About the Scotland Beyond Net Zero Research Toolkit

Kate Symons - 19/01/26

About the author: Dr Kate Symons is the Senior Research Partnership Manager for Scotland Beyond Net Zero. Kate has a background in research and teaching on the geographies and politics of sustainable development.

About the toolkit developer: Dr Rosalind Cavaghan combines academic research and consultancy, with a focus on equalities in sustainability, economic policy and technology. Rosalind developed and tested the toolkit.

Research is essential in addressing climate change and the uncertain economic, social, and environmental changes it brings. Funders are increasingly encouraging researchers to explore these issues through cross-disciplinary methods. Scotland Beyond Net Zero, a coalition of researchers from various fields, developed this toolkit to help researchers articulate their sustainability approaches and highlight their added value to funders.

Inspired by diverse and sometimes contradictory perspectives on sustainability, this toolkit is designed to help researchers incorporate multiple approaches in their work. To understand its value, target audience, and usage, I interviewed Dr. Rosalind Cavaghan, who developed the toolkit.

The toolkit is available at: https://scotland-beyond-net-zero.ac.uk/toolkit/

Kate: When we asked you to develop the toolkit, we spent quite a bit of time discussing who would be the users of the resource. After all, many academics already have expertise in some dimensions of sustainability. Who do you see as the primary users of the toolkit?
Rosalind: We tried really hard to make the toolkit useful for all researchers! But we identified three specific uses. We want to help researchers new to sustainability, to identify how their work can contribute to sustainability. For more experienced sustainability researchers we want to help them identify new angles, and to more deeply engage with the multiple dimensions and trade-offs inherent in this kind of research. Finally, we hope all researchers will find the toolkit helps explain their contributions in ways that are relevant to funders’ priorities.

You did a brilliant job of distilling a lot of debates and complex material into a relatively condensed toolkit. Can you say a bit more about how you went about this?
It was challenging! My own research focusses on sustainability from a gender perspective. While you might think gender is contested concept, I actually think ‘sustainability’ is even thornier! It encompasses a very wide area of environmental, social and economic development. I approached this challenge by working closely with the SBNZ board, reviewing well-established authorities and frameworks, for example the Bruntland Commission’s early work on defining ‘sustainable development’, the Sustainable Development Goals and the concept of planetary boundaries, while recognising the many ways in which these ideas have been challenged.

The main goal throughout was to encourage users to think about the implications of these debates for research design and spark new thinking. We don’t aim to provide a prescriptive checklist. We decided the AREA framework for responsible research and innovation was a useful structure for handling the inherent dilemmas, trade-offs and unpredictable impacts that arise from research in the broad area of sustainability. We’re also grateful to the designers at Mindfully Wired who did an excellent job of presenting a large menu of ideas, in a user-friendly way!

How does this toolkit fit into the current landscape of sustainable research initiatives?
It might be easier to start by explaining what this toolkit isn’t! Many universities have signed up to the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice. Signatories commit to improving ways of working and use of resources to align with science on climate change and ecology, for example through implementing a low-carbon approach to research-related travel and procurement. That commits universities to changing how they conduct research so they reduce or eliminate negative environmental consequences. Universities are currently developing guidance and toolkits to help achieve this.

This toolkit is different! We aim to complement and sit alongside the ongoing delivery of the Concordat by helping researchers demonstrate leadership and contribution to environmental sustainability through the content and outcomes of their research. We want help researchers identify the different ways their research can be applied to sustainability challenges, and to clearly explain the value and impact of their work.

How should people use the toolkit?
With a critical mindset! By this I mean considering different approaches to sustainability such as planetary boundaries, systems thinking, green growth or post-colonial approaches and relating them to the challenges your research aims to address. Being critical like this, means examining the knowledge, relationships and systems which underlie sustainability challenges. That kind of deep reflection and openness to new approaches is what can ultimately help drive transformative change, which is what SBNZ is about.

If the toolkit achieves anything, it should help researchers address trade-offs. For instance, a STEMM project measuring carbon in forests using AI might overlook impacts on local communities. A more holistic project would engage with social aspects, using dialogue and co-design with communities, and could benefit from social sciences and humanities to broaden its perspective beyond carbon accounting.

Did you test the kit with any academics?
Yes absolutely! We had a core team working on the toolkit from the outset, including research leaders and academics with backgrounds in climate and sustainability. I also conducted road-testing with different disciplines across the SBNZ network ranging from physics and engineering to literature and social work, and with research professionals.

Do you see the toolkit developing or changing over time?
We want to keep things simple but expand resources for deeper engagement as interest in sustainability research grows. Many universities are developing materials to enhance research sustainability. If you have specific feedback or questions, please email sbnz@ed.ac.uk.