The Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies
Showcasing Policy Research across Sheffield Hallam University
How long does it take you to walk to your nearest park or green space? If it takes more than ten minutes, according to the charity Fields in Trust, you’re missing out: 2.8 million people in Great Britain don’t have a green space within a ten-minute walk of their home.
In Sheffield, the air we breathe has been above legal limits for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) for 10 years, contributing to 500 deaths each year from lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke. The biggest cause of air pollution is transport, especially diesel vehicles. Sheffield City Council (SCC) have pledged to reduce the number of people driving diesel cars and are promoting electric car use with electric vehicle trials, alternative fuels, green parking schemes, publicity and awareness raising events.
In the UK, as with many other developed countries, domestic energy use is a major contributor to our carbon emissions – accounting for around a quarter of all emissions in the UK and heat generation is a huge part of this (representing 78% of non-transport related energy consumption in the UK- Greenpeace, 2018).
This year has demonstrated a renewed interest in greenspaces, as the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in greenspaces becoming even more important for facilitating social interaction, exercise, and respite from the household (Kale, 2020). Recognising this growing area of research, over the ‘Summer’ I was involved in a staff/student research project in collaboration … Continue reading Exploring the effect of Covid-19 on the future of Sheffield’s greenspaces
The Covid-19 pandemic and related social and economic crises have prompted calls for governments to catalyse a green recovery. This blog aims to complement these proposals, drawing on a recent article written with Aidan While about the differential capacity to act on low carbon goals across people and places.
The Covid-19 pandemic is hitting low income energy consumers hard. Short term policies have provided temporary help. However, in the long term we need policies to improve home energy standards.
The Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies 