Environment & SustainabilityTelling the Bees
Principal Investigator: Deborah Maxwell
From 2015 to 2016
Beekeeping is currently experiencing a surge of popularity, coinciding with a rise of localism and a consumer drive for homemade produce. Bees have also become popular subjects of non-fiction prose, literature, poetry and art, in part because their plight has become emblematic of contemporary environmental crises. Whilst a new generation of beekeepers is emerging, the methods by which they learn their skills is changing. Read more
Fields of Green: Addressing Sustainability and Climate Change through Music Festival Communities
Principal Investigator: Matt Brennan (University of Edinburgh)
From 2015 to 2016
Fields of Green is an AHRC funded research project exploring the sustainability of Scotland’s music festivals through the eyes of artists, audiences and festival organisers. In his opening remarks at the September 2014 United Nations Climate Change Summit in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated unequivocally: “climate change is the defining issue of our time. Read more
Bridging Environmental Values
Principal Investigator: Steve Cinderby
From 2013 to 2014
Our project looked at: What behaviour that benefits the environment means to people? How they defined it?… and How their environmental actions differed between the places they went and within the groups they mixed with? Read more
Linking communities to historic environments
Principal Investigator: Dr Alex Hale (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland)
2011
The project aimed to bring together experts and practitioners to share experiences from both ends of the engagement spectrum. On the one end of the spectrum you have the ‘experts’ from national and regional organisations and on the other, the community participants who want to get involved. The project was to bring together both parties in a workshop format. Read more
Homing In : Sensing, Sense-Making and Sustainable Place-Making (an arts and social sciences collaborative network)
Principal Investigator: Professor Karen Henwood (Cardiff University)
From 2013 to 2014
The major societal problems of our time require interconnected, collaborative efforts to creatively and imaginatively address the risks, instabilities, uncertainties and rapid pace of change in human-ecological relationships. Climate scientists warn of the effects of dangerous climate change. Social scientists and policy makers seek alternative strategies capable of promoting better science-public communications, community resilience and social sustainability. Read more
The social world of Nottingham’s historic green spaces: A community history project
Principal Investigator: Professor John Beckett, University of Nottingham
From 2013 to 2014
Working with Friends Groups, Local History Groups and other volunteers, the project is investigating the development of Nottingham’s Arboretum, Forest Recreation Ground, Church and General Cemeteries, several public walks and other green spaces created following the 1845 Enclosure Act. Read more
Environmental Values: Linking people, places and environmental actions
Principal Investigator: Steve Cinderby
2014
Pro-environmental behaviour initiatives (PEBC) are aimed at encouraging individuals to ameliorate pollution and the drivers of climate change. Whilst it may be hoped that pro-environmental behaviour learnt and undertaken in one context (e.g. Read more
Man Food: Exploring men’s opportunities for ‘becoming an ecological citizen’ through protein-related food practices
Principal Investigator: Emma Roe
Current global trends in meat consumption are unsustainable, with large-scale livestock production carrying significant environmental costs – greenhouse gas emissions, land and water usage, and animal health and welfare concerns. Man Food is a project that brings together community partners with university researchers to explore questions around food and the environment, specifically in relation to men’s consumption practices. Read more
Participation’s “Others”: A Cartography of Creative Listening Practices
Principal Investigator: Julian Brigstocke
From 2014 to 2015
This project asks how participatory research might be extended to become better able to ‘listen’ to voices that do not fall within the boundaries of the traditional individual human subject, such as past and future generations, non-human life, radically decentred minds, and objects and technologies. Read more
Connecting communities through food: the development of community supported agriculture in the UK
Principal Investigator: Professor Neil Ravenscroft
From 2010 to 2011
There is a convergence of the cultural and material worlds occurring in farming, driven by communities making connections between the production and consumption of food. This new civic agriculture is experienced in multiple ways, from small groups of allotment holders, to large groups owning substantial farming businesses and land. Read more
