STAFF PROFILE
Associate Professor Sarah Holdsworth
Sarah Holdsworth is a lecturer within the School of Global Property Construction and Project Management at RMIT University.
Research
Sarah’s current research focuses on notions of sustainability in relation to curriculum development, graduate attributes, professional education in the built environment, undergraduate assessment. Sarah‘s current research includes projects on the development of learning activities and materials to foster urgent skills for an environmentally constrained future, and devising drivers for the diffusion of sustainability studies in higher education programs.
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Practices and discourses of sustainability
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The role and function of higher education including learner-centred approaches
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Higher education learning, teaching and curriculum
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Diverse learners and learning environments
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Sustainability education (pedagogy, L&T and curricula), capabilities and capacity building
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The drivers and barriers for/to curriculum change
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Organisational learning and cultural change processes help to /or are required to embed sustainability into the curriculum of a universities
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Suitable change framework for sustainability education that can be applied by universities and professional organisations.
Research grants and projects
2010–2011 Development of sustainability education modules for the Australia Graduate Certificate in Professional Development, training packages and work place education, funded by Swinburne University.
2010 Project: 5 star Sustainability Tertiary Education, for Sustainability Victoria, to develop a rating system to assess sustainability in tertiary institutions, funded by Sustainability Victoria.
2005 Beyond leather Patches: project to work with the staff of two schools at RMIT to revise their teaching to include Education for Sustainability, funded by the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment.
Sarah’s professional roles have involved change projects in relation to tertiary learning and teaching, academic development in higher education, and theorisations of academic identity and subjectivity. Sarah received her doctoral degree in 2012; which evaluated the ability of academic development programs to provide educators with the capabilities to deliver sustainability education. A theoretical framework from the related literature was developed, and used to critically evaluate three international case studies of known best practice. On the basis of the analysis of local land international experiences and the case studies key features of academic development were identified to guide universities in curriculum change.
Sarah’s experience has provided her with an understanding of a wide range of environmental tools and their application in companies and other organizations, the community consultation process, and the workings of both the private and public sector in relation to environmental issues. Her interests lie in the development of long term strategies based on substantial changes to social and technological paradigms to develop pathways towards sustainability. Sarah's main research focus is the identification of key mechanisms required to turn sustainability innovations into embedded practice in a university context.
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MEnv Sci Monash, PhD RMIT
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BEd(Sec) Environmental Science Melb
Accomplishments
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Nominated for RMIT L&T award 2003, 2004, 2011
- Wong, S.,Whelan, B.,Holdsworth, S. (2021). (In Press) Are contractors ready for greater use of prefabrication in projects? An empirical analysis on the role of unlearning and counter-knowledge In: International Journal of Construction Management, 21, 353 - 368
- Hayes, J.,Sandri, O.,Holdsworth, S. (2021). ‘More likely to be killed by a coconut’: varying professional perceptions of risk impacting residential development planning around pipelines In: Journal of Risk Research, 24, 183 - 197
- Holdsworth, S.,Sandri, O.,Hayes, J. (2021). Planning, gas pipelines and community safety: What is the role for local planning authorities in managing risk in the neoliberal era? In: Land Use Policy, 100, 1 - 12
- Qi, L.,Holdsworth, S.,Wong, P. (2021). What Affects Construction Innovation Adoption in Building and Infrastructure Projects – A Case Study in Australia. In: EASEC16: Proceedings of The 16th East Asian-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction, 2019, Springer Nature, Singapore
- Hayes, J.,Maslen, S.,Holdsworth, S.,Sandri, O. (2021). Defining the capable engineer: Non-technical skills that support safe decisions in uncertain, dynamic situations In: Safety Science, 141, 1 - 12
- Gilbert, G.,Turner, M.,Holdsworth, S. (2021). Understanding volunteer commitment to a project: Testing a conceptual model In: International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 14, 1406 - 1421
- Zhang, R.,Holdsworth, S.,Turner, M.,Andamon, M. (2021). (In Press) Does gender really matter? A closer look at early career women in construction In: Construction Management and Economics, , 1 - 18
- Sandri, O.,Holdsworth, S.,Hayes, J.,Willand, N.,Moore, T. (2021). Hydrogen for all? Household energy vulnerability and the transition to hydrogen in Australia In: Energy Research & Social Science, 79, 1 - 11
- Holdsworth, S.,Thomas, I. (2020). Competencies or capabilities in the Australian higher education landscape and its implications for the development and delivery of sustainability education In: Higher Education Research and Development, , 1 - 17
- Holdsworth, S.,Turner, M.,Scott-Young, C.,Sandri, K. (2020). Women in Construction: Exploring the Barriers and Supportive Enablers of Wellbeing in the Workplace In: State Government of Victoria Melbourne, Australia
- ALARP decision making (RP2.3-05). Funded by: Future Fuels CRC from (2021 to 2021)
- Identifying drivers of policy and practices regarding future gas uses in the built environment. Funded by: Future Fuels CRC from (2021 to 2022)
- Gas fitting practices for future fuels: Opportunities for training and upskilling in Victoria and South Australia (RP2.3-04). Funded by: Future Fuels CRC from (2020 to 2022)
- Mapping vulnerability to Future Fuels – A Scoping Review (RP2.1-06). Funded by: Future Fuels CRC from (2020 to 2020)
- Establishing a Case Based Learning Framework for Pipeline Engineers. Funded by: Future Fuels CRC from (2020 to 2020)
1 PhD Current Supervisions