The United Nations is looking to Central Queensland for expertise on sustainable regions, to combat poverty in Asia.

Professor Bob Miles, from Rockhampton, is helping the UN discover how poverty creates and is linked to land degradation issues.

He is assisting with a major UN session on the Poverty Environment Nexus, scheduled during the International Conference on Engaging Communities to be held in Brisbane from August 14-17.

Professor Miles is Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainable Regional Development, based at Central Queensland University. He will help as a presenter/facilitator at the Conference and will summarise and report on the poverty-environment session.

Professor Miles has previously been involved in the organisation of a Central Queensland tour for the Conference.

Is the voice of communities and rural landowners living in one of Australia's biggest river catchments being heard the way that it should? That is the question that has been asked by Central Queensland University Associate Professor John Rolfe and his PhD student Shion Yee.

They will be taking this question to the floor of the United Nations when they deliver a paper at the Conference next week.

Should the people living in the Fitzroy River Basin have a voice about natural resource management through a series of small community landcare-type projects, through larger regional associations, or just through existing government structures?.

“Australian governments have about three or four different models of organising natural resource management, but without strong evidence that some are better than others,” Associate Professor Rolfe said.

“We feel that that there are some significant arguments in favour of a regional engagement approach, but there is still some potential weaknesses, and it is not clear that the current regional arrangements will continue into the future.”.

The International Conference on Engaging Communities is an initiative of the United Nations and the Queensland Government, with CQU as a supporting partner for the event. This unique event will explore issues related to community engagement and will address the experiences, challenges and research which effect all citizens, government and organisations alike.

Details are available at: http://www.engagingcommunities2005.org/home.html