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This paper reports the study which explored the learning and teaching of the topics of climate change, sustainability and disaster risk reduction in secondary-level teacher education programs in England and Japan. Through interviewing teacher educators, the study particularly probed how teacher education programs used local knowledge and collaboration in discussing the above topics. Geography tends to be the main subject area for these global agendas, but its crammed curriculum is "an ongoing challenge" for teacher education. Some researchers demonstrate that university-based initial teacher education has "ignored" training teachers on how to implement environmental and sustainability education at schools. Besides, the inquiries into how initial teacher education equips geography teachers for the learning and teaching of disaster risk reduction are still scarce. This paper aims to fill this gap by bringing together the fields of geography education, climate change and sustainability education, disaster risk reduction education and initial teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climatic changes can cause unpredictability in flood regimes that traditional flood risk management (FRM) approaches may struggle with. Therefore, flood resilience is seen as a supplementation to these approaches, putting a larger emphasis on flood acceptance and minimising consequences. An (emergent) group contributing towards flood resilience is civil society. This paper examines how civil society contributions can be furthered and guided in the Netherlands as well as exploring potential limitations in doing so. To achieve this, England is used as a good practice example due to a more developed and defined role for civil society being present here. Data were collected on both actual (England and the Netherlands) and potential (The Netherlands) civil society contributions. These were compared to identify potential avenues for Dutch civil society contributions to flood resilience that can be further investigated. The research shows that the most promising avenues are improving advocacy from citizens, improving local flood awareness and developing relationships between FRM authorities and existing citizen groups that can be harnessed and mobilised to support flood resilience. Additionally, the research also provides insights into potential limitations for transferring resilience approaches from one context to another beyond the cases discussed in this publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1960s, development of the transport system has been framed by the notion of forecasting future demand. Yet the past decade or more appears to signal some significant changes to the role of travel in society which are having a material impact on how much people travel (and may travel in the future). Coupled with the potential for major technological changes and a range of climate adaptation scenarios, the future of mobility presents today's decision making on transport strategy and investment with a broader set of uncertainties than has previously been considered. This paper examines current mainstream practice for incorporating uncertainty into decision-making, through an illustrative case study of the highly codified approaches of the Department for Transport in England. It deconstructs the issue by first focussing on different ways in which there is an opening out or acceptance of new uncertainties and how this creates a (wider) set of potential futures. It then turns to consider how this set of futures is used, or not, in decision-making, i.e. the process of closing down uncertainty to arrive at or at least inform a decision. We demonstrate that, because the range of uncertainties has broadened in scope and scale, the traditional technocratic approach of closing down decisions through sensitivity testing is at odds with the greater breadth now being called for at the opening out stage. We conclude that transport decision-making would benefit from a rebalancing of technical depth with analytical breadth. The paper outlines a plausible new approach to opening out and closing down that is starting to be applied in practice. This approach must be accompanied by an opening up of the processes by which technical advice for decisions are reached and how uncertainties are understood and negotiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global increase in extreme weather events in recent years has spurred political scientists to examine the potential political effects of such phenomena. This paper explores effect of flooding on electoral outcomes and offers evidence that the impact of adverse events varies with changes in political context. Using a difference‐in‐differences identification strategy to analyse three consecutive general elections in the United Kingdom (2015, 2017 and 2019), the paper finds variability in partisan electoral benefit from one election to the next that calls into question the blind retrospection and rally‐round‐the‐leader explanations which are often advanced to account for electoral reactions to natural disasters. Instead, changing party positions on environmental issues appear to account more convincingly for shifts in electoral support in response to flooding. This suggests that parties can derive benefit from, or be punished for, the positions they take on environmental issues when extreme weather events affect citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea defence policy in England has proven contentious in the early twenty-first century, with government willing to defend the coast only where it is considered cost effective and not minded to compensate people for any resulting abandonment of homes. Additional focus is brought to this position by the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which reflect a growing emphasis on climate change effects and other environmental hazards, and the wellbeing of the current generation and those to come. This requires policy makers to seek to balance economic, social and environmental dimensions, and to tackle inequalities; with a central commitment of the goals to "leave no one behind". Subsequent to publication of the SDGs, England was promised a revolution in the government's approach to Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM). This paper seeks to understand the nature of this revolution with particular regard to extant issues around just governance. It finds that policy fails to deal with issues over the local acceptability of proposals for change and the bearing of risk, and instead lies principally in the elevation of the problematic concept of resilience and an accompanying ambivalence towards ideas of sustainability and sustainable development. International agreement that compensation should be paid to those countries suffering the worst effects of climate change, including sea level rise, suggests that adoption of a similar approach to vulnerable homeowners might be the more appropriate revolution and bring policy more into line with the aspirations of the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-stationary methods of flood frequency analysis are widespread in research but rarely implemented by practitioners. One reason may be that research papers on non-stationary statistical models tend to focus on model fitting rather than extracting the sort of results needed by designers and decision makers. It can be difficult to extract useful results from non-stationary models that include stochastic covariates for which the value in any future year is unknown. We explore the motivation for including such covariates, whether on their own or in addition to a covariate based on time. We set out a method for expressing the results of non-stationary models as an integrated flow estimate, which removes the dependence on the covariates. This can be defined either for a particular year or over a longer period of time. The methods are illustrated by application to a set of 375 river