Geoengineering

Sciencewise-ERC funded project 2010

Background

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), in partnership with Sciencewise-ERC is carrying out a public dialogue to explore the views of the public in relation to geoengineering. Find out more about the project background.

Aims and Objectives

To inform future NERC geoengineering research activity and strategy
To identify areas of particular public concern about geoengineering, and ensure new research takes account of the needs and concerns of society on this topic.
To increase public awareness of geoengineering and its potential implications, through dissemination of the results
To inform policymakers of the outcomes, to help inform policymaking in this area
To identify particular requirements for further dissemination from the research.

Delivered By

NERC
NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) is the UK's main agency for funding and managing research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences.

Ipsos MORI
Ipsos MORI is a UK market research company and led the delivery consortium.

Dialogue by Design
Dialogue by Design specialises in running public and stakeholder engagement processes using online, paper-based and face-to-face methods.

The British Science Association
Exists to advance the public understanding, accessibility and accountability of the sciences and engineering in the UK.

Collingwood Environmental Planning
A multi disciplinary consultancy responsible for the project evaluation.

Latest Status Update

Geoengineering our climate: Fixing Earth’s Future? - a British Library event on 14 July
Article from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme highlights Geoengineering dialogue

Geoengineering dialogue session - full version

Geoengineering dialogue session - short version

Participant blog post - Christian Robinson
Geoengineering dialogue report and summary published on NERC website on 9 September 2010
Read our blog from Peter Hurrell of NERC on the Experiment Earth dialogue
Read our blog on the Science Museum ‘lates’ event
Online survey now closed
Summary meeting of the dialogue takes place 24 April 2010

Find Out More

Key Impacts

The process had a positive impact on participants (both expert and members of the public) in terms of learning and experience.
The immediate impact on the “sandpit” event was considered important because the two projects that were recommended for funding through the sandpit were both to have public dialogue components as a result of the dialogue process and one of the projects was to use the outputs from the dialogue project specifically.
There was ambivalence over the extent of the wider impact that the dialogue process would have on decisions about geoengineering research in the longer term, but it should be remembered that this was a relatively small-scale one-off activity, and one of the conclusions in the dialogue report was that it should be an on-going process.

Resources

Project Quotes

“I just thought it would be a general discussion, I didn’t think that you would have scientists there explaining different things to you...that was the best part about it really.”

Participant

“The main value is that it demonstrates that government is listening to the public. It’s taking account of what the public thinks.”

Expert

“Geoengineering should not be an alternative to living more sustainably, this is the only real long term soution.”

Online survey

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