Current Research Priorities

  • Addressing different types of wicked problems - social ecological vs human services type wicked problems

  • Creating an enabling environment for autistic social entrepreneurship

  • Supporting place-based system transitions through solution ecosystem and landscape of practice approaches

  • Reclaiming the term 'social entrepreneurship'

Publications

Zivkovic, S. (2025), 'Addressing Wicked Human Services vs Wicked Social-Ecological Problems: A Self-Transcending Constructions Approach', Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences Journal, 29(1):165-188. PMID: 39754467.

Zivkovic, S. (2024), ‘Autistic Social Entrepreneurship and Systems Thinking: A Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach’, In Giannantonio, C.M. and Hurley-Hanson, A.E. (eds), Neurodiversity and Entrepreneurship, Emerald Studies in Workplace Neurodiversity. https://bookstore.emerald.com/neurodiversity-and-entrepreneurship-hb-9781837537990.html

Zivkovic, S. (2024), 'Addressing autistic unemployment through autistic owned and led social enterprise', Social Enterprise Journal, 20(5), 766-784. https://doi.org/10.1108/SEJ-01-2024-0011

Zivkovic, S. (2023), 'Systemic Landscape of Practice Labs: A lived experience systemic design approach, Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design, RSD12 · Oct 6, 2023.

Zivkovic, S. (2022), 'Creating the Conditions for Emergent Social Entrepreneurial Places'. In Newbery, R., Rusk, M., and Bell, C. (eds), Entrepreneurial Place Leadership, Emerald-ISBE Book Series.

French, M., Rhodes, M.L., McGowan, K. & Zivkovic, S. (2022), ‘Complexity as a model for social innovation and social entrepreneurship: is there order in the chaos?’, Social Enterprise Journal, Vol 18, No. 2.​

Zivkovic, S. (2021), ‘A practitioner tool for developing and measuring the results of interventions, Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, Vol. 16, No. 1.

Zivkovic, S. (2019), Increasing the impact of a complex systems leadership program, Emergence Complexity and Organisation, Vol. 20, No. 3.

Zivkovic, S. (2019), ‘2 Approaches Social Entrepreneurs Can Take for Systems Change', Social Change Central Blog Post.

​Zivkovic, S. (2019), ‘The Need for a Complexity Informed Active Citizenship Education Program', Australian Journal of Adult Learning, Vol. 59, No. 1.

​Zivkovic, S., & Woods, C. (2019), ‘Social innovation and complexity: a diverse field', Emergence, Complexity and Organisation, Vol. 20, No. 3.

​​Zivkovic, S. (2018), 'Systemic Innovation Labs: A Lab for Wicked Problems', Social Enterprise Journal, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 348-366.

Zivkovic, S. (2017), 'Addressing food insecurity: a systemic innovation approach', Social Enterprise Journal, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 234-250.

Zivkovic, S. (2017), “How can Education for Sustainability create systemic change”. In Corcoran, P.B., Weakland, J., and Wals, A.E.J. (eds), Envisioning Futures for Environmental and Sustainability Education, Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen.

Zivkovic, S. (2015), ‘A complexity based diagnostic tool for tackling wicked problems’, Emergence: Complexity and Organization, Vol. 17, No. 4.

Zivkovic, S (2014), ‘Determining and increasing the social impact of an active citizenship education program’, PhD thesis, School of Education, University of South Australia, Adelaide.

Zivkovic, S (2013), ‘Local government as a facilitator of systemic social innovation’, Proceedings of the 3rd National Local Government Researchers’ Forum, 5-6 June 2013, Adelaide, South Australia

Zivkovic, S, Harris, R & Willis, P (2012), ‘Using E-portfolios for active citizenship, lifelong learning and community resilience’, Lifelong Learning = Resilient Communities: Conference Papers 52nd Annual Adult Learning Australia Conference, 11-12 October 2012, Byron Bay, New South Wales

Zivkovic, S (2011), ‘Using the Social Entrepreneurship 4.0 Model as a Diagnostic Tool for Social Innovation’, Conference Proceedings Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference Extending Theory Integrating Practice, 1-3 December 2011, New Zealand Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Centre, pp. 194-208.

Zivkovic, S (2011), ‘Addressing Society’s Most Pressing Problems by Combining the Heroic and Collective Forms of Social Entrepreneurship’, EMES Conference Selected Papers Series, Social Innovation through Social Entrepreneurship in Civil Society Conference, Denmark, July 2011

Zivkovic, S. (2009), ‘Enabling Active Citizenship through an Adult Leadership Development Program’, In Daly, K. & Schuguresky, D. (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference Learning Democracy by Doing: Alternative Practices in Citizenship Learning and Participatory Democracy, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, pp. 380-92.

Zivkovic, S (2002), ‘Building community capacity’, In proceeds of Centre for Lifelong Learning "Lifelong learning and rural sustainability" conference. May 5-6 2002.