gauges across England and Wales. We find annual rainfall to be a useful covariate at many gauges, sometimes in conjunction with a time-based covariate. For estimating flood frequency in future conditions, we advocate exploring hybrid approaches that combine the best attributes of non-stationary statistical models and simulation models that can represent changes in climate and river catchments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to current and future climate change demands urgent, transformative adaptation, yet in many policy systems inaction continues to prevail. This paper examines apparent resistance to policy change and the persistence of business-as-usual through a 'lock-in perspective', which means that attention is paid to how reinforcing mechanisms drive stabilisation and resistance in policy systems. Offering a fresh synthesis of known lock-in mechanisms in the literature, this paper explores the role of those mechanisms in two empirical cases of coastal adaptation: England (U.K.) and Schleswig-Holstein (Germany). While several known lock-mechanisms are observable, some are newly identified in this adaptation context. We offer a critical reflection on the added value of the lock-in perspective for understanding policy stability. In turn, the identification of self- and mutually reinforcing mechanisms provides a much-needed foundation for targeted policy interventions and efforts to 'unlock' climate adaptation pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some seaside towns in England are among the very poorest parts of the country. How has this happened, after a century of rapid growth? And what can be done, first to stop and then to reverse the cycle of decline which has affected them, even in the context of climate change having an impact on coastal places? This paper looks at the history of seaside towns in three phases: a century of rapid growth; 50 years of dramatic decline; and the current state of fragile recovery. It examines the causes of that decline in terms of economic recession, social imbalance, physical dereliction and disconnection from the transport network. In the absence of a national strategy for seaside towns, it proposes a locally led agenda for regenerating England's struggling seaside towns, looking first at strategic imperatives and then at a number of practical actions. It draws throughout on real-world examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental and climate change education remains on the margins of education and climate change policy. This paper draws on Foucauldian theoretical resources to examine England's climate change education policy landscape and understand the causes of this marginalisation. Informed by policy historiography, we examine key events and shifts in climate change, education and environmental education since the turn of the millennium. Using policy archaeology, we 'excavate' the contemporary policy landscape and identify that: i) policy is lacking; ii) responding to the climate crisis is overlooked in education; iii) pro-environmental ambition is absent; and, iv) economic values dominate. In a global context where activists have called for 'more!' climate change education, the analyses reveal the complexity of the problem. A 'web of conditions' governing climate change education policy is illuminated. Foucault-informed analytical tools offer insights on how this web may be rebuilt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the challenging – and frightening – times in which we now live, education is seen as playing a key role in making change for the better. However, the Department for Education's (2022) strategy on education for sustainability and climate change, applicable to schools in England, is lacking in many areas and fails to address students', teachers', and teacher educators' priorities. Crucially, the environment and climate emergency greatly concerns many children and young people and these issues should be addressed across the whole curriculum, not just in geography and science. Further, there needs to be more focus on emotions rather than facts, wellbeing rather than the economy. So, the question is: How can we 'green' art, craft and design education to ensure it is both effective and affective? Art can change the world because it is 'homeless, endless, and edgeless' – this sounds exciting but does not aid teachers in curriculum design. In this paper I will share an emergent manifesto for an environmentally responsible art, craft and design (ACD) curriculum... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meat production and consumption are major contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions and other aspects of environmental degradation. It is the aim of this paper to explore red meat in the configuration of main meals eaten out in England across types and styles of cuisine, and to consider the implications for transition towards less resource intensive ways of eating in the future. We show that the odds ratio of eating a dish without red meat is significantly lower in North American/European and Near/Middle Eastern cuisines compared with East Asian (with no difference between South and East Asian), that women are more likely than men to eat fish and poultry (with no gender differences in vegetarian dishes), that Prestonians are the least likely to select a vegetarian dish, compared with people in London and Bristol, and that the odds of a vegetarian dish compared with red meat is higher amongst managerial workers compared with the routine manual workers (with no other statistically significant class differences). We suggest the term "translated cuisine" to refer cuisines that travel and become incorporated into the palate of the new food culture, and discuss how this could play a role in transitions towards less meat‐centred patterns of food consumption in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how personal experience of extreme weather events raises awareness and concern about climate change has important policy implications. It has repeatedly been argued that proximising climate change through extreme weather events holds a promising strategy to increase engagement with the issue and encourage climate change action. In this paper, we exploit geo-referenced panel data on climate change attitudes as well as natural variation in flood and heatwave exposure in England and Wales to estimate the causal effect of extreme weather events on climate change attitudes and environmental behaviours using a difference-in-differences matching approach. Our findings suggest that personal experience with both flooding and heatwaves significantly increases risk perception towards climate change impacts but has no effect on climate change concern or pro-environmental behaviour, on average. Moreover, the findings indicate that the effect of flooding on risk perception is highly localised and diminishes at greater distances. For heatwaves, we find that the effect on risk perception is driven by the recent salient summer heatwaves of 2018 and 2019. Having experienced both events also significantly increases climate change concern and pro-environmental behaviour, in addition to risk perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an example of the effect of climate and environmental and, therefore, landscape change on archaeological sites this paper sets out the positions of known prehistoric and Roman salterns in Lincolnshire (Eastern England) and the present condition and archaeological potential of such sites. Their current position – some recorded as surface finds and some sealed by later sedimentation – demonstrates the dynamic nature of wetland landscapes in various parts of Lincolnshire. Both freshwater and marine deposits have at times affected the salterns, sometimes in restricted zones and sometimes over extensive areas. Also considered are methodologies for discovering such sites. The paper is a case study of one type of coastal site in Lincolnshire and serves as an example of the localised