The UK Place-based Climate Action Network, in conjunction with the Royal Geographical Society Climate Change Research Group, is inviting submissions of abstracts for an interactive online mini conference 2-5pm on Wednesday 30th September 2020 on "Local climate praxis: bridging the gap between theory and practice on local climate action".

Clear policy signals by international organisations and national governments remain essential, however, important decisions are increasingly being made beyond this, fostering opportunities for climate action within localities: decisions about low-carbon business opportunities, renewable energy investment, urban transport, energy management, buildings efficiency and the management of climate risks.

It is increasingly recognised that the delivery of climate policy ultimately happens through place-based initiatives at the local level (Galarraga et al 2011, 2017), and it has been widely argued that effective delivery of actions to promote low-carbon and climate-resilient development will require experiments with new governance arrangements (Bulkeley et al. 2019; Castan Broto 2020; Jordan et al. 2018; Kivimaa et al, 2017). In particular, processes that engage and harness the combined energies of public, private and third sectors (Gouldson et al, 2016) are required.

The Place-based Climate Action Network (PCAN), funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), is focused on translating climate policy into action ‘on the ground’ in communities. PCAN and the RGS Climate Change Research Group are hosting this half day virtual mini conference to bring together international scholars working on a range of topics relating to local climate praxis and to discuss the challenges bridging climate theory and practice within place-based climate action.

We invite submissions of abstracts (less than 200 words) on or around the following topics:

  • Critical perspectives on what ‘place’ means for shaping our response to climate change on different scales
  • What ‘community’ means in the context of climate action
  • Applied research exploring the translation of climate policy into action and whether the local context hinders or enhances progress on climate resilience and decarbonisation
  • Innovative forms of engagement at the local level and their role in overcoming limited capacity to deliver climate action across different governance levels

Accepted abstracts will be invited to be presented at the mini conference and to contribute to a peer-reviewed collection of short think pieces (up to 1,000 words) to be published online by the PCAN network

Important dates:

  • 15 July 2020: Deadline for submission of abstracts
  • Week of 17th August 2020: Notification of acceptance of abstract
  • 1 November 2020: Deadline for submission of think piece
  • November-December 2020: peer review of think pieces
  • Early 2021: Publication of collection of think pieces

Please submit your abstracts using the following link: PCAN Climate Praxis event

For any queries, please contact Dr Candice Howarth at c.howarth@lse.ac.uk.

Image: hydrogen-powered bus, Covent Garden, London (Wikimedia Commons)