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Aim of this white paper is to provide decision-makers, administrations and stakeholders with the most current research findings in order to promote the optimal use of bioenergy from manure in the Swiss energy transition. For this purpose, the results of the Swiss competence center for bioenergy research - SCCER BIOSWEET - are summarized and presented in a broader context. If nothing else is mentioned, the results refer to Switzerland and in case of the feedstock to the domestic biomass potentials.

Aim of this white paper is to provide decision-makers, administrations and stakeholders with the most current research findings in order to promote the optimal use of bioenergy from manure in the Swiss energy transition. For this purpose, the results of the Swiss competence center for bioenergy research - SCCER BIOSWEET - are summarized and presented in a broader context. If nothing else is mentioned, the results refer to Switzerland and in case of the feedstock to the domestic biomass potentials.

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 local community members in and around the Fylde region of Lancashire on the topic shale development. The interviews were conducted between April and June 2019. We recruited participants through purposive and snowball sampling. We intentionally sought participants who had been visibly active on the issue locally, and also sought a good balance of both views on the matter and geographical spread of participants within the region. Once initial participants had been recruited, we used the snowballing technique to identify further possible participants. This approach resulted in a sample of 31 interviewees from three geographical areas in the region (rural Fylde, coastal Fylde, and the wider region); of whom 19 were anti-fracking, 6 were pro-fracking and 6 were ambivalent. Our semi-structured interview protocol included questions about attitudes to and general perceptions of shale development; beliefs about impacts (local, national and global; actual and potential); views on governance, regulation and energy policy; reactions to archetypal positions put forward in the shale development policy debate; and experiences, expectations and perceptions of participatory opportunities.Hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') is a technology that allows the extraction of unconventional fossil fuel resources (oil and gas). The technology has been widely used in North America over the last decade but is in a much earlier stage of development in the UK. Government policy in the UK is actively encouraging the deployment of this technology and test drilling has taken place at several sites in the UK. There has been significant policy and public controversy around the use of the technology: it is simultaneously viewed by some actors as a novel and risky technology with the potential to adversely affect public health and the environment, but by others as rather more mundane and manageable. Shale gas, furthermore, is viewed by some as able to help the UK meet emissions reduction objectives but by others as hindering this task. Finally, the governance of shale gas development is also a source of conflict, with varying ideas about the ways and extent to which publics and local communities should have a say in policy and decision-making. This contested nature of shale development amongst different groups and stakeholders represents a key socio-political challenge for development in the UK. We analyse this challenge as arising from distinct ways of understanding and viewing the fracking issues ('framing') amongst different kinds of actors. We aim to improve understanding of this socio-political challenge facing shale development in the UK through an investigation of the relationships between three distinct but related research areas: public perceptions of the issue, policy debates ('frames') around shale gas and fracking, and formal processes of public engagement and participation on the matter. A nationally representative survey of public perceptions, as well as in-depth interviewing in a local community case study (the Fylde, Lancashire), will provide a better understanding of public perceptions on fracking for shale and the actors and processes of its governance, and the public acceptability of shale development in the UK. Policy debates will be analysed to better understand the arguments ('frames') put forward by advocates, their contestation, and how these debates have shaped and continue to shape UK policy. Finally, formal processes of public engagement and participation will be examined in order to assess the extent to which they help to resolve or amplify the public acceptance challenge for shale development in the UK. We are particularly interested in the relationships between these three research areas. For example, we ask, how well do policy debates reflect public views? And can the public influence decision making? Research findings will be of interest to policy makers, industry actors, regulators, environmental groups, and members of the public with an interest in the issue of fracking and shale gas development specifically, but also the issues of climate change, democracy and social controversies over technology more broadly. The primary benefit of the research will be to provide both a better understanding of the scale and nature of the social and political challenges facing shale gas development in UK, and a better understanding of the potential of public participation and engagement to help address these challenges. We interviewed 31 local community members from in and around the Fylde region of Lancashire, UK. The Fylde is an area that has experienced shale gas exploration activity by the company Cuadrilla since it acquired a license in the area in 2008. We recruited participants through purposive and snowball sampling. We intentionally sought participants who had been visibly active on the issue locally, and also sought a good balance of both views on the matter and geographical spread of participants within the region. Once initial participants had been recruited, we used the snowballing technique to identify further possible participants. This approach resulted in a sample of 31 interviewees from three geographical areas in the region (rural Fylde, coastal Fylde, and the wider region); of whom 19 were anti-fracking, 6 were pro-fracking and 6 were