Water Energy Food: STEPPING UP

Lead Research Organisation: University of Manchester
Department Name: Mechanical Aerospace and Civil Eng

Abstract

More and more people agree that current systems of water, energy and food provision are on an unsustainable course. Policy and decision makers are concerned that overuse of land, high levels of emissions, increasing inequality, unhealthy diets, more frequent extreme weather events and other challenges, threaten food, energy and water availability and security and place pressure on the economy. Moreover, with targets to cut carbon emissions and climate change impacts elevating uncertainty over how resilient our food, water and energy systems are, stakeholders from industry, government, and civil society, are looking for support and help to make 'good' decisions.

Typically, options for solving problems facing the food, water or energy sectors are assessed in isolation; e.g. exploring how to meet energy needs, whilst overlooking the implications for water use, or setting targets to change land-use, ignoring knock-on impacts for agriculture, water and energy. This 'siloed' mindset is unable to grasp interconnections between these systems, or explore the benefits or trade-offs apparent when exploring one or another issue. Whilst governance structures struggle to take more of a rounded, systems view, there exist real examples in the UK of low impact across water, food and energy systems - at the 'nexus' of Water-Energy-Food (WEF). These examples can be found operating at many scales - from household, community or small business, up to local authorities, catchment areas or large corporations. Although there are important technical reasons why any particular example succeeds, there are many other things that are important for innovation. It could be an unusual system for buying something, such as online marketplaces like the Gleaning Network, that offers farmers and consumers a way of bypassing conventional food supply networks. It could also be because of an inspirational leader or team of committed people.

Understanding what makes innovations have low-impact at the WEF nexus is the first aim of our project. The second is to find out if it is possible to reproduce the conditions for a low-impact WEF nexus at a larger scale, replicate them in other situations, or proliferate them more widely at a smaller scale. Amplifying or multiplying 'good practice' in this way is believed to have the potential to deliver a step-change in terms of impact and resource use. We will also dig deeper into the power structures, behaviours and other important components of governance that can lead to a transformation.

To achieve our aims, we bring together a team with expertise across water, food and energy with physical science, engineering and social science backgrounds. This team will build models of a few case studies that have achieved low-impact across the WEF nexus. These models will not only capture physical attributes such as the source of electricity or food supply chain, but also be able to model how governance, power and behaviour have influence. By considering what might change over time - e.g. rainfall - the model will not only test if an innovation can operate at another scale, but also if it works under changing conditions. The data gathered will involve building solid relationships with stakeholders involved with our case studies, as well as a wider set of policy and decision makers. These stakeholders will be involved directly in the research through workshops and interviews. They will also have an opportunity to work with researchers to build a tool that uses both the findings from the modelling exercise and stakeholder views, to provide assistance with strategic decision making of relevance at different scales. The research will deliver a package of robust numerical and descriptive insights alongside a formal decision support tool and findings will be shared widely with academic as well as government, industry and civil society audiences.

Planned Impact

A wide range of stakeholders will benefit from the outcomes of this research. Examples are listed below with reference to particular groups.

Policymakers
With relevance across water, food, energy, environment, in addition to well-being, mobility and industry, many UK government departments can benefit from this research. Those most closely aligned include: the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the Department for Transport and the Department of Business Innovation and Skills. Other government-linked advisory groups or tiers of government who will receive evidence and advice based on our research, or engage directly as key stakeholders at appropriate points in the project, include the UK Committee on Climate Change, devolved administrations, local government and the agencies of the above (e.g. Environment Agency). And at a higher level of governance, the European Commission's DG Environment and DGs with interests across the nexus. These stakeholder groups will benefit through access to workshops, participating in decision-making research processes, and being able to co-produce the Decision Support Tool that will be an important output for decision makers across stakeholder groups. Furthermore, research findings will be 'used' as the team submits formal evidence to Select Committee inquiries, informing processes around, for instance, the UK's low-carbon transition, future-proofing infrastructure or improving community well-being. With a track record in engaging in this way in the past, this type of policy impact is an important element of our remit.

Industry and business
It is essential for STEPPING UP that we seek examples of the low-impact nexus within industry as well as at a community or higher governance scale. Recognising that all industries and businesses are different, it is also the case that many of these actors are already seeking advice on long-term strategic decision making, given their perception of future uncertainty, resource depletion and economic instability. By bringing these actors into our research programme, the pathway to achieving our results will be more readily accessible. Furthermore, the tools developed will be aimed at many audiences, with industry and business an essential stakeholder. Our decision support tool will be co-developed to meet the needs of those engaged in the process, and as a result provide much greater benefits than interventions designed in isolation from the user.

Civil society organisations
This research project goes directly into communities and groups/organisations to explore what constitutes, drives and supports a low-impact WEF nexus. Relevant stakeholders will be invited to participate in the research, and as a result have the benefit of seeing first hand how the findings develop. Moreover, they will be able to directly shape the kind of decision support tools that can assist them and other groups in up-scaling or replicating good practice. Such benefits are envisaged within the timeframe of the project itself. In particular, NGOs will both benefit from and assist with the impact of research that chimes with their own interests. The broad scope of this work will have appeal across many interest groups, but perhaps core amongst them will be Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Academic researchers
There is already a growing group of researchers engaged in WEF nexus thinking, including the ESRC's Nexus Network, but also large projects and networks that will have interest in our research outcomes, such as the Adaptation and Resilience to a Changing Climate Coordination Network (ARCC-CN) and the Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC). Increasingly, information about each others' research projects can be gleaned from alternative forms of communication such as networking events, workshops and virtual communications such as Twitter and ResearchGate.

Publications

10 25 50

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Mahabadi Z (2023) A survey of multilayer networks modelled to assess robustness in infrastructure systems in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Smart Infrastructure and Construction

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Matthews B (2023) DAFNI: a computational platform to support infrastructure systems research in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Smart Infrastructure and Construction

 
Description This is a large collaborative project with several integrated work packages. Some of the discoveries are specific to a particular work package, and others cut across either several packages or the entire project.

