News, Jobs, Events, Opportunities and lots more...
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Quick round up of this week's news, jobs and events
News
To fly or not to fly? How did we make this decision? A reflective Q&A with the ACCESS team.
In July 2024, the International Association People-Environment Studies (IAPS) 28th Conference was held in Barcelona. It was the first in-person IAPS event since the Covid-19 epidemic. It was viewed as an important opportunity for those working in Environmental Social Sciences to attend. Weighing up the pros and cons of attendance, were four academics – two early career researchers and two senior academics. Each one reflects on their choices and the ACCESS Guiding Principles. Who went? How did they travel? And what did their choices reveal?
Watch the recording of Stewart Barr's (ACCESS Leadership team) webinar. Stewart explores different academic perspectives on how we can de-carbonise travel in higher education and practical efforts to change practices, systems and policies through applying the ACCESS Guiding Principles.
Check out his blog - From ACCESS Guiding Principles to Travel Guidance: Reflecting on Tensions in Travel Choices here
Read the ACCESS Travel guidance here
Including the More-Than-Human World in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): Developing a Conceptual Framework
Just published, a summary report of the ‘Including the More-Than-Human World in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): Developing a Conceptual Framework’ Flex Fund project. This summary provides an overview of the activities carried out at an in-person workshop held at the University of Nottingham and a visual summary of the findings.
As Round 1 Flex Fund projects come to a conclusion we'll be sharing more findings with you over the next couple of months.
In the next couple of weeks, we will be saying goodbye to both Sue Varley, the ACCESS Project Manager and George Warren, one of our Knowledge Exchange Fellows at Surrey University. Thank you both for all the amazing work that you have done on ACCESS. We wish you all the best for your next big adventure!
Next month, I'll be moving from the Communications role to Project Manager. So, we will be looking for a new ACCESS Communications Officer based at the University of Exeter. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please watch out for the job advert and/or ask them to get in touch.
Events
Healthy environment, healthy people: Bridging environmental and health psychology webinar
Monday 25 November
Presented by the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) and Equity, Global Health and Sustainability SIG. The webinar will explore some of these topics and more:
- Positive effects of nature contact on mental health and health behaviours
- Environmental change & health: The importance of nature for building individual & societal resilience
Far South, Close Ties: Regional Identity's Role in Environmental and Energy Attitudes in Southern Patagonia: TARG:ET Webinar
Thursday 5 December, 1 pm, online
Join Dr Herman Elgueta Sepulveda to look at two recent studies in Magallanes, Chile's southernmost region. Her talk explores the interplay between regional identity and environmental-energy attitudes. The Magallanes region presents a unique context: geographically isolated, culturally distinctive, and facing particular environmental and energy challenges, including urban wetland conservation and residential gas consumption.
The green jobs you didn’t know existed
Tuesday 10 December 2024
Join this Green Alliance webinar to gain insights from experts in environmental policy and community engagement, and learn how you can access a green career, whether you’re just starting out or coming from a different field.
Speakers
> Chair: Rosie Allen, policy adviser, EDI outreach lead, Green Alliance
> Alfie Prothero, research and policy officer, Hope for the Future
> Chanakya Ranjan, policy analyst, Green Alliance
> Zoe Avison, senior political adviser, Uplift
International Conference on Environmental Psychology
Sunday 15 to Wednesday 18 June, Vilnius, Lithuania
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION FOR ICEP 2025 IS LAUNCHED!
You can now submit your contributions for oral presentations, posters and symposia.
The abstract submission deadline is Sunday 15 December 2024
23rd Swiss Climate Summer School 2025, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
Sunday 24 to Friday 29 August 2025, Congressi Stefano Franscini, Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland
The 23rd Swiss Climate Summer School focuses on the theme “Sustainable pathways to net zero”. Pathways to decarbonisation have trade-offs with energy security, land use, food production, biodiversity, and the need to consider equity and social acceptance. This summer school addresses early stage researchers from climate and earth system sciences to biodiversity, energy, social, political, and economic sciences.
The closing date for applications is Friday 14 February 2025
Jobs
Jackson Senior Research Fellow and Energy Programme Leader
This is a senior level position to which The University of Oxford are looking to recruit a policy-focused and experienced researcher with knowledge and expertise in the field of energy demand and use.
