moral purpose – Global Environment & Society Academy https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy Addressing global environmental challenges through teaching, research and outreach Thu, 03 Nov 2016 10:56:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Disruption! Rethink the system https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2016/10/22/disruption-rethink-the-system/ https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2016/10/22/disruption-rethink-the-system/#respond Sat, 22 Oct 2016 13:42:08 +0000 http://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/?p=491 Continue reading ]]> Susan McLaren, Senior Lecturer in Design & Technology, Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh and Fleur Ruckley, Project Director,  Scotland’s 2020 Climate Group

Disruption! Rethink the system

circular economy is one where “the goods of today become the resources of tomorrow at yesterday’s prices”. 

Economic Context: Scotland was the first nation to join Circular Economy 100.  In August 2013, Environment Secretary, Richard Lochhead, issued the statement: “Scotland’s economy will benefit from moving to a more circular model of production and consumption. Our Zero Waste Plan is already delivering important actions to make better use of resources, and we can accelerate progress if we join together with others on a global level.” By 2016, the Scottish Government issued Making Things LastA Circular Economy Strategy.

Using a Nature as Teacher where waste=food philosophy, the circular economy rests on three principles, each addressing several of the resource and system challenges. These are becoming increasingly more discussed and adopted, by large scale and SME businesses- aiming to disrupt ‘business as usual’ of the linear economy systems and encourage a rethinking of the status quo.

Principle 1: Preserve and enhance natural capital…by controlling finite stocks and balancing renewable resource flows.

Principle 2: Optimise resource yields…by circulating products, components, and materials at the highest utility at all times in both technical and biological cycles. This means designing for remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling to keep components and materials circulating in and contributing to the economy.

Principle 3: Foster system effectiveness..by revealing and designing out negative externalities.

Education Context: Many policies and publications* have nudged the core school curriculum (3-18years old) towards an overall aim to embed Sustainable Development Education in Scottish education.  The most recent construct is Learning for Sustainability, LfS (One Planet School Group, 2012) which comprises sustainable development education, global citizenship and outdoor learning.  The intention is that LfS in the curriculum helps to ‘nurture a generation of children and young people who know and value the natural world……. committed to the principles of social justice, human rights, global citizenship, democratic participation and living within the ecological limits of our planet.’ (One Planet Schools Implementation Group, 2016: 3).  As a contributor to LfS, Circular Economy, through Cradle to Cradle, is incorporated in the school certificate course ’Design and Manufacture’ (SQA, 2013)

University of Edinburgh is working to identify how the principles of the Circular Economy can be embedded into Research, teaching, operations across the whole university (UoE,2016). The university SRS department have been leading the concept of the university as ‘A living Lab’ to progress thinking and actions related to sustainability and social responsibility in all aspects of the university.

Several Professional Institutes have embedded the requirement for education for sustainable development and / or Circular Economy in their professional accreditation processes.

Prompts to explore and cause pause to ponder

Principles:: Values:: Responsibilities:: Practices::

Preparation for the GESA Reading group, please choose from these 2 papers and / or 2 videos

Webster, K (2013)   Missing the wood for the trees: systemic defects and the future of education for sustainable development Curriculum Journal 24:2, 295-315 http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1080/09585176.2013.802585

The circular economy. By Walter R. Stahel – Nature, 23 March 2016. http://www.nature.com/news/the-circular-economy-1.19594

and / or

Circular Economy: Thomas Rau at TEDxZwolle – ( approx. 20mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrb2v_f0ZYY

Rethinking Progress: The Circular Economy  (3 mins 11 secs)

https://www.youtube.com/user/made2bemadeagain

Questions: 

  • Are principles such as those of the Circular Economy (Nature as Teacher, Waste = Food, material cascades, made to be made again, regenerative manufacture, sharing economies, nature as capital, design for disassembly, cradle to cradle thinking, bio-nutrients/ technical nutrients and closed loop cycles) considered realistic and feasible concepts to encourage a wide scale rethinking of systems ?

 

  • What are the responsibilities of industry, commerce, business and enterprise in relation to ESD and Circular Economy principles? Who should / could take responsibility?

 

  • Should school aged young people be exposed to Circular Economy principles, the sharing economy, social enterprise and for-profit approaches, or is this something for those entering specialist education at higher levels of study? Should educators display their own ‘frame of mind’ and values in relation to issues of sustainability and sustainable development when working with young people? What should be taught? Who should be responsible for this? Why?

