Welcome to Issue 11 of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Programme (NESP), Tropical Water Quality Hub newsletter. A key feature of the NESP, and one which is heartily embraced by the Tropical Water Quality Hub, is working proactively in close partnership with industry, community and government stakeholders to achieve outcomes that will actually be adopted and used. At the core of our approach is the principle that engagement with stakeholders starts before the projects are defined, during their conception, and continues at every step, including proposal writing and project initiation, until the project is complete. In this framework, they are not just stakeholders but project partners and collaborators. This ensures that our projects effectively target the key questions that stakeholders require answered and that they will be able to utilise the research outcomes. This newsletter’s headline stories highlight just some of the projects where we are working jointly with industry – canegrowers, grazing and tourism on issues of importance to them. In addition, our annual workshop with project leaders, held early each year, is designed specifically to explain our expectations around partnering and engaging with stakeholders. As an example of the importance of such workshops, we were privileged that the CEO of the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO) – Col McKenzie, spent the day with us, sharing his thoughts and experiences with our new project leaders.