The closing date for applications is Monday 25 November
Head of Knowledge Exchange (Sustainability) at the University of the Arts London
Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) seeks a highly skilled Head of Knowledge Exchange in Fashion and Sustainability. This is a key role in building and maintaining the profile of the centre as a leader in Fashion and Sustainability, through high quality knowledge exchange projects.
The closing date for applications is Tuesday 26 November
Postdoctoral Scholar:
Public Acceptance of Climate Technologies, University of Chicago
The Harris School of Public Policy seeks applicants for a Postdoctoral Scholar for work at the convergence of psychology and applied sciences to investigate the public acceptance of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches. The overall aim of this project is to develop an integrative framework to gauge public acceptance of CDR.
No closing date specified.
Research Officer - LOCAST, University of Swansea
Applications are invited for a post-doctoral research associate position to work on a prestigious 2-year UKRI-funded project based in the Vsimulators facility at University of Bath. This post is ideally suited to an individual with an interest in the application of human physiology research to real-world problems.
The closing date is Tuesday 26 November
Part-Time Research Assistant – Horizon Scanning (Green Economy)
The University of Warwick is looking to recruit a part-time Research Assistant (0.6 FTE) at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM) to work with Dr Kavin Narasimhan, and collaborators at the University of Leeds, and non-academic partners in local, regional, and national policy. The successful candidate will conduct horizon scanning activities, assessing and interpreting critical trends, risks, and opportunities that influence the Green Economy landscape.
The closing date for applications is Thursday 28 November
Four Research Scientists: Social Science at the James Hutton Institute
The Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences (SEGS) department contains a range of researchers, using a range of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods and often taking interdisciplinary and/or participatory perspectives. We seek to address major contemporary social and economic research challenges, including investigations of sustainable behaviours, place-based policy, natural resource governance, climate change, land use, natural capital and ecosystem services valuation, community vibrancy, and sustainability transitions.
We anticipate that the postholders will contribute to the delivery of the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme (2022-27), as well as other projects funded by other funders (e.g. EU, or UKRI). We will be looking to recruit a balance of skills and would welcome applications from people with social science skills covering quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods.
The closing date for applications is Tuesday 7 January 2025
Flood-CDT has now opened its PhD projects
The Centre for Doctoral Training for Resilient Flood Futures (FLOOD-CDT) has now opened its PhD projects to accept applications. Some are based in the social sciences, such as
- Envisioning Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) governance in a well-adapted nation
- Implications of diverse risk perceptions within and across coastal communities for adaptive capacity and community engagement.
The deadline for submitting applications is Wednesday 8 January 2025.
PhD: ‘Analysing interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in whole systems energy research’
The School of Social and Political Science (SPS) at the University of Edinburgh is offering a 3-year PhD studentship on ‘Analysing interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in whole systems energy research’.
This fully funded PhD studentship (covering stipend and fees) is available to UK / Home fee status applicants only. The application deadline is Thursday 30th January 2025. The PhD project must start by September 2025 at the latest.
The successful applicant will be supervised by SPS academics Dr Mark Winskel and Dr Jess Britton. The PhD project is linked with the UK Energy Research Centre’s interdisciplinary research programme.
The closing date for applications is Thursday 30 January
Training
Policy Engagement Training
Apply for a FREE policy engagement training programme designed to support and equip UK researchers to translate their environmental, economic & social science research into policy insights & real-world impacts.
This training programme is delivered by the Institute for Methods Innovation (IMI), Fast Track Impact (FTI) and Walcott Communications Limited (WCL) on behalf of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 4 December
Funding
Flexible funds are open to Energy Demand Research Centre existing members and those new to EDRC
Three sub-funds are available to promote diverse projects, foster collaborations, and respond to emerging energy research needs. These Flexible Funds are open to EDRC team members and new applicants outside the existing consortium.
Opportunities
Unlocking community energy at scale: call for evidence to new Parliamentary inquiry
The Committee has launched an inquiry into community energy. The Committee aims to:
- identify potential solutions to the financial and regulatory barriers facing community energy projects, including how to establish local supply
- consider the role of the Local Power Plan in supporting community energy
- assess how reforms to the planning system, grid connections and the energy market could support the growth of community energy at scale.