Overall, the project is aiming to explore the conditions for up-scale innovations that are currently niche, but that have the potential to provide environmental, social and economic benefits, both now and in the future.

A significant stream of work has focused on developing an understanding of niche innovations at the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus, and exploring the conditions that enable up-scaling. Through case studies of niche innovations at the WEF nexus and engaging with stakeholders within and around those innovations, a significant pool of knowledge has been acquired, and also used to inform the work of other parts of the project. The niche innovations include farming insects for food, anaerobic digestion and mechanisms for sharing surplus food. Stakeholder interviews conducted to find out about different types of innovation at different scales, highlighted multiple different dynamic socio-technical interconnections and tensions which have been shared with other work packages to support and inform their research, and likewise the outputs from research across the project are being shared with the stakeholders. This two-way engagement is novel, and specifically organised to meet with the project's objectives.

One element of specific activity relating to the innovations is an assessment of environmental benefit as compared with existing practices. Through work with a company rearing insects for use as human food, a life cycle assessment of the environmental impacts of rearing insects is being developed. The research aims to highlight the benefits that insects may bring as part of the Western diet. It will further highlight the environmental implications of rearing insects within the UK (where they are not native), as opposed to a warmer climate where they are native and importing to the UK.

In addition to assessing how and why certain niche innovations are successful in the present day, the projects aims to consider those innovations within different future contexts - incorporating a sense of a dynamic system. The work examines the implications of social, technological and climatic changes for innovations with benefits across the WEF nexus. The research shows that the implementation of innovations and the achievement of their potential benefits are both conditional on changing social and technological conditions. Yet the future of these conditions is fundamentally uncertain.

To explore these uncertainties, a novel methodology for participatory scenario analysis has been developed. The method involves building upon existing insights across the literature on water, energy and food (both academic and grey), and engaging with stakeholders to interrogate scenario narratives and extend understanding of the implications of future change for existing examples of nexus-innovation. In October 2017, researchers from the University of Manchester gathered a group of 32 participants (including nine of the Stepping Up team) to examine the future of our niche innovations in the WEF nexus. Scenario planning is a proven method for understanding uncertainty, enabling different possible futures to be visualised and supporting decision-making in spite of uncertainty. However, to date, there few scenarios that consider how changing circumstances might affect the WEF nexus.

Our novel methodology for rapid scenario analysis enabled a rich, multi-dimensional understanding of the implications of social, technological and climatic change for nexus-innovations, to explore the interconnections and tensions arising and unravel the challenges and opportunities that different futures present. We also examined how changes in policy, business, society and technology might support effective scaling up of nexus innovations in each scenario.

With an objective of the project to consider quantitatively, as well as qualitatively how niche innovations up-scale within different and dynamic contexts, another focused element of activity involves interrogating one of the innovations more deeply - anaerobic digestion. A new Agent Based Model has been created of Lincolnshire that has demonstrated the value of diffusion of anaerobic digestion over the next 35 years for different decision-making priorities. The future conditions are informed by the scenarios developed with our stakeholders. We have also scaled up the anaerobic digestion model for the whole of the UK and are demonstrating the impact of alternative future scenarios on the diffusion of anaerobic digestion.

Finally, an important aspect of our research is to develop tools for decision makers, to assist with understanding the challenges and opportunities for up-scaling niche innovations in the WEF nexus space. A new decision-making framework has been developed to support an explorative decision making process. This has linked the Agent Based Modelling for Lincolnshire with a Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) tool to assess alternative patterns of action within a given sustainability initiative (innovation) context. The focus is anaerobic digestion, for which effective spatial patterns (number and size of facilities) and diffusion rates (linked to policy initiatives) are sought. Effectiveness is assessed via a set of indicators measuring impact and benefits on WEF nexus function. TOPSIS (MCDA technique) is used to rank alternative solutions within a scenario, based on decision criteria weightings.
Exploitation Route Researchers are continuously engaging stakeholders within the work, with over twenty interviews conducted with Anaerobic Digestion stakeholders, including small businesses (Qube Renewables), broader networks (ADBA, LEAF, Surrey County Council) and policymakers (e.g. Defra). This engagement is leading to impact in terms of raising the profile of Water-Energy-Food nexus research, illustrating that academics are not so siloed in disciplines as traditionally considered. Other emerging impacts from this engagement includes engaging with trade associations in order to try to identify the best outputs for the research so that it may feed into future technology development (e.g. ADBA discussions, or ADNetwork disucssions). As a result of this engagement, a workshop run by the Stepping Up project will be held in collaboration with ADBA at their Research and Innovation Forum which has in the past attracted 100 delegates. In addition, through networking the team has been approached to work directly with Defra to explore nexus issues impacting on water management across households and farmers. The scope of this work is being determined at present.

The data collected has been used throughout the project work packages, specifically informing the Decision Support Tool, and will be of use particularly to organisations working in the topics of the case studies. For example, the engagement of the trade bodies Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association or Woven (insects), research groups such as Adnet (part of BBSRC), local authorities (e.g. Surrey CC) and commercial and charitable stakeholders such as Monkfield Nutrition (insects), Malaby Biogas (anaerobic digestion), FareShare (surplus food recovery) will benefit the propagation of the respective innovations within the UK. The decision support process described can equally be applied to other innovations beyond those studied here. The Agent Based Model can be integrated with other uses of waste food to demonstrate competition for this waste stream, e.g. social recovery of waste, gasification/pyrolysis/other technologies converting waste to energy. The model could also be used in the DAFNI project (part of UKCRIC - data and analytics facility for national infrastructure) to show the effect on water and energy. Results from the life cycle assessment of rearing insects within the UK and the resultant highlight of negative environmental hot spots within the rearing process, will benefit those seeking to maximise the sustainability of rearing insects, as well as offering potential financial gains (where cost and environmental impact align, such as energy use). They may be used by individual companies seeking to reduce environmental benefit, or streamline production; by companies and advocacy groups (such as Forum for the Future, or WWF) seeking science based information to market and propagate the sale of insects as a more sustainable source of protein than more traditional animal proteins.
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

