Driving a regenerative future for Sydney: Bronwen Morgan

Law professor Bronwen Morgan is a sustainability activist and a founding member of Regen Sydney. 

For Professor Bronwen Morgan from UNSW Law & Justice, her passion and career are intertwined. A law academic who works in governance, social enterprise and climate activism, she has been instrumental in recent collaborations between Regen Sydney, Waverley Council and the UNSW Innovator Pro initiative.  

Bronwen’s involvement with the Regen Sydney collective – a network of organisations and individuals activating a regenerative future – began at its inception in 2021. 

“I never imagined it would become work. It was just something I did because I cared about sustainability,” she said. 

From Oxford to UNSW 

Bronwen’s interest in a regenerative future started with a book by Rob Hopkins about the Transition Towns movement that she read during maternity leave. The movement then became the inspiration for her 2012 Australian Research Council Future Fellowship where, working with case studies in Bristol and Sydney, she explored innovative social enterprises in food, transport and energy. 

After 20 years teaching at Oxford and Bristol, a colleague and friend encouraged Bronwen to explore opportunities at UNSW, recognising how well the University’s sustainability focus would align with Bronwen on a professional and personal level.  

“I realised it’s quite a unique law school,” she said. She thought the faculty’s tagline ‘Where law meets social justice’ could have come from her 2012 fellowship project titled ‘The intersection of social activism and social enterprise’.  

The fellowship offer coincided with the rise of the share economy, and Bronwen saw it as an opportunity to treat the move to Australia as an experiment.  

“We could try different initiatives – buying food from community-supported agriculture schemes, using GoGet and Car Next Door. We could see how long and how well we could live off community-driven, sustainable initiatives,” she said. 

It was the beginning of Bronwen’s work creating a meaningful impact in her community. 

The birth of Regen Sydney, and a Sustainability Thinker in Residence 

After the Future Fellowship concluded, Bronwen stayed at UNSW to teach in the School of Law, Society & Criminology. As Sydney became her home, she became involved in long-term sustainability initiatives for the community. 

 The concept of Regen Sydney grew from a seminar by Kate Raworth on the Doughnut Economics framework.  

“It’s essentially the idea that you can better address sustainability through the economy rather than as a separate government initiative,” Bronwen said.  

Bronwen has contributed to Regen Sydney’s research reports, identified priority areas and key issues, and helped drive collaboration with Waverley Council. 

A key project, in partnership with people across Sydney, was the co-design of a ‘Sydney Doughnut’, underpinned by Caring for Country, that can be adapted by communities to cultivate resilient, locally rooted economies that foster community wealth and ecological vitality. 

In November 2024, the first council collaboration began with a 12-month Thinker-in- Residence program through Regen Waverley. A refurbished boot factory in Bondi Junction is now home to the program which will facilitate civic engagement, bringing together residents, businesses, council and experts to collectively steer Waverley toward a future that prioritises social and ecological wellbeing.  

Regen Sydney and the UNSW Innovator Pro 

Thanks to Bronwen, the Regen Sydney/Waverley collective has now partnered with UNSW Employability to curate the Innovator Pro ‘Measuring what matters’ brief to students.  

The program connects students with industry and work-related learning via an industry or community challenge. Bronwen helped design the Term 1 2025 brief and drive the focus on metrics. The brief, much like Regen Sydney, is based partly on Doughnut Economics.  

Bronwen said she hopes that the 125 undergraduate and postgraduate student participants will collaborate successfully with 20-plus industry mentors to establish some key indicators for success.  

Being able to bring in student resources, while giving them an opportunity to contribute to this project is the culmination of Bronwen’s personal passion and professional influence.  

Can you tell us something about you that might surprise your colleagues?  

I lived on a seven-foot-wide narrow boat for six years on the Thames.  

What’s the best advice you ever received?  

Don’t make big decisions on the basis of fear.  

What is one thing that makes you happy?  

Playing violin and fiddle with friends and community. Improvising and reaching a state of flow.  

What day in your life would you like to relive?  

My wedding in a National Park outside of Las Vegas called Red Rock Canyon. It was close to a conference so all our academic friends could come for free.  

What’s the best thing you read, heard or watched in the last year?  

Orpheus & Eurydice at the Sydney Opera House with eight acrobats and two opera singers.