ambivalent (see Tables 1 and 2). The rural Fylde area covers the more rural inland part of the Fylde, including the area around the Preston New Road site and in and around the village of Roseacre. Coastal Fylde refers to the more urban and populous coast, including the towns of Lytham, Lytham St Annes and Blackpool. Wider region refers to the wider region in and around Cuadrilla’s license area (PEDL 165), and includes the city of Preston. The interviews were conducted between April and June 2019. The interviews were audio-recorded with participant consent. The recordings were then selectively transcribed by the researchers. During selective transcription, passages of an interviewee's response were typed up if they were felt to be potentially significant in relation to the research questions of the project. The transcripts were anonymized through the removal of direct and indirect personal identifiers. Where passages have been removed or words changed to preserve anonymity this is indicated by the use of {} brackets in the transcripts. The interviews lasted between 30mins and 2hrs. 30 of the interviews were conducted face-to-face and 1 of the interviews was conducted by phone. The interviews were semi-structured, and the interview protocol (and follow up questions) can be seen in the transcript files. Our semi-structured interview protocol included questions about attitudes to and general perceptions of shale development; beliefs about impacts (local, national and global; actual and potential); views on governance, regulation and energy policy; reactions to archetypal positions put forward in the shale development policy debate; and experiences, expectations and perceptions of participatory opportunities. The third section of the interviews involved participants looking at and responding to prompts. These prompts were designed to represent an archetypal perspective on the fracking issue. There were nine prompts, 4 pro-shale development and 5 anti-shale development (although there was often not time to go through each prompt). Participants were given information sheets and informed consent was secured for the use of anonymised quotes in publications stemming from the research and for anonymised transcripts to be published as open data in the UK Data Service’s repository. We are publishing the participant information sheet and (blank) consent form alongside the transcripts.

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 local community members in and around the Fylde region of Lancashire on the topic shale development. The interviews were conducted between April and June 2019. We recruited participants through purposive and snowball sampling. We intentionally sought participants who had been visibly active on the issue locally, and also sought a good balance of both views on the matter and geographical spread of participants within the region. Once initial participants had been recruited, we used the snowballing technique to identify further possible participants. This approach resulted in a sample of 31 interviewees from three geographical areas in the region (rural Fylde, coastal Fylde, and the wider region); of whom 19 were anti-fracking, 6 were pro-fracking and 6 were ambivalent. Our semi-structured interview protocol included questions about attitudes to and general perceptions of shale development; beliefs about impacts (local, national and global; actual and potential); views on governance, regulation and energy policy; reactions to archetypal positions put forward in the shale development policy debate; and experiences, expectations and perceptions of participatory opportunities.Hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') is a technology that allows the extraction of unconventional fossil fuel resources (oil and gas). The technology has been widely used in North America over the last decade but is in a much earlier stage of development in the UK. Government policy in the UK is actively encouraging the deployment of this technology and test drilling has taken place at several sites in the UK. There has been significant policy and public controversy around the use of the technology: it is simultaneously viewed by some actors as a novel and risky technology with the potential to adversely affect public health and the environment, but by others as rather more mundane and manageable. Shale gas, furthermore, is viewed by some as able to help the UK meet emissions reduction objectives but by others as hindering this task. Finally, the governance of shale gas development is also a source of conflict, with varying ideas about the ways and extent to which publics and local communities should have a say in policy and decision-making. This contested nature of shale development amongst different groups and stakeholders represents a key socio-political challenge for development in the UK. We analyse this challenge as arising from distinct ways of understanding and viewing the fracking issues ('framing') amongst different kinds of actors. We aim to improve understanding of this socio-political challenge facing shale development in the UK through an investigation of the relationships between three distinct but related research areas: public perceptions of the issue, policy debates ('frames') around shale gas and fracking, and formal processes of public engagement and participation on the matter. A nationally representative survey of public perceptions, as well as in-depth interviewing in a local community case study (the Fylde, Lancashire), will provide a better understanding of public perceptions on fracking for shale and the actors and processes of its governance, and the public acceptability of shale development in the UK. Policy debates will be analysed to better understand the arguments ('frames') put forward by advocates, their contestation, and how these debates have shaped and continue to shape UK policy. Finally, formal processes of public engagement and participation will be examined in order to assess the extent to which they help to resolve or amplify the public acceptance challenge for shale development in the UK. We are particularly interested in the relationships between these three research areas. For example, we ask, how well do policy debates reflect public views? And can the public influence decision making? Research findings will be of interest to policy makers, industry actors, regulators, environmental groups, and members