Everyday Circularity: Researching behaviours and business practices in the transition to a Circular Economy

In 2018, the UK generated over 222 million tonnes of waste when including household, commercial and industrial waste. This waste was not only made up of typically ā€˜disposable’ items, but also included items and materials that are reusable, repairable or could have been disassembled to save components for repurposing.

Using serious gaming to communicate challenging concepts in water and land management

The highly interconnected nature of the many factors influencing land and water management can make communicating management options a challenge. Balance is key, managing economic, health, social, and environmental requirements within the limitations of land and water availability. Furthermore, the ā€œout of sight, out of mindā€ nature of groundwater can exacerbate challenges in exploring and communicating management options.

Gender Inequality in Climate Change

Climate change affects everyone, but the impacts are felt in different ways by different people all over the world. Countries with lower socioeconomic status are often hit harder, alongside countries and populations that rely more on their economy and environment for natural resources. Profession, as well as location, also ties into how individuals may be impacted. For example, farmers can be some of the hardest hit by changing global climates, as unpredictable weather and rainfall damage agricultural yields. Similarly, different demographics respond to the crisis in different ways.

Dr Ioanna Akoumianaki

I am a biologist and catchment-to-sea scientist. My research career has taken me from the deep sea to estuaries and river catchments, tracing the flows of carbon and nutrients and exploring how ecosystems build resilience in the face of change. Over time, I stepped beyond the disciplinary boundaries of my training and expertise to work at the science–policy interface, ensuring research evidence informs environmental decision-making and contributes to sustainable futures across land, water and sea. 

Ioanna Akoumianaki

James Hutton Institute
Errol Road
Dundee
Scotland
DD2 5DA

The Tarland Catchment: Monitoring landscape interventions to improve water quality, benefit riparian habitat and mitigate flooding

The Tarland Burn Catchment (~70 km2) has been studied since the year 2000 making it one of the longest running comprehensive catchment management case studies in the UK. Critically there has been core funding support through cycles of Scottish Government strategic research programmes in turn, enabling integration with UK and European projects.

Does floodplain restoration help to reduce extremes of water availability and improve biodiversity?

Healthy, intact floodplains play an important role in mitigating extremes of water availability (droughts and floods) expected under climate change. Compared to other ecosystems, intact floodplains also support a disproportionately high biodiversity.

Floodplains often become detached from adjacent water courses by flood embankments resulting in a loss of these characteristics and reconnection through removing embankments can help to regain lost functions in river corridors. However, case studies of the effects on floodplain water levels and plant ecology remain rare.