Contents:
Network news
Calls
Events
Online
New Publications
Jobs and Training
Network news
1. SDRN moves to a new mailing system
We have just moved across to a new mailing system, MailChimp. If you have any feedback on the format of the new mailing (or if you are experiencing any technical problems) then please let us know by contacting Ben Watson b.watson@psi.org.uk.
Calls
1. Call for NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellows
In partnership with Marks & Spencer, NERC is looking to recruit a Knowledge Exchange Fellow to help align sustainable business needs with the UK science base. The successful applicant will work with the M&S Plan A and Food Business teams, and with the NERC Partnerships & Knowledge Exchange Group in Swindon. The fellowship is part time (3 days per week), and lasts for two years. Further information, including a detailed job specification and application form, is available on the NERC website. The closing date for applications is 1st June 2012 at 16:00, and interviews will be held in early July. More…
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2. Call for papers – Regional Studies Association Winter Conference
Papers are invited for the upcoming Regional Studies Association Winter Conference which will take place on Friday 23rd November 2012 in London. The conference, ‘Smart, Creative, Sustainable, Inclusive: Territorial Development Strategies in the Age of Austerity’, aims to describe and to propose ways of addressing trends in regional inequality. It also seeks to identify future research imperatives and to address the concerns and challenges confronting practitioners and policymakers. Contributions are invited on one or more of the following themes, amongst others: shrinking cities, transition towns and other approaches; creative cities/regions in the age of austerity; and implementing smart growth principles in the age of austerity. The conference organisers are keen to attract papers which address a broad research and policy agenda, and contributions from any discipline which can offer relevant insights at local and regional levels. Papers which are collaborative, international or multi-disciplinary are especially welcome. The deadline for abstracts is on Monday 9th July 2012. Further information, including full details of the themes, is available on the call poster. More…
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3. Call for papers – New journal: ‘Territory, Politics, Governance’
The Regional Studies Association invite papers for their new interdisciplinary journal ‘Territory, Politics, Governance’. The editors invite original paper submissions from political scientists, geographers, sociologists, planners, lawyers, humanists and others working on territorial politics and the governance of space. The journal targets an international audience of academics and policy makers, activists, other practitioners and civil servants, and aims to engage with crucial debates and emerging themes. Broad topics of interest to the journal include: links between territories and politics across time and space; state-space relations over time; theories of socio-spatial relations involving territories, places, scales, and networks; globalization and geopolitical imaginations; and territory, planning, and development. Papers should be between 7000 and 9000 words. To submit, contact John A. Agnew of the Editorial office at jagnew@geog.ucla.edu.
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Events
1. Regional Centre for Sustainability Education Severn event - ‘Putting Sustainability at the Heart of the University; a View from West Wales'.
9th May 2012, 4 - 5pm, TC206A, Park Campus, University of Gloucestershire
Hosted by the UNU RCE (United Nations University Regional Centre for Sustainability Education) Severn and led by Jane Davidson, Director of INSPIRE (Institute for Sustainability Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness), this event will explore institutional approaches for building sustainability into learning in Higher Education. Jane Davidson will also introduce the new ‘fit for future’ framework of Trinity Saint David (Wales) which aims to embed sustainability into the overall student experience, with the aim of ensuring future graduates are globally aware and responsible citizens in the 21st century. More…
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2. Consensus International Conference - ‘Challenging consumption: Pathways to a more sustainable future’.
18th – 20th May 2012, National University of Ireland, Galway
The Consensus conference aims to provide an international platform for current research into Sustainable Consumption. It forms part of the Consensus project (consumption, environment and sustainability), a four-year collaborative project examining four key areas of household consumption: energy, water, food and transport. The conference seeks to facilitate exchange between existing Sustainable Consumption networks and to explore the potential for future research collaborations. Conference attendance is free, but registration is required as places are limited. To register, please email Dr Amaya Vega consensus@nuigalway.ie. More…
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3. UWE debate – ‘Sharing or Separation: Which Way for Streets of the Future?’
22nd May 2012, 5:30pm – 7:30pm, Room IR26, Frenchay Campus, University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol
This debate will explore issues surrounding street design and whether it is better to share or separate space in streets between vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. Chaired by Professor Graham Parkhurst (Director of the UWE Centre for Transport and Society), the debate will begin with short contributions from Ben Hamilton-Baillie (Hamilton-Baillie Associates) who is a proponent of shared space, and Dr Steve Melia (UWE Centre for Transport and Society) who has questioned Department for Transport guidance on the use of shared space. The talk will then open up to contributions from the audience. Attendance is free, but registration is required. For more information about the debate and to register, please visit the event webpage. More…
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4. HEFCE Project Conference – ‘Quality Assurance, Enhancement and Education for Sustainable Development: Creating a Framework for Dialogue’.
