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Details of Award

NERC Reference : NE/N013891/1

Knowledge Assessment Platform for the valuation of Energy and Nature together (KAPtEN)

Grant Award

Principal Investigator:
Professor A Lovett, University of East Anglia, Environmental Sciences
Co-Investigator:
Dr J Lines, University of East Anglia, Computing Sciences
Co-Investigator:
Professor R Watson, University of East Anglia, Environmental Sciences
Co-Investigator:
Professor C Le Quere, University of East Anglia, Environmental Sciences
Co-Investigator:
Dr JAR Noppen, British Telecommunications Plc, BT Adastral Park
Science Area:
Atmospheric
Earth
Freshwater
Marine
Terrestrial
Overall Classification:
Unknown
ENRIs:
Biodiversity
Global Change
Natural Resource Management
Pollution and Waste
Science Topics:
Economic effects of environmental policies
Environmental impact
Environmental valuations
Environmental economics
Environmental Planning
Primary production
Biogeochemical Cycles
Agriculture
Anthropogenic pressures
Biodiversity
Bioenergy
Ecosystem services
Greenhouse gas emission
Ecosystem Scale Processes
Abstract:
The work to help internationalise ADVENT and facilitate assessment of its findings in the long term will be conducted in three phases. In the initial phase, KAPtEN and ADVENT teams will produce a set of questions and initial statements that are relevant internationally and that will be explored further, building on ADVENT's four initial workshops. In particular, a workshop on the role of energy in ecosystem services and natural capital conceptual frameworks will set the basis for characterising the impacts of specific energy chains and energy infrastructure development on the UK's marine, aquatic, coastal and terrestrial environments, and understand how different means of sourcing energy from outside the UK would impact global ecosystem services. Similarly, a workshop on currently projected energy pathways will look at what we currently know about the nexus between energy, land and water and the trade-offs and synergies associated with different patterns of energy development. These are important topics that will grow with the increasing pressure and desire to move towards a sustainable use of resources. The very first contribution of KAPtEN will be to develop a simplified web portal to facilitate the crowd-sourcing of a literature review around each of the questions and statements arising from these workshops, which will be turned into a databank of resources exportable in reference management systems (e.g. Endnote). In the second phase, a new, professional-looking and easy to use ICT platform will be developed and tested on the valuation of Energy and Nature together. The principle behind the ICT platform is that users more easily react to statements that are already made, by confirming or contradicting them. Thus the ICT platform will start from a set of key statements that together will form the 'Map of Current Knowledge' - or the MoCK. The ICT platform hosting the MoCK statements will include options to link new research papers and to explain how these papers support, challenge, or contradict the existing statements. Anyone can link papers, not just the authors. This is the crowd-sourcing part of the project. If a paper is linked to a MoCK statement, the authors (who are the 'experts'), will be invited to revise the explanations if they wish and to rank other papers up or down, so that with time the papers voted 'up' by most experts will appear at the top. In the final phase, we will publish 10-20 key statements on the valuation of Energy and Nature together, in a joint ADVENT-KAPtEN effort, including international partners, and co-chaired by senior colleagues with extensive experience, to be submitted to a high-impact journal (e.g. Nature Energy). These 10-20 statements will be the ADVENT MoCK that will be posted on the KAPtEN ICT platform and start the continuous assessment process of forming the Map of New Knowledge - or the MoNK. We will use our extensive networks through connections with our international partners, Future Earth, Tyndall Centre partners, IPBES, IPCC and others to invite people to link their papers and show how they inform the assessment made in ADVENT with their international knowledge. As the KAPtEN ICT platform develops, we will be working with Future Earth and IPBES partners to develop other MoCKs, so that with time, KAPtEN will make a step change in our capacity to transparently and continuously assess the state of science, inter-link fields such as Energy and Nature, and inform policy of the environment and beyond. One of our international project partner said 'this ICT platform has the potential to revolutionize the way scientific assessments are done, by opening up the process for contributions by the entire research community, and by establishing a transparent yet organized set of rules to highlight the emerging consensus and issues'.
Period of Award:
1 Feb 2016 - 31 Jul 2019
Value:
£296,738
Authorised funds only
NERC Reference:
NE/N013891/1
Grant Stage:
Completed
Scheme:
IOF
Grant Status:
Closed
Programme:
IOF

This grant award has a total value of £296,738  

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FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)

DI - Other CostsIndirect - Indirect CostsDA - InvestigatorsDA - Estate CostsDI - StaffDA - Other Directly AllocatedDI - T&S
£23,740£103,000£50,741£38,038£70,211£2,064£8,943

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