Delivering Ecological Justice

Understanding the Impact of Human Activity

Through our Delivering Ecological Justice projects we seek to improve the way we interact with our environment. We enable policymakers, practitioners, and the wider public to understand the impact of human activity on the environment and to take steps to make environmental activities more sustainable and sensitive to ecological needs. Our research is developed in partnership with research users. We draw upon research within and across the natural and social sciences to provide clear and informative policy relevant advice.

This research is used to:

• Evidence policy change
• Developing the skills and understanding of practitioners
• Shape future social and natural research with a view to enhancing a more just use of our environment

Key Projects

Luxor Living Lab – This project’s overarching objectives are to facilitate knowledge growth and research capability in Egypt around the use of digital technology in preserving, protecting, and sustaining the tangible and intangible heritage of Luxor. The project aims to protect heritage context to ensure the local culture remains meaningful and memorable for local people.

Community and Ecosystem Ecology – Work within this sub-theme applies rapidly advancing ecological understandings to a range of natural and human modified landscapes to enable better actions that optimise landscape multi functionality, balancing nature conservation and societal demands, to better inform policymakers and practitioners.

Ecological Justice at Sea – This project, led by Professors Barnes and Kirk aims to improve the regulation of the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity and fisheries as well as improving the regulation of activities (particularly land-based activities) which cause pollution of our seas, including plastics pollution; and the human rights of seafarers.

The Production of Normativity (or what causes individuals, companies and states to comply with laws) – This project led by Professor Kirk provides key insights into how to ensure companies and states in particular respond to, for example, calls to greater energy efficiency, calls to reduce pollution, or calls for greater accountability for our actions. The built environment. This work explores issues from urban adaptation to climate change to reducing the environmental impact of buildings and cities, and relationships between the cultural, social and spatial characteristics of built environments and communities and spans research from the School of Architecture to the School of Law and School of Geography.