Celebrating continued community engagement: Pest READI co-design workshop 

On February 12, 2025, the Pest READI project team hosted a co-design workshop at Summerland Farm in Alstonville, marking a major step in the project’s implementation phase. The Pest READI project is actively engaging with farmers and agronomists within the Northern Rivers Region to co-design a shared digital platform to improve their ability to detect, report, and respond to emerging pest challenges collectively.

The workshop provided an opportunity for the community to come together and for the project team to share the first phase of learnings from our ‘Rapid Diagnostic’ study and refine digital tool ideas through co-design based on community insights and needs. Participants represent a diverse group of regional stakeholders, including growers and consultants representing small to big industries (Macadamia, Avocado, Berry, Coffee, Banana, Organic Vegetables and Custard Apple). In addition, representatives from the processing company, NSW DPIRD, government agencies, and local initiatives, who are closely working with these growers and consultants around pest management. One of the most powerful insights discussed among those who participated was that Area Wide Integrated Pest Management is not just about reacting to threats at the individual farm level—it’s about fostering a resilient, informed, and connected community across the region’s diverse industries that can anticipate and mitigate risks before they escalate.  

The 5-year project is underpinned by a comprehensive stakeholder co-development strategy, where this workshop marks the first engagement activity of the co-design process implementation (see Phase 2 in the diagram below) and follows a series of one-on-one interviews and workshops conducted in 2024 during the initiation phase (Phase 1). 

Pest READI’s stakeholder engagement strategy – a structured approach that outlines our interactions with various stakeholder types across three phases of the project. It specifies the changes or outcomes we expect to achieve during each phase and at the end of the project.  

Shared Challenges and the Need for Collaboration 

During the workshop, participants reflected on key findings from the earlier rapid diagnosis study and came together to discuss common challenges and the available support mechanisms for managing pests and pathogens across the range of commodities farmed in the region. A crucial takeaway was the recognition that pest incursions impact multiple industries within the horticultural industry, yet responses are often fragmented and isolated at farm level. Despite their diverse backgrounds, participants unanimously agreed that effective pest management requires a coordinated, cross-sector approach rather than isolated, individual efforts.  

As the Pest READI project moves forward, the insights from this workshop will be instrumental in shaping the next phases of the co-design process to develop the information-sharing tool. The Pest READI project team will continue facilitating such engagement, including to test the prototypes with our co-design community and ensure that the platform aligns with the real-world needs of regional stakeholders. 

Co-Designing Solutions for Pest Management

Recognising these common challenges, participants engaged in an in-depth discussion aimed at exploring practical solutions for coordinating knowledge sharing across various industries. A primary focus was understanding the needs of regional stakeholders to enhance the knowledge sharing platform that the Pest READI project aims to co-develop. The key priorities identified included: 

• Easy to use, timely, reliable, and accessible information sharing platform to different stakeholder needs. 
• A user-friendly and adaptable digital tool that caters to small-scale farmers and large commercial operations alike. 
• Better communication and coordination among growers, consultants, and government agencies to enhance pest preparedness and response. 

Next Steps: Developing a Shared Digital Space 

Pest READI is now prioritising engagement with AgTech companies operating in this space and will come back to the regional stakeholders as part of the human-centered co-design process. The insights gathered from this workshop and our various engagement activities, including with private AgTech companies, will directly inform the co-design of a digital information-sharing tool by the Pest READI project. This tool aims to support growers and stakeholders in tackling pest management challenges more effectively by providing real-time, relevant information. Participants stressed that the platform must be easy to use, adaptable, and capable of serving a diverse audience, ensuring that knowledge flows seamlessly across diverse industries. 

This workshop demonstrated that building pest resilience is not just about technical solutions—it’s about fostering a culture of collaboration, shared responsibility, and proactive preparedness. As the project progresses, continued engagement with our regional stakeholders will be key to ensuring that the solutions developed truly meet the needs of the Northern Rivers horticultural community. 

Stay tuned for more updates as we move forward with the next stages of implementation!