Sustainability, Environment, and the Arts in Education (SEAE) Research Centre

Research impact

The SEAE Research Centre at Southern Cross University stands out for driving change in environmental and arts education.  It's known for its unique transdisciplinary method that has influenced debates, policy, and practice.  The Centre's focus on creative research methods has led to transformative ecological thought and educational models, embracing Indigenous knowledges, posthumanism, and feminist theories.

Its impact is seen in publications that address educational policy, consent issues among youth, and contributions to climate change education.  Notably, the Centre's work in childhood environmental education has been highly rated in national evaluations, affirming its role in shaping effective educational strategies and responses to global environmental challenges.

SEAE Member Events

SEAE Seminar Series

We invited 4 speakers to respond to the prompt of establishing radical education and arts-based research praxes for climate, environmental, and social justice. The speakers were Elizabeth Makishe, Emeritus Professor Annette Gough and Associate Professor Hilary Whitehouse, Dr Scott Jukes and Dr Erin Manning. These seminars were well attended and led to some rich discussions with centre members.

Reading Groups

Reading groups were held across the year to enable SEAE members to read and discuss contemporary scholarship. This year, we read work from 2 members on posthuman writing practices and African design education as well as works on oceanic and tethysian being-in-the-world, Earth worlds and Indigenous dreaming, and the intersectional environmentalist.

Visiting Scholars

SEAE had 3 visiting scholars in 2024. PhD student Elizabeth Makishe visited in January from Tanzania and spoke to members about her research on girls education in Tanzania. Professor Aileen Wilson visited in May from the Pratt Institute in the US and gave a seminar titled Curriculum and Pedagogy: “Teaching for System Improvement” as well as a workshop on Handmade Books: Making Project Examples in Teacher Education; a hands on workshop for student-teachers for both staff and students. Following this, Distinguished Professor Rita Irwin visited in November from the University of British Colombia in Canada and gave the Dean’s Keynote address titled A/r/tographic Living Inquiry through Visual and Textual Propositions and a member workshop on Concept Juxtapositions.