FAME Sustainability

While climate action is widely acknowledged as crucial, many struggle to live fully sustainable lives. As individuals, does it matter how engaged we are with climate action? Who is ultimately responsible for addressing global challenges like climate change?

In this episode, the hosts are joined by Dr Scott Hanson-Easey from the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide, to explore the often-discussed gap between knowledge and action in addressing climate change. Drawing on his background in health promotion, science communication, psychology, and social policy, Scott shares fascinating reflections on why people’s behaviours often fall short of their ideals and discusses the kinds of contextual transformations that could help individuals better align the two, paving the way for more meaningful and sustained climate action.

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Scott’s research profile 

Scott’s recommendations
Naomi Klein: “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate ”

Feeding eight billion people can feel like an overwhelming challenge. In our globalised food system, decisions made in one part of the world can ripple across borders and impact lives elsewhere. So, what can we do collectively to ensure everyone has access to fresh, healthy food?

In this episode, Professor Melissa Nursey-Bray  and Dr Ariane Gienger , as they speak speak with Associate Professor Douglas Bardsley, a fellow human geographer from the University of Adelaide. Drawing on his extensive research into environmental and agricultural risk management, Doug shares insights into food insecurity across different contexts, the threats climate change poses to both human and ecological stability, and why recognising food as a human right is more important than ever.

Doug's Research Profile

Doug’s recommendations:

• Ulrich Beck: “Living in and coping with world risk society ”
• Ulrich Beck: “Climate for change, or how to create a green modernity? ”
• Vandana Shiva: “Solutions to the food and ecological crisis facing us today ”
• Vandana Shiva: “The Violence of the Green Revolution: Science and Politics of the Green Revolution ”
• Douglas Bardsley: “Climate change threatens to cause ‘synchronised harvest failures’ across the globe, with implications for Australia’s food security ”
• Douglas Bardsley: “Risk alleviation via in situ agrobiodiversity conservation: drawing from experiences in Switzerland, Turkey and Nepal ”
• Douglass Bardsley & Andrea Knierim: “Hegel, Beck and the reconceptualization of ecological risk: The example of Australian agriculture ”

While there's no doubt that moving away from fossil fuels is essential for the planet’s future, it’s equally important to ask: what exactly are we transitioning towards? Wind and solar energy may be renewable and abundant, but can we say the same for the materials used to build wind turbines and solar panels?

In this episode, Professor Melissa Nursey-Bray and Dr Ariane Gienger are joined by Dr Rachelle Kernen from the University of Adelaide’s School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences. As a geoscientist specialising in hydrogen and critical mineral deposits, Rachelle brings a unique perspective on every stage of renewable energy production. She explores the challenges, innovations, and policy shifts needed to make clean energy truly sustainable.

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Rachelle's Research Profile
Energy GeoScience
 

Failing to act on climate change and biodiversity loss is a profound injustice, as those least responsible often suffer the most. Yet even well-intentioned climate action can be unjust if it inadvertently reinforces the very inequalities we seek to dismantle. So how do we navigate this complexity on the path to a truly sustainable future?

In this episode, Professor Melissa Nursey-Bray and Dr Ariane Gienger speak with Associate Professor Kristina Sehlin Macneil, Deputy Director of the Várdduo Center for Sámi Research at Umeå University in Sweden. Drawing on her extensive research into Indigenous experiences with energy production, Kristina sheds light on how the green transition is affecting Sámi reindeer herders and shares their vision for more meaningful inclusion in the projects that shape their lands and lives.

Kristina's Profile

We are witnessing biodiversity loss at an unprecedented rate, with species vanishing faster than at any time in millions of years. This crisis poses serious risks to both people and the planet. In response, the global community has committed to protecting 30 percent of the world’s land and water by 2030. But will this be enough and how realistic is it that we’ll reach this goal?

In Professor Melissa Nursey-Bray and Dr Ariane Gienger's final episode, they turn the conversation inward. Drawing on their research into community-based conservation across Australia, they discuss why biodiversity is essential for all life on Earth, explore the strengths and shortcomings of protected areas as conservation tools, and consider the role of global agreements like the Global Biodiversity Framework.

They also reflect on the conversations they've had throughout the series, and what they’ve revealed about the progress made—and the work still to be done—on the path to a more sustainable future.

Melissa’s Research Profile
Ariane's Research Profile 

Melissa’s and Ariane’s recommendations:

• Naomi Klein: “Let Them Drown: The Violence of Othering in a Warming World ”
• Richie Howitt: “Rethinking Resource Management: Justice, Sustainability and Indigenous Peoples ”
• Richie Howitt: “Unsettling the Taken (for Granted) ”