and complex chronology of sedimentation and/or erosion episodes in just one area. It may reflect wider changes around the North Sea coast and raises issues of generic importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scale of the decarbonisation challenge and the short timeframes over which action is required demand urgent action. This paper is set within the surface transport sector, now the largest sector of emissions with the slowest pace of change in many advanced liberal economies. It focuses on the strategies and actions of local government which is recognised to be a central player in catalysing change. Our evidence is derived from the actions of two UK local areas which claim to be at the forefront of the decarbonisation challenge. The paper focuses on the role of funding and financial mechanisms in addressing the climate crisis. In the face of an established pattern of austerity and hollowing out of local government we explore how deep transformation is being envisaged. We find a recursive set of issues which derive from a dependence on funding from outwith. This dependence means that despite comprehensive overarching strategies and goals the funding available is the core of the strategy. This means that the nature of the funds, such as the requirement for experimentation, innovation or private sector leverage, defines direction. In turn, and to maintain success in attracting funds, there is an emphasis on presenting 'premium spaces of ambition' with little evidence of attention to broader systemic change. This duality is openly recognised. This paper advances a wider point that greater emphasis should be placed on the 'financialisation' of climate policy and the reality rather than the rhetoric of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the Upper Tigris River (UTR) drainage basin in Turkey for climate change impacted runoff estimations. Statistical downscaling method (SDM) is used by taking into consideration spatial dependence function (SDF) for the scenario precipitation projections at a set of available meteorology stations. Temporal adjustment between the climate scenarios and precipitation record time series is achieved by the white Markov (WM) stochastic process. Although various climate research center scenario data are considered, herein, only the general circulation model (GCM) A2 scenario data are adapted from the Hadley Center, England. The precipitation and runoff results are presented in decadal groups starting from 2001 to 2050 as cumulative monthly precipitation (CMP) and cumulative monthly runoff (CMR) graphs. It is observed that after 2021, precipitation decreases at about 12.5% and after 2030, it is 26%. Runoff projections indicate that they may decrease at about 30% especial after 2040. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought and water scarcity pose a risk to the economy, particularly sectors where water is a crucial input to the production process. This paper describes integrated simulations of water shortages from a dynamic national water resource systems model with a static economic input‐output (I‐O) model to assess total drought risk to the economy. To quantify the economic risks of drought and water scarcity, the analysis: (a) integrates a large ensemble of simulated meteorological droughts, propagated through a national hydrological model and water resource systems model to simulate water availability from reservoirs and groundwater; (b) assesses implications of restrictions on water availability for multiple water user categories, representing natural and human contributions to water scarcity; (c) investigates how water shortages propagate into economy‐wide direct and indirect impacts. The study focuses on England and Wales where the water supply system is considered under strain, with growing recognition of the economic risk of prolonged and widespread shortages. The direct Expected Annual Loss (EAL) to water users, averaged over an ensemble equivalent to 2800 years of synthetic daily weather, is estimated to be £11.7 million in the 2011 base‐year. Accounting for indirect economic losses results in a total EAL of £30.2 million in 2011. The most severe event simulated results in a total loss of £1.4 billion in 2011, equivalent to 0.11% of GVA. The analysis provides a framework to assess what the economically efficient level of system reliability should be, and for deciding upon appropriate water management regulations and strategic investments. Key Points: Simulated water availability from a national water resource system model are integrated with a macroeconomic model to assess drought riskThe use of a large ensemble of synthetic drought simulations supports the risk‐based analysis of direct and indirect economic lossesThe method supports national economic assessment of the implications of climate change and different water management strategies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely recognized that contemporary tourism mobility, notably flying, is incompatible with sustainability goals. Fundamental changes in travel behaviour are required. Research shows that environmental values have little impact on tourists' travel decisions and that voluntary behaviour change is unlikely. Therefore, policies encouraging transitions to sustainable tourism require a deeper and more context-specific understanding of factors influencing current carbon-intensive travel patterns. This paper responds to this need by adopting a social practice perspective to explore the gap year phenomenon, an increasingly popular activity for the British youth, often involving multiple long-haul flights. The social practice approach positions young people's travel decisions as not being simply individual, but shaped by existing conventions, normative expectations and facilitated/constrained by available resources. The paper draws on the findings from a multi-sited ethnographic study in England, which involved over 30 in-depth interviews with students and other relevant actors, content analysis of gap year materials and participant observation at gap year-related events. Social influences that shape the current long-haul character of gap year travel are examined, and a number of important actors involved in developing, sustaining and reproducing unsustainable behaviours are identified. The implications for policy strategies aimed at changing mobility behaviour are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the established climate, evaporation dominates eastern England's water regime, taking it near to desiccation in dry summers. Now, hotter drier summers are predicted - even more evaporation, coupled with less rainfall. If true, the reduction in summer water will be very large - far more than all abstractions put together, even by the 2020s. Thereafter, summer droughts will intensify and spread westwards, threatening river flows, agriculture and natural vegetation. In particular, irrigation need will escalate, with no summer water to meet it - a climate change impact that is being underperceived. This paper explores the scale of the issues and the adaptation options. It demonstrates synergy between the interests of agriculture and of water supply and calls for integrated strategic planning, with reservoirs and reuse high on the adaptation agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the December 2005 issue of the journal "Engineering Sustainability." There are four papers in this issue. Helen Bartlett and Peter Guthrie of the University of Cambridge, England, are concerned with the way sustainability is defined and interpreted in relation to the built environment. A paper by researcher Peter Guthrie and Jay Golden focuses on the implications of rapid urbanization and consequent summertime local climate change, as a result of the differential heating of hard urban surfaces.

