News, Jobs, Events, Opportunities and lots more...
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Quick round up of this week's news, jobs and events
News
COP 16 – United Nations Convention on Biodiversity Monday 21 October to Friday 1 November
COP 29 - United Nations Climate Change Conference
Monday 11 to Friday 22 November
Are you working on an interesting project, involved in an exciting collaboration or have a relevant paper coming out this month or next? If the answer is yes, then please get in touch! We’d love to promote your work and share a good story to coincide with these UN events.
Here is a link to the COP16 webpage and COP29 webpage.
Email Sarah, ACCESS Communications Officer
SPOTLIGHT: The FEVER Project. Developing a grid independent, cost-effective, & socially acceptable, renewables powered EV charger
Dr Chris Jones (University of Portsmouth), ACCESS Co-Investigator, is an applied social and environmental psychologist with expertise in understanding and assessing the public acceptance of technologies and public attitudes and responses to environmental change.
He recently gave a presentation to the ACCESS Policy & Practice Working Group about the project. Part of the presentation included his work with Marwell Zoo looking at the public acceptability of electric vehicle charging using the FEVER technology concept.
Read more about the FEVER project.
Read the full article here
Events
Book launch of three OPEN ACCESS edited books on how to strengthen European energy, climate and mobility policies
Tuesday 22 October, 4.30 to 6 pm (CET) In person, Granada, Spain and online
The three books involved 154 researchers from across 23 European countries, as well as 4 Forewords and 12 Afterwords written by additional researchers, policymakers, business representatives and citizen voices.
The books were coordinated and funded by the HorizonEU project, SSH CENTRE, which is the European Centre of Excellence for Social Sciences and Humanities Research on Climate, Energy and Mobility.
Urban Forests: The effect of nearby greenspace on the health of city dwellers
Thursday 24 October, 3 to 4 pm online from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Sjerp de Vries, a researcher in Environmental psychology at the University of Wageningen will explore how greenspaces effect mental and physical health.
How bold climate action can combat populism and rebuild our communities
Tuesday 29 October, 6 to 9.30pm, South Kensington Campus, Imperial London
This year's Grantham Institute Annual Lecture 2024 includes a keynote address from politician, environmental activist and author, Caroline Lucas.
Caroline Lucas will be drawing on her extensive experience in grassroots activism and political leadership to share her vision for bold climate action to combat populism and rebuild our communities. The evening will also include a panel discussion with leading climate experts and changemakers, followed by a networking reception.
Influencing Policy As Researchers
Thursday 31 October, 9 am to 5pm
C-DICE is hosting this exclusive, one-day event in Westminster where researchers and academics can delve into energy and net zero policymaking in the UK, and gain invaluable insights on how to effectively engage with policymakers in Parliament.
Participants will have unprecedented access to the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee, and will hear from the Chief Scientific Officer, Department of Energy Security and Net Zero; the Committee Clerk at the House of Commons and other key committee members. Additionally, learn from the first hand experiences from C-DICE Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) Fellows of their work for the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee.
Visual misogyny in social media communications of climate change & Introducing a data-driven mixed methods pipeline to understand the drivers of division and delay in Australia’s emissions reduction and renewable energy discussions
Wednesday 6 November, 1 to 3 pm
Join the Centre for Climate Communication and Data Science (C3DS) for a double bill of climate communication seminars (hybrid). Suay Özkula (University of Salzburg) will present ‘Visual misogyny in social media communications of climate change’. Carly Lubicz-Zaorski (Queensland University of Technology) will present ‘Introducing a data-driven mixed methods pipeline to understand the drivers of division and delay in Australia’s emissions reduction and renewable energy discussions’.
Please email c3ds@exeter.ac.uk to register for in-person or online attendance.
Understanding human-nature relationships. A Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery Seminar
Friday 22 November, 4.15 pm, in-person University of Oxford & online
The Leverhulme Centre are hosting a panel exploring how we can build human-nature connections to foster more integrated, impactful, and collaborative action to tackle the climate & biodiversity crisis.
Showcasing diverse social science contributions and interdisciplinary expertise, emphasising how researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers can work together to address complex environmental challenges from local to global scales.
Read more
Reimagining Climate (Im)mobilities in the Panicocene
Thursday 8 to Friday 9 May 2025, Durham University
Organisers Professor Andrew Baldwin, Durham University and Dr. Elena Giacomelli, Marie-Curie Fellow, University of Bologna invite academic contributions from across the interpretive social sciences and humanities, as well as from journalists, practitioners and artists operating in/through different visual narratives and media fields.
They welcome proposals for 15-minute papers. Please submit your abstract using this Google form: https://forms.gle/uPo8kCqYHfWfshFQ9.
The deadline to propose a paper is 1 January 2025
For more info elena.giacomelli4@unibo.it; w.a.baldwin@durham.ac.uk.
Creating healthy and sustainable cities Conference
Tuesday 10 to Friday 13 June 2025, Bristol City Hall
The Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments, at the University of the West of England, Bristol, is delighted to be hosting the European Urban Research Association (EURA) next year's conference in Bristol.
They welcome proposals for abstracts and pre-organised sessions for the EURA Conference 2025, via the submission portal by Thursday 31 October 2024.
Jobs
Research Impact Fellow & Senior Research Impact Fellow posts to form part of the new Hoffmann Impact Team for Accelerating Action on Nature and Climate (AANC)
The University of Exeter are seeking a total of three full-time posts to form part of the new Hoffmann Impact Team for Accelerating Action on Nature and Climate (AANC) led by Professor Gail Whiteman, the inaugural Hoffmann Impact Professor for Nature and Climate.
Each Fellow will be responsible for one main sector; preliminary industry sectors are Food; Consumer Package Goods/Electronics and Digital Technologies.
