Bob Evans

Harnessing Community Energies: Explaining and Evaluating Community-Based Localism in Renewable Energy Policy in the UK

In the UK a new theme has emerged in policy discourse and the investment of public resources around the concept of community renewable energy. A series of central government funded programs have been established with the aim of supporting and subsidizing community-based projects at a local level, an approach to renewable energy development previously the domain of alternative technology activists working outside of the mainstream. Drawing upon policy analysis and interviews undertaken with key actors, we argue that this new theme of government policy has emerged through a coalescence of largely instrumental policy drivers and does not represent a broader paradigmatic shift in the underlying norms and goals of policy. We consider the different ways the community label has been used and argue that while it has provided a exible space that activities, interests and objectives of various forms can occupy, its functional malleability also means that the communitarian expectations of participatory involvement are not being widely pursued or realized. Implications are considered for how, in the context of the governance of climate change, the outcomes of public investment in community renewable energy should be evaluated.

Exploring the Nexus: Bringing Together Sustainability, Environmental Justice and Equity

In recent years it has become increasingly apparent that the issue of environmental quality is inextricably linked to that of human equality at all scales. This article examines the differing traditions and approaches of environmental justice and sustainability, and explores some of their theoretical bases. It also briefly reviews human rights and environmental security issues in order to discern the potential for common ground between the two main traditions. The authors argue that there are indications of convergence between these traditions and that this convergence is happening primarily through the activities of progressive NGOs, academics and local community organisations world-wide. What is now needed is for governments at local, regional, national and international levels to learn from these organisations and to seek to embed the central principles and practical approaches of environmental justice within emerging sustainable development policy.

Governing sustainable cities

Based upon a 3 year research project funded by the European Commission’s FP5 programme (DISCUS EVK4-CT-2001-00065), this book reports on the results of a study of local sustainable development processes and outcomes in 40 cities across Europe. It has been widely quoted and has considerable significance for practice, policy and research. Evans has been invited to speak to its themes and conclusions in the USA, Japan, China. South Africa, and in many European countries.

Environmental Governance and Transnational Municipal Networks in Europe

The nature of environmental governance within Europe is increasingly considered to be multilevel – involving actors and institutions at local, national and international levels, and from public, private and civil society spheres. One interesting feature of the development of multilevel governance is the emergence of transnational municipal networks (TMNs). This article examines why and how TMNs have emerged in the arena of European environmental governance, and the ways in which they can be conceptualised. Some specific examples of TMNs concerned with urban sustainable development are examined in order to explore the structure and capacity of networks, the development of new forms of governance within such networks, and the nature of co-operation and competition between governments and networks. From these preliminary analyses, three key themes relating to the role of such networks in environmental governance emerge: the impact of networks on policy making; their influence in multilevel governance; and issues of representation and legitimacy. In the final section, issues for future research are considered.

Urban wind power and the private sector: community benefits, social acceptance and public engagement

Given the ambitious government targets for renewable energy generation in the UK, there has been a push by government and industry towards various types and scales of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs). This paper explores the implications of commercial urban wind projects for local communities, drawing on a case study of proposals by ASDA to construct wind turbines in two semi-urban locations in the UK. The paper argues that community responses to the proposals were complex and varied and could not adequately be encapsulated by ‘nimby’ (not in my back yard) assignations. It concludes that while ASDA followed a process of consulting local people, this process highlighted the problems of the ‘business as usual’ approach to public engagement employed by ASDA, and assumptions made about public acceptance of RETs.