Welcome to my site. Here you’ll find information on my work supporting communities, or those who want to work with communities, as we search for transformations to sustainable futures.
My approach can be summed up in three words: Localities. Sustainabilities. Transformations – 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. Ultimately, local transformations ripple out to wider transformations and diverse options for sustainable futures beyond the local. You’ll see the importance of LST throughout my work, practice and education.
What’s the foundation for all this? I call it Conversations with Communities (CwC). Communities and their localities, such as landscapes, are inter-dependent so my conversations around sustainability and resilience are a collaboration with a community and a locality – a collaboration that reflects social, economic, political, cultural, historical and natural processes. Having conversations uncovers the links between sustainable, resilient localities and sustainable, resilient communities. You can learn more via the link on my logo on the left (‘Conversations with Communities’) or go to the ‘CwC’ page here.
Under the LST banner, you can find:
- LST Collaboration – an on-line Hub focused on sharing a diversity of ideas, experiences and insights from those working or wanting to work, with LST ideas
- LST Learning, where I work with individuals, groups and organisations to provide highly tailored opportunities for deep learning in LST
- LST Travel, where the intersection of LST ideals and slow travel is explored, to move slow travel away from just being a marketing slogan to one that has very specific contributions to make to sustainable communities. There’s a particular focus on our role as slow travellers.
- LST Advice, where you can benefit from my professional experience.
You can also find other ways I share my experiences through writing, images, video, podcasts, social media and whatever other ways I can.
THE CORE OF MY WORK
Ever since I started working with communities using the LST framework, I’ve focused on sharing experiences and ideas. My 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 – we get beyond the blueprint.
Explore some more through these pages or by joining the LST Collaboration Hub. It will be launched soon.
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 Collaboration’ 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.