Communities and Social Services/Policy

Energy

Environment

Government

Democracy and Justice

Transport

URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk
 
Description Overarching findings and how they have been used. 1. Context is vital: Policy responses to global environmental challenges must consider social, geographical and governance contexts to ensure new innovation diffuses in a productive way. The scale and diversity of a particularly innovation - such as the size and shape of a particular anaerobic digestion plant - influences both the success and fit of this 'solution' within any specific context. Overlooking context-specific challenges can lead to 'one size fits all' solutions that will unlikely succeed. While it may be more costly in the short-term, designing context specific solutions to environmental problems, that can be moulded and shaped as contexts change, is a more sustainable approach than is typical today. Contextual nexus analysis requires user-specific decision support tools, underpinned by transferable methods, able to deliver the most relevant solutions to a particular problem. Findings from this project are now feeding into specific work on UK ports, considering context as a key aspect. For example, this has resulted in Aberdeen Port working with academics to secure a demonstrator project under the ZEVI Innovate UK competition, where shore-power is now being constructed. Analysis of the project will continue to be conducted by the project team to inform other elements of 'upscaling' as per the findings in our original research project; noting that context is key. 2. The decision support method used in Stepping Up explores trade-offs between water, energy and food challenges by first considering the context of the problem, now and in future, building an appropriate systems model and then complementing the process with visualisation tools. The systems model (in our case the Agent Based Model) needs to go beyond what is offered in a conventional modelling tool by incorporating critical stakeholder reflection on how future changes in society might practically influence people's lives, and the possible implications of this for innovation diffusion. This provides a framework to consider a wide context, delivers more plausible insights than conventional approaches, and avoids the prioritisation of financial aspects that can stifle innovation. Building in stakeholder reflections continues within other projects conducted by one of the core researchers funded through STEPPING UP, for example, through her role as a Co-Investigator within the CAST Centre and work funded by the water industry, where her stakeholder-embedded research practice has led to a greater understanding of the treatment of 'unflushables' with Anglian Water. 3. A necessary element of the decision support was the novel methodology for participatory scenario analysis. By recognising that the future is fundamentally uncertain, our approach enabled a rich, multi-dimensional understanding of the implications of social, technological and climatic change for nexus-innovations. This helped us to explore the interconnections and tensions arising and unravel the challenges and opportunities that different futures present. Failing to consider the future context in which an innovation is set, is to fail to develop solutions that will benefit future society. This finding continues to be used by ensuring that projects, whether they are research projects or consultancy work, does not consider climate mitigation as isolated from the ongoing changes as a result of rising global temperatures. 4. Accepting blurred boundaries: Boundaries between energy, water and food systems are increasingly blurred, both physically and in political terms. Good decision-making requires more reflexivity than in the past to accommodate this new complexity. Analysis beyond domain boundaries provides a way to better understand how innovations may or may not work. Tools such as scenario planning can help researchers and stakeholders alike to identify potential negative unintended consequences for wider society and other sectors of decisions targeting a single domain (e.g. energy). Complementing quantitative assessments with participatory methods highlights that stakeholders can immediately connect technical innovation to a wide range of social, political and institutional factors in ways that conventional models are unable to. This highlights the real value of stakeholder engagement for good decision-making in a complex world. In terms of impacts, multiple follow-on projects have continued to embed stakeholders in research, from CAST, to projects on shipping and shore-power, to projects working with Greater Manchester Combined Authorities on its decarbonisation plans. This has become an essential element of research for many of the project team. 5. Scaling up is not always good! When an innovation is scaled up for good reason, there will be negative unintended consequences that need to be mitigated, and social, economic and environmental costs accounted for. Transdisciplinary approaches are vital to tease out these issues, with data and process transparency, and trust between stakeholders, important aspects of the mitigation process. Despite challenges, confronting complexity can enable more informed modelling and robust planning. With the increasing blurring of system boundaries, system thinking is required - or needs to at least be acknowledged. Adaptive forms of governance can also assist in this regard, as can a multi-stage decision making process such as the one designed in Stepping Up. Attention to public opinion must also be given, and not be assumed to be static. Opinions change, and can be shaped to the extent that what works in one place may not work in another. Ownership and organisation (political, legal and financial) will also play a key role in the scaling up process. 6. Innovation: In the UK, the Government is supportive of innovation, but because it treats it as emerging from competition, there will be unwanted trade-offs between sectors, rather than realising the co-benefits of cross-sectoral approaches. Policymaking would do well to consider a suite of objectives to support innovation and provide a framework for it to emerge from the bottom-up. Our findings demonstrate that achieving the potential benefits from innovation is conditional on changing socio-tech-environmental conditions in multiple domains and across systems. As with other innovations, water-energy-food nexus innovations can be prone to lock-in once they are no longer delivering improved sustainability. To avoid problems persisting, governance must build in a process of transdisciplinary continuous reflection to facilitate flexibility to deliver more sustainable futures. In terms of impact, again this manifests by researchers increasingly embedding stakeholders within projects. Whilst not entirely built from STEPPING UP, examples of impact cases that are informed, both directly and indirectly, by the research findings from within the project, can be found here: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/impacts/empowering-local-climate-change-action-and-shaping-local-authorit and here: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/impacts/reducing-climate-change-caused-by-shipping-and-aviation
First Year Of Impact 2018
Sector Energy,Environment,Transport
Impact Types Societal

Economic

Policy & public services

 
Description Citation in the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
Geographic Reach South America 
Policy Influence Type Citation in other policy documents
 
