Professor Stuart White: At the University of Technology Sydney’s the Institute for Sustainable Futures, we've worked to create change towards a socially just and environmentally sustainable future for more than 25 years.
Because UTS is a public institution, it's important that our research benefits the public. We strive to ensure that the outcomes of our research positively impact the economy, the environment and society in accordance with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Our applied research has real impact influencing policy, practice and thinking across a range of disciplines from energy in the built environment to water and international development.
Professor Juliet Willetts: At ISF, impact is central to the design of our research projects. This means we work with funders and partners in ways to identify points of leverage where impact can best be achieved.
ISF’s transdisciplinary, whole systems approach is crucial to creating impact. By pooling our expertise across disciplines and looking holistically at the opportunities, we can maximise our impact. We also engage closely with stakeholders throughout research processes.
ISF's partners play a crucial role by using their leverage, their connections and influence to enact change. For example, in a recent research project on gender equality in workforces in Cambodia and Indonesia we didn't just report the findings about inequalities, but collaboratively developed guidance materials with the World Bank and other development agencies on how to build more equal workforces.
Beyond individual projects, we play active leadership roles in each of the spaces in which we work. Myself and others at ISF are on advisory groups for United Nations organisations, or other industry groups and networks, using our expertise and knowledge to move agendas forward.
Kriti Nagrath: In many instances deep impact means a continued collaboration with a partner on a series of related projects. One such example of a long-standing collaboration is ISF's work with APCO, the Australian packaging governance organisation, through several projects. We continue to support their work with government and APCO's 1500 industry partners towards 100% reusable recyclable or compostable packaging.
We work at different scales with commercial government and not-for-profit partners. For example, our researchers are working with local Pacific Island communities to determine how aid investments can best be leveraged to improve community resilience. On the other hand, our energy researchers are developing country- and industry-specific scenarios to help global investors better understand the pathways to deliver their net zero target.
Stuart White: We've had decades of experience at ISF, testing ideas on how change happens and progressing the latest thinking on what helps to achieve impact. We understand that significant and lasting change means working together with our partners and other collaborators to tackle sticky social and environmental challenges in all their complexity.
