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Advocating for a sustainable future in Australia: 15 years of the Institute for Sustainable Futures
The document outlines the work and impact of the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) established in 1997 and connected to the University of Technology, Sydney. It emphasizes ISF's commitment to promoting sustainable practices through transdisciplinary research, public dialogue, and collaboration with government and communities while facing challenges regarding academic independence and relevance. Key achievements include contributions to sustainable urban development, water supply infrastructure, and the Australian school's sustainability curriculum.
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Advocating for a sustainable future in Australia: 15 years of the Institute for Sustainable Futures
- 1. 1 Advocating for asustainable future in Australia 15 years of the Institute for Sustainable Futures Dr Chris Riedy, Institute for Sustainable Futures 25 June 2012
- 2. 2 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
- 3. 3 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
- 4. 4 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
- 5. 5 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
- 6. 6 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
- 7. 7 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
- 8. 8 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
- 9. 9 Adding tostocks 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
- 10. 10 Adding to stocksand 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
- 11. 11 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
- 12. 12 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
- 13. 13 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
- 14. 14 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