The skin of commerce: the role of plastic packaging in the construction of food security, waste and consumer activism in Australia. Plastic packaging has been important to ensuring food security in Australia, however it is also a major waste burden. This project will critically assess new approaches to reducing plastic packaging in food markets and waste streams and will produce key insights into how sustainable food systems can be organised with less reliance on plastic.
From the Tap to the Bottle: an international study of the social and material life of bottled water. Water is a critical resource in Australia yet little is known about water in bottles. This project will be the first comparative study of bottled water marketing, consumption and disposal. It will make a significant contribution to national and international understandings of changing practices in the consumption of drinking water. The research will produce an analysis of the rise of the bottle i ....From the Tap to the Bottle: an international study of the social and material life of bottled water. Water is a critical resource in Australia yet little is known about water in bottles. This project will be the first comparative study of bottled water marketing, consumption and disposal. It will make a significant contribution to national and international understandings of changing practices in the consumption of drinking water. The research will produce an analysis of the rise of the bottle in relation to the tap. Specifically, how various anxieties associated with drinking tap water, in Australia and elsewhere, impact on bottled water consumption. The knowledge produced about bottled water collection, circulation and regulation will contribute to wider debates about sustainable water provision and access to safe water for all.Read moreRead less
Exploring Internet Induced Changes in Youth Music Consumption. Music consumption is the basis of both a key Australian industry with wide reaching economic impact, and a social practice closely tied to identity formation, relationship development and mood management. This project has significant community and national benefit, in that it will further our understanding of contemporary popular music consumption. In documenting the range of online music products, young consumers' attitudes towards ....Exploring Internet Induced Changes in Youth Music Consumption. Music consumption is the basis of both a key Australian industry with wide reaching economic impact, and a social practice closely tied to identity formation, relationship development and mood management. This project has significant community and national benefit, in that it will further our understanding of contemporary popular music consumption. In documenting the range of online music products, young consumers' attitudes towards them, and their personal music acquisition habits, the project will lead to an understanding of how having access to almost unlimited, personalised music-file collections will affect the role music plays in their lives and the follow-on impact in social, cultural and economic terms.Read moreRead less
The Wealth Effect: A cultural analysis of prosperity, financialisation and everyday life in contemporary Australia. Financial and real estate markets are now central to Australian family life. But current government policies to individualise responsibility for saving and borrowing decisions often exceed the individual capacity to manage complex financial choices and unknown market risks. Growing levels of home and property ownership bring new benefits but they also increase exposure to economic ....The Wealth Effect: A cultural analysis of prosperity, financialisation and everyday life in contemporary Australia. Financial and real estate markets are now central to Australian family life. But current government policies to individualise responsibility for saving and borrowing decisions often exceed the individual capacity to manage complex financial choices and unknown market risks. Growing levels of home and property ownership bring new benefits but they also increase exposure to economic downturn. For many households the Great Australian Dream of home ownership and prosperity has now turned into a nightmare. This project responds to the pressing need for greater understanding of these developments, and will advance our understanding of this new socio-economic terrain.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100119
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,218.00
Summary
Community Gardening in Australia: A Nationwide Study. By researching community gardeners’ experiences, food gardening media and government policies through digital and sensory ethnography, interviews and textual analysis, this project aims to produce a nationwide qualitative study of community gardening in Australia. The rise of community gardens is of major significance, emerging as it does out of a broader range of concerns over the environment, health and wellbeing, food security, social incl ....Community Gardening in Australia: A Nationwide Study. By researching community gardeners’ experiences, food gardening media and government policies through digital and sensory ethnography, interviews and textual analysis, this project aims to produce a nationwide qualitative study of community gardening in Australia. The rise of community gardens is of major significance, emerging as it does out of a broader range of concerns over the environment, health and wellbeing, food security, social inclusion, and community resilience. The intended outcomes of the project will provide an evidence base to enable the development of effective local, state and national policies on community gardening, and recommendations on how community, government, and media can work together to facilitate the expansion of sustainable lifestyles and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
The rise of ethical consumption in Australia: from the margins to the mainstream. This nationwide project will be the first of its kind to examine the rise and impact of ethical consumption in Australia. Through engaging with consumers, retailers and producers, the project’s findings will enable the development of policy and industry frameworks aimed at the promotion of more ethical and sustainable ways of consuming.
