Welcome to my site. Here you’ll find some information on the threads of my work which is at the intersection of communities and their landscapes. My bottom line is that sustainable landscapes are possible through community actions and sustainable communities need sustainable landscapes. In this bottom line I focus on two things – community-led approaches to landscape sustainability/resilience and also the role of slow travel in this.
My approach can be summed up in three words: Landscapes. Sustainabilities. Transformations. (This is what I refer to as LST.)
Making these words meaningful with the complexities ‘on the ground’ is where I focus. Communities are lead actors in shaping sustainable and resilient futures and transformations to these futures are possible through creative collaboration where we all have a part to play. You’ll see the importance of LST throughout my work, practice and education.
My approach to community/landscape resilience and sustainability is to develop conversations with communities and their landscapes. Communities and their natural landscapes are inter-dependent so my conversations around sustainability and resilience are a collaboration with a community and a landscape – a collaboration that reflects social, economic, political, cultural, historical and natural processes. So having conversations uncovers the links between sustainable, resilient landscapes and sustainable, resilient communities. You can learn more via the link on my logo (‘Conversations with Communities’) or go to the ‘CwC’ page here.
I also focus on supporting sustainable communities through slow travel, especially our role as slow travellers. I call this LoST (or being Lost in Slow Travel). Here we move beyond ‘slow travel’ as a marketing segment. The LST approach is used to explore deeper engagements with the concept of slow travel, our role as slow travellers and its potential for shaping the resilience and sustainability of communities and their landscapes. I especially focus on our contributions as slow travellers as well as community initiatives related to travel and sustainability.
You can go to my LoST site by clicking on the logo or here.
THE CORE OF MY WORK
Ever since I started working with communities using the LST framework, I’ve focused on sharing experiences and ideas. The work continually reminds me that there are no simple blueprints for change, just complexities to navigate. Recognising this and sharing experiences and ideas allows us to understand more about these complexities and work a way through them to ensure LST outcomes.
The core of my work consists of three things:
- Education & Learning. I have worked in the formal University sector, the professional development sector and in community education for a very long time. For me, education is about working with individuals in formal and informal settings who are interested to learn more about communities, sustainable landscapes and the transformative potential of community-led actions and initiatives, whether they be in community resilience or in slow travel. More at my Learning page.
- Community-building. This encompasses two things. The first is the work I do with communities and their landscapes in supporting community-led initiatives. This has been the focus of most of my professional life. The second is as important I think – building on-line communities of interested people (practitioners, travellers, community members) who can come together to learn, share experiences and ideas, and further build their understanding. These communities can be found at the LST Collaboration Hub or earn more at my LST Communities page.
- Sharing Experiences. I share thoughts, ideas and things of interest via this site, our Collaboration Hub, social media, writing, videos and podcasts (and anything else useful). More at my Sharing Experiences page.
Learn some more through these pages or by joining the LST Collaboration Hub.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
I’ve been working as a professional social scientist for 30+ years in various places around the world, but in particular Australia and the Asian region. My bottom line has taken me to forests, mountains, the great rivers of South Asia, wetlands, seascapes, deserts and urban neighbourhoods. I’ve worked with communities in conserving and protecting their forests, their efforts in protecting endangered species (mostly tigers), in their contributions to national park management and their initiatives in welcoming travellers into their homes, communities and landscapes. My start and end point? People.
I’ve been fortunate to have worked with amazing young people, women and men who have contributed to the sustainability of their communities, their landscapes and our futures. They are important reminders that, given opportunities, we are all able to engage with issues of sustainability and sustainable landscapes – we all have contributions to make.
Have a look around my site and get in touch. You can get in touch/stay in touch a few different ways. You can join the LST Collaboration Hub via the ‘LST Communities’ page. Or you can follow me on insta or twitter, where I use #LSTpeopleandplace, #LSTconversationswithcommunities and #LSTcommunitiesandresilience for posts or retweets specifically focused on communities and landscapes. If you’re specifically interested in the importance all this to slow travel (my LoST approach), you can go to my LoST website from here.
It’d be great to start some conversations around communities and their landscapes.
