CEP's Ric Eales appointed Visiting Professor

CEP’s Ric Eales appointed visiting professor at the university of strathclyde, department of civil and environmental engineering

Photo credit: Montrose Street, Glasgow © MSeses / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

We are pleased to announce that Ric Eales, CEP’s Managing Director, has been appointed a Visiting Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Strathclyde.

CEP has a long relationship with the University of Strathclyde and has collaborated on research and teaching over many years.  We have explored together issues as diverse as rural land use management, climate change impacts on transport infrastructure, social impacts of off-shore renewables, and stakeholder engagement in controversial proposed energy developments.

Ric’s appointment, which is a great honour, will reinforce this relationship into the future.  Ric is looking forward to working with both the staff and students in this innovative and multidisciplinary department.

For more information contacts Ric Eales r.eales@cep.co.uk / ric.eales@strath.ac.uk

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 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 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.

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.