Our Work
Riverine Plains, Succession Research
Riverine Plains came to Upstream Communication commissioning research to understand what a program could look like to help farming families undertake succession. We spent equal time exploring the two research questions "Chatting Futures – why is talking about our farming future in the too hard basket?" and "What would a program look like that helps farming families initiate conversations about succession?"
The resulting report will allow Riverine Plains to ensure program design on the topic of succession is evidence based. It delivered key findings of the research, a market scan on currently available programs and recommendations on program design and topics to cover in any new program.
'The report is structured in a way that is very easy to read and delivers the information we were looking for. We needed practical examples as well as existing research in this space and it is a great combination of both, providing us with a clear on where the gaps are. I have already recommended Julia as she has done such a great job with our request' - Rhiannan McPhee, Riverine Plains. 
North East Wine Zone
This project focused on building a community to develop the recovery and resilience within North East Victorian wineries and grape growers. A range of events and information was developed, to allow the community to develop the skills and capacity to manage risk and challenges through access to information, support and services for timely decision making.
The project focused on advocacy, communication, crisis preparedness, management, and recovery it included:
Development and implementation of engagement strategy with members of the community to understand the issues and information and training gaps.
Development and implementation of a Engagement and Communication strategy.
Development of a website and community platform and regular communication to community members.
Event management to build community knowledge and resilience. Recent events have included the North East Wine Zone Forum, and the Smoke decision toolbox. Both of these events connected industry to the most up to date information and research from industry stakeholders, researchers and industry experts.
Research paper on a sustainable structure and funding model.
Research paper on insurance for the wine industry.
Identification of grant opportunities and grant applications.
Advocacy on behalf of the community to major stakeholders.
The Truffle Festival Canberra Region
The festival ran throughout the Australian truffle season and draws attention to the seasonal experiences available throughout the Canberra region, highlighting for visitors the seasonality of local food production and particularly that of the fresh, high value black winter truffle.
This project involved all aspects of event management, including event development, website development, brand refresh, sponsorship, advertising, public relations and applications for funding.
Measurement of results was key to attracting funding for this project. A highlight was the development of the paper; From farm to fork: Is food tourism a sustainable form of economic development? Which gave an economic analysis of the event and its contribution to the region.