Description Cited in the IPCC AR6 Chapter 4 to make the case for systemic approaches to climate policy design
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Citation in other policy documents
 
Description Contribution to Houses of Parliament PostNote
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Citation in other policy documents
URL http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/POST-PN-0543
 
Description Project cited in Milton Keynes 2050 Water Sustainability Report, Liz Varga
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Citation in other policy documents
 
Description Written evidence by Carly McLachlan, Alice Bows-Larkin et al. to the UK government Committee on Climate Change's Inquiry into the 5th carbon budget, Jan 2016
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
 
Description AGILE - Aggregators as diGital Intermediaries in Local Electricity markets
Amount £719,499 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/S003088/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2018 
End 05/2020
 
Description Building Research Communities 3 Competition- University of Surrey internal funding
Amount £2,000 (GBP)
Organisation University of Surrey 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2019 
End 06/2019
 
Description Centre for Climate Change Transformations (C3T)
Amount £5,127,383 (GBP)
Funding ID ES/S012257/1 
Organisation Economic and Social Research Council 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2019 
End 04/2022
 
Description Dynamic digital twins of Interconnected Energy and Transport networks
Amount £149,718 (GBP)
Organisation Alan Turing Institute 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2023 
End 05/2024
 
Description EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account- "Towards a generic supporting framework for multiscale modelling of process systems"
Amount £33,000 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/G008361/1 
Organisation University of Surrey 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2018 
End 10/2019
 
Description ESRC IAA Call 7: Change Points for the Nexus at Home: A toolkit for developing policy for water-energy-food consumption in UK homes
Amount £27,620 (GBP)
Organisation Economic and Social Research Council 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2018 
End 10/2018
 
Description Innovate UK- Business Basics: boosting SME productivity (proof of concept strand)
Amount £6,557 (GBP)
Funding ID 104767 
Organisation Innovate UK 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2018 
End 05/2019
 
Description Part of a large GCRF proposal on DAMS2.0 led by the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester, building on Water-Energy-Food expertise in Tyndall Centre. Alice Larkin is a co-investigator
Amount £9,000,000 (GBP)
Funding ID ES/P011373/1 
Organisation Economic and Social Research Council 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2017 
End 12/2021
 
Title Water-Energy-Food Nexus Decision Support Tool 
Description The tool was developed in the form of an online web application. It is powered by HTML5 Open Web Platform technologies, including the open-source data visualisation library D3.js (https://d3js.org/) (accessed on 7 August 2020). The web app can run entirely on the client side, which allows for minimal server setup and maintenance. The code for the web app is also open source and can be found at: https://github.com/NikPanayotov/steppingup-indicators-catalogue (accessed on 5 May 2020). This interative visualisation, known as The Catalogue of Sustainability Indicators, gives an indication of how each of three innovations can support nexus goals across the sectors of Water, Energy and Food and links to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals SDGs. It also highlights important indicators of sustainability across the 3 pillars, ie Environmental, Economic and Social and where these indicators act as a driver or barrier to the scaling up of the innovation. The catalogue of indicators is part of the Decision Support Toolkit that was developed as part of the Stepping Up project. We have deliberately avoided focussing too much on economic factors as this was not the focus of the project, a number of other tools exist for this purpose. The web app visualisation tool (DST) developed attempts to display all the relevant indicators in a single view to showcase the scope and diversity of lenses. The visual design takes inspiration from sunburst visualisations, which highlight parts that make up a whole on several levels. The indicators are represented by coloured blocks "bursting" from the centre (shown on the outside of the circle, Figure 3 above). The different indicators were colour coded to enable better visual clarity, with Economic indicators blue, Social orange, Environmental green, Socio-Economic purple, Socio-Environmental khaki green and where the issue affected all three pillars grey. The user can hover with their mouse over a block to display their name. In the centre of the tool, the user can select one of the three innovations: Insect Protein, Anaerobic Digestion and Food Redistribution. Each icon filters the indicators that come out of the centre according to the selected innovation. If no icon is selected, then all indicators across all innovations are displayed. The second layer can further highlight separate groups of related indicators by categories: land, food waste, bioenergy, economy, education and climate. The circular design emphasises the connected nature of the indicators and categories by their proximity and concentrated, closed form. [note text taken from author's publication describing the tool] 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact tbc 
URL https://github.com/NikPanayotov/steppingup-indicators-catalogue
 
Description "Stepping Up Innovation from Model to Policy" - presentation by James Suckling at at Water Science for Impact conference, Wageningen University, 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling presented at the conference around the challenges of taking research findings from models of the water, energy, food nexus to policy. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards, and raised awareness of the WEF nexus.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description "The Environmental Impact of Edible Insects"- presentation by James Suckling at University of Surrey Doctoral College Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling presented to researchers from both within the University of Surrey and Santander Group international universities. He won the prize for best presentation at the conference. Raised awareness of the WEF Nexus.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description "The problem of food waste and how we can make the most of it"- presentation by James Suckling at University of Surrey Festival of Research, 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling gave an invited presentation to the collective academics, researchers and student of the University of Surrey. The presentation resulted in networking opportunities with researchers from different academic backgrounds. Sparked questions and discussions afterwards and raised awareness of the WEF nexus.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description "What are the impacts across the WEF nexus of insect eating?"- presentation by James Suckling at WEF Nexus workshop, London 2018. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling and Angela Druckman gave a presentation of the impact that insects may have across the water, energy, food nexus to a groups of researchers, academics and policy from a wide range of interests across nexus research. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards and raised awareness of the WEF nexus.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description 'Accelerating sustainable transitions: putting research into practice'- presentation by Claire Hoolohan at 9th International Sustainability Transitions Conference, 12 - 14 June 2018, Manchester, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact 'Accelerating sustainable transitions: putting research into practice'- presentation by Claire Hoolohan at 9th International Sustainability Transitions Conference, 12 - 14 June 2018, Manchester, UK. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards and raised awareness of WEF nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/329/programme-builder/submission/22640?backHref=/events/311/p...
 
