Our niche area of research is societal adaptation—more specifically, understanding the social dimensions of regional environmental change. Our disciplinary focus is on the social sciences (e.g. geography and cultural studies). Through this focus, we make contributions to knowledge in the areas of:
While our work encompasses a range of disciplines and undertakes transdisciplinary research, our core focus is aligned with social, behavioural, and economic sciences. Our focus areas can be applied to a range of sustainability issues addressing real on-the-ground concerns of society and the environment.
Current Key Projects
Coastal Governance
The condition of the Australian coast is declining and facing intensifying threats from global environmental change and urbanisation – this is despite almost 50 years of integrated coastal management efforts. We need to urgently change how we think about and manage our coastal environments, exploring new and better ways to protect Australia’s coastal values. This research:
- Identifies social-ecological vulnerabilities in changing coastal contexts
- Critically analyses how vulnerability and change is managed through current coastal governance approaches
- Assesses the implications for coastal governance innovations that embrace vulnerability and change
The research is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (project FT180100652) and contributes to Future Earth Coasts, a Global Research Project of Future Earth.
Contact: Professor Tim Smith
Email: tsmith@usc.edu.au
Sunshine Coast Biosphere
The Sunshine Coast Council is in the process of creating the Sunshine Coast Biosphere Reserve. In this context and with the objective of transforming the region into “Australia’s most sustainable region – Healthy. Smart. Creative”, the Sunshine Coast Council has engaged the Sustainability Research Centre to provide research that builds a sustainability indicator framework to provide a baseline measurement report; and delivers a reporting instrument that communicates results oo the Sunshine Coast community.
Contact: Dr Laura Sinay
Email: LSinay@usc.edu.au
Green Infrastructure
Guidelines for Preparing a Heat Adaptation Plan: using green infrastructure for mitigating heat stress in aged care facilities to 2040.This includes the integrated audit tool. [please provide a link to these Guidelines- attached] Not only is it applicable to aged care facilities located in the tropics and subtropics, the concepts are currently being applied to health care facilities, as well as park and street planning. The research, led by UniSC, was supported by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) through a grant from the Sector Adaptation Plans Plus Co-investment Program, in partnership with UnitingCare Queensland and Griffith University.
Contact: Professor Claudia Baldwin
Email: CBaldwin@usc.edu.au
Keeping the History Alive
This project is for a series of on-line seminars and workshops that captures the imagination of local and provincial stakeholders on how colonial history can be presented and give meaning to the extant remains that are part of the Spice Islands’ tangible heritage. Using Fort Oranje as the exemplar, international and local speakers and facilitators, of seminar/workshops will present a vision for developing the Malukus as a heritage tourism destination, clarify steps for defining values and significance of colonial heritage sites, and develop a structure for consolidating existing knowledge on sites and value-adding with local stories, while developing a work plan for implementation during and after the COVID crisis.
Contact: Professor RW (Bill) Carter
Email: BCarter@usc.edu.au
MISTRA
MISTRA Environmental Communication is a 4 year international research program (2020 -2023) funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (MISTRA). It draws on a transdisciplinary approach that involves researchers from diverse disciplines at seven international universities well as a wide range of societal actors to harness existing thinking, co-develop new insights and approaches and translate these into communication practice. The SRC at the University of the Sunshine Coast is leading the work package entitled Science and knowledge co-production. This work package aims to examine the capability of environmental communication embodied in knowledge co-production to support development, adaptation and implementation of actions in complex and urgent situations and to enable transition towards sustainable futures.
Contact: Professor Neil Powell
Email: npowell@usc.edu.au
Australian Awards Indonesia (AAI) Short Term Award
This is the sixth time this program has been delivered in Indonesia and Australia; more than any other Short Course offered through AAI, further similar programs have been delivered twice to participants from Sri Lanka. The program cultivates a tourism strategy for a specific tourism sector; analysing the role of existing policies and regulations play in developing the sector by identifying key factors in ecotourism and tourism businesses built on natural resources. The program is designed to increase participants’ skills and knowledge to understand and practice responsible consumption in the tourism sector.
Contact: Assoc. Prof Harriot Beazley
Email: HBeazley@usc.edu.au
Valuing our Natural Environment
To better inform complex decisions and evaluate trade-offs involving environmental and economic policy choices, the Sunshine Coast Council has partnered with the University of the Sunshine Coast to better understand the role of natural assets and the ecosystem services they provide to our economy and wellbeing. The analysis consists of a combination of valuation methods to obtain a holistic picture of the diverse connections between businesses, residents, visitors, and the natural environment.
