Qualitative Research Journal

Purpose – Research problems focused on sustainability, such as changes to procurement practices, are new which necessitate new approaches to research methods. The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of an arts-based inquiry technique to supplement a mixed-methods approach.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents an application of arts-based inquiry techniques as part of the qualitative analysis regime to communicate the approaches adopted by Australian organisations introducing sustainable procurement utilising the medium of collage.

Findings – Arts-based inquiry is found to offer organisational research several complementary features. It engages multiple audiences in different “ways of seeing” and engaging with research.

Originality/value – Arts-based techniques demonstrated in this paper offer sustainability and other researchers a complementary method of inquiry, to communicate change in society by opening the discourse between art, transdisciplinarity and sustainability, and to engage with multiple audiences in the process of change.