Impact pathway

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Our vision is to support a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of Australians through an integrated geoscientific understanding of our mineral, energy and groundwater potential. 

The Exploring for the Future program is a large, multifaceted science initiative. 

The Exploring for the Future impact pathway (see diagram below) summarises the ways how Geoscience Australia will meet the program’s vision through our scientific activities, linked to outputs, and intended outcomes and impacts.  

The pathway diagram is adapted from the  CSIRO Impact Framework and is designed to complement the project map (below) and highlight the key interrelationships between projects. It should be read from left to right to represent the chronological order of activities and outcomes.

The Exploring for the Future impact pathway diagram

The Exploring for the Future impact pathway summarises how the program will realise its vision, from Science and Data activities to Outputs and then Outcomes and Impacts in the future.
 

The narrowing from left to right of Science and Data activities represents both the amount of effort/time and the narrowing of focus of the listed activities. It recognises that the majority of the program’s efforts are on the acquisition and management of data, as well as the development and application of robust data analytics. The analysis of these datasets presents a growing characterisation of Australia’s geology from the surface down to great depths.

A distinguishing aspect of the program is that although it focuses on understanding groundwater, energy and mineral systems, the datasets, tools and insights into Australia’s geology are also relevant to other applications, such as soil mapping and geohazard assessments.

The Outputs include these key program deliverables:

  • the Exploring for the Future website as the central source of information and contact for the program
  • the  Exploring for the Future Data Discovery Portal as the main data discovery and decision support tool, where datasets and resource assessments can be integrated and interrogated in 2D, 3D and some even in 4D
  • publications with a mix of our data/code releases, extended abstracts, records and journal articles necessary to communicate the scientific aspects of the program
  • highlights that include an executive report and ongoing program communication.

The broadening from left to right of the Outcomes and Impacts represents the increasing value of realised objectives across the short (1-5 years), medium (1-10 years) and long-term. Please note, that while we have articulated nominal short and medium-term outcomes, these are likely to continue into the future, as the value and utility of our datasets and insights are enduring.

View the Exploring for the Future impact pathway [PDF 659.85kb].

Project activities during the current Exploring for the Future program (2020–24)

Project activities during the current Exploring for the Future program (2020–24)

Groundwater

Current program

The current Exploring for the Future program (2020–24) focuses on 8 interrelated projects, united in growing our understanding of Australia's geology.

Deep-dive
Three deep-dive projects in potentially resource-rich corridors identified in the east and west of Australia: Darling–Curnamona–Delamerian, Officer–Musgrave–Birrindudu and Barkly–Isa–Georgetown projects. 

National
Three national projects with a focus on southern Australia: Australia’s Resources Framework, National Groundwater Systems and Australia’s Future Energy Resources projects.

Program support
Two program support projects: Enhanced Data Delivery and Geoscience Knowledge Sharing projects.