Description 'Anaerobic digestion: a prime solution for water, energy and food nexus challenges- presentation by Ismail Haltas at International Conference on sustainable energy and resource use in food chains, Brunel University, April 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation on 'Anaerobic digestion: a prime solution for water, energy and food nexus challenges' by Ismail Haltas at the International Conference on sustainable energy and resource use in food chains, Brunel University, 2017. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.foodenergy.org.uk
 
Description 'Application of Agent Based Models in Modelling the Impacts of Policy Reform and Local Scale Interventions on UK Water Supplies' presented by Chris Counsell at American Water Resource Association Annual Conference 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Chris Counsell presented on Application of Agent Based Models in Modelling the Impacts of Policy Reform and Local Scale Interventions on UK Water Supplies at American Water Resource Association Annual Conference 2018. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards and increased awareness of WEF nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://vftailv.attendify.io/#9ZHZGr3cw8oo8eeI8K
 
Description 'Hybrid Agent-Based Decision-Making Model for Assessing the Impact of Anaerobic Digestion Technology on the Water, Energy and Food Nexus'-presentation by Ismail Haltas at the International Conf. on Energy Engineering and Smart Grids, Cambridge, June 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation by Ismail Haltas at the Int. Conf. on Energy Engineering and Smart Grids, Cambridge, June 2018. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://esg-conference.org
 
Description 'Is Agent Based Modelling the Ideal Method to Investigate Innovations within the Water Energy Food Nexus?'- blog by Ismail Haltas on Stepping Up project website, 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Blog on 'Is Agent Based Modelling the Ideal Method to Investigate Innovations within the Water Energy Food Nexus?' by Ismail Haltas on Stepping Up project website.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/agent-based-modelling-ideal-method-investigate-innovations-...
 
Description 'Playable Simulations: Use of games and game technology to support environmental planning'- presentation by Ruth Falconer at 9th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, June 2018, USA 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Ruth Falconer presented a talk at 9th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software "Modelling for Sustainable Food-Energy-Water Systems, June 2018, USA. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards and widened awareness of WEF Nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description 'Supporting Exploratory Decision Making of Water, Energy and Food Nexus Innovations'- presentation by Ruth Falconer at 9th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, June 2018, USA 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Ruth Falconer presented a talk at the 9th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software. sparked questions and discussion and widened awareness of WEF nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description 'Sustainable Consumption and production across domains: The 'nexus' as a locus of analysis'- presentation by Iain Soutar at 9th International Sustainability Transitions Conference, 12 - 14 June 2018, Manchester, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact 'Sustainable Consumption and production across domains: The 'nexus' as a locus of analysis'- presentation by Iain Soutar at 9th International Sustainability Transitions Conference, 12 - 14 June 2018, Manchester, UK. Sparked discussion and questions afterwards and widened awareness of WEF nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/329/programme-builder/submission/26027?backHref=/events/311/p...
 
Description 'The Environmental Impact of Rearing Insects for Food within the UK'- poster presentation by Angela Druckman at Gordon Research Conference on Industrial Ecology, 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Poster presentation at Gordon Research Conference on Industrial Ecology 2018. Raised awareness of WEF nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description 'Understanding innovation at the water energy food nexus'- presentation by Iain Soutar at 9th International Sustainability Transitions Conference, 12 - 14 June 2018, Manchester, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact 'Understanding innovation at the water energy food nexus'- presentation by Iain Soutar at 9th International Sustainability Transitions Conference, 12 - 14 June 2018, Manchester, UK. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards and raised awareness of WEF nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description 'Unintended consequences: Modelling approaches to minimise the inevitable?'- invited keynote by Angela Druckman at International Symposium on Integrative Modelling in Sustainability Systems Research, Germany, 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Angela Druckman gave an invited keynote at the International Symposium on Integrative Modelling in Sustainability Systems Research, Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, Germany. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards and raised awareness of WEF nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.uni-kassel.de/einrichtungen/fileadmin/datas/einrichtungen/cesr/documents/symposium_2018/...
 
Description A structured approach for upscaling innovation across the water-energy-food nexus presented at Royal Geographical Society Conference 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Alice Larkin presented on A structured approach for upscaling innovation across the water-energy-food nexus at the Royal Geographical Society conference 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description AD Across the Scales - How can we Make the Most of the Available Resources? 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling wrote a blog about the workshop run at the ADBA R&I forum (item above)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/ad-across-scales-%E2%80%93-how-can-we-make-most-available-r...
 
Description AD and the Water, Energy Food Nexus: Avoiding Unintended Consequences from Scaling Up 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling presented a talk at the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association World Biogas Expo 2017.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Abertay Serious Game Jam ASGJ5 Sustainability theme - Stepping Up 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Abertay Serious Game Jam ASGJ5 Sustainability theme - Stepping Up. Held at Abertay University in March 2018. Will produce Game Concept demos / contribute to publication. Results of game jam shared on Abertay website - widened awareness of project and of WEF nexus
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Alice Bows-Larkin invited to give TEDx Youth Talk in Macclesfield 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Alice Bows-Larkin invited to give TEDx youth talk to 400-600 16-18 year olds on 'Paris and perspectives on climate change'. As well as sparking discussions around climate change, the talk raised the profile of the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project team.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Alice Bows-Larkin invited to run workshop on World Climate Negotiations Exercise 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Alice Bows-Larkin invited to run World Climate Negotiations Exercise for 16-18 year olds at a school in Macclesfield.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Alice Bows-Larkin invited to take part in Royal Society panel debate 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Alice Bows-Larkin participated in a panel debate run by the Royal Society as part of Manchester Science Festival. The theme of the debate was 'Where should our energy come from?' and raised the profile of the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project team.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Angela Druckman chaired session at Food Matters Live 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Angela Druckman chaired session 'Meeting Global Demand for Nutritious Food and Drink' at Food Matters Live on 19th November 2015. Raised the profile of the STEPPING UP project research team.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.foodmatterslive.com/whats-on/2015-schedule/meeting-global-demand-for-nutritious-food-and-...
 
