Dr Kamila Svobodova is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining at the Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland. Her work sits at the intersection of social science, spatial planning and landscape ecology, with a particular focus on mining frontiers and post-mining transitions. Trained as a landscape engineer and urban planner, Kamila brings two decades of cross-sector and international experience spanning academia, consultancy and industry collaboration. Her research is underpinned by spatial analysis skills and a systems-thinking approach to sustainable resource governance, mine closure and regional development.
Kamila’s expertise lies in investigating the social and ecological dimensions of mineral extraction and its aftermath - from understanding community perceptions and cultural ecosystem services to designing participatory processes for land use transitions. She has led and contributed to a range of high-impact research projects across Europe and Australia, including the EU-funded CESMINE project and multiple applied initiatives within SMI’s Complex Ore Bodies and Social Aspects of Mine Closure programs. Her work routinely integrates qualitative and quantitative methods, GIS-based modelling and participatory mapping tools to inform inclusive and adaptive decision-making.
An advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration, Kamila contributes to policy and practice through editorial roles (Ambio, Landscape and Urban Planning) and knowledge translation for government and industry. She is particularly interested in spatial justice and place attachment in transitioning landscapes, with ongoing research addressing how to equitably manage environmental, demographic and cultural change in mining-affected regions.
Journal Articles
Svobodova, Kamila, Botková, Kamila and Plieninger, Tobias (2025). Dynamics of community-company interactions in quarrying regions. Journal of Environmental Management, 375 124440, 124440-375. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124440
Shalsi, Sarah, Svobodova, Kamila, Corder, Glen and Witt, Katherine (2024). Values-driven water management in coal seam gas industries. The Extractive Industries and Society, 20 101566. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2024.101566
Svobodova, Kamila, Barták, Vojtěch and Hendrychová, Markéta (2024). Visiting mine reclamation: how field experience shapes perceptions of mining. Ambio, 54 (1), 72-85. doi: 10.1007/s13280-024-02055-y
Worden, Sandy, Svobodova, Kamila, Côte, Claire and Bolz, Pascal (2024). Regional post-mining land use assessment: an interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach. Resources Policy, 89 104680, 104680. doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2024.104680
Svobodova, Kamila (2023). Navigating community transitions away from mining. Nature Energy, 8 (10), 1054-1057. doi: 10.1038/s41560-023-01359-9
Svobodova, Kamila, Plieninger, Tobias and Sklenicka, Petr (2023). Place re‐making and sense of place after quarrying and social‐ecological restoration. Sustainable Development, 31 (4), 2240-2255. doi: 10.1002/sd.2503
Janeckova Molnarova, Kristina, Bohnet, Iris C., Svobodova, Kamila, Černý Pixová, Kateřina, Daniels, Michael, Skaloš, Jan, Drhlíková, Kristýna, Azadi, Hossein, Zámečník, Roman and Sklenička, Petr (2022). Does increasing farm plot size influence the visual quality of everyday agricultural landscapes?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20 (1) 687, 1-16. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20010687
Svobodova, Kamila, Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna, Moudrý, Vítězslav, Lèbre, Éléonore, Stringer, Martin and Sovacool, Benjamin K. (2022). Decarbonization, population disruption and resource inventories in the global energy transition. Nature Communications, 13 (1) 7674, 1-16. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35391-2
Everingham, Jo-Anne, Svobodova, Kamila, Lèbre, Éléonore, Owen, John R. and Worden, Sandy (2022). Comparative capacity of global mining regions to transition to a post-mining future. Extractive Industries and Society, 11 101136, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2022.101136
Ocelík, Petr, Diviák, Tomáš, Lehotský, Lukáš, Svobodová, Kamila and Hendrychová, Markéta (2022). Facilitating the Czech coal phase-out: what drives inter-organizational collaboration?. Society and Natural Resources, 35 (7), 705-724. doi: 10.1080/08941920.2022.2065394
Arratia-Solar, A., Svobodova, K., Lèbre, É. and Owen, J.R. (2022). Conceptual framework to assist in the decision-making process when planning for post-mining land-uses. The Extractive Industries and Society, 10 101083, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2022.101083
Owen, J. R., Kemp, D., Lèbre, É., Harris, J. and Svobodova, K. (2021). A global vulnerability analysis of displacement caused by resource development projects. The Extractive Industries and Society, 8 (2) 100877, 100877. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2021.01.012
Kung, Anthony, Svobodova, Kamila, Lèbre, Eléonore, Valenta, Rick, Kemp, Deanna and Owen, John R. (2021). Governing deep sea mining in the face of uncertainty. Journal of Environmental Management, 279 111593, 111593. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111593
Svobodova, K., Owen, J. R. and Harris, J. (2021). The global energy transition and place attachment in coal mining communities: implications for heavily industrialized landscapes. Energy Research and Social Science, 71 101831, 101831. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101831
Hendrychová, Markéta, Svobodova, Kamila and Kabrna, Martin (2020). Mine reclamation planning and management: integrating natural habitats into post-mining land use. Resources Policy, 69 101882, 101882. doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101882
Svobodova, Kamila, Vojar, Jiri, Yellishetty, Mohan and Janeckova Molnarova, Kristina (2020). A multi-component approach to conceptualizing the reputation of the mining industry from a stakeholder perspective. Resources Policy, 68 (J. Consum. Res. 13 4 1987) 101724, 101724. doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101724
