Foregrounding the suburban backyard: using hybrid spaces to develop new environmental theory for more effective management of human landscapes. Although human influences now pervade all Earth processes, environmental ideals of pristine past landscapes without people continue to dominate. The project addresses the challenge of managing environments for hybridity, change and human presence, rather than timeless purity. I will undertake the first in-depth ethnographic study of the suburban backya ....Foregrounding the suburban backyard: using hybrid spaces to develop new environmental theory for more effective management of human landscapes. Although human influences now pervade all Earth processes, environmental ideals of pristine past landscapes without people continue to dominate. The project addresses the challenge of managing environments for hybridity, change and human presence, rather than timeless purity. I will undertake the first in-depth ethnographic study of the suburban backyard, Australia's most hybrid ecosystem. I analyse how categories of environmental belonging - indigenous/introduced, wild/tame, hybrid/pure - are differentially applied to people, other species and landscapes, in policy and popular culture. This contributes to new theories of long term human-environment interactions and effective management of human landscapes. Outcomes will include books and museum exhibitions.Read moreRead less
Advancing spatial research by reconstructing Australia's economic geography. Significant National Benefits will arise: (a) Innovative and demanded spatial data based on the new economic geographies created will value-add to a current ARC LIEF project; (b) A newly created socio-economic atlas will enhance our understandings of regional Australia; (c) An understanding of the 'new regional geography of winners and losers' through new analyses of new spatial data; (d) Racilitating the development of ....Advancing spatial research by reconstructing Australia's economic geography. Significant National Benefits will arise: (a) Innovative and demanded spatial data based on the new economic geographies created will value-add to a current ARC LIEF project; (b) A newly created socio-economic atlas will enhance our understandings of regional Australia; (c) An understanding of the 'new regional geography of winners and losers' through new analyses of new spatial data; (d) Racilitating the development of spatially informed policies to enhance the capacity of citizens to participate in the socio-economic life of their communities; (e) Capacity building through skill transfers within the social science research community focused on spatial research and policy.Read moreRead less
Evolutionary Dynamics and the Transformation of Rural Australia. Understanding the ways in which Australia's rural heartland has been transformed is critical to constructing competitive regions. This project aims to pioneer the application and development of evolutionary economic geography and staples theory to an investigation of the transformation of south-east and south-western Australia, covering the long boom of the post-war period, through the restructuring 'crisis' of the 1980s and 1990s, ....Evolutionary Dynamics and the Transformation of Rural Australia. Understanding the ways in which Australia's rural heartland has been transformed is critical to constructing competitive regions. This project aims to pioneer the application and development of evolutionary economic geography and staples theory to an investigation of the transformation of south-east and south-western Australia, covering the long boom of the post-war period, through the restructuring 'crisis' of the 1980s and 1990s, to a multifunctional countryside. The explanatory power of the local modelling 'tools' that this project is expected to develop moves beyond the 'one size fits all' suite of policy prescriptions, with the specific potential to inform rural and regional policy and practice.Read moreRead less
The politics of location: location-aware mobile media and urban governance. This project explores the implications of new location-aware mobile media technologies for the governance of cities. By explaining how different applications of location-awareness are caught up in wider conflicts over the making of urban spaces, the project will shed light on the emerging politics of location associated with these new technologies.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100912
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$384,136.00
Summary
The Photovoltaic Turn in Africa. This project aims to develop a detailed understanding of the drivers behind the recent rapid rise of photovoltaic (solar) energy products in East Africa through extensive fieldwork research in Kenya and Uganda. This project expects to generate new knowledge on the complex dynamics of renewable energy transitions in Africa. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of theoretical, empirical and policy insights that will inform how sustainable and j ....The Photovoltaic Turn in Africa. This project aims to develop a detailed understanding of the drivers behind the recent rapid rise of photovoltaic (solar) energy products in East Africa through extensive fieldwork research in Kenya and Uganda. This project expects to generate new knowledge on the complex dynamics of renewable energy transitions in Africa. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of theoretical, empirical and policy insights that will inform how sustainable and just energy transitions are able to be realised in energy poverty contexts in the Global South. This should provide benefits, such as helping to inform the actions of governments, aid donors, businesses and organisation working to eliminate energy poverty in Africa.Read moreRead less
