Early-career researchers living and/or working in NSW are invited to participate in a three-day workshop on “Centring Agency, Transformation and Collective Action in the Climate Crisis”.

This workshop responds to a current boom of policy attention and state-led investment in climate infrastructures in Australia which respond not only to the imperative to decarbonise the economy but also strengthen adaptation and resilience to increasingly severe climate impacts. Research into the development and impact of climate policies and investment is proceeding apace in NSW, including work on climate finance (Bryant & Webber, 2024), place-based responses to the climate transition (Carr, 2023; Hine, Gibson & Carr, 2024), and sites of new productive expansion necessary to the climate transition (Sinclair & Coe, 2024). This work seeks to map intersecting crises as they unfold across space and time, deploying new methods for conjunctural and place-based analysis of the climate crisis in particular. 

Within this emerging research paradigm there is a developing sense of “what is to be done”, yet analysis often remains vague about who the actual actors and agencies are that have the power to shape the content and carriage of climate policies. Orienting themselves toward this gap, the organisers of this workshop suggest that there is a need to pay particular attention to the different agencies and labours mobilised through the climate crisis, and the spaces of contestation emerging around climate change, work and social reproduction. 

Over three days of activities – an initial one-day workshop at the University of Sydney followed by a two-day workshop retreat – 10 ECRs working on questions of agency, transformation and collective action in the climate crisis will come together with an overarching goal to establish a research network and series of collaborations on these topics.

Dates: In-person one day workshop at University of Sydney 1/5/26 and two day/night workshop at Currawong 10-12/6/26. Attendance at both workshops is required. 

Costs: All accommodation and food costs for the two-day workshop, and lunch at the one-day workshop will be covered through a grant from the NSW Geographical Society. Some limited travel bursaries will be available if required.

Format: 10 people in total and a series of collective discussions, writing workshops and collective project development (i.e. not a traditional conference with panels)

Applications due: 9/3/2026 via this form.

Central questions we want to address: how do we understand the nature and forms of crisis and response in this conjuncture? Who are the agents capable of acting to transform the conditions of the climate crisis? Where and how are these agencies emerging, connecting, diverging and mutating?

If you would be interested in participating in these workshops please respond via this form by 9/3/2026. As the aim is for it to be a small workshop and there are only 10 places available, decisions on participation will be made based on your fit to the call and capacity to attend both workshops.