1. What is environmental citizenship?
2. What evidence is there that environmental citizenship has any bearing on pro-environmental behaviour?
3. Can people’s sense of environmental citizenship be influenced and, if so, how?

The overall objective will be to draw out the evidence for and against the proposition that environmental citizenship can influence pro-environmental behaviour.

If anyone is aware of any sources (books, articles, reports, reviews, websites, audio, video etc) that may ask and/or answer any of these questions, and that should be considered in the review, please send suggestions to Sarah Bell at SDRN. Please also pass on this request for information to colleagues or non-SDRN members that might be able to assist.

For more information on previous SDRN Rapid Research and Evidence reviews, click here

Download the report…

Read more about the workshop…

The review will explore three key questions:

1. What is the role of sustainable/strategic procurement in creating successful organisations?
2. Which accounting, finance and other business process tools are currently used by successful organisations to deliver sustainable and strategic procurement practice and choices?
3. What is the relevance of (1) and (2) to public sector sustainable procurement, particularly in the areas of construction/Facilities Management (FM), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and procurement of commodities?

In this way, the review will highlight policy-relevant, transferable lessons from the private sector for the public sector, and facilitate the identification of further research opportunities.

The findings of the draft literature review will be open to comment and further input from experts and policy-makers during a small workshop, to be held at the end of March/early April 2008. Launch of the final rapid review is anticipated in May. Further details to follow shortly.

For further information about SDRN’s Sustainable Business and Procurement Review, please contact Ben Shaw [tel: +44 (0)20 79117544].

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 Review was undertaken by Dr. Sigrid Stagl of SPRU, University of Sussex, and introduces six new sustainability valuation methods:

• Deliberative monetary valuation
• Social multicriteria evaluation
• Three-stage multicriteria analysis
• Multicriteria mapping
• Deliberative mapping
• Stakeholder decision / dialogue analysis.

The strengths and weaknesses of each of the methods are considered, as is the application of the techniques in a UK policy context.

Download the full review ‘Emerging Methods for Sustainability Valuation and Appraisal

A number of scoping studies, reviews and other research projects have recently been undertaken that deal with aspects of environmental equity and justice in the UK. The Network was keen to pull this information together in an accessible and policy relevant form, and providing a gap analysis.

The SDRN gathered an expert group to assist with the development of policy in this area, whose task was to map the current evidence base and summarise relevant messages for policymakers with respect to:

• Evidence of environmental inequalities;

• Evidence for the causes of these inequalities; and

• Policy interventions and their effectiveness

The final stage of the project focused on identifying needs and opportunities for further research to underpin the longer-term development of policy in this area. 

The final report was presented at a well-attended dissemination seminar on the 16 December 2004, to a mixed audience of academics, policy makers, and public and private sector sustainable development practitioners.

Download the full review ‘Environment and Social Justice‘

The review was undertaken by Professor Tim Jackson from the Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey. It provides a brief summary of existing work, elaborates key points, and is structured around three linked questions:

1. What does research tell us about the factors that motivate, shape and constrain the behaviour of ‘mainstream’ household consumers?
2. What does the research tell us about the factors that motivate, shape or constrain pro-environmental and pro-social household consumer behaviours?
3. What does research tell us about achieving pro-environmental or pro-social change in mainstream household consumer behaviours?

‘Motivating Sustainable Consumption’ identifies a variety of different kinds of intervention by Government in pursuit of behaviour change and prioritises these interventions according to the evidence for their effectiveness, and predicted social and political acceptability.

Download the full review ‘Motivating Sustainable Consumption‘

Download the Emerging Methods for Sustainability Valuation and Appraisal briefing

Download the ‘Environment and Social Justice‘ briefing

Hard copies of the briefing are also available. Please contact Kate McGeevor

Download the Environment and Social Justice Experts List (MONTH 200X)