I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with Associate Professor Cassandra Star on a project for her upcoming book publication. The project on mapping the grassroots climate movement in Australia allowed me to practice quantitative research on a topic that I am keenly interested in. Aside from developing valuable research skills, this project has given me insight into a topic I would now love to research further in my postgraduate studies. Through gathering a list of over 250 grassroots climate movements in Australia I became aware of the lack of research on grassroots activism. It felt extraordinary to be the one to create this list and to provide the foundation on something that has not previously been identified. It was also comforting to see that we are not alone in the fight against climate change. Through creating a map, I found that grassroots climate movements covered every part of Australia, from the remote Kimberley to the rural west coast of Tasmania.
My project found evidence to suggest that this level of activism is the foundation on which social and political change is built on, yet more research on it should be done to identify what makes this activism so critical. I hope to take this further by investigating links between grassroots movements and political change throughout history. This may provide further evidence for the importance of grassroots movements in society.
Hannah Hains
The information gathered from this project has not only provided me with the groundwork for personal future research avenues but will contribute to a book publication on climate activism globally. I feel honoured to have contributed to this research and am grateful to CASPR for offering an internship program that makes such opportunities possible.
