ESRC Urban Transformations
Glen Noble, ESRC Senior Portfolio Manager for Urban
Transformations
Summary
ESRC and RCUK Background
 ESRC’s Urban Transformations Portfolio
 JPI Urban Europe
 SEiSMiC Opportunities
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www.cses.co.uk
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 We
are the major public sector funder of research on
economic and social issues within the UK.
 We support independent, high quality social science
research and post graduate training in the UK, which
has the potential to have an impact in academia
and/or on business, the public sector and civil
society.
 Non-Departmental Public Body, established in 1965,
largely funded through the Department of Business
Innovation and Skills (BIS).
www.cses.co.uk
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 Social
Science is embedded in all six cross-Council
programmes
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ESRC Urban Transformations Portfolio - Priorities
and Thematic Areas
Social Innovation,
Urban Living and
Digital
Technology
Environment,
Resilience and
Urban Vulnerability
Urban
Economies
Other considerations:
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Urban Transformation:
A portfolio of activities to consider factors
currently transforming urban economic, social
and cultural life with the goal of enhancing the
sustainability and livability of urban areas.
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Inequalities,
Diversities and
Difference
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Cross-cutting
areas
Politics,
Contestation and
Governance
Encourage innovative
and interdisciplinary
research methodologies
Conceptual
development
Big Data
International in scope
and comparative
urbanism
Urban issues at a range
of scales
Optimize impact of
existing investments
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Current Activity
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Big Data Centres
Joint Research Calls with DfID
Urban Transformations Co-ordinator
JPI Urban Europe
Going Forward
◦ New research: Call for innovative, high risk-high reward
research
◦ International collaboration: Newton Fund
◦ Future Cities Catapult: Knowledge Exchange Fellowship &
postgraduate placements
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Joint Programme Initiative
(JPI) Urban Europe
www.cses.co.uk
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The ESRC is the UK representative and leading UK funding
agency.
Countries can decide to opt in and out of particular calls
The second call invited consortia projects to address the
following research topics:
◦ governance of urban complexity; and
◦ urban vulnerability, adaptability and resilience.
The call was managed by the Netherlands and Austria. 10
projects were funded, with over £10m of investment from 10
different countries. The ESRC has contributed £1.6m.
www.cses.co.uk
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Integrated Data Visualisalisation and Decision Making Solutions to
Forecast and Manage Complex Urban Challenges (UK Lead – Oxford
University and the Open Data Institute)
Governance of Urban Sustainability Transitions: Advancing the role of
living labs (UK Lead – Durham University)
Simulations for Innovative Mechanisms for the Self-organizing City: testing
new tools for Value Capturing (UK Lead – Liverpool University)
Improving the Robustness of Urban Electricity Networks (UK Lead - Queen
Mary University & Ethos Smart)
Resilient Cities – Network and Institutional Perspectives on Economic
Growth and Well-being (UK lead –LSE)
Incubators of Public Spaces (UK Lead - UCL)
For more information: http://jpi-urbaneurope.eu/category/projects/
www.cses.co.uk
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JPI Urban Europe Call Three: ERA-NET Cofund for
Smart Cities and Communities (ENSCC)
JPI Urban Europe Call Four: ERA-NET Cofund for Smart
Urban Futures
www.cses.co.uk
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Timeliness
Bringing together different stakeholders and forming
partnerships to better understand and address urban
challenges (both within a UK and international
context)
Providing a platform for information exchange and
enhancing access to resources and funding
Sharing best practice and lessons learned (including
examples within the UK, Europe and Internationally) to
help build a social innovation culture.
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