In June 2023, we launched the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham. We introduced SYSC’s approach to an audience of policy and decision makers, regional businesses and academics, showcasing how we can offer support for the region.
The launch was an opportunity to highlight the importance of co-produced and place-based research for a more sustainable future for South Yorkshire.
Since that starting point we’ve hosted two more annual events where we have convened academics, regional policymakers, businesses and organisations. We’ve hosted lots of other functions too including roundtables, workshops and more with partners like Sheffield:Air, JUSTHEAT and the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.
Connecting Research Together for the region is what we do.
Summit
On 22nd and 23rd of January we welcomed 200 people to join us at the SYSC Summit. Across two days, we showcased the culmination of all of our 40+ research projects and ran workshops to explore our future potential.
The SYSC Director Prof. Rachael Rothman opened the event by setting the scene for the Summit, emphasising the importance of collaboration and trans-disciplinary working. Prof. Rothman was then joined by Prof. Tony Ryan from the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures. His talk demonstrated how research done on a local level can have international impact and vice versa. He outlined the research being done at the University of Sheffield addressing global issues in Controlled Environment Agriculture such as the H3 - Healthy Soil, Healthy Food, Healthy People project. Viewing this work through a local lens illustrates how methods of food production could be rethought and the opportunities it could bring for South Yorkshire such as modernising unused glass houses within the region.
On the second day of the summit, we were joined by Rachael Orr, CEO of charity Climate Outreach for a fascinating keynote speech on how we tell stories about climate and nature.
Rachael outlined a refreshing approach to climate communication - to prioritise stories over statistics. Since the public is already concerned about the climate crisis, further fearmongering is often counterproductive; instead, we, as storytellers, should highlight tangible progress to demonstrate that solutions are possible. Ultimately, effective engagement requires a shift from lecturing to listening and recognising that people do care about climate change. Rachael’s "Climate Narratives" workshop provided attendees with strategies for moving beyond dry statistics, urging leaders to use stories that resonate with South Yorkshire’s specific cultural identity to foster engagement.
Talking about SYSC’s research
The Summit was SYSC's opportunity to share what we have found through our research projects over the last 4 years. The research demonstrated the centre’s regional and place-based findings giving recommendations for how it can be applied. We brought SYSC research to life through a series of panel discussions and workshops
Below are the highlights from the event and we have shared the slides from all sessions at the bottom of this page.
Day 1: Infrastructure and Just Transition.
The opening day focused on the fabric of daily life, emphasising that technical changes must be socially fair.
Retrofit: A panel led by Jonathan Hind (SY Ecofit) explored the "unintended consequences" of home energy upgrades, specifically balancing heat pump efficiency with indoor air quality. This was paired with a hands-on workshop led by representatives of SYMCA’s retrofit team; Malcolm Ramsey and Cai Newbold (SYMCA), where attendees used regional data to model area-based retrofit scenarios for local neighborhoods. The theme of indoor air quality was further explored in a session by Sheffield:Air, which highlighted the growing public health risks of indoor pollutants.
Sustainable Transport: Ed Ferrari (MOSODI) hosted a panel on building a more sustainable transport network in South Yorkshire. Themes of the discussion centred around just transition and motornomativity, the idea that towns and city’s travel infrastructure has been centred around private vehicle ownership. The interdisciplinary panel explored the challenge of building a sustainable, accessible transport network in South Yorkshire which connects people to opportunities and activities and provides efficient and pleasant journeys at a lower cost to human and planetary health. This conversation moved into a co-production workshop facilitated by Dr. Steve Parkes and Dr. Giulliano Punzo, which sought to co-create new regional research and project ideas that could deepen our understanding of how we might achieve modal shifts.
Defining Justice: Across a workshop and a panel hosted by Louise Preston (Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council), what a just transition to net-zero could and should look like in South Yorkshire. Prof. Aimee Ambrose posed the question to the audience, would you be relatively happy to wake up in the shoes of any other person? In a just world, proposed Prof. Ambrose, our answer would be yes.
Day 2: Energy Systems, Industrial Decarbonisation, Climate Narratives and Sustainable Food Systems
Our second day shifted focus to industrial decarbonisation, the current state of hydrogen, residential energy systems and innovations in the food system.
Hydrogen & Industrial Decarbonisation: Andy Nolan (Sheffield City Council) led a session framing low-carbon manufacturing not just as an environmental necessity, but as a significant economic opportunity for regional job creation.
Residential Energy Systems: In a panel hosted by John Hart (NE & Yorkshire Net Zero Hub), panellists explored the grid-level risks of electrification and the potential of residential district heating networks, as well as how we build public consent for the heating transition ahead. This was paired with a workshop that showcased the Gleadless Valley Live Lab project where a collaboration between Sheffield City Council, SYSC, Daikin and E.ON is trialling a novel home heating system that has the potential to deliver affordable, clean heat and cooling
Sustainable Food Systems: Dr. Miriam Dobson (Natural England) chaired a panel exploring the food system as both a pressure on and a dependent of ecosystem services as well as exploring the opportunities to boost sustainable production in South Yorkshire. Talks also covered the need for a South Yorkshire Food Network to bring actors together to tackle mutual challenges and the productive potential of Controlled Environment Agriculture. The event also pulled together regional stakeholders to start thinking about how South Yorkshire might chart a path towards building landscape-scale resilience.
The Power of Storytelling: A standout practical session on Climate Narratives provided practitioners with key principles for climate communication. The workshop focused on moving beyond statistics to find the "stories of progress" that resonate most with South Yorkshire’s diverse audiences.
What’s Next?
On Day 1, Prof. Rachael Rothman gave a sneak peak of the SYSC Research Report, which consolidates all of the research from the Centre’s current phase. We will be publishing this report over the coming months. So please watch this space.
We are now looking to attract new funding and to do new research. What we heard from you is that technical solutions cannot work in isolation and that co-production and collaboration are keys to unlocking meaningful action. We heard that thinking about the region’s citizens should always be central to outcomes of research and policy. Attendees told us that they found connections through our networking opportunities are incredibly valuable and also provide opportunities to engage with our work and exchange knowledge.
One of SYSC’s greatest achievements is the community that it has built, the collaboration we see between partners and the connections they make. Our interdisciplinary ethos brings new angles to sustainability research while pursuing grounded links to the region we live in. Our dedicated academics and researchers are always challenging themselves with new ways of working and further exploring where research can take us.
We look forward to sharing our report soon and seeing where we go next.
Event Slide Decks
Day 1 - Lecture Theatre 4 - SYSC Summit
Day 1 - Workroom 1 - SYSC Summit
Day 1 - Workroom 2 - SYSC Summit
Day 2 - Lecture Theatre 4 - SYSC Summit
Day 2 - Workroom 1 - SYSC Summit
Day 2 - Workroom 2 - SYSC Summit