of the public with an interest in the issue of fracking and shale gas development specifically, but also the issues of climate change, democracy and social controversies over technology more broadly. The primary benefit of the research will be to provide both a better understanding of the scale and nature of the social and political challenges facing shale gas development in UK, and a better understanding of the potential of public participation and engagement to help address these challenges. We interviewed 31 local community members from in and around the Fylde region of Lancashire, UK. The Fylde is an area that has experienced shale gas exploration activity by the company Cuadrilla since it acquired a license in the area in 2008. We recruited participants through purposive and snowball sampling. We intentionally sought participants who had been visibly active on the issue locally, and also sought a good balance of both views on the matter and geographical spread of participants within the region. Once initial participants had been recruited, we used the snowballing technique to identify further possible participants. This approach resulted in a sample of 31 interviewees from three geographical areas in the region (rural Fylde, coastal Fylde, and the wider region); of whom 19 were anti-fracking, 6 were pro-fracking and 6 were ambivalent (see Tables 1 and 2). The rural Fylde area covers the more rural inland part of the Fylde, including the area around the Preston New Road site and in and around the village of Roseacre. Coastal Fylde refers to the more urban and populous coast, including the towns of Lytham, Lytham St Annes and Blackpool. Wider region refers to the wider region in and around Cuadrilla’s license area (PEDL 165), and includes the city of Preston. The interviews were conducted between April and June 2019. The interviews were audio-recorded with participant consent. The recordings were then selectively transcribed by the researchers. During selective transcription, passages of an interviewee's response were typed up if they were felt to be potentially significant in relation to the research questions of the project. The transcripts were anonymized through the removal of direct and indirect personal identifiers. Where passages have been removed or words changed to preserve anonymity this is indicated by the use of {} brackets in the transcripts. The interviews lasted between 30mins and 2hrs. 30 of the interviews were conducted face-to-face and 1 of the interviews was conducted by phone. The interviews were semi-structured, and the interview protocol (and follow up questions) can be seen in the transcript files. Our semi-structured interview protocol included questions about attitudes to and general perceptions of shale development; beliefs about impacts (local, national and global; actual and potential); views on governance, regulation and energy policy; reactions to archetypal positions put forward in the shale development policy debate; and experiences, expectations and perceptions of participatory opportunities. The third section of the interviews involved participants looking at and responding to prompts. These prompts were designed to represent an archetypal perspective on the fracking issue. There were nine prompts, 4 pro-shale development and 5 anti-shale development (although there was often not time to go through each prompt). Participants were given information sheets and informed consent was secured for the use of anonymised quotes in publications stemming from the research and for anonymised transcripts to be published as open data in the UK Data Service’s repository. We are publishing the participant information sheet and (blank) consent form alongside the transcripts.

This collections consists of two interview summaries with centrally placed representatives of companies working with the Cuban government in the energy sector. This research adds to a larger project on Cuba's energy sector. Over the past decades, the Cuban state has attracted foreign capital by forming joint ventures with international companies. The study’s aim is to better understand this transformation of state policy from the perspective of two international companies in Cuba's electricity sector.In the early 1990s, Cuba lost around 85 percent of its oil supplies as a result of the Soviet Union's collapse. At this time, all electricity, transports, and not least the highly mechanised Cuban sugar industry were heavily dependent on Soviet oil. In his manifesto for a revolution, Fidel Castro had notably avowed that electricity would 'reach to the last corner of the Island'. Increasing energy consumption was seen as a prerequisite for industrialisation and automation, and by extension, the transition to communism. National energy infrastructure also interconnected the revolutionary nation as a socio-spatial unit, constructing the socialist state as a vehicle of redistribution. Centralised energy infrastructure allowed the government to distribute energy equally to everyone. Before the Revolution, the United States had provided companies in Cuba with oil. But in the heat of the Cold War, revolutionary Cuba became increasingly reliant on Soviet resources. Soviet oil was counter-traded for Cuban sugar on highly beneficial terms. Unsurprisingly, the Soviet collapse led to an acute lack of oil in Cuba. A decade of rolling blackouts and immobile transport systems followed. The Cuban economy went into free fall and mistrust in the socialist state increased. During the 'special period', Cubans had to develop new modes of energy use and rely on informal networks to get hold of energy resources. This also generated new narratives of energy use that interwove with notions of Cuban nationhood and development. Many international observers soon started describing Cuba as an 'energy miracle' - a real-life example of successful 'de-growth' and the only country in the world to have achieved 'sustainable development'. In the mid-2000s, in turn, the Cuban government launched a nationwide 'Energy Revolution', overhauling the national energy systems. Once more, the carbon intensity of the Cuban economy decreased. The Energy Revolution, however, also radically changed the political nature of the Cuban Revolution. The work I carry out during my ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship examines the history of energy use in Cuba from the Revolution of 1959 via the