Improving the health and wellbeing of poorly housed Australians: understanding and responding to multiple housing deficit. Australia is currently in a housing crisis, with many escalating problems, including poor affordability, chronic undersupply, homelessness, insecurity in the private rental market and a shrinking public housing sector. While some Australians are unaffected, increasing numbers of already vulnerable people experience multiple housing problems. This project aims to develop a ne ....Improving the health and wellbeing of poorly housed Australians: understanding and responding to multiple housing deficit. Australia is currently in a housing crisis, with many escalating problems, including poor affordability, chronic undersupply, homelessness, insecurity in the private rental market and a shrinking public housing sector. While some Australians are unaffected, increasing numbers of already vulnerable people experience multiple housing problems. This project aims to develop a new theoretical framework for focusing on Australians who experience multiple housing problems. It aims to identify who will be affected, how this will play out on individual health and wellbeing, and how governments can best respond. It will provide essential evidence and intervention tools for understanding and improving the lives of the most vulnerable.Read moreRead less
Animals and geopolitics in South Asian borderlands. The project evaluates the impact of animals on the politics of South Asian borderlands, which are exposed to climate change, species decline and intensifying nuclear state rivalry. Using a comparative multispecies ethnography of India’s borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, it will study the role of animals in reinforcing or subverting the power of sovereign states. Expected outcomes are new analytical and conceptual tools to understand ....Animals and geopolitics in South Asian borderlands. The project evaluates the impact of animals on the politics of South Asian borderlands, which are exposed to climate change, species decline and intensifying nuclear state rivalry. Using a comparative multispecies ethnography of India’s borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, it will study the role of animals in reinforcing or subverting the power of sovereign states. Expected outcomes are new analytical and conceptual tools to understand these overlooked actors in geopolitics and the links between foreign, security and transboundary conservation policies. This knowledge has potential application in demilitarisation and cooperation around transborder animal flows, benefitting security, ecosystems and Australian interests in South Asia.Read moreRead less
Unaffordable housing: impacts on socio-economic conditions and wellbeing . The project plans to explore how the current housing affordability crisis is shaping population wellbeing and socioeconomic outcomes. Housing affordability is a key driver of health-related inequalities – the dramatic rise in the cost of housing in the past decade is forcing people to make hard decisions about location and quality of housing. This project aims to provide a new framework for analysing housing affordability ....Unaffordable housing: impacts on socio-economic conditions and wellbeing . The project plans to explore how the current housing affordability crisis is shaping population wellbeing and socioeconomic outcomes. Housing affordability is a key driver of health-related inequalities – the dramatic rise in the cost of housing in the past decade is forcing people to make hard decisions about location and quality of housing. This project aims to provide a new framework for analysing housing affordability's long-term impact on wellbeing and socioeconomic outcomes by merging concepts from life course epidemiology on the importance of the timing, sequence and accumulation of exposure, to transition points at critical life stages from the social sciences. It plans to develop information to contribute to public discourse and improve policy in the area.Read moreRead less
Transforming invasive plant management in northern Australia. This project aims to investigate how rapid socio-ecological transformation in northern Australia is reconfiguring invasive plant management, and evaluate the social and cultural factors and development context that contributes to its effectiveness. Through innovative qualitative research, the project will generate new knowledge of plant introductions, the emerging assemblages of people and practices that are facilitating or disrupting ....Transforming invasive plant management in northern Australia. This project aims to investigate how rapid socio-ecological transformation in northern Australia is reconfiguring invasive plant management, and evaluate the social and cultural factors and development context that contributes to its effectiveness. Through innovative qualitative research, the project will generate new knowledge of plant introductions, the emerging assemblages of people and practices that are facilitating or disrupting change, and the consequences for Indigenous people dealing with land-use change. Expected outcomes include enhancing Australia's environmental management capacity by identifying opportunities for more effective invasive plant management, and more equitable and sustainable sharing of the benefits it brings.Read moreRead less
Pathways for Indigenous and Western knowledge into Environmental Policy. The aim of this project is to identify the ways in which all knowledge, particularly Western and Indigenous knowledges can work together to inform environmental policy, with a focus on climate change adaptation. Using participatory methodologies and supported by an Indigenous led advisory group, the project will partner with Indigenous Ranger groups to interrogate three key knowledge management concepts: integration, co-pro ....Pathways for Indigenous and Western knowledge into Environmental Policy. The aim of this project is to identify the ways in which all knowledge, particularly Western and Indigenous knowledges can work together to inform environmental policy, with a focus on climate change adaptation. Using participatory methodologies and supported by an Indigenous led advisory group, the project will partner with Indigenous Ranger groups to interrogate three key knowledge management concepts: integration, co-production and co-existence. Based on communities of practice, in the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin, Australia, the Fellowship seeks to produce mechanisms of knowledge co-existence and maintenance that will contribute to stronger environmental policies and create spaces for Indigenous voices to be represented within them.Read moreRead less
