When COVID-19 emerged in Australia, the Institute for Sustainable Futures needed to find ways to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our staff and partners, while continuing to deliver outcomes that positively impact the communities we work with.

We responded by interrogating the way we work and found innovative ways to continue to deliver research solutions for a positive future.

Our researchers went further to explore how the pandemic might affect their areas of expertise and how they might continue their research practices within the ‘new normal’.

A food market in the Pacific, with bowls of lemons and limes in the foreground and other vegetables behind them
COVID-19 and Indo-Pacific food systems

Co-authored by ISF researcher Federico Davila, this report was the result of a collaboration between ISF, ANU and CSIRO. Read more here.
lengths of fabric being dyed red
A Post COVID-19 Green Deal for the Garment Sector in Asia?

This article was co-authored by ISF researcher Samantha Sharpe and Cristina Martinez from the International Labor Organization. Read more here.
Women sew in a line at a textile factory in Vietnam
Garment worker rights and the fashion industry’s response to COVID-19

ISF's Taylor Brydges co-authored this paper interrogating the fashion industry’s response to the pandemic. The authors found that, while the response has been rapid, it is highly inequitable. Read more here.
A woman holds up a yellow dress. There is an open wardrobe behind her.
Platforms and the pandemic: A case study of fashion rental platforms during COVID-19

Taylor Brydges and Monique Retamal co-authored this paper that explores the immediate consequences of the pandemic on this segment of the platform economy, focusing on issues pertaining to value creation, precarious work, gender, and sustainable consumption. Read more here.
Group of people
International Development in the Time of COVID

Published in 2021, this article is one of a series of blog posts by members of ISF’s International Development team. Using 2020 as a catalyst for interrogating their work, the team address subjects such as 'The power of being remote: for localisation, for ethics, for greater impact' and 'risk integration'. Read the blogs here.