Fiona Berry

Fiona is a Research Principal at the Institute for Sustainable Futures UTS conducting research in the Food Systems research area and project managing research across a variety of disciplines. Fiona is passionate about building communities through urban and regional agriculture, community and backyard gardening and local food systems. She has over 20 years of experience in managing, implementing and delivering over 40 projects including large, multi-year, multi-partner projects and small 'grass roots' local community projects. She has been a key researcher across a wide variety of ISF's research areas including energy, water, transport, resource stewardship, built environments, healthy environments and social change. She is passionate about community-led change and building communities as a solution to environmental and social challenges facing the world and volunteers actively in her local community . She enjoys parenting, family life and striving for self-sufficiency on 1.5 acres Widjabul-Wiabul (Bundjalung nation) country in northern NSW. Fiona's areas of interest and experience include:
> Peri-urban agriculture, community and backyard gardening, regenerative agriculture and permaculture
> Community and stakeholder engagement, deliberative democracy processes, facilitation
> Strategic planning of sustainability projects and programs (including evaluation) and systems thinking
> Social science and qualitative sustainability research and analysis
> Change management and strategy
> Policy analysis and program evaluation
> Climate change risk assessment (mitigation and adaptation)
> Energy efficiency and renewable energy options assessment
> Low/zero carbon design and operation of built environment