Private Land Conservation in a Dynamically Changing and Risky World. Climate change, and the increasing risk of drought, heatwaves, and fire, have major implications for the design and effectiveness of private land conservation programs. This project aims to generate new knowledge about the effect of climate change on adoption and outcomes of private land conservation agreements. It will use an innovative social-ecological approach focused on koalas. Expected outcomes include an innovative frame ....Private Land Conservation in a Dynamically Changing and Risky World. Climate change, and the increasing risk of drought, heatwaves, and fire, have major implications for the design and effectiveness of private land conservation programs. This project aims to generate new knowledge about the effect of climate change on adoption and outcomes of private land conservation agreements. It will use an innovative social-ecological approach focused on koalas. Expected outcomes include an innovative framework to help make decisions about private land conservation investments under climate change. This should provide significant benefits for government and non-government organisations by providing solutions to climate-proof their conservation investments on private land in a rapidly changing world.Read moreRead less
Rupture: nature-society transformations in mainland Southeast Asia. This project aims to understand the nexus between intense, cumulative processes of socio-ecological change and emerging forms of social agency. Three case studies of Cambodian and Vietnamese dams, and a review of Thai-Lao cases, will reveal local and civil society responses to nature-society rupture and how these responses affect the region, inform advances in environmental change management, and be relevant to Australia's secur ....Rupture: nature-society transformations in mainland Southeast Asia. This project aims to understand the nexus between intense, cumulative processes of socio-ecological change and emerging forms of social agency. Three case studies of Cambodian and Vietnamese dams, and a review of Thai-Lao cases, will reveal local and civil society responses to nature-society rupture and how these responses affect the region, inform advances in environmental change management, and be relevant to Australia's security policies.Read moreRead less
Tenants of the soil: adapting agricultural land ownership in Australia. Resolving the problem of environmental degradation on agricultural land, which is 60% of Australia’s land surface, is a major challenge. By engaging with farmers whose innovative practices have generated environmental and productivity benefits, this project aims to investigate the co-constructive relationship between land ownership, land use decision making and geography. The project tackles conventional accounts treating pr ....Tenants of the soil: adapting agricultural land ownership in Australia. Resolving the problem of environmental degradation on agricultural land, which is 60% of Australia’s land surface, is a major challenge. By engaging with farmers whose innovative practices have generated environmental and productivity benefits, this project aims to investigate the co-constructive relationship between land ownership, land use decision making and geography. The project tackles conventional accounts treating private property rights in agricultural land as unavoidably opposed to environmental goals. A key projected outcome is a set of rich case studies showing how geography shapes land use decision-making. This new approach provides much-needed evidence to inform law reform that transcends the public law/private rights impasse.Read moreRead less
Owning nature: mapping the contested country of private protected areas. This project aims to improve public good outcomes from private protected areas in Australia. Nature conservation on private land is being pioneered by Indigenous and other communities, landholders, governments, philanthropists and businesses. An innovative and interdisciplinary research design across diverse cases will provide knowledge of social drivers, impacts and future pathways for private protected areas. This will pr ....Owning nature: mapping the contested country of private protected areas. This project aims to improve public good outcomes from private protected areas in Australia. Nature conservation on private land is being pioneered by Indigenous and other communities, landholders, governments, philanthropists and businesses. An innovative and interdisciplinary research design across diverse cases will provide knowledge of social drivers, impacts and future pathways for private protected areas. This will provide evidence that can guide policy and governance to integrate nature conservation and social justice outcomes, and enhance the sustainability of benefits from private lands.Read moreRead less
The impacts of land ownership change on rural social and economic change. This project aims to develop a comprehensive framework for explaining how and why rural land is changing hands, what this means for the ways we understand socio-economic change in rural Australia, and how it can inform best-practice rural and regional decision making by public, private and community sector interests. The project will generate a unique, research-ready database that will detail every land transaction in rura ....The impacts of land ownership change on rural social and economic change. This project aims to develop a comprehensive framework for explaining how and why rural land is changing hands, what this means for the ways we understand socio-economic change in rural Australia, and how it can inform best-practice rural and regional decision making by public, private and community sector interests. The project will generate a unique, research-ready database that will detail every land transaction in rural NSW over a period of ten years, and analyse these data in light of complementary datasets and a series of in-depth interviews with land-owners and key stakeholders. The project expects to transform national understanding of rural land-ownership change, and promote best practice decision making.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
