Compliance and enforcement of non-urban water extraction in New South Wales. This project will examine the compliance and enforcement practices of regulators and regulated communities in the water context. Results will provide legal and policy guidance to reshape compliance and enforcement strategies to effectively and efficiently enhance the legitimacy of water law, protect water resources and prevent overuse.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101536
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$346,000.00
Summary
Regulation and governance for the sustainable management of groundwater. This project aims to manage groundwater through analysing six national and international case studies. Groundwater management in Australia confronts a multi-dimensional crisis stemming from neglect, over-allocations and policy mismanagement. Overcoming this will require a transformation in the regulation and governance of groundwater. The project’s findings are expected to advance regulation and governance empirical theory, ....Regulation and governance for the sustainable management of groundwater. This project aims to manage groundwater through analysing six national and international case studies. Groundwater management in Australia confronts a multi-dimensional crisis stemming from neglect, over-allocations and policy mismanagement. Overcoming this will require a transformation in the regulation and governance of groundwater. The project’s findings are expected to advance regulation and governance empirical theory, normative and applied theory and provide policy solutions for sustainable groundwater management within a pluralistic governance model. This is significant and timely given planned policy reviews in the Murray Darling Basin, the effect of climate change and plans to develop agriculture in Northern Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102787
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Building a green economy? The politics of green infrastructure stimulus in the wake of the global financial crisis. A considerable amount of government stimulus spending following the Global Financial Crisis was directed to 'green infrastructure'. This project analyses the successes and failures of several countries' green stimulus packages. Results will inform policy on future public investment in infrastructure that will be needed to address climate change.
Rethinking the public inquiry on science, technology and environmental change. The project aims to strengthen public inquiry as a policy tool in governance transitions about controversial science and technology. The adequacy of public inquiry in Australia as an authoritative ‘advisory mechanism’ on the promising benefits and (socio-) environmental effects of ‘big’ science and technology is a growing public policy problem. The project will review whether the public inquiry is too decoupled from g ....Rethinking the public inquiry on science, technology and environmental change. The project aims to strengthen public inquiry as a policy tool in governance transitions about controversial science and technology. The adequacy of public inquiry in Australia as an authoritative ‘advisory mechanism’ on the promising benefits and (socio-) environmental effects of ‘big’ science and technology is a growing public policy problem. The project will review whether the public inquiry is too decoupled from governance and environmental change. Through transdisciplinary participatory conduits, a deeper inquiry capacity is expected to address important national challenges of sustainability, economic and social prosperity, energy security, climate change and international competitiveness.Read moreRead less
Delivering Benefits from Nature in a Highly Connected World . This project aims to improve knowledge of the implications of global flows of ecosystem services (the benefits people receive from nature) for achieving sustainable land use by developing novel predictive models and decision tools. The project is significant because it will resolve the complex challenge of assessing land use strategies when land use change has impacts on ecosystem service provision locally and globally. Expected outco ....Delivering Benefits from Nature in a Highly Connected World . This project aims to improve knowledge of the implications of global flows of ecosystem services (the benefits people receive from nature) for achieving sustainable land use by developing novel predictive models and decision tools. The project is significant because it will resolve the complex challenge of assessing land use strategies when land use change has impacts on ecosystem service provision locally and globally. Expected outcomes will be new evidence for the effect of land use change on the global distribution of ecosystem service benefits and how ecosystem services trade-off against each other. This should provide significant benefits by enabling better assessment of land use policy in an increasingly highly connected world.Read moreRead less
Sustainability transformation pathways for small to medium enterprises. Our planet is on the brink of environmental disaster: biodiversity loss is at mass-extinction rates, agricultural systems are under strain and pollution is threatening human health. Business enterprises have a crucial role to play in addressing these time-critical issues. This project examines how small to medium enterprises’ (SMEs) capacity for experimentation and innovation enables their adoption of sustainable business mo ....Sustainability transformation pathways for small to medium enterprises. Our planet is on the brink of environmental disaster: biodiversity loss is at mass-extinction rates, agricultural systems are under strain and pollution is threatening human health. Business enterprises have a crucial role to play in addressing these time-critical issues. This project examines how small to medium enterprises’ (SMEs) capacity for experimentation and innovation enables their adoption of sustainable business models to drive sustainable transformations. The research outcomes are critical for understanding and supporting innovative strategies for organising and governing SMEs’ pathways to a sustainable society. The knowledge developed will support business sustainability transformations in Australia and internationally.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100511
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$354,190.00
Summary
Rethinking collaborative governance for urban sustainability and resilience. There is a pressing need to improve the resource sustainability of cities and their resilience to hazards. Increasingly, governments seek to achieve such improvement by engaging directly with businesses and citizens. Whilst this collaborative city governance holds promise for transforming resource use and the resilience of cities, little is known about its performance benefits and effectiveness. The project aims to addr ....Rethinking collaborative governance for urban sustainability and resilience. There is a pressing need to improve the resource sustainability of cities and their resilience to hazards. Increasingly, governments seek to achieve such improvement by engaging directly with businesses and citizens. Whilst this collaborative city governance holds promise for transforming resource use and the resilience of cities, little is known about its performance benefits and effectiveness. The project aims to address this knowledge gap through a systematic empirical analysis of a series of collaborations in four global cities. The project aims to help refine theories of collaborative governance, and provide policymakers and practitioners with lessons on how to improve sustainability and resilience of cities in Australia and elsewhere.Read moreRead less
Evaluating environment policy that has immediate costs but long-term gains. A fundamental challenge for environmental policies is the different timescales over which ecological and financial costs and benefits occur. For example, whilst revegetation to offset land clearing incurs immediate costs, it can take decades for it to become suitable habitat for wildlife. These long time lags can lead to inefficiencies in spending and poor environmental outcomes. This project aims to develop novel approa ....Evaluating environment policy that has immediate costs but long-term gains. A fundamental challenge for environmental policies is the different timescales over which ecological and financial costs and benefits occur. For example, whilst revegetation to offset land clearing incurs immediate costs, it can take decades for it to become suitable habitat for wildlife. These long time lags can lead to inefficiencies in spending and poor environmental outcomes. This project aims to develop novel approaches for evaluating the future impacts of environmental policies and new methods for improving their design. It is intended that the methods be tested and demonstrated in the policy context of biodiversity offsetting, which is set to play a key role in nature conservation globally.Read moreRead less