Research
Events
Online
New Publications
Jobs and Training
Calls
‘Envecon 2010 Applied Economics Conference’ – Extended deadline for the Call for Abstracts (12th January)
The ‘Envecon 2010: Applied Environmental Economics Conference’ will take place on Friday 12th March 2010, at The Royal Society in London, and the deadline for abstracts has been extended to 12th January 2010. While the call for abstracts highlights some priority areas, the conference is open to all papers demonstrating how environmental economics is applied in practice. Examples of priority areas include: tools of environmental economics (economic valuation, economic appraisal, and economic instruments); specific economic sectors (energy and climate change policy, water management, waste management, transportation, agriculture and forestry, and marine-based sectors; and some emerging topics of both theoretical and practical interest including, but not limited to, using the ecosystem services approach in practice, private sector involvement, and behavioural economics, including a better understanding of human behaviour under risk and uncertainty. All Papers should display academic rigour and show evidence of practical application. Abstracts should cover two sides of A4, in 12-point font, double spaced and be submitted to uknee@eftec.co.uk.
‘Diversity and Convergence: Planning in a World of Change’ – Call for Abstracts
The annual UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference will be hosted from 7th to 9th April 2010 by the Department of the Built Environment at Anglia Ruskin University. An interdisciplinary mix of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners will present and debate current issues in research concerned with the challenging and changing context of planning. The conference will include eight thematic paper tracks, together with plenary sessions featuring keynote speakers, poster sessions, Conference Dinner, and local study tours. The themed sessions are: cities and international development; governance, policy and planning; equality, inclusion and environmental justice; urban and rural regeneration; urban design, heritage and conservation; climate change, sustainability and ecology; mobility, transport and accessibility; and, planning education, professional development and practice. Abstracts are welcomed that address the main Conference theme through the track sessions. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words maximum and should be sent to the Conference Administrator, Sarah Lord by 29th January 2010. More…
RGS-IBG Conference 2010 Session ‘Food security: geographical perspectives and implications for agri-food studies’ – Call for Papers
This year’s annual Royal Geographical Society-Institute for British Geographers (RGS-IBG) conference will take place in London from 1st to 3rd September 2010. Papers are invited for a session on food security and its implications for agri-food studies. Food security is an issue which has attracted significant and increasing policy and media attention and concern in recent months. A range of both conceptual and empirical papers are invited that offer critical insights into food security, including how it might influence how geographers and others go about studying and responding to this and related agri-food issues. Papers could address the following: What is meant by the term food security? How might we conceptualise food security? Conceptualising multifunctionality and neo-productivism in the context of food security; discourses of food security; food security and food sovereignty; vulnerability, resilience and adaptation; the Peak Debates - oil, food, phosphate etc; biotechnology and the GM debate (revisited); biofuels; globalisation, neo-liberalism and global trade; alternative and local food networks (revisited); equity, food access, diet, consumption and health; land grab and neo-colonialism; food policy responses (at whatever scale); impacts on different food sectors and food chains; or, food security impacts / implications at different geographical scales (household, regional, national, global). Abstracts of up to 250 words and proposed titles (clearly stating name, institution, and contact details) should be submitted to both Dr Damian Maye and Dr James Kirwan by 1st February 2010.
