pathway: Sustainable Futures/Climate Change, Sustainability and Society

Achieving net zero requires radical and transformative action in a short timeframe with no prior precedents for a systemic transformation at this scale and speed. I am interested in how transitions can be accelerated, while taking into account that fundamentally this is a social and not just a technological or economic transformation. My research will explore how acceleration of transitions is enabled or constrained by focusing on the challenges of retrofitting UK homes. Current climate change targets will not be met without the near-complete decarbonisation of the housing stock, while achieving it also offers numerous societal co-benefits.

Social scientists have become increasingly interested in human-environment interactions. Alongside this, policy instruments are grappling with how sustainability and human wellbeing can be simultaneously enhanced. My research aims to further the concept of relational wellbeing to connect ideas around stewardship, care and empathy. Using qualitative research methods – such as walking interviews and photo-elicitation workshops – I will analyse how resource-users and the public, more generally, experience blue-green spaces and the impact this has on their relational wellbeing. This research aims to contribute new knowledge on human-environment interdependency and how sustainability and wellbeing can be fostered for those interacting with blue-green spaces.

People tend to share compassionate values, but they tend not to accurately perceive the level of similarity. My research aims to develop interventions based on demonstrating the extent compassionate values are shared by others in one’s community. The effects of these on a number of outcomes related to social and environmental sustainability will be examined, such as well-being, civic participation and intellectual humility in public debate and discussion.

My PhD research specialises in flood risk and her PhD research focuses on the climate justice dimensions of flood and coastal risk management approaches in the UK.

I’m an ecologist moving into social science, and this interdisciplinary project will explore sustainability in beekeeping. There’s increasing interest in rewilding honeybees to facilitate survival of this economically and environmentally critical pollinator outside of managed hives. Working with beekeepers and other stakeholders, I’ll investigate ecological impacts of changing practices using field data, the BEEHAVE model and disease analysis. Using Q-methodology and Social Network Analysis, I’ll investigate how perspectives and practice change over the course of this collaborative research, with aims to enhance communication among the beekeeping community, scientists and policymakers, and facilitate evidence-led action for pollinators (managed and wild).

Reforestation plays a key role in many tropical countries’ pledges under the Paris Agreement, whilst simultaneously providing co-benefits such as biodiversity protection and income generation for local communities. However, there is often a disconnect between the social and biophysical sciences when planning and implementing such multifunctional forest interventions. By incorporating approaches from both disciplines, my research aims to develop a framework for designing reforestation interventions which provide the greatest overall benefits at a landscape-scale whilst being sustainable into the long-term. Specifically, I am focusing on the peatland forests of Malaysian Borneo and its resident Dayak communities.