Stefan Kaufman

Dr

Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

Interested in supervising projects where behaviour change is a point of entry for understanding and accelerating urgent sustainability transitions we must make to flourish into the future (i.e. planetary boundaries, SDGs etc). Government policy and programs / public sector experience a plus, but not required. Current impact/topic areas I'm working on include climate adaptation, natural capital and agriculture, circular economy and sustainable consumption, but potentially any domain of sustainability linking individual and system change is of interest.

20052023

Research activity per year

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Personal profile

Biography

Stefan Kaufman joined the Monash Sustainable Development Institute’s BehaviourWorks Australia (BWA) as a Senior Research Fellow in May 2019 after a secondment in 2018. He completed his PhD and B. Arts / B. Science (Hons 1) in Human Ecology at the Australian National University in 2009. Prior to BWA, he led the social science function at the Victorian Government’s Environment Protection Authority from 2007, delivering regulatory performance measurement, environmental and public health risk communication, monitoring and evaluation and voluntary behaviour change programs. He was a founding member of the BWA working group of partner organisations from 2010. He aims to be a ‘pracademic’ with a focus on helping people and organisations working towards socio-environmental change to be more reflective and effective in complex situations.


His work with BWA involves developing multi-agency behaviour change interventions within collective impact frameworks, and enhancing knowledge transfer within BWA’s partner organisations. Research and publications include research, policy and practice translation, public value measurement, adaptive management in environmental behaviour change programs, integrating voluntary and compliance drivers for behaviour change, climate change risk communication, and social learning in complex socio-environmental systems. He has been invited to present at international forums including the University of Surrey’s Centre for Evaluation Across the Nexus, Lund University Planet in 2050 Symposium, and the Regulatory Institutions Network (ANU) symposium on experimentalist governance.


He has taught and provided guest lectures at Monash University, RMIT and the University of Melbourne, and designed and delivered training for ANZOG, the Australasian Evaluation Society, Australian Non-Profit and Social Marketing Association, and Monash’s groundbreaking GreenSteps program. He delivered workshops and guest presentations for EPA Victoria and other BWA organisations and affiliates on topics including research utilisation, environmental behaviour change, public value research, and regulatory compliance and strategy. His work at EPA Victoria has been recognised in staff reward and recognition awards four years in a row 2013-2017, and in 2014-15 he was awarded the Mark Payton leadership development scholarship, exploring how to identify, and foster, science thought leadership in environmental regulation.

In 2019 he was awarded a visiting fellowship with the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam, Germany, examining concepts and methodologies for evaluating the societal impact of transitions research.

Stefan is a member of the Australian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators NeTwork (AELERT), Institute of Public Administration Australia, Society for Human Ecology and the Australasian Evaluation Society.

 

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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):

  • SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
  • SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action

External positions

Senior Fellow, Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies

15 Aug 201915 Nov 2019

Network

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