Exeter The Exeter event focused on the contribution Early Career Researchers could make to the research areas, which were expanded to include all areas of sustainability and digital technology. This event was set up as a mini conference where new members of the research community had an opportunity to present their current work and network with other community members from the GW4 universities. The first set of presentations outlined the state of the field with Susan Lattanzio introducing the work of Bath University’s Centre for People-Led Digitalisation, who place emphasis on the importance of including people and culture in digital transformation. Shuang Shen then spoke about his research with the University of Exeter around using power system modelling techniques to study the impacts of the integration of renewable energies on the power system and the digitalised adaption of power networks towards Net-Zero. Qinglan Lui then presented a more in-depth look at her research into areas of digitalisation within the circular economy. Demonstrating the matrix she created to explore the intersection of the R framework and the different types of digital technologies that are the current subjects of different research papers. Presentations of work in the areas of sustainability and digitalisation were given by: » Vittoria Loviscek, Cardiff University – Circular economy for the built environment: a comparative study of London and São Paulo; » Ursula Davis, Loughborough University – Circular Agriculture Knowledge Hub; » Genevieve Shanahan, Cardiff University – Why reinvent the wheel? The value of sociotechnical revisability and concretizing multiplicity in alternative organizations; » Thanos Goltsos, Cardiff University – The Circular Economy and Repurposing: Product Transformation & Connected Collaboration Following this there was a lively panel discussion with Jennifer Russell (Virginia Tech), Nadine Leder (Cardiff) and Rick Lupton (Bath) this was chaired by Jennifer Jones. The discussion centred around sustainability education and circular implementation in the UK and the USA comparing the state of play in each country.
L-R: Jennifer Johns, Rick Lupton, Nadine Leder, and Jennifer Russell via Zoom