 

  • How should/could the Circular Economy manifest in practice? What needs to be in place to engage society (rich and poor, diverse cultures and communities), encourage innovation, inform and develop practice disrupt and rethink current systems?

Principles:: Values:: Responsibilities:: Practices::

 

 

Further links and readings can be made available for follow up for interested readers.

 

Check out the Disruptive Innovation Festival 7th Nov- 25th Nov 2016

https://www.thinkdif.co/

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Morocco’s path to solar energy https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2016/07/01/moroccos-path-to-solar-energy/ https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2016/07/01/moroccos-path-to-solar-energy/#respond Fri, 01 Jul 2016 11:32:20 +0000 http://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/?p=469 Continue reading ]]> Morocco ratified the Climate Convention in 1996 and was the first African country to host a Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In 2015, Morocco presented its INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution under UNFCCC), where it is stated that Morocco’s main focus is on the energy sector and that it aims to reduce its GHG emissions by 32 % by 2030 compared to “business as usual” projected emissions, which translates into a projected cumulative reduction of 401 Mt CO2eq over the period 2020-2030. In practice, Morocco’s objective is to reach over 50 % of installed electricity production capacity from renewable sources by 2025.

The increase of percentage of renewable energy utilisation is based on both the increment of renewable energy production and the reduction of consumption as a whole. In particular, for solar energy, the target that Morocco has presented in its 2015 INDC refers to an increase in production of 14% until 2020.

Morocco has abundant wind and solar resources. According to a study by Dii (2013), wind, photovoltaic and concentrated solar thermal power industrial sectors could add up to 5% of GDP by 2030. However, as the same report suggests, this progress is dependent on the continuing financial support of the national and international organisations directly implicated in green energy investment. The use of more environmentally friendly sources of energy could halve the current  imports of fossil fuels by 2030, which currently represents 8% of the GDP, according to a study by Agénor et al (2015). The same study also indicated that fuel import costs as a proportion of the total value of exports have increased from 25% in 2003 to over 55% in 2012.

For Morocco, following the path of renewable energy is therefore a way to stay competitive and reducing their dependency on importations. This priority has been addressed by the National Government which developed “Solar Plan” as one of their seven base strategies in 2009. Solar Plan’s major objective if the creation of five major sites of solar energy production as well as “training, technical expertise, research and development, the promotion of an integrated solar industry and potentially the desalination of sea water”. (http://www.maroc.ma/en/content/solar-plan)

key sites

KWh

“Sunshine Map” (Source: http://masen.org.ma/index.php?Id=15&lang=en#/_)

As part of Solar Plan activties, in February 2016 a new milestone is reached with the inauguration of Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power with a capacity of 140 MW of power generation. (http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P122028/ma-ouarzazate-concentrated-solar-power?lang=en&tab=results)

The video bellow provides additional information on Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power, which is the first of the five sites of energy production to be inaugurated.

In 2010, the road to solar energy in Morocco was punctuated by the official beginning of Medgrid, which is a consortium of 21 industrial groups set up to promote the development of electricity networks in the Mediterranean basin with the purpose of exporting renewable energy to Europe.(http://pulse.edf.com/en/medgrid-mediterranean-electricity-network). The video bellow is an interview with Jean Kowal, Deputy Director General of Medgrid.

Since the climatic conditions of northern african countries allow for a cheaper solar energy production than in other countries in Europe, Medgrid can be an answer for both southern and northern shores of the Mediterranean in terms of clean energy. (http://pulse.edf.com/en/medgrid-mediterranean-electricity-network)

In practice, there is already in place a link for the transfer of 1,400 MW between Morocco and Spain using submarine cables along the Strait of Gibraltar, and the plan is to increase it by 4,000 MW. (http://blogs.worldbank.org/energy/renewable-energy-export-import-win-win-eu-and-north-africa) The transfer of energy between Morocco and the Iberian Energy market is already in place, and relies on the different peak times of production and demand.

For Morocco, solar energy is therefore not only a way to reduce the dependency of the importation of commodities for energy production, but also a potential source of revenue by exporting it to the countries in the northern shore of the mediterranean. In practice, the project involves major investment in not only solar production centres but also on electricity highways across continents.

Morocco seems to be looking at its own resources to feed growing demands in terms of energy. In a country particularly vulnerable to climate change such as Morocco but with strong potential for solar and wind energy production, taking the green energy road is the best way to face the future.

