Highlights from the ACCESS Assembly 2025

The sun shone and the conversation flowed, as 100 environmental social scientists from across academia, policy and the third sector came together for two days of thinking, connecting and network building.

Kirstie and Mo greeting the first arrivals; the Xfi Building; conversations in the Atrium

After a Welcome Address from ACCESS Director Patrick Devine-Wright, Day 1 began with a thematic session on ‘Place-sensitive Just Transitions’ with  Najma Mohamed of United Nations Environment Program – World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) delivering the keynote on P’utting People at the Heart of Place-sensitive Just Transitions’.

Najma was followed by presentations from:
Greg Marsden (Place Theme Lead, Energy Demand Research Centre & University of Leeds) – ‘(Re-)locating place in energy demand’
Huei-Ling (Lynn) Lai (National Sun Yat-Sen University Taiwan) – ‘Connecting senses of place, spatial justice, and left-behind places for just industrial transition’
Sherilyn MacGregor (JUST (Joined-up Sustainability Transformations) Centre, University of Manchester) – ‘Place-sensitive Just Transformations’
Concluding with a panel discussion chaired by Gesche Huebner (European Centre for Environment & Human Health (ECEHH), University of Exeter)

Najma Mohammed & Gesche Huebner in conversation; Gesche chairing the panel discussion and Q&A with Huei-Ling Lai, Sherilyn MacGregor, Najma Mohamed and Greg Marsden

Next we had a Showcase of the ACCESS Flex Fund Round 2 Projects, with presentations from:

Sarah Parry (University of Edinburgh) and Joe Dunn (WildLand Ltd) – ‘Transforming with care. Insights from academics, community researchers and musicians coming together to understand, research and analyse socioecological care’
Davide Pettinato (University of Cambridge) and Mohammed Fezaan Azam of Cambridge Central Mosque – ‘Nurturing nature connection among British Muslims through a faith-literate framework’
Matilda Becker (University of Oxford) and Tom Maitland (Youth Advisory Board) – ‘Unlocking the power of youth to develop equity in net-zero governance’
Followed by a Q&A chaired by ACCESS Co-Director Birgitta Gatersleben (University of Surrey).

Flex Fund 2 presentations from Sarah Parry & Joe Dunn; Davide Pettinato & Mohammed Fezaan Azam; Matilda Becker & Tom Maitland

Finally, we enjoyed the Narratives of Hope Workshops – Exploring the Role of Storytelling to Reconnect with Nature. These sessions were co-led by ACCESS Leadership College Fellows Mandi Bissett, Helen Roberts and Jaya Gajparia and C3DS, University of Exeter Fellows Ashley Lime, Ruth Owino, Daniel Oladoja and Shitemi Khamadi

Workshops led by Daniel Oladoja & Mandi Bissett; Ashley Lime, Shitemi Khamadi & Helen Roberts; Jaya Gajparia & Ruth Owino

Day 2 started with a session on the ACCESS Guiding Principles, with a plenary from Jenny Hatchard followed by breakout research groups led by members of the ACCESS Guiding Principles Team: Kate Burningham, Jaya Gajparia, Sarah Golding, Steve Guilbert, Sarah Hartley, and Jenny Hatchard.

And the Assembly concluded with a session on: ‘What is ‘effective’ interdisciplinarity? with presentations from:
Ian Walker (Swansea University) – ‘Reflections on interdisciplinary research’
Sandra Bogelein (Climate Change Committee) – ‘Integrating a quantitative model with a deliberative process’
Gary Kass (Imperial College London & University of Surrey) – ‘Beyond boundaries: effective working between science, policy and practice’
Helen Roberts (Met Office) – ‘Interdisciplinary work at the Met Office’
Followed by a panel discussion and Q&A chaired by Susan Owens OBE (University of Cambridge)

Sandra Bogelein; Ian Walker; Gary Kass; Susan Owens & Helen Roberts

Thanks to everyone – speakers, chairs, delegates (online and in person), organisers, and event staff – who helped to make the 2025 ACCESS Assembly such an incredible success!

We’re looking forward to sharing the recordings of many of these sessions with you very soon.

ACCESS Director Patrick Devine-Wright & Co-Director Birgitta Gatersleben closing the Assembly; good conversation; the Conference Dinner at Reed Hall