‘Market segmentation in the agriculture sector: Climate Change’ – Call for Proposals
Farming and changes in land-use are responsible for about 7% of UK GHG emissions. As set out in the Climate Change Act (2008), emissions abatement from the sector must contribute to the overall national target for greenhouse gas emissions, ultimately resulting in a national reduction of 80% by 2050. Defra is inviting proposals for a project which will: identify priority sectors for intervention so as to reduce emissions from the farming sector in a cost-effective way; identify the main drivers and barriers to uptake of low-carbon opportunities in each sector; quantify the size of barriers and if possible provide monetary estimates for each barrier identified; identify or recommend high priority segments on which policy should initially focus; and, provide costed, sector-specific recommendations on how to drive the process of cutting emissions. Tenders should be returned by 4pm on Friday 15th January 2010. More…
‘A systematic review into the resilience of ecosystems and the services they provide to society in the face of changing external pressures’ – Call for Proposals
In December 2007, Defra published ‘Securing a healthy natural environment: An action plan for embedding an ecosystems approach’, which highlights the need to develop a more strategic framework for policy-making and delivery on the natural environment, based on the principles of an ecosystems approach. This call for proposals aims to examine critically a small set of policy-relevant questions based on the theme of resilience of ecosystems and the (ecosystem) services and benefits that they provide to society and the economy in the face of changing external pressures, including (but not limited to) those from a changing climate. Tenders should be returned by 4pm on Wednesday 20th January 2010. More…
‘Clean & Cool Mission’ – Extended deadline for applications
Clean & Cool Mission is a collaboration between the Technology Strategy Board, UK Trade & Investment, Polecat, Volans and Enterprise UK. The Clean & Cool Mission is a competition to identify the top 20 fast growing Clean & Cool companies in the UK. Those companies selected will be travelling to San Francisco from 20th to 26th February to meet investors, potential partners, media and peers on the West Coast. The deadline for applications to the Clean & Cool Mission has been extended to Friday 15th January 2010. Of particular interest are companies who are: technically innovative; have two years’ trading history or, failing that, compelling fast-track potential with a sound business plan and experienced management; are able to provide references from sponsors or key industry players; are ready to do business in the US, or potentially be attractive to US investors. More…
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Research
The PUrE Intrawise Project
The aim of the PUrE Intrawise consortium is to develop an integrated decision-support framework for more sustainable management of indoor pollution associated with the provision, conservation and use of energy in buildings. People spend some 90% of their time inside buildings so that indoor air quality can have an impact on our health. Indoor air quality is affected by: building design, ventilation, thermal insulation, energy provision, and energy switching. PUrE Intrawise builds on the PUrE project. While PUrE focused on outdoor pollution, PUrE Intrawise is concerned with developing a framework for the management of indoor pollution. The framework will be applied to a number of case studies that will compare the environmental, health and economic implications of the principal options for future home energy provision, to aid policy development. The main deliverables from the PUrE Intrawise project will be: a report on the current and future household energy options and related pollutants; a decision-support framework to enable sustainability comparisons of household energy options; case studies related to energy efficiency; modal switching; and micro-generation; and guidance for regulation and policy for more sustainable provision and use of energy in households. More…
ReVISIONS – Regional Visions of Integrated Sustainable Infrastructure Optimised for Neighbourhoods
Cities have developed spatially to facilitate economic growth and lifestyle aspirations but at the expense of increasing rates of consumption of resources and the production of waste and carbon emissions. As the United Nations projects that the global population living in urban areas will double by 2050, it is imperative that an understanding of how to plan urban areas to be more sustainable is achieved sooner rather than later. The aim of the ReVISIONS project is to provide the knowledge and evidence base for public agencies and private companies to plan regional spatial development together with infrastructure for transport, water, waste and energy (ranging from large capital schemes to small scale decentralised services), in a more coordinated and integrated way. This is intended to reduce impacts on the environment and resources, improve economic competitiveness, and allow households to live more sustainably, with a socially inclusive and enhanced quality of life. It will explore the inter-relationships between infrastructure policies and plans at the regional and local scales and explore the tensions and interactions that exist across these scales, and between sectors. More…
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Events
Book Launch – ‘Environmental Learning: Insights from research into the student experience’
4th February 2010: Policy Studies Institute, London.
At this evening event, Mark Rickinson, Cecilia Lundholm and Nick Hopwood will be launching their new book, ‘Environmental Learning: Insights from research into the student experience’. Environmental education and education for sustainable development have become features of many countries’ formal education systems. To date, however, there have been few attempts to explore what such learning looks and feels like from the perspective of the learners. Based on in-depth empirical studies in school and university classrooms, this book presents rich insights into the complexities and dynamics of students’ environmental learning. The authors show how careful analysis of students’ environmental learning experiences can provide powerful pointers for future practice, policy and research. The launch evening will include introductory remarks from the authors, and inputs from Professor Bill Scott (University of Bath) and Dr. Ann Childs (University of Oxford). More…
Conference – ‘The Road to Zero Carbon’
9th February 2010: The Watershed, Bristol.
The Government has set targets to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from all buildings, whether residential, commercial or public and new or existing. All new buildings will need to be zero carbon within a decade, starting with a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions next October, while CO2 emissions from existing buildings need to be approaching zero by 2050. We are now seeing a move from demonstration projects to an increasing number of real world low and zero carbon buildings being built, demonstrating that it is already possible to achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions. This conference, organised by the Devon Sustainable Building Initiative (DSBI) and Ecos Trust, will showcase some of the best of these low and zero carbon projects, with a strong focus on the steps and measures taken and the impact it had on the construction process, providing delegates with a unique opportunity to learn from those at the leading edge of compliance with this fast approaching standard. More…
Conference – ‘Environment and Health in Science Education’
18th – 21st August 2010: University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Environment and health have always been important learning areas in science education and are gradually becoming more important. These are highly relevant sustainable development discourses, but have often been neglected in science education research. There is a need to better understand how learners interact with complex issues, what perceptions they have of concepts relating to environment and health, how they deal with controversial perspectives in these fields, what images they have of sciences in this context, and how and why these images have emerged. The conference will offer keynote presentations by researchers who are prominent in the field, as well as a broad variety of workshops, where both advanced and young researchers present their research studies for in-depth discussions. Please contact Dr Albert Zeyer for more information.
