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.
Advocating for a sustainable future in Australia: 15 years of the Institute for Sustainable Futures
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Advocating for a sustainable future in Australia
15 years of the Institute for Sustainable Futures
Dr Chris Riedy, 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
Institute for 21 postgraduate research students
Sustainable Futures
Our projects
$5.27 million worth of contract
research and research grants in 2011
25 June 2012
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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
25 June 2012
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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
25 June 2012
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Evaluating our impact
Three 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)
25 June 2012
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Changing wicked problems
1. Sustainable urban precincts
ISF has
provided
sustainability
advice for the
Barangaroo
development
Introduced
concept of
‘restorative
development’
Led to a
commitment
to be ‘climate
positive’
25 June 2012
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Changing wicked problems
2. 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 problems
3. Sustainability in the Australian curriculum
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
25 June 2012
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Adding to stocks and flows of knowledge
1. Peer-reviewed publications
UNWEIGHTED RESEARCH PUBLICATION VALUES PER DEETYA STAFF NUMBER BY
FACULTY/INSTITUTE 2005-2010
3.00
2.50
2.00
2005
1.50 2006
2007
1.00 2008
2009
0.50 2010
0.00
25 June 2012
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Adding to stocks and flows of knowledge
2. Other forms of knowledge generation
In 2011 our researchers wrote Preference for publicly
2 books available outputs
7 book chapters
50 journal articles Sharing knowledge freely
48 conference papers Creative Commons
32 publicly available project The Conversation
reports
Media in 2011 Building the knowledge of our
69 print media stories collaborators
32 radio interviews
6 television interviews
18 online news stories
25 June 2012
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A learning organisation
Internal learning Collaborator learning
Building capacity to give Specific training projects
and receive feedback Challenging the brief
Reflective processes Capacity building and skills
Reality checks transfer
Client surveys Contributions to public
Wrap up meetings debate
Review Days
Knowledge sharing
Weekly roundtables
Postgraduate retreats
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Conclusion
Academia 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 Riedy Thanks to the following
Associate Professor for contributing to this
Institute for Sustainable Futures paper
University of Technology, Sydney Stuart White
Phone: 02 9514 4964 or 0402 043 386 Damien Giurco
Email: criedy@uts.edu.au
Cynthia Mitchell
Blog: http://chrisriedy.me
Twitter: @chrisjriedy Caitlin McGee
25 June 2012
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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.
25 June 2012