Sustainability services

Companies are recognising that sustainable business practices can help them reimagine the role of their business to not only satisfy consumers/stakeholders but also lead society.  Purposeful business and sustainability have emerged as a framework for responsible business leadership to navigate future trends and demands of a changing world.  Griffith academics have real world experience of advising businesses to improve their sustainability footprint.

Griffith works with partners in industry and government to identify the key challenges of waste management in our ever-expanding society. Drawing on expertise in water quality management, public health risk assessment and complex systems dynamics, we are ideally placed to support businesses respond to these challenges.

Cleaner production and circular economy can bring overlapping benefits to business performance by simultaneously increasing profitability, efficiency, competitiveness and environmental performance. Harnessing the economics of sustainable consumption and production that can drive these benefits requires expertise in understanding, communicating and then applying complex ideas and strategies.

Carbon emission remains one of the major factors exacerbating global climate change. It is increasingly important to consider innovative approaches and step-change technologies to increase carbon storage of terrestrial ecosystems against the current and long-term effects of climate change. Griffith can support businesses to apply cost-effective approaches to increase terrestrial carbon storage and improve ecosystem services, with an increasing emphasis on building up ecosystem carbon futures and assist start-ups that foster and support a low-carbon economy or technology.

Local councils are at the heart of the community, and the services provided are critical to support the foundations for families across Australia to build a prosperous economy, liveable communities, and a healthy environment. The Climate Ready Initiative micro-credential course in climate risk management will provide foundational knowledge and build staff capability for climate risk management.

To support sustainable fisheries and coastal ecosystems, Griffith researchers provide practical, evidence-based solutions for tackling the increasing challenges to coastal ecosystem health, biodiversity and fisheries from excessive nutrients and toxicants, fishing pressure and climate change while these ecosystems support activities highly valued by humans, including tourism, fisheries, aquaculture, and recreation.

In maintaining and repairing land and water systems, we focus on understanding the impacts of stressors on all aspects of catchments and associated aquatic ecosystems and developing tools to optimise investment in on-ground actions.

By connecting soil and water, we provide a framework for protecting and sustaining water quality at the catchment scale. Our research explores how improved land management, including agricultural and mining practices, can reduce pollution and improve river health.

Griffith researchers seek to improve agricultural systems through better management of pests, diseases, nutrients and bees, pollination, carbon, tree crops, fruit and nuts, as well as food waste prevention, and biodiverse agricultural systems such as agroforestry.

Applications of new and existing knowledge are embedded into action plans to enable sustainable water management practices in the agriculture and mining industries.

Through improvements in sensor technologies and by developing sensitive indicators for use in soil and water, we provide underpinning knowledge of biogeochemical and hydrological processes in soil and water, including cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and micronutrients.

Reducing contaminant delivery to downstream aquatic systems is critical for demonstrating sustainable practices in the mining industry. We have specialist expertise to contain contaminants specific to different types of mining operations.

Our assessments of land-based pollution are fundamental to mitigating the effects of diffuse pollution on the Great Barrier Reef.  We have tools to trace sources of nutrients across catchments and to assess the capacity of wetlands and other natural and engineering systems to reduce nutrient inputs to this sensitive ecosystem.

Healthy ecosystems, which are critical to human well-being and survival, are underpinned by biodiversity. Griffith’s research strengths involves understanding the cause and extent of biodiversity loss and the subsequent environmental, economic, cultural, and social impacts. We create solutions to protect species from further decline, and support evidence-based conservation and management with interdisciplinary qualitative and quantitative approaches.

By way of example, koalas are one of Australia’s most iconic native species and they need all of us to help against the threats of domestic pets.  Our work supported by the Queensland and Local Government enables us to work across South East Queensland to increase community engagement to protect koalas.