Social Capital and Sustainable Development: An International Study. A collaborative international study of social capital and sustainability in local communities will address the following objectives: 1. to characterize the properties of networks that generate social capital and of network formation; and 2. to analyze the mechanisms by which social capital contributes to sustainable development. The project will involve intensive comparative case studies of five communities, three in Canada and ....Social Capital and Sustainable Development: An International Study. A collaborative international study of social capital and sustainability in local communities will address the following objectives: 1. to characterize the properties of networks that generate social capital and of network formation; and 2. to analyze the mechanisms by which social capital contributes to sustainable development. The project will involve intensive comparative case studies of five communities, three in Canada and two in Australia. Within each case community, an intensive qualitative and quantitative analysis will be conducted of the theorized mechanisms for the development of social capital and its mobilization for reconciliation of the ecological, economic and social imperatives required for sustainable development.
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Places in Transition: A Case Study of Cultural Planning in an Australian City. The overwhelming majority of local governments in Australia are developing cultural plans and placemaking strategies. Despite claims that cultural planning can achieve an ever-expanding range of social, aesthetic, economic and cultural objectives, there has been little systematic academic research investigating these claims, their framing assumptions, or the shifting relationship between place, social change, culture, ....Places in Transition: A Case Study of Cultural Planning in an Australian City. The overwhelming majority of local governments in Australia are developing cultural plans and placemaking strategies. Despite claims that cultural planning can achieve an ever-expanding range of social, aesthetic, economic and cultural objectives, there has been little systematic academic research investigating these claims, their framing assumptions, or the shifting relationship between place, social change, culture, art and policy within specific localities. Through a combination of policy analysis, case study and ethnographic research, this innovative interdisciplinary Project will explore cultural planning at both micro and macro levels. The Project contributes to international debates concerning the formation of cultural policy priorities and practices.Read moreRead less
The City after Dark: The Governance and Lived Experience of Urban Night-Time Culture. The stimulation of a 'night-time economy' can deliver to Australian cities great cultural, social and economic benefits, or result in social disruption and disputation, assaults, and serious injuries that drain public criminal justice and health resources. By increasing understanding of the experience, production and regulation of urban night-time cultures in a major metropolitan centre, this innovative Project ....The City after Dark: The Governance and Lived Experience of Urban Night-Time Culture. The stimulation of a 'night-time economy' can deliver to Australian cities great cultural, social and economic benefits, or result in social disruption and disputation, assaults, and serious injuries that drain public criminal justice and health resources. By increasing understanding of the experience, production and regulation of urban night-time cultures in a major metropolitan centre, this innovative Project will contribute to the development of urban policies attuned to specific Australian circumstances. It will promote the long-term cultural, social and economic sustainability of diverse urban after-dark leisure spaces, and the safety and protection both of leisure participants and neighbouring areas and communities.Read moreRead less
Creative Tropical City: Mapping Darwin's Creative Industries. This research will improve our knowledge and understanding of the creative industries in Darwin. It will provide a strong evidence base for the development of policy options for growing the creative industries in Darwin. And it will interrogate national and international creative industry policy frameworks for their applicability to Darwin.
