STEPHEN QUILLEY

Stephen Quilley is Associate Professor in Social and Ecological Innovation in the Department of Environment and Resource Studies at the University of Waterloo, Director of Development for the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI) and core faculty for the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience (WISIR). With a Ph.D. in economic sociology, Steve was previously a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Politics at Keele University (2006-2012), College Lecturer in Urban Sociology at University College Dublin (1999-2005) and Research Fellow at the ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC) in Manchester (1997-1999). With research interests ranging from the historical sociology of Norbert Elias and urban regeneration, to the long term dynamics of human ecology, Steve has also worked on policy-related projects relating to sustainability, urban regeneration, food systems, resilience and social-ecological innovation. Currently his work is focused in four overlapping areas: the political economy and sociology of degrowth; the relationship between energy, civilization and social complexity; the long term potential of open-source fabrication systems; and ontology, meaning frameworks and non-rational drivers of  environmental behaviour. Current projects include research funded by the Metcalf foundation on the political economy and ontology of maker culture (www.remakersociety.com) and a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant to develop a multi-criteria assessment of hedging and landscape innovation in the Ontario countryside.