Download Transitioning to sustainable societies

Sociologists @ Monash presents:
Transitioning to sustainable societies
Dr Briony Rogers
Dr Meredith Dobbie
Dr Megan Farrelly
Abstract
As cities grapple with the challenges of climate change, rapid urbanisation and ecological degradation, the urgent
need to transition towards more sustainable societies is becoming widely recognised. This transition will necessarily
involve radical shifts in our cultures, structures and practices as we develop higher levels of environmental awareness,
adopt new sustainable behaviours, engage with innovative technologies and establish enabling institutional
arrangements. Perspectives from environmental sociology offer critical insights for explaining the dynamics of these
shifts and informing how they can be most effectively facilitated to accelerate the transitional change required. This
seminar will involve presentations from Dr Megan Farrelly, Dr Meredith Dobbie and Dr Briony Rogers, who will provide
snapshots of their recent sustainability-focused research and reflect on their experience in working with the
Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities to deliver impact-oriented outcomes for driving transitional
change towards sustainable urban water management in Australia.
Dr Briony Rogers is a Lecturer in the Sociology section of the School of Social Sciences, Deputy Leader of the
Society Program of the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, and Associate Director of the
Monash Water for Liveability Centre at the Monash Sustainability Institute. Briony's research explores processes of
change across communities, organisations, institutions and sectors to enable societal transformations towards
equitable, sustainable, liveable and resilient cities. This involves both environmental sociology and interdisciplinary
research, where she brings a sociological lens to infrastructural and environmental challenges, with a particular focus
on an empirical context of urban water. Briony was selected by the International Social Science Council as one of
twenty World Social Science Fellows in the area of sustainable urbanisation. She co-chairs the International Working
Group on Water Sensitive Urban Design.
Dr Meredith Dobbie is a registered landscape architect and research fellow with the School of Social Sciences and
Monash Water for Liveability at Monash University, and the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities. Her research interests
revolve around urban nature and landscape aesthetics, to inform design of sustainable landscapes. To this end, she
has studied public perceptions of Victorian freshwater wetlands, risk perceptions of Australian water practitioners
towards alternative urban water systems, including stormwater harvesting and treatment systems, and community
perceptions of water sensitive urban design. Meredith is the chair of the Environment Committee of the Victorian
chapter of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects.
Dr Megan Farrelly is a social scientist interested in identifying key social and institutional mechanisms which promote
transformational change in the functionality and liveability of urban and rural environments. Over the last decade
Megan has undertaken research on a broad range of topics ranging from rural, regional environmental planning in
Australia, community-based natural resource management; understanding social and institutional levers for advancing
more sustainable urban water management practices, focusing on structures and practices of urban water governance;
to unpacking the influence of "experimentation" in sustainability transitions. Megan's contemporary research is
focused on two areas: the first extends her earlier investigation into "experimentation"; and the second project involves
bridging social learning, evaluation studies, impact assessment and research adoption to underpin the development of
evaluation and learning frameworks to support large-scale, complex, collaborative research projects (i.e. CRC for
Water Sensitive Cities). Megan is co-Chair of the International Working Group for Water Sensitive Urban Design.
Menzies - Building 20 (Previously 11)
Room N402 CLAYTON
Thursday 24 September 2015
12:00 – 1:00 pm
RSVP via email: Dr [email protected]