Sustainable Fish: a material analysis of cultures of consumption & production. This project is a multifaceted, innovative cultural analysis of the crucial role of fish and fishing in feeding a growing global population. Estimates are that the world’s population will be nine billion by 2050. It is imperative that innovative research strategies are developed to explore how to best respond to questions of food security in a sustainable manner. This brings challenges across numerous scales, includin ....Sustainable Fish: a material analysis of cultures of consumption & production. This project is a multifaceted, innovative cultural analysis of the crucial role of fish and fishing in feeding a growing global population. Estimates are that the world’s population will be nine billion by 2050. It is imperative that innovative research strategies are developed to explore how to best respond to questions of food security in a sustainable manner. This brings challenges across numerous scales, including: changing consumer tastes, new State, Commonwealth and international regimes of marine governance, and adapting fishing communities to new forms of livelihood. This project will provide the first in-depth cultural account of the complex entanglement of the economy, the environment and the humans involved in fish and fishing.Read moreRead less
Backpacker cultures, residential communities, and the construction of tourist spaces and landscapes: A regional study of changing tourism dynamics in Sydney. This interdisciplinary project draws on Cultural Studies, Cultural Geography, and Tourism to respond to industry calls for more comprehensive, long-term research on tourism issues, particularly backpacker tourism in the Sydney metropolitan region. The project will explore tourism as a complex cultural practice through an innovative approach ....Backpacker cultures, residential communities, and the construction of tourist spaces and landscapes: A regional study of changing tourism dynamics in Sydney. This interdisciplinary project draws on Cultural Studies, Cultural Geography, and Tourism to respond to industry calls for more comprehensive, long-term research on tourism issues, particularly backpacker tourism in the Sydney metropolitan region. The project will explore tourism as a complex cultural practice through an innovative approach investigating the links between backpacker tourism and the transformation of places and communities. The focus is on backpackers, with a special emphasis on the problems Local Government faces in relation to backpackers within residential communities. The project will generate new approaches to these issues, informing a range of policies for local councils.Read moreRead less
Optimising Volunteer Management Strategy at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Victoria). This project reconceptualises volunteering as a ?cultural practice? (de Certeau 1984) to enable the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) to optimise its volunteer management through an enhanced understanding of who its volunteers are and why they volunteer for the ?blood bank?. Its operating premise is that knowing one's volunteer workforce is essential to their effective management. It builds on ....Optimising Volunteer Management Strategy at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Victoria). This project reconceptualises volunteering as a ?cultural practice? (de Certeau 1984) to enable the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) to optimise its volunteer management through an enhanced understanding of who its volunteers are and why they volunteer for the ?blood bank?. Its operating premise is that knowing one's volunteer workforce is essential to their effective management. It builds on the platform of volunteer studies established by social research and extends it via a critical reconsideration of the work of Michel de Certeau.Read moreRead less
Zeroing in on food waste: Measuring, understanding and reducing food waste. By developing a socio-culturally aware public education and social marketing programme to reduce food waste behaviours, the proposal addresses the national research priority area of an environmentally sustainable Australia. Reducing food waste by just 10% would save ~$530 million worth of wasted expenditure on food and reduce food waste in landfill by ~300,000 tonnes per annum, thereby reducing the costs associated with ....Zeroing in on food waste: Measuring, understanding and reducing food waste. By developing a socio-culturally aware public education and social marketing programme to reduce food waste behaviours, the proposal addresses the national research priority area of an environmentally sustainable Australia. Reducing food waste by just 10% would save ~$530 million worth of wasted expenditure on food and reduce food waste in landfill by ~300,000 tonnes per annum, thereby reducing the costs associated with disposal and the release of harmful methane gases. The methodology refined by this project to understand food waste will provide the basis for efficient and sustainable food waste reduction strategies and provide an approach that can be generalised to other waste streams with strong socio-cultural determinants.Read moreRead less