advocating for a sustainable future in australia: 15 years of the institute for sustainable futures
DESCRIPTION
A presentation given at the 18th International Sustainable Development Research Conference in Hull, UK. This was part of a stream on the role of academia in sustainability advocacy.TRANSCRIPT
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Dr Chris Riedy, Institute for Sustainable Futures
Advocating for a sustainable future in Australia15 years of the Institute for Sustainable Futures
25 June 2012
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Established in 1997 by the University of Technology, Sydney
Our mission Create change towards sustainable
futures through independent, project-based research
Our people 62 full and part time staff in 2011 21 postgraduate research students
Our projects $5.27 million worth of contract
research and research grants in 2011
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Institute for Sustainable Futures
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Our objectives
A world leading sustainability research institute
Support communities, government and business to create their own change towards sustainable futures
Deliver a cutting edge transdisciplinary postgraduate research program in sustainable futures
Progress public dialogue as well as motivate and facilitate action
Be an exemplar of participation within the UTS community
Value and enrich our supportive and sustainable workplace
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A non-traditional academic model
Funding Self-funding / consultancy model
Focus on change creation Action research Practice informing theory Research impact as a high priority
Challenges Balancing the books / justifying our existence to the university Maintaining and demonstrating independence alongside advocacy role Straddling research and consulting Arguing for research impact as a measure of academic performance Managing strong recent growth
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Evaluating our impactThree outcome spaces for trans-disciplinary research
Discernible change in the situation or problem space
Contribute to stocks and flows of knowledge, including peer-reviewed knowledge
Mutual learning for researchers and stakeholders
(Carew and Wickson 2010; Mitchell and Willetts 2009)
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Changing wicked problems1. Sustainable urban precincts
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ISF has provided sustainability advice for the Barangaroo development
Introduced concept of ‘restorative development’
Led to a commitment to be ‘climate positive’
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Changing wicked problems2. Contesting water supply infrastructure
ISF’s review of Sydney’s Metropolitan Water Plan Serious drought Plans for desalination Encouraged a focus on demand
management and desalination preparedness
Delayed construction of Sydney’s desalination plant
In the end, it was built anyway for political reasons and now Sydney’s water supply is full 25 June 2012
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Changing wicked problems3. Sustainability in the Australian curriculum
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In 2008, ISF gave three ‘sustainability expert presentations’ to NSW Department of Education and Training
These informed a paper on Earth Citizenship
Which informed a Sustainability Curriculum Framework
Which informed the new Australian Curriculum Sustainability is one of three cross-curriculum
priorities Futures focus in Technologies curriculum
How much impact can we claim?
Not seen as traditional research
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1. Peer-reviewed publications
Adding to stocks and flows of knowledge
Business DAB FASS FEIT IML ISF Jumbunna Law NMH Science ELSSA Other0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
UNWEIGHTED RESEARCH PUBLICATION VALUES PER DEETYA STAFF NUMBER BY FACULTY/INSTITUTE 2005-2010
200520062007200820092010
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Adding to stocks and flows of knowledge2. Other forms of knowledge generation
In 2011 our researchers wrote 2 books 7 book chapters 50 journal articles 48 conference papers 32 publicly available project
reports
Media in 2011 69 print media stories 32 radio interviews 6 television interviews 18 online news stories
Preference for publicly available outputs
Sharing knowledge freely Creative Commons The Conversation
Building the knowledge of our collaborators
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A learning organisation
Internal learning Building capacity to give
and receive feedback Reflective processes
Reality checks Client surveys Wrap up meetings Review Days
Knowledge sharing Weekly roundtables Postgraduate retreats
Collaborator learning Specific training projects Challenging the brief Capacity building and skills
transfer Contributions to public
debate
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ConclusionAcademia and sustainability advocacy
Universities are in a position to deliver intellectual leadership on sustainability This must go beyond theory to practice Trans-disciplinary collaboration and constant experimentation is essential to
tackle wicked problems Responsibility to contribute to public debate
Academia faces challenges to its relevance in the information age New measures of academic quality and impact are emerging
It is possible, but constantly challenging, to balance academic independence with sustainability advocacy
Even more difficult is balancing a passion for change with commercial demands
If universities can’t lead in this area, who will?25 June 2012
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Thanks!
Questions? Dr Chris RiedyAssociate ProfessorInstitute for Sustainable FuturesUniversity of Technology, SydneyPhone: 02 9514 4964 or 0402 043 386Email: [email protected]: http://chrisriedy.meTwitter: @chrisjriedy
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Thanks to the following for contributing to this paper Stuart White Damien Giurco Cynthia Mitchell Caitlin McGee
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References
Carew, A.L. & Wickson, F., 2010. The TD Wheel: A heuristic to shape, support and evaluate transdisciplinary research. Futures, 42(10), pp.1146-1155.
Mitchell, C. & Willetts, J., 2009. Quality criteria for inter and ‐trans disciplinary doctoral research outcomes‐ , University of Technology, Sydney, http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/scholarly-works/handle/2100/904.
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