Remaking Participation wins EASST book award

Remaking Participation, a book edited by 3S Chair Jason Chilvers and Matthew Kearnes (UNSW, Sydney), has received the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) 2018 Amsterdamska Award. The award, in honour of science and technology studies (STS) scholar Olga Amsterdamska, is made for a “significant creative collaboration in an edited book or special issue…

3S makes a big splash at sustainable water symposium

A team of academics from the Science, Society and Sustainability (3S) Research Group at UEA made waves last week with a pioneering premiere performance of Theoretical Blind Date – the water edition. The social science-based, water-themed dating game show was a standout contribution to the ‘Water for our People and Planet’ research symposium of the…

New Energy Perspectives Podcasts

3S PhD student and researcher Elizabeth Errington has produced a brilliant new series of podcasts about energy, which will be of interest to energy researchers, policy-makers and practitioners alike. They cover a range of issues including justice, gender and behaviour change. This is was Liz has to say about the new series: “Affordable energy is…

Broadening public engagement with energy

3S researchers Jason Chilvers, Helen Pallett and Tom Hargreaves have today launched an important policy briefing calling for a new approach to public engagement with energy.   The UK Energy Research Centre briefing – entitled ‘Public engagement with energy: broadening evidence, policy and practice’ – translates findings from our Remaking Energy Participation project to policy-makers…

3S at the forefront of transforming social engagement with sustainability

On the 20th and 21st September, a Social Sustainability Summit organised by the 3S Research Group at the Enterprise Centre, UEA, will bring together a select group of leading thinkers and practitioners in sustainability, innovation, and public engagement from across different sectors to co-produce a set of guiding principles for transforming social engagement with sustainability.…

3S academic wins National Teaching Fellowship

A leading 3S academic at the University of East Anglia has been recognised for her exceptional teaching in sustainability, and has been named a National Teaching Fellow by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) today. Dr Gill Seyfang in UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences receives the prestigious title, which is the highest individual recognition for excellence in…

New article on Theoretical Theatre teaching innovation

  We’re proud to announce that our first pedagogical paper on 3S’s award-winning teaching method Theoretical Theatre, has been published in the Journal of Contemporary European Research, Vol 13 (3) 2017. Our teaching team in 3S has pioneered this exciting and effective teaching innovation, which is catching on across the country and the world. This…

3S Research stands the test of time

Research on local organic food systems by 3S’s Dr Gill Seyfang (Reader in Sustainable Consumption) is a ‘Classic Paper’ in the field of Sustainable Development. Dr Seyfang’s work is the 5th most-highly cited paper on Sustainable Development that was published in 2006. This is according to Google Scholar, whose ‘Classic Papers’ highlight the ten most-cited…

3S key insights launch

The 3S research group are launching our seven key insights resulting from our work on societal engagement with sustainability over the last five years. We believe these insights will help to transform social engagement with sustainability. Whether you see yourself as a policy-maker, an activist, a researcher, an innovator, a practitioner, a community organiser, an…

2017 Seminar Series

We are very proud to be organising the ENV Social Science Seminar series for 2017 with these upcoming talks – all welcome. ENV Social Science Seminar Series 2017 All seminars run on Wednesdays from 4-5.30pm Date Room Speaker name Organisation Talk title 01/02/17 TPSC 2.03 Phil Grunewald University of Oxford 8 ways of being flexible:…

Solidarity Economies

ENV Social Science Seminar Solidarity Economies: Geographies of social, solidarity and antagonistic economies – Peter North Wednesday 7th December 2016 TPSC 2.03 4.00 – 5.30pm This seminar addresses grassroots attempts to build socially inclusive and sustainable economies through what are variously called diverse or community economies.  It distinguishes between social entrepreneurship, using business skills to…

PhD Opportunities in 3S (apply by 16th January 2017)

Funding is now available for full or part-time +3 (PhD) or 1+3 (Masters and PhD) PhD studentships in the 3S research group as part of the South-East Network for Social Sciences (SeNSS) Doctoral Training Partnership. If you’re interested in applying for a PhD (whether +3 or 1+3) please contact either Dr Tom Hargreaves (tom.hargreaves@uea.ac.uk) or…

