CEP attending CECAN annual conference

CEP attending CECAN's annual conference on policy evaluation in London on July 11th

Dr Bill Sheate will be attending CECAN's annual conference in London on July 11th. The theme of the conference this year is Policy Evaluation for a Complex World - The Challenges that Complexity Poses for Policy - Solutions and Benefits. 

Bill led a meta-evaluation study for CEP - Learning lessons for evaluating complexity across the nexus: a meta-evaluation of CEP projects - published in 2017 as part of our involvement as partners in CECAN.

CEP participating in Austria climate change adaptation workshop

CEP participating in workshop on climate change adaptation and natural hazards for the Austrian Climate Research Programme

On 5th July Dr Clare Twigger-Ross will be participating in a project workshop for Climate Change Adaptation and Protection from Natural Hazards: capacity building for people with a migration background in Austria.  The project is part of the 8th Call Austrian Climate Research Programme and runs from 2016 for 34 months.  It is led by the University of Natural Resource and Life Sciences, Vienna. 

The project aims to explore the potential vulnerability and capacity of migrant groups in the context of Climate Change using a cross-analysis of several embedded case studies in Austria.  Clare has been invited to share her experience in the area of flooding and climate change resilience, with a specific focus on approaches to researching groups who may be more vulnerable to negative impacts because of social factors.

CEP-led Consortium delivers first set of European Environment Agency contracts

CEP-LED CONSORTIUM SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERS FIRST SET OF CONTRACTS UNDER EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY FRAMEWORK CONTRACT

CEP is pleased to announce the successful completion of the first seven contracts awarded under the CEP-led framework service contract for the European Environment Agency (EEA) which provides assistance to the consolidation and update of the knowledge base on global megatrends and resource nexus in support of SOER 2020 (the European Environment State and Outlook Report).

Awarded in May 2017, CEP has overseen the preparation and delivery of seven projects awarded under the framework contract to date.  The seven projects have had the overarching objective of supporting the framing and content of SOER 2020 by consolidating the evidence and knowledge base across a range of topics as well as providing new analysis to assist in the framing of the content of SOER 2020.  Examples of stock-taking and updating of EEA’s knowledge base include in relation to outlooks across multiple environmental themes (second specific contract), planetary boundaries (third specific contract), global megatrends and the resource nexus (fourth specific contract), and an assessment of the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital (fifth specific contract).  The development of new assessment frameworks included the development of an integrated approach to support urban sustainability assessments (first specific contract) and research into the implications of sustainability transitions research for policy and governance (sixth specific contract).  The seventh specific contract provided a review of different perspectives on quality of evidence to inform EEA's future research.

All the projects were completed between September 2017 and March 2018 and have helped EEA by exploring what is, and is not, possible in terms of SOER 2020, which is intended to diverge from previous European environmental reporting by exploring environmental issues from a systems perspective and proposing a transitions governance approach to addressing Europe’s environmental challenges.

CEP led the delivery of four of the seven projects delivered so far, including overall project management, technical lead on research tasks, and preparing reporting to summarise findings to provide maximum support to the EEA in relation to SOER 2020.  CEP’s work on these projects has involved collaboration with a diverse range of partners including universities and research institutions, consultancies, national environmental agencies and European networks of experts (such as the Eionet network of foresight experts).

For more information please contact CEP’s Owen White, the overall Framework Contract Manager, or Dr Bill Sheate, the Framework Contract Director.

CEP supporting webinar series on 25 Year Environment Plan

Partnerships for people, place and the environment - Webinar Series

Earlier this year, Defra commissioned CEP to undertake new research to inform the local delivery of the 25 Year Environment Plan across England. As part of this work, the project team is working with the Ecosystems Knowledge Network to convene a series of free webinars to share good practice in some of the themes central to the Plan. We are pleased to announce the first two in this series:

Opportunities for involving local communities in managing their environment and place-making

Tuesday 3rd July 2018, 1 to 2pm
Featuring presentations by Jenny Phelps of the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and Paul Cobbing of the National Flood Forum. Chaired by Clare Twigger-Ross of Collingwood Environmental Planning. Find out more and book your place now. 

