Domestic thermal upgrades, community action and energy saving: a three-year experimental study of prosperous households

A three-year field experiment was conducted with 185 prosperous households to assess whether behavioural interventions by a community environmental group during and after thermal upgrades (cavity wall and/or loft insulation) can achieve reductions in households’ energy use, including reductions in direct and indirect rebound. The engineering interventions on the thermal efficiency of dwellings appear effective in reducing energy use in both treatment and control groups: a direct rebound effect is estimated to be at most 40 per cent from the engineering interventions. However, across a range of measures of energy use, we observe no significant effect of the community behavioural intervention across the total lifetime of the project. Qualitative data collected on similar community groups suggests substantial constraints on their capacity to realise reductions in energy use amongst households

Rethinking Research Partnerships: Evidence and the politics of participation in research partnerships for international development

This article responds to the drive for research partnerships between academics and practitioners, arguing that while potential benefits are clear, these are frequently not actualized resulting in partnerships that are ineffectual or worse, exacerbate damaging or inequitable assumptions and practices. In order to understand/improve partnerships, a systematic analysis of the interrelationship between what counts as evidence and dynamics of participation is proposed. Drawing on data from a seminar series and iterative analysis of seven case studies of partnerships between Higher Education Institutions and International Non-Governmental Organisations the article concludes by suggesting substantial shifts in the theory and practice of partnerships