Pollination Security
Cooperative Research Centre
A Pollination Security Cooperative Research Centre has been proposed to bring together industry, research organisations and communities to improve Australia’s pollination capabilities.
The Pollination Security CRC will drive threat adaptation for pollinators, boosting agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability for all Australians.
The role of the Pollination Security CRC
The Pollination Security CRC will co-design and implement a strategy to improve pollination security that ensures agriculture can thrive and adapt. Outcomes will include enhanced landscape management, new monitoring technologies and boosted pollinator diversity.
The CRC will build capability across the pollination sectors and drive practice change to strengthen Australia’s food security, market opportunities and ecosystem health.
Current status:
The Pollination Security CRC Core Big Group submitted a proposal to the Australian Government’s CRC Program Round 24 Stage 1 on 7 March 2023.
On 3 July, the Pollination Security CRC received approval from the CRC Advisory Committee to progress to Stage 2.
The Stage 2 Application was submitted on 22 August 2023. Interviews will be held held in late October 2023. A decision on the funding of the Pollination Security CRC is expected to be made in December 2023, with successful CRCs forecast to receive funding starting 1 July 2024.
Background
The Australian Government’s CRC Program supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers, and the community. The program aims to:
- Improve the competitiveness, productivity, and sustainability of Australian industries in line with government priorities, especially where Australia has a competitive strength.
- Foster high quality research to solve industry-identified problems through outcome focused collaborative research partnerships between industry entities and research organisations.
- Encourage and facilitate small and medium enterprise (SME) participation in collaborative research.
Since its inception in 1990, the CRC program has committed $4.6 billion in funding to support the establishment of over 221 CRC grants and 76 CRC-P Grants – a total of 297 collaborations funded over the program’s lifetime.
The Wheen Bee Foundation
Wheen Bee Foundation is acting as an independent secretariat to support the Pollination Security CRC Core Bid Group.
The Foundation has no commercial interest in any outcomes from the work of the Pollination Security CRC but is strongly committed to supporting the Pollination Security CRC because of the importance of pollination services to agriculture and the environment.
Contact the Pollination Security CRC
To contact the Pollination Security CRC, email Core Bid Group CEO Jean-Pierre Scheerlinck at JP.Scheerlinck@Pollinationsecurity.com