Lèbre, Éléonore, Stringer, Martin, Svobodova, Kamila, Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna, Côte, Claire, Arratia-Solar, Andrea and Valenta, Rick K. (2020). The social and environmental complexities of extracting energy transition metals. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 4823, 4823. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18661-9
Ali, Saleem H., Svobodova, Kamila, Everingham, Jo-Anne and Altingoz, Mehmet (2020). Climate policy paralysis in Australia: energy security, energy poverty and jobs. Energies, 13 (18) 4894, 4894. doi: 10.3390/en13184894
Svobodova, K., Owen, J. R., Harris, J. and Worden, S. (2020). Complexities and contradictions in the global energy transition: a re-evaluation of country-level factors and dependencies. Applied Energy, 265 114778, 114778. doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114778
Owen, J. R., Kemp, D., Lèbre, E., Svobodova, K. and Pérez Murillo, G. (2020). Catastrophic tailings dam failures and disaster risk disclosure. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 42 101361, 101361. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101361
Ocelík, Petr, Svobodová, Kamila, Hendrychová, Markéta, Lehotský, Lukáš, Everingham, Jo-Anne, Ali, Saleem, Badera, Jaroslaw and Lechner, Alex (2019). A contested transition toward a coal-free future: advocacy coalitions and coal policy in the Czech Republic. Energy Research and Social Science, 58 101283, 101283. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2019.101283
Svobodova, Kamila, Monteiro, Luis, Vojar, Jiri and Gdulova, Katerina (2019). Can trail characteristics influence visitor numbers in natural protected areas? A quantitative approach to trail choice assessment. Environmental and Socio-economic Studies, 7 (2), 10-20. doi: 10.2478/environ-2019-0008
Svobodova, Kamila, Yellishetty, Mohan and Vojar, Jiri (2019). Coal mining in Australia: understanding stakeholder knowledge of mining and mine rehabilitation. Energy Policy, 126, 421-430. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.11.042
Svobodova, Kamila, Vojar, Jiri, Sklenicka, Petr and Filova, Lucia (2018). Presentation matters: causes of differences in preferences for agricultural landscapes displayed via photographs and videos. Space and Culture, 21 (3), 259-273. doi: 10.1177/1206331217744186
Svobodova, Kamila and Hajek, Tomas (2017). Pilgrimage route recovery in an industrial landscape. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 60 (6), 959-976. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2016.1189818
Filova, Lucia, Vojar, Jiri, Svobodova, Kamila and Sklenicka, Petr (2015). The effect of landscape type and landscape elements on public visual preferences: ways to use knowledge in the context of landscape planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 58 (11), 2037-2055. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2014.973481
Svobodova, Kamila , Sklenicka, Petr and Vojar, Jiri (2015). How does the representation rate of features in a landscape affect visual preferences? A case study from a post-mining landscape. International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 29 (4), 266-276. doi: 10.1080/17480930.2013.873258
Svobodova, Kamila, Sklenicka, Petr, Molnarova, Kristina and Vojar, Jiri (2014). Does the composition of landscape photographs affect visual preferences? The rule of the Golden Section and the position of the horizon. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 38, 143-152. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.01.005
Svobodova, Kamila, Sklenicka, Petr, Molnarova, Kristina and Salek, Miroslav (2012). Visual preferences for physical attributes of mining and post-mining landscapes with respect to the sociodemographic characteristics of respondents. Ecological Engineering, 43, 34-44. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2011.08.007
Molnarova, Kristina, Sklenicka, Petr, Stiborek, Jiri, Svobodova, Kamila, Salek, Miroslav and Brabec, Elizabeth (2012). Visual preferences for wind turbines: location, numbers and respondent characteristics. Applied Energy, 92, 269-278. doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.11.001
Conference Papers
Worden, Sandy, Svobodova, Kamila and Cote, Claire (2023). Shifting post-mining land use planning from mine site to regional scale. AusIMM Life of Mine Conference 2023, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 2-4 August 2023.
Svobodova, Kamila, Littleboy, Anna, Owen, John, Edraki, Mansour and Higgins, Roger (2019). Thinking beyond closure: toward a mine closure database. The 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry, Sydney, Australia, 27-29 May 2019.
Svobodova, K., Owen, J. R., Lebre, E., Edraki, M. and Littleboy, A. (2019). The multi-risk vulnerability of global coal regions in the context of mine closure. 13th International Conference on Mine Closure, Perth, WA Australia, 3-5 September 2019. Perth, WA Australia: Australian Centre for Geomechanics. doi: 10.36487/ACG_rep/1915_45_Svobodova
Svobodova, K. (2019). Life post-closure: perception and use of rehabilitated mine sites by local communities. Mine Closure 2019, Perth, WA Australia, 3-5 September 2019. Perth, WA Australia: Australian Centre for Geomechanics. doi: 10.36487/ACG_rep/1915_27_Svobodova
Research Reports
Worden, Sandy, Côte, Claire, Svobodova, Kamila, Arratia-Solar, Andrea, Everingham, Jo-Anne, Asmussen, Pascal, Edraki, Mansour and Erskine, Peter (2021). Baseline works for mine rehabilitation and closure collaboration project. Brisbane, Australia: Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/6c92886
Côte, Claire Madeleine, Everingham, Jo-Anne, Svobodova, Kamila, Worden, Sandy, Asmussen, Pascal, Shaygan, Mandana, Paz, Anat, Pagliero, Liliana, Edraki, Mansour and Erskine, Peter (2020). Moranbah post-mining land use collaborative project - Baseline Works. Brisbane, QLD Australia: Sustainable Minerals Institute.