With an Oxford doctorate in early modern history of science and philosophy, Robert's research for the last decade has focused on the social and environmental problems associated with consumption and waste. He has published widely on waste, consumption and design for sustainability, and more recently on the potential role of design in developing and implementing a circular economy. He is the author of two sole-authored books and co-editor of six collections of essays. He is currently co-editing a volume of essays on reuse and the response of art and design to our global waste crisis, Rethinking Waste through Design: The World is already Full (Intellect). He is also working on a second edition of his Somebody Else's Problem: Consumerism,... Read more
About me
With an Oxford doctorate in early modern history of science and philosophy, Robert's research for the last decade has focused on the social and environmental problems associated with consumption and waste. He has published widely on waste, consumption and design for sustainability, and more recently on the potential role of design in developing and implementing a circular economy. He is the author of two sole-authored books and co-editor of six collections of essays. He is currently co-editing a volume of essays on reuse and the response of art and design to our global waste crisis, Rethinking Waste through Design: The World is already Full (Intellect). He is also working on a second edition of his Somebody Else's Problem: Consumerism, Sustainability and Design (Routledge: Greenleaf), a book that won gold in the Axiom Best Business books list of 2017.
About me
Associate Editor of the Journal of Design Business and Society (Intellect, UK)
About me
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 23/06/2021 |
Design and Consumption for the Circular Economy (Be Waste Wise), https://wastewise.be/2021/06/design-and-consumption-for-the-circular-economy-with-robert-crocker/ |
| 16/03/2020 |
From the Microfactory to the Circular Economy (Be Waste Wise), https://wastewise.be/2020/03/from-the-microfactory-to-the-circular-economy/ |
| 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 |
About me
Doctor of Philosophy University of Oxford
Robert began his research career in the history of early modern European science, philosophy and religion at Oxford, where he gained his doctorate in 1987. Following seven years teaching modern history at Adelaide and Flinders Universities, he came to UniSA to teach the history and theory of design and research methods in 1996. He now has over twenty years experience teaching history and theory of design and design for sustainability, and was instrumental in establishing the 'theory' part of the school's design for sustainability program. He was Acting Director of the the Zero Waste SA Research Centre for Sustainable Design and Behaviour in 2014 and 2015, and Deputy Director of the China Australia Centre for Sustainable Development (2016-2021).
Robert is an active researcher and PhD supervisor. His research focuses on the role of consumption, waste and design in our present environmental crisis, and he has hosted 3 international conferences on this theme, including most recently 'Unmaking Waste', in September, 2018, and The Transparency Project: Everyday Products, Consumer Knowledge and Environmental Projects. He has published eight books, including Subverting Consumerism: Reuse in an Accelerated World and Unmaking Waste in Production and Consumption: Towards the Circular Economy. His book, Somebody Else's Problem: Consumerism, Sustainability and Design (Routledge / Greenleaf, UK), won gold in the annual Axiom Business Books awards for 2017. He has spoken at many public events, including Womadelaide Planet Talks (2015), the Ubud Writers' Festival (2017) and Be Waste Wise (2017-2020), a New York-based global platform for public engagement with waste and waste matters.
In 2021 he led a collaborative research project on Implementing the Circular Economy in SA: Developing Partnerships and Identifying Targets, which was part-funded by Green Industries SA.
Robert's research is focused on the problem of consumption and waste and the challenge to design presented by today's escalating environmental crisis. He is currently writing about the circular economy as the latest in a long series of attempts to solve the 'wicked problem' of overproduction for overconsumption presented by the 'growth' economy. He is involved in a number of collaborative research projects relating to this theme, including co-editing a book deriving from the Unmaking Waste conference which he convened in 2018, called Rethinking Waste Through Design (Intellect 2022) and a second, expanded edition of his book, Somebody Else's Problem: Consumerism, Sustainability and Design (Routledge 2016, to be completed ... Read more
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
AHURI - Sustainable housing at a neighbourhood scale (21/PRO/32281), Australian Housing & Urban Research Institute, 01/04/2021 - 21/11/2022
Implementing the Circular Economy in SA: Developing partnerships and identifying targets (EASS URIPA 2020), Green Industries SA, 28/05/2020 - 30/04/2021
2020-2021: CI, Collaborative (Partnering) URIPA Project: Implementing the Circular Economy in SA: Developing Partnerships and Identifying Targets (with Green Industries SA, Legatus Group and Good Design Australia)
2015-2018: Adelaide Living Labs Hub: Co-Creation Methodologies for Eco-Precincts (with Jane Andrew and Aaron Davis, PhD candidate)
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2021 |
Open access
24
17
116
|
| 2018 |
12
1
|
| 2018 |
11
|
| 2017 |
|
| 2017 |
5
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2018 |
12
1
|
| 2018 |
11
|
| 2017 |
5
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2019 |
|
| 2018 |
|
| 2018 |
Open access
1
|
| 2018 |
Open access
8
|
| 2018 |
4
|
| 2017 |
|
| 2016 |
1
|
| 2016 |
|
| 2015 |
|
| 2014 |
|
| 2013 |
|
| 2013 |
Open access
13
|
| 2013 |
|
| 2012 |
4
|
| 2012 |
Open access
7
|
| 2012 |
Open access
7
|
| 2012 |
Open access
|
| 2012 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2025 |
1
|
| 2021 |
Open access
35
24
2
|
| 2021 |
Open access
24
17
116
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2018 |
Open access
|
| 2015 |
Open access
|
| 2015 |
Open access
|
| 2015 |
Open access
|
| 2012 |
Open access
|
| 2010 |
|
| 2010 |
Open access
|
| 2010 |
Open access
|
| 2009 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2021 |
Open access
|
Recent Research Publications