Reducing health disparities for older LGBTI Australians. Reducing health disparities for older LGBTI Australians. This project aims to optimise health and aged care services throughout Australia, by bringing together researchers and key organisations in the health, aged, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) sectors to build a much-needed evidence base. Older LGBTI Australians have vastly poorer health outcomes than the broader population. This project will provide detaile ....Reducing health disparities for older LGBTI Australians. Reducing health disparities for older LGBTI Australians. This project aims to optimise health and aged care services throughout Australia, by bringing together researchers and key organisations in the health, aged, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) sectors to build a much-needed evidence base. Older LGBTI Australians have vastly poorer health outcomes than the broader population. This project will provide detailed quantitative and qualitative data on the challenges and needs of older LGBTI Australians and service providers, and develop essential resources so policymakers and service providers can reduce older LGBTI Australians’ health disparities.Read moreRead less
Left Out and Missing Out: Towards New Indicators of Social Exclusion and Material Deprivation. This ground-breaking project will utilise academic knowledge and practical agency experience built up over decades to produce a new framework for identifying and measuring exclusion and deprivation in contemporary Australian society. It will generate new findings on public attitudes to the 'necessary requirements' needed to participate at all levels in society and the economy. It will examine the popul ....Left Out and Missing Out: Towards New Indicators of Social Exclusion and Material Deprivation. This ground-breaking project will utilise academic knowledge and practical agency experience built up over decades to produce a new framework for identifying and measuring exclusion and deprivation in contemporary Australian society. It will generate new findings on public attitudes to the 'necessary requirements' needed to participate at all levels in society and the economy. It will examine the population profile of the individuals and groups who are denied these opportunities, using both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus group) data, and its findings will complement existing data collections.Read moreRead less
The Smith Family VIEW Clubs of Australia: From Philanthropy towards Social Enterprise. This project offers the opportunity to do original and innovative research with one of Australia's most successful women's community service organisations, The Smith Family VIEW (Voice, Interests and Education of Women) Clubs. The research will investigate the clubs' response to The Smith Family plan for them to play a new role in social development and social change, and whether this response differs among cl ....The Smith Family VIEW Clubs of Australia: From Philanthropy towards Social Enterprise. This project offers the opportunity to do original and innovative research with one of Australia's most successful women's community service organisations, The Smith Family VIEW (Voice, Interests and Education of Women) Clubs. The research will investigate the clubs' response to The Smith Family plan for them to play a new role in social development and social change, and whether this response differs among clubs in rural and regional and metropolitan areas. Conducted in collaboration with a major national community organisation, the project will provide multi-disciplinary training in social policy in the specialist research environment of the Social Policy Research Centre.Read moreRead less
Making a Difference: Building on Children's Perspectives on Economic Adversity. Governments allocate a large volume of resources to address the needs of children. Investigating children's perspectives on the nature and impacts of economic adversity in the family, at school and in the community will provide a better understanding of how policy can make a difference to children's lives. The direct involvement of major government and non-government agencies in the research will strengthen its relev ....Making a Difference: Building on Children's Perspectives on Economic Adversity. Governments allocate a large volume of resources to address the needs of children. Investigating children's perspectives on the nature and impacts of economic adversity in the family, at school and in the community will provide a better understanding of how policy can make a difference to children's lives. The direct involvement of major government and non-government agencies in the research will strengthen its relevance and impact. The resulting improvements in service design and delivery will generate substantial economic and social benefits in areas that align with the designated national research priorities.Read moreRead less
Comparing immigration policy in the group of five: developing an evidence base for evaluating the role of policy in international migration. Testing the impact of immigration policy is an interdisciplinary, multi-national study evaluating the policy management of immigration movements over 50 years and across the five countries Australia uses as comparators. It includes a detailed study of measures to deter and otherwise control irregular migration.
Culture Circuits: Exploring the International Networks and Institutions Shaping Contemporary Cultural Policy. This comparative Project will analyse the international export and exchange of cultural policy discourses and personnel, and their local consequences. The Project will provide a sophisticated understanding of cultural policy formation and the primary relations between culture, governance and nation shaping its development and orientation in Australia. In analysing significant external in ....Culture Circuits: Exploring the International Networks and Institutions Shaping Contemporary Cultural Policy. This comparative Project will analyse the international export and exchange of cultural policy discourses and personnel, and their local consequences. The Project will provide a sophisticated understanding of cultural policy formation and the primary relations between culture, governance and nation shaping its development and orientation in Australia. In analysing significant external influences on Australian cultural development, the Project will aid in the creation and maintenance of a distinctive national culture, so enabling the formulation of cultural policy that is attuned to specific Australian circumstances and better able to play a productive and strategic role in Australia's social and economic development.
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