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Dr Robert Crocker

  • Senior Lecturer School of Art, Architecture and Design
  • City West Campus (K3-28)
  • tel +61 8 830 20206
  • fax +61 8 830 20211
  • email Robert.Crocker@unisa.edu.au

Alternative contact

  • Available for media comment
  • Research Degree Supervisor
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Alternative contact details

Amandine Johnson: Amandine.Johnson@unisa.edu.au

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About me

About me

Dr Robert Crocker
  • Waste and Consumption
  • Sustainable Consumption
  • Sustainable Development

I have a research background in European history, with a doctorate from Oxford University in the history of early modern science and philosophy. I have 20 years’ experience teaching history and theory of design and qualitative research methods to designers, with a particular interest in design for sustainability. I currently serve as the Deputy Director of the China Australia Centre for Sustainable Urban Development, a partnership with Tianjin University, where I am also a guest researcher. My research currently focuses on the relationship between consumption, waste and design, and I have published widely on this theme, most recently in two co-edited books, Subverting Consumerism: Reuse in an Accelerated World (Routledge)... Read more

School of Art, Architecture and Design

Setting the pace in its field with professional artists, designers and theorists driving ever-evolving teaching and research.

Other UniSA associations

  • A researcher in the Adelaide Living Lab Hub project within the CRC for Low Carbon Living
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  • Orcid
  • Scopus
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About me

I have a research background in European history, with a doctorate from Oxford University in the history of early modern science and philosophy. I have 20 years’ experience teaching history and theory of design and qualitative research methods to designers, with a particular interest in design for sustainability. I currently serve as the Deputy Director of the China Australia Centre for Sustainable Urban Development, a partnership with Tianjin University, where I am also a guest researcher. My research currently focuses on the relationship between consumption, waste and design, and I have published widely on this theme, most recently in two co-edited books, Subverting Consumerism: Reuse in an Accelerated World (Routledge) and Unmaking Waste in Production and Consumption: Towards a Circular Economy (Emerald). My recent sole authored book, Somebody Else’s Problem: Consumerism, Design and Sustainability (Greenleaf 2016), won gold in the Axiom Best Business Books for 2017 (sustainability). I am active as an advocate for sustainable consumption, and have spoken at many community and cultural events on themes relating to consumption, waste and design for sustainability, including WOMADELAIDE (2016) and the the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (Bali 2017). 

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Professional Associations

Coordinator UniSA DESIS Lab, Desis Network for Social Innovation and Sustainability

Associate Editor of the Journal of Design Business and Society (Intellect, UK) 

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In the media

Date Title
17/02/2017

Awarded best book (gold) in the category, Sustainability/Non-Profit/Philanthropy, Axiom Best Books in Business Awards, 2017, : http://www.axiomawards.com/77/2017-winners

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Experience

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy University of Oxford

Work history

Beginning my research career in the history of early modern European science, philosophy and religion, I began teaching and researching in the history and theory of design in 1996 when I first joined the University of South Australia.  Since then I have developed and taught many cross-award courses in the history and theory of design, and also developed and delivered the School’s first research methods courses for designers and architects (from 1997). I am a successful supervisor and have 6 PhD and 2 Masters by research completions, and was for a time the Research Degrees Coordinator in the Architecture and Design school.

For about eighteen months I was the Acting Director of the cross-disciplinary Zero Waste SA Research Centre for Sustainable Design and Behaviour (2014-2015) and since 2016 I have served as the Deputy Director of the China Australia Centre for Sustainable Urban Development, an exciting partnership with Tianjin University in China. I am active researcher and have published eight books, including most recently, Subverting Consumerism: Reuse in an Accelerated World and Unmaking Waste in Production and Consumption: Towards the Circular Economy. My sole authored book, Somebody Else's Problem: Consumerism, Sustainability and Design (Routledge / Greenleaf, UK), won gold in the annual Axiom Business Books awards for 2017.

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Research

Research themes

  • Scarce resources
  • Transforming societies

Research focus

  • Applied Economics
  • Consumption and Waste
  • Design
  • Historical Studies
  • Literary Studies

Highlights

My research is mainly focused on the problem of consumption and waste and the challenge to design presented by our escalating environmental crisis. I am especially interested in the 'wicked problem' presented by the growth economy, and the present failure of mainstream economics and government policy and regulation to deal effectively with the escalation of consumption over the last thirty years. I am currently involved in a number of small research projects related to this phenomenon, including one on reducing coffee cup wastes and one on alternative food hubs. I am also interested in the provisioning of so-called 'low carbon' precincts, and how to develop alternative consumption systems in these green urban... Read more

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Research

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Projects

Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.

