Two University of Melbourne academics have delivered a gloomy outlook for economic and social transformation under the banner of a “green new deal” in Australia. Speaking at a seminar titled "The Green New Deal - Opportunities and Obstacles: Comparing Proposals in Europe, the US and Australia" Peter Christoff and Robyn Eckersley argued that undue political... Continue Reading →
about abeyance – when your group death spirals, and the broader movement with it…
With the planet on fire, it seems odd to be having to write about the decline of the climate "movement" - but given what is going on in the UK and Australia, the countries I know best - it seems reasonable to do so. The point has been made to me well, that the existing academic work... Continue Reading →
14 years ago today… #Climate Camp and what is (not) remembered #history #academics #power
"The struggle of man (sic) against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting." Milan Kundera On 26th August 2006 the first "Camp for Climate Action" began, in the shadow of Drax power station in Yorkshire, then the biggest single point source of carbon dioxide in Europe. The camp (and the shorter name, "Climate Camp",... Continue Reading →
On #climate bullshit – interview with Dr Hayley Stevenson
A couple of weeks ago the academic journal Globalizations published a new article. "Reforming global climate governance in an age of bullshit" by Dr Hayley Stevenson. I'm the social media editor of another academic journal, Environmental Politics, and I tweeted it from @Env_Pol. It got a lot of Twitter love... I asked Dr Stevenson, who... Continue Reading →
Capacity and Disruption – what do they MEAN?
Nowt like having to give a presentation in a job interview (wish me luck) for focusing your reading.... (see last few blog posts). Two super useful empirical-and-conceptual papers worth giving a shout out to. First Johnstone, Phil, Rogge, Karoline S, Kivimaa, Paula, Fratini, Chiara F, Primmer, Eeva and Stirling, Andy (2019) Waves of disruption in clean energy transitions: sociotechnical dimensions of system disruption... Continue Reading →
Looting the Ivory Tower: “Making the most of community energies”
Super-useful on DECC (RIP) and the "Community Energy" strategy - the costs of getting it. Should be read alongside that paper by Phil Johnstone Andy Stirling and Ben Sovacool about Policy Mixes for Incumbency Honest about risk of academic blindness from using one theory (SNM) and not paying close enough attention to interviewees, and what... Continue Reading →
Looting the Ivory Tower: “Co-producing urban sustainability transitions knowledge with community, policy and science”
This one is another good'un, albeit perhaps not entirely plausible in its 'how to solve the problems identified'... The title: Co-producing urban sustainability transitions knowledge with community, policy and science The authors: Niki Frantzeskakia Ania Rok The journal: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions Volume 29, December 2018, Pages 47-51 The DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2018.08.001 The abstract: This... Continue Reading →
Looting the Ivory Tower: “Acceleration of Urban Sustainability Transitions:A Comparison of Brighton, Budapest, Dresden, Genk, and Stockholm”
Heaps of good stuff - conceptually, methodologically, empirically, in here. Useful for mice who want to bell the cat (though the article itself doesn't suggest a particular way/particular ways). The title: The Acceleration of Urban Sustainability Transitions:A Comparison of Brighton, Budapest, Dresden, Genk, and Stockholm The authors: Franziska Ehnert, Niki Frantzeskaki , Jake Barnes, Sara... Continue Reading →
Looting the Ivory Tower: “Energy democracy as the right to the city: Urban energy struggles in Berlin and London”
The title: Energy democracy as the right to the city: Urban energy struggles in Berlin and London The authors: Soren Becker, James Angel, Matthias Naumann The journal: EPA: Economy and Space The DOI: DOI: 10.1177/0308518X19881164 The abstract: In this paper, we argue that it is generative to link struggles around access to, control over, and... Continue Reading →
Looting the Ivory Tower – “Unpacking the social #innovation ecosystem”
Some of my favourite words in the title of an academic article - ecosystem, constellations, typology - squee!! (yes, I know, I should get out more). And, thank goodness, it lived up to expectations. They take their big database of social innovation networks, with lots of specific projects, and they bash the database against some... Continue Reading →
