The research is one strand of a wider public funded EPSRC/ESRC research project in the UK called Lowcarbonworks. Lowcarbonworks is a project consortium involving academic and industry partners that is being led by the University of Bath. This 3-year project started in 2006. Through the project we are trying to make a contribution to carbon reduction by understanding the processes by which low and zero carbon technologies get adopted.
Our research rests on the assumption that the barriers to the uptake of low and zero carbon technology are not technological, but they are social, organisational, political and psychological. The purpose of the project is to help organisations seize the opportunities that new technologies offer as well as to help them notice, explain and manage barriers they may encounter.
This Local Authority - Learning History strand of the research, is a PhD project that is focussing particularly on technology-related innovation for carbon reduction in Local Authorities. You can read a story about the background to this Learning History research strand here. From Sept 2006- Jan 2008, five detailed Learning Histories of well known examples of low carbon innovation in Local Government were written.
Then in Feb 2008, we got together with some 30 Local Authority practitioners and interested stakeholders in hear their reactions to the Learning Histories and also to hear what their experiences were. Much of what is on this website relates to the comments, stories and analysis that came out of that workshop. These are put together with research findings then to make up a "joint learning history". "Joint" because it is created by participants and researcher. "Learning" because the purpose is to aid and speed up learning as to how best to address climate change. And "History" because it is charting right now, what people are doing in Local Authorities to address climate change. In 10 years time, this will already be History.
The idea of this Blog as a Learning History is explained here. I will gradually fill this dedicated online blog website with the research findings. It is a work in progress. As a reader you can watch this process unfold and hopefully contribute your own findings and comments.
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