Australian Harmony Centre for Ecosystem Futures
Source: https://www.mq.edu.au/faculty-of-science-and-engineering/our-research/australian-harmony-centre-for-ecosystem-futures Parent: https://www.mq.edu.au/study/admissions-and-entry/apply/international/international-academic-requirements
We work in partnership with the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance
Macquarie University’s commitment to a sustainable future
Find environmental, cultural and social features around us Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn
Launch of Macquarie University nature-first centre Dharug women rekindle tradition of cultural burns Restoring forests at Wallumattagal Campus How coloured concrete improves Sydney marine life Macquarie named a Nature Positive University Restoring oyster reefs destroyed by colonists
Transforming humanity's relationship with nature
Committed to a nature-positive future, members of the Australian Harmony Centre for Ecosystem Futures (the Harmony Centre) work with Indigenous leaders, communities and industry to achieve harmony between nature and people.
The diagram above outlines our primary research focus areas. View the diagram as a pdf or read a text version in the Priorities section below.
About the centre
Our world urgently requires a fundamental change in how humans relate to the natural environment. In the face of the climate crisis, humanity and nature are threatened by ecosystem collapse, which is in turn underpinned by widespread disconnection between people, our economies and the natural world.
Established by King Charles III as the Prince of Wales, the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance (CBA) brings together:
- scientific organisations
- large corporations and local companies
- banks and investment funds
- Indigenous peoples
- non-government organisations.
These relationships accelerate the transition to a nature-first, circular bioeconomy that is climate neutral, inclusive, and powers prosperity.
As an affiliate member of the CBA, Macquarie University connects researchers with Indigenous knowledge-holders, community groups, and local industry to:
- activate ecological repair solutions
- connect people with nature
- empower communities to put nature at the centre of all we do.
Macquarie University is also part of the Nature Positive Universities network with initiatives coordinated through the Harmony Centre, which supports nature repair and sustainability research.
We believe that:
- the world needs better ways to adapt to the climate and nature crises
- ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health and wellbeing should be prioritised over the economy and growth
- we need to put nature at the centre of everything we do.
That’s why our research focuses on nature repair, social wellbeing, diversity, connectivity, harmony, adaptive capacity and the natural environment. More specifically, our centre’s priorities are:
- climate resilience
- collaboration and connection
- community engagement
- constructed habitats
- ecosystem restoration
- education and training
- fire management
- health and wellbeing
- nature-based solutions
- nature connection
- outreach and engagement
- policy and governance
- real-time monitoring
- research innovation.
Our vision is to be a world class collaborative hub connecting researchers, students, communities, businesses and government to develop and share innovative and wholistic nature-repair solutions for Australia, the Asia-Pacific and the World. Our mission is to develop collaborative, evidence-based solutions for healthy, biodiverse and resilient ecosystems that support sustainable economies and empower local communities.
Macquarie University works in partnership with the CBA to bring such vision and mission to action on the ground.
The Harmony Centre is working across three progressive stages, each to incorporate projects across the diversity of the centre’s research themes. Each stage will develop techniques to enable resilient ecosystems, embed nature within built design and demonstrate the benefits of nature repair for human health and well-being.
Stage 1
In Stage 1, we will grow a living lab based at the Macquarie University Wallumattagal Campus. Through the Wallumattagal Living Lab, we will undertake landscape repair and protection, drawing on our connections to:
- the adjacent Lane Cove National Park (Durumbura Dhurabang Valley)
- the Macquarie Park Innovation District
- surrounding green networks and waterways.
Stage 2
Stage 2 partners with leading national-scale conservation organisations to develop and implement innovative landscape recovery techniques, including building climate change resilience.
Stage 3
Stage 3 leverages additional philanthropic funding to support the purchase of land to be managed for conservation, in consultation with Traditional Custodians and the wider community. This will provide further opportunities for the development, implementation and showcasing of innovative nature-repair solutions.
We need to restore balance and put Nature back at the centre of our economy.