After just over two years of very intensive activity, the Hawkesbury-Nepean River Recovery Program (HNRRP) is coming to an end, having successfully delivered its intended outcomes on time and under budget. The final edition of HNRRP e-news reflects on some of the major achievements from the seven HNRRP projects and celebrates the great work that has been done to improve the health of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment. The Hawkesbury-Nepean river system frames the western edge of the Sydney Basin and is one of New South Wales’ most important natural assets.
Understanding the formal and informal communication networks in your organisation is crucial to managing successfully.
The ARRC works with organisations and people across a number of different disciplines. Recently we have been developing a partnership with Graham Durant-Law, who specialised in social network analysis. This is a fascinating area of work, and we are finding that when this analytical tool is combined with qualitative evaluation techniques, an in-depth and much more insightful understanding is gained about how relationships and networks in an organisation are helping or hindering the achievement of goals. Graham has provided us with an introduction to social network analysis that we hope you find interesting….
With businesses increasingly operating with an evolving and interconnected series of networks, the need for analytical techniques to understand these relationships is growing. Social network analysis views relationships in terms of network theory, with each network made up of individuals or organisations and their interdependency. The resulting structures are often very complicated, but when analysed can reveal knowledge flows, relationships and social capital in an organisation, as shown in the map below.

There are a number of ways of mapping the networks of interest to your organisation. Structured interviews with staff can be used to provide detailed data on communication patterns, the flow of knowledge, and power and support networks in an organisation. Other techniques use on-line surveys with a greater degree of automation, and can sometimes include data from emails and documents. For example the To: and From: fields in emails can be used along with frequency data, to generate a network visualisation and associated metrics.
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The last edition of HNRRP e-news discussed how the Hawkesbury-Nepean River Recovery Program is meeting one of its key objectives – the prevention of an estimated 48.2 tonnes of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) entering the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system each year. In the June 2011 edition of HNRRP e-news we look at our other key objective – securing 7.24 gigalitres (billion litres) per year for additional environmental flows in the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system. You can also read about the HNRRP projects and how they are progressing as the program nears completion.
The Hawkesbury Nepean River Recovery Program (HNRRP) aims to help improve the health of the river system by reducing the amount of nutrients entering the river system and making more water available for environmental flows. The March 2011 issue of HNRRP e-news explores one of these important objectives, looking at how the HNRRP is working to prevent an estimated 48.2 tonnes of nutrients entering the river system each year and discussing how this will benefit the river. You can also read about the start of works for the Hawkesbury City Council South Windsor Effluent Reuse Scheme and some interesting insights into other HNRRP projects.
Comprising seven projects, the Hawkesbury Nepean River Recovery Program (HNRRP) aims to improve river health by making more water available for environmental flows and reducing nutrient inputs to the river system. The seven projects have come a long way since commencing last year. You can read about their progress in the HNRRP e-news December 2010.