Other projects

2015-2018: Adelaide Living Labs Hub: Co-Creation Methodologies for Eco-Precincts (with Jane Andrew and Aaron Davis, PhD candidate)

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Research

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Outputs

Research since 2008 is shown below. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Highlights

Year Output
2018

Crocker, R & Chiveralls, K 2018, Subverting consumerism: reuse in an accelerated world, Routledge, UK.

1
2018

Crocker, R, Saint, C, Chen, G & Tong, Y 2018, Unmaking waste in production and consumption: towards the circular economy, Emerald Publishing, UK.

2017

Crocker, R 2017, 'Unmaking waste', in J Chapman (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Product Design, Taylor and Francis, UK, ch. 17, pp. 250-265.

2016

Crocker, R 2016, 'The 'Good' corporation: the uneasy relationship between reputation and responsibility', in G Muratovski (ed.), Consumer culture : selected essays, Intellect, Bristol, UK, ch. 8, pp. 173-194.

2016

Crocker, R 2016, Somebody else's problem: consumerism, sustainability and design, Greenleaf Publishing, UK.

Books

Year Output
2018

Crocker, R & Chiveralls, K 2018, Subverting consumerism: reuse in an accelerated world, Routledge, UK.

1
2018

Crocker, R, Saint, C, Chen, G & Tong, Y 2018, Unmaking waste in production and consumption: towards the circular economy, Emerald Publishing, UK.

2016

Crocker, R 2016, Somebody else's problem: consumerism, sustainability and design, Greenleaf Publishing, UK.

Chapters

Year Output
2018

Crocker, R 2018, 'Acceleration, consumerism and reuse: a changing paradigm', in R Crocker & K Chiveralls (eds), Subverting consumerism: reuse in an accelerated world, Routledge, UK, ch. 1, pp. 1-24.

2018

Crocker, R 2018, 'From 'Spaceship Earth' to the circular economy: the problem of consumption', in R Crocker, C Saint & G Chen, Y Tong (eds), Unmaking waste in production and consumption: towards the circular economy, Emerald Publishing, UK, ch. 1, pp. 1-28.

2017

Crocker, R 2017, 'Unmaking waste', in J Chapman (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Product Design, Taylor and Francis, UK, ch. 17, pp. 250-265.

2016

Crocker, R 2016, 'Acceleration in consumerism, technology and sustainability', in G Muratocski (ed.), Consumer Culture, Intellect, Bristol, UK, ch. 9, pp. 197-213.

1
2016

Crocker, R 2016, 'The 'Good' corporation: the uneasy relationship between reputation and responsibility', in G Muratovski (ed.), Consumer culture : selected essays, Intellect, Bristol, UK, ch. 8, pp. 173-194.

2015

Crocker, R 2015, 'The Haunted interior : memory, nostalgia and identity in the interior interiority', in D Daou, D Huppatz & DQ Phuong (eds), Unbounded : on the Interior and Interiority, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, ch. 6, pp. 103-129.

2014

Crocker, RW 2014, ''Ethicalization' and greenwashing: business, sustainability and design', in G Muratovski (ed.), Design for business, Intellect, Bristol, UK, vol. 2, pp. 162-177.

2013

Crocker, R & Lehmann, S 2013, 'Prologue: motivating change in consumption and behaviour', in R Crocker & S Lehmann (eds), Motivating change: sustainable design and behaviour in the built environment, Routledge, US, pp. 1-8.

2013

Crocker, R 2013, 'From access to excess: consumerism, 'compulsory' consumption and behaviour change', in R Crocker & S Lehmann (eds), Motivating change: sustainable design and behaviour in the built environment, Routledge, US, ch. 1, pp. 11-32.

Open access 5
2013

Lehmann, S & Crocker, R 2013, 'Epilogue: the consumption dilemma: from behaviour change to zero waste', in R Crocker & S Lehmann (eds), Motivating Change: Sustainable design and behaviour in the built environment, Routledge, US, pp. 419-427.

2012

Crocker, R & Lehmann, S 2012, 'Conclusion: the culture and politics of zero waste: looking ahead', in S Lehmann & R Crocker (eds), Designing for zero waste: consumption, technologies and the built environment, Earthscan, UK, United Kingdom, pp. 385-393.

2
2012

Crocker, R 2012, ''Somebody else's problem': consumer culture, waste and behaviour change - the case of walking', in S Lehmann & R Crocker (eds), Designing for zero waste: consumption, technologies and the built environment, Earthscan, Oxon, England, ch. 1, pp. 11-34.

