Training the next generation of sustainability professionals

The Sustainable Places Research Institute joins a new network training early career researchers in sustainable place-shaping.

The Sustainable Places Research Institute is part of a new network, SUSPLACE, which will help to develop the next generation of sustainability scientists and professionals.  Funded by the European Commission, as part of the Marie Curie Actions Initial Training Network, SUSPLACE brings together six universities and seven non-academic partners in seven European countries. It will train 15 Early Stage Researchers in innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to study and further enhance sustainable place-shaping practices.

Speaking about SUSPLACE, Professor Terry Marsden said “It will provide us with valuable insight into how to utilise the full potential of places and communities, and help to build capacities of people to engage in place-shaping processes.  This will strengthen connections between policy-makers, academics, businesses and civil society.  The network will provide training in scientific and professional skills and will enable researchers at the beginning of their career to go on to academic or professional careers in the NGO sector, private consultancies, governments and businesses.

Focused on five interrelated themes: Inclusive Places, Resilient Places, Connected Places, Greening Economies and Pathways to Sustainability, work at the Sustainable Places Research Institute will focus on three; exploring the role of private sector businesses in supporting sustainable place-shaping; explore the significance of place within learning experiences for sustainability and promoting a better understanding of the relationship between the economic drivers of city-region development and the broader social and environmental priorities of sustainable place-making.  This will be at a regional scale based on the establishment of two City-Region areas (Cardiff City-Region and Swansea Bay) in Wales.

Find out more about SUSPLACE here