Seeing the city and public space differently through skateboarding and other urban and creative sports.
Meet the people involved
SkateCER Lab Founder
Dr Indigo Willing
Indigo has a PhD in sociology from The University of QLD and is a Social Science Visiting Fellow at the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC), University of Sydney. She is co-chair for the International Advisory Board for Skateistan, one of the world’s largest skateboarding non-profits. Skateistan is also subject of an Academy Award-winning documentary ‘Learning to Skate in a War Zone (If You’re a Girl)’. With a commitment to promoting and growing community-led initiatives and strategies for change, she is also co-founder of Respect is Rad, with its award-winning flagship campaign Consent is Rad, as well as being co-founder of We Skate QLD, and SSHRED. Indigo is also the lead co-author of Skateboarding, Power and Change (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, with Anthony Pappalardo and art by Adam Abada).
Indigo is currently an Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programme Recipient (2025-2027), working at SSSHARC at The University of Sydney in parntership with Skateistan exploring community-led skate projects and skateboarding in the Olympics Games. She is also the recipient of an Hon. John Oxley Fellowship, QLD State Library (2025) and a NSW Churchill Fellowship (2024 – 2025). Indigo was named 2025 Skate Scholar of the Year in the State of Skate List in Simple Magic (Glenney, 2026). In the 2024 Outdoors QLD Awards she the recipient of equal 1st place in the flagship QLD Government Individual Achievement Award from Outdoors QLD. In 2023 her team won the equal 1st place for the Social Project/Non-Profit of the Year Award from Skate Like A Girl for the Consent is Rad campaign.
SkateCER Lab Advisory Group
As a group of experts, the Advisory Group provides occasional expert feedback on initiatives by SkateCER as well as contributing to the growth of international networks and opportunities for skateboarding researchers, skate leaders, skate urbanists and a variety of experts to build connections. Advisory group roles are typically held for 12 months (with extensions also considered) and are on a volunteer basis.
2026 – 2027
2026 – 2027 Advisory Group List here
2024 – 2025
2024 – 2025 Advisory Group list here
2024 Launch, Event Partners and Principal Co-Investigators here
Launched at SSSHARC
The Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC) uses innovative and collaborative approaches to problem solving within the humanities and social sciences and beyond. Through multidisciplinary and international collaborations, they develop and support a diverse range of research.
SSSHARC Website: here
SSSHARC Director
Professor Lee Wallace - Director, Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC), The University of Sydney.
Professor Lee Wallace is the Director of SSSHARC at The University of Sydney as well as steering social enterprise projects and the Research Impact Accelerator program. Wallace has won awards for her expertise and senior mentoring, including early career researchers and academics with non-traditional outputs with high social impact.
At SSSHARC, she overseas a collaborative research space designed to advance innovative research partnerships and methodologies across the humanities and social sciences. The team at SSSHARC upholds a commitment to research excellence and knowledge sharing.
S k a t e CER 