NESS SEMINAR
Dr Anya Phelan and Professor Emeritus Helen Ross
Date: Wednesday 14th September
Time: 12 – 1pm
Location: Online via zoom
In studies and rhetoric about the environmental crises arising from plastics, there is relatively little attention to the social and economic sides of the issues. In this seminar we present a series of studies, each leading to the successors. Originally, a project on ‘capturing coral reef ecosystem services’, in which we were working with remote coastal communities and embryonic small businesses respectively, brought us together and developed our interests. From there, we conducted a study in the same and another remote Indonesian location, on the local people’s views and experiences of ocean plastic pollution: their knowledge, mental models, and the use, disposal, and local consequences of single use plastics. Insights from this study led us to a literature review on corporate social responsibility in the food and beverages sector, source of much of the single use packaging that pollutes southeast Asia’s oceans. In turn, this led Anya to a study on recycling innovation and social enterprise opportunities in remote Australian Outback communities, and both of us to collaborate with the School of Chemical Engineering and many industry partners in an ARC Training Centre for Bioplastics and Biocomposites. We show the many opportunities for social science and business lenses on what are often considered environmental and technical issues, and the creativity of interdisciplinary teams and partnerships with communities and organisations.
Dr Anya Phelan is a Lecturer in social entrepreneurship and business sustainability within the Strategy and Entrepreneurship Discipline at the UQ Business School. Anya is also Entrepreneur in Residence with the CSIRO Plastics Innovation Hub and Impact Initiatives Advisor for Blue Oceans Capital. Her ongoing research efforts focus on entrepreneurship and sustainable development, and lie at the intersection of social impact, community, and the circular economy. She examines how entrepreneurial action helps solve intractable social and environmental problems, such as plastic pollution.
Prof. Emeritus Helen Ross formerly managed social sciences in the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences and remains a member of the Agribusiness and Rural Development group. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist specialising in social aspects of agriculture, fisheries, environmental management, and sustainable rural development. She focuses particularly on people-environment relationships, resilience, collaboration processes, and participatory methodologies. She is a Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand, past winner of its prestigious Simon Molesworth Award for contribution to Environmental Management and managing Editor of the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management (since 2005). She is a member of Healthy Land and Water (regional body for NRM) Science Committee and Chairs its Social Science Committee. She is a board member of Architectural Science Reviews and International Perspectives in Psychology, and associate editor for Frontiers in Marine Science.
