29Nov 2017
CEP to update the knowledge base for understanding global megatrends

CEP commissioned to review and update the knowledge base related to global megatrends

CEP has been commissioned to lead the fourth Specific Contract, let under the CEP-led framework service contract for the European Environment Agency (EEA), to provide Assistance to the consolidation and update of the knowledge base on global megatrends and resource nexus in support of SOER 2020.  CEP is also leading a specific task in this project to review and consolidate the knowledge base underlying EEA’s global megatrends.  This specific task is linked to other tasks being led by Futureline / SEI Stockholm (development of the knowledge base underpinning the concept of “resource nexus” within European consumption and production systems), and the University of Barcelona looking at the analysis of the resource demand implications associated with long-term trends and the synergies and trade-offs between selected European policy frameworks.

The CEP task draws on previous work by CEP on reviewing and updating GMTs and understanding their implications at the national and regional level in Europe.  This fourth contract provides an opportunity to bring together a number of key forward looking analyses and to develop an understanding of resource use and policy interactions and trade-offs in support of SOER 2020.

For more information on this project please contact Owen White or Rolands Sadauskis.

CEP’s Owen White is also the overall Framework Contract Manager and can provide general information on the framework.  CEP’s Dr Bill Sheate is the Framework Contract Director.

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23Nov 2017
Sian Morse-Jones joins CEP

NEW SENIOR CONSULTANT JOINS CEP

Sian Morse-Jones has recently joined CEP as a senior consultant. Sian is a social research professional, with 10 years’ experience in the environmental and sustainability field. Much of Sian’s work has focused on improving understanding on the value of the natural environment to support better decision-making. Examples include: understanding how stakeholder decision-making processes are informed in managing and responding to climate and weather-related nexus shocks (flooding and heatwaves), cultural ecosystem services, building capacity on natural capital and ecosystem valuation and applying and developing tools to support assessment, advising business on approaches for valuing biodiversity risks, and exploring public preferences towards biodiversity conservation and water supply.

Sian will be working on a number of projects for CEP, including the urban Natural Capital Accounts extension project for DEFRA, as well as business development.

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21Nov 2017
CEP presenting at the European Environmental Evaluators Network Forum

Dr Clare Twigger-Ross is presenting at the European Environmental Evaluators Network Forum in Edinburgh, 23 -24th November 

The 2017 Forum will ask whether evaluation is evolving in line with the societal and environmental challenges policy is trying to address. Europe, in order to achieve its goal of “living well, within the limits of our planet”, will need to rely inter alia on innovation to make the transition to sustainability. Many forms of innovation will be required to turn Europe into a resource-efficient, green and low-carbon economy.  

Clare is presenting  work carried out by a team at CEP (Dr Bill Sheate, Dr Clare Twigger-Ross, Owen White, Rolands Sadauskis, Paula Orr, Liza Papadopoulou and Ric Eales):  “Learning Lessons from evaluations across the nexus: a meta-evaluation”, which examined CEP evaluations in the context of complexity and impact, developing insights and key questions for future evaluations.   This is being presented as part of a session from CECAN on Innovations in instrument evaluation – integrating complexity into Environmental policy evaluation: Insights from CECAN on Thursday afternoon.   The project report and summary can be found here.

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17Nov 2017
CEP ran workshop on global megatrends in Slovenia

CEP delivered workshop in Slovenia exploring the implications of global megatrends for the state of environment in Slovenia

CEP led an expert workshop in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 7th November 2017, as part of the project Influence of global megatrends on the state of environment in Slovenia. The work was undertaken for the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, and the Slovenian Environment Agency.

The workshop brought together 28 experts in a scoping exercise intended to identify and prioritise the implications of global megatrends (GMTs), as analysed by the European Environment Agency in their European Environment State and Outlook Report (SOER) 2015. The workshop in Slovenia focused on two GMTs: GMT 7 (intensified global competition for resources), and GMT 9 (increasingly severe consequences of climate change). The implications identified were assessed in terms of the likelihood of their occurrence, the magnitude of their effect and the timescale over which they may occur.

The outputs of this workshop will inform a following second workshop to be held in 2018 as part of this project that will focus on the risks and opportunities for the state of environment in Slovenia arising from the GMT implications identified, and any existing policy gaps and needs.

CEP is leading the work related to global megatrends, adapting and implementing a method toolkit previously developed (by CEP) for the European Environment Agency.

Please contact Rolands Sadauskis (Project Manager) for further information on the project. CEP’s Owen White is the Project Director.