Young people, physical activity and physical culture: a longitudinal study. The relationship between physical activity and the health of young people is currently a matter of national and international concern. This project will investigate the place and meaning of health, physical activity and physical culture in young people's lives from a longitudinal and qualitative perspective. It will build on the findings of a three year study of young people's engagement with physical activity. Specifica ....Young people, physical activity and physical culture: a longitudinal study. The relationship between physical activity and the health of young people is currently a matter of national and international concern. This project will investigate the place and meaning of health, physical activity and physical culture in young people's lives from a longitudinal and qualitative perspective. It will build on the findings of a three year study of young people's engagement with physical activity. Specifically it will follow cohorts of students from different social, cultural and geographical locations as they move beyond school and make choices associated with health and physical activity in relation to the changing conditions of their lives.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101443
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$352,893.00
Summary
Building Urban Resilience: Adaptation Economies in the Asia-Pacific. This project investigates the social, economic and environmental impacts of large scale sand and water extraction to build protective infrastructure in vulnerable cities. Through a qualitative study of climate change hotspots in Indonesia and Fiji, this project will generate new knowledge about the potentials and limits of urban resilience infrastructure to protect cities against climate change. Expected outcomes and benefits i ....Building Urban Resilience: Adaptation Economies in the Asia-Pacific. This project investigates the social, economic and environmental impacts of large scale sand and water extraction to build protective infrastructure in vulnerable cities. Through a qualitative study of climate change hotspots in Indonesia and Fiji, this project will generate new knowledge about the potentials and limits of urban resilience infrastructure to protect cities against climate change. Expected outcomes and benefits include an evidence base to re-evaluate adaptation strategies and identify more sustainable alternatives for building urban resilience in the context of rapid urbanisation and climate change adaptation.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100989
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$452,140.00
Summary
Locating the household in post-carbon regional economies. Industrial and resource regions that have felt the effects of automation and economic adjustment for decades now face an imperative to transition out of carbon intensive industries. This project aims to address household capacities to mediate and plan for this new challenge which is already reconfiguring working life in regional Australia. The project will use qualitative methods to understand how industrial change and working futures are ....Locating the household in post-carbon regional economies. Industrial and resource regions that have felt the effects of automation and economic adjustment for decades now face an imperative to transition out of carbon intensive industries. This project aims to address household capacities to mediate and plan for this new challenge which is already reconfiguring working life in regional Australia. The project will use qualitative methods to understand how industrial change and working futures are negotiated in spaces beyond the workplace, and how this might contribute to socially just transitions. Outcomes include an empirical evidence base that will produce novel insights into the types of support households will require to negotiate future work transitions.Read moreRead less
The production and contestation of airport territory. The restructuring of Australian airports has become a major issue of public interest in recent years, given their status as 'critical infrastructures' (a National Research Priority). The project places the Australian experience in comparative context. It will provide an informed contribution to a range of groups affected by airport restructuring, from private enterprise, through to Commonwealth, State and local councils, and community groups ....The production and contestation of airport territory. The restructuring of Australian airports has become a major issue of public interest in recent years, given their status as 'critical infrastructures' (a National Research Priority). The project places the Australian experience in comparative context. It will provide an informed contribution to a range of groups affected by airport restructuring, from private enterprise, through to Commonwealth, State and local councils, and community groups who seek to respond to the challenges of airport expansion. It will provide a strong empirical and theoretical framework that will further the understanding of the impact of airports on urban governance and theory worldwide.Read moreRead less
Cross-cultural analysis of constructions of health and fitness in lives of young people. This project aims to extend our understanding of how young people in Canada and Australia construct notions of health and fitness and the implications of these constructions for the ways they see themselves and the choices they make about how they live their lives. The data collected at six sites in Australia and Canada covers a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, from questionnaires to interviews ....Cross-cultural analysis of constructions of health and fitness in lives of young people. This project aims to extend our understanding of how young people in Canada and Australia construct notions of health and fitness and the implications of these constructions for the ways they see themselves and the choices they make about how they live their lives. The data collected at six sites in Australia and Canada covers a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, from questionnaires to interviews, activity observations, and visual media such as photographs. The cross-cultural comparison will serve to highlight aspects of Anglophone, Francophone, Canadian, Australian and global culture that examining in isolation may not appear 'important' to those immersed within a given culture. By bringing the existing Australian project together with a newly established Canadian project, the different expertise of the Australian and Canadian Investigators can be drawn on for the analysis and interpretation of the data.Read moreRead less