Sustainability Research Centre (SRC)

The Sustainability Research Centre (SRC) was formalised as one of the University of the Sunshine Coast’s flagship research concentrations in September 2007. In 2012 the SRC was also designated as a Tier 1 research centre.

Research focus

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 (eg geography and cultural studies). Through this focus, we make contributions to knowledge in the areas of:
•sustainability science
•resilience
•adaptive capacity
•social learning
•social capital
•adaptive management
•natural resource governance
•Indigenous knowledge
•community livelihoods

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 such as coastal management, climate change, and water management (recognised as significant at local through to international scales)—in this way we can address real on-the-ground concerns of society and the environment.