Understanding and Engaging with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as Participants in a Just Transition
The aim of this PhD Project is to develop new critical understandings of place-based policymaking in just transitions, and its role in SME decarbonisation, as well as in fostering resilience and sustainability for the South Yorkshire area. This research project will seek to shed light to the following questions:
- How are SMEs positioned and how can we better engage with SMEs within a just transition framing?
- What are the interrelationships and trade-offs between place-based policy and SMEs, in the context of a just transition?
- How can place-based policy contribute to SME decarbonisation?, and
- What is the role of place-based policy and SME decarbonisation in the low-carbon development and resilience in the South Yorkshire area?.
The significance of the proposed research is twofold: theoretical and practical. The proposed research will advance knowledge about just transitions, energy efficiency and decarbonisation, resilience, and place-based policy in the context of SMEs. Simultaneously, the research project will have a direct impact on the South Yorkshire area, as this will generate a co-constructed and place-based model, which will guide just transitions in local SMEs and will contribute to regional policy development, resilience, and sustainable development..
Funded in collaboration with the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre.
Supervisors
- Will Eadson (Main Supervisor)
- Phil Northall (2nd Supervisor)