Event – ‘UKERC Research Fund Open Meeting’
14th January 2010: Lecture Theatre 311, Huxley Building, Imperial College London.
The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) will be issuing the second Call for Proposals under its Research Fund on 8th January 2010. The call is expected to cover four topics, subject to a final decision by UKERC’s Research Committee. These topics include: energy security and international governance; UK energy system change - public attitudes and acceptability; industrial energy use - characterisation and modelling; and, investment and business models for energy services provision. UKERC is hosting an open meeting in London to introduce the call, describe how the topics fit within UKERC’s overall research programme and explain the call procedures. There will also be an opportunity to quiz the UKERC Research Co-ordination team. A detailed agenda will be provided in advance. More…
Seminar – ‘Making up sustainable places after growth’
26th January 2010: University of Westminster, London.
In recent years the dominant policy framework for urban development and regeneration in England has been based on the assumption of market driven economic growth. The current economic crisis has thrown the underlying assumptions of this model into disarray. It is no longer possible to rely on the surplus generated from house building and sales to provide the infrastructural spending to underpin sustainable communities, in terms of social, educational, environmental or transport needs. Yet the underlying drivers which led government to develop strategies for housing market renewal and the building of sustainable communities have not disappeared. In particular, the backlog of unmet housing needs remains severe and continues to create challenges, even if the housing market is presently unable to meet them. This seminar, by Professor Allan Cochrane (Open University), will focus on one of the main pillars of recent urban and regional development policy in England, asking how the end of the growth agenda affects the possibilities of building sustainable communities. It considers the experience of the South East of England, with a particular focus on its northern fringes (Milton Keynes, West Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire), where a series of partnership bodies and local delivery vehicles were intended to deliver substantial housing growth, supported by significant infrastructural investment generated from the surpluses produced by house building. More…
Conference – ‘Have you switched on to the benefits of remanufacturers?’
2nd – 4th March 2010: Woodland Grange, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
This conference, hosted by the Centre for Remanufacturing & Reuse, will bring together eminent international keynote speakers and practising suppliers and procurers of remanufactured products, enabling delegates to tap into wide-ranging and practical expertise. The Congress is now open for bookings. Participants will: find out how to maximise commercial and sustainability benefits through remanufacturing; discover how remanufacturing can improve business resilience, help retain customers and deliver resource savings; share experiences with others involved in remanufacturing and the procurement of remanufactured products; find solutions to technical, business and policy challenges in maximising value from remanufacturing and the use of remanufactured products; and find out what is happening across the world to improve the business context for remanufacturing. More…
Conference – ‘Flood Risk Management 2010’
10th – 11th February 2010: Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh.
Registrations are now open for SNIFFER’s annual Flood Risk Management Conference 2010, a two-day event supported by the Scottish Government, SEPA, Scottish Water, the SCOTS Group and Scottish Environment Link. This year’s conference will include discussion on: the status of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act and plans for implementation of the Act; SEPA's Flood Warning Direct Programme; and, demonstration work and research on Sustainable Flood Management approaches including Natural Flood Management. More…
Inaugural Lecture – ‘What sort of innovation policy is needed to meet the challenge of climate change? Desperately seeking a new transformative discourse’
9th February 2010: Fyvie Hall, University of Westminster, London.
Fred Steward, Professor of Innovation and Sustainability, Policy Studies Institute, University of Westminster, will be giving his inaugural lecture at 6pm on Tuesday 9th February 2010. Significant innovation is essential to achieving a successful transition to a low carbon society. Yet there are widely differing concepts of innovation, with a bewildering profusion of retrospective analogies of radical change. Some are technological calls for green versions of the ‘Manhattan Project’ or ‘Apollo Programme’. Others are social or moral appeals for a green ‘New Deal’. This diversity represents the complexity of the climate change challenge but it also reveals contrasting and often confused ideas of innovation itself. Professor Fred Steward argues that for innovation policy to make a real difference it needs a narrative which is more reflective on past experience. The lecture draws on new thinking about innovation in relation to delivery of transformative change and its relevance for a wide diversity of policy actors in the political debates of 2010. Please contact Hilary Salter to register or for more information.
