Committed to a sustainable future

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has numerous initiatives that focus on energy, in particular on how businesses can reduce their energy usage in order to become more sustainable.

Eco-I North West – Research and development to support a green recovery

The recently launched Eco-I NW is a £14m business Research and Development (R&D) programme that supports small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) across the North West, including Lancashire and Cumbria, as they undertake low carbon business innovations.

Eco-I NW is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and is not led by specific technologies or area of research, but instead is driven by business needs.  

It can mean supporting the development of a new product or service, exploring an innovative technology, or expanding understanding to allow new markets to be reached.

As one of the partner universities in this initiative, UCLan can provide support to businesses in three different ways:

• 12-month Masters by Research
• 140 hours internship
• Three-month innovation project

The 12-month Masters by Research consists of a dedicated full-time researcher working with your business, supported by UCLan’s academics, to solve your challenges.

The 140 hours internship involves an appropriate student matched to your business needs, funded to work on your project supported by an academic, or team of academics.

The three-month innovation project sees a specialist academic who has expertise in the area, supporting your business’s innovation idea.

They will work collaboratively with your business for three months to develop opportunities and innovation that will not only help to reduce your carbon footprint but could support your company’s growth in the existing market or help enter new markets.

To find out more about how Eco-I NW can support your business please contact [email protected], or call 01772 894324. Alternatively, see our website https://www.uclan.ac.uk/research/activity/eco-i-north-west-research-and-development-to-support-a-green-recovery.

Centre for Sustainable Transitions – addressing the challenges of climate change

The Centre for Sustainable Transitions brings together engineers, social scientists, architects and psychologists to explore a variety of challenges:

• Changes brought about by climate-related instability and associated environmental issues
• Questions surrounding energy demand, generation and supply
• The zero-carbon agenda and its potential impact on the health and wellbeing of communities
• Society’s ability to predict and respond to potential future scenarios
• Uncertainties such as climate-induced disasters

The centre aims to provide new perspectives and develop unique solutions to the challenges we are facing.

It currently works on regional projects with businesses and civic institutions. The broad range of work includes two transport projects with Lancashire County Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Blackpool Council.

Centre members have been awarded a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Place-Based Climate Action Network (PCAN) for a project ‘Climate Resilience, Social Justice and COVID-19 Recovery in Preston’, working with Preston City Council, Community Gateway Association and other stakeholders.

The centre has secured projects on the sustainability of large-scale energy developments, for example leading on the £3m Horizon 2020 Nuclear Fission Research Program grant, History of Nuclear Energy and Society (HoNESt), carrying historical and social science research on the relationship between nuclear energy and society in 23 countries over the last 60 years.

The team have also supported large scale public engagement projects for energy infrastructure developments in the UK. These projects have worked with the public, supply chain businesses and industry.

To find out more about the centre, go to www.uclan.ac.uk/research/centres/sustainable-transitions