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.

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 presenting Clyde marine dialogue results

CEP presenting results from Clyde marine dialogue at Clyde Marine Planning Partnership meeting

Between July and December 2017, CEP, in collaboration with the Scottish Association for Marine Science Research Services Limited (SRSL), designed, organised and delivered a public dialogue process to aid the development of the Clyde Regional Marine Plan (CRMP). On 30th January, CEP's Dr Peter Phillips will be presenting key results from the dialogue at a meeting of the Clyde Marine Planning Partnership (CMPP). The project ran two rounds of dialogue at two locations across the Clyde Marine Region (CMR); Tarbert and Greenock. The approach involved storytelling to elicit participants' connections to the CMR, participatory mapping of important places / activities across the region and a multi-criteria based evaluation of alternative approaches to marine planning policy and management. Peter will be co-delivering the presentation with Jake Ainscough from SAMS.

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.

CEP assesses the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital

CEP COMMISSIONED BY THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY (EEA) TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE BASE ON SOCIETY’S NATURAL CAPITAL IN SUPPORT OF THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT — STATE AND OUTLOOK 2020 (SOER 2020)

CEP has been commissioned to lead a specific contract, let under the CEP-led framework service contract on forward-looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions for the European Environment Agency (EEA), to provide expertise for Assessing the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital in support of SOER 2020.  CEP is also leading one of the two explicit tasks in this project which will take stock of and synthesise available knowledge on how green infrastructure (GI) / nature based solutions can contribute to sustainability challenges for maintaining natural capital and ecosystem service capacity. This will include assessing the knowledge base on whether GI / nature based solutions are cost-effective investments that can serve similar functions to grey infrastructure and even provide more benefits for local economies, the social fabric and the broader environment. This task is linked to the other specific task under the contract exploring society’s dependence on natural capital, which is being led by CEP’s partner Trinomics.

This contract is an opportunity to gain a better understanding of societal dependence on natural capital (i.e. biodiversity, ecosystems and their services) and to highlight its importance for Europe, and further incorporate these findings into the EEA’s upcoming SOER 2020 report. 

For more information on this project please contact Ric Eales or 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.

CEP's Dr Bill Sheate to give lecture at LSE

Dr Bill Sheate will give a lecture to LSE Masters students on EIA

CEP's Dr Bill Sheate is to give a lecture titled Environmental Impact Assessment: EIA and SEA to students of the Executive MSc in Cities programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on 13th December 2017.