UNSW Research Web and Researcher Profiles are undergoing scheduled maintenance between 9:00 am on 9th October 2024 and 5:00 pm on 9th October 2024.
Content changes made during this period will be lost. This maintenance does not impact InfoEd or other applications.

Researcher

Dr Johannes Michael Luetz

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Social Change, Sustainable Development, Human Rights and Justice Issues, Social Policy and Planning, Religion and Society

SEO tags

Biography

Adjunct Associate Professor Johannes M. Luetz (BA/USA, MBA/Germany, Ph.D./Australia) is a social scientist and specialist in research that examines ecological concerns from spiritual perspectives. Raised between Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Germany, and Australia, he has lived and worked across countries and continents, conducting interdisciplinary humanitarian research at the science-faith, interfaith, and science-policy interface. His research...view more

Adjunct Associate Professor Johannes M. Luetz (BA/USA, MBA/Germany, Ph.D./Australia) is a social scientist and specialist in research that examines ecological concerns from spiritual perspectives. Raised between Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Germany, and Australia, he has lived and worked across countries and continents, conducting interdisciplinary humanitarian research at the science-faith, interfaith, and science-policy interface. His research entails consultancies in Asia-Pacific ($183,600+), commissioned advocacy reports for UN Framework Convention on Climate Change meetings, a technical review of early warning capacity after 18 months of field testing in 13 countries following the 2011 Horn of Africa food crisis, and thought leadership as a researcher, editor, and editor-in-chief on major international edited volumes. JML has advanced the field of faith-engaged sustainable development and climate change adaptation, communicating fresh perspectives on how religion may enable or disable environmental conservation in different contexts. His conceptual and empirical research has grappled with majority and minority religions, including traditional worldviews and Indigenous spirituality, examining associations and affinities between faith and environmental sustainability. JML has mentored HDR candidates and led 21 peer-reviewed student publications as a corresponding author. He is the winner of various grants, prizes, scholarships, awards and distinctions, including the 2023 AC HDR Supervision Excellence Award, which recognises AC’s most outstanding principal supervisors.

He has served on major international editorial projects as Editor, Section Editor, or Editor-in-Chief, including Interfaith Engagement Beyond the Divide (Springer, 2023), Beyond Belief—Opportunities for Faith-Engaged Approaches to Climate-Change Adaptation in the Pacific Islands (Springer, 2021), Quality Education: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Springer, 2020)—the largest editorial project on sustainable development ever undertaken, and the world’s most comprehensive publication on the United Nations SDGs—, and the Handbook on Climate Change Management: Research, Leadership, Transformation (Springer, 2021). With 229 chapters and 500+ authors, and spread over a set of 6 volumes, the ‘Handbook’ is the largest non-publicly funded editorial project on climate change adaptation ever produced. It was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021.

Current appointments, academic affiliations, and journal editorships include: Johannes is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), an Adjunct Professor in the School of Law and Society at UniSC, Associate Professor of Sustainability and Religion, Director of Research Development, and HREC Chair at Alphacrucis University College, Deputy Editor International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management (Emerald), and serves on the editorial boards of several international journals, including Discover Sustainability (Springer), Christian Higher Education (Routledge Taylor & Francis), and Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (nature portfolio).


My Qualifications

Ph.D. (UNSW); MBA (Germany); BA (USA)


My Awards

Selected prizes include:

Best Paper Award (2023): Luetz, J.M., Reimagining Sustainability Centres as Places for Ecocentric Biodiversity Conservation. Presented at the World Symposium of Climate Change and Sustainable Development Centres, Hamburg, Germany, 29–30 Jun. 2023.

HDR Supervision Excellence Award (2023): This Award celebrates AC’s most outstanding HDR principal supervisors, giving recognition for the excellence of their HDR supervision, their outstanding skills in mentoring candidates, and positive outcomes regarding original research produced ($500 prize money).

Best Paper Award (2018): Unger, J.M. & Luetz, J.M., Engaging Employees in Corporate Social Responsibility Projects—A Case Study from the Lufthansa Group Showcasing Experiences and Lessons Gathered in Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria and Columbia. Presented at World Symposium on Social Responsibility and Sustainability, University of Edinburgh, Scotland/UK, 27–29 June 2018.

Best Paper Award (2017): Luetz, J.M. & Hausia, P.H., “We’re not Refugees, We’ll Stay Here Until We Die!”—Climate Change Adaptation and Migration Experiences Gathered from the Tulun and Nissan Atolls of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Presented at World Symposium on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies in Coastal Communities, Apia, Samoa, 5–7 July 2017.

Town & Gown Speech (2013): Invited to deliver PhD research to UNSW Chancellor David Gonski AC, President and Vice-Chancellor Fred Hilmer AO and more than 300 guests comprising academics, business leaders, government representatives, the not-for-profit sector and the diplomatic corps at annual UNSW Town & Gown signature dinner (3 September 2013). One of four selected UNSW PhD researchers; Leighton Hall/John Niland Scientia, University of New South Wales.

ASPIRE Award (2012): Winner of the ASPIRE Award ($500) at the 2012 Three Minute Thesis academic public speaking competition UNSW Interfaculty Finals (25 September 2012). Represented Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS). One of 22 UNSW finalists; Leighton Hall, The John Niland Scientia, University of New South Wales. Presentation Title: Climate Migration.

3MT First Prize (2012): Awarded first prize ($300) in Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) faculty heats for oratory PhD research presentation (28 August 2012) and selected to represent FASS at interfaculty finals (25 Sept. 2012). Title: Climate Migration. With 180 seconds and one static slide, 3MT forces PhD students to crystallise their research for an intelligent, non-specialist audience.

Best Master Thesis Prize (2006): MBA European-Asian Management Programme (awarded 20 Nov. 2006). Thesis Title: ‘Opportunities for Global Poverty Reduction in the 21st Century—The Role of Policy Makers, Corporations, NGOs, and Individuals.’ Berlin School of Economics, Germany.


My Research Activities

  •         Sustainable development, Social inequality, SDGs
  •         Humanitarianism, Disaster risk reduction, Disaster preparedness
  •         Climate change adaptation
  •         Disaster displacement, Human migration
  •         Research that examines ecological concerns from spiritual perspectives
View less

Videos