Living systems and indigenous knowledge
Research area
Research & knowledge
Evidence that communities and institutions can use.
RFI develops community studies, evidence reviews, futures scans, issue briefs and public knowledge products around social, environmental and institutional change.
Research agenda
Six connected fields of inquiry.
Climate adaptation and regenerative futures
Research area
Community research and public policy
Research area
Institutions, trust and future readiness
Research area
Society, technology and human connection
Research area
Knowledge preservation and public learning
Research area
Knowledge preservation
Documentation with consent, ownership and future use in view.
Our approach combines oral histories, facilitated conversations, observation, archival review and youth-led documentation. Communities guide what may be recorded, attributed, shared or kept restricted.
Outputs may include community archives, books, policy briefs, documentaries, podcasts, exhibitions and learning materials. Approved materials are returned in accessible formats.
Current inquiries
Work taking shape.
We distinguish clearly between active work, work in development and future ambition.
What do we mean by relational futures?
How relationships among people, institutions, knowledge systems and the living world shape the futures we create.
Read the inquiryWhen solutions become part of the problem
Why well-intended interventions can create consequences beyond their original purpose.
Read the inquiryArtificial intelligence and the future of human connection
Questions of agency, power, work and belonging in an age of intelligent machines.
Read the inquiryResearch partnerships
Bring a question that needs context, evidence and careful interpretation.
RFI welcomes commissioned research and knowledge partnerships with communities, foundations, universities, public institutions and development organisations.
Discuss a research partnership