Description Balancing diversity and coherence in innovation space-making at the water-energy-food nexus 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Iain soutar presented findings from Stepping Up at Newton Fund / British Council supported workshop entitled 'Energy-water-climate change nexus (EWCN) in a transitional economy: sustainability and resilience'. 22-26 May 2017, Nanjing University, Jiangsu, China
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/schoolofgeography/images/researchgroups/epg/1...
 
Description Blog by Alice Larkin and Claire Hoolohan titled 'Messy but meaningful - how to make interdisciplinary water-energy-food-environment research more influential' published on Policy@Manchester website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Blog by Alice Larkin and Claire Hoolohan titled 'Messy but meaningful - how to make interdisciplinary water-energy-food-environment research more influential' published on Policy@Manchester website. Raised awareness of WEF nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/sci-tech/2018/11/messy-but-meaningful-how-to-make-interdisciplin...
 
Description Blog by James Suckling published on Centre for Environmental Strategy (University of Surrey) website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling introduced the STEPPING UP project via a blog on the Centre for Environmental Strategy (University of Surrey) website. Raised the profile of the STEPPING UP project online to new audiences.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://blogs.surrey.ac.uk/ces/2015/11/16/stepping-up-sustainability-at-the-water-energy-food-nexus/
 
Description Blog on 'Nexus-relevant innovations: Anaerobic digestion' published on STEPPING UP project website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Blog on 'Nexus-relevant innovations: Anaerobic digestion' published on STEPPING UP project website.

Raised the profile of the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/nexus-relevant-innovations-anaerobic-digestion
 
Description Blog on 'Recovering the Value of Food: the Application of Technology' published on STEPPING UP project website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Blog on 'Recovering the Value of Food: the Application of Technology' published on Stepping Up website.

Raised the profile of the project
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/recovering-value-food-application-technology
 
Description Blog on 'Recovering the value from food: A social perspective' published on STEPPING UP project website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Blog on 'Recovering the value from food: A social perspective' published on STEPPING UP project website.

Raised the profile of the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/recovering-value-food-social-perspective
 
Description Blog on Nexus-relevant innovations: Insects as a novel source of protein published on STEPPING UP project website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Blog on 'Nexus-relevant innovations: Insects as a novel source of protein' published on www.steppingupnexus.org.uk

Raised the profile of the research being carried out on the project
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/nexus-relevant-innovations-insects-novel-source-protein
 
Description Blog on Stepping Up: Safe and equitable access to food, water and energy system published by AD and Bioresources Association 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Blog on 'Stepping Up: Safe and equitable access to food, water and energy systems' by James Suckling and Iain Soutar published on AD and Bioresources website
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://adbioresources.org/news/stepping-up-safe-and-equitable-access-to-food-water-and-energy-system...
 
Description Blog- Serious Game Jam 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Abertay's Serious Game Jam 5 battles the weather to support sustainability: Developing a Game to Educate about the Water, Energy and Food Nexus. Blog published online which Widened awareness of WEF nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/abertay%E2%80%99s-serious-game-jam-5-battles-weather-suppor...
 
Description Blog- Understanding the future of the water, energy, food nexus published on Stepping Up project website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Blog by Claire Hoolohan on 'Understanding the future of the water, energy, food nexus' on Stepping Up website. Raised awareness of WEF Nexus issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/understanding-future-water-energy-food-nexus
 
Description Case Studies: Anchor Points for Exploring a Wicked Problem 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling presented on Case Studies: Anchor Points for Exploring a Wicked Problem at the RGS Conference 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Climate Change Science 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Alice Larkin presented on the scale of the climate change challenge to the Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and colleagues at a stakeholder event to set the tone of future energy/climate policy in Greater Manchester. Led to verbal commitment of Andy Burnham to revisit climate targets for Manchester and embark on an ambitious programme of climate change action and policy.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://carbon.coop/blog/jonathan/andy-burnham-ourmanifesto-climate-change-workshop
 
Description Conditions for transformation in the water-energy-food nexus. Presentation given at Transformations 2017: Transformations in Practice, Dundee 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Iain Soutar gave a talk on 'Conditions of transformation in the water-energy-food nexus' at Transformations 2017: Transformations in Practice, Dundee.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/schoolofgeography/images/researchgroups/epg/1...
 
Description Convened session on Water Energy and Food Nexus: Dealing with a wicked problem? (1): WEF NEXUS Thinking: UK and International Perspectives at Royal Geographical Society Conference 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Marian Scott convened a session on Water Energy and Food Nexus: Dealing with a wicked problem? (1): WEF NEXUS Thinking: UK and International Perspectives at the Royal Geographical Society conference 2016.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Convened session on Water Energy and Food Nexus: Dealing with a wicked problem? (3): WEF NEXUS Thinking: Views from different scales and perspectives at Royal Geographical Society Conference 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Alice Larkin, Marian Scott and Paul Kemp convened session on Water Energy and Food Nexus: Dealing with a wicked problem? (3): WEF NEXUS Thinking: Views from different scales and perspectives at Royal Geographical Society Conference 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Decision-Making Under Risk & Uncertainty in Complex Infrastructure Systems 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Professor Liz Varga invited to present at Imperial College, London for UKERC Seminar, February 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Diversity and complexity at the nexus: Reflections from China- Stepping Up blog 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Diversity and complexity at the nexus: Reflections from China- Stepping Up blog,
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/energy/2017/08/03/diversity-and-complexity-at-the-nexus-reflections-from-...
 
Description Five fallacies of innovation, and what they mean for understanding the nexus- Stepping Up blog 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Five fallacies of innovation, and what they mean for understanding the nexus. Stepping Up blog.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/five-fallacies-innovation-and-what-they-mean-understanding-...
 
