24Apr 2018
CEP ran workshop on environmental risks and opportunities

CEP DELIVERED A WORKSHOP IN LJUBLJANA ON RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FROM GLOBAL MEGATRENDS FOR THE STATE OF ENVIRONMENT IN SLOVENIA

CEP led an expert workshop in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 11th April 2018, as part of the project Influence of global megatrends on the state of environment in Slovenia.  This is the second workshop under this project for the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, and the Slovenian Environment Agency.  This project is being delivered by CEP and is adapting and implementing a method toolkit previously developed (by CEP) for the European Environment Agency.

The workshop brought together 21 experts to identify risks and opportunities for the state of the environment in Slovenia from the global megatrend (GMT) implications prioritised in the scoping workshop held in November 2017.  The risks and opportunities focused on implications from two GMTs: GMT 7 (intensified global competition for resources), and GMT 9 (increasingly severe consequences of climate change) as analysed by the European Environment Agency in their European Environment State and Outlook Report (SOER) 2015.  Through a participatory workshop experts assessed the risks and opportunities in terms of the likelihood of their occurrence, the magnitude of their effect and the timescale over which they may occur. Response needs and gaps to address risks and maximise opportunities were also discussed.

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

 

Team CEP
16Apr 2018
CEP presents findings on water efficiency and behaviour change

CEP to present the findings from Defra research on water efficiency and behaviour change

Paula Orr will be presenting the findings from a Defra funded Water Efficiency and Behaviour Change Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) on 17th April at TWENTY65 annual conference on  “Bringing the Water Sector Together: Innovation Through Collaboration to Secure a Sustainable Future”.  CEP carried out the work in 2017.  The report is available here.

The annual TWENTY65 conference (in partnership with leading water sector organisations) provides a unique not-for-profit development and networking opportunity for Researchers, Practitioners, Water Companies, Technology Developers, Policy Makers and Regulators (in partnership with leading water sector organisations) to network and learn together to help pave the way for a future that delivers sustainable clean water for all.  

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10Apr 2018
CEP is running a second workshop on the Influence of global megatrends in Slovenia

CEP WILL RUN A SECOND WORKSHOP ON THE INFLUENCE OF GLOBAL MEGATRENDS ON THE STATE OF ENVIRONMENT IN SLOVENIA

CEP is preparing an expert workshop which will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 11th April, 2018 as a part of the project Influence of global megatrends on the state of environment in Slovenia, carried out for the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning and the Slovenian Environment Agency. This project is being delivered by CEP and is adapting and implementing a method toolkit previously developed (by CEP) for the European Environment Agency.

The workshop will bring together national experts from various fields to discuss and assess the risks and opportunities for the state of environment and policy arising from the most relevant implications for environment in Slovenia of global megatrends (GMTs), as analysed by the European Environment Agency in their European Environment State and Outlook Report (SOER) 2015. The workshop will focus on two GMTs: GMT 7 (intensified global competition for resources), and GMT 9 (increasingly severe consequences of climate change). The event will also be an opportunity for the participants to follow-up on the discussion held at the scoping workshop in November 2017 in Ljubljana, the aim of which was to identify and prioritise the implications of GMTs in Slovenia.

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

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27Mar 2018
CEP contribute to international Biodiversity Offsetting Book

CEP authors of United Kingdom chapter on biodiversity offsetting

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A new international book on Biodiversity Offsetting “Biodiversity Offsets: European Perspectives on No Net Loss of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services” edited by Wolfgang Wende,  Graham  M. Tucker, Fabien Quétier, Matt Rayment and Marianne Darbi has recently been published (March 2018) by Springer, which brings together the work of more than 30 international authors. 

The Chapter “United Kingdom” by Jonathan Baker, Liza Papadopoulou and William Sheate pulls together the current state of the art of biodiversity offsetting in the UK, including across the devolved administrations.  It builds on research undertaken by CEP evaluating the biodiversity offsetting pilot scheme in England in 2012-2014.

For further information please contact Dr Bill Sheate, Technical Director.

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28Feb 2018
CEP investigates the process of resilient repair after flooding

CEP part of a team examining the facilitators and barriers to resilient repair measures for properties following flood events

CEP are part of a team led by University of West England, with Kingston University and Cunningham Lindsey on examining the uptake of resilient repair following flood events in the UK, for Defra. The aim of the project is to investigate the barriers for households and businesses in installing resilient repair measures, and to examine how the government could encourage greater uptake of such measures. A key part of the project will be collecting data from both residents and professionals on the barriers and facilitators to installing resilient repair. After a flood event, resilient repair is a category of flood resilience measures that can be carried out during reinstatement to prevent future physical damage to a property.

CEP will assist in the  development of a quick scoping review on what is already known about the facilitators and barriers to resilient repair. CEP will also assist in conducting workshops with experts and key stakeholders, to further examine what consensus there is on how best practice resilient repair can be achieved.

