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Shirin Malekpour Malek Pour

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Shirin Malekpour Malek Pour

Assoc Professor

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3609-8033

Accepting PhD Students

20062026

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Shirin Malekpour is Associate Professor in sustainability governance. As a social scientist, her work is dedicated to improving long-term policy making and governance for sustainable development. In recent years, her research has centred on governance through goals, exploring the potential of goal-based frameworks (such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals) to drive policy and institutional change in different contexts. Throughout her academic career, Shirin has led complex transdisciplinary programs on localising the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), collaborative governance, futures thinking and scenario planning. She has published in renowned journals, including Nature, Nature Sustainability, Nature Communications and Science. 

Shirin is a scientific advisor to the UN on sustainable development. She was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as one of the 15 members of the Independent Group of Scientists, tasked with writing the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report. 

She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy – flagship publication of the C40 initiative. She also co-leads a working group on sub-national SDG implementation in the Earth System Governance Network. She advises governments and industries in Australia and internationally on processes of strategic planning for sustainable development.

Shirin has an interdisciplinary background with a PhD in Sociology (Monash University – Australia), a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering (Delft University of Technology – the Netherlands) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (the University of Tehran – Iran). Prior to her academic career, she worked in large water and wastewater infrastructure projects across Africa and the Middle East.

In 2018, Shirin was recognised as one of the top 25 young scientists in the world in the field of sustainable development and received the international Green Talents award.

Research area keywords

  • Strategic Planning
  • Governance
  • Sustainable Development
  • Scenario Planning
  • Urban Water
  • Food-Energy-Water Nexus
  • Deep Uncertainty
  • Sustainability Transitions
  • Futures
  • Infrastructure Planning
  • Urban Transformations
  • SDGs

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 1 - No Poverty
    SDG 1 No Poverty
  2. SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
    SDG 2 Zero Hunger
  3. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  4. SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
    SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
  5. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  6. SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
    SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
  7. SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
    SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
  8. SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
    SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
  9. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  10. SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
    SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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View all 9 projects
View all 60 research outputs
  • 1 Contribution to workshop, seminar, course
View all 7 press/media