Open access 4
2012

Crocker, R 2012, 'Getting closer to zero waste in the new mobile communications paradigm: a social and cultural perspective', in S Lehmann & R Crocker (eds), Designing for zero waste: consumption, technologies and the built environment, Earthscan, Oxon, England, ch. 6, pp. 115-130.

Open access 3
2012

Lehmann, S & Crocker, R 2012, 'Introduction: people, policies and persuasion: the future of waste reduction and resource recovery in households and urban settings', in S Lehmann & R Crocker (eds), Designing for zero waste: consumption, technologies and the built environment, Earthscan, Oxon, England, pp. 1-7.

Conferences

Year Output
2018

Shrestha, R, Sivam, A, Karuppannan, S, Crocker, R, Gu, N & KC, C 2018, 'Waste management in developing low carbon precincts', Unmaking Waste, Zero Waste SA Research Centre for Sustainable Design and Behaviour, School of Art, Architecture and Design, University of South Australia Zero Waste, pp. 1-13.

Open access
2015

Crocker, R 2015, 'Hyper-consumption, authenticity, value and the resurgence of reuse', in Thornton, Katharine (editor), Unmaking Waste 2015, Zero Waste SA Research Centre for Sustainable Design and Behaviour, pp. 317-323.

Open access
2015

Crocker, R 2015, 'Locating custodial possession in a consumer society', in T Cooper et al. (eds), PLATE Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference 2015, Nottingham Trent University, pp. 81-87.

Open access
2015

Fitzgerald, GB & Crocker, R 2015, 'Pro-environmental 'spill-overs' in community settings three years on', in Crocker, Robert (editor), Unmaking Waste 2015, University Of South Australia, pp. 524-532.

Open access
2012

Crocker, R 2012, 'Transforming consumerism by design: reconsidering sustainability and behaviour change', in G Muratovski (ed.), AGIDEAS Design for Business and Industry: International Research Conference, Intellect, vol. 1, pp. 44-55.

Open access
2012

Crocker, R 2012, 'Vistas on the past : tapestries and the period style interior (c. 1900-1940)', in F Marcello & A White (eds), Interspaces : Art + Architectural Exchanges from East to West, University of Melbourne, paper no. 3.2, pp. 1-19.

Open access
2010

Crocker, R 2010, 'Re-assembling the past: tradition and modernity in the Anglo-American period-style interior', in M Taylor (ed.), 2010 Interior Architecture Educators Association Symposium, Queensland University of Technology, pp. 1-11.

2010

Crocker, R 2010, 'What is history and theory for sustainable design education?', in G Forsyth (ed.), ConnectED 2010 2nd International Conference on Design Education, University of New South Wales, pp. 1-4.

2010

Palmer, J & Crocker, R 2010, 'Beyond un-sustainability: multi-disciplinarity in sustainable design education', in F Graham (ed.), ConnectED 2010 2nd International Conference on Design Education, University of New South Wales, pp. 1-5.

Open access
2009

Palmer, JS & Crocker, RW 2009, 'Seeking Scenarios for Sustainability', in Ross Woddrow, ACUADS 2009 Conference: Interventions in the Public Domain, Australian council of University Art & Design Schools, pp. 1-11.

Non Traditional Outputs

Year Output
2016

Crocker, R & Thornton, C 2016, Futures of waste: photographic perspectives, Kerry Packer Civic Gallery;UNCRD 7th Regional forum, University of South Australia;Adelaide Convention Centre, 7 September-7 October 2016;2-4 November 2106, University of South Australia.

Open access

Other outputs

Recent Research Publications

Robert Crocker, Christopher Saint, Guanyi Chen and Yindong Tong (eds), Unmaking Waste in Production and Consumption: Towards the Circular Economy (Emerald, 2018)

Robert Crocker and Keri Chiveralls (eds), Subverting Consumerism: Reuse in an Accelerated World (Routledge, 2018).

Robert Crocker, Somebody Else's Problem: Consumerism, Sustainability and Design (Greenleaf / Routledge, 2016). (awarded Gold, Sustainability and Non-Profit Category, Axiom Best Business Books of the Year, 2017).

Robert Crocker, 'The 'Good Corporation': The Uneasy Relationship between Reputation and Responsibility', in G. Muratovski (ed), Consumer Culture: Selected Essays (Intellect, UK, 2016), Chapter 8

Robert Crocker, 'Acceleration in Consumerism, Technology and Sustainability', in G. Muratovski (ed), Consumer Culture: Selected Essays (Intellect, UK, 2016): Chapter 9.

