The integration of evidence-based knowledge within policy making processes strengthens the delivery of sustainable development strategies and initiatives within all sectors of the UK government. A challenge for sustainable transport objectives is the understanding of potential impacts from policy implementation across government sectors. Some impacts may be clear, such as transport demand from housing policies, however other policies may have more subtle effects on transport. An over-arching cross-sector research approach may provide a route to uncovering these links.

In order to continue the development of research into practice this SDRN / TRL workshop will explore the dynamic between transport policy and other policy areas which may create unsustainable transport demand. The main focus of the workshop will be the relationships between the transport, education, health and housing sectors. Facilitated discussions will provide opportunities for delegates to share their views and draw from their own experiences and sector knowledge. Information collected will be fed into policy development and used to identify future research needs.

The event is aimed at policy makers, academics and business representatives, and is free to attend.

KEY SPEAKERS:

• Karen Lucas (Chair), Transport Studies Unit, University of Oxford
• Jacqui Wilkinson, Department for Transport
• Rynd Smith, Royal Town Planning Institute
• Oliver Smith, Department of Health
• Paul Osbourne, Sustrans
• Clare Mulholland, DCSF/DfT
• Marcus Jones, Transport Research Laboratory

For further information, and to register to attend the workshop, download the workshop programme.

 Find out more about SDRN’s Research into Practice workstreams here…

Kicking-off the Network’s sixth Rapid Research and Evidence Review, an SDRN Expert Scoping Workshop on ‘Health and the Environment’ took place in Edinburgh last week. The two-day workshop, kindly supported by both the Scottish Government and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), brought together some of the UK’s leading experts on health and the environment to discuss how SDRN could best contribute to this important research area. Key issues to emerge from the workshop were the need for the economic valuation of the health benefits of access to greenspace and the natural environment, issues around the reliability of existing evidence and the need for evidence to inform strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA). The workshop also highlighted the challenges that arise when translating complex, multi-causal research issues into policy.

Who attended? A full report, detailing all of the workshop discussions, is now available to download here and presentations from the workshop’s three key speakers can be also be found below:

• David Gee, European Environment Agency: ‘Emerging Environment and Health Issues: Implications for prevention and Research’
• Stephen Holgate, RCEP / Southampton General Hospital: ‘Insights into Human Health and the Environment’
• George Morris, Scottish Government: ‘Policy Needs and Lessons from Scotland’

For more information about SDRN’s health and the environment review, please contact Kate McGeevor (+44 (0)20 79117545)

The focus of the workstream is the sustainability appraisal of development plans. Its aim is to explore the role of sustainability appraisal in improving the delivery of sustainable development outcomes through the spatial planning process, to review what is known about current practice and impacts, and to identify gaps in existing knowledge and understanding.

The first phase of the workstream included a session at the SDRN Annual Conference and a literature review to identify the range of issues that are of interest to planners and academics. Presentations from the Annual Conference session are available here and the session was recorded and is available as a MP3 download. The second phase has been to consult with policy-makers and researchers to identify priority issues and the opportunities and barriers for achieving the objectives of sustainability appraisal.

A workshop was held on 25th January to seek comments and input to the draft Research Review Sustainability Appraisal in the UK. This attracted high-level participants from the research and planning community with broad experience of the application of sustainability appraisal. The workshop was held at Communities and Local Government.

A final version of the Research Review is now being produced to reflect the input at the workshop and this will be available shortly

For further details of this work, or to be sent a copy of the final report when it ready, please contact Ben Shaw.

Under the title ‘Measurement methods to inform SCP policy-making: What have we got and what do we need?‘, the workshop brought together over forty representatives of the MFA community, including academics, policy-makers and representatives from other

The workshop, which was held at the RSA, aimed to contribute to the development of a shared set of research priorities to inform Defra’s future SCP research. Presentations and papers from the workshop are now available.

• Angela Coulton: Measurement methods to inform SCP policy-making
• John Barrett: Material Flow Analysis and SCP, Paper
• Rocky Harris: What measurement methods does government currently use?
• Paul Innes: National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP), Paper
• Anthony Barker: Regional Economy-Environment Input-Output Model (REEIO) , Paper
• Arnold Tukker: Environmental Impacts of Products
• Jacob Madsen: National Accounts Matrix including Environmental Accountss, Paper
• Dorothy Maxwell: Where next for SCP measurement?

Download the SDRN Research Poster

Download the ERFF Report Poster