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STP Launches Report on ‘Catalysing Innovation For Sustainability’, 4th December 2006
The Sustainable Technologies Programme launched a report on ‘Catalysing Innovation For Sustainability’ at its final event on December 4th 2006. The report is a portfolio of the findings of the Programme’s 13 research projects and 2 fellowships.
To download this report, please click here.
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STP Holds Final Event at the London Canal Museum, 4th December 2006
STP Holds Final Event at the London Canal Museum, 4th December 2006
Marking the end of the UK Economic and Social Research Council Sustainable Technologies Programme, this conference outlined and discussed some of the key insights generated by research conducted under the Programme into catalysing innovation for sustainability.
The conference featured presentations organised around four central themes that bear upon contemporary discourses linking innovation to sustainable consumption and production, sustainable energy, and policy and governance for sustainability.
- The first theme, ‘Transforming Technology in Sustainability Transitions’, suggested that although a revolutionary change in technology is required to address the global issue of environmental sustainability, the need for a green technological revolution must not be separate from, or an alternative to, the need for social transformation.
- The second theme, ‘Building Bridges Between Production and consumption’, explored the various dimensions of sustainable consumption and the role of policy in motivating this, and illustrated how user practices are deeply embedded within systems of consumption and production.
- The third theme, ‘Enabling Entry of Green Innovators’, discussed the identification of critical points of entry for green innovation in consumption and production systems and examined how innovations for sustainability may move from the margin to the mainstream and the role that governance may play in this process.
- The final theme, ‘Steering Systems Towards Sustainability’, examined how a reconfiguration of the energy system through micro-generation technologies, spanning the domains of energy production and consumption, may lead to a low carbon transition.
- ‘The Low Carbon Transition; Reconfiguring the Energy System Through Microgeneration’ - Dr Jim Watson (University of Sussex)
To view the conference programme, please click here.
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Forthcoming Publication of Governance of Sustainable Technologies Network Book, January 2007
The ESRC Sustainable Technologies Programme supported the Governance of Sustainable Technologies Network between September 2004 and January 2006. This network drew on research funded by the Programme and a majority of project researchers participated. The network’s aims were:
- To explore ways of linking research in the areas of governance, science and technology studies, and innovation studies to research on sustainable technologies
- To use research on sustainable technologies to 'talk' beyond environmental studies and in particular to contribute to ongoing governance research
- To draw out policy recommendations from the research funded by the Sustainable Technologies Programme where appropriate.
The conclusions of the network are published in the forthcoming book on ‘Governing Technology for Sustainability’, edited by Dr Joseph Murphy, co-ordinator of the network.
In a world of growing complexity and dwindling resources, the relationship between technology and sustainability is a pressing issue of concern at the highest levels. This book improves our understanding by examining the ways that people, technology and governance shape each other with implications for sustainability. It is the first book to link technology studies and governance research to this problem.
Contributions from leading environmental social scientists are included, with each chapter reporting on new research and tackling complex, but vital issues. Drawing on examples such as wave and tidal power, wind power, micro-generation, community waste recycling and eco-housing, the book provides powerful new insights into the governance of technology for sustainability. A detailed introduction and conclusion discuss existing research directions and identify the contribution that the book makes in advancing our understanding of the people-technology-governance nexus and it implications for sustainability.
This is essential reading for all those in academia, government and industry working at the critical interface between how we develop, deploy and govern technology in the pursuit of sustainability.
To purchase a copy of the book from Earthscan, please click here.
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Launch of ‘Unlocking the Power House’ Report – 9th October 2006
Micro-generation in individual homes has been the subject of increasing policy and industry attention in recent years. If adopted by large numbers of households, micro-generation could mean fundamental change to established regulatory frameworks and energy infrastructures.
Led by Dr Jim Watson of the Sussex Energy Group, the aim of the Sustainable Technologies Programme’s project on ‘Unlocking the Power House’ (STP 109) was to understand how micro-generation may be deployed, and to explore policies to support investment by consumers and energy companies.
The project launched its final report on 9th October 2006 at a meeting in Westminster attended by 70 representatives from government, industry, NGOs and others. The meeting was chaired by Michael Jacobs (Council of Economic Advisers, HM Treasury) and contributions from Dave Sowden (Chief Executive, The Micropower Council), Phillip Davies (Director of Retail Markets and Environmental Policy, Ofgem), Sara Eppel (Policy Director, The Sustainable Development Commission) and Walt Patterson (Chatham House and Visiting Fellow, Sussex Energy Group).
To download the report, please click here.
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STP at SPRU 40thAnniversary Conference, University of Sussex, 11th-13th September 2006
The Sustainable Technologies Programme and Dr. Adrian Smith of the University of Sussex have co-organised an international and interdisciplinary session on ‘Radical Innovation for Sustainability Transitions – Spanning the Interface of Consumption & Production’ at the SPRU 40th Anniversary Conference on ‘The Future of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy: Linking Research And Practice’.
Comprising 21 papers, the session will focus on the current need to develop an understanding of the conditions for achieving radical social and technological innovations for resource efficiency and environmental sustainability within consumption-production systems.
Recognising that these systems contain a number of important interfaces (systemic / social and technical / temporal / governance), the session will address a series of questions at both domestic and international levels with regards to framing consumption-production systems, identifying their dynamics, and exploring matters of policy and governance for bringing about change for sustainability within such systems.
To view the conference programme, please click here.
To view the conference website, please click on the following link:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/spru/events/ocs/index.php
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Publication of ‘The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Consumption’, September 2006
Sustainable consumption is a controversial concept: politically, intellectually and socially. Consumption drives our economies and defines our lives: making it sustainable is an enormous and essential challenge. The World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 set in place a 10-year programme of effort by national governments to develop strategies for sustainable consumption and production. The problem of changing consumer behaviour and making our lives more sustainable continues to challenge both opinion formers and policy makers alike.
Edited by Professor Tim Jackson (who held a Sustainable Technologies Programme Fellowship on ‘Towards a Social Psychology of Sustainable Consumption’), this book provides a coherent synthesis of key contributions to the literature on consumption and sustainability, comprising a substantive collection of selected papers and extracts from books, journals and institutional publications. Presented with a comprehensive introductory overview written by the editor, the Reader also provides an invaluable ‘route map’ through the complex intellectual terrain relevant to the pursuit of sustainable consumption.
To purchase a copy of the book from Earthscan, please click here.
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