This project emerges from a 2-year AHRC-funded Early Career Researcher Leadership Fellowship project, 'Imagining Alternatives: Utopia, Community and the Novel, 1880-2015', which investigated how the near future is being imagined and represented. This research explored a tendency in fiction to either consider the individual or the mass global scale, neglecting sites such as community, region and nation where substantial agency might still be located. It also examined the preponderance of dystopian future visions and the corresponding need for optimistic or 'utopian' thinking that can open a sense of possibility for the future, build capacity for change, and counter feelings of pessimism and disempowerment. Through a series of workshops and events, in collaboration with community groups and the renewable energy not-for-profit Regen, the PI developed an engagement model for catalysing local change through the imagination of place-based futures. Devon Climate Emergency Response Group (DCERG) was established to coordinate a collaborative response to the Devon Climate Emergency, and is made up of senior officers of about 25 organisations including: 11 county councils; emergency services; businesses; and voluntary organisations. As a result of his research the PI was invited to engage with the Net-Zero Task Force, a team drawn from economic, environmental, health and academic organisations and chaired by a leading climate expert, who have been tasked by DCERG with producing an evidence-led Devon Carbon Plan (DCP) for becoming net-zero carbon by 2050. The PI's research led to the creation of a goal and priority action for the plan: to support community groups to develop local net-zero visions, in which they imagine a decarbonised Devon collectively and in detail. The follow-on funding will allow this goal to be actioned and achieved, thereby helping build public support for the legitimacy and feasibility of change to net-zero; helping people to realise that change for the better is possible; and supporting communities in re-imagining themselves in the context of net-zero, so increasing local capacity for transition. The project team comprises the PI and CI Dr Emma Whittaker, the Creative Industries Research Fellow for the 'Low Carbon Devon' project at the University of Plymouth. They will work with Emily Reed, Project Manager at the project partner DCERG, and members of the Net-Zero Task Force; acclaimed Devon-based Creative Industry professionals, Sue Gent (illustrator), Ashley Potter (animation), Mutant Creative & Mutant Labs (games developers), Kate Crawfurd (mural artist) with Igneous Interactive (Augmented Reality); community groups or coalitions of groups from 7 locations across Devon; a book production team based at the University of Plymouth. The project activities will have several strands: 1. Coproduction of Showcase Net-Zero Visions in 7 different locations, with each Vision linked together on conclusion by the award-winning Devon-based poet Fiona Benson: to help build public awareness of and engagement with the DCP, and to promote a willingness to consider change as possible. To be disseminated via webpages on the DCERG website, launch events, and a book with photos, essay by PI and participant accounts. 2. Solicitation, selection and dissemination of Net-Zero Devon visions from the public, hosted on the webpages, so as to foster detailed engagement in the DCP via the underpinning research ideas. 3. Coproduction of supporting material for interaction with Net-Zero visions, to be hosted on the webpages. A key aim will be to engage with new audiences as identified by partner DCERG and lead community stakeholders. 4. A one-day workshop with project team, partner, and other stakeholders. This will coproduce the dissemination activities and engagement materials, and feed into a model of best practice for using local net-zero visions as a tool for catalysing change with communities.

By 2020, 15% of the UK's energy is to be generated from renewable sources, according to the government's Energy Strategy. This is necessary to reduce the UK's reliance on fossil fuels, and to meet international targets for CO2 emissions. This application investigates conflicts between green energy production and wildlife conservation, and will develop guidance and mitigation strategies. It falls within NERC studentship priority areas 2 and 6 (but has public sector partners). Wind energy is the major contributor to renewable electricity production in the UK (one of the most suitable locations in the EU for wind turbines). A massive expansion has occurred over the past decade: there are now 268 operational 'wind farms', and a similar number have planning consent. Yet it is recognised in Continental Europe and N. America that turbines can cause ecological damage to bats and birds by both direct mortality and behavioural disruption. The PI is already funded to conduct the first major study of the effects of British wind farms on bats. The present application widens this work by investigating another type of unstudied wind-energy system, mid-sized, single-turbine installations (50-300kW; 25-50m high). There is virtually no evidence available about the potential effects of these installations on wildlife. Yet construction has increased dramatically over the last two years, reflecting technological advances and alterations to subsidy schemes. Later this year they are will become 'Permitted Developments' which will require less planning scrutiny. However, particularly in rural areas, they may adversely affect local bat populations because: i. While formal surveys are only just beginning, there are anecdotal reports by qualified ecologists of noctule and soprano pipistrelle deaths at 3 large 'wind farms' in suboptimal bat habitat in the UK; and mortality in other countries is established. ii. Mid-sized turbines have lower heights and could therefore present