British Academy’s Net Zero Policy Programme Calls for Research Proposals

The British Academy’s Net Zero Policy Programme is calling for research proposals from UK-based universities or research institutes with a focus on promoting a place-sensitive approach to policymaking for environmental sustainability, and aims to produce research useful for policymakers and practitioners.

“Achieving net zero is about behaviours, incentives, structures and politics as well as science or tech so we are offering up to £150k for a humanities and social science review on this topic,” British Academy CEO Hetan Shah tweeted.

There is a single award available of £150,000, and the duration of the award is 15 months with a start date in March 2023. The submission deadline is February 8, 2023.

Eligible proposals will be submitted by a research team led by a principal investigator, with a focus in humanities and the social sciences, will have a maximum budget of £187,500, and will focus on three challenges: how can net zero policies be classified in a typology or framework, synthesizing evidence of net zero policies, fitting them into the typology or framework and evaluating how net zero policies work in practice and why as well as what gaps need to be filled.

Additional cross-cutting elements which the project should consider include: the importance of place; the relationships between people, communities, institutions, and different modes of governance; the connections between different levels of governance; the methods of engagement and communication between people and policymakers; the questions of inclusion and values; the diverse economic and financial considerations; and the types of skills and knowledge needed.