Conserving Carbon in the Extractive Frontiers of Insular Southeast Asia: Risks or Opportunities? Increasingly global climate change governance uses market-based mechanisms to offer forest users financial incentives to maintain forest carbon in the frontiers of Southeast Asia. At the same time, these forest landscapes are rapidly being converted for ‘boom crop’ production such as oil palm and rubber. However, little is known about how carbon governance intersects with such monocropping to affect ....Conserving Carbon in the Extractive Frontiers of Insular Southeast Asia: Risks or Opportunities? Increasingly global climate change governance uses market-based mechanisms to offer forest users financial incentives to maintain forest carbon in the frontiers of Southeast Asia. At the same time, these forest landscapes are rapidly being converted for ‘boom crop’ production such as oil palm and rubber. However, little is known about how carbon governance intersects with such monocropping to affect local livelihoods, property rights and social relations. This project examines how the global market-driven approach, REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Environmental Degradation and Deforestation+), governs forest carbon vis-à-vis commodity production, how this impacts rural livelihoods, and influences the viability of climate change governance. Read moreRead less
Coastal governance. This project aims to discover coastal governance approaches that embrace vulnerability and change. Current coastal management approaches are failing as existing threats intensify and new threats emerge. This project expects to generate knowledge on diverse vulnerabilities, with insights advancing the disciplines of human geography and public policy through improved understanding of the relationships between people, place and change. This is expected to support ongoing economi ....Coastal governance. This project aims to discover coastal governance approaches that embrace vulnerability and change. Current coastal management approaches are failing as existing threats intensify and new threats emerge. This project expects to generate knowledge on diverse vulnerabilities, with insights advancing the disciplines of human geography and public policy through improved understanding of the relationships between people, place and change. This is expected to support ongoing economic, environmental, social and cultural benefits that are derived from the Australian coast.
Read moreRead less
Generating evidence for nature-based strategies to reduce loneliness. While loneliness and despair are reportedly increasing due to social and economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, governments are investing in urban greening. This project aims to help steer greening strategies to reduce loneliness and despair, to enable recoveries from COVID-19 that are more sustainable, equitable and nourishing. This project will: (1) engage with leading scientists within and outside Australia to f ....Generating evidence for nature-based strategies to reduce loneliness. While loneliness and despair are reportedly increasing due to social and economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, governments are investing in urban greening. This project aims to help steer greening strategies to reduce loneliness and despair, to enable recoveries from COVID-19 that are more sustainable, equitable and nourishing. This project will: (1) engage with leading scientists within and outside Australia to formalise my draft conceptual model of pathways linking urban greening with loneliness and despair; (2) test associations and pathways with multiple sources of nationally representative data; (3) supervise a mixed-methods PhD project; and (4) share findings for building up knowledge capacities and guideline development.Read moreRead less
Regional dimensions of the transition to a low carbon economy. This project's examination of the impacts of carbon-reduction policies in two vulnerable regions will identify the social, political, economic and cultural changes needed to promote the revitalisation of regional economies and communities.
Urban greening to protect vulnerable people and promote thermal equity. This project aims to create, test and apply new knowledge to promote thermal equity in Australian cities. Climate change is increasing heatwave frequency and intensity as our cities are becoming denser and their populations growing older. Many older people have heightened vulnerability to extreme heat due to income constraints, medical conditions, physical frailty, and reduced mobility. Outputs will include a heat vulnerabil ....Urban greening to protect vulnerable people and promote thermal equity. This project aims to create, test and apply new knowledge to promote thermal equity in Australian cities. Climate change is increasing heatwave frequency and intensity as our cities are becoming denser and their populations growing older. Many older people have heightened vulnerability to extreme heat due to income constraints, medical conditions, physical frailty, and reduced mobility. Outputs will include a heat vulnerability assessment index for identifying at-risk places and vulnerable people, urban tree canopy maps, urban planning policy guidelines for creating cooler cities, and a toolkit for identifying appropriate green infrastructure treatments. Benefits include avoidance of heat-related deaths and improved liveability in cities.Read moreRead less