OUR WORK
Scotland Beyond Net Zero is a coalition designed to catalyse research collaboration, empower our communities and inform the policymaking and action Scotland needs to reach its ambitious targets.
Scotland Beyond Net Zero’s partner universities, will work to combine our research strengths to build interdisciplinary collaborations around six core themes: Built Environment, Energy, Finance, Food, Natural Systems, and Transport. Read more about each of these themes and meet the related researchers via the quick links below.
From research in modern architecture, urban planning, and civil engineering to the design of energy-efficient buildings and the use of sustainable construction materials, our researchers are considering how the world that we have forged around us holds the potential to accelerate our race to achieving net zero.
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Energy is perhaps the most obvious research area that springs to mind when considering our goal of achieving net-zero emissions. From increased understanding of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal power to improving energy efficiency and storage capabilities, research into energy is fundamental to achieving our goal of reaching net zero emissions.
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Finance is closely linked to the climate crisis – how can and should global and local financial flows support sustainable technologies, institutions and practices? How to pay for the transition required to mitigate and adapt to climate change? Academic research can highlight the ways that investment practices can align with sustainability objectives. Financial investments could channel efforts towards low-carbon and climate-resilient projects to help accelerate the transition to a net zero carbon economy.
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Almost a third of greenhouse gas emissions are associated with our current food systems. To understand the role food production plays in achieving net zero, we’re bringing together interdisciplinary research that looks at the impact and opportunities across multiple stages of the food supply lifecycle, including issues of justice and fairness in access to sustainable and good food across society.
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Through research into ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural processes, we can unlock the knowledge to develop strategies that harness nature’s potential to sequester carbon, and mitigate and adapt to climate change. Nature-based approaches to climate change can also create opportunities for community benefits and sustainable local development, while also revealing how Scotland’s nature, land and environment is a product of its history.
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With a wave of new developments and advancements in environmental technologies, it’s an exciting and pivotal moment in the transportation sector. Further research aims to understand how cutting-edge technologies can not only mitigate the transport sector’s traditional environmental impacts, but shape the future of how we get around in ways that are fair, accessible and affordable.
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The built environment is where many of us live and work, and our towns and cities are also home to non-human nature as well. There are countless ways in which the built environment could form a cornerstone for achieving net zero emissions and improving natural systems. Our researchers work on a range of topics, from prioritising energy-efficient building designs, to using sustainable materials and smart technologies, to embracing circular construction practices and passive design to minimise waste and assist with energy saving. We also have researchers working on the substantial adaptations our urban environments require to face climate change – how this adaptation might be achieved, by whom, and who will be affected. We therefore also explore issues of sustainability, justice and place in urban centres.
As with all research areas, collaboration across disciplines is crucial to achieving adoption and progress here. As well as communicating with each other, urban planners, architects, and policymakers need to engage communities to ensure that communities are able to prioritise low-carbon infrastructure and integrated systems.
Our research into the built environment not only looks at the latest ways that sustainable design and technological innovation can influence net zero, but how community involvement and debate can be effective in paving an achievable route for a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future within our urban landscapes.
Meet the researchers involved with studies on the built environment, and its role in combating the climate crisis.
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
saskarinejad001@dundee.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies
ross.beveridge@glasgow.ac.uk
Chancellor’s Fellow in Environmental Humanities
hannah.boast@ed.ac.uk
Reader in Construction Informatics
f.bosche@ed.ac.uk
Professor of Geotechnical Engineering
m.j.z.brown@dundee.ac.uk
Chancellor's Fellow in Net-Zero Buildings
j.broswilliamson@ed.ac.uk
Lecturer in Fire Science
Z.Campbell.Lochrie@ed.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Technology and Environment
k.carter@ed.ac.uk
Reader in Materials for Green Energy Technologies
JunYoung.Cheong@glasgow.ac.uk
Visiting Lecturer in Climate Finance & Investment
icochran@ed.ac.uk
Lecturer in Environmental Engineering
carlos.domingo-felez@glasgow.ac.uk
Local SBNZ lead at Glasgow Caledonian University, and Director, Research Centre for Built Environment Asset Management (BEAM) at Glasgow Caledonian University
Rohinton.Emmanuel@gcu.ac.uk
Research Fellow in Environmental Engineering
Ania.escudero@gcu.ac.uk
Professor in Cyber Physical Systems
David.Flynn@glasgow.ac.uk
Chancellor's Fellow in Net Zero Buildings
dfosasd@ed.ac.uk
Personal Chair of Energy Systems
d.friedrich@ed.ac.uk
Lecturer in nature-based solutions and hydrogeological modelling
Alejandro.ollauri@gcu.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Marine Hydrodynamics and Ocean Engineering
mhayatdavoodi@dundee.ac.uk
Chair in Energy, Environment and Society
dvander@ed.ac.uk
Director of the Mary Robinson Centre for Climate Justice
t.jafry@gcu.ac.uk
Elizabeth Georgeson Fellow in Data and Digitalisation for Net Zero
desen.kirli@ed.ac.uk
Chair of Agile Energy Systems
kiprakis@ed.ac.uk
Professor of Civil Engineering
J.A.Knappett@dundee.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Anthropogenic Geomaterials
john.macdonald.3@glasgow.ac.uk
Professor of Urban and Environmental Studies
Alice.Mah@glasgow.ac.uk
Reader in Transport Studies
David.Mcarthur@glasgow.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Ocean Observation
emedina@ed.ac.uk
Professor, Civil Engineering and Environmental Management
Slobodan.Mickovski@gcu.ac.uk
Professor of Geomorphology and Environmental Geography
Larissa.Naylor@glasgow.ac.uk
Lecturer in Real Estate
Tunbosun.Oyedokun@glasgow.ac.uk
Vice Principal for Research and Knowledge Exchange
chris.pearce@gla.ac.uk
Lecturer in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies
eugenia.rodrigues@ed.ac.uk
RAEng Chair in Emerging Technologies
William.sloan@glasgow.ac.uk
Director of the Centre for Future Infrastructure
Sean.Smith@ed.ac.uk
Lecturer in Transport Systems Engineering
ptafidis@ed.ac.uk
Director of the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN)
george.tarvit@ed.ac.uk
Professor in Sustainability and the Built Environment
craig.thomson@gcu.ac.uk
Reader in Geospatial Data Science
Mingshu.Wang@glasgow.ac.uk
Professor of Landscape Architecture
c.ward-thompson@ed.ac.uk
Professor of Sociology of Organisations
jan.webb@ed.ac.uk
Lecturer in Environmental Management
andrew.wilson@gcu.ac.uk
Programme Manager, Climate Springboard
alison.wood1@ed.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Systems, Power and Energy
Siming.You@glasgow.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Supply Chain Management and Technology
Abraham.Zhang@glasgow.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies
Qunshan.Zhao@glasgow.ac.uk
Read the latest articles about the built environment from our universities.
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