The second Research Advisory Forum (RAF) for 2014 was held at RMIT University in Melbourne on 3-4 December. Unlike the first Research Advisory Forum in Adelaide in March, the two-days of this second meeting focused on only one half the projects supported by BNHCRC.

Another RAF will be held in early 2015 which will allow sufficient time for the other half of the projects to be presented. This format allowed for a more intensive discussion on the progress of each project and also provided more opportunities for informal networking.  It is important for end-user partners to participate in the RAF to ensure that research priorities and activities are on track and fully supported.

Collaborative projects from the following clusters presented their work at the Melbourne event:

• Coastal Management
• Monitoring and Prediction
• Prescribed Burning and Catchment Management
• Next Generation Fire Modelling
• Hardening Buildings and Infrastructure

The RAF is an important CRC gathering held every six months which supports both the research and the utilisation aims of the CRC. RAF usually have two parallel activities, 1) A briefing to senior management of CRC partners on the status and progress of the projects and an opportunity for comment. 2) Face-to-face cluster level and project level team meetings to discuss research progress, directions and potential utilisation outcomes.

The projects in the Economics and Strategic Decisions and Resilience themes will present at the next RAF in April 2015 to offer wider involvement and opportunities for the IRDR community beyond Australia.