many kinds of community groups engaged in environmental activities. After consulting with MfE, other government departments, regional councils and sector organisations, it was agreed that the survey and research plan should focus on four types of groups (these are defined in the report): • community groups engaged in environmental protection or restoration • catchment groups • local land or water user groups • umbrella groups or collectives of any of the above groups. Based on input from MfE and others on what they want to know about groups, we have designed a survey with two sections. The survey wording is included as Appendix 1. The first section includes questions such as the region that a group works in, the group’s name, the legal status of the group, the type of group, group objectives, and group activities. These responses will be made publicly available. In the second section are questions whose responses could be considered more sensitive. This group includes questions related to the involvement of tangata whenua, the frequency of group activities, and the funding obtained by the group. These responses might be reported in aggregate form but only the survey researchers would have access to the full dataset. Similarly, only the research providers would have access to the original recordings and transcripts from the interviews and focus groups proposed in Section 4 of this report. Regional councils, the New Zealand Landcare Trust and industry bodies have agreed to help distribute and promote the survey to get wide coverage across New Zealand. The research will be of greater benefit if the publicly available data are kept up to date. We recommend that MfE fund the NZ Landcare Trust to maintain and update data on catchment groups; it may be appropriate for the Predator Free New Zealand Trust to maintain and update data on predator control and other community environment groups. MfE also asked us to design a research plan to provide richer, more nuanced information to complement the survey instrument. Using the advice received from government departments and the NZ Landcare Trust about what they want to know, we grouped research questions into broad topics and identified priorities for further research based on three criteria. Research topics are considered high priority if they would: • add clear value or benefit to research participants (people will likely want to participate) as well as government and other support organisations • generate information that is conceptually precise and consistent • advance existing knowledge rather than repeating what has been covered by other research.

We consider that the following topics are ready for further research to complement survey results: group objectives, interface with regulatory instruments, working with tangata whenua, and support and funding for groups. We recommend a programme of about 12 interviews to illuminate and explore the experiences of particular groups and group members with regard to these topics. These interviews can also help to sharpen the topics for discussion in a series of up to five focus groups. Focus groups are useful for generating new ideas and innovative thinking, as they bring participants into dialogue and can cultivate practical wisdom around a topic. The report includes a plan for this qualitative research as well as a series of recommendations for implementing the survey and the further research.