Net Zero Policy Programme

- Start date
- 2021
- Departments
- Policy
- Programme status
- Ongoing
This British Academy Net Zero Policy Programme will marshal SHAPE-led, practical policy outputs that explore how to improve approaches to the design and implementation of net zero policies in the UK. It will specifically explore the meta-level governance issue within the net zero policy ecosystem by targeting governance systems, structures and approaches and considering the roles of government (at all levels, including local constituents), business and the research community, and the links across them, applying three lenses of place, scale and time.
Using our convening power, networks, and policy connections, we anticipate this resulting in an improved net zero strategy and approaches at all levels of governance.
Current research project
The British Academy has made an award of £150,000 to the University of Bristol. The research project will develop a typology to classify net zero policies, translate these policies into local capability challenges and opportunities based on SHAPE synthesis, and provide policy evaluations derived from meta-level scoping to evidence successful precedents and delivery gaps identified in the synthesis.
The research project will start in May 2023 and will run until June 2024.
Earlier research outputs
Our initial research considered how can collaboration across sectors (public, third sector, business and local communities), foster shared commitments to goals, values and programmes to deliver net zero as part of a sustainable future? Researchers worked through a wide range of methods, engaging diverse people and places. It indicated a range of cross-cutting elements to consider: the importance of place (see below); the relationships between people, communities, institutions, and different modes of governance; the connections between different levels of governance; methods of engagement and communication; questions of inclusion and values; economic and financial considerations; and the types of skills and knowledge needed.
The nine research projects commissioned are listed below, each with its findings summarised in a policy summary. The abstracts of each project are also available.
Communities of Creative Survival: Live Simulation to Generate Grassroots Insight for Net-Zero Policy
Dr Danielle Barrios-O'Neill
Royal College of Art
Developing a Grassroots Sustainable Futures Platform: Collective Participation in a Community-Based Cultural Organisation
Dr Lee Barron
Northumbria University
The Great Community Climate Change Experiment: Using children from the community to promote meaningful sustainable actions
Professor Geoff Beattie
Edge Hill University
Attitudes Towards Climate Action
Professor Sir Timothy Besley FBA
London School of Economics and Political Science
Collaborative Voices: drawing on cross-sector expertise in building community capacity and sustaining partnerships towards net-zero sustainability futures
Dr Jaya Gajparia
London South Bank University
Co-designing sustainable food futures: using climate assemblies to build shared agri-food visions for net-zero
Professor Damian Maye
University of Gloucestershire
Community-Led Television, Local Voice and Climate Action
Dr Elke Weissmann
Edge Hill University
Shifting the Narrative: Exploring the role of arts interventions in supporting communities in working across sectors to achieve place-based climate action
Dr Alette Willis
University of Edinburgh
Podcast - The power of traditional storytelling to shift our community narratives
Localising and decentralising goal-based governance for sustainability in England
Professor Jane Wills FBA
University of Exeter
Contact us
If you require further information on this scheme or would like to engage with us, please contact Chizitera Pennington on [email protected] or Henry Richards on [email protected].
