The UTS Centre for Compassionate Conservation (CfCC) strives to bring together the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of inclusion, with practical and scientific approaches for solving complex real-world problems.
Human-wildlife relationships
| Animal and environmental law and policy
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Reimagining Conservation Through Indigenous Leadership
This global initiative explores bold, transformative approaches to conservation that center justice, equity, and care. and incorporates a key area of our research, which is listening to and respecting voices of First Nations peoples, including the use of decolonial methodologies.
The article co-authored by Dr. Rosalie Chapple contributes to a movement that challenges business-as-usual models and asks: What would it take to move beyond inherited paradigms toward conservation that truly serves both people and planet?
Through four key themes—leadership and justice, money and power, relationships, and conservation action—the research calls for paradigm shifts that dismantle inequities, amplify diverse voices, and foster collaboration across cultures and sectors. It emphasizes listening deeply to communities, integrating Indigenous knowledge systems, and building governance models rooted in reciprocity and shared responsibility.
This work is part of a broader partnership under the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), engaging experts worldwide to rethink conservation policy and practice. The initiative emerged from global dialogues and is shaping strategies for a future where biodiversity and social justice are inseparable.
CfCC Contributor: Dr. Rosalie Chapple
Collaborators: IUCN CEESP and international conservation leaders
Publication: Policy Matters Issue 24 – Reimagining Conservation
Find out more: IUCN COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL POLICY
Remaking One Health: Decolonial Approaches to Street Dogs and Rabies in India
This multidisciplinary and international project investigates the historical, everyday, institutional, psycho-social, and ecological aspects of rabies and the people-dog-health interface in India. Through the lens of a One Health paradigm that recognises the interconnected nature of humans, animals and our shared environment, the research is delivering new insights into effective, ethical, and socio-culturally appropriate ways of caring for street dogs and preventing rabies.
The CfCC team is part of a large international collaboration that includes researchers from India, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Founding universities include the University of Edinburgh, Liverpool University, the University of Western Australia, and UTS.
Through this project, the CfCC has established partnerships with the Nature Conservation Foundation India, Socratus, Ambedkar University, the Humane Society International India, Welfare of Stray Dogs, Help in Suffering, and Working for Animals.
- CfCC Chief Investigators: Associate Professor Daniel Ramp, Dr Rosalie Chapple
- CfCC postgraduate students (PhD candidates): Nynke Kooistra, Prativa Bomzon, Rashmi Singh Rana
- Funder: The Wellcome Trust
Foragecaster: Agricultural remote sensing for sustainable agricultural landscapes
In this large collaborative project, researchers are developing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning forecasting tools to help farmers predict and improve pasture quality, resilience, and biodiversity in the face of climate change.
Digital transformation paves the way for transformative approaches to challenging norms. In a conservation context, this includes the unnecessary exclusion of wildlife, the establishment of intensive monocultures, and unsustainable management practices. Using farmers’ own data, our goal is to show that more inclusive approaches to farm and environmental sustainability are better for people, the environment, and non-human beings who coexist in food production landscapes.
- CfCC investigators: Associate Professor Daniel Ramp, Dr Abolfazl Abdollahi
- CfCC postgraduate students (PhD candidates): Alex Trobec (National Industry PhD Scholarship)
- Funder: Food Agility CRC, AgriWebb
Find out more