Planning in England1 represents an important arena for the development and contestation of environmental discourses. Over the last century the changing assumptions about human-nature relationship have led to numerous meanings of “the environment” in planning. These have in turn influenced the choices made between: preserving, enhancing, protecting, compromising, trading, exploiting or guarding against, the environment. While recognizing the nuances of the environmental discourses, this paper identifies eight distinct meanings of the environment in contemporary plans including the environment: as local amenity, as heritage landscape, as nature reserve, as storehouse of resources, as tradable commodity, as problem, as sustainability and as risk. The latter has emerged as a result of growing climate change awareness. The paper argues that, while the emphasis on climate change mitigation has reinforced some aspects of the sustainability discourse, the adaptation agenda has introduced a new meaning of the environment as risk. This portrays the environment not so much in terms of assets to be sustained for human benefit, but in terms of threats against which human well-being should be safeguarded. Framed in the language of risk and security, this new discourse is bringing to the fore some of the outmoded approaches to planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the energy efficiency of the building sector is regarded as a key mitigation response to climate change in the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). The building sector represents the largest source of relatively quick and inexpensive CO2 emission reductions of any economic sector. Realising this potential also provides additional economic benefits, particularly in terms of increased energy security. This paper examines the implementation of the EU's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in England and Wales. It questions the potential effectiveness of the EPBD to deliver substantial emission reductions based upon shortcomings of the two main regulatory tools within the EPBD framework. The paper also draws from literature on the 'behavioural barrier' to energy efficiency that suggests that emission reductions will be unlikely in the absence of widespread change in the way in which energy is currently used by building occupants. The analysis is timely because transitioning this sector to low to zero carbon is regarded as integral to meeting emission reduction targets set for 2020 and 2050, and protecting against the risk of severe shortages in energy supply. The potential effectiveness of the EPBD is also significant because it is representative of the forefront of regulatory techniques to address a problem of the magnitude of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his paper in Climate Monitor, TML Wigley uses basic probability arguments to illustrate how a slowly changing climate could potentially affect the frequency of extreme events. In the time since the paper appeared, there has been increased interest in assessing how weather extremes may be altered by climate change. Much of the work has been conducted using extreme value analysis, which is the branch of statistics developed specifically to characterize extreme events. This commentary discusses the advantages of an EVA approach and reviews some EVA techniques that have been used to describe climate change’s potential impact on extreme phenomena. Additionally, this commentary illustrates basic EVA techniques in an analysis of temperatures for central England. In parallel to Wigley’s analysis, a time-varying EVA analysis is compared to a stationary one, and furthermore, the trend from the EVA analysis is compared to the trend in means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are now strong grounds for thinking that the rates of coastal processes will increase in the future, and that this speeding up is at least partly due to the impact of climate change on the coastline. The focus of this paper is on England only, primarily the impact of coastal change specifically upon archaeology rather than on the wider historic environment, but acknowledging, though not referencing here, the work of colleagues in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on coastal and marine survey which contributes so much to our understanding of the processes and impacts of coastal change. The paper discusses the different climate change impacts on the coastal and maritime historic environment, including direct physical impacts, indirect impacts that are a consequence of decisions taken now by coastal managers anticipating future climate change, and indirect impacts related to attempts at climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing society and the spatial planning system plays a crucial role in ensuring that important adaptations to the built environment are evaluated. Drawing upon a mixed-methods research approach, this paper explores the progress that has been made by the planning system in England in addressing the challenge of climate change adaptation in coastal urban areas. The results indicate that the adaptation produced through the planning system remains incremental rather than transformative. It is focused on experienced hazards, especially flooding, and there is a lack of attention being paid to wider impacts of climate change, such as rising average temperatures. Furthermore, it was found that the contemporary contribution of planning to climate change adaptation is seriously limited by the government's emphasis on housing and economic growth and by the development industry's emphasis on economic viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation presents particular challenges in urban areas, where historic and current investment in fixed stock and infrastructure might constrain adaptation. This paper explores how two elements of adaptive capacity - building that capacity and delivering adaptation actions - are likely to be constrained by wider social and economic factors affecting urban societies. Public open space in urban areas, although having a vital role to play under conditions of climate change, is already a contested policy area. Using the field of outdoor thermal comfort as an example of current adaptive behaviour, the paper reports on a study that examined the perceptions of thermal comfort of different users of public spaces in Manchester. It considers the implications of climate change scenarios for the ability to maintain thermal comfort in open spaces and examines the scope for physical intervention, such as through urban and built form design, to build adaptive capacity. However, it also explores possible scenarios of urban life under conditions of climate change and concludes that socio-economic determinants of access to and management of open space are likely to be of critical significance in delivering adaptation options, which are accessible to all and meet objectives of social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 14th-century Afro-Eurasian pandemic of plague, now often referred to as the Black Death, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. In England, it killed an estimated 30-60% of affected populations and emerged in the context of intense population pressures, increasing social inequality, increasing urbanization and changing global climatic conditions associated with the end of the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Thus, the prelude to and experience of the Black Death in England can provide a model for better understanding the confluence of urban environments, climate change, and emerging diseases. This paper presents analyses of skeletal data from people buried in several London cemeteries and who died before the Black Death emerged (c. 1000-1250 CE, n = 502) and specifically tests the hypothesis that health in general was on the decline prior to the Black Death in the context of climate change and subsistence crises, which might have implications for understanding why mortality during the Black Death was so extraordinarily high. The results of Kaplan-Meier survival indicate significant reductions in survivorship in the 13th vs. 11th-12th centuries. Simultaneously, rates