References

Agénor, P.-R., El Aynaoui, K. 2015. Morocco: Growth Strategy for 2025 in an Evolving International Environment. OCP Policy Center. Rabat.

Dii. 2013. Les énergies renouvelables au Maroc : Un secteur porteur de croissance et d’emplois. Report presented in Casablanca, 22 May.

EDF Pulse Official Webpage. Available in http://pulse.edf.com/en

Morocco’s INDC. 2015. Online. Available inhttp://www4.unfccc.int/submissions/INDC/Published%20Documents/Morocco/1/Morocco%20INDC%20submitted%20to%20UNFCCC%20-%205%20june%202015.pdf

Morocco’s Official Government Webpage. Available inhttp://www.maroc.ma/en

World Bank official webpage. Available in http://www.worldbank.org

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Low Carbon Travel https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2016/03/22/low-carbon-travel/ https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2016/03/22/low-carbon-travel/#comments Tue, 22 Mar 2016 14:29:38 +0000 http://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/?p=446 Continue reading ]]>  

Claire Hamlett

Claire Hamlett

I woke up several times during the night last night. A few times because of the fluctuations in temperature: the heating couldn’t be turned up or down, so instead was being turned off and on again every once in a while when the carriage got too hot and then when it got too cold. Another time because I drooled on my neck pillow. And a final time when someone stepped on my bare toe with the heel of her shoe.

This is how I spend two nights a month: sprawled in a chair on the sleeper train between London and Edinburgh, part of a longer journey to get me from Nijmegen, the Netherlands, where my husband is a post-doc, to Edinburgh, where I’m doing my PhD. The rest of the trip involves a 3 hour train between Nijmegen and Brussels, changing in Roosendaal, and 2 hours on the Eurostar between Brussels and London. The whole lot takes about 12 hours door to door.

Why would I willingly subject myself to such an arduous journey twice a month when I could make it from city to city using the modern marvel of air travel in a mere 5 hours (including travel to and from airports, queuing for security, and browsing WH Smith’s book collection without any intention of buying anything)? I’m glad you asked. It turns out that if I took a return flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam (a 830 mile trip), I would be responsible for 0.11 metric tons of carbon emissions. But a round trip by train, covering a distance of 1500 miles, puts me in debt by 0.04 metric tons. Over the course of a year in which I make the trip every month, that’s a saving of nearly a ton of carbon.

My PhD is in environmental ethics, so the decision to travel by train instead of plane was a simple one (otherwise my conscience would be gnawing at me unbearably and I doubt I’d be able to look my supervisors in the eye). But, despite my uncomfortable sleeper train experiences, taking the long route instead of the convenient one has really cemented my belief that train travel is just superior to flying. Here are my reasons, some of which apply to train travel in general and some of which are specific to my journey:

  1. If the train bumps or rattles or makes other weird noises, I hardly notice. If a plane does that, I immediately start making my peace with a god I previously had no belief in.
  2. Turning up a maximum of 20 minutes before departure. I am someone who is perpetually cutting it fine when it comes to being on time. I do not like having to turn up several hours in advance of a main event. Even on the Eurostar, I find that I go through security quicker if I turn up later than the recommended 45 minutes prior to departure, since by the time I reach security everyone else has already gone through it.
  3. Going through London means I get to stop off there for weekends quite regularly to see my family and friends, which has the added bonus of breaking up my journey into two more manageable chunks. If I were to fly, I’d bypass London entirely and my life would be poorer for it.
  4. Trains are just more comfortable. Okay, not all trains. I find Cross-country ones weirdly humid, and on First Great Western I’ve often wondered if the other passengers decided to have a food fight before I got on. But the ones I take between Nijmegen and Edinburgh are usually pretty clean, with much larger and comfier seats than one can get on a plane in economy class. Also if you’re sitting next to someone with a cold, there are ways to escape them on a train. Not so on a plane, where their germs are just getting mixed up with everyone else’s and recycled through the air-conditioning.
  5. Lounge and cafe cars. My favourite thing to do on the Eurostar is spend most of the journey in the cafe car sipping sparkling wine and eating overpriced French snacks.
  6. Thinking time. Train journeys are a slower alternative to plane journeys (except horrendous long-haul flights of course), and that means more time to fill between start and end point. For me, this has been invaluable thinking and daydreaming time. Watching the Dutch countryside slide past the window for several hours helps my brain to slow down and relax enough to work out thesis problems that might otherwise vex me for days.