The closing date for submissions by 13 January 2025
New Area of Interest for the Welsh Senedd
The Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee is launching an Area of Research Interest (ARI) to support its work on the forthcoming Environmental Governance, Principles and Biodiversity Targets Bill. It is seeking expertise and research on all aspects of the Bill. The Bill is preceded by a Welsh Government White Paper, which outlines the areas the Bill is likely to cover.
The Bill is expected to:
- establish a permanent environmental governance body to ensure public authorities uphold environmental law;
- introduce overarching environmental principles to underpin all future policy decision-making; and
- introduce a framework to protect and restore nature, including biodiversity targets.
The Committee is particularly interested in:
- The process of establishing and remit of other UK environmental governance bodies, and lessons learned;
- Building on its existing knowledge and work on biodiversity targets; and
- Developing an evidence base to inform its assessment of the environmental principles included in the Bill.
Senedd committees currently have other Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) open including:
Select committees currently accepting written evidence
New calls for evidence launched since 20 November 2024:
- Environmental sustainability and housing growth | Environmental Audit Committee | 20 December 2024
- Unlocking community energy at scale | Energy Security and Net Zero Committee | 13 January 2025
- Workforce planning to deliver clean, secure energy | Energy Security and Net Zero Committee | 13 January 2025
Call for Abstracts – 10th NEST Conference 2025
The call for abstracts is now open for the 10th Annual NEST Conference.
Hosted by the University of Sussex Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), in Brighton UK, on 29th-30th May 2025.
The conference will be arranged around three themes:
- Looking at the Past: Impact and Power of Sustainability Transitions Research
- Looking at the Present: Diversity and Plurality in Sustainability Transitions
- Looking to the Future: Sustainability Transitions in the Context of Global Tensions
The closing date for submissions is Wednesday 8 January
Call for climate horizon 2040 conference session proposals
With the next Climate Change Plan due to cover the period to 2040, Scotland is at a critical point for climate action to reach net zero and build climate resilience.
ClimateXChange, Scotland’s centre of expertise on climate change, is calling for session proposals to generate ideas and insights on emerging research and developments that can inform realistic and achievable climate policy in the 2030s and 2040s.
The event will be at Pollock Halls in Edinburgh on 4 February 2025.
Proposals should be submitted to ines.crespo@ed.ac.uk and cc’d to annemarte.bergseng@ed.ac.uk by noon on Monday 25 November 2024.
Home Office Science Advisory Council vacancies
We are looking for applicants with scientific expertise in:
- behavioural science
- anthropology
- human geography
- engineering
- medical science/technologies
- political science
- economics
Further to this, we are looking for expertise that can be applied to one or more of the following areas, as well as other Home Office priorities: artificial intelligence, migration, fraud and democratic/state threats and public safety.
The closing date is Monday 25 November
Info
New £10m centre to tackle the health impacts of climate change
A new Centre focused on delivering research on climate change and its impacts on health that will address climate-environment-health inequalities across each life stage is being created by the University of Exeter.
Together with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the National Trust, Forest Research, the Met Office and other partner organisations, the £10m Centre for Net Positive Health and Climate Solutions is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The centre will focus on finding net positive solutions to the well-established negative impacts of the climate crisis and associated environmental changes in human health.
From its hub in Cornwall, the project will be led by Professor Tim Taylor and some of the ACCESS Team and ACCESS partners. The ACCESS Guiding Principles were used and referenced in the successful bid.
Does electric mobility display racial or income disparities? Quantifying inequality in the distribution of electric vehicle adoption and charging infrastructure in the United States
This recent research from Dong-Yeon Lee and others published in Science Direct concludes that two core measures of equality, income and race, strongly shape and connect with the adoption of conventional cars, spatial patterns of electric vehicle diffusion, and the distribution of electric vehicle charging stations. This leads to disparities in adoption patterns, impacts travel patterns and urban morphology, and generates differential responses to pressing energy and mobility problems.
The Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill Health through Green Social Prescribing Project resources
The Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill Health through Green Social Prescribing Project (GSP Project) was a two year £5.77 million cross-governmental initiative that ran across seven test and learn pilot sites in England (for details see below). The aim of the pilots was to develop integrated systems and processes relating to the use of nature-based settings and activities to promote wellbeing and improve mental health. The project tested how to embed Green Social Prescribing to:
- Develop best practice in making green social activities more resilient and accessible.
- Improve mental health outcomes.