of developmental stress markers (linear enamel hypoplasia and short adult stature) increased in the 13th century. Overall, these results suggest a health declined prior to the Black Death in England. Given that selective mortality during famines before the Black Death might have produced surviving cohorts with relatively low average frailty, more work needs to be done to clarify the connections between pre-pandemic conditions and outcomes during the Black Death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building stock is a major anthropogenic source of emissions contributing to global warming. Older buildings are conventionally portrayed as performing worse environmentally than more recent buildings. For a sector like tourism, which relies heavily on historic building stock, this raises questions about its ability to contribute to emission reductions moving forward. This paper explores the relationship between the age and environmental performance of historic premises for small accommodation businesses in South West England, first by correlation analysis and then three extensive case studies. It argues that the failure to integrate heritage buildings in tourism scholarship on climate change is a major lacuna. Empirically, no statistically significant relationship is found between environmental performance and the date when the original premises were first built. Far from being carbon villains, several accommodation providers in older premises perform very well against environmental benchmarking schemes. Three types of heritage accommodation providers are identified on the basis of their perceived and actual levels of environmental performance. This paper concludes that heritage building stock of itself is no impediment to action on climate change. Guidance to tourism businesses in such properties should make them aware of this, and provide tailored advice to help them realise potential opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asserts that three principal frameworks for climate change adaptation can be recognised in the literature: scenario-led (SL), vulnerability-led (VL) and decisioncentric (DC) frameworks. A criterion is developed to differentiate these frameworks in recent adaptation projects. The criterion features six key hallmarks as follows: (1) use of climate model information; (2) analysis of metrics/units; (3) socio-economic knowledge; (4) stakeholder engagement; (5) adaptation of implementation mechanisms; (6) tier of adaptation implementation. The paper then tests the validity of this approach using adaptation projects on the Suffolk coast, UK. Fourteen adaptation plans were identified in an online survey. They were analysed in relation to the hallmarks outlined above and assigned to an adaptation framework. The results show that while some adaptation plans are primarily SL, VL or DC, the majority are hybrid, showing a mixture of DC/VL and DC/SL characteristics. Interestingly, the SL/VL combination is not observed, perhaps because the DC framework is intermediate and attempts to overcome weaknesses of both SL and VL approaches. The majority (57 %) of adaptation projects generated a risk assessment or advice notes. Further development of this type of framework analysis would allow better guidance on approaches for organisations when implementing climate change adaptation initiatives, and other similar proactive long-term planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding is one of the UK's biggest risks, and changes to our climate with predictions of warmer, wetter and stormier winters will increase the risk further. The Environment Agency's National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England (2020) sets out ambitions to create climate resilience places and infrastructure for today's and tomorrow's climate. It works to the vision of 'a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change — today, tomorrow and to the year 2100'. Among many objectives set out, the strategy commits risk management authorities to mainstream the use and take-up of property flood resilience (PFR) — that is, those measures that aim to reduce the amount of water entering a property, and those adaptations that can be made to reduce damage if it does enter. The PFR sector has evolved over the last decade with varying success, limited uptake and perceptions of 'failure' through poor workmanship and an absence of guidance. In 2021 a new Code of Practice (CoP) was published, providing guidance on six standards: hazard assessment, property survey, options development, construction, commissioning and handover, and operation and maintenance. This paper explores the objective of the Code, its benefits and limitation, highlighting that while the Code remains voluntary, growing awareness and application by risk management authorities such as the Environment Agency (EA) and lead local flood authorities will help drive up standards. Consistent delivery to acceptable standards will meet homeowner and insurer needs, thereby building a body of evidence of successful delivery and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a succession of policy documents related to active travel published by the British government since the implementation of a National Cycle Network (NCN) in 1995. However, as the latest National Travel Survey (NTS) reveals, the number of journeys made by bike in the UK has remained steadfastly around only 2% (Department for Transport [DfT], 2018a). By using documentary analysis of the available official policy documents and statements, the aim of this paper is to make sense of the policies that have been published concerning active travel (AT) in England. This is done from a figurational sociological perspective. Three key themes emerge from the analysis: (1) the rhetorical, advisory level of the vast majority of the policies; (2) the reliance on a wide network of local authorities to implement AT policy; and (3) the focus placed on individuals to change their behaviour. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that despite a large number of policy publications from a range of government departments claiming to promote AT, little has actually changed in this time period in terms of a national agenda. Despite the successive policies, it seems there is little appetite on behalf of recent governments to make widespread infrastructural changes, where instead the focus has largely been on persuading the individual to seek more active modes of travel, increasingly for their own, individual 'health' gains. Highlights •The paper is based on documentary analysis of available official policy documents from UK government on active travel since 1996 • The findings reveal the largely rhetorical, advisory level of the vast majority of the policies, which contributes to a lack of overall success in promoting active travel • The lack of success is compounded further by a reliance on a wide network of local authorities to implement active travel policy, when most local authorities appear more concerned with transport issues related to motorised vehicles • The findings reveal that active travel policy has becoming increasingly focussed on health gains that might be made from increasing the number of trips made by bicycle • The overwhelming focus of the policy documents analysed, however, is on encouraging individuals to change their behaviour, a process regarded as 'healthism', and one most sociologists of health suggest is likely to fail as a result • We conclude by suggesting that if the government is serious about wanting to see a 'step change' in the way in which people travel, particularly over shorter distances, then there is a need to have a more forceful approach to implementing policy within local authorities at the same time as making more substantial infrastructure changes to encourage cycling [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The author reflects on the geostrategic goals of a nation-state and development plans and practices of London, England. He states that there are specific future geographies which can affect development reports, climate change graphs or inflation prediction. An overview of future in interrelations with past and present of linear or cyclical temporality is also presented.