The project will run from November 2017 to July 2018. For more information on the project, please contact Dr Clare Twigger-Ross or Izzy Cotton.

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28Feb 2018
CEP participates in a workshop on green infrastructure

CEP’s Špela Kolarič attended a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Knowledge Exchange workshop: What sort of green infrastructure do we want – building bridges between sCiEnce and practice

On Friday 16th February 2018, Špela Kolarič from CEP participated in a workshop titled What sort of green infrastructure do we want – building bridges between science and practice.  The workshop was organised in London as part of the NERC Green Infrastructure Knowledge Exchange Fellowship, Mainstreaming Green Infrastructure (led by Professor Alister Scott).

The workshop involved academic researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working in the field of green infrastructure and nature based solutions.  The aim of the workshop was to try to break new ground on how researchers, policy-makers and practitioners can better engage with each other in order to influence and encourage implementation of quality green infrastructure.  Špela participated in a discussion group related to “making a business case for green infrastructure and nature based solutions” and presented CEP’s recent work in this area, including assessing the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital for the European Environment Agency, a project which has sought to identify evidence on the (monetary) quantification of (co-)benefits of green infrastructure and nature based solutions

For more information on CEP’s work in the area of natural capital, green infrastructure and nature based solutions please contact Peter Phillips or Ric Eales.

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6Feb 2018
CEP to contribute to ‘Our Bright Future’ evaluation learning events

CEP attends evaluation learning events for the Big Lottery funded Our Bright Future (OBF) programme, leading a session on how to evaluate policy campaigns

Dr Clare Twigger-Ross and Owen White are attending evaluation learning events in London (6th February 2018) and Bristol (13th March 2018).  These events are part of a series that are intended to help OBF projects design, deliver and evaluate policy and advocacy campaigns as part of their overall delivery.  As part of these events Clare and Owen will be leading a practical working session on the monitoring and evaluation of policy campaigns, with the aim of improving participants’ knowledge and capacity.

These events are being delivered as part of the wider project to evaluate the Our Bright Future programme.  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.

For more information on this project please contact Clare Twigger-Ross or Owen White.

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6Feb 2018
CEP to assess the socio-economic impacts of Low Carbon Development Strategies (LCDS)

CEP commissioned by WWF to provide a socio-economic assessment of LCDS as part of the MaxiMiseR project

The aim of the project is to scope the wider social impacts on citizens of Low Carbon Development Strategies (LCDS), focusing on policies and measures related to energy efficiency in buildings. The project will map the wider social impacts of these policies and measures, and draw out the implications for strengthening LCDS. Alongside this, CEP will also examine the extent of stakeholder and citizen engagement within the strategy development process, and consider the impact of the MaxiMiseR project in promoting the development of strong LCDS. To do this, CEP will draw upon a review of existing LCDS strategies and interviews with expert stakeholders.

The MaxiMiseR project aims to help Member States to develop meaningful LCDS and identify opportunities for funding. The project began in January 2016 and runs until December 2018.

For more information on the project, please contact the project director Dr Clare Twigger-Ross or the project co-ordinator Dr Sian Morse-Jones.

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24Jan 2018
CEP presenting Clyde marine dialogue results

CEP presenting results from Clyde marine dialogue at Clyde Marine Planning Partnership meeting

Between July and December 2017, CEP, in collaboration with the Scottish Association for Marine Science Research Services Limited (SRSL), designed, organised and delivered a public dialogue process to aid the development of the Clyde Regional Marine Plan (CRMP). On 30th January, CEP’s Dr Peter Phillips will be presenting key results from the dialogue at a meeting of the Clyde Marine Planning Partnership (CMPP). The project ran two rounds of dialogue at two locations across the Clyde Marine Region (CMR); Tarbert and Greenock. The approach involved storytelling to elicit participants’ connections to the CMR, participatory mapping of important places / activities across the region and a multi-criteria based evaluation of alternative approaches to marine planning policy and management. Peter will be co-delivering the presentation with Jake Ainscough from SAMS.

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12Dec 2017
CEP to measure the societal impact of network activities

WRc and CEP commissioned to measure the societal impact of network activities

WRc, in partnership with CEP, have been contracted by the Energy Innovation Centre, a group of  gas distribution networks, to measure the societal impact of network activities.

Co-ordinated by the Energy Innovation Centre, Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) and water and wastewater companies have commissioned this work to address the current lack of a framework for evaluating the societal impact of network activities. Network activities can include a range of activities from preventative maintenance to remediation work.

The objective of this project is to determine mechanisms, tools or techniques allowing the quantitative assessment of societal impacts caused prior to, during, and following network activities.

This project has the potential to bring about a step-change in understanding network operators’ impacts on local populations and other stakeholders.

Dr Clare-Twigger Ross is CEP’s project manager for this work.

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