Skip to content

How can networks can survive (and thrive) beyond project funding

By Dr Amanda Scott, Knowledge Broker
8 June 2026

Or, What I learnt from nine years of research: Dr  Amanda Scott Knowledge Broker, SQNNSW Innovation Hub

 At the end of May 2026, I finally graduated with a PhD from Southern Cross University, after nearly a decade of juggling research alongside full-time work and everything else life throws at you.

A friend once described doing a PhD as climbing a mountain – head down, keep moving, trust the view is coming. After nine years, I can confirm the view is worth it!

While the title of "Doctor" is nice (as my sister likes to remind me, I’m not that kind of doctor), it wasn't the reason I started the climb.

What fuelled my curiosity was a question that had followed me throughout my career managing government-funded, multi-organisation collaborative projects: Why do some collaborative networks survive long after initial project funding ends, while others disappear almost overnight?

We've all seen it happen. Significant investment flows in. Momentum builds. Relationships form. People do great work together. Real outcomes are achieved.

Then the project ends.

The funding stops.

And too often, the network disappears with it.

I wanted to reframe the focus: The project may be temporary by design, but the network and its potential for ongoing impact doesn't have to be.

My research followed three producer-led agricultural networks through a government-funded program, and beyond, for nearly four years. I found the networks that lasted weren't simply lucky, they were deliberate.

They had invested in relationships before they needed them. They had spread leadership across people and organisations rather than letting it concentrate in one place. They had built enough overlap and shared knowledge that when someone left (and someone always leaves) the work could continue. They had made room for different voices. And, critically, they had started planning for the end of funding while the momentum was still high.

The networks in my research that survived didn't have more money or more time, but they had more intention. They made these small choices early, which compounded into resilience.

That's what I want to help people do.

I'm turning this research into practical diagnostics – tools that help collaborative networks take stock of what they actually have, find what's missing, and build the foundations that let good work continue long after the initial funding does.

Because here's what nine years taught me: The project was never the point. The network was.

Further reading

Don't miss out

If you don’t want to miss news, analysis and our content sharing research to help you become more drought resilient and innovative, you should subscribe and follow!

The SQNNSW Innovation Hub receives funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.