This paper explores the development and application of a bespoke modelling and scenario tool to quantify the full greenhouse gas (CO2e) footprint associated with visitor activity and consumption. Designed for use by destination decision-makers, it helps understand the full CO2e impact of visitors, explores potential mitigation strategies and identifies emissions reduction possibilities. REAP Tourism can calculate direct and indirect supply chain emissions related to accommodation, travel, food, shopping, services, attractions, activities and events. This paper demonstrates the tool at a range of different geographic levels in South West England. Initial results show overseas visitors to have an impact of 196 kg CO2e per day, domestic overnight visitors having 49 kg and day visitors 48 kg. Further exploration shows the tool's ability to show the impact of different marketing/development scenarios on CO2e emissions including holidaying locally strategies, encouraging longer stays, buying local goods and encouraging low meat diets. Comparisons show that luxury weekend visitors have five times the daily impact of family holiday visitors and ten times those of back-packers. The strengths and weaknesses of the tool's methodologies and its range of outputs able to inform tourism policy and decision-making are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we show how a seemingly unremarkable object - a cattle grid - has come to presence climate change in partial and contingent ways on the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall, UK. We identify the cattle grid as an 'anticipatory object' through which conservation organisations seek to manage the future and adapt to climate change, but which at the same time presences that unthought-of future for others in the landscape. We explore the ways in which the cattle grid acts to presence something that is not only absent - climate change - but has uncertain imminence. We investigate the ways in which the cattle grid make climate relevant as an embodied and experiential process, a physical and intellectual artefact, and the means to imagine climate and the ways it might change. Drawing upon interpretative approaches informed by theorisations of materiality, presence and absence to understand climate change as a social phenomenon, we go beyond a consideration of this ordinary object defined by its function to consider how the object is experienced, the processes and practices through which people relate to it, and the ways in which social meaning accumulates around it. The empirical basis for this argument is provided by in-depth interviews with local representatives of Natural England, residents and farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly at the scale of cities, strategies and plans to respond to the challenges of climate change and constrained resources are being developed. A range of climate change plans, low-carbon strategies, peak oil preparations and so on have been developed, often with ambitious aspirations. At the same time, new and reconstituted “intermediary” organizational forms are working between the priorities of these plans and the contexts of their “application”. This is the movement between the “what” of the plans, strategies and preparations and the priorities they embody and the “how” of attempts at their accomplishment. Drawing on research in Greater Manchester, in this paper we examine the organizational contexts constituted for such a purpose and ask fundamental questions about whose priorities are being advocated, where and how this is organized and what the implications of this are for forms of urban transition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The National Health Service (NHS) Estate in England comprises more than 30 Mm2 with 18.83 Mm2 of acute hospital accommodation on 330 sites. There is concern about the resilience of these buildings in a changing climate, informed by the experience of recent heatwaves. However, the widespread installation of air conditioning would disrupt the achievement of ambitious energy reduction targets. The research project ‘Design and Delivery of Robust Hospital Environments in a Changing Climate’ is attempting to estimate the resilience of the NHS Estate on the basis of current and projected performance, using an adaptive comfort model. This paper presents results relating to a 1920s traditionally built block with open ‘Nightingale’ wards, a representative type. The paper demonstrates the relative resilience of the type, and illustrates a series of light-touch measures that may increase resilience while saving energy.Practical application: The results presented in this paper will be of value to NHS Trusts: Estates staff charged with operating buildings as well as Boards and others involved in decision-making. It will also find an audience with policymakers in central government and the Department of Health, as well as those who own, operate or are tasked with working on non-domestic buildings with heavy traditional construction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers the structure, regulation and performance of the water industry in England and Wales in the postprivatisation period from 1989. The paper examines the improvements achieved in drinking water and wastewater effluent quality and in the overall performance. The challenges facing the industry in the areas of water resource planning, energy efficiency and chemical consumption, arising from climate change, are also considered. The paper considers how the industry's current approach and attitude towards research and development (R&D) will influence its ability to meet the latest challenges laid down by the regulators. The paper calls for increased emphasis on, and incentive for, R&D in the water industry to ensure sustainable solutions in both water and sewage treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately half the world's population now lives in urban areas, and about 70% will be city dwellers by 2050. The IEA's World Energy Outlook 2008 estimates the global energy and energy related carbon dioxide (CO2) emission contributions of cities are 67% and 71% respectively. They therefore represent a concentration of carbon dioxide-emitting activities, but equally provide substantial opportunities for effective mitigation. Although international action on climate change is essential, local mitigation will deliver many of the carbon savings, and consequently, cities will play an important role. However, closing the gap between 'where we are now' and 'where we need to be' can be problematic, given the all-encompassing nature of the problem and its cause, and the long timescales involved. Using the example of Bristol in south west England, this paper presents a methodology to overcome such a problem. By engaging local stakeholders through an innovative Delphi-like process, a number of low-carbon scenarios for the future city-region can be imagined. By subsequently using backcasting techniques, together with conventional forecasting, a robust pathway from the present to a future desirable low-emission city can be described. This will bring benefits to planning and policy making, by providing a low emission-pathway beyond the short term, and creates buy-in from key stakeholders through the Delphi-process, who have helped to define the city's future [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change will bring more severe and frequent floods to the Upper Thames River basin. The city of London, with a population of over 350,000, is one of the most vulnerable locations in the basin. This paper presents an original methodology used to prepare the input for flood risk assessment under climate change. The methodology involves integrated climate-hydrologic-hydraulic modeling analyses