Clare Twigger-Ross at Flood Management Conference

CEP's Dr Clare Twigger-Ross presented at the 7th International Conference on Flood Management in Leeds

Dr Clare Twigger-Ross presented a paper at the 7th International Conference on Flood Management, Leeds on 6th September: Catalysts for transformative resilience to flooding? The role of community volunteers.

The paper was part of a special session on Local Scale Approaches to community flood resilience chaired by Dr. Jessica Lamond (University of the West of England) and co-authored with Paula Orr, Katya Brooks and Rolands Sadauskis, and drew on data collected for the Defra Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder (FRCP) evaluation (report can be found here).  The slides from the session can be found here.

CEP to develop EEA's urban sustainability knowledge base

CEP commissioned to develop integrated knowledge base for EEA urban sustainability assessments

CEP has been commissioned to lead the first Specific Contract let under the CEP-led framework service contract for the European Environment Agency (EEA) on the provision of expert assistance on forward looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions (EEA/IEA/16/003). The project will provide support to the EEA's urban sustainability assessments by developing the integrated knowledge base for urban sustainability issues. CEP is working with consortium partners LSE Cities and various other experts from the CEP-led consortium. 

The project will review existing EEA data products, reports, and research programmes to assess the current state of knowledge "in-house" and any key gaps. Drawing on this, a conceptual framework and vision for urban sustainability related activities within the EEA will be developed and tested with EEA internal and external stakeholders, via participatory meetings to be held at EEA offices in Copenhagen during October and November 2017. 

For more information on this project please contact the CEP Project Manager Dr Peter Phillips.  

CEP's Owen White is the overall Framework Contract Manager and can provide general information on the framework.  CEP's Dr Bill Sheate is the Framework Contract Director.

Clare Twigger-Ross at IAPS board in Spain

Photo credit: ''A Coruña' by Gabriel Gonzalez on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

CEP's Dr Clare Twigger-Ross at IAPS board in A Coruña, Spain

Dr Clare Twigger-Ross attended the International Association of Person-Environment Studies (IAPS) board meeting and AGM  on the 29th and 30th August, A Coruña, Spain.  She is the Treasurer of the IAPS board and part of the executive along with Prof. Ricardo Garcia Mira and Dr. Tony Craig.  The meeting covered a wide range of topics concerning the running of IAPS including the next IAPS conference in Rome, 2018 see here for details on the call for papers and the conference itself which is titled: Transitions to sustainability, lifestyles changes and human wellbeing: cultural, environmental and political challenges

CEP at CECAN Workshop on increasing the impact of policy evaluation

CEP at CECAN Workshop on increasing the impact of policy evaluation

CEP participated in a workshop organised by CECAN to explore how evaluation practice can become more impactful in the future. The workshop 'Increasing Impact of Policy Evaluation in Complex Settings – What Works?' took place on 5 September 2017 in London. It sought to:

1. share recent experience on successful evaluation impact in complex nexus policy areas
2. share expertise in maximising the impact of evaluation in these policy settings
3. generate practical recommendations for policymakers, analysts and evaluators
4. generate ideas for focussing future R&D in this area
5. produce a policy note on how evaluation practice can become more impactful in future

CEP's  Dr Clare Twigger-Ross discussed the impact of CEP's evaluation of Defra's Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder.

Further details of the workshop can be found here.

CEP leading workshop on the implications of global megatrends in the Western Balkans

Photo credit: 'Belgrade bridges' by mcveja on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

CEP leading workshop in exploring the implications of global megatrends in the Western Balkans

CEP is leading a workshop on the “Implications of global megatrends in the Western Balkans region: Assessment of risks and opportunities, policy links and gaps” which will be held on 7-8 September 2017 in Belgrade, Serbia. This workshop is the second of two regional workshops held as part of the project Water Use in the Western Balkans: regional outlooks and global megatrends which is being delivered by CEP in collaboration with the European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine Waters for the European Environment Agency.

The workshop will bring together regional experts to discuss risks and opportunities for the region and Western Balkans countries arising from global megatrend implications identified through the project scoping workshop held in April 2017.

This workshop will generate the following outcomes:

• A list of potential risks and opportunities each global megatrend implication presents for the region.
• An initial assessment of the likelihood of potential risks and opportunities, their extent and time-frames.
• Identifying existing policies or strategies that relate to the risks or opportunities, and any new policies or changes needed for managing risks and maximising opportunities.

For further information contact CEP's Project Manager Owen White.