Description Gordon Research Conference, Poster presentation. 26 June 2016. Vermont, USA 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Poster presentation by Dr. James Suckling on 'Exploring transformative change across the Water-Energy-Food Nexus' at the Gordon Research Conference, 26/06/2016, Vermont USA.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Grappling with wickedness: The articulation of WEF nexus governance in the UK at Royal Geographical Society conference 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Iain Soutar presented on 'Grappling with wickedness: The articulation of WEF nexus governance in the UK' at the RGS Conference 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description How can small scale-innovations be scaled up so we have a more sustainable future? 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact James Suckling presented a talk at the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management Annual Seminar in Reading on the topic of "The Water, Energy, Food Nexus: Balancing our (In)securities"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.ciwem.org/events/the-water-energy-food-nexus-balancing-our-insecurities/
 
Description Invited Q+A by Alice Bows-Larkin as part of Elevate Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Online Q and A session by Alice Bows-Larkin as part of the Elevate Festival in Vienna. Alice discussed 'System change not climate change' and raised the profile of the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project team.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Invited Talk by Ismail Haltas for Cranfield University TESI Lunch Time Event 2017, Cranfield University, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dissemination of the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project to the academia and general public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Invited member of scientific international conference committee about energy and resource use in food chains (CSEF) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Liz Varga was invited to take part in the scientific international conference committee about energy and resource use in food chains (CSEF).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Invited talk by Alice Bows-Larkin for Climate Rising conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Invited talk by Alice Bows-Larkin at Climate Rising conference, London. Raised the profile of the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project to the general public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Keynote presentation at EPSRC Nexus Network conference 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Professor Alice Larkin invited to give keynote presentation at Nexus Network Conference, November 2015
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Methods to learn about WEF Nexus challenges presented at Royal Geographical Society conference 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Liz Varga presented on Methods to learn about WEF Nexus challenges at the Royal Geographical Society conference 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description New Masters programme Infrastructure Systems 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact New masters programme designed and introduced: Infrastructure Systems MSc Sep 2023-
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Niche innovation in the water, energy food nexus: How can we scale them up without causing unintended consequences? 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling presented a talk in a session of the University of Surrey Doctoral College Conference. Early career researchers from other institutes around the world were also in attendance.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description On Energy launch event 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Carly McLachlan, Patricia Thornley, Alice Larkin, Francis Livens and Charlotte Brown contributed to Policy@Manchester's latest publication and event - On Energy, following on from successful past publications, 'On Devo', 'On Devo Health' and 'On Brexit'. On Energy draws on expertise from across The University of Manchester to provide thought leadership and expert analysis on issues such as climate change, fuel poverty, the economic viability of nuclear power and multi-energy systems. The publication was launched at an event in the Churchill Room at the House of Commons aimed at developing connections between University of Manchester academics and policymakers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description One Day Seminar Water Energy Food Nexus: Balancing our (in)securities, CIWEM, Reading 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Ismail Haltas attended One Day Seminar Water Energy Food Nexus: Balancing our (in)securities, CIWEM, Reading. h
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.water-energy-food.org/calendar/detail/2017-02-03-seminar-the-water-energy-food-nexus-bal...
 
Description Poster presentation at Deep Uncertainty conference, November 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Poster presentation on ''Decision making under deep uncertainty' at 2017 annual meeting. Authors- Ismail Haltas, Daniel Gilmour , Paula Forbes , Liz Varga, Claire Hoolahan , Carly McLachlan & Alice Larkin
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.deepuncertainty.org/annual-meetings/#annual-meeting-2017
 
Description Poster presentation on Stepping Up project at national Tyndall Centre Assembly, September 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Poster presentation by Dr. Carly McLachlan at Tyndall Centre Assembly in September 2016. Raised the profile of the Stepping Up project amongst Tyndall Centre partners.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Presentation at Royal Geographical Society Conference 2016- Models and Decision Support Tools for understanding and managing the WEF NEXUS 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Ruth Falconer and Liz Varga presented on 'Models and Decision Support Tools for understanding and managing the WEF NEXUS' at the RGS conference 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Presentation at stakeholder rountable by Alice Larkin on 'Overview of Stepping Up project preliminary findings', London, 2019 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact This presentation provided an overview of Stepping Up's preliminary project findings, shared with stakeholders at the end of project meeting 17th Jan 2019, in Westminster, London, UK.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Presentation by Angela Druckman at British Growers Association 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Angela Druckman presented British Growers Association Annual Seminar. Raised the profile of the STEPPING UP project amongst a new audience.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Presentation by Carly McLachlan at EPSRC RISE Connect event on 2nd March 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Presentation on STEPPING UP by Carly McLachlan at EPSRC RISE Connect event on 2nd March 2016. The presentation highlighted the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project team amongst House of Commons and House of Lords Science and Technology Committees, Chairs of other Select Committees and other parliamentarians. The activity further developed links, networks, and relationships between recognised scientists and engineers, with parliamentarians.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Presentation by Ismail Haltas and Liz Varga for ICSEF 2017 International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Resource Use in Food Chains, London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Presentation by Ismail Haltas and Liz Varga on 'Anaerobic digestion: a prime solution for water, energy and food nexus challenges'. Dissemination of the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project to the academia and general public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Presentation by Liz Varga at Tyndall Centre, University of Manchester 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Liz Varga presented on 'Complex Infrastructure Systems: science and practice' at the Tyndall Manchester seminar series. The seminar sparked questions and discussion afterwards and also raised the profile of the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project research team.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Presentation on 'Decision Support Toolkit for WEF Innovations' by Paula Forbes at Water Energy Food Nexus networking event, London, 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact This Pico talk was presented at a Water Energy Food Nexus networking event held at Lloyd's Register, London, July 2018. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Presentation on 'Recycling water, energy and food by anaerobic digestion' by Ismail Haltas for Cranfield Science for a Circular Economy. "How to tackle the Water, Energy, Food nexus" Conference, 2017, Cranfield University, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Dissemination of the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project to the academia and general public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/12222
 
