The Federal Government is investing $149 million in environmental science targeting plastic waste, climate systems and a range of key environmental issues.
Applications are open for the National Environmental Science Program’s second phase, with interested organisations urged to submit proposals by 30 June.
According to a Department of Agriculture, Waste and the Environment statement, the program is designed to support decision-makers from across the Australian community build resilience, while achieving positive environmental, social and economic outcomes.
“The program represents a critical cross-cutting enabler that provides the evidence base for the design, delivery and on-ground monitoring of core government environmental commitments, and the basis for long-term environmental programs,” the statement reads.
Environment Minister Sussan Ley said phase two will build on past achievements through multi-disciplinary and applied research, consolidated into four hubs.
“The Sustainable Communities and Waste hub will deliver cutting-edge research on how to improve the liveability of our urban and rural environments, while delivering critical advice on how to reduce the impact of waste, chemicals and air pollutions on the environment, communities and the economy,” Ms Ley said.
According to program guidelines, the Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub will deliver research that supports targeted information and management tools to reduce the impact of plastic and other materials, and applied scenario modelling to support sustainable people-environment interactions in communities including liveability analysis.
Further criteria include projects delivering effective management options for hazardous waste, substances and pollutants throughout their lifecycle, and cross-hub coordination to support decision maker policy development, program management and regulatory processes in both marine and terrestrial environments.
Additional hubs include the Resilient Landscapes hub, Marine and Costal hub and Climate Systems hub.
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