This report provides an overview of the three and a half year project undertaken between emergency management organisations, the community and Victoria University.  Its purpose was to provide an evidence based framework to support more effective implementation and understanding of diversity and inclusion management and measurement  and the benefits of this.

This project had three research foci, the community, economic and organisational which were was carried out in three phases: (1) understanding the context, (2) development of the framework, and (3) testing. Each phase was subject to annual review and 
the program was adjusted in response to the outcomes of those reviews.
The project used a transdisciplinary approach called ‘working from the inside out’ methodology to provide the framework for its activities (see p17 for details). It  features collaborative research codesigned with end-users. The transdisciplinary aspect integrates different knowledge systems and the key features are: systemic assessments, integration into decision-making systems, translation, learning, adjustment and communication with end-users.
A mixed methods approach was undertaken that incorporated case studies, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, decision-making assessments, desktop reviews of organisational documents, informal and formal literature, and ongoing review and feedback with end-users. This report documents the process, key findings, research outputs and impacts.

Report no. 655