The AUT Social Transformation Research Institute was established in 2025. It was instigated by Katherine Ravenswood, who identified a need to highlight the work of critical researchers engaged in community-centred research in AUT's Business School.
With the work of colleagues Fiona Hurd (who worked on initial development plans with Katherine) and our founding institute members, we are proud to have a research institute that is based on values of social justice, equity, sustainability and empowering communities. We aim to do research that has theoretical and industry/community impact and establishes a centre of excellence for community-driven research.
We live in uncertain times, with what can feel like fast-paced change across many areas, including technology, geopolitics and the environment. Many of Aotearoa’s communities face barriers to fully participating in the economy, with the benefits that ensue.
We work with agencies and organisations to conduct impactful research that addresses these challenges, providing evidence-based insights to promote greater inclusivity, equity and transformation in work and society. We do:
Our core values underpin how we do research, interact as a team and nurture our relationships with our community. Our research is grounded in values of relationality, cultural integrity and equity. We prioritise respectful, reciprocal relationships with communities and honour diverse cultural knowledge systems. Research is a form of service, aimed at advancing collective wellbeing and addressing systemic barriers. We remain authentic and reflexive in our practices, ensuring that our work reflects lived realities and supports social transformation.
Empowering relationships are central to our research. Our research and research relationships will enhance the mana and wellbeing of all involved. Community relationships inform our research and guide our research processes. Our research contributes to social debates through media, community and industry engagement.
Our research seeks to create positive change, working with our communities to create opportunities to increase equity in work and society. Recognising Aotearoa New Zealand’s position in the Pacific, our research is Te Tiriti led and contributes to the indigenisation of knowledge and society.
Our team and community are multidisciplinary, and our research uses innovative, participatory and creative methods. We foster community-centred, participatory research that encapsulates original thinking, challenges dominant narratives and engages multiple audiences.
Our logo is designed to reflect our values and our research aims. Circles are understood as reflecting unity and completeness. They also represent spiritual and ancestral connections to life, time, land, water and the spirit realm that make up some of our identity and belonging.
The combination of circles in our logo illustrates the connected, complex and dynamic research we work on with our communities:
For any enquiries, please email us at stri@aut.ac.nz