Deliberative democracy and climate change: building the foundations of an adaptive system. This project will find mechanisms for improving public debate regarding climate change and the ability to respond to the challenge, as well as the politics surrounding it. It will make recommendations about the approaches needed to transform the issue and at the same time achieve better democratic outcomes.
Climate change and national security: international responses. This project aims to give a systematic account of how states facing different dynamics of threats associated with climate change have gone about developing distinct institutional responses, policy settings and practices. Climate change is increasingly recognised as a national security threat. A range of states have developed climate security strategies to address climate change that threaten defence infrastructure and contribute to p ....Climate change and national security: international responses. This project aims to give a systematic account of how states facing different dynamics of threats associated with climate change have gone about developing distinct institutional responses, policy settings and practices. Climate change is increasingly recognised as a national security threat. A range of states have developed climate security strategies to address climate change that threaten defence infrastructure and contribute to population movements, regional instability and even conflict. The findings from this project will inform recommendations for Australian policy-makers in addressing the climate change-security relationship that can be communicated to practitioners, and tailored to the needs of Australia’s security and defence establishment. This project will help Australia respond effectively to pressing impacts of environmental change.Read moreRead less
Rethinking climate justice in an age of adaptation: capabilities, local variation, and public deliberation. This project aims to produce recommendations, designed by citizens and stakeholders, for climate adaptation policies in three regions of Australia. These recommendations will be based on a definition of climate justice that incorporates basic needs and resources to be protected, as identified by potentially impacted communities.
The New Environmentalism of Everyday Life: Sustainability, Material Flows, and the Evolution of Environmental Movements. In recent years, a whole range of environmental groups have developed with a focus not on environmental policy at the state or national level, but instead on the development of new and more sustainable practices relating to food, energy, transport, and a range of other basic needs. This project will examine the array of newly developing practices, movements, and institutions; ....The New Environmentalism of Everyday Life: Sustainability, Material Flows, and the Evolution of Environmental Movements. In recent years, a whole range of environmental groups have developed with a focus not on environmental policy at the state or national level, but instead on the development of new and more sustainable practices relating to food, energy, transport, and a range of other basic needs. This project will examine the array of newly developing practices, movements, and institutions; draw connections between a seemingly disparate set of foci and movement groups; and design and apply a new, broad analytical framework to explain such developments in environmental action and practice. Significantly, the goal is a major new theory about the structure, foci, and strategies of a range of new environmental movements.Read moreRead less
Feasibility in politics: Taking account of groups and institutions. This project aims to research feasibility in politics. Normative political discourse is pervaded by the use of claims about what is feasible and infeasible. The project will examine feasibility practices, the functions they serve, what is required to serve the functions effectively, how actual practices stack up, and how to improve them. It will fuse philosophical and empirical analysis; encompass three salient case studies (imm ....Feasibility in politics: Taking account of groups and institutions. This project aims to research feasibility in politics. Normative political discourse is pervaded by the use of claims about what is feasible and infeasible. The project will examine feasibility practices, the functions they serve, what is required to serve the functions effectively, how actual practices stack up, and how to improve them. It will fuse philosophical and empirical analysis; encompass three salient case studies (immigration, poverty and climate change); and engage practitioners, commentators and ordinary citizens. The project intends to inform the development of just and effective immigration, poverty and climate change policy, reflecting a better understanding of the role of feasibility in politics.Read moreRead less
Deliberative democracy in the public sphere: achieving deliberative outcomes in mass publics. This project will systematically explore ways in which citizens can engage more deeply with complex policy issues without the need to resort to massive expenditure on running multiple deliberative forums, such as citizens' assemblies. It will identify the language is needed to deliberatively inform and the vehicles for providing that information.
A Meta-study of democratic deliberation: advancing theory and practice. This project aims to reconcile conflicting findings and develop the first comprehensive account of defensible claims about political deliberation. The project will analyse and synthesise results from available studies of deliberation. Source material and findings will be compiled in a publicly-available database to facilitate standardisation and enhancement of future research in the field. This will provide significant bene ....A Meta-study of democratic deliberation: advancing theory and practice. This project aims to reconcile conflicting findings and develop the first comprehensive account of defensible claims about political deliberation. The project will analyse and synthesise results from available studies of deliberation. Source material and findings will be compiled in a publicly-available database to facilitate standardisation and enhancement of future research in the field. This will provide significant benefits, such as settling important questions that remain among deliberative democrats and, more practically, facilitate potential avenues for democratic reform.Read moreRead less
Social Adaptation to Climate Change in the Australian Public Sphere: A comparison of individual and group deliberative responses to scenarios of future climate change. This research addresses the ARC National Research Priorities Goal of 'An Environmentally Sustainable Australia, specifically 'Reducing and capturing emissions in transport and energy generation'. Avoiding, managing, and/or adapting to the climate change impacts is now the most pressing global environmental problem. This project ....Social Adaptation to Climate Change in the Australian Public Sphere: A comparison of individual and group deliberative responses to scenarios of future climate change. This research addresses the ARC National Research Priorities Goal of 'An Environmentally Sustainable Australia, specifically 'Reducing and capturing emissions in transport and energy generation'. Avoiding, managing, and/or adapting to the climate change impacts is now the most pressing global environmental problem. This project will produce tangible and original insights into policy options for institutional adjustment to future climate change in Australia; will provide insight into the scope for positive community behavioural change; and possible transformations in Australian social debate to maximise adaptive capacity. It will also strengthen and produce original conceptual approaches and research methods. Read moreRead less
Deliberative Global Governance. The worldwide movement building deliberative democracy should now address deliberative capacity in whole systems, not just micro innovations such as citizens' juries. This includes global systems such as that addressing climate change; substantial environmental benefits will result. A world populated by more effective democracies - especially in East Asia - is in Australia's national security interest. A century ago, Australia was a world leader in innovations suc ....Deliberative Global Governance. The worldwide movement building deliberative democracy should now address deliberative capacity in whole systems, not just micro innovations such as citizens' juries. This includes global systems such as that addressing climate change; substantial environmental benefits will result. A world populated by more effective democracies - especially in East Asia - is in Australia's national security interest. A century ago, Australia was a world leader in innovations such as the secret ballot and votes for women. Work on deliberative democracy can put Australia back in the forefront of democratic progress, with many associated social, political, and economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Environmental Justice and the Making of Just Food and Energy Policy. This project aims to improve two key areas of environmental policy by investigating the meaning of environmental justice and how it is best implemented. It will generate a significant new framework of the idea of environmental justice and offer innovative research that demonstrates what hinders and enables just policies in practice. Expected outcomes of this project include an updated and enhanced theory of environmental justic ....Environmental Justice and the Making of Just Food and Energy Policy. This project aims to improve two key areas of environmental policy by investigating the meaning of environmental justice and how it is best implemented. It will generate a significant new framework of the idea of environmental justice and offer innovative research that demonstrates what hinders and enables just policies in practice. Expected outcomes of this project include an updated and enhanced theory of environmental justice, a new understanding of the enablers and barriers to its implementation in practice, and recommendations to make policies on urban food security and energy transition more just. Overall, the project should provide the benefit of the development of more just policies on two key environmental issues facing Australia.Read moreRead less