ECU Introduction

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE INSTITUTE

University of Oxford

Staff details and contact information Map showing ECI offices Job vacancies Annual Report

The Environmental Change Institute (ECI) (formerly the Environmental Change Unit) is Oxford University’s centre for research and teaching on the environment and sustainability.Within the context of its interdisciplinary approach and links to other University departments, the ECI is formally a Research Unit of the School of Geography and represented through the Faculty of Anthropology and Geography.

The ECI was established to organise and promote collaborative interdisciplinary research on the nature, causes and impacts of environmental change and to contribute to management strategies for coping with future environmental change. The breadth of research topics covered by the ECI encompasses four strands of sustainability: lifestyle, natural resource, industrial and ecosystems.

With links to over 50 other departments and centres the ECI is the hub of environmental activity in the University. It co-ordinates and promotes environmental work across the University through an initiative known as Oxford Environment. Oxford Environment maintains a regularly updated information service on Oxford's termly seminars having an environmental relevance.

Providing solutions
The ECI gives leadership on critical environmental issues and carries out international and national consultancies. Known for its integrity, it provides authoritative and impartial advice on the key issues facing decision-makers.

Setting agendas
The ECI actively identifies priority environmental issues and promotes the dissemination of knowledge. ECI research is used to influence policy through the leading roles staff play on international and national committees and through giving evidence to major international bodies. The ECI hosts influential international and national conferences, workshops and seminars.

Building partnerships
The ECI collaborates with a wide range of organisations, including governments, business, industry and non-governmental organisations, as well as other academic centres.

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Goals of the ECI

to focus our research on major issues of contemporary policy;

to carry out multidisciplinary and collaborative research with an emphasis on the physical and social sciences;

to communicate our research results to specific audiences relevant to the environmental policy process;

to stimulate innovation in environmental research and teaching

to contribute to the training of the next generation of environmental policy makers and scientists

to be a catalyst in promoting research and teaching on environmental issues at Oxford University and increasing the resources devoted to these activities.

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Research themes

Research themes include the following:

Climate change impacts and adaptation

Climatic hazards

Vulnerability

Modelling carbon fluxes

Use of energy

Equity and the environment

Market transformation

Solar photovoltaic technologies

Biodiversity and conservation

Mountain regions and policy

Soil erosion and land degradation

Integrated assessment

Water

Industrial sustainable development

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Educating tomorrow’s environmental elite
The ECI runs an acclaimed Masters course in Environmental Change and Management. 30 top students from every continent of the world complete the degree each year. The course emphasises practical management of current environmental concerns within an interdisciplinary framework.

Doctoral students at the ECI work on a wide spectrum of environmental issues, including wind power in China, sustainable housing in India, social adaptation to climatic change, and biodiversity and conservation policy.

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Staff
The ECI has about 35 research and administrative staff. The research staff encompass a wide range of disciplines and expertise including botany, ecology, energy policy, environmental science, geography, geographic information systems, industrial design and statistical modelling.

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Major conferences hosted by the ECI

Lead authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Special Report on Technology Transfer, organised by The UK Climate Impacts Programme, hosted by the ECI (1999);

Kyoto and the Kitchen: Compulsory Energy Labelling – Is it Working?, which presented the results of a study by the Environmental Change Unit on implementation of the Energy Label in Europe (1998);

European Conference on Environmental and Societal Change in Mountain Regions (1997);

The Great Debate on Transport, led by the then Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt Hon Dr Brian Mawhinney, with over 500 attendees from throughout the UK (1995);

Greening the Kitchen, a conference on energy efficiency in domestic appliances attended by over 120 representatives from manufacturers, retailers, consumer groups and government (1995);
NATO conference on Global Change: Modeling Soil Erosion by Water (1995);
NATO Conference on Climate Change and World Food Security (1993).

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Benefactors to the ECI

IBM UK Trust
MOA International
Merton College, Oxford
PowerGen plc
Nuclear Electric plc
Environment Now
Thames Water plc
Charterhouse Charitable Trust
The Rhodes Trust
Riche Monde
The John S Cohen Foundation
The Dulverton Trust
Lloyds TSB Group plc
The Loke Wan Tho Memorial Foundation