Environmental ethicists talk a lot about the ways humans can forge a positive relationship with nature. Often they’re referring to spending time in nature, literally getting our hands dirty, but in our everyday lives, I think this can also mean finding value in the changes we need to make to have less impact on the planet. Environmentalism needn’t all be about sacrifice, the things we can’t or shouldn’t do. It can and should be about gaining something too. So while some people might consider my extensive train journeys to be a sacrifice of convenience, for me it actually makes travel which is necessary for my life right now much more enjoyable than it would be otherwise (despite the fact that I sometimes think the sleeper train should be renamed the sleepless train). But it’s nice to have a massive carbon saving as motivation too.

 

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Two sides of the climate change coin: climate science and policy after COP21 https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2016/01/20/the-paris-agreement-a-new-start-for-international-climate-governance/ https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2016/01/20/the-paris-agreement-a-new-start-for-international-climate-governance/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2016 10:49:16 +0000 http://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/?p=434 Continue reading ]]> Dr Annalisa Savaresi

Dr Annalisa Savaresi

Overview

Since the first establishment of the scientific evidence for climate change, little progress has been made in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to mitigate the problem. The pathways along which governments pass in gathering scientific evidence and negotiating climate change mitigation measures is tortuous and riddled with potholes. Assistance in this complex and often fraught process comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For several years, this body has gathered evidence aimed to support the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in identifying the causes and projected impacts of climate change, as well as possible action to avert it. In this discussion we will explore how effective the interplay between these institutions has been, and what is the outlook for the future, in the aftermath of the historical adoption of the Paris Agreement at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 21) held in December 2015.

The IPCC process

Since it published its first Assessment Report in 1995, the IPCC has been held up as a shining example of how a collective of scientists can inform policy debates affecting the global environment. The 4th Assessment report even won the IPCC the Nobel Peace prize, jointly with Al Gore. The Assessment reports are commissioned by governments worldwide (hence the Intergovernmental Panel title) to cover climate change science, impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change and climate mitigation. The 4th Report whilst winning many plaudits, including the Peace prize, was held up to detailed scrutiny and criticism by some. The famous ‘climate-gate’ and ‘glazier-gate’ episodes, and personal attacks on the integrity of contributing scientists, left a stain on the IPCC’s reputation even though the supposed errors or dubious practices were largely subsequently disproven.

The hype and pressure put on the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen raised awareness of the climate change debate considerably. The release of stolen emails from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in the run up to Copenhagen created huge media attention and provided ammunition for “sceptics” who caused mass doubt in the public about climate change science. Moreover, the IPCC fourth assessment report came under fire, notably for their claim, now shown to be wrong, that the Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035. This corresponded with a large increase in “sceptics” speaking out against climate change in the media and on the web. This clearly had an effect on public opinion about the legitimacy of climate science and even the integrity of climate scientists. A poll conducted by the BBC between November 2009 and February 2010 showed a 10% increase in people who did not believe in climate change and a 6% increase in people who believe that it is happening, but only due to natural causes.

So, now that the 5th Assessment report has just been released (see web address), nearly 20 years after the first report, perhaps it’s time to take stock of the IPCC process itself. To what extent has the IPCC really contributed to climate mitigation policy? Is it still fit for purpose, or are there alternative models that might better achieve the ultimate aim of addressing the climate change problem? The IPCC is likely to continue in some shape or form, but what this should be in supporting the drive to limit the climate change problem is not so clear.

Questions:

To what extent has the IPCC really contributed to addressing the problem of climate change?

Is the IPCC still fit for purpose, or are there alternative models that might better achieve its goals?

To what extent do governmental climate negotiations take account of scientific evidence?

Background reading:

http://ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/images/uploads/WG2AR5_SPM_FINAL.pdf The IPCC Summary for Policy makers of Working Group 2 of the 5th Assessment Report.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8388485.stm a viewpoint from Prof Mike Hulme (UEA) and Dr. Jerome Ravetz (Innovation and Society (InSIS) at Oxford University)

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100202/full/463596a.html IPCC flooded by criticism

IPCC: Cherish, tweak or Scrap? Nature 463, 730-732 11 February 2010 (attached)

IPCC Seeks ‘Broader Community Engagement’ to Correct Errors Science 12 February 2010 (attached)

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/327/5967/780-a Stop Listening to Scientists?