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Online
ESRC Business Channel
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) offer a number of initiatives aimed at increasing Knowledge Exchange, with a view to ensuring that their research is relevant and beneficial to potential users and that they are able to address issues that are important to public, private and third sectors organisations. To make significant progress in improving the links between academic research and business practice, the ESRC developed the Business Channel on ESRC Society Today. The Channel provides a useful opportunity to present the latest relevant research findings and gives a wider range of organisations access to expert knowledge, fresh ideas and research evidence. Visit the website…
Relu Debategraph – Will the Flood and Water Management Bill address UK flood problems?
Relu’s Environmental Knowledge Controversies project asks ‘Is the draft Flood and Water Management Bill going to address current and future flooding problems in the UK?’ in an online debating forum, Debategraph. They are asking all interested and concerned individuals to contribute and would like to use this debate to inform flood risk policy. More…
Earthscan Earthcast – After Copenhagen: The Tactics and the Treaty
In the wake of the COP-15 summit in Copenhagen, the first Earthcast of 2010 will examine the treaty that emerged, the negotiating tactics behind it, and what the next steps are likely to be. Experts Michael Grubb, David Sattherwaite and Richard Smith will be dissecting the agreement and asking whether future negotiations can establish a binding treaty that sets ambitious limits for the large emitters while supporting developing nations financially and technologically. More…
Well London signposting resource
The Well London network has created an online resource for practitioners and community leaders working to promote healthy lifestyles in London, grouped by the five Well London themes: culture and tradition; healthy eating; mental health and well-being; open spaces; and physical activity. The resource is for anyone working in health and wellbeing, and includes policy and guidance information, strategies and action plans, tools and resources. The mental wellbeing and culture and tradition sections have recently been updated. Any feedback, comments or additions would be gladly received and should be sent to welllondon@lsx.org.uk. More…
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New Publications
New Report – ‘Older people and their winter warmth behaviours: Understanding the contextual dynamics’
There are many reasons to be interested in the changing ways in which older people organise their winter warmth within ageing societies such as ours. Winter mortality rates are highest amongst this group and several initiatives have therefore become committed to alleviating the fuel poverty some older people are prone to experience. Yet many older people are wealthier than ever and this leads to alternative environmental anxieties about how their home heating could easily exacerbate wider climatic changes. Straddling these two issues, this research report examines evolving social convention in terms of how older households become gradually drawn into seemingly appropriate patterns of thermal behaviour at home. Applying a novel qualitative approach to a stratified sample of older people in the UK, it draws out various policy insights about how best to promote sustainable energy use and winter wellbeing to this increasingly important group. Full copies of the report are available from either of the authors: Russell Hitchings at the UCL Geography Department and Rosie Day at the University of Birmingham Geography Department.
RELU Policy and Practice Note – ‘Comparative Merits of Consuming Vegetables Produced Locally and Overseas’
This note summarises key findings from a Rural Economy and Land Use Programme research project, which sought to explore the advantages and disadvantages of consuming locally produced fruit and vegetables, compared with crops grown overseas and imported. The note highlights that carbon accounting and labelling for food products are new factors for producers and consumers to take into consideration, and they may have serious implications for developing countries which export food. This kind of labelling is extremely complex, and in order to provide useful information, it must include an analysis of the entire lifecycle of the product. More…
New Publication – ‘Food 2030’
The UK Government has published its new food strategy, ‘Food 3030’, which sets out their vision of what they want the food system to look like in 2030, and how we can get there. Their vision is for consumers to be informed, able to choose and afford healthy, sustainable food. This demand would be met by profitable, competitive, highly skilled and resilient farming, fishing and food businesses, supported by first class research and development. Food would be produced, processed and distributed to feed a growing global population in ways which: use global natural resources sustainably; enable the continuing provision of the benefits and services that a healthy natural environment provides; promote high standards of animal health and welfare; protect food safety; make a significant contribution to rural communities; and allow us to show global leadership on food sustainability. Food security would be ensured through strong British agriculture and international trade links with EU and global partners, which support developing economies. The UK would also have a low carbon food system which is efficient with resources – any waste is reused, recycled or used for energy generation. More…
New Book – ‘Food Security, nutrition and sustainability’