for floodplain mapping under the changing climatic conditions. Using 43 years of historical data at 15 stations in the Upper Thames River basin and global circulation model predictions, the potential climate change impacts on flood risk in the basin are provided. The results indicate that, under climate change, the extent of flood impacts will be larger (larger areas inundated with larger water depth), and will therefore increase the level of risk to public infrastructure. Results of the study are being used in a quantitative assessment of risk to the municipal infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A homogenized 76-year daily-mean temperature series is presented for Moor House, an upland peatland meteorological station in northern England, which provides the longest instrumental temperature record in the UK uplands. This paper assesses trends in the temperature record over time compared to the nearby lowland temperature record at Durham. Overall warming for 1991-2006 compared with 1931-1960 and 1961-1990 was approximately the same at the upland site (0.53 °C and 0.73 °C for the two time periods, respectively) as at Durham (0.61 °C and 0.71 °C), maintaining a similar lapse rate. However, winter warming is dominant at Moor House and more pronounced and concentrated over a shorter period than at Durham; summer warming is more prominent at Durham. Therefore, seasonal lapse rates have changed and become more divergent between winter and summer half-years. Rather than changes in the dominance of particular air-masses over the study area accounting for seasonal lapse rate changes, there had been significant steepening of lapse rates over time for some air flow types. Minimum temperatures have increased more than maximum temperatures at Moor House with a consequent significant reduction in diurnal range. At Durham minimum and maximum temperatures have changed in approximate tandem so that there is no significant change in diurnal temperature range. The frequency of air frosts reduced by approximately 23% (from 129 days per year to 99) at Moor House from 1991-2006 compared to 1953-1980, and this may have major implications for the functioning of terrestrial and aquatic systems in the region. These results demonstrate that while overall annual warming in the uplands and lowlands within particular regions may be similar, even where annual lapse rates have been maintained, the seasonal distribution of that warming may be quite different even over short distances and so lowland records are not a reliable indicator of regional upland temperature change. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dune slack habitats are highly dependent on the availability of water to support flora and fauna. Typically this is provided by shallow groundwater. This paper describes the seasonal and long term variation in groundwater levels in part of the Sefton coastline between 1972 and 2007. The effects of climate change, vegetation management and coastline realignment on groundwater levels are modelled. The observed annual water table levels rise and fall with an amplitude of 1.5 m, but longer term variations and trends are apparent. A stochastic water balance model was used to describe the changes in water table levels in slack floors in the open dunes and also in areas afforested with pine trees. It was found that the pine trees evaporated 214 mm/year more than open dunes vegetation, resulting in the water table being 0.5–1.0 m lower under the trees than under the open dunes. The effects of climate change on the ground water was simulated using predictions of future climate conditions based on the UKCIP02 medium high emissions scenario. The increase in temperature and change in rainfall patterns will result in a decrease in mean ground water levels by 1.0–1.5 mm in the next 90 years. Typical patterns consist of sequences of 5–10 years of low water table levels interspersed by infrequent sequences consisting of 2–5 years of relatively high or “normal” levels. These results indicate that that flora and fauna that cannot survive a 5–10 year period of water table levels >2.5 m below ground level are unlikely to survive or persist in many slack areas and a change in the ecology of these slack may become inevitable. Other effects of climate change include sea level rise which will result in a gradual rise in water table levels. Coastal erosion will increase the water table gradient to the sea and result in a slight lowering of the ground water levels. Conversely coastal accretion will reverse this process. The spatial distribution of coastal erosion and accretion along the Sefton coastline and its likely impacts on groundwater levels are discussed. The modelling work described in this paper has identified the factors which have the largest effect on groundwater levels in temperate coastal dune systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the current state of public debate concerning the problems of 'climate change' and 'peak oil'. Following a short analysis of what is at stake, a number of documents are reviewed, together with the public reception which some of these have encountered. There is still almost no admission that effective action to halt global warming will mean putting the global economy into sharp reverse and that peak oil will in any case have the same effect. As the political process gradually comes to acknowledge at least the basic facts, so an increasing literature of denial is appearing to reassure the public that there is nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, the 'Transition Towns/Cities' movement, that does acknowledge the challenge, is spreading rapidly amongst a certain segment of the population and involving many local authorities. However, the academic world of urban concern has yet to open its eyes to what lies in store. The paper ends with a brief analysis of the current planning process in London showing that the challenges are apparently accepted but what this will mean in terms of altered future reality and how to plan in that context is still absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Cross-cultural studies are particularly relevant in the context of climate change, given its pervasive character and the growing demand for climate change mitigation at both global and local levels. This paper reports on findings from comparative cross-cultural mixed-methods research eliciting perceptions of the future among citizens in Norwich (UK) and Rome (Italy). The paper explores how individuals at the two locations interpret socio-economic and climate scenarios, and how they relate environmental change to human behavior. Attitude segmentation was found to be similar in both localities. Although most participants in both locations realized the benefits of a future centered on sustainable resource use and societal welfare, individuals' attitudes and considerations about the future were not largely influenced by the scenarios. Discussions revealed that the credibility of the projections depended on individuals' prior beliefs and their trust in the science portrayed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Are you going to tell me off for flying?' This question was asked three times by a lady in South Manchester, England, when we asked her to participate in our qualitative in-home study on flying. She asked it once when we approached her in the street to ask if we may interview her. She asked again when we phoned to confirm the time and address of the interview, and she asked it a third time while serving tea and biscuits at the beginning of the interview. Needless to say we had given absolutely no indication that the interview would pass 'judgment' on her flying activities. The lady had undertaken six return trips by air for leisure in the previous year, and in the final section of the interview commented 'I will have a conscience, but I won't not fly to Miami...'