One of the great challenges facing scientists, technologists, educationists and economists entering the 21st century will be to produce innovative, constructive and effective responses to unprecedented demands for comprehensive and sustainable waste management strategies. Research and development into waste management is likely to include investigations into values and ideals, population impact on land and resources, employment shifts caused by new waste processing industries, the education and economics of lifestyle changes, and the science and technologies which reduce or reprocess the range of waste a settlement produces, and the impact waste has on our health and ecology. The purposeful management of waste is a relatively new function for many Aboriginal communities in central Australia. The implications of practicing inappropriate waste management strategies in these communities are significant. The issues extend from environmental health, appropriate technologies and human resources, to lifestyle expectations and community development in a cross-cultural and usually poorly equipped remote settlement situation. METHODOLOGY: participatory and collaborative design and development research.