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Associate Professor, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle

Jenny's research is primarily in the area of diverse and community economies. She is interested in the ways that people are forging new economies by innovating with economic practices to reflect their commitments to the wellbeing of people and the planet. She has researched networks of community gardens, community supported agriculture initiatives, social enterprises and cooperatives. Much of this research was synthesised in her co-authored book (with J.K. Gibson-Graham and Stephen Healy), Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide to Transforming our Communities (published in 2013 by University of Minnesota Press). The book is supported by a Take Back the Economy website (see http://takebackeconomy.net/). The website includes a range of materials, including all the materials from an undergraduate course on Take Back the Economy that Jenny was invited to teach at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2015 (see http://takebackeconomy.net/?page_id=671).

She is a founding member of the Community Economies Collective, an international network of researchers who share an interest in theorising, discussing, representing and ultimately enacting new visions of economy (see http://www.communityeconomies.org/Home).

Jenny primarily uses participatory research approaches, and communicates her research findings through both specialist academic channels and general media, some of which include: a Community Garden Manifesto; a practical guide to social accounting for community-based organisations; Shifting Focus, a manual on Asset-based Community and Economic Development, and an international collection of stories about Asset-based Community Development.

Experience

  • –present
    Associate Professor, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle