Two events are being hosted this month by Dr Karen Turner and colleagues in the Department of Economics and Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) as part of an ongoing programme of knowledge exchange activities within the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Science 2010, which runs from March 12-21.
Both events are linked to ESRC-funded energy/environmental research projects on which Dr Turner is the principal investigator. While successful stakeholder seminars and non-technical workshops have taken place throughout the duration of the projects, and were an integral part of the successful proposals to ESRC, these events are designed to disseminate the research and knowledge to an Dr Karen Turnereven wider audience.
The first is an interactive workshop on March 15 involving secondary pupils from local Glasgow schools who are interested in relevant subject areas such as geography, science, economics and environmental issues. Entitled 'Small decisions, global impact: who is responsible for carbon emissions?', it is linked to Dr Turner's ESRC Climate Change Leadership Fellowship which investigates ways to quantify and attribute the pollution content of trade flows.
Dr Turner, one of just six ESRC Climate Change Leadership Fellows in the UK, will present to the pupils who will then work on a group activity to deepen their understanding of the key issues involved in attributing and accepting responsibility for pollution generation.
It is hoped the students will share their experience with classmates to expand further the dissemination of the research of this project. The presentations will be shared with all schools which expressed an interest in the event and materials will be made available through Eco Schools Scotland. Further information on the ESRC Fellowship is available here.
The second event on March 16 at the Scottish Government's Atlantic Quay offices is linked to the ESRC-funded research project titled 'An empirical general equilibrium analysis of the factors that govern the extent of energy rebound effects in the UK economy'. The research findings from this project, which include new theoretical and empirical developments in modelling the impacts of increased energy efficiency using Scotland and the UK as case studies, have already been used to inform policy discussion at Scottish and European levels.
The aim of the event is to share these research findings and results with decision makers at a level where local energy decisions are made. As well as targeting local authority representatives, members of Scottish Government and other interest groups have been invited, with the aim of heightening the awareness of the rebound effect and how it may be quantified and addressed. A Scottish sector-specific case study looking at the impact of changes across the Scottish economy following a 5% energy efficiency improvement in the Scottish commercial transport sector will be examined.
Finally, Richard Bellingham, a senior research fellow at the FAI, specialising in energy policy and sustainable energy issues, will give a presentation on his research into public attitudes to energy and how these might be changed to support delivery of secure low carbon energy futures. More information on the energy rebound project is available here.
Further events linked to the ESRC Climate Change Leadership Fellowship and the energy rebound projects will take place over the coming months. To find out more, contact janine.de-fence@strath.ac.uk