International climate change negotiations

Ever since 1992, Parties to the UNFCCC have attempted to agree on measures to deal with GHG emissions in a way to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. According to the IPCC, such a level requires keeping the increase in global average temperature below 2° C, as compared with pre-industrial times. The UNFCCC, however, has struggled to keep the world within the limits indicated by the IPCC. The main instrument adopted to stabilize GHG concentrations under the Convention, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, imposed emission reduction targets only on developed countries. With growing emissions in developing countries, like China and India, however, scientists have warned that only reducing emissions in developed countries is not enough. Since 2007, therefore, UNFCCC Parties have been entangled in difficult negotiations on further measures to reduce global GHG emissions.

In December 2015, COP21 brought to a conclusion this long cycle of negotiations, by adopting a new climate treaty, the Paris Agreement. The agreement enshrines a reference to the 2°C goal identified by the IPCC, and even an aspirational reference to a 1,5°C goal. In order to achieve this outcome, the agreement requires all Parties, and not just developed ones, to make efforts to reduce their emissions and to submit information on the details. In doing so, the Paris Agreement consolidates a bottom-up pledge and review approach to climate change action. This approach entails that Parties unilaterally declare action they intend to undertake to reduce their emissions, to be subjected to an international review process, both at the individual and at the aggregate level. Implementation of the agreement will furthermore be assisted by an expert-based, facilitative compliance mechanism. And while it is already clear that Parties’ pledged action remain far from consistent with the 2° C goal, in theory at least there will be means to revise and increase the level of ambition.

Though not perfect, the Paris Agreement can be regarded as an expression of political will to tackle climate change in a way that brings together actors at all levels, in conformity with the all-encompassing nature of efforts required to address this epochal problem. In this regard, the Paris Agreement seemingly marks the emergence of a cooperative spirit that breaks away from the rancorous rhetoric that has long characterized international climate diplomacy. Whether the Paris Agreement will prove fit for purpose, and how it will be implemented, remains to be seen. In this regard, the adoption of the agreement is just the beginning of a new regulatory season in which States will flesh out the rules for its implementation. This new regulatory season will begin in 2016 and will reveal whether COP21 has indeed marked a new beginning. At least for the time being, however, the outlook for international climate governance is certainly the most hopeful it has been for quite some time.

 

Questions:

Is the Paris Agreement a success?

What are its main advantages and disadvantages?

What questions does it leave undressed?

Background reading:

Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, Outcomes of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (2015) http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/cop-21-paris-summary-12-2015-final.pdf

Daniel Bodansky Reflections on the Paris Conference (2015)

http://opiniojuris.org/2015/12/15/reflections-on-the-paris-conference/

The Economist, The Paris Agreement Marks an Unprecedented Political Recognition of the Risks of Climate Change (2015) http://www.economist.com/news/international/21683990-paris-agreement-climate-change-talks

UK Committee on Climate Change, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Paris Agreement (2015) https://www.theccc.org.uk/2015/12/21/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-the-paris-agreement/

David Victor, Why Paris Worked: A Different Approach to Climate Diplomacy (2015) http://teachingclimatelaw.org/compendium-of-commentary-on-the-paris-agreementcop21/

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Climate Enlightenment https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2015/11/30/climate-enlightenment/ https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2015/11/30/climate-enlightenment/#respond Mon, 30 Nov 2015 14:52:00 +0000 http://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/?p=430 Continue reading ]]>

 

“We now have a large alumni network around the world working on climate change. Many of these alums will be at the Paris COP and this time it is their job to be there.

Dr. Dave Reay

Prof. Dave Reay

Six years ago this month we were busy finalising plans for the University of Edinburgh’s delegation to COP 15 in Copenhagen. A large delegation had been out together made up of staff and students from our new MSc in Carbon Management. Hopes and excitement were high. Discussions in lectures centred on what the COP might deliver for business, policy and regulation, while every coffee shop meeting ended up in discussion of who was going to which ‘must see’ side event.

In the event COP 15 was a triumph for our students, despite being an abject failure for the global climate change negotiations.  Partnering with the Scottish Government and the British Council, our delegation led a day of discussions at the COP around Scotland’s role in tackling climate change. The students met a host of state leaders, made some wonderful contacts, and delivered a set of speeches that had every delegate in the place on their feet applauding.