Contact: Dr Graham Ashford
Email: GAshford@usc.edu.au
Completed projects
| Project name | Funder/Partner | Contact | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal governance embracing vulnerability and change | Australian Research Council Future Fellowship | Prof Tim Smith tsmith5@usc.edu.au |
|
| Institutional arrangements for disaster management | Uppsala, USC and SCC |
Prof Tim Smith |
|
| MISTRA Environmental Communication Project: Knowledge co-production for sustainability transformations |
USC, Green Collar Australia, MiljöMatematik Malmö AB, Organic Farmers’ Association in Uppland (Uppodlarna), Hanoi Innovative Learning Lab, The Swedish Forest Agency, The Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF) |
Prof Neil Powell & Dr Marcus Bussey |
|
| Hillfort mapping and understanding in Fiji | New Colombo Plan (DFAT) |
Prof Patrick Nunn pnunn@usc.edu.au |
|
| Crises environnementales et traditions locales: regards croisés sociétés antiques / sociétés de l’Océan Pacifique | Région Pays de la Loire; partners USC and Université du Maine |
Prof Patrick Nunn pnunn@usc.edu.au |
|
| Pacific personalities: how well do Pacific Island people fit the “Big Five” personality types, and why is it important? | USC |
Prof Patrick Nunn pnunn@usc.edu.au |
|
| Risk and resilience in the Pacific: influence of peripherality on exposure and responses to global change | Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research |
Prof Patrick Nunn pnunn@usc.edu.au |
|
| Optimising community-based climate change adaptation in the Pacific Islands | Australian Research Council | ||
| Comparing small Island states and subnational island jurisdictions: Towards sustainable island futures | Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada |
Prof Patrick Nunn |
|
| Integrating protected cropping systems into high value vegetable value chains in the Pacific and Australia | ACIAR, and led by Central Queensland University | A/Prof Jennifer Carter jcarter@usc.edu.au |
|
| Research team | Project | Funding body |
|---|---|---|
|
A/Prof Bill Carter, A/Prof Neil Tindale, Dr Harriot Beazley, Luong Thanh Hai, S Thok and Suchai Worachananant |
Coral reef and water quality status and community understanding of threats in the eastern Gulf of Thailand | Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research |
| A/Prof Jennifer Carter, Dr John Moxon, Dr Maria Raciti, Colin Blunt, Ioan Viji, Kim Jones and Prof Helen Wallace | Developing markets and products for the Pacific Island and Papua New Guinea Canarium nut industry | National Agricultural Research Institute |
| A/Prof Jennifer Carter and Prof Helen Wallace | Value chain analysis of forestry activities in the Pacific | Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research |
| A/Prof Jennifer Carter and Prof Steven Underhill | Developing an integrated participatory guarantee scheme in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable production of high-value vegetable crops | Pacific Agribusiness Research for Development Initiative Research Activity |
| A/Prof Neil Powell and Prof Timothy Smith | Climate change and adaptive water governance (CADWAGO) | Stockholm Environment Institute |
| A/Prof Bill Carter | Water and reef quality and human perceptions | Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research and US National Science Foundation |
| Prof Tim Smith | National Climate Change Adaptation Research Network in Marine Biodiversity and Resources- ARN-MBR-Research Association | National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility |
| Prof Tim Smith | Coastal Collaboration Cluster | CSIRO Collaboration Fund |
| Dr Tristan Pearce | Inuit traditional knowledge for adapting to the health impacts of climate change (IK-ADAPT) | Canadian Institute of Health Research |
| A/Prof Neil Powell and Dr Pedro Fidelman | Supporting governance institutions for adaptive capacity to environmental change | Asia Pacific Network for Global Change |
| A/Prof Claudia Baldwin | Social Licence to Fish | Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) |
| A/Prof Claudia Baldwin | Noosa Rural Hinterland Enterprise Research | Country Noosa Inc via Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation |
| A/Prof Claudia Baldwin | Co-housing for Seniors in Maleny | Maleny Neighbourhood Centre via Qld Age-friendly Community Grant |
| Prof Bill Carter, Dr Marcus Bussey, Dr Scott Lieske, Troy Street and Dr Noni Keys | Interpreting the landscape-human dynamic in Maleny, Sunshine Coast | Sunshine Coast Regional Council |
| A/Prof Jennifer Carter, Bo Carne, Jon Altman and Ann Fleming | Identifying the key social and economic factors for successful engagement in aquaculture ventures by Indigenous communities | Fisheries Research and Development Corporation |
