Doing the hard work, where it matters most

Chris Cumming, Principal

Chris Cumming doesn’t shy away from complexity. She has spent much of her career working in the kinds of places where problems are layered and solutions take time.

Her first connection to this work came from managing land herself and thinking about how to care for biodiversity, soil and waterways while producing the food and fibre people need.

That experience shaped how she sees the role of Watertrust. Chris believes most people care deeply about land and water, but the challenge is not whether they care, but how they think change should happen.

"Where things fall over is in how people see the solutions," she says. "That’s where the contest often lies."

It was this belief that drew her to Watertrust. She was looking for a way to do decision-making better, especially when the stakes are high.

"We often try to prove new ways of working in easier places," Chris says. "But Watertrust is showing that we need to be working where it’s hard; where people feel stuck, where decisions keep circling back to the same conflicts. That’s where better engagement can make the biggest difference."

Chris is currently working with communities in northern Victoria, exploring how governance could be approached differently. It is early work, and much of it is still taking shape, but she is clear about the opportunity.

"Real engagement is more than a survey or a community meeting," she says. "It is helping people understand the system they are part of, and letting them shape the questions, not just answer them."

She points to the value of learning from First Nations leaders, particularly their long-term view and their ability to hold a whole-of-system perspective. That way of thinking, she believes, could help all communities imagine different futures and start shaping the decisions that lead there.

Chris says it’s not about creating formal processes or blueprints, it’s about supporting people to work together differently and seeing what is possible when they do. "If we can help make progress in the places that feel too hard, we can start to shift how decisions get made across the board."

Interested to know more? Call Chris: 0429 990 604

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