I am a researcher with a broad humanities background specialising in environment, community development, planning, governance and justice. I have been a researcher since 1996 and am increasingly drawn to systemic approaches. For a fuller list of publications, see my Newcastle University webpage: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/apl/people/profile/elizabethbrooks1.html
In 2010, when hope emerged that the new conservative government would improve the governance of t... more In 2010, when hope emerged that the new conservative government would improve the governance of the LEADER Programme, the Naturama Alliance, a co-operative network of seven Hungarian LAGs, issued a Declaration that summarised procedural issues to be addressed by a revision[1]. After introducing the alliance, the first chapter was entitled “Decentralisation and Autonomy”, indicating the direction of the desired shift towards a more autonomous operation. The LEADER Programme is scrutinised in this article from the point of view of autonomy and local democracy, exploring to what extent these are linked with or distinct from higher level governance transformations towards decentralisation or recentralisation. Theoretical approaches derived from rural and government studies are interpreted in the first sections of the paper, exploring the debate regarding the correlation of autonomy and local democracy and the way it is manifested in LEADER. Most authors regard LEADER as a promoter of lo...
ABSTRACT Abstract: In the UK retrofitting, or ‘retrospective refitting’ has become a central stra... more ABSTRACT Abstract: In the UK retrofitting, or ‘retrospective refitting’ has become a central strategy in reducing energy inefficiency and carbon emissions. However, whilst implementation has increased, research shows that there are still several problematic barriers to the full implementation and embedding of energy efficiency retrofit policies. Likewise, international ecological commentators, developers and policy-makers have also pointed to the growth of retrofitting ideas and policies in modernising nations such as China; however, as investigations are beginning to show, the full implementation of retrofitting practices in modernising countries is also difficult, with local policy-makers and developers showing much more interest in newbuild, as opposed to retrofitting existing buildings and/or heritage sites. Taking the UK and China as two key examples of earlier and more recent retrofitting cultures, this paper reflects on the different barriers to retrofitting historical buildings for energy efficiency in these countries and explores the potential drivers for retrofitting in each of these contexts.
Introduction: This paper aims to apply a four-part resilience framework to critically examine the... more Introduction: This paper aims to apply a four-part resilience framework to critically examine the approaches to climate change adaptation in coastal regions in Europe. The framework has been developed by Davoudi et al [1] by drawing on three broad perspectives on resilience − engineering, ecological, and evolutionary [2]. Methods: Rotterdam in the Netherlands and the Norfolk Broads in the UK are selected as case studies. These coastal areas are among the ten case studies i undertaken for a four-year European FP7 research project, ARCH. Results: The paper argues that the approaches to climate adaptation in these coastal areas veer between a standard ecological understanding of resilience and a more rigid engineering model. Their emphases are on identifying exposure and vulnerability to risk from climate events, and applying a recovery-focused approach, with the overall aim of bouncing back as quickly as possible from the consequences of such exposures to a normal state, rather than o...
In 2010, when hope emerged that the new conservative government would improve the governance of t... more In 2010, when hope emerged that the new conservative government would improve the governance of the LEADER Programme, the Naturama Alliance, a co-operative network of seven Hungarian LAGs, issued a Declaration that summarised procedural issues to be addressed by a revision[1]. After introducing the alliance, the first chapter was entitled “Decentralisation and Autonomy”, indicating the direction of the desired shift towards a more autonomous operation. The LEADER Programme is scrutinised in this article from the point of view of autonomy and local democracy, exploring to what extent these are linked with or distinct from higher level governance transformations towards decentralisation or recentralisation. Theoretical approaches derived from rural and government studies are interpreted in the first sections of the paper, exploring the debate regarding the correlation of autonomy and local democracy and the way it is manifested in LEADER. Most authors regard LEADER as a promoter of lo...
ABSTRACT Abstract: In the UK retrofitting, or ‘retrospective refitting’ has become a central stra... more ABSTRACT Abstract: In the UK retrofitting, or ‘retrospective refitting’ has become a central strategy in reducing energy inefficiency and carbon emissions. However, whilst implementation has increased, research shows that there are still several problematic barriers to the full implementation and embedding of energy efficiency retrofit policies. Likewise, international ecological commentators, developers and policy-makers have also pointed to the growth of retrofitting ideas and policies in modernising nations such as China; however, as investigations are beginning to show, the full implementation of retrofitting practices in modernising countries is also difficult, with local policy-makers and developers showing much more interest in newbuild, as opposed to retrofitting existing buildings and/or heritage sites. Taking the UK and China as two key examples of earlier and more recent retrofitting cultures, this paper reflects on the different barriers to retrofitting historical buildings for energy efficiency in these countries and explores the potential drivers for retrofitting in each of these contexts.
Introduction: This paper aims to apply a four-part resilience framework to critically examine the... more Introduction: This paper aims to apply a four-part resilience framework to critically examine the approaches to climate change adaptation in coastal regions in Europe. The framework has been developed by Davoudi et al [1] by drawing on three broad perspectives on resilience − engineering, ecological, and evolutionary [2]. Methods: Rotterdam in the Netherlands and the Norfolk Broads in the UK are selected as case studies. These coastal areas are among the ten case studies i undertaken for a four-year European FP7 research project, ARCH. Results: The paper argues that the approaches to climate adaptation in these coastal areas veer between a standard ecological understanding of resilience and a more rigid engineering model. Their emphases are on identifying exposure and vulnerability to risk from climate events, and applying a recovery-focused approach, with the overall aim of bouncing back as quickly as possible from the consequences of such exposures to a normal state, rather than o...
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