a greater risk, since most species fly below 50m. iii. Single mid-sized turbines are commonly sited on agricultural land, often close to features of high value for bat commuting or foraging. Pilot data collected by the PI in South West England has already recorded protected Annexe II species at target sites for turbines. iv. Mid-sized turbines are designed to work efficiently even at low wind-speeds, when bats are likely to be flying. Impact Through national and EU law, all bats are protected from actions leading to mortality and from disturbance likely to affect local populations. Several species with strongholds in South-West England and Wales are also protected under Annexe II of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010. Uncertainty about the mortality and disturbance caused by wind turbines compromises the ability of Statutory Nature Conservation Organisations (SNCOs), local planners and professional ecologists to discharge their responsibilities and this study will address that deficiency. Effective guidance on mitigation and siting of turbines, and on pre-and post-construction monitoring protocols will be produced. This may allow continued construction of turbines which could otherwise be prevented. Methods This project will use methods developed in the DEFRA/CCW/SNH/Renewable UK-funded project on commercial wind farms and bats to evaluate mortality rates and bat activity levels. In addition, we will investigate whether there are behavioural differences in bats at wind turbine and control sites using acoustic monitoring. Deliverables Determination of whether mid-sized wind turbines cause bat mortality Estimation of effect size, with confidence intervals indicating level of uncertainty Estimation of effect of wind turbines on bat foraging and commuting Contributions to clarify legal position regarding wind turbines and bats Guidance on mitigation and and protocols for pre-/post-construction monitoring

On face value, community seems like a simple word: one that we all understand. But, if we start to ask questions about how we or others might think about their own communities, or the idea of community in a wider sense, we begin to realise that it is far from straight forward. Instead, it can stand for a complex range of social, political, religious and economic networks of people, places and concerns. How we think about it is shaped by our own life experience. The project concerns two different communities who are working together to create a new community. The research team will be collaborating with Devon County Council's Children in Care Scheme [DCCCCS], and the young people they work with, to better understand a crucial moment in these young peoples lives: the time when they leave care to live as independent adults. Young people who are in care have been ejected by their communities. They have left their birth families and, through the process of being fostered, are often removed from the immediate community they grew up in. This leads to changes in schools, the ending of friendship groups and links with birth family members. These transitions are problematic, and tend to be a chaotic period of time. When these same young people then leave foster care to live independently this rite of passage is particularly challenging. Their disrupted and often traumatic early lives mean they are operating from an insecure emotional base, and struggle to build positive and safe relationships in new communities. Moreover, for most of these children, leaving care is a very final event with no option to return 'home' if they face challenging situations. In response, their tendency is to seek out others who share their life experience. This often results in communities who share powerful and potentially overwhelming emotional needs, and who can find themselves unable to give or receive what is needed. These new communities can often be unstable and become a place of conflict. During this time, in addition to issues caused by a lack of independent living skills, research has shown care leavers commonly experience three difficulties in securing their independence: isolation from former communities, accommodation breakdown due to problem behaviour and wider problems around mental/emotional health which impacts on their ability to cope with independent living. In this situation the young people's notion of community, and how they find a new community to move into is tested, often to the point of collapse. This case study will work with both groups to better understand the processes at work and facilitate a proactive evaluation of that is taking place. It will then become the spine of a review which seeks to enable the academy and policy makers to gain a clearer understanding of how vulnerable, young people think about community and how this shapes how they see themselves. This project will have four phases to examine what is happening during this transition to independence. (1) It will interview both the young people and DCCCCS team members about their understanding of community and contextualise this by critiquing contextualising documentation used by policy makers (a process that will be repeated in the second, third and fourth phases). (2) It will use this data to facilitate a series of workshops and seminars facilitated by Exstream Theatre Company (specialists working with 'at risk' youth) tailored to meet the differing needs of (i) the young people and (ii) the DCCCCS team. These will lead to (i) a performance and (ii) a report tailored towards service providers about the idea of community. (3) A two-day seminar will brings the two groups together: the young people will perform their work, the DCCCCS team will present on their paper and collectively we will reflect on our experience, evaluate the process and plan for future collaborations. (4) We will reflect upon and share our findings via the review and papers.