2nd July 2012, 10am – 4pm, Aston University, Birmingham
This conference brings together the findings and insights that have emerged from the project ‘Leading Curriculum Change for Sustainability’, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The project, which runs from October 2010 and is due to complete in September, has been initiated to scale up efforts to disseminate the idea of education for sustainable development through the quality assurance and enhancement systems of Higher Education. The event will involve keynote speakers (including Anthony McClaran, CEO of the Quality Assurance Agency), plenary discussions and interactive workshops. Further details about the programme and how to register will be available on the project website shortly. More…
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5. UCL Environment Institute and Urban Laboratory event – ‘Sustainability: Concepts, Cultures and Practices’.
17th May 2012, 2pm – 5pm, Archaeology G06 LT, UCL, London
This conference aims to bring together those working on sustainability issues from any discipline, with a particular focus on researchers with an anthropological, sociological, ethnographic, historical or cultural perspective. The conference will open with three 20 minute presentations by Dr Sam Randalls (UCL Department of Geography), Professor CJ Lim (UCL Bartlett School of Architecture), and Dr Jerome Lewis (UCL Department of Anthropology), with presentations ranging from ‘Competing Cultural Conceptions of Sustainability’ to ‘Science Fiction and Biblical Tales of Sustainability’. The conference will be followed by a drinks reception. For more details about the presentations and to register online, see the conference webpage. More…
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6. The Worshipful Company of World Traders & Cass Entrepeneurs Network seminar - ‘Current Issues in Sustainability: How to promote responsible entrepreneurship in world trade’.
Thursday 17th May 2012, 6:00pm, Oliver Thompson Lecture Theatre, City University, London.
In order to drive the sustainable development agenda, new economic models and entrepreneurial approaches are gaining importance and have the potential to dramatically reshape and disrupt the business landscape of the 21st century. This seminar seeks to highlight and explore best practice in responsible entrepreneurship. Speakers at the event include Richard Brown (Chairman, Eurostar), Christopher Seow (Visiting Fellow in Operations and Sustainability, Cass Business School), Amee Devani (Head of Business Development, Pavegen Systems), Marcel Steward (Independent Environmental Services Professional), Simon Lee (Business Development Manager, Business in the Community), Trewin Restorick (CEO, Global Action Plan), and Azhar Azhar (Director, Conran and Partners). Short talks by the speakers will be followed by a Q&A session, and the seminar will close with a networking reception. Places at the event cost £25 each, and can be booked online on the event webpage. More…
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7. The Aldersgate Group and DECC joint event - ‘Raising the Bar on EU Climate Targets’.
Friday 11th May 2012, 8:30am – 9:45am, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 2 King Edward Street, EC1A 1HQ, London.
This event debates new analysis, commissioned by the UK Government and undertaken by Bloomberg, on the economic costs and benefits for the EU and its Member States of moving from a 20% to a 30% carbon emission reduction target for 2020. Hosted by the Aldersgate Group and DECC, it also poses the questions: What effect has the recession had on meeting the 20% target; what is the estimated cost of moving to a 30% target; and which Member States are likely to be the winners and the losers? Speakers include David Kennedy (CEO, Committee on Climate Change), Abyd Karmali (MD and Global Head of Carbon Markets, Bank of America Merrill Lynch), Guy Turner (Director of Carbon Markets, Bloomberg), and Neil Johnson (Head of Mitigation, International Climate Change, DECC). To register, please RSVP to events@aldersgategroup.org.uk. More…
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Online
1. WRI Database for Sustainable Development Policies and Measures (SD-PAMs)
The World Resources Institute’s SD-PAMs database is a tool which brings together policies and measures with an impact on climate change from 18 developing countries. Policies and measures can be searched by country or by policy type. The database is currently in beta testing phase, and the WRI welcomes all feedback on both the user-friendliness of the database and the accuracy of its contents. More…
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2. PIRC Climate Factsheets for climate change communicators and campaigners.
With the overarching aim of helping to responsibly inform the public about climate science, the Public Interest Research Centre has put together a set of factsheets for climate change communicators and campaigners. Covering a broad range of topics, from temperature, Arctic sea ice and flooding to species extinction, these factsheets draw on peer-reviewed studies to present the issue in question. Each factsheet presents one of the issues in question, setting the context, summarising the background science, and addressing the common objections raised by sceptics. Sources of evidence and claims are clearly referenced throughout, and each factsheet is accompanied by the affiliation and contact details of the experts consulted. More…
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3. Competition - Create an app to help SMEs in Scotland meet emissions targets.
