Amelia Leavesley
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Urban planning, Multilevel governance, Urban sustainability, Waste management
Biography
Amelia is an urban sustainability scholar, teacher and former consultant who is passionate about healthy cities and good governance. She is currently completing a PhD with the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne. Her research explores multilevel waste governance in Australia, focussing on the role of local governments in scaling action on waste.
Alongside her PhD, Amelia works as a university tutor and research fellow, exploring topics related to strategic engagement, urban climate policy and governance, the SDGs, sustainability transitions and city networking. She is also the co-founder and secretary of the Academics Anonymous Group: a graduate researcher-led initiative designed to build research confidence and skills through peer learning and support.
Amelia also brings over 5 years’ experience as a strategic engagement and communications consultant, working with multiple levels of government to help deliver major projects in water, planning and transport. She holds a Master of Environment (Education and Social Change) from the University of Melbourne and the University of Copenhagen (postgraduate exchange), and a Bachelor of Science (Engineering and Environmental Science) from the University of Western Australia.
Thesis
Scaling sustainability: the role of Australian local governments in multilevel waste governance
As areas of concentrated consumption and production, cities are central to the global waste problem. Municipal solid waste (MSW) production is accelerating with urban population growth, which is presenting major challenges for local governments who are responsible for managing MSW sustainably. To address these challenges, Australian local governments are taking a multilevel approach to scaling MSW management: piloting sustainable waste initiatives locally, advocating for more progressive national waste policies, while also engaging in international sustainability action, as agents in global city and waste networks. While MSW issues are inherently local, local governments are at the same time influencing and being influenced by national and international waste systems.
The role of Australian local governments – especially those from small and medium sized (intermediate) cities – as networked agents within these multilevel systems of waste governance warrants further attention in urban planning research. Moreover, waste policy research in Australia has sought to address the environmental impacts of MSW through policy or technological approaches. There is a need to extend this body of research to consider the multilevel governance system that influences how MSW is managed in Australia, and the role of local governments within this system.
To address these gaps, this research is an interdisciplinary inquiry that brings a multilevel governance approach to study MSW management in Australia, seeking to answer the overarching question: How are local governments from intermediate cities influencing national and international waste management?
This qualitative research takes a comparative case study approach to investigate multilevel waste governance in Australia. Waste policy and governance approaches of three intermediate city governments are analysed. The research involves policy analysis to describe the different ‘modes’ through which MSW is governed in each study site. Following this, semi-structured interviews with key actors in the waste governance system are used to explore if and how sustainable MSW policies are scaled and the role of local governments within this, drawing on urban scaling theories to structure the analysis. The research aims to determine whether scaling processes are influencing sustainable waste management outcomes at the national and international level.
Articles
- Leavesley (2024). Is this the world's coolest street or is the system rigged? Pursuit. University of Melbourne.
- Leavesley, A., Trundle, A., & Oke, C. (2022). Cities and the SDGs: Realities and possibilities of local engagement in global frameworks. Ambio, 1–17.
- Leavesley, A. (2021). Liveable Melbourne a blessing amid weary lockdowns. Pursuit. University of Melbourne.
- Leavesley, A., Oke, C., & Trundle, A. (2021). City climate leadership a model for sustainability. Pursuit. University of Melbourne