Delivering sustainability transitions in diverse places across the UK entails changes in how we live and work across diverse issues such as land use planning and management, food and diet, energy production, transport and mobility and achieving net zero policy goals. The changes associated with sustainability transitions can be perceived in terms of winners and losers, incumbents and change-leaders, and often act as loci of disagreement, contestation over values and judgements about what is fair or just; for example, the recent controversy on the so-called '15-minute city' and debates about political intervention and freedom associated transport measures in Oxford. These 'flashpoints' are relevant not only to the places in which they emerge, but also for debate and policy action on delivering sustainable places nationally. Such flashpoints raise important issues about how common sustainability transitions are governed at different geographic scales, the ways in which past conflicts shape present-day contestation and the types and levels of engagement promoted and experienced by different interest groups. Accordingly, we need to understand what makes for a flashpoint issue on sustainable living: how such issues emerge, how they are framed, and how changes to governing sustainable living can promote ways of working with communities that promote participation and the co-production of solutions. The Governing Sustainable Future (GSF) project aims to examine how we can build new ways of understanding and acting on place-based sustainability contestations that address the local and non-local causes of conflict. GSF brings together a unique collaboration of social scientists and regional (Devon, UK) partners, who have a long history of working together, along with national partners, to address this question through novel and established social science and participatory approaches that are alert to questions of power and social difference. These collaborative relations underpin the research programme, embedding Co-production, Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Sustainability principles in our research practice. GSF addresses four overarching aims associated work packages, that reflect our theoretical approach to identifying, analysing and intervening in sustainable policy conflicts: To develop an approach that helps us to understand local and non-local causes of conflicts that emerge in a particular place but also have connections to other places and evolve over time. To present new ways of thinking about places and relations between places that can help to unlock new solutions to sustainably policy conflicts. To develop innovative collaborative and participatory methods for responding to place-based sustainability conflicts (in Devon, UK) and apply to policy challenges on the ground. To generate new understandings of how participatory processes can support public and stakeholder engagement with the local and non-local causes of place-based sustainability conflicts, and progress action on just transitions in the UK. A core principle of GSF will be to make clear connections between insights from regional experience and recommendations for national policy and practice. Our team includes leading experts in discursive and participatory research methods, theories of place and sustainable transitions, environmental policy and politics, environmental controversy, and just transitions, plus key regional policy and practice organisations. Team members play a leading role in other major UKRI investments into sustainable living. The University of Exeter will provide match-fund support, which reflect considerable research synergies and institutional commitment to applying knowledge from this project. Together we will co-produce timely policy insights for achieving equitable and sustainable places.

The aim of the South West Coastal Local Policy Innovation Partnership (SWC LPIP) is to bring cross-sector and cross-boundary partners together to co-design solutions to address the complex and interlinked problems facing coastal communities. There is growing awareness of coastal disadvantage. Evidence presented in the 2021 Chief Medical Officer's annual report shows that coastal areas have some of the worst health outcomes in England. The 2022 Levelling up White Paper similarly notes that seaside towns have among the highest levels of community need and poor opportunities for the people who grow up there. While policy attention is starting to be directed towards the needs of coastal communities, there several barriers to developing effective (and cost-effective) policy solutions. We know, for example, that the decline of traditional industries and strong reliance on hospitality is related to low incomes and seasonal jobs. Economic opportunities are likely to impact on detrimental patterns of in- and out-migration which, in turn, affect educational capital and the skills base. These, in turn may explain the fact that higher productivity sectors such as the digital, creative and blue economies have not emerged in many coastal areas, reinforcing the low wage economy. The lack of such opportunities will also impact on migration patterns, as will unaffordable housing and poor transport links. In other words, all these factors are highly interconnected. This (a) raises questions about the most appropriate 'entry points' for intervention and (b) requires a diverse range of stakeholders - from the public, business and voluntary and community sectors as well as citizens themselves - to work together in understanding problems and co-designing (rather than duplicating) policy solutions. A key focus of the LPIP is to ensure that partners who are spending scarce resources on improving the lives of coastal citizens are making the best use of those resources. Embedding research and evaluation is a key part of effective policy design which should draw on existing evidence of good practice or, as is usually the case with respect to coastal disadvantage, address knowledge gaps where evidence does not exist. Part of this requires a better (and more joined-up) use of existing data, promoting a shift from 'business' to 'strategic' intelligence. It also demands meaningful engagement with citizens to ensure that those responsible for designing and implementing projects are asking the ask the right questions and identifying the right solutions. Any innovations that are designed and implemented should be piloted and evaluated, with a willingness to learn what works - but also what doesn't work, with findings shared with other communities facing coastal challenges. The aim of Phase One of this project is to support the establishment of partnerships of people and organisations in Cornwall, Devon and West Somerset with the aim of building a consensus around what the key economic, community and environmental problems are in this region and how best solutions can be developed. As well as facilitating practice-policy exchange and the design and delivery of new ways of working, the South-West Coastal LPIP will establish an evidence repository so that new coastal datasets (linked and at a greater level of granularity) and evidence of good practice can be shared across the region and to coastal areas beyond.