CEP delivering ex-post evaluation seminar at Defra

CEP delivering ex-post evaluation seminar at Defra

CEP's Dr Clare Twigger-Ross and CEP associate Teresa Bennett are delivering a 'Simply Evidence' seminar on the ex-post evaluation of flood strategy plans and schemes for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). 

The seminar, to take place in Defra on Wednesday 20 August, aims to increase awareness on what 'ex-post evaluation' is and how evaluation practice can be improved within existing institutional arrangements. Clare and Teresa will also be sharing insights on how ex-post evaluation can benefit the Government's Smarter Guidance agenda, and how lessons arising from current and past evaluations can be taken forward.

This seminar emerges from the suggestions of a project previously undertaken by CEP for Defra on Enhancing Ex-Post Evaluation of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategies and Schemes (FCERM). Findings from the project suggested that there is space within the current FCERM processes for ex-post evaluation to be developed but for it to be implemented there needs to be institutional support and clear ownership of the process. The project report is available here.

CEP's evaluation of low cost resilience to flooding project published by Defra

Photo credit: michael kooiman on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

CEP's evaluation of a small-scale project trialing low cost resilience to flooding was published by Defra

CEP carried out an independent evaluation of a small-scale demonstration project designed to test an innovative approach to flood repairable systems in a flood-prone area. The demonstration was carried out in Tewkesbury as part of the project 'Supporting the uptake of low cost resilience for properties at risk of flooding'. The project, led by by the University of the West of England,  involved a number of partners and worked with the local Property Support Network – builders, retailers, loss adjusters, local authorities, and insurers – to support take-up of these approaches.  

The project identifies barriers and proposes solutions to promote low cost approaches that would make properties at risk of flooding more resilient to damage from flood waters. The project's final report, technical annex and CEP's evaluation report (appendix to the final report) are available here.

CEP commissioned to undertake Clyde marine public dialogue

Photo credit: 'Ardrossan Harbour Sunset' by Oliver Clarke on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

CEP commissioned to undertake public dialogue to support the development of the Clyde Regional Marine Plan

CEP, working with SAMS Research Services Limited (SRSL), has been commissioned by the Clyde Marine Planning Partnership (CMPP) to design and deliver a public dialogue to support the development of the Clyde Regional Marine Plan (CRMP).

The dialogue will engage with around 30 members of the public from two locations in the CRMP area to: discuss how people engage with, use and benefit from the marine environment; consider key marine planning and management issues; and deliberate on potential policy options and measures for consideration in the emerging draft CRMP. 

The project builds on successful public dialogue work undertaken by CEP for Marine Scotland on the social impacts of offshore renewables and other, land-based participatory planning work undertaken by CEP for Scottish Natural Heritage in the Pentland Hills Regional Park.

For more information please contact Paula Orr (Project Director) or  Dr Peter Phillips (Project Manager).

CEP's environmental and economic evaluation of TimberLINK published by the Forestry Commission

CEP's environmental and economic evaluation of TimberLINK published by Forestry Commission Scotland

CEP, with partners Reference Economic Consultants and the University of Strathclyde, was commissioned by Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) to carry out an Environmental and Economic Evaluation of the TimberLINK service.  TimberLINK is a public service contract, funded by the Scottish Government, to support short-sea coastal shipping of roundwood in Scotland.

The report, now published by Forestry Commission Scotland, establishes an understanding and, where possible, a monetisation of the direct and indirect environmental and economic impacts of the TimberLINK service and potential alternatives. 

For financial year 2015/16, the evaluation found that TimberLINK produces a net benefit of £620,660, which is similar to the value of the subsidy, meaning that payments are commensurate with the realised environmental and economic benefits of the service.  In reality, these benefits are likely to exceed the subsidy payment as the environmental benefits estimated are highly conservative.

Forestry Commission Scotland has used the evaluation results to inform ongoing deliberations regarding future spending policy and priorities, including the contract for TimberLINK which has recently been renewed.

For more information on TimberLINK see our relevant Case Study webpage or contact the CEP project manager for the TimberLINK evaluation Dr Peter Phillips. 

CEP'S SEMINAR ON PRACTICAL POLICY EVALUATION AVAILABLE ONLINE

CEP'S SEMINAR ON LEARNING LESSONS FROM PRACTICAL POLICY EVALUATION AVAILABLE ONLINE

CEP's Dr Clare Twigger-Ross, Owen White and Dr Bill Sheate delivered a seminar for the Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus (CECAN) on Learning lessons from practical policy evaluation. The seminar reflected on the findings of a meta-evaluation study of 23 of CEP's evaluation projects, exploring lessons around the evaluation of complexity, the role of methods and the nature of evaluation impact (full report available here). 

