The study will was the first stage of a process aimed at assisting the industry and its communities to manage change effectively. The industry will benefit from a better understanding of the factors affecting the economic and social condition of cotton communities, the change processes in those communities, and the means by which these factors and changes might be managed. In the discussion of possible socio-economic topics at the 'Industry and Community' meeting at UNE in April 2005, a strong consensus emerged that a necessary component of research in this area would be to select indicators that could be used to track the economic and social condition of cotton communities over the life of the CRC and beyond. Such indicators could have a variety of uses, including:helping the industry to monitor its influence on the rest of the community; helping the community to monitor its influence on the industry; helping stakeholders in both community and industry to understand the changes they were undergoing; and helping both industry and community manage these changes and interactions. The Main Project Aims were to:scope the selection of socio-economic indicators for cotton catchment communities engage stakeholders in those communities in the identification of issues relevant to the sustainability of their livelihoods engage stakeholders in the definition of indicators relevant to their communities. The report of the study will serve as a basis for addressing some of the specific questions posed in the Cotton Catchment Communities Prospectus.