Cher is on the CD in the lovely Arcadian café I am sitting in. “Do you believe?”, she is asking me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZXRV4MezEw And then she sings the magic words “I really don’t think you’re strong enough.” Too right, Ms Cher. Strength is the issue. Last night I had a zoom call with an academic who... Continue Reading →
Demography, death, decarbonisation. All this and not much more at the Adelaide Festival of Ideas (see also, technopolitical salvationism and China Crisis)
I've spent bits of the last two days sat in neo-Gothic wood-panelled halls listening to sages on the stage. Some of the sages have been great. Others, well, that's why I took a book, innit? This is not, after all, my first go at this rodeo. It's the "Adelaide Festival of Ideas" again, that under-funded... Continue Reading →
Which Deus? From which machina? Or ‘Can “the state” save us? From what? Under what circumstances?’ #climate #transitions #sustainability
Marc Hudson reflects on two academic events, and wonders if the right questions are being asked, or if "we" are pootling along happily in our comfort zones, slouching towards tenure (well, he's not) and apocalypse (well, all of us are). Over the last 24 hours I've "been" to three online seminars. The one in the... Continue Reading →
Australia as renewable energy superpower? Report on ANU Energy seminar 24 September 2020
This below, minus the hyperlinks, appeared on reneweconomy.com.au Engaging with climate and energy policy in Australia can be bad for your neck. Either your head is in your hands as the latest political idiocy unfolds, or you suffer whiplash as you encounter smart concerned people who are dealing with real world issues. It’s a long... Continue Reading →
Elite tactics: Heroic Infrastructure Distraction and Evasion (aka “HIDE”)
How to minimise the growth in pressure for major/systemic change? If I were a technocratic boss, keen to insulate myself from calls for changes to the ways we do things - changes which would upset my cognitive equilibrium, changes which might upset people who provide me with party donations and a job once the voters... 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: “Building a middle-range theory of Transformative Social Innovation; theoretical pitfalls and methodological responses”
The title: Building a middle-range theory of Transformative Social Innovation; theoretical pitfalls and methodological responses. The authors: Haxeltine, A., Pel, B., Wittmayer, J., Dumitru, A., Kemp, R., & Avelino, F. The journal: European Public & Social Innovation Review, 2(1), 59-77. The DOI: https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir.17-1.5 The abstract: This paper argues that there is currently a need for... 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 →
Marc Hudson 