Dr. Darren Sharp is a Research Fellow at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute. Darren is a sustainability transitions researcher interested in urban experimentation, grassroots innovation and the sharing economy.

His work is situated at the intersection of transitions management, design for social innovation and community economies thinking, with a particular interest in collaborative governance of urban transition arenas.

His doctoral thesis in Humanities, completed at Curtin University, draws on action research of a living lab in Melbourne and multiple case studies to develop an agency-centred analysis of urban experimentation. Darren’s research speaks to the possibilities of social learning, institutional arrangements, and new urban imaginaries to drive the transformation of cities towards sustainability.

Darren is taking these insights into his role as Chief Investigator of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus project and Research Coordinator of the Net Zero Precincts program.

Darren is also the founding Director of Social Surplus, the Australian editor of Shareable, and co-authored the book Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons which contains 137 case studies and policies that showcases how city residents around the world are using commons-based strategies to meet their needs in housing, food, transportation, work and energy.