tumultuous 'special period' to the present day. My research focuses on the Cuban governmental sphere, exploring how and why the Cuban socialist project became as oil dependent as it did, but also on everyday urban household life and experiences in Cuban industry. It is based on extensive ethnographic and archival fieldwork in Cuba. From a more abstract perspective, I develop my work in the context of the interdisciplinary research field political ecology. Political ecology links geography, anthropology, and development studies to investigate how the interaction between humans and nature is shaped by and shapes social and political relations. The Fellowship has five aims. The first is to develop a set of peer-reviewed publications in geography journals and, in the longer-term, also a research monograph from my PhD thesis. These publications engage with discussions in political ecology, energy-, and Latin American studies. The second aim is to carry out further limited research into the international dimensions of Cuba's current energy system. In recent years, the Cuban government has invited foreign capital to form joint ventures with Cuban state-companies. To better understand this new 'internationalisation' of the Cuban socialist state, I am engaging with corporate actors in Europe and North America, active in the Cuban energy sector, to complement earlier fieldwork in Cuba. The third aim is to communicate my research findings to academic and non-academic audiences in the Caribbean, North America, and Europe; the fourth to extend my professional networks; and the fifth, to develop a new research project through these networks. Two semi-structured interviews with centrally placed representatives of companies working with the Cuban government in the energy sector. They were selected on the basis of belonging to a select few organisations in this position.

This collections consists of two interview summaries with centrally placed representatives of companies working with the Cuban government in the energy sector. This research adds to a larger project on Cuba's energy sector. Over the past decades, the Cuban state has attracted foreign capital by forming joint ventures with international companies. The study’s aim is to better understand this transformation of state policy from the perspective of two international companies in Cuba's electricity sector.In the early 1990s, Cuba lost around 85 percent of its oil supplies as a result of the Soviet Union's collapse. At this time, all electricity, transports, and not least the highly mechanised Cuban sugar industry were heavily dependent on Soviet oil. In his manifesto for a revolution, Fidel Castro had notably avowed that electricity would 'reach to the last corner of the Island'. Increasing energy consumption was seen as a prerequisite for industrialisation and automation, and by extension, the transition to communism. National energy infrastructure also interconnected the revolutionary nation as a socio-spatial unit, constructing the socialist state as a vehicle of redistribution. Centralised energy infrastructure allowed the government to distribute energy equally to everyone. Before the Revolution, the United States had provided companies in Cuba with oil. But in the heat of the Cold War, revolutionary Cuba became increasingly reliant on Soviet resources. Soviet oil was counter-traded for Cuban sugar on highly beneficial terms. Unsurprisingly, the Soviet collapse led to an acute lack of oil in Cuba. A decade of rolling blackouts and immobile transport systems followed. The Cuban economy went into free fall and mistrust in the socialist state increased. During the 'special period', Cubans had to develop new modes of energy use and rely on informal networks to get hold of energy resources. This also generated new narratives of energy use that interwove with notions of Cuban nationhood and development. Many international observers soon started describing Cuba as an 'energy miracle' - a real-life example of successful 'de-growth' and the only country in the world to have achieved 'sustainable development'. In the mid-2000s, in turn, the Cuban government launched a nationwide 'Energy Revolution', overhauling the national energy systems. Once more, the carbon intensity of the Cuban economy decreased. The Energy Revolution, however, also radically changed the political nature of the Cuban Revolution. The work I carry out during my ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship examines the history of energy use in Cuba from the Revolution of 1959 via the tumultuous 'special period' to the present day. My research focuses on the Cuban governmental sphere, exploring how and why the Cuban socialist project became as oil dependent as it did, but also on everyday urban household life and experiences in Cuban industry. It is based on extensive ethnographic and archival fieldwork in Cuba. From a more abstract perspective, I develop my work in the context of the interdisciplinary research field political ecology. Political ecology links geography, anthropology, and development studies to investigate how the interaction between humans and nature is shaped by and shapes social and political relations. The Fellowship has five aims. The first is to develop a set of peer-reviewed publications in geography journals and, in the longer-term, also a research monograph from my PhD thesis. These publications engage with discussions in political ecology, energy-, and Latin American studies. The second aim is to carry out further limited research into the international dimensions of Cuba's current energy system. In recent years, the Cuban government has invited foreign capital to form joint ventures with Cuban state-companies. To better understand this new 'internationalisation' of the Cuban socialist state, I am engaging with corporate actors in Europe and North America, active in the Cuban energy sector, to complement earlier fieldwork in Cuba. The third aim is to communicate my research findings to academic and non-academic audiences in the Caribbean, North America, and Europe; the fourth to extend my professional networks; and the fifth, to develop a new research project through these networks. Two semi-structured interviews with centrally placed representatives of companies working with the Cuban government in the energy sector. They were selected on the basis of belonging to a select few organisations in this position.