- Reduce health inequalities.
- Reduce demand on the health and social care system.
Two slide decks provide a summary of the different aspects of the evaluation including the changes in outcomes scores, cost-effectiveness assessment, and whole systems work.
Manchester University to lead new £8m research centre on equitable low carbon living
Following an £8m investment over five years, The University of Manchester is set to lead an innovative centre funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and UKRI as part of its strategic focus on building a green future. The Centre for Joined Up Sustainability Transformations (JUST) will accelerate the understanding of a just transition by coordinating research into action at all levels of society.
Launching in February 2025, the JUST Centre will work closely with communities in five regions of the North of England (West Yorkshire, West Cumbria, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, and Tyneside) while also generating comparative research in other regions of the UK. It will collaborate with partners across local, regional, and national government, business, and civil society to co-produce joined-up solutions to meet climate goals while improving citizens’ quality of life.
Keir Starmer says the UK can decarbonise without disruption - that's neither true nor helpful
In this article for The Conversation Lorraine Whitmarsh and Sam Hampton argue that Starmer’s claim is not only unrealistic, it’s also potentially harmful to the prospects of effective climate action.
Who is the ‘public’ when it comes to public opinion on energy? A mixed-methods study of revealed and elicited public attitudes to shale gas extraction
Shale gas is a contentious energy source. Yet, ‘imagined’ notions of the public (for example, NIMBYs) rarely reflect the reality of public opinion. Authors Lorraine Whitmarsh, Yu Shuang Gan, Patrick Devine-Wright, and others use an inductive, empirical approach to define the UK publics in relation to shale gas extraction. They draw on multiple data sources (social media, a national survey, and two local surveys) and composite measures.
Cluster analyses and thematic coding reveal a diversity of responses ranging from active opposition, through ambivalence, to active support. The number of communities varies by data source and analytical method, but across all datasets we see more opposition than support. Across all datasets, political views were an important lens through which shale gas was understood. Our findings have implications for how developers and policy-makers engage with the public and expose limitations of pre-defined notions of the public that may not reflect empirical realities.
Towards a Relational Sociology of Retrofit
This article, from the British Sociological Association, uses concepts from relational sociology to propose a complete reframing of the retrofit challenge and concludes by offering suggestions to improve energy policy design and incentives. It opens new avenues for sociologically driven research into how and why people ‘retrofit’ their homes, highlighting dynamics of trust, power and emotion as meaningful barriers to retrofit at scale.
Mark Davies and others conclude that the multiple stakeholders seeking to boost energy efficiency interventions in homes should focus less on economic incentives for ‘rational actors’ and more on reducing, facilitating and smoothing the ‘relational work’ needed to deliver retrofit.
Who is (not) in the room? An epistemic justice perspective on low-carbon transport transitions
Car-centric planning exacerbates the climate crisis, compromises public health, and erodes public space. Street-space reallocation programmes, which redistribute road space from cars to active travel, leisure and urban green, are an important strategy to respond to these challenges.
Following an epistemic justice perspective, this paper invites us to consider the question: ‘who is (not) in the room?’ Based on in-depth qualitative analysis of the participatory processes linked to a pedestrianisation scheme in Berlin, the authors Anke Klaever and Ersilia Verlinghieri focus on the link between non-participation in invited participatory spaces and the emergence of claimed spaces of participation.
How is our changing climate affecting nature?
The Met Office published a blog post with The Wildlife Trusts exploring how climate change is impacting nature.
Nigel Doar, The Wildlife Trusts’ Head of Science and Research, said: “We need to do the things we know we can do on a bigger scale, like making our landscapes more natural, making them more flood resilient, and our towns and cities greener.
“Climate change isn’t going to make any of our lives better, easier or cheaper. But we can invest now to give us all the biggest chance of a pleasant future. If we look after the wildlife and the natural world, it will help look after us.”
Introducing the BIO-WELL scale: an open access tool for measuring human wellbeing responses to biodiversity.
BIO-WELL was developed by researchers from across different academic disciplines, drawing on the experiences of thousands of members of the public. The peer-reviewed journal papers that explain the process can be read here
The research was funded by the European Research Council (ERC) as part of a large research project called ‘Environmental Spaces and the Feel-Good Factor: Relating Subjective Wellbeing to Biodiversity (RELATE).
