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SUMMARY:Social scientific methods for understanding climate change policy 
 - Speaker to be confirmed
DTSTART:20101014T110000Z
DTEND:20101014T130000Z
UID:TALK27205@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:18154
DESCRIPTION:*Abstract*\n\nHow has climate change modified the way governme
 nts are making decisions? As new greenhouse gas emission reduction targets
 \, energy efficiency policies\, decision-making tools\, and planning appro
 aches are introduced how has governing changed? Is this new era contributi
 ng to a renewed tension between the tenets of sustainability and democracy
 ? Do these new policies actually work? These questions and related debates
  are explored in this seminar. Using social scientific methods\, each pres
 enter will consider climate change related policy and the built environmen
 t using policy discourse analysis\, policy networks\, and impact assessmen
 t.\n\n*Speakers*\n\n* Ray Galvin PhD student\, PhD student\, School of Env
 ironmental Science\, University of East Anglia\n* Lindsay Galbraith PhD St
 udent\, Department of Geography\, University of Cambridge\n* Jeonghwa Yi P
 hD Student\, Centre for Sustainable Development\, Department of Engineerin
 g\, University of Cambridge\n\n*Speakers' Abstracts*\n\n*Ray Galvin: Inter
 plays between policy discourse and materiality: a case study of German Fed
 eral policy on home insulation"*\n\nEnvironmental issues deal with specifi
 c physical\, material entities\, while environmental policy develops on a 
 discursive\, argumentative level through debate\, power-plays and competin
 g interests. But to be effective\, policy has to match the materiality it 
 is aimed at. Researchers therefore need to develop a theoretical approach 
 that can analyse reality on both these levels in a logically consistent wa
 y\, to see where and why there are matches and mismatches between policy a
 nd the materiality it is aimed at. My research develops one such approach 
 and tests it by analysing German Federal policy on thermal renovation of e
 xisting homes.\n\n*Lindsay Galbraith: "A policy network approach to unders
 tanding planning reform for renewable energy in British Columbia\, Canada"
 *\n\nPolicy networks are a set of methods that analyze networks tied toget
 her by knowledge\, practice\, language\, expertise\, and material. One typ
 e of policy network\, discourse coalitions\, considers how storylines shar
 ed by groups of actors shape politics and policy and develop prevailing vi
 ews or institutions that aim to respond (or not respond) to these problems
 .  This paper explores the utility of discourse coalitions as a method for
  understanding the rise and fall of participation in planning. Governments
  are introducing policy to ëstreamlineí planning\, yet they maintain a d
 iscursive commitment to public engagement. This paper analyzes policy text
 s published in British Columbia (BC)\, Canada\, between 1980\, when the Pr
 ovincial Government first introduced coherent legislation that involves th
 e public in energy planning\, and 2010\, when they introduced new legislat
 ion that speeds up the energy planning process in an effort to meet econom
 ic development and climate change goals. Our findings challenge the domina
 nt view that constructs the ëpublicí as NIMBY and sheds light on the imp
 ortance of public participation as governments reinterpret environmental p
 olicy in an era of climate change.\n\n*Jeonghwa Yi: "Comparisons for ex-an
 te Impact Assessment of Eco-settlement Projects in the Context of Climate 
 Change"*\n\nDespite the widespread recognition of the importance of ex-ant
 e Impact Assessment (IA) as a decision-aiding technique for the overall su
 stainability of a proposed project\, little understanding remains about wh
 ich criteria need to be selected or how the IA should be conducted to inco
 rporate climate change considerations\, which should be identified through
  IA process. The outcomes will then contribute to sound decision making fo
 r sustainable development in projects. This research proposal aims to inve
 stigate these aspects for eco-settlement projects.
LOCATION:CRASSH Seminar Room 17 Mill Lane
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