Towards socially inclusive environmental policy: concepts, insights and challenges

About this event

The transition to Net Zero marks a radical reshaping of many aspects of everyday life. It also has the potential to influence positively several social challenges: improving public health, reducing the effects of poverty, increasing wellbeing, and bringing communities together. However, these positive outcomes are by no means a given. Household on low incomes in particular are less resilient than ever following austerity, COVID 19 and the cost-of-living crisis, and the magnitude of change envisaged here risks being overwhelming. In this talk Lucie Middlemiss will combine conceptual work on social inclusion in Net Zero, and empirical insights from research in seven low-income communities in Leeds and Newcastle, following a series of workshops to understand their perspectives and concerns on this issue. The research team found that people’s ability to participate in net zero was shaped by the particular community they live in (due to its geographical location, local services and infrastructure), by their house (the building and its tenure) and home (the people they live with) as well as by their lack of funds. It is clear from our data that people are already acting on net zero, taking small measures that help them save money, with the support of family, community and employers. However, people have big concerns about their ability to participate in the more substantial changes they can see ahead. Lucie will reflect on policy in this field, and suggest some more productive, and socially inclusive, directions.

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