On the evening of 20 May 2026, the Sydney Environment Institute held a celebration and farewell of its outgoing founder and Director of 12 years, Professor David Schlosberg. The evening unfolded as both a celebration and a moment of reflection on the "bright and multidimensional web" of relationships that connected everyone in the room, which all ran through Schlosberg.

Colleagues, collaborators, supporters and current and former SEI staff gathered to hear from speakers who reflected on Schlosberg's commitment to environmental justice. Speakers reflected on how his work, leadership, and presence were fundamentally centred on relationships: creating them, nurturing them, and taking responsibility for their ethical and practical consequences. Deputy Director of SEI Professor Danielle Celermajer set the tone by highlighting Schlosberg's enduring insight that flourishing depends on the quality of the relationships in which lives are embedded. This ethos, she noted, had shaped his commitment to growing a knowledge culture through and within the Sydney Environment Institute which is grounded in diversity, equality, respect, courage, and care.

Leading environmental humanities scholar, Professor Thom van Dooren drew attention to Professor Schlosberg's extraordinary intellectual impact on environmental justice. He reflected on the foundational nature of a body of work which has shaped theory and practice globally, influencing governments and institutions from local councils to the EU, OECD, and IPCC. His landmark book, Defining Environmental Justice (2007), was recognised as a seminal text, while his later contributions helped expand the field into multispecies justice by challenging its anthropocentric limits and insisting on the inclusion of non-human life. Professor van Dooren also reflected on the establishment of SEI as a genuinely multidisciplinary scholarly community under Schlosberg's leadership - one which integrates knowledges from the social and natural sciences and expertise from communities to ask deeper questions about justice, democracy, and impact. He named a sentiment, echoed throughout the night, that Schlosberg created a space for scholars to ask, "what any particular intervention or supposed solution might mean to the many living beings and systems that it will impact upon".

Beck Dawson, disaster and resilience expert and former head of Resilient Sydney, shifted the focus to Schlosberg's influence across three levels of government policy, infrastructure, disaster resilience, and adaptation systems. Central to this impact, she argued, is his generosity and his practice of "radical listening" and an approach grounded on understanding lived experience. She highlighted the tangible policy outcomes shaped by his work – such as the City of Sydney's adaptation plan, Resilient Sydney strategies in 2018 and 2024, and the Greater Sydney Heat Task Force – and the extensive ripple effects through the network of people he mentored and supported. His ability to "speak truth to power", while making evidence accessible and meaningful, was key to the "seminal and very direct impact" his work has had on communities.

Hannah Della Bosca, former Research Assistant at SEI and current PhD Candidate under Professor Schlosberg’s supervision, offered a more personal reflection, describing him as a clear, grounded, and generous mentor who offered support while fostering independence. Through collaborative research on disaster experiences and environmental justice activism, Della Bosca reflected that she came to see that justice work ultimately rests on relationships – the capacity to listen across difference, to represent others with care, and to persist with humility. She emphasised that Schlosberg not only theorised these principles but embodied them daily, demonstrating leadership as the practice of elevating others and nurturing trust.

Jamie Loveday, Managing Director of FoodLab, a social enterprise borne from Sydney Environment Institute’s support, spoke powerfully about the impact of Schlosberg's trust and his pivotal role in  translating grassroots work into language that funders and policymakers recognised. Loveday cited the real outcomes created and the real people impacted - dozens of program graduates, new jobs, and pathways to economic independence for diverse communities – highlighting that Schlosberg's support ran through them all.

General Manager of SEI, Emma Bones, reflected on the internal life of SEI, recalling how Schlosberg created a space defined by both "great work" and "great people". She described him as a "magnet for good people", a gentle, present leader whose generosity, transparency, and humour fostered a close, family-like environment and shaped a community where people felt valued and connected.

In his own remarks, Professor Schlosberg acknowledged the importance of Professor Emeritus Duncan Ivison's  support for the establishment of an environmental centre based in the social sciences and humanities. He also honoured the deep collaborations that sustained him, particularly his longstanding academic partnerships and friendships with Professor Iain McCalman and Professor Danielle Celermajer as well as his personal relationship with his wife, Sheila, which he described as foundational to everything he had done.

The evening closed with Professor Celermajer thanking Schlosberg for creating a space where relationships matter and for demonstrating what a university can be: a place of collaboration, care, and shared purpose. Her words captured the spirit of the night and the living legacy of the networks, ideas, and communities that continue to grow from the spaces Schlosberg created.

This event took place on 20 May 2026. All photos by Prof Chris Wright.