October 2025 Huge congratulations to Luisa Fernanda Bedoya Taborda, PhD candidate in the Social Dynamics & Environmental Change Lab, on being awarded a WWF Fonseca Leadership Program Fellowship! Luisa’s research focuses on nature-based solutions and climate adaptation projects in conflict-affected coastal communities in Colombia, at the intersection of environmental change, peacebuilding, and community resilience. TheContinue reading “WWF Fonseca Leadership Program Fellowship Award”
Author Archives: michelelbarnes
On the road:SDEC Lab attends Adaptation Futures in Aotearoa New Zealand
October 2025 Several members of the Social Dynamics & Environmental Change Lab attended Adaptation Futures 2025, the flagship conference of the UN World Adaptation Science Programme, held in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. Congratulations to PhD Candidate Luisa Fernanda Bedoya Taborda, who presented her work on the intersection of climate change and conflict. Her presentationContinue reading “On the road:SDEC Lab attends Adaptation Futures in Aotearoa New Zealand”
New Book Published: Handbook of Social Networks and the Environment
August 2025 The Handbook of Social Networks and the Environment—co-edited by Associate Professor Barnes (director of the SDEC Lab) and Örjan Bodin from the Stockholm Resilience Centre—has just been published with Edward Elgar. This volume brings together leading scholars from around the world to explore how social networks underpin environmental change and shape responses to today’sContinue reading “New Book Published: Handbook of Social Networks and the Environment”
UNESCO endorsement as a Decade Action for the Ocean Decade
July 2025 Our research project on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in conflict-affected coastal communities has been officially endorsed as a Decade Action by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. NbS offer significant potential to enhance resilience in communities facing overlapping challenges—such as restricted mobility, economic instability, and environmental degradation. Yet in conflict-affected settings, adaptation projects, including NbS, canContinue reading “UNESCO endorsement as a Decade Action for the Ocean Decade”
Contributing to Global Guidance on Resilience Science
June 2025 In June, Associate Professor Michele Barnes had the privilege of traveling to Stockholm to take part in the Resilience Science Must-Knows workshop – a global initiative designed to bridge the gap between resilience research and real-world decision-making. Led by the Global Resilience Partnership, the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and Future Earth, this initiative brings together researchersContinue reading “Contributing to Global Guidance on Resilience Science”
SDEC Lab members receive funding for climate adaptation research project
March 2025 Congratulations to SDEC Lab members Associate Professor Michele Barnes and Dr Henry Bartelet and their colleague Sandra Alday (Business School) on their new climate adaptation research project funding. The funding is provided by the Sydney Environment Institute as part of their collaborative grant scheme. The project will develop a novel social network andContinue reading “SDEC Lab members receive funding for climate adaptation research project”
Social Dynamics and Environmental Change 