Papastamoulis, V, London, K, Feng, Y, Zhang, P, Crocker, R & Patias, P 2021, ‘Conceptualising the circular economy potential of construction and demolition waste: An integrative literature review’, Recycling, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 1–20
Sandhu, S, Lodhia, S, Potts, A & Crocker, R 2021, ‘Environment friendly takeaway coffee cup use: individual and institutional enablers and barriers’, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 291, no. 125271, pp. 1–11
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
Co-Convenor, The Transparency Project Seminar: Everyday Products, Consumer Knowledge and Environmental Impacts, City West Campus, University of South Australia, February 2020
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
Research
Robert's research is focused on the problem of consumption and waste and the challenge to design presented by today's escalating environmental crisis. He is currently writing about the circular economy as the latest in a long series of attempts to solve the 'wicked problem' of overproduction for overconsumption presented by the 'growth' economy. He is involved in a number of collaborative research projects relating to this theme, including co-editing a book deriving from the Unmaking Waste conference which he convened in 2018, called Rethinking Waste Through Design (Intellect 2022) and a second, expanded edition of his book, Somebody Else's Problem: Consumerism, Sustainability and Design (Routledge 2016, to be completed in 2022). He led a collaborative research project on 'Implementing the Circular Economy in Regional South Australia' (2021) which was funded by Green Industries SA. He is actively engaged with the problem of sustainable consumption and the waste crisis.
Robert is an active advocate for design for sustainable consumption and waste reduction, and has been asked to speak at many events over the last ten years, including at Womadelaide 2015-2016, and Be Waste Wise (2017-2020), where he is a regular moderator. Public interest in his book, Somebody Else's Problem: Consumerism, Sustainability and Design (2016-7), led him to speak at seven community events in Australia during 2017, and the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (2017), where he was a panel member on the waste crisis. This book won gold in the Axiom Best Business Books list for 2017, and second prize in the annual publication award list from the International Solid Waste Association in the same year.
Robert has developed and convened four international conferences and three exhibitions over the last five years on the theme of consumption, waste and design for sustainability. Keynotes and events within these conferences, and the three exhibitions, were all open to the public and garnered interest from a wide range of local, national and community groups, ranging from the UNCRD's Forum held in Adelaide during 2016 (for The Futures of Waste photographic exhibition) to a range of local environmental and community organisations. A website dedicated to these events, with more information on their content, can be found at http://www.unmakingwaste.org
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | GREECE |
| Central Queensland University | AUSTRALIA |
| Edge Hill University | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Green Industries South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| Hong Kong Metropolitan University | HONG KONG |
| Keele University | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Nottingham Trent University | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Open University in Wales | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Private Individual | UNITED KINGDOM |
| RMIT University | AUSTRALIA |
| Royal Literary Fund | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Sogang University | KOREA, REPUBLIC OF (SOUTH) |
| The Open University | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Tianjin University | CHINA |
| Torrens University Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| University College London | UNITED KINGDOM |
| University of Adelaide | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Canberra | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Hong Kong | HONG KONG |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| Western Sydney University | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
| Engagement/recognition | Year |
|---|---|
Associate EditorJournal of Design Business and Society, Intellect |
2018 |
3rd in publication awardsInternational Solid Waste Association |
2017 |
Associate EditorJournal of Design Business and Society, Intellect |
2017 |
Deputy DirectorChina-Australia Centre for Sustainable Urban Development |
2017 |
Gold in the sustainability categoryAxiom Best Business Books |
2017 |
to judging panel and UniSA's 'Champion' for Green Industries SA's student prize awarded annually (2022).
Appointed Reference Committee to SMaRT Centre, UNSW (2021)
Coordinator UniSA DESIS Lab, DESIS Network for Social Innovation and Sustainability (2012-2018). http://www.desis-network.org/
The history and theory of design as it relates to environment, consumption and waste. Qualitative research methods in design history and theory, and more broadly in the environmental humanities. Although now employed part-time (0.6), I teach 'Consumer Culture, Technology and Sustainable Design (ARCH 6001), and give guest lectures on sustainable design, consumption and waste.
Teaching & student supervision
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| 110215 - Designing for adaptive reuse in the built environment: concepts, technologies and practice | Current |
| A strategic waste management framework and tool for the development of zero waste cities | Completed |
| Aceh¿s urban history: through the lens of early modern mapping | Completed |
| Co-creation in the built environment: an exploration of end-user engagement in the urban living laboratory | Completed |
| Construction & demolition waste mapping protocol: a novel methodology towards measuring and optimising the construction and demolition waste carbon footprint | Completed |
| Creating change: a case study of transformation, from `making greener things¿ towards `design for transitions¿ | Completed |
| Desire for less: communicating sustainable consumption through creative artefacts by and for children | Completed |
| Despair is not an option: artistic affect and the promotion of triple planetary crisis law reform | 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 |
| Embodied narratives for human-nature relation: a potential field for design | 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 |