. As this one example shows, the frequent flying/environmental impact question is currently a hot topic. It brings forth a cocktail of rich unprompted discussion and a mixed bag of responses, it has become emotionally charged and polemic. Accounts and justifications concerning frequent flying range from surprise that a taken-for-granted everyday activity which until very recently had been considered a culturally desirable thing to do, has suddenly become frowned upon; to a sense of almost guilty pleasure, apology and, at its extremes, defiance. What the significance and explanation for this might be in sociological terms is the focus of this paper. The answers are important, in particular for policy stakeholders seeking to curb consumption behaviours as one of a portfolio of emissions reduction strategies. It is to the policy audience that this paper primarily speaks. It also provides a quite different - out of the box - insight and contribution to the aviation and emissions debate, which complements the more 'supply side' technology and research and development focused papers which dominate the aviation and emissions-reduction literature currently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the scientific evidence of climate change is increasingly accepted by decision makers at an international and national level, mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change requires action at a local level. This paper looks at the way in which decoupling economic growth from environmental impact can be achieved through encouraging local authorities to influence resource management within their locality. The paper highlights the amount of waste produced by the commercial and industrial sectors within the UK, and businesses' apparent inefficient use of their resources, which, due to legislative and fiscal drivers, can cost businesses in terms of their bottom line, their competitiveness, and the environment. However, the extent to which a local authority uses its leadership role depends on local political decisions. Decision making at the local level is critical to helping businesses plan their use of resources. This paper identifies how local authorities can provide direct and strategic support to local businesses, and by so doing divert significant material away from landfill, prevent virgin material from being used and, importantly, save businesses money. If this work is to be truly effective, industrial symbiosis must be built into the spatial and economic planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is already having impacts on biodiversity within Europe, with habitats and species needing to change and adapt to rising global temperatures and shifts in bio-climatic zones. Spatial planning represents an important intervention to further European, national and local biodiversity objectives for climate change adaptation. Drawing on case-studies of plans for inland and coastal areas, and involving stakeholder workshops, this paper reports on a trans-national study examining the scope of spatial plans in the Netherlands, England and France in addressing the impact of climate change. It concludes that spatial planning is making provision for biodiversity and dynamic natural processes. However, while good practice in planning for biodiversity under conditions of climate change is developing, systematic use is not being made of available procedures. The paper examines some of the barriers to implementation of this new policy commitment to climate change adaptation. Recommendations are made covering policy development to include climate change impacts upon biodiversity, modified procedures for plan-making and the appraisal of plans and projects. Amongst the specific measures recommended are the climate-proofing of projects and plans through the use of EIA and SEA; the integration of plans through adoption of common objectives and review of time horizons and boundaries; and an ecosystem-based planning approach. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a threat to human health and life, both now and in the future. Despite this, studies show that the public typically do not consider the issue a priority concern or a direct, personal threat. Furthermore, few are taking any preventive or protective action. Previous studies identify direct experience as a major influence on risk perception, learning and action. Drawing on such evidence, this paper focuses on the intangibility of climate change as a key impediment to personal engagement and explores whether relevant experiences of flooding and air pollution influence individuals' knowledge, attitudes, risk perception and behavioural responses to climate change. Perhaps surprisingly, interviews and a survey conducted in the south of England indicate flood victims differ very little from other participants in their understanding of and responses to climate change, but that experience of air pollution does significantly affect perceptions of and behavioural responses to climate change. Air pollution victims are no more likely to cite pollution as a cause of climate change than non-victims; but they do have higher pro-environmental values. Respondents with these values are significantly more likely to consider climate change a salient risk and to take action in response to it. Therefore the relationship between air pollution experience and responses to climate change may be indirect and mediated by environmental values. The paper concludes by highlighting implications of this research for developing climate change policies and strategies for public engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an assessment of the ways in which water supply companies in England and Wales are adapting to climate change, evaluated in the context of a model of the adaptation process. The four components of the model are (i) awareness of and concern about the potential impacts of climate change, (ii) adaptation strategy, (iii) the concept of an adaptation space from which options are selected, and (iv) the notion that three groups of factors influence awareness, strategy and option selection: susceptibility to change, internal characteristics of the organisation, and regulatory and market context. Public water supply in England and Wales is provided by private sector companies, subject to environmental and economic regulation. Hydrological simulations suggest that climate change has the potential to reduce the reliability of supply sources over the next few decades. The industry in December 2004 completed a review of investment requirements over the next five years. Awareness of climate change is high in the water industry, but by developing assessment procedures and incorporating them into the investment review the regulators forced companies to consider explicitly the potential impacts of climate change in a consistent and rigorous manner. These analyses combined climate change with other pressures on water resources, and in practice companies did not attribute specific investment decisions or proposals to climate change or indeed any other individual drivers. The broad strategy adopted by all water supply companies - to maintain standards of service - is determined by regulatory controls and market considerations, but the degree of concern about the impacts of climate change and precise adaptation options necessary to address supply-demand imbalances varied between water supply companies, reflecting local geographic conditions. The water supply companies and regulators have different perspectives on the relative merits of supply-side and demand-side measures, reflecting different organisational priorities. The 2004 investment review determined that no specific actions were necessary to deal with future climate change, but that measures set in place - in terms of methodologies and investment in investigations into specific resource developments - provided a sound foundation for more specific actions in the next investment review in five years time. The paper concludes by summarising the factors assisting and constraining adaptation over the next few decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]