As the threats of food insecurity loom larger, the world faces the sad irony of food shortages in the global South alongside a purported 'obesity epidemic' in the global North. The twin issues of food production and food access are of particular concern in the context of climate change, 'peak oil', biofuels, and land grabs by wealthy nations. ‘Food Security, Nutrition and Sustainability’ presents critical insights by international scholars, with chapters on global food security, supermarket power, new technologies, and sustainability. The book assesses the contributions of diet and nutrition research in building socially just and environmentally sustainable food systems and provides policy recommendations to improve the health and environmental status of contemporary agri-food systems. The book features contributions from a range of social science perspectives, including sociology, anthropology, public health and geography, with case study material drawn from throughout the world. More…
New Book – ‘Sustainability at Universities: Opportunities, challenges and trends’
Sustainability is widely defined as "the ability to meet the needs of the present while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems and without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". However, the goal of managing today’s resources so that they may be available to future generations is not easy to reach. Indeed, in order to achieve this ambitious goal, it is important that universities - similar to other sectors of society - become engaged in the sustainability debate, not superficially as has largely been the case until now, but in a manner not seen before. This book aims to provide a concrete contribution towards the goal of fostering sustainability at universities, by especially focusing on opportunities, challenges and trends. It contains a wide range of papers written by university lecturers, professors, students and practitioners, as well as practical projects, which illustrate some of the latest trends and future perspectives related to sustainability in higher education. More…
New Report – ‘Major tipping points in the Earth’s climate system and consequences for the insurance sector’
A new report by WWF and Allianz warns that the world’s diverse regions and ecosystems are close to reaching temperature thresholds – or ‘tipping points’ – that can unleash devastating environmental, social and economic changes. The report documents that changes related to global warming are likely to be much more abrupt and unpredictable than often perceived, and could create significant social, environmental and economic problems. The study explores impacts of these ‘tipping points’ including their economic consequences and implications for the insurance sector, and shows how close the world is to reaching ‘tipping points’ in many regions of the world. More…
IIED Report – ‘Fair Miles: Recharting the food miles map’
Today’s food is well travelled. A pack of green beans in a Northern supermarket may have journeyed 6000 miles, or 60. But while food miles loom large in our carbon-aware times, transporting it counts for less than you might think. There is a far bigger picture. Food is more than a plateful of emissions. It’s a social, political and economic issue that involves millions of small farmers in poor countries who export produce to the North. They have built lives and livelihoods around this trade. By buying what they grow, you’ve clocked up ‘fair miles’. This pocketbook delves into the realities of the produce trade between Africa and the UK, examining both sides of the equation in search of a diet that is ethically, as well as nutritionally, balanced. More…
New Data – ‘Sustainable Development in Government 2009’
The latest Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) data has recently been published by the Office of Government Commerce, together with the Sustainable Development Commission’s commentary on Government performance. According to latest projections, which are built up from departmental plans, the Government is in a robust position to exceed its current target of 12.5% by the end of March 2011 and can achieve a 17.8% reduction in carbon emissions against the baseline. Rebecca Willis, Vice Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, commented; ‘It’s great to see the progress that has been made in the last twelve months, thanks to considerable efforts from Government. We have seen improvements from road transport, water, waste and recycling targets. The next task for Government is to get to grips with its supply chain, and to look at the performance of all Government agencies, including its non-departmental public bodies. The world is coming to understand the urgent need to cut carbon dioxide emissions and live within environmental limits. The Government now needs to make sure that its own performance matches the scale of the challenge.’ More…
New Publication – ‘UCLan Centre for Sustainable Development Newsletter’
This newsletter coincides with the first anniversary of the establishment of the UCLan Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD). The Centre has been very active in setting up the structures and procedures to ensure it operates effectively and sustainably, which will enable the Centre to connect with and react to sustainability interests within the UCLan and the wider world. This newsletter presents an update on the Centre’s key research and post-graduate research, events, course provision, business links and plans for the future. More…
NISP Report – ‘The Pathway to a Low Carbon Sustainable Economy’
The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) has published this report to provide insight into how some of the issues linked to climate change can be tackled using the industrial symbiosis approach championed by NISP. The publication charts NISP’s progress since 2005 and sets out the compelling argument that the business-led approach used by NISP has the potential to fulfil a key role in the transition towards a low carbon sustainable economy. The section on Carbon demonstrates how NISP has helped UK businesses to reduce their collective carbon emissions by 30 million tonnes and the Economic Impact section includes case studies on how NISP has boosted the UK economy by a significant £1.5 billion to £2.4 billion of Total Economic Value Added giving a minimum cost ratio of 30:1. More…
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Jobs and Training
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