Author Identifier (ORCID)
Isabelle Chiera: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8919-885X
Melissa Stoneham: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8745-2664
Amanda Devine: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6978-6249
Stephanie L. Godrich: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3067-8253
Abstract
Food security is a multifaceted, ‘wicked’ issue that refers to the sufficient physical, social, and economic access to food at all times. Given its complexity, food security action requires a systems-based, collaborative, and adaptive approach. This paper outlines the application of a strengths-based, co-design process to support food security systems change among government and community-led initiatives operating in rural, regional, and remote areas of Western Australia. Baseline, semistructured interviews were conducted with leaders of food initiatives to understand whether and how the initiatives were contributing to food security systems change and identify the ‘windows of opportunity’ where initiatives could be strengthened. Participants co-designed actions to address the ‘windows of opportunity’ and enhance their initiatives. Six months after the co-design process, follow-up interviews were conducted to understand which actions had been implemented. Interview data were analysed thematically using NVivo. Twenty-seven initiative leaders co-designed an action plan, which included 244 actions in total. Based on the 10 six-month follow-up interviews that were conducted, 28 actions were implemented across nine initiatives. Initiative leaders were most likely to implement actions that required fewer resources and could leverage existing activities in comparison to actions that required collaborating or engaging with government representatives. To enhance food security systems change, initiative leaders require support to undertake actions related to government advocacy and collaborating with government organizations.
Keywords
Actions, co-design, food security, regional, systems change
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
4-1-2026
Volume
41
Issue
2
PubMed ID
42003727
Publication Title
Health Promotion International
Publisher
Oxford Academic
School
Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute / School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
94329
Funders
This project is supported by the Healthway (grant number 34502).
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Comments
Chiera, I., Doe, J., Stoneham, M., Devine, A., & Godrich, S. L. (2026). Facilitating food security systems change in regional Australia through a strengths-based, co-design process. Health Promotion International, 41(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daag050