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17Nov 2017
CEP giving paper at bathing waters conference

CEP’s Dr Peter Phillips presenting new bathing waters valuation research at the 2017 UK Bathing Waters Conference

CEP will be presenting the interim results of a research project for the Scottish Government at the UK Bathing Waters Conference 2017 on 21st November in Wrexham. CEP’s Dr Peter Phillips will co-deliver the presentation with Erin Gianferrara from project partners eftec. The project is assessing the value of bathing waters in Scotland and the influence of bathing water quality on this. 

Please contact Dr Peter Phillips (Project Manager) for further information on the project. CEP’s Dr Clare Twigger-Ross is the Project Director.

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15Nov 2017
CEP presented at European ecosystem services research dissemination event

CEP’s Dr Peter Phillips presented results of Pentland Hills collaborative land use planning research at EU FP7 OPERAs project Scottish dissemination event

CEP’s Dr Peter Phillips was invited to present at the Scottish final dissemination event for the EU FP7 funded OPERAs project which has developed ecosystem science for policy and practice. The event was held at the University of Edinburgh on 14th November. Peter presented the results of a CEP-led collaborative land use planning project undertaken with stakeholders in the Pentland Hills Regional Park during 2016 and 2017. This project was undertaken in collaboration with an OPERAs case study in the Pentland Hills that addressed the socio-cultural value of ecosystem services in upland regions.

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7Nov 2017
Spela Kolaric joins CEP

New senior consultant joins CEP

Špela Kolarič has recently joined CEP as a senior consultant.  Špela is an an environmental and spatial planning professional experienced in international academic research and consultancy in territorial cohesion, environmental, economic and social aspects of European Union sector policies, environmental impact assessment and strategic decision-making processes and evaluations. 

Špela is already working on a number of projects for CEP, for example on the study to understand the implications of global megatrends (GMTs) on the state of the environment in Slovenia (for Slovenian Environment Agency/Ministry of Environment); and on assessing the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital in support of SOER 2020 (for the European Environment Agency).

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1Nov 2017
CEP attends ‘Our Bright Future’ workshop on monitoring and evaluation

CEP attends monitoring and evaluation regional workshop in Liverpool for the Big Lottery Funded project Our Bright Future

Dr Clare Twigger-Ross is attending the Our Bright Future Share Learn and Improve Regional Workshop in Liverpool on Thursday 2 November.  The aim of the workshop is to identify solutions and approaches to monitoring and evaluation challenges and will be attended by some of the OBF projects.  Clare will be representing the CEP programme evaluation team.  The team is led by ERS with CEP and is carrying out the evaluation of the programme between 2016 – 2021. ERS ltd in partnership with Collingwood Environmental Planning have been commissioned to undertake the Programme Evaluation. The Programme Evaluation seeks to identify, analyse and assess:

  • the collective impact of the portfolio of 31 projects;

  • The added value of the Programme i.e. what value has been derived from a programme with the Share Learn Improve, Policy and Youth Function and from the development of an Our Bright Future network/movement;

  • Whether the Programme has achieved its long-term ambitions; and

  • Best practice and lessons learnt, and provide evidence and guidance to support Programme learning and development.

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1Nov 2017
CEP explores links between global megatrends and planetary boundaries

CEP commissionED to explore relationships between global megatrends and planetary boundaries

CEP has been commissioned to lead the third Specific Contract, let under the CEP-led framework service contract for the European Environment Agency (EEA), to provide Assistance to the analysis of planetary boundaries at the European level, in support of SOER 2020.  CEP is also leading a specific task in this project to explore and map the relationships between global megatrends affecting Europe and planetary boundaries.  This specific task is linked to other tasks being led by GRID/University of Geneva (downscaling of the planetary boundaries to Europe) and SEI Stockholm/PBL looking at the interactions among planetary boundaries and the relationship with existing EU environmental policy measures.  

The CEP task draws on previous work by CEP on GMTs at the national and regional level in Europe, and on planetary boundaries and tipping points, as well as the inter-linkages among the planetary boundaries being examined by SEI/PBL.  This third contract provides an opportunity to bring together a number of key forward looking analyses undertaken by the EEA in support of SOER2020.

For more information on this project please contact Dr Bill Sheate or Rolands Sadauskis.  

CEP’s Owen White is the overall Framework Contract Manager and can provide general information on the framework.  CEP’s Dr Bill Sheate is the Framework Contract Director.

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