We bring performance and ecology together to support climate action through a transdisciplinary team of practitioners and academics, grounded in research, creative practice, partnerships, and climate justice.
P+ERL is an initiative dedicated to furthering climate action across contemporary culture-making, building sustainable futures in and beyond the performance arts. Embedded in eco-critical, eco-creative, and transdisciplinary research, the lab investigates performance in a climate-changed world and works closely with Griffith University’s Climate Action Beacon.
Established by Co-directors Dr Tanja Beer, Dr Linda Hassall, and Dr Natalie Lazaroo, with Professor Julian Meyrick as an Associate, P+ERL officially launched in March 2023 alongside the Culture for Climate report, described as the first national investigation into how Australian performing arts organisations are addressing climate change. We are based at the Creative Arts Research Institute (CARI) at Griffith University’s South Bank campus.
Since then, the lab has launched the ARC Linkage project Culture for Climate: Harnessing Eco-Creativity to Transition Australia’s Performing Arts to Environmental Sustainability, working with a transdisciplinary team of practitioners and academics, including Research Fellow Dr Grace Nye-Butler, to co-create and test sustainability approaches with the sector.
The Culture for Climate ARC Research Project looks the role that Australian performing arts organisations can play in responding to the climate crisis. Building on earlier Culture for Climate work, it focuses on what is happening on stage, behind the scenes, and in public commitments, and asks what support is needed to speed up change across the sector.
Lead Chief Investigator
Dr Tanja Beer (Lead Chief Investigator) is an Associate Professor in Design at Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University. Originally trained as a set and costume designer, her extensive career as an ecological designer, community artist and researcher builds on more than 20 years of theatre practice. Tanja’s pioneering concept of Ecoscenography has been featured in numerous programs, exhibitions, articles and platforms around the world. She is the author of Ecoscenography: An Introduction to Ecological Design for Performance (2021).
Chief Investigator
Associate Professor Dr Linda Hassall (Chief Investigator) is the Deputy Convener of the Bachelor of Arts, School Humanities, Griffith University. Her research focuses on devising and producing contemporary performance and explores the relationship between theatre and climate change. She further explores the developing of sustainable production technologies in response to theatre’s carbon footprint. Linda is the author of Theatres of Dust: Climate Gothic Analysis in contemporary Australian drama and performance landscapes (2021). She is an award-winning playwright of Post Office Rose (2008) and director of Salvation (2012).
Chief Investigator
Dr Natalie Lazaroo (Chief Investigator) is a Senior Lecturer in Education (Drama and English) at Griffith University, where her research interests lie in cultural citizenship, socially engaged performance, arts-based research, and decentring methodologies. Natalie has received grants for her work into the arts and cultural citizenship with disadvantaged young people in Singapore, where she has been involved in a long-term and ongoing collaboration.
Chief Investigator
Dr Julian Meyrick (Chief Investigator) is Professor of Creative Arts at Griffith University. He is a theatre director, dramaturge and cultural historian, with a particular interest in Australian theatre history. Julian has directed over 40 award-winning theatre productions, written the histories of five Australian theatre companies, and published numerous articles on Australian arts and cultural policy, including 90+ pieces for The Conversation. Julian was a founder member and Deputy Chair of PlayWriting Australia 2004-09, and a member of the federal government’s Creative Australia Advisory Group 2008-10.
Research Fellow
Grace Nye-Butler is a Research Fellow in the Performance and Ecology Research Lab, with a professional background including stage management and environmental science. She completed undergraduate training at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts before working professionally in stage management both nationally and internationally. She then went on to complete undergraduate study in environmental science, followed by a PhD in Marine Social Ecology at the University of New South Wales. Grace now balances academic research with industry engagement through applied projects such as Theatre Green Book Australia. Her research is interdisciplinary and applied, combining qualitative methods, fieldwork, and collaborative research with artists, organisations, communities, and ecological systems.
Executive Director of PAC Australia
CEO/Principal of One Stone Advisors
Andrea Spencer-Cooke has a 30-year international career in business leadership for sustainable development. An expert on the UN 2030 Agenda, she advises the NSW Government and Sydney Opera House on sustainability strategy and has supported dozens of businesses to build organisational capacity and embed ESG. As a trained B Consultant, she also has hands-on experience working with enterprises to grow ESG good practices. Previously Andrea worked for the United Nations and has consulted to many Scandinavian multinationals. She has published widely on sustainability leadership and holds degrees in Social Anthropology, Environmental Management and multiple specialised sustainability certifications and accreditations.
Senior Consultant of One Stone Advisors
Jennifer Moses is a sustainability and social impact consultant with deep expertise in strategy, impact measurement and stakeholder engagement. She works with arts, cultural and commercial organisations to translate sustainability ambition into credible, decision-useful action. Jennifer has advised institutions including the Sydney Opera House, Australian National Maritime Museum, NIDA and Questacon, and global businesses Intrepid Travel and WEConnect International in partnership with Moody’s. She brings a commercial director’s discipline to sustainability practice including almost a decade leading strategy and revenue at Carriageworks during a period of transformational growth. She holds a Master of Commerce in Global Sustainability and Social Impact with Excellence from UNSW.
We are grateful to have several PhD candidates engaged in our research, particularly in supporting our undergraduate students, engaging in scoping reviews and data collection, as well as research communication, visual communication design, and website development:
Sophie Barfod Vuilleumier (née Dye)
Paula Martins (Visiting Scholar, São Paulo Research Foundation/FAPESP)
Our undergraduate students have been supported by international internship programs and Griffith University’s School of Academic Excellence Bursaries and have contributed to our scoping reviews, visual communication, and website design:
Cosima Freja Hoppe (Visting Scholar, Germany)