| A/Prof Scott Baum, Dr Kathy Arthurson and Prof Timothy Smith | Climate change and extreme events: developing a typology of coastal settlement vulnerability to aid adaptation strategies | Griffith University |
| Dr Anne Roiko | Reclaimed water is viewed as an acceptable alternative water for augmenting drinking water supplies | Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence |
| Dr Anne Roiko and Emily Rames | Regional and remote water security: treatment, tools and training |
University of the Sunshine Coast Griffith University |
| A/Prof Claudia Baldwin and Dr Caroline Osborne |
Seniors perceptions of accommodation models |
Church of Christ Care |
| Dr Christine Jacobson |
Cultural resilience and customary fisheries |
Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai |
| A/Prof Dana Thomsen |
Sustainability Indicators |
Sunshine Coast Regional Council |
| Prof Neil Powell and Prof Timothy Smith | Climate change adaptation for natural resource management in East Coast Australia | Natural Resource Management Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Research Grants Program |
| Dr Lila Singh-Peterson, Prof Bill Carter and Prof Geoffrey Lawrence | Building resilience by empowering communities: addressing the vulnerability of food supply chains following extreme weather events | Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal |
| Head Researcher | Project | Funding body |
|---|---|---|
| Prof Tim Smith | Climate change adaptation in South East Queensland | CSIRO Collaboration Fund |
| Prof Bill Carter | Traveston Crossing Dam research partnership: a blueprint for developmental and operational arrangements for integrated public contact and education | Queensland Water Infrastructure Pty Ltd |
| Prof Bill Carter | Ecological colonisation and habitat values and public outreach relating to the ex-HMAS Brisbane | Environmental Protection Agency |
| Prof Bill Carter | Indigenous attachment, engagement and protocol in natural and cultural heritage management | Burnett Mary Regional Group |
| Prof Bill Carter | Systems approach to regional climate change adaptation strategies in metropolises | The Department of Environment and Heritage, through CSIRO |
| A/Professor Julie Matthews | Rethinking reconciliation and pedagogy in unsettling times | Australian Research Council |
| Prof Tim Smith | Adaptive capacity synthesis project | The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility |
| Prof Tim Smith | Sustainability and corporate plan indicators for the Sunshine Coast Regional Council (SCRC) | Sunshine Coast Regional Council |
| Prof Tim Smith | Climate change adaptation in South East Queensland | CSIRO Collaboration Fund |
| Prof Bill Carter | Traveston Crossing Dam research partnership: a blueprint for developmental and operational arrangements for integrated public contact and education | Queensland Water Infrastructure Pty Ltd |
| Prof Bill Carter | Ecological colonisation and habitat values and public outreach relating to the ex-HMAS Brisbane | Environmental Protection Agency |
| Prof Bill Carter | Indigenous attachment, engagement and protocol in natural and cultural heritage management | Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management |
| Prof Tim Smith | Systems approach to regional climate change adaptation strategies in metropolises | The Department of Environment and Heritage, through CSIRO |
| A/Prof Julie Matthews | Rethinking reconciliation and pedagogy in unsettling times | Australian Research Council |
| Prof Tim Smith | Adaptive capacity synthesis project | NCCARF |
| Prof Tim Smith | Sustainability and corporate plan indicators for the Sunshine Coast Regional Council (SCRC) | Sunshine Coast Regional Council |
|
Prof Tim Smith |
Ecosystem-based adaptation decision support framework | United Nations Environment Programme |
| Prof Neil Powell Npowell@usc.edu.au |
Climate change and adaptive water governance – CADWAGO | Stockholm Environment Institute |
|
A/Prof Claudia Baldwin |
Creative models of accommodation for older Australians in infill development | ULDA, Diecke Richards, Churches of Christ Care, SCC |
| A/Prof Jennifer Carter Jcarter@usc.edu.au |
Processing of Canarium indicium nuts: adapting and refining techniques to benefit farmers in the South Pacific | ACIAR |
| A/Prof Dana Thomsen dthomsen@usc.edu.au |
Sustainability indicators | Sunshine Coast Regional Council |
| Prof Tim Smith Tsmith5@usc.edu.au |
National Climate Change Adaptation Research Network (NCCARF) - Research Association | NCCARF (Department of Environment and Energy) |