Publications
2025
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Crofts, K. and Phelan, L. [under review]. 'The other side of energy transition: Imagining post-mining landscapes and their future uses in the Hunter Valley, Australia'.
2024
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Crofts, K., Rifkin, W., Espig, M., Perey, R., Bray, H. (2024). 'Overview of the Special Issue: Embracing the Messiness of Transdisciplinarity'. Sustainability 16(22). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16229622
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Jordan, W., Crofts, K., & Phelan, L. (2024). ‘Energy Transition in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia’. In Edwards, G., Wiseman, J., and Cahill, A. Regional Energy Transitions in Australia: From Impossible to Possible. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003585343
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2023
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Crofts, K. (2023). Empowering Voices: Australian Case Studies Unveil the Power of Community in Decision-Making. Published by Hunter Renewal. [LINK]​
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Crofts, K. & Phelan, L. (2023). ‘All mines close. How can mining towns like Mount Isa best manage the ups and downs?’ In, The Conversation, 26 October 2023. [LINK]​
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Phelan, L. & Crofts, K. (2023). ‘We need to restore the land: as coal mines close, here’s a community blueprint to sustain the Hunter Valley.’ In, The Conversation, 8 February 2023. [LINK]
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2022
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Phelan, L. & Crofts, K. (2022). ‘NSW’s biggest coal mine to close in 2030. Now what about the workers?’ In, The Conversation, 17 June 2022. [LINK]​
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Phelan, L. & Crofts, K. (2022). ‘3 local solutions to replace coal jobs and ensure a just transition for mining communities.’ In, The Conversation, 17 January 2022. [LINK]​
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Crofts, K. (2022). “The experts are already here”: The role of local knowledge in sustainability transitions. In The New Economy Network Journal, August, vol. 3. [LINK]
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Reports co-written (and designed by me) as part of my PhD candidature
Presentations
Energy Charter Social Licence Community of Practice. (2025). Invited panellist for a session on the human side of the shift to renewables. I spoke alongside Louise Pogmore, a partner from KPMG.
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Regional Energy Transitions book launch (2025). Invited speaker at the book launch of Regional Energy Transitions in Australia: From Impossible to Possible. Held at the Sydney Environment Institute. I spoke about the chapter I wrote in this book on the Hunter Valley transition. My fellow speakers were Elianor Gerrard and Gareth Edwards.
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Transformations Conference (2023). Invited panellist for a session on just transitions alongside Professor John Wiseman, Gareth Edwards, Amanda Cahill, and Latrobe Valley powerhouse Wendy Bowman. I was also part of a session exploring how to foster transformative partnerships.
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Social Design Sydney (2022). Online presentation of my PhD research. This can be viewed at www.socialdesignsydney.com
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IASNR Virtual Conference (2022). Presentation at the International Association for Society and Natural Resources annual conference. This talk was delivered alongside Danielle Coleman from Hunter Renewal and Dr Liam Phelan from the University of Newcastle. The talk was titled ‘Access and equity in transition: Challenges in the Hunter Valley, Australia, a climate change ‘hotspot’’.
Submissions
Submission to Inquiry into beneficial and productive post-mining land use (2024). Established in May of 2024. My stressed the importance of broadening the benefits of PMLU to communities, stressing the need for proper mine rehabilitation before proceeding with new uses, and incorporating the effects of a warming climate into decisions. I was invited to give evidence at the inquiry on August 21.
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Submission on the set up of the Future Jobs and Investment Authorities (2024). This body is intended to replace the Expert Panels the previous NSW Government implemented as part of the Mining Act changes. My submission drew upon a framework from Arora and Schroeder which promotes fair distribution of benefits, fairness of procedure, and balanced representation on such panels.
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Mining and Petroleum Legislation Amendment Bill (2021). As part of changes to the Mining Act, the NSW Government implemented a fund that would direct mining royalties back to coal mining regions so that they could begin to diversify their economies away from coal. The legislation also contained provision for expert panels that would guide the spending of these funds. My submission set forth a governance model based on a framework of social learning from Sol et al. (2013). My model promoted the positioning of the Hunter Valley community as local experts who should have their voices heard in panel deliberations via representation of community organisations as key panel members.