Opportunities for connecting health and the environment

Thursday 5th July 2018, 12 to 1pm
Featuring presentations by Dr James Szymankiewicz, GP and new Chair of Natural Devon, and Mark Fishpool, Director of Middlesbrough Environment City. Chaired by Dave Powell of the New Economics Foundation. Find out more and book your place now.

CEP attending Our Bright Future Annual Seminar

CEP HELPING LEAD A SESSION ON EVALUATING OUTCOMES FROM THE OUR BRIGHT FUTURE PROGRAMME AT ANNUAL SEMINAR on 20 and 21 June 2018

Owen White is attending this year’s annual Share Learn Improve seminar in Cardiff  of the Our Bright Future (OBF) programme as part of CEP’s role in the evaluation of the OBF Programme.  The seminar brings together all of the projects to discuss and share experiences and good practice in management and delivery. 

As part of this seminar, Owen will be contributing to a presentation on the measurement and evaluation of social and environmental impacts. He will also co-facilitate a working session in which participants will explore assumptions related to the achievement of impacts from project activities and share knowledge and experience in the monitoring and evaluation of impacts.

The evaluation team is led by ERS with CEP and is carrying out the evaluation of the programme between 2016 - 2021. 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.

Please contact Owen White (Technical Director) for more information.

CEP to look at local delivery of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan

CEP commissioned by Defra to investigate how local delivery of environmental outcomes can help to achieve the goals of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.

The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan provides a guiding framework for achieving the goal of improving the environment within a generation.   Embedding local delivery is essential to the success of the plan.  CEP is leading a research project to understand how government can best support local organisations and partnerships to work together to protect and enhance important environmental assets and resources, whilst supporting their own needs and ambitions. 

The project has two phases: Phase 1 is gathering evidence about models and approaches for local integration and leadership currently in use and under development, examples of good practice and information on the factors that facilitate or hinder the achievement of good environmental outcomes and shape the relationships among local delivery bodies and Defra. This phase includes an evidence review, four case studies and interviews with stakeholders. Building on these findings, in Phase 2 the project will carry out an online survey and work with practitioners to develop tools and approaches to enhance local delivery and implementation of the 25 Year Environment Plan. 

The project is a collaboration between CEP, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and the Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN). The project runs for the duration of 2018. For more information, please contact CEP’s Project Manager (Paula Orr) or CEP’s Project Co-ordinator (Sian Morse-Jones).

New CEP-authored report on implications of global megatrends in the Western Balkans

Report authored by CEP on the implications of global megatrends for the Western Balkans published as a European Topic Centre Technical Report

CEP were part of a team commissioned by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to undertake a study: Water Use in the Western Balkans: regional outlooks and global megatrends* which was completed in autumn 2017. The team was led by the European Topic Center on Inland, Coastal and Marine Waters (ETC/ICM), which is managed by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research.

The project had two main tasks: developing regional water-use scenarios; and identifying and assessing the implications of global megatrends for the Western Balkans region. CEP led the work related to global megatrends, which involved adapting and implementing a methodology and toolkit previously developed by CEP.

The final report from the work led by CEP has now been published as an ETC/ICM Technical Report: Water Use in the Western Balkans: regional outlooks and global megatrends, ETC/ICM Technical Report 2/2018.

For more information contact Owen White (Technical Director) or Rolands Sadauskis (Senior Consultant).

* For more information on megatrends see here

CEP-led consortium to deliver two new EEA projects focusing on SDGs and transitions governance

CEP-led consortium has been awarded two new EEA projects which will explore interactions between Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and develop a report on governance and policy for sustainability transitions

Two new projects have been awarded under the CEP-led framework service contract for the European Environment Agency (EEA) which provides assistance on forward looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions.

The first project, led by SEI Stockholm, will provide the EEA with assistance in identifying and characterising critical interactions between environmental SDGs and from a European perspective.  CEP’s role will be to provide expert advice on methodology development and to lead the development of a report on the implications of the key project findings for EU research, policy and governance.