This time around the pre-COP discussions here in Edinburgh have been no less engaging, yet our plans for the Paris COP have taken a very different shape. We now have a large alumni network around the world working on climate change. Many of these alums will be at the Paris COP and this time it is their job to be there. From advisors to the French Presidency, through national negotiators, to NGO leads and energy consultants, Edinburgh’s alumni now represent our most powerful impact on the climate negotiations. Current staff and students will of course be there too, but with a University of Edinburgh delegation that is outnumbered by its former students in Paris.

For the negotiations themselves, I’ll be following two key elements very closely. The first is the issue of ‘stock taking’ – effectively the proposed mechanism whereby every nation’s INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution) is reviewed every 5 years to assess its efficacy in the context of the best scientific evidence. If Paris fails to deliver an agreement that will avoid 2oC of post-industrial warming (i.e. ‘dangerous climate change’) then this mechanism is the best game in town to bridge the emissions gap. How it would work and, crucially, who would do this stock taking will be the subject of much discussion. Scientific bodies such as the IPCC have been suggested and certainly such assessments would need to be clear, independent and scientifically robust.

For me, the other crucial element of the Paris negotiations is that of capacity building. It has been referred to several times in draft negotiation texts – options that may be debated include the creation of a specific ‘capacity building mechanism’ that will more directly deliver financing. Certainly, capacity building must be addressed if the myriad contributions, commitments and targets that will whirl around the Blue Zone in Paris are actually to be delivered around the world.

This need is most obvious in the developing world, but applies in every nation. Without it, even the best efforts to increase climate change resilience and decarbonise energy systems risk being hobbled. Through our undergraduate, Masters and PhD programmes Edinburgh and universities like it are already helping to grow such climate change skills capacity. Innovations such as online learning and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are further extending our reach, but there is a lot more to do.  Helping potential students around the world to overcome the many financial, social, and physical barriers to education that they face is, I believe, the most important challenge for universities in the coming years.

Six years ago we left Copenhagen frustrated with policy makers and inspired by our students. In Paris this year some of those students are now themselves the policy makers. Whether this will help bring about a robust agreement remains to be seen, but it’s at least one small step towards the capacity building that will one day deliver global climate security.

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Thinking about impact https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2014/12/05/thinking-about-impact/ https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2014/12/05/thinking-about-impact/#respond Fri, 05 Dec 2014 00:25:42 +0000 http://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/?p=356 Continue reading ]]> I was recently asked to consider the question “What will be the impact of your research in 2025?” As a secondAlice Hague year PhD student, the focus of my research is very much on the present (How are my interviews going? Am I finding answers to the question I’m investigating? How am I going to write it all up?). Being asked to take a step back and think about the ‘impact’ of my research ten years down the line was quite a daunting proposal.

Indeed, there are jokes in PhD-land that only a very small number of people will ever read your final dissertation – your supervisors, your examiners, and maybe a very generous family member who is willing to read a bit further than the acknowledgements page.

Posed with this question of impact, I reflected on how I might define PhD research that has ‘impact’: are there people out there whose PhDs will lead to significant reductions in carbon emissions in sectors such as food or transport? Will one of my colleagues take renewable energy technologies a significant step further? What about my research, a study about the motivations for, and practices of, community-based action on climate change in Scotland? If research impact is about making a ‘demonstrable contribution to society’, what will be the contribution of my research?

In a research impact masterclass with Sir John Beddington, chair of the Global Academies at the University of Edinburgh and who previously held the position of Chief Science Adviser to the UK Government, I was struck by the diversity of PhD topics in the room, and the possibilities for impact in so many ways. As colleagues, we discussed issues such as the demand for low-carbon food products in Scotland, mental health in female prisoners in Latin America and the safe disposal of plastic and electronic waste from solar products in Kenya. We considered how impact can include consumer-level behaviour change in order to reduce carbon emissions or input and change to local or national policies. I reflected on how my research about people’s motivations for community-level action on climate change could have impact in terms of how we influence and motivate a greater number of people, communities and companies to take action on climate change and how values drive climate action.

So, what do you think? How might your research have impact in 2025? Whether at Masters or PhD level, in what ways are you developing and carrying out your research so that the results will have an impact on society?