Reassembling the city: understanding resident-led collective property sales. This project aims to investigate the emerging phenomenon of residential collective sales - where neighbours come together to sell their properties in one line - and the implications for urban residents and governments at local, metropolitan and national levels. It intends to provide the first ever detailed empirical analysis of this phenomenon, including mapping, case studies and stakeholder and expert interviews across ....Reassembling the city: understanding resident-led collective property sales. This project aims to investigate the emerging phenomenon of residential collective sales - where neighbours come together to sell their properties in one line - and the implications for urban residents and governments at local, metropolitan and national levels. It intends to provide the first ever detailed empirical analysis of this phenomenon, including mapping, case studies and stakeholder and expert interviews across Sydney and Vancouver, two cities at the forefront of collective sales activity. The project aims to make significant contributions to both policy and academic debates, by advancing knowledge on how shifting dynamics of neighbourhood change will affect the planning and development of global compact cities in the 21st century.Read moreRead less
Contribution of comammox bacteria to soil nitrification. This project aims to understand the diversity, activity and environmental relevance of comammox bacteria, the newly-discovered complete nitrifiers, in Australian soils, and to evaluate their relative contributions to nitrification processes compared to other canonical nitrifying prokaryotes. Nitrogen transformations are pivotal microbial processes, with nitrification largely responsible for nitrogen losses through nitrous oxide emissions a ....Contribution of comammox bacteria to soil nitrification. This project aims to understand the diversity, activity and environmental relevance of comammox bacteria, the newly-discovered complete nitrifiers, in Australian soils, and to evaluate their relative contributions to nitrification processes compared to other canonical nitrifying prokaryotes. Nitrogen transformations are pivotal microbial processes, with nitrification largely responsible for nitrogen losses through nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate leaching in the terrestrial ecosystems. The expected outcomes will develop new knowledge on the comammox bacteria and provide novel insights into refined strategies to manipulate nitrification processes for improved nitrogen use efficiency and sustainable agricultural management.Read moreRead less
Universities as entrepreneurial urban actors. This project aims to critically analyse the role of universities in shaping Australian cities. By mobilising a detailed case study approach, the project expects to generate new theoretical and applied knowledge about how universities influence the planning, built form and social and economic functioning of our cities. Anticipated outcomes include a clearer understanding of how universities configure their local environment, how they are mobilised wit ....Universities as entrepreneurial urban actors. This project aims to critically analyse the role of universities in shaping Australian cities. By mobilising a detailed case study approach, the project expects to generate new theoretical and applied knowledge about how universities influence the planning, built form and social and economic functioning of our cities. Anticipated outcomes include a clearer understanding of how universities configure their local environment, how they are mobilised within planning documents to achieve urban objectives and how land development is now a core activity for universities. This will bring significant benefits to urban planning and communities via policy recommendations outlining social and economic improvements related to university development.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing land tenure maps of Australia in 3D. Existing land tenure maps of above and below ground, such as apartment ownership, tunnels, and mining, are maintained using 2D drawings. However, the drawings are not structured and valuable for detailed and advanced visualisation, analytics, and simulation, which are essential for testing potential interventions and policy development. This project aims to develop a data validation framework for transforming current drawings and reconstructing ....Reconstructing land tenure maps of Australia in 3D. Existing land tenure maps of above and below ground, such as apartment ownership, tunnels, and mining, are maintained using 2D drawings. However, the drawings are not structured and valuable for detailed and advanced visualisation, analytics, and simulation, which are essential for testing potential interventions and policy development. This project aims to develop a data validation framework for transforming current drawings and reconstructing them into 3D models. The outcomes include validation principles, formal mathematical terms, and computational algorithms. Benefits include a cost-effective onshore alternative to offshore 3D reconstruction practices, efficient land development and infrastructure planning, and fewer property disputes.Read moreRead less