2024 Laureate Profile: Professor Christopher Gibson

Administering Organisation: University of Wollongong

Fellowship Project Summary

FL240100124 - Regional decarbonisation transitions: an inclusive place-based approach

Professor Gibson aims to investigate how decarbonisation impacts Australian regions and develop a novel place-based approach to empower communities and industries during a transformation that poses a significant risk of leaving many energy-intensive regions behind. This project will support a decarbonised future that reduces regional disadvantage, by developing a novel, inclusive approach that understands regions within national and global contexts and connects economic geographical analysis to social and cultural insights. It will track where investments in renewables and clean manufacturing hit the ground, and with what effect. Professor Gibson will also uncover overlooked regional skills and initiatives, and First Nations perspectives, through this period of unprecedented change. Mapping technology will integrate findings, visualising trends for government, community, and industry stakeholders to plan for more inclusive transitions. Research outcomes will evolve in real time, as decarbonisation accelerates, and be communicated via policy briefs, workshops, story-maps, and podcasts, to stimulate debate and support decisions that deliver more equitable outcomes for regional residents, stakeholders, and the environment. 

Australian Research Council Funding: $3,613,497