This collection includes all bar one of the interviews conducted for this project. Those interviewed represent a cross section of leading actors in bio fuels policies in the EU (10, excluding one), US (14) and Brazil (6). This research uses historical institutionalism to analyse the dynamics and drivers of recent developments in public policies targeting agricultural commodity production, where such production has competing uses as food and energy: specifically biofuels. There is a long history of public policy intervention in food production, but concerns over energy supply security and the environmental impact of energy production have seen public policies promoting ‘alternative’ energy supplies. These end-uses thus compete for inputs. Trade liberalisation has also increased the scope for these effects to be transmitted across national borders. These issues give rise to the primary research question for this project: What explains the dynamics of policy change in biofuels policies, and related agricultural commodity sectors, where there is also international trade? The sole method of primary data collection has been semi-structured elite interviews. Unstructured interviews with leading actors in bio fuels policies.

This collection includes all bar one of the interviews conducted for this project. Those interviewed represent a cross section of leading actors in bio fuels policies in the EU (10, excluding one), US (14) and Brazil (6). This research uses historical institutionalism to analyse the dynamics and drivers of recent developments in public policies targeting agricultural commodity production, where such production has competing uses as food and energy: specifically biofuels. There is a long history of public policy intervention in food production, but concerns over energy supply security and the environmental impact of energy production have seen public policies promoting ‘alternative’ energy supplies. These end-uses thus compete for inputs. Trade liberalisation has also increased the scope for these effects to be transmitted across national borders. These issues give rise to the primary research question for this project: What explains the dynamics of policy change in biofuels policies, and related agricultural commodity sectors, where there is also international trade? The sole method of primary data collection has been semi-structured elite interviews. Unstructured interviews with leading actors in bio fuels policies.

This project analysed local authorities in the UK in order to ascertain what capacities they have to engage in sustainable energy, and how these relate to a range of social, political and material contexts. This is a fast-moving landscape as local authorities increase their ambitions in relation to emissions reduction and try to match them with a wider range of local priorities. The main focus of the project is on understanding the relationships between local capacity to act, in five leading local authorities, and energy system decentralisation and varying types of relationship with national government. This information was built up through a process of documentary analysis, 48 extended semi-structured interviews with those most involved at the local authority level, two placements, and two knowledge exchange workshops. The project concludes that re-shaping local-national political relationships can open up opportunities for action at the local level, whilst renewable energy decentralisation has opened up opportunities for local energy transitions but also for new revenue streams for local authorities. It also concluded that greater co-ordination between: local authorities, and between local authorities and national government bodies is required to improve opportunities for other local authorities to act.Both energy and political landscapes are changing in the UK, but so far no analysis has considered how these movements towards greater decentralisation relate to one another. Indeed, local authorities are becoming increasingly involved in enabling and providing sustainable energy programmes whilst, at the same time, many are applying for and securing devolution deals. Some scholars and policy analysts have argued that decentralising energy will be vital in securing popular buy-in to sustainable energy transitions through greater civic participation whilst others are point towards the power of the local in delivering better-attuned services. This research project will reveal the details of how these two decentralisation movements interact with one another in practice by exploring and mapping five local authority sustainable energy programmes and critically examining their relationships with central government. This research is timely and innovative. It is timely because according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), whose job it is to monitor the UK's progress on climate mitigation, the UK is at risk of missing its Fourth Carbon Budget and because central government support for solar and wind generation has also recently been cut (Energy Spectrum 2015). At the same time, however, local authorities have been emerging as one area of innovation with regard to sustainable energy, partly by creating new energy companies that operate according to non-traditional business models and partly by offering supply services focused on affordability. The project is innovative in that it combines conceptual insights from socio-technical transitions, political science and human geography to reveal the emerging role of local authorities in sustainable transitions whilst also exploring these changes within the context of political decentralisation. This project has been designed with input from Ofgem, the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and two local government personnel. It aims to engage on a regular basis with practitioners and stakeholders at the local authority level with the intention of on-going knowledge exchange and co-production about this fast changing area. The project is also