For more information about how the ESRC defines impact, see http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/impact-toolkit/what-how-and-why/what-is-research-impact.aspx

 

Alice Hague

Abstract

The overall aim of my research is to investigate the ways in which communities are involved with the issue of climate change at a local and national level in Scotland; to discover the underlying reasons and motivations for their engagement; and to investigate whether issues of temporality can play an important role in motivating action. Temporality is of particular interest because of the dominance of short-termism in western society in particular (economic quarters, financial years, 5 year election cycles) set against the long-term challenges of climate change (mitigation targets ‘by 2050’ and climate change impacts ‘in the latter half of the century’, for example). The working title of my PhD is “Faithful Advocates: What are the motivations, values and practices of faith-based climate activists, with particular regard to temporality?”

Biography:

Alice has a background in science communication and previously worked as a diplomat for the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As Head of Science and Innovation for the Nordic region, she was also responsible for climate change, environment and energy policy issues at the British Embassy in Stockholm from 2003-2008. She was seconded to the Climate Change Unit at the Swedish Ministry for the Environment in 2008-2009 (operating fully in Swedish) and was a delegate to the UNFCCC climate change meetings during this period.

Alice holds a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Biology from the University of York, an MSc in Science Communication from the University of Glamorgan, and completed an MDiv (theology/divinity) at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, prior to starting her PhD in September 2013. Given this somewhat interdisciplinary background, she is delighted to be doing an interdisciplinary PhD (politics/divinity).

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MASTERS NETWORK – Global Environment & Society Academy Welcomes You! https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2014/09/25/global-environment-society-academy-welcomes-you/ https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/2014/09/25/global-environment-society-academy-welcomes-you/#respond Thu, 25 Sep 2014 12:44:45 +0000 http://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/global-environment-society-academy/?p=331 Continue reading ]]> Rachel Chisholm Academic Facilitator GESAWho are we?

The Global Environment and Society Academy (GESA) is a network of experts collaborating to develop innovative solutions for the world’s most challenging problems.

Led by Professor Dave Reay and Dr Elizabeth Bomberg GESA operates as one of four University of Edinburgh Academies, including Global Health, Global Justice and Global Development. The Academies were developed to find innovative solutions by bringing together experts from many different academic fields. We have faculty and student members across Geosciences, Informatics, Law, Art, Landscape Architecture, Business and Education, with teaching responsibilities and research interests in environment and society.

What do we do?

We tackle the nasty issues! We do this creatively, we collaborate, we look through many lenses as we set out to tackle global environmental challenges. This approach of multidisciplinary collaboration means we develop and encourage collegiality across the University and beyond; an approach that builds a vibrant Global community of talented people at the forefront of addressing environmental issues.

What can GESA do for you?

Whether you are continuing from Undergraduate study or returning to full time study, this will be an intense year of study and personal and academic development. Of course you’ll have your MSc programme group but wouldn’t it be good to have a place where you can meet Postgraduates from other disciplines, explore the multiple perspectives and work together?

Through our GESA Masters Network, we encourage and develop just that kind of collegiality across the University and beyond. We have a very active community. Some of the events you can attend as a GESA member include Reading Groups where you can hear the views of our expert speakers and meet our PhD Facilitators who come from a range of disciplines.

We host events that look at developing your research ideas, often putting you in touch with the right people to advise on topics. We can offer help with presentations skills, networking, employability skills, internships or work -based projects, particularly those with an interdisciplinary focus. As our network extends we find that many of these post-Masters opportunities are supported by a GESA alumni network that continues to build lifelong connections

While you are here with us in Edinburgh we are really interested in helping develop your projects and we can sometimes provide funding for these. Since taking up my post in June I’ve been helping some of our Masters Network students with their GESA supported projects such as our online discussion platform where students can develop ideas, share and discuss news items or write blogs. Another student project is the GESA Legacy Forest, which hopes to offer the chance for every GESA student to plant a tree when they graduate, truly an initiative in the GESA spirit.

I’ve also enjoyed working to provide seminars, photography competitions and Keynote speeches from some of the most prominent and respected experts within their fields.

What can you do for GESA?

Bring your enthusiasm, bring your discussions, bring your ideas and projects. Turn up, take part, make lifelong connections and really get the most out of this year. This is your Academy; it is what you make it.

Best of luck for this exciting year ahead, please do get in touch, I’m looking forward to our year ahead.

Rachel

 

Rachel Chisholm

Academic Facilitator for GESA

global-environment-society@ed.ac.uk

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