University of Bath School of Management

Related Links:

• ► Lowcarbonworks
• ► Insider Voices: The human dimensions of low carbon technology
• ► Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice (CARPP)

Earlier this month the Lowcarbonworks project team hosted 'Insider Voices: The human dimensions of low carbon technology', an extremely successful one day conference sharing insights from action research projects with ten different companies and local authorities trying to shift to low carbon technologies.

The conference provided essential learning, practical support and cross-sector networking for policymakers, local authorities, businesses and activists – in fact, anyone interested in bridging the policy/practice gap and acting now for a low carbon future.

Interweaving between project narratives, theories and practical tools for action, the conference took an innovative form, using story as a way into understanding the context and detail of the projects.

Researchers and insiders of successful and unsuccessful low carbon change initiatives gave accounts of their experiences. Among these, Ginsters gave a dramatisation of their journey from regulatory compliance to green leadership. They told how their food manufacturing company moved from compliance with waste regulations to investing in state-of-the-art waste to power technology.

Other narratives were given by Holsworthy Biogas plant, an anaerobic digestion power station in Devon who are pioneering a biogas initiative farming community; Compair Airworx, a compressed air equipment manufacturer who are exploring ways of establishing a compressed air service; Air Cycle, a small group try to develop low carbon heating & cooling technology for applications in the food industry; TDG, invisibly decarbonising cold food storage and distribution; and the Thurulie eco-factory in Sri Lanka, an apparel manufacturer commissioned to built an iconic low carbon factory to produce lingerie for Marks & Spencer. ‘Southampton’ was a narrative given about the collaboration between diverse stakeholders to build and operate a district energy scheme drawing on geothermal energy.

Informed by short presentations, the ninety participants selected two of the project narratives to explore in more detail with the researcher and actors involved.

The closing sessions encouraged participants to apply the day’s learning to their own situations and included an experiential exercise using a room-sized complementarities matrix, through which the whole group explored their approaches to the subjective and objective factors involved in low carbon change.

The conference ended with a screening of artist Mark Edwards’ provocative picture show, Hard Rain, a powerful combination of images and narrative highlighting the challenges of an unsustainable world.

Principal Investigator, Professor Peter Reason commented:

“We were delighted with how energetically participants engaged with the material and with the feedback we have had since. Our research has highlighted the need to do more to understand the intense particularities of each attempt to implement low carbon technologies. As those in powerful positions – most recently Tony Blair – continue to look to technology to save us from extreme climate change, we mustn’t forget that technology is conceived and implemented by fallible women and men struggling together in the face of shifting agendas and changing fortunes.”

A PDF version of the full report is available here

Notes to Editors

Funded jointly by the EPSRC and ESRC, the five year Lowcarbonworks project, exploring the contextual barriers and opportunities for low carbon change, has now ended. The team are currently considering how to transfer the project learning more widely and welcome suggestions on this. For further information or to request a hard copy of the report, please contact Peter Reason or go to www.lowcarbonworks.org.uk

Peter Reason is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Director of the Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice (CARPP) at the School of Management.  Over the past 25 years, Peter has contributed to the development of participative approaches to action research in the human sciences and in management approaches variously referred to as "co-operative inquiry", "participatory action research", and "action science" or "action inquiry".