3S leads UEA’s Learning and Teaching Day 2016

3S members Gill Seyfang and Helen Pallett took to the stage recently for UEA’s annual Learning and Teaching Day (5th May 2016), to demonstrate Comedy in the Classroom, an exciting new teaching method which is growing and catching on across UEA and further afield. In an interdisciplinary School of Environmental Sciences, students who are more…

Mapping visions of low carbon energy transitions

In a new 3S working paper Noel Longhurst and Jason Chilvers undertake a comparative analysis of twelve diverse visions of UK energy transitions. The paper draws on research undertaken as part of the EPSRC-funded Realising Transition Pathways (RTP) project. Within this project the role of the 3S team has been to develop further insights into…

Innovative teaching in 3S leads the way

Comedy in the classroom – our award-winning innovative teaching in 3S – is leading the way at UEA right now. We made the front page of UEA’s quarterly Learning Highlights newsletter, which showcases exciting new developments and shares best practice. You can read more about it here, as Gill Seyfang’s feature explains the whys and wherefores…

New paper: Participation in Transition(s)

In a new open access paper in the Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning Jason Chilvers and Noel Longhurst set out a new framework that reconceives public and civil society engagement in energy transitions as co-produced, relational and emergent. The paper speaks to the urgent challenge of transitioning to sustainable low carbon energy systems and debates…

New 3S working paper on sociotechnical transitions: A relational co-productionist approach

A new 3S Working Paper by Jason Chilvers and Noel Longhurst develops a novel approach to understanding and intervening in sociotechnical system transitions, in domains such as energy and sustainability. The approach builds a relational and co-productionist understanding of system change – grounded theories from science and technology studies (STS) and wider social theory –…

3S leads new Comedy in the Classroom teaching innovation

Award-winning teaching led by 3S members in ENV is the centrepiece of a new website ComedyInTheClassroom.org which raises UEA’s profile as an exemplar of creative and innovative teaching. Dr Gill Seyfang created the website to showcase an exciting new teaching method which has the potential to transform teaching in higher education. Comedy in the Classroom…

New book ‘Remaking Participation’ out now

3S Chair Jason Chilvers’ new book Remaking Participation: Science, Environment and Emergent Publics is published this week by Routledge. The volume, co-edited with Dr Matthew Kearnes (School of Humanities and Languages, University of New South Wales, Australia), develops ambitious new theoretical perspectives on public participation with science, technology and the environment and offers important practical…

3S vacancy: Lecturer in Human Geography of the Environment

We are recruiting for a lecturer to join the 3S research group and contribute to our growing and vibrant research and teaching.  The University of East Anglia invites applications for a Lectureship in the Human Geography of the Environment in the School of Environmental Sciences.  The successful candidate will have a developing international research record in…

3S leads new BA Geography degree

UEA is now accepting applications for its new BA Geography degree based in the School of Environmental Sciences, which is being led by 3S faculty members. The degree complements our existing BSc Geography, and this new BA offers a broader range of human geography training, drawing on the world-leading expertise of 3S members. Dr Gill…

Unleashing Grassroots Innovations for Sustainability

The quest for sustainability’s holy grail will be the subject of a keynote presentation by Gill Seyfang (3S, UEA) at the European Society for Ecological Economics 2015 conference. Her challenge is to find the key to unleashing the transformative potential of grassroots innovations, such as sustainable money, food, energy, housing, transport and food systems, whose…

Freja Friis visits 3S from Aalborg

3S is delighted to welcome Freja Friis as a visiting PhD research scholar from March to May 2015. Freja is completing her PhD at the Danish Building Research Institute, a part of Aalborg University in Copenhagen, with Kirsten Gram-Hanssen as her supervisor. Freja’s PhD is a sociological study about how to integrate smart grid technologies…

Postcards from Community Energy

Community energy is growing and making a difference. All around the country, more and more people are getting involved in projects that develop sustainable energy in their communities, and researchers in 3S(Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group) in ENV have been studying the potential and development of this emerging sector. Through awareness-raising discussion groups, renewable energy co-operatives, and…