designed so that local authorities will have the opportunity to engage with one-another through a targeted, practitioners' workshop. Towards the end of the project findings about how local authorities and central government work together in practice, in particular with regard constraints and opportunities for improvement, will be shared with Ofgem, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and local authority networks such as the Local Government Association. The findings from this research project should be relevant not only to academics working on local government and local energy in the UK, but also to scholars interested in questions of scale and of civic participation in sustainable energy transitions. By undertaking and completing this project the PI will be given a valuable opportunity to develop and further improve her research skills, create new networks, produce groundbreaking research and to continue on her trajectory to becoming a world leader in the field of climate and energy governance. Step 1: Documentary analysis of local authority policy documents (including devolution deals) and websites, and a third party (University-led) survey of local sustainable energy policy in the UK. Available documents were limited given how new this policy landscape is. Case studies were chosen on the basis of having sufficient sustainable energy experience, as well as having made some progress in terms of re-shaping their relationship with national government. This section of the research also identified key contacts at the local level as candidates for interviews. Step 2: The next phase was to embed myself into local authorities over 2-day placements to get a better idea of the range of activities in sustainable energy, how local authorities had capacity to act in these areas (i.e. on what basis), how this relates to opportunities (new business models, new technologies) that became available through energy decentralisation, and how local authorities have actively sought to re-shape their relationships with national government to facilitate greater local capacity. Step 3: Semi-structured qualitative interviews. 48 interviews were undertaken with those identified during Step 1 and Step 2. Most of these were face-to-face over a number of hours, but there were also follow-up telephone conversations to clarify issues, or if the policy landscape changed during that time period. These allowed me to create an in depth picture of how policymakers both respond to changing landscapes (social, political, technical), but also seek to change those landscapes in order to support sustainable energy action. Step 4: Knowledge exchange workshops. This last stage widened out who the project had exposure to, to include about 30 different local authorities. There were two workshops designed to support specific knowledge exchange between local authorities on the various innovations in policy, business models and technology that were becoming available and tried and tested. This also provided the project with opportunities to deepen understandings of how local authorities are affected by, and seek to affect, their contexts in order to pursue sustainable energy.

This project analysed local authorities in the UK in order to ascertain what capacities they have to engage in sustainable energy, and how these relate to a range of social, political and material contexts. This is a fast-moving landscape as local authorities increase their ambitions in relation to emissions reduction and try to match them with a wider range of local priorities. The main focus of the project is on understanding the relationships between local capacity to act, in five leading local authorities, and energy system decentralisation and varying types of relationship with national government. This information was built up through a process of documentary analysis, 48 extended semi-structured interviews with those most involved at the local authority level, two placements, and two knowledge exchange workshops. The project concludes that re-shaping local-national political relationships can open up opportunities for action at the local level, whilst renewable energy decentralisation has opened up opportunities for local energy transitions but also for new revenue streams for local authorities. It also concluded that greater co-ordination between: local authorities, and between local authorities and national government bodies is required to improve opportunities for other local authorities to act.Both energy and political landscapes are changing in the UK, but so far no analysis has considered how these movements towards greater decentralisation relate to one another. Indeed, local authorities are becoming increasingly involved in enabling and providing sustainable energy programmes whilst, at the same time, many are applying for and securing devolution deals. Some scholars and policy analysts have argued that decentralising energy will be vital in securing popular buy-in to sustainable energy transitions through greater civic participation whilst others are point towards the power of the local in delivering better-attuned services. This research project will reveal the details of how these two decentralisation movements interact with one another in practice by exploring and mapping five local authority sustainable energy programmes and critically examining their relationships with central government. This research is timely and innovative. It is timely because according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), whose job it is to monitor the UK's progress on climate mitigation, the UK is at risk of missing its Fourth Carbon Budget and because central government support for solar and wind generation has also recently been cut (Energy Spectrum 2015). At the same time, however, local authorities have been emerging as one area of innovation with regard to sustainable energy, partly by creating new energy companies that operate according to non-traditional business models and partly