The second project, led by the Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester, will develop a report on the implications of research into sustainability transitions and transformations for European policy and governance.  CEP will coordinate the characterisation of three key ‘socio-technical’ systems (food, energy and mobility), working with project partners Fraunhofer ISI and the German Environment Agency.

For more information please contact CEP’s Owen White, the overall Framework Contract Manager, or Dr Bill Sheate, the Framework Contract Director.

CEP attending conference on nature-based solutions

CEP PRESENTING ON HEALTH AND WELLBEING IMPACTS OF NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS IN CITIES AT THE ‘CONNECTING NATURE’ CONFERENCE

Dr Clare Twigger-Ross will be giving a presentation at the ‘Connecting Nature’ conference in Coruna, Spain, on 17th May on the development and use of social impact indicators for evaluating nature-based solutions [1].  Clare will be drawing on her experience from a range of CEP projects that have explored the evaluation of social aspects of nature-based solutions.

[1] Nature-based solutions include:  green infrastructure, ‘nature-based’ waste and water management solutions, collaborative planning; provision of products, services or solutions that create resilient cities

CEP at European Foresight meeting

CEP’s Owen White and Rolands Sadauskis invited by the European Environment Agency to participate in European meeting of foresight experts

CEP have a track record of delivering projects related to global megatrends and their implications for Europe and European countries, including for example developing a methodology for understanding implications of global megatrends at the national level; and adapting and applying the methodology in a case study of global megatrend implications in the Western Balkans region.  CEP are also leading the current framework contract with the European Environment Agency (EEA) on forward-looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions. 

In the context of this previous work and the framework contract, CEP’s Owen White and Rolands Sadauskis have been invited to participate in, present at and lead a working session for the EIONET (European Environment Information and Observation Network) expert meeting for the network of European experts in forward-looking information and services (NRC FLIS) to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 16th – 17th May 2018.

Specifically Owen and Rolands will be presenting proposals for a pending project on identifying and exploring key drivers of change in European socio-technical systems (food, energy, mobility) and what the implications of these drivers of change may be for the systems and Europe’s environment.  In addition a working session will be designed and facilitated by Owen and Rolands which will engage the experts in discussing key methodological challenges and identifying solutions.

For more information please contact Owen White (Technical Director) or Rolands Sadauskis (Senior Consultant).

CEP to evaluate Future Farming Scotland programme

CEP commissioned to evaluate Soil Association Scotland's Future Farming Scotland programme

CEP has been commissioned to evaluate Soil Association Scotland's Future Farming Scotland Programme. The programme aims to promote skills development and knowledge transfer in the agricultural sector in Scotland supporting the delivery of various competitiveness and environmental outcomes. CEP will be evaluating both process and outcome aspects of the programme by surveying beneficiaries and preparing case studies of certain interventions. The project builds on CEP's evaluation and assessment expertise in Scotland covering various aspects of land based natural capital. 

CEP's Dr Peter Phillips and Izzy Cotton will be working on this project.

CEP contributing to workshop on measuring the societal impact of network activities

CEP to lead a workshop session to map the social impacts of utility maintenance, replacement and repair activities

CEP is contributing to a workshop to examine how network operators’ utility maintenance, replacement and repair activities affect communities. CEP has designed a mapping exercise to explore the impacts caused by the same network activity in different locations.

WRc, in partnership with CEP, have been contracted by the Energy Innovation Centre, which is coordinating this project for a group of energy distribution network operators and water and wastewater companies.  The 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.

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

CEP presenting CECAN fellowship work

CEP presenting work on Flood Community Resilience Pathfinder evaluation at Defra Theme Advisory Groups meeting

Dr Clare Twigger-Ross will be giving a brief presentation on her CECAN fellowship work looking at Qualitative Comparative Analysis in relation to the Flood Community Resilience Pathfinder evaluation at the Defra/Environment Agency R&D Theme Advisory Groups meeting in Birmingham on 26th April.

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.

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.  

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.

CEP contribute to international Biodiversity Offsetting Book

CEP authors of United Kingdom chapter on biodiversity offsetting

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.

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.

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.

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.