Future Markers at Western
The following case studies highlight the incisive and innovative research happening at Western Sydney University. They bring fresh perspectives to emerging and intractable problems, arriving at innovative and effective solutions and address the Sustainable Development Goals.
Case Studies
Local: Reconfiguring the Enterprise: Shifting Manufacturing Culture in Australia (SDG 9 and 12)
In Australia, there are innovative manufacturers that are re-orienting their businesses towards social and environmental sustainability. Researchers Professor Katherine Gibson, Dr Stephen Healy and Dr Joanne McNeill from the Institute for Culture and Society are exploring how enterprises are making this shift, and the negotiations and compromises involved in operationalising both social and environmental sustainability while remaining financially viable. The research team has been working with 9 case study enterprises from a range of sectors including food, fashion, household materials and furniture, electronics re-use and repair, and specialised vehicles. In so doing, the project contributes to debates about the nature of the enterprise in the 21st century, particularly in the context of climate change and growing social and economic inequality.
Local: Weathering the Storm - The Case for Transforming the Hunter Valley (SDG 10 and 13)
The Hunter Valley in New South Wales is the heart of Australia’s thermal coal industry and the local economy is deeply rooted in coal mining and exports. Thus, the economic future of the region is intimately bound up with global efforts to prevent dangerous climate change. Researchers from the School of Business, Dr Neil Perry and Dr Gillian Hewitson, conducted research that looked at 2 varying futures (business as usual or diversification) and found that there are far-reaching risks to the region with no preparation for global coal decline. With world action to implement the Paris Agreement climate change goals and the UN Sustainable Development goals, the Hunter is at serious risks if the region does not prepare for the global changes that are underway. Over 5,000 jobs and $700M in wages and salaries could be lost if predicted global declines in coal occur.
International: Food Security in the Solomon Islands (SDG 2, 10 and 12)
Solomon Islanders mostly rely on the productivity of smallholder agriculture for household income and food security. Agriculture has been identified as the most important sector of the Solomon Islands economy, and it sustains over 85% of the country’s rural economy. The increasing population density in and around larger cities creates major issues for food security as urban residents are less able to have and maintain the household gardens that rural Solomon Islanders rely on for their daily food needs and income security. A team of HARDI researchers led by Associate Professor Nichole Georgeou and supported by a Western Sydney University Early Career Fellowship Award conducted research in the Honiara Central Market (HCM) with Honiara City Council and the Honiara Central Market Manager. Understanding the interactions taking place at HCM between rural farmers and urban consumers is important both for rural producers who sell their produce to create wealth, and for urban residents who need fresh food. This study examined the factors that affect linkages between rural smallholders and urban consumers of fresh produce and contributed to public policy formation in Solomon Islands on future food supply and food security.
International: Managing Aquifer Recharge and Sustaining Groundwater Use through Village-level Intervention (MARVI) (SDG 5, 6, 14 and 10)
India’s natural resources, like groundwater for irrigation and drinking, are increasingly under pressure from its population. In most semi-arid parts of India, farmers face significant water shortages and risk of crop failure with changes in monsoonal rain patterns. Led by Professor Basant Maheshwari, School of Science, the
MARVI Project (opens in a new window) has involved socio-economic and cultural understanding of groundwater issues as well as monitoring of rainfall and water levels and also identifies water saving practices in selected watersheds in Rajasthan and Gujarat states. The project has used citizen science to engage local villagers who collect, analyse, interpret and disseminate information to village communities.
No One Left Behind: Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals in Australia
The SDGs are not just a tool for diplomatic engagement. They are an international hook on which to champion socially, environmentally and economically coherent domestic policy solutions for our shared future both at home and abroad.
So why has Australia been so slow to take the SDGs seriously, and how do we compare to other nations? Recent research published by the Whitlam Institute investigates international best practice in adopting the SDGs through governance structures, policy and planning. To consider which countries Australia could optimally learn from for better SDG implementation, the research draws on the submissions to the 2018 parliamentary Inquiry into the SDGs. Lessons from case studies in Germany, Mexico and Indonesia – each fellow G20 members – are analysed in the report, with 12 recommendations to advance SDGs policy in Australia.