Introduction to the New Directions in Sustainability Project

Arts Education Imperatives Research

The arts provide education possibilities to transform personal, social and cultural dimensions. It is essential we interrogate the positive outcomes of arts rich experiences as we strive to create a more sustainable way of living amidst a growing recognition of systemic inequities and the need for change.

Chief Investigators:

A/Prof Mark Selkrig, Dr Kathryn Coleman, and Dr Emily Wilson

• A/Prof Neryl Jeanneret, UNITWIN Liaison
• MDAP Partner: Amanda Belton
• Artist-in-Residence: Jessica Laraine Williams
• Research Assistant: Dr Jenni Hillman and Neda Sajadi

Melbourne Graduate School of Education Arts Education staff are partners within the UNITWIN/UNESCO program of twelve institutions across the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific and senior academics/researchers across art forms. This Arts Education Think Tank creates a space to collaborate and engage in global and interdisciplinary action and research initiatives to address significant social, cultural and sustainability issues via meaningful engagement in arts and education.

The project capitalizes on the group’s existing research drawing together current work in the following imperatives:

• Decolonisation

• Cultural resilience

• Inclusion, agency, and wellbeing

• The Post-digital age

International UNITWIN Team:

• Professor Emily Achieng’ Akuno. (Technical University of Kenya)
• Associate Professor Benjamin Bolden. (Queen’s University, Canada) 
• Associate Professor Lum Chee Hoo. (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
• Professor Benjamin Jörissen (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany)
• Professor Bo-Wah Leung. (The Education University of Hong Kong) 
• Professor Larry O’Farrell. (Queen's University, Canada) 

Melbourne Graduate School of Education Team: 

• Dr Richard Sallis.
• Dr Marnee Watkins. 
• Dr Prue Wales.