To listen to the discussion on the key factors that affect evaluation progress and gain insights on managing complexity and navigating an evaluation through dynamic policy landscapes, click here.

CEP currently recruiting

CEP seeking to recruit Senior Consultant

CEP is seeking to recruit a Senior Consultant to be based at our London office. This is an opportunity for an exceptional candidate to join our growing multi-disciplinary team providing innovative approaches to environmental, social and sustainability practice and research.  Further information and application forms are available on the Jobs page and via the link below.

Senior Consultant

We are seeking an exceptional candidate with at least 4-5 years' relevant work experience who shares our approach and vision.

The successful applicant is likely to have an excellent academic record with a natural science or social science degree (e.g. biology, ecology, environmental science, marine / earth science, geography, psychology, sociology, social anthropology, politics, social research methods) plus a related second degree.

CEP participatory land use planning webinar

An introduction to participatory land use planning: making it work for people and the environment 

WEBINAR: Thursday 13th July 2017, 1.00 - 1.30 pm British Summer Time (GMT+1)

Participatory land use planning is an internationally-recognised approach to making decisions about how land, water and natural resources are managed and used. It has significant implications for those involved in managing environmental assets in the UK. The UN Sustainable Development Goals reinforce the need for it to be applied. In this webinar, CEP's Dr Peter Phillips and Dr Bill Sheate will introduce this topic and the associated one-day training course (on 6 September). They will draw on work they have undertaken for The Pentland Hills Regional Park, commissioned by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Pentland Hills reports published

Pentland Hills collaborative land use management reports published

CEP's reports to the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on adopting a collaborative approach to land use management in the Pentland Hills Regional Park have been published.

As part of the project, CEP was asked to adopt the ecosystem approach which is a way of working that combines the need to manage nature in terms of dynamic ecosystems whilst involving affected communities and other stakeholders in decision-making. The project explored, with the Park’s Consultative Forum of local stakeholders, opportunities to work with nature and sustain the provision of key ecosystem services - the benefits people get from nature - in the Park.

The findings of this research are documented in the following reports:

• Consultative Forum Report
• Consultative Forum Report Technical Annex
• Consultative Forum Report Executive Summary

These outputs will play a key role informing the next Pentland Hills Regional Park Management Plan (2017-2027).

For more information contact CEP's project manager Dr Peter Phillips.

CEP's Dr Peter Phillips awarded Honorary Lectureship

CEP's Dr Peter Phillips has been appointed as an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde

CEP's Dr Peter Phillips has been appointed as an Honorary Lecturer within the University of Strathclyde's Faculty of Engineering. This appointment recognises Peter's service, since 2012, as a guest lecturer within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Peter teaches a class on Applied Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and supervises / examines MSc dissertation projects. He also leads the development of collaborations between CEP and the University, including: the Land Use Strategy (LUS) Delivery Evaluation Project for the Scottish Government; and developing climate change adaptation indicators for transport infrastructure, for ClimateXChange. 

CEP-led consortium awarded EEA framework contract on forward looking studies

CEP-led consortium awarded EEA framework contract on forward looking studies

A consortium led by CEP has been awarded a four year single supplier framework contract by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to provide expert assistance on forward looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions. The contract will support the EEA in preparing the next report on the European environment’s state and outlook in 2020 (SOER 2020).  

This exciting opportunity for CEP builds on our work for the EEA over the last 15 years, including on the SOERs in 2010 and 2015. This specific contract adds to CEP’s track record of work related to forward looking analysis for both the EEA and the European Commission, including recent projects on identifying emerging environmental risks and the implications of global megatrends for Europe.

The scope of the work under the framework contract will include developing contextual and forward looking analyses of Europe's sustainability challenges and in increasing understanding about the environmental characteristics of core societal systems, opportunities and barriers to sustainability transitions, and the implications for EU policies. A particular focus will be on strategic and long-term policies and visions relating to the low-carbon and circular economy, natural capital and the sustainable development goals (SDGs), for example.

The CEP-led consortium includes experts from leading consultancies, research organisations, universities and agencies from across Europe.

For more information please contact Dr William Sheate (Contract Director) or Owen White (Contact Manager).