The Scottish Government, SSE, SEPA and Microsoft have launched a national competition to create a software application that helps Scotland’s SMEs respond to climate change goals by measuring, managing and reducing their carbon emissions. The winning team will receive a grant of up to £50,000 funded by the Scottish Government, SSE and SEPA in order to further develop, finalise and deploy the solution in as many SMEs around Scotland on the widest variety of platforms. Also up for grabs is a trip to the USA for the Microsoft Technology Challenge Prize-winner. The deadline for registration for the competition is 15 May 2012, and the closing date for submissions is 10 June 2012. More…
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New Publications
1. CEPS report to the European Commission – ‘The Uptake of Green Public Procurement in the EU27’
In 2008, the European Commission stated that by 2010, 50% of all public tendering procedures in the EU should be ‘green’. This study, commissioned by the European Commission aims to measure whether or not this target has been met. With no standardised data on green public procurement (GPP) in Member States, the Centre for European Policy Studies and the College of Europe conducted a survey of over 850 public authorities from 26 Member States. The study finds that the 50% target has not been met, but notes an overall positive trend in the period 2009-2010, and examines evidence to support the conclusion that some form of GPP is being done at a large scale. In an attempt to inform future GPP policy developments, the study also explores the variation in GPP uptake between countries surveyed, and asks how difficult public authorities find it to incorporate the green criteria into their procurement process. More…
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2. New Economics Foundation report – ‘Well-being evidence for policy: A review’
This report by NEF aims to help translate current academic knowledge on the causes of well-being into a practical format for policy makers. The report reviews evidence up to the end of 2011, providing an introduction to the state of current knowledge. The policy areas identified include: the economy, social relationships and community, health, the local environment, education and care. The report also explores non-policy aspects such as personal characteristics, which play an important role in understanding the factors that are important to individuals’ well-being. NEF intend to update this review regularly to keep policymakers abreast of the academic development of well-being research. More…
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3. IIED report – ‘Pro-poor certification: Assessing the benefits of sustainability certification for small-scale farmers in Asia’
This report considers the problem of how to enable small-scale farmers to participate in global markets, and the role of sustainability certification schemes. It explores whether certification schemes and labelling strategies for products from particular geographical areas deliver benefits to poor and marginalised farmers. The authors review the costs and benefits of a number of certification schemes, organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Utz Certified and CAFÉ Practices. Using this review along with evidence from new case studies, the report assesses the relevance of certification schemes for coffee, tea and cotton farmers in China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. More…
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4. IIED report – ‘Standards for Change? ISO 26000 and sustainable development’
The ISO 26000 standard provides organisations with guidance about how to implement social responsibility and contribute to sustainable development. This International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) report examines the contribution that ISO 26000 has made to sustainable development, and what its further potential could be. The authors conclude that ISO 26000 encourages organisations to consider a far wider set of sustainable development issues than typical at present, but that there is room for improvement in other aspects of the standard, including independent certification and guidance on how to manage sustainable development issues in a more systematic way. More…
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5. SEI and FORES report – ‘China’s Carbon Emission Trading: An Overview of Current Development’
China has embarked on the substantial endeavour of establishing a national carbon emission trading system by 2015. So far, carbon-trading pilots have been launched in seven provinces and cities. In a joint effort by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and FORES, this report examines China’s progress so far, what is at stake and the key challenges that lie ahead.
Against the backdrop of an analysis of existing and emerging carbon trading schemes and the Clean Development Mechanism, the report provides a broad overview of ongoing efforts to develop carbon markets in China, and assesses their implications both for China’s national targets on climate, energy and the environment, and for climate change mitigation worldwide. The report draws on data from a range of sources, including Chinese government documents, and is complemented by select interviews. More…
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6. Royal Society report – ‘People and the Planet’
Published on 26th April, this is the final report in a major study carried out by the Royal Society into the links between global population and consumption, and the implications for a finite planet. Presenting an overview of the impacts of human population and consumption on the planet, the report explores how to harness the benefits and mitigate the impacts of a changing population. The study aims to provide decision makers and interested members of the public with objective information and policy guidance based on the best available evidence. The report’s recommendations focus on: reducing the number of people in absolute poverty; economic stabilisation and the reduction of material consumption; reproductive health; the treatment of population and environment as inherently integrated issues; the potential for urbanisation to reduce material consumption; removing barriers to high-quality primary and secondary education for all; further research into the interactions between consumption, demographic change and environmental impact; implementing comprehensive wealth measures; and developing new socio-economic systems. More…
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7. New Book – ‘Contributions to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development’
This book forms Volume 33 of the ‘Environmental Education, Communication and Sustainability Series’, and focuses on environmental education and education for sustainable development. The book explores how to bridge the gap between science and environmental education, by looking at a variety of different projects, initiatives and field activities. A special emphasis is put on teacher training programmes, and the problems and barriers to the integration of sustainability issues into higher education. Chapters include: ‘The Need for Contributions to the Decade of Education for a Sustainable Future: an Ethical Commitment’ (by Vilches, Marques, Gil-Pérez and Praia); ‘Perceived Importance of Fish Sustainability’ (by de Moura, Cunha, Bacelar, and Costa Lima); and ‘Agronomists, Civil Engineers and Architects: what Role in Earth Sustainability?’ (by Gonçalves, Costa, de Figueiredo, Gonçalves, Pardal, and Azeiteiro). More…
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Jobs and Training
1. SDRN Website: Jobs and Training
Jobs and Training opportunities around the Sustainable Development Research network are updated frequently on the ‘Jobs and Training’ page of the SDRN website…
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