Transitioning to caring economies through transformative community investment

In this exciting new Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, Kelly Dombroski will investigate community organisations that are already on the ground and engaged in the types of economies that care about social change. The five-year research programme 'Transitioning to Caring Economies’ will begin with case studies in urban areas, farming, composting, and co-housing. Then studies with diverse communities that include Māori and Asia-Pacific-based community organisations will be conducted. The programme will partner with communities investing their time, energy, and finances into transformation. Kelly seeks to understand the kinds of people, practices and organisations that drive and emerge from such investment. The programme will also build on these partnerships and findings to co-develop a way forward by accounting for investments of time and energy in terms of social and environmental wellbeing. Through this collaborative, socially engaged approach, Kelly's research will enhance the prospect of economic change by highlighting and championing those who care about human and planetary wellbeing.