Benjamin Cooke

Ben is a lecturer in Sustainability and Urban Planning at RMIT, with a background in environment management, planning and geography.

Associate Professor Ben Cooke is a human geographer who teaches in the Sustainability and Urban Planning discipline group at RMIT.

Ben’s research interests focus on the social and political dimensions of nature conservation, land management and environmental governance. This interest encompasses urban natures, protected area conservation, human-environment relations and cultural landscape management.

Ben’s research projects are exploring the history, politics and futures of protected areas for conservation in Australia, emergent conflicts and tensions in urban greening and the potential of new governance relationships that recognise First Nations sovereignty and self-determination over private conservation lands.

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News & Blog

CUR Stories

How can urban and environmental planning shape a post-pandemic future?

04 October 2020

The adversities of COVID-19 have no doubt changed the way we think about our environments. Here, our teachers discuss the role urban, regional and environmental planning has in shaping a post-pandemic future.

CUR Stories

Rewilding cities: How bringing nature back to cities is good for our health

27 January 2020

The rise around the globe to bring nature back into cities has clear links to individual and community health and wellbeing, according to RMIT researchers at the Centre for Urban Research.

Publications