Description Reflections on up-scaling radical change. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Presentation by Claire Hoolohan at Transformations2017, Dundee. This talk presents a brief discussion of the notion of up-scaling; exploring different verities of up-scaling including multiplication, amplification, transfer; and reflecting on a range of case studies to examining the potential opportunities, challenges and pitfalls of up-scaling innovations.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Reimagining water efficiency 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Dr. Claire Hoolohan invited to present a keynote at the International Water Security Network's Winter conference. Claire's presentation on 'Reimagining water efficiency' reported the findings from her PhD, focusing on the use of transdisciplinary research to co-design innovative approaches to water efficiency within the UK water sector and designing approaches that reconfigure the shared and collective aspects of everyday water use.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Roundtable workshop on 'Accommodating complexity in national policy in order to support innovation and increase resilience', London, 2019. 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Event held at Church House, Westminster, provided an overview of Stepping Up's preliminary project findings, shared with key stakeholders.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Scaling-up sociotechnical innovations: advancing the circular economy, whilst avoiding unintended consequences within the water-energy-food nexus 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact James Suckling presented a talk in a session of the Global Research Forum on Sustainable Production and Consumption at the University of Sussex
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://grf-spc.weebly.com/brighton-2017-programme.html
 
Description School visits by Alice Bows-Larkin on the Isle of Man 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Alice Bows-Larkin gave two climate change presentations to School audiences during a visit to the Isle of Man. The presentations raised the profile of the work being carried out by the STEPPING UP project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Stepping Up Workshop: AD Across the Scales - How can we Make the Most of the Available Resources? 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling and Iain Soutar ran a workshop at the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association Research and Innovation Forum in London. It explored the future of AD with members of industry and academia and exposed them to the Stepping Up Project. It facilitated networking with industry and gained stakeholders into the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Stepping Up: Upscaling Niche Innovation at the Water Energy Food Nexus 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Poster presentation on 'Stepping Up: Upscaling Niche Innovation at the Water Energy Food Nexus' at the Oxford Nexus Conference, December 2016. Authors- J. Suckling, I. Soutar, A. Druckman
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Stepping up to the Paris Agreement 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Alice Larkin presented her research findings and plans for the project to the Grantham Institute Academics which led to Policymaker in audience and academics discussing the impacts of anaerobic digestion and how to upscale in different contexts.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/naturalsciences/climatechange/sscp-sem...
 
Description The Role of Innovation in Creating a More Sustainable Future 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact James Suckling presented a talk at the University of Surrey "Discoveries on Your Doorstep" event. Local people, business owners and local authority members were invited.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Three interviews for Isle of Man radio stations by Alice Bows-Larkin 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Alice Bows-Larkin took part in three interviews for Isle of Man radio stations in February 2016. The interviews led to members of the public questioning Alice on issues of climate science, energy security and broader issues of energy policy.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Toward sustainability of urban water systems: interdependencies with other infrastructure 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Professor Liz Varga presented an academic lecture at the University of Exeter, November 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Understanding change in the water-energy nexus 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Dr. Iain Soutar invited to present to school students visiting the University of Exeter, 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Understanding the future of the water, energy, food nexus 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Claire Hoolohan, Alice Larkin, Carly MacLachlan and Amrita Sidhu convened a full day workshop on presented on Future Scenarios for the water-energy-food nexus, engaging with 30+ non-academic stakeholders in London
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/understanding-future-water-energy-food-nexus
 
Description Upscaling radical change in the WEF nexus 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Claire Hoolohan presented on Upscaling radical change in the WEF nexus at Transformations Dundee 2017
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.transformations2017.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Draft-Programme-for-Transformations-20...
 
Description Water Energy Food Nexus networking event, London, July 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact More than 40 EPSRC-funded researchers on water-energy-food (WEF) nexus gathered for a networking event, hosted by Tyndall Manchester, on 9th July in London to discuss current research challenges and potential solutions.The event heard presentations from sandpit projects including Stepping Up, WEFWEBs, and Vaccinating the Nexus and Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) fellows. As outcome, participants identified policy-relevant research agendas for writing in blogs, with the aim to have wider research impact.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Water Energy and Food Nexus: Dealing with a wicked problem? (2): WEF NEXUS Thinking: Methods for addressing wicked problems 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Alice Larkin convened a session on Water Energy and Food Nexus: Dealing with a wicked problem? (2): WEF NEXUS Thinking: Methods for addressing wicked problems at the Royal Geogrpahical Society Conference in 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description What does the future hold for AD? Reflections from two recent workshops- Stepping Up blog. 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact What does the future hold for AD? Reflections from two recent workshops- Stepping Up blog,
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://steppingupnexus.org.uk/?q=content/what-does-future-hold-ad-summary-two-recent-workshops
 
Description What if Negative Emissions Fail at Scale? 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact What if Negative Emissions Fail at Scale? Blog by Alice Larkin published on Climate Strategies blog. Linked to journal article published in Climate Policy 'What if negative emission technologies fail at scale? Implications of the Paris agreement for big emitting nations'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://climatestrategies.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/what-if-negative-emissions-fail-at-scale/
 
Description What will the World of AD look like in 2050? 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Iain Soutar and Claire Hoolohan led a visioning (data collection) workshop at the Annual ADNET Early Career Conference, held in Birmingham, 3 July 2017
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Workshop at Cranfield University- Agent Based Modelling of Anaerobic Digestion operations 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Liz Varga and Ismail Haltas hosted three researchers from Imperial College at the Cranfield University campus. The topic was Agent Based Modelling of Anaerobic Digestion operations. Both groups have presented their research projects, followed by discussion about how to collaborate and exchange data.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017