Institute for Sustainable Solutions
The Institute for Sustainable Solutions at the University of Sydney exists to respond to some of the major challenges facing the world in the 21st century, such as food security, climate change and financial stability.
Although these challenges are complex, we can’t tackle them in isolation: systemic failure in one area can have widespread implications. For example, the failure of a crop in a developing country due to drought can lead to rising food prices, which in turn can cause civil unrest and volatility on international commodities markets. Contagion during the global financial crisis between different financial asset classes and wider society is another example.
How do we work?
These interconnected challenges require multidisciplinary solutions that cover areas ranging from food to finance, from politics to public health. Because we draw on the University of Sydney’s breadth of academic expertise (including law, economics, business, social science, health, planning, engineering, science, mathematics and computing), we believe we can deliver solutions that work across the board.
We are currently developing a new framework for our research, education and outreach programs in the area of sustainability to build on and complement the University’s existing Master of Sustainability program.
Our work focuses on three key areas:
- Solutions: Bringing together the University’s top researchers from all disciplines to develop new ways of managing future risk posed by the interconnected challenges of today’s world.
- Capacity building: Supporting and collaborating with the next generation of leaders and problem-solvers.
- Social enterprise: Engaging with projects that empower individuals to make changes that better prepare society for the future.
About our director
Professor John Crawford holds the Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Sydney.
With a background in physics, his interest is in the origins of organisation in cells and communities and has led him to uncover properties in complex living systems that sustain their function in the face of disruption.
His current projects range from modelling of environmental systems and the dynamics of crisis response, to working with a whole range of community and business representatives on projects that focus on the social and cultural systems of food production, food distribution and food consumption. His collaborators are as diverse as Tongan rugby players, immigrant survivors of torture, major food production companies and Indigenous communities, as well as academics and researchers from a diverse range of fields.
In the United Kingdom he chaired the main funding committee responsible for supporting research in sustainable agriculture, diet and health.