CEP to deliver CECAN seminar on practical policy evaluation

CEP to deliver CECAN seminar on learning lessons from practical policy evaluation

CEP will be delivering a seminar for the Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus (CECAN) on Learning lessons from practical policy evaluation: reflecting on a meta-evaluation of UK/EU policy and practice evaluations across the nexus.

The seminar will take place on 14 June 2017, in London, and will reflect on the findings of a meta-evaluation study of 23 of CEP's evaluation projects, exploring lessons around the evaluation of complexity, the role of methods and the nature of evaluation impact. This research brought out the key factors that affect evaluation progress and provided insights on how to navigate an evaluation through dynamic policy landscapes. The full report is available here.

In this seminar CEP's Dr Clare Twigger-Ross and Owen White will facilitate a discussion around the key findings from this research and approaches for managing complexity in evaluations. 

For more information and to register for this seminar visit CECAN's website.

CEP and partners to study the value of bathing waters in Scotland

CEP and partners commissioned by the Scottish Government to study the value of bathing waters in Scotland

CEP, with partners Economics for the Environment Consultancy (eftec) and experts from The South West Research Company (SWRC), University of St Andrews, University of Surrey and Mercatus Research, has been commissioned by the Scottish Government to study The Value of Bathing Waters and the Influence of Bathing Water Quality in Scotland.

CEP will be leading a multi-disciplinary team in developing a detailed and quantifiable socio-economic understanding of the current and future value of bathing water quality to Scotland and how water quality influences bathers, beach users and the national and local economies.

This study will provide the Scottish Government with key information on existing designated bathing waters and benchmark values to support decision-making relevant to the cost/benefit of driving further improvement to bathing water quality classifications under the revised Bathing Water Directive (BWD).

The socio-economic values explored will consider the wider aspects of Scotland’s reputational value for environmental excellence, and include less tangible values relating to health and wellbeing (e.g. benefit of being near blue spaces). These validated reference values will be used in policy development and decisions when assessing new sites and managing existing protected area designation (including de-designation).

CEP's Dr Peter Phillips is the project manager.

CEP awarded the evaluation of Heathlands Reunited project

CEP TO UNDERTAKE THE EVALUATION OF THE HEATHLANDS REUNITED PROJECT

CEP was commissioned by the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) to undertake the evaluation of the Heathlands Reunited project.

Led by the SDNPA the Heathlands Reunited project brings together 11 organisations who have joined forces to expand and connect the existing 1% of heathland left in the national park. The project will run for 5 years, working with partners on 41 sites to create wildlife corridors forming an area of heathland greater than 1,200 football pitches by the end of the project.  The project is funded by partner contributions and a £1.44 million Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant.

CEP will support SDNPA with the evaluation of the impact of the Heathlands Reunited project on the following intended outcomes:

• Heritage will be – better managed, in better condition, identified/recorded
• People will have – developed skills, learnt about heritage, volunteered time
• For communities, environmental impacts will be reduced; more people and a wider range of people will have engaged with heritage, the local area/community will be a better place to live, work or visit.

The evaluation will run for the full life of the project from May 2017 and until May 2021.

Teresa Bennett is the project manager.

CEP running a workshop on identifying emerging environmental risks

Photo credit: 'Atomium - Bruxelles, Belgium' by Giorgio Galeotti on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

CEP running a workshop on a proposed system for identifying emerging environmental risks

As part of our work to develop a methodological framework for the systematic identification of emerging risks to the environment for the European Commission’s DG Environment, CEP together with our consortium partner Milieu Ltd are organising and facilitating a one-day workshop to explore a proposed Framework for Identifying Emerging Environmental Risks. The event will take place in Brussels on Thursday 4th May 2017, and will bring together experts from across the European Commission as well as representatives of other organisations and individuals engaged in managing emerging issues and risks.

The workshop will be a participatory event involving group sessions and the practical testing of elements of the proposed approach. The CEP and Milieu team will facilitate working sessions with experts to discuss and explore topics including: a systematic methodological framework for identifying emerging environmental risks; institutional roles and responsibilities; and options for trialling the approach.

For more information on this event and the project please contact the CEP project manager Owen White (Principal Consultant).

British Council publishes CEP's case studies evaluating contribution to SDGs

British Council publishes CEP's case studies evaluating programmes' contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals

CEP was commissioned by the British Council to undertake a baseline study on the British Council's contribution in developing and promoting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The study included the review of a selection of programmes across the British Council’s portfolio and the development of three case studies. As well as illustrating impact and lessons learned, these case studies highlight good practice and provide useful guidance for further developing British Council's programmes.

The case studies are now available on the British Council's website.