Robert Crocker, 'Unmaking Waste' in Jonathan Chapman (ed), The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Product Design (Routledge, 2017).

Recent Conferences and Exhibitions

Convenor, Unmaking Waste conference and exhibition, City West Campus,University of South Australia, September 2018

Convenor, Futures of Waste exhibition and seminar, City West, September 2016

Convenor, Unmaking Waste conference and exhibition, City West, September 2015

Information on these events is available here

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Research

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Current research & highlights

My research is mainly focused on the problem of consumption and waste and the challenge to design presented by our escalating environmental crisis. I am especially interested in the 'wicked problem' presented by the growth economy, and the present failure of mainstream economics and government policy and regulation to deal effectively with the escalation of consumption over the last thirty years. I am currently involved in a number of small research projects related to this phenomenon, including one on reducing coffee cup wastes and one on alternative food hubs. I am also interested in the provisioning of so-called 'low carbon' precincts, and how to develop alternative consumption systems in these green urban environments.

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  • Current research & highlights
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External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Highlights

I am an active advocate for sustainable consumption and waste reduction, and have been asked to speak at many events over the last few years in this space, including at Womadelaide 2015, and the Ubud writers and readers festival 2017. I regularly speak at community events on the waste crisis and what can be done about it.

I have also spoken to a number of high school groups on the above theme for 'Plan for the Planet', and on its relationship to the Sustainable Development Goals.

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External engagement & recognition

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Collaborations

Organisation Country
Central Queensland University Appleton Institute AUSTRALIA
Tianjin University CHINA
University of South Australia AUSTRALIA
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External engagement & recognition

Engagement/recognition Year

Associate Editor

Journal of Design Business and Society, Intellect

2018

3rd in publication awards

International Solid Waste Association

2017

Associate Editor

Journal of Design Business and Society, Intellect

2017

Deputy Director

China-Australia Centre for Sustainable Urban Development

2017

Gold in the sustainability category

Axiom Best Business Books

2017

Other

Coordinator UniSA DESIS Lab, DESIS Network for Social Innovation and Sustainability. http://www.desis-network.org/

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Teaching & student supervision

Teaching strengths

  • Design for Sustainability; Research Methods

Highlights

Sustainable design theory: especially the history and theory of consumer culture, behaviour change, and the relationship between design, consumerism, technological innovation and waste. The history and theory of modern design broadly understood in terms of cultural and environmental change, especially industrial design, and its changing relation to culture, technology, economy and society. Qualitative research methods in design history and theory, in industrial design, and more broadly in the environmental humanities.

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Courses and programs

Courses I teach and/or co-ordinate

  • ARCH 6001 Consumer Culture, Technology and Sustainable Design (2019)
  • ARCH 6001 Consumer Culture, Technology and Sustainable Design (2018)
  • VSAR 4003 AAD Research Methods (2018)
  • VSAR 2040 AAD Negotiated Study 3 (2018)

Programs I'm associated with

  • DMSP - Master of Design
  • MPHD - Doctor of Philosophy
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Teaching & student supervision

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Research degree supervision

Supervisions from 2010 shown

Thesis title Student status
Australia Awards Current
Communicating sustainability: The role of narrative, identity and human values Current
Despair is not an option: Artistic responses to the Anthropocene Current
Develop a draft of Australian site waste management protocol (AUSiWMaP) as a best practice of decision making tool in the construction industry. Current
Developing a framework for waste informatics using a case study apporach in Jakata, Indonesia Current
Investigation towards effects of adaption of waste and resource management practices in community organisations at work home and in other settings Current
Less push, more pull: a case study in using co-creation within graphic design to influence the sustainability of designer behaviour and evolve the graphic design process to be more sustainable Current
The application of co-creation as a methodology for low-carbon urban developlment Current
A strategic waste management framework and tool for the development of zero waste cities Completed
Desire for less: communicating sustainable consumption through creative artefacts by and for children Completed
Developing a co-design model through the production of education materials in the health environment Completed
'Dresses are annoying. I like to design them myself': A post-phenomenological exploration of everyday artefacts Completed
In pursuit of the marvellous: exploring the role of memory in the surrealism of Czech emigre Dusan Marek (1926-1993) Completed
Nintendo, Japan and longing: videogames embodying and communicating cultural desires Completed
Such endless pleasure: the illustrated private press books of Christine Margaret MacGregor Completed
Visual and cultural mutations of the miraculous image : the role of religious pareidolia in shrine formation Completed
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Gallery

Dr Robert Crocker
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