CSIRO's research is focused on the following:

Urban planning
Urban planning

- We're helping to revitalise Australia’s cities with new design, planning and engineering technologies. Australia’s cities are vast, inter-connected systems that pose complex planning issues - CSIRO is helping revitalise our urban environment with new design, planning and engineering technologies.

Communities and sustainable livelihoods
Communities and sustainable livelihoods

- CSIRO scientists are researching development issues including food security, sustainable forestry and natural resource management.

Food security
Food security

- Issues for Australia and our role in the global challenge.

Climate impacts on water
Climate impacts on water

- The Water for a Healthy Country Flagship is investigating how a changing climate and land use is impacting on Australia's future water security and developing scientific tools and knowledge to help water managers plan accordingly.

Producing more with less
Producing more with less

- Increasing agricultural productivity whilst sustaining natural resources.

Population sustainability
Population sustainability

- The debate on population policy requires clear scientific advice about how our population is likely to affect resources, environmental sustainability, the economy and society. CSIRO researches these areas to predict how population policies may affect our sustainability.

Current and future interaction between humans and natural systems will impact significantly on society and the environment.

This highlights the need to understand and measure the nature of sustainability and develop new approaches to lifestyle, land use, development and industry.

Understanding the true nature of a sustainable society and environment is a complex question that CSIRO is addressing across many sectors and disciplines.

This work is critical in a world that relies on non-renewable resources, such as fossil fuels, and puts increasing strain on ecosystems and natural resources, such as water and soil.

To plan for a sustainable future, we need to understand which ecosystems are resilient, which are fragile and why.

Show Sustainability Index