The closing date for applications is Sunday 27 October
Research Fellow (Social Science of Green Energy Transition) at the University of Edinburgh
As part of the multi-institution collaborative project ‘Social Science of Green Energy Transitions’, you will design, deliver, and analyse data from three deliberative workshops in communities across the UK where geological carbon storage, deep geothermal, subsurface hydrogen storage are likely to be employed. You will collaborate with the Principal Investigator and broader project team on other project-related tasks and activities that integrate research across the project’s work packages, and present the emergent science to the deliberative workshops, and assess public reactions to the science and perceived information needs.
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 30 October
Co-Director of Climate Barometer
Climate Barometer is currently looking for a Co-Director, with an emphasis on partnerships, donor relationships and fundraising, on a 2 day per week basis.
The team is looking for someone with the skills and experience to promote Climate Barometer across a range of audiences, build strong partnerships, and secure funding opportunities. The successful candidate will help develop Climate Barometer’s profile and reputation as a ‘go-to’ resource on UK climate opinion.
The closing date for applications is Thursday 31 October
Funding
Funding Call – Official Development Assistance (ODA) Research Management Capacity Strengthening
The British Academy is inviting proposals which seek to embed and enhance working practices and systems within and between institutions. This is to support equitable partnerships in international research through support for skills collaboration between research offices and research management functions.
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 30 October
Create and Lead Your Own Energy or Net Zero Event
The Energy Research Accelerator Community Fund is offering up to £2,500 to help you design, develop, and deliver your own energy and/or net-zero-focused event.
The closing date is Tuesday 12 November
Funding Call – British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships 2024-25
This scheme aims to allow established researchers to concentrate on bringing a major piece of research towards completion, with particular attention on individuals who have not been able to focus on research due to their other responsibilities.
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 13 November
Exploring Climate Cooling
ARIA is a Research and Development funding agency built to unlock scientific and technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. They want to reach across disciplines, sectors and institutions to shape, fund and manage projects across the R&D ecosystem, from start ups to universities, to break down silos and discover new pathways. They are looking for proposals for their Exploring Climate Cooling programme.
Closing date for applications is Monday 9 December
Training
How to present research to a wider audience for greater impact?
Find out how to expand the reach of your research beyond your institution from academic experts at Campus+ partner universities across the UK and North America.
They discuss:
- How to use new media to amplify your work
- How to build a stand-out online profile
- Effective ways to discuss the impact of your research
- Innovative methods of communication.
The panel includes Denise Baden, Professor of Sustainable Business at the University of Southampton
Opportunities
Should Environmental Social Science be taught in schools?
The government has launched a Call for Evidence for its review of education. Open to anyone to submit their thoughts - with data. If you want to see the Environment, Nature and Social Sciences taught in schools, it is vital to contribute to this process.
Stories of Climate Transition
Climate Spring, in partnership with BBC Writers and Film London, announces the winners of its The Hot House 2024 writers’ development lab, this year focusing on ‘stories of the climate transition’. Six new original screenplays will now be created.
Learn from Nature
The Australian Journal, Learn from Nature, is looking for articles. Contact Henricus.peters@gmail.com
Info
The Greta Effect: Is there more public support for climate protesters who are young and female?
A new journal article written by Yu Shuang Gan & Sylvia Hayes looks at how people perceive climate protestors. It is one of the first studies to examine how the public responds to different climate protest images.
Key findings include that images showing police or child protestors increase negative emotional responses. The study's participants’ gender, but not that of protestors, influenced responses. Climate images with intergenerational justice framings may foster engagement.
The Violence of Climate Change
This article from Covering Climate Now reminds us of wars' role in climate change. "Helping audiences understand the connections between climate change and war poses challenges for journalists. When hurricanes or missiles are killing people or demolishing houses today, describing those horrors understandably seems more urgent than explaining their underlying causes and ramifications."
A government roadmap to tackle NHS waste
The Exeter University-led Circular Economy Hub, part of the UKRI and Defra-funded NICER programme, was the lead academic partner for the government’s new Design for Life Roadmap, an initiative billed as a ‘major crackdown on NHS waste’ that aims to cut the number of single-use medical devices in circulation and incentivise the production of environmentally sustainable products.
The new government roadmap echoes the findings of Exeter’s circular economy experts in their recently published MedTech Spotlight report.
Celebrities and politicians are climate change ‘missing link’
Psychologists from Cardiff University have uncovered new insights into the role of celebrities and politicians in influencing public opinion on low-carbon lifestyles.
“Behaviour change is essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions quickly. Flying less, eating less meat, driving electric cars, improving home energy efficiency, increased use of public transport and active travel are some of the most impactful changes we can make. However, these choices have proved elusive in the general population and are rarely encouraged or modelled by high-status individuals,” said Dr Steve Westlake from Cardiff University School of Psychology, who led the research.
Beyond Drax. A real green future for Yorkshire and the Humber
This report from the Green House Think Tank and Stop Burning Trees Coalition looks at the minimum jobs considered to be needed in Yorkshire and the Humber to form the essential foundation of a low-carbon local economy. From renewable energy generation, to insulating our homes and growing our food they have quantified over 70,000 jobs needed in Yorkshire and the Humber over the next ten years.
Renewed funding for the UK Energy Research Centre will provide an independent voice and innovative thinking to help deliver the energy transition
The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) has been awarded £11 million for the next four years from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Cooking Energy, Health and Happiness of Women in Nigeria
In this study, authors Eleanya Nduka and Modupe Jimoh utilise novel data to investigate the impact of cooking energy sources and indoor air pollution on the happiness, life satisfaction, physical, and mental health of women in Nigeria.