by offering supply services focused on affordability. The project is innovative in that it combines conceptual insights from socio-technical transitions, political science and human geography to reveal the emerging role of local authorities in sustainable transitions whilst also exploring these changes within the context of political decentralisation. This project has been designed with input from Ofgem, the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and two local government personnel. It aims to engage on a regular basis with practitioners and stakeholders at the local authority level with the intention of on-going knowledge exchange and co-production about this fast changing area. The project is also designed so that local authorities will have the opportunity to engage with one-another through a targeted, practitioners' workshop. Towards the end of the project findings about how local authorities and central government work together in practice, in particular with regard constraints and opportunities for improvement, will be shared with Ofgem, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and local authority networks such as the Local Government Association. The findings from this research project should be relevant not only to academics working on local government and local energy in the UK, but also to scholars interested in questions of scale and of civic participation in sustainable energy transitions. By undertaking and completing this project the PI will be given a valuable opportunity to develop and further improve her research skills, create new networks, produce groundbreaking research and to continue on her trajectory to becoming a world leader in the field of climate and energy governance. Step 1: Documentary analysis of local authority policy documents (including devolution deals) and websites, and a third party (University-led) survey of local sustainable energy policy in the UK. Available documents were limited given how new this policy landscape is. Case studies were chosen on the basis of having sufficient sustainable energy experience, as well as having made some progress in terms of re-shaping their relationship with national government. This section of the research also identified key contacts at the local level as candidates for interviews. Step 2: The next phase was to embed myself into local authorities over 2-day placements to get a better idea of the range of activities in sustainable energy, how local authorities had capacity to act in these areas (i.e. on what basis), how this relates to opportunities (new business models, new technologies) that became available through energy decentralisation, and how local authorities have actively sought to re-shape their relationships with national government to facilitate greater local capacity. Step 3: Semi-structured qualitative interviews. 48 interviews were undertaken with those identified during Step 1 and Step 2. Most of these were face-to-face over a number of hours, but there were also follow-up telephone conversations to clarify issues, or if the policy landscape changed during that time period. These allowed me to create an in depth picture of how policymakers both respond to changing landscapes (social, political, technical), but also seek to change those landscapes in order to support sustainable energy action. Step 4: Knowledge exchange workshops. This last stage widened out who the project had exposure to, to include about 30 different local authorities. There were two workshops designed to support specific knowledge exchange between local authorities on the various innovations in policy, business models and technology that were becoming available and tried and tested. This also provided the project with opportunities to deepen understandings of how local authorities are affected by, and seek to affect, their contexts in order to pursue sustainable energy.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. This research project aimed to produce a critical assessment of the prospects for local food networks and chains in the light of the UK government's 'Report of the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food' (the 'Curry Report'), published in 2002, which extolled these novel food chains as one of the greatest opportunities for farmers and producers in the UK to add value and retain a greater slice of the retail price. The project therefore had the following objectives:to examine the changing regulatory environment of the agri-food sector in the light of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)reformto assess the scope for devolved action in the design and delivery of regional agri-food strategiesto examine the nature of producer-retailer relationships in local agri-food chainsto evaluate the effectiveness of the regional support systemto contribute to theoretical debates about multi-level governance, globalisation and localisationTo pursue these objectives, the project focused on two different regulatory contexts: firstly, the macro-regulatory context of CAP reform and secondly, the regional context in which these local systems are directly promoted by regional development agencies and other bodies. The research used three regional case studies: Wales and South West England, where local food is a relatively new regional strategy, and Tuscany in Italy, which is one of the most innovative regions in the European Union in producing and promoting local and organic food products. This qualitative dataset contains 70 interviews (16 focus groups and 54 individual interviews) with food providers and government representatives from the three areas, conducted during the course of the project. Main Topics: Topics covered in the interviews include: food network initiation and establishment; networking and linkages; autonomy for food producers; local food products and network sustainability; quality; political/institutional support; sustainability. Purposive selection/case studies Face-to-face interview Telephone interview