Newcastle University

Justice

Sub-theme Coordinator: Derek Bell, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology

Procedural, Spatial and Distributive Justice

Researchers in Newcastle address questions such as: what role can law and regulation play in remedying perceived environmental or social injustices? Is the law and regulation an appropriate tool in attempts to address injustice? Addressing these questions requires a deeper understanding of justice and its parameters, linking this theme closely to the Governance Theme.

We also study the fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens. At the global level, we are examining fair principles for a Post-Kyoto climate treaty. More locally, we are working with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to promote socially just decision-making in the transition to a low carbon economy and society.

Environmental Justice and the City

 

Featured researchers:

Dr Derek Bell

Derek's research interests are the ethics and politics of climate change, including theories of global climate justice, the ethics of climate policies, institutional design and climate politics, the local politics of climate change, environmental citizenship and climate change. Derek is also interested in political philosophy and the environment, including political liberalism and the environment, environmental justice, environmental citizenship, democracy and the environment, ecological space and global justice. Derek’s current work includes:

• A co-authored monograph 'Global Justice and Climate Change' to be published by Oxford University Press (2012) (with Professor Simon Caney, Oxford University). The project website is at http://www.globaljustice.eu
• A short 'thinkpiece' on 'Procedural Justice and Local Climate Policy in the UK' funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation programme on 'A Socially Just Transition to a Low Carbon Economy and Society'. The project website is at http://www.climatefairness.com

Dr Anil Namdeo

Anil is a Chartered Environmentalist and a Senior Lecturer in Transport and Sustainability at Newcastle University. He is particularly interested in traffic emissions, air quality modelling, environmental justice and health. He has been involved in environmental assessment of many land-use and transport policies (including road user charging)and has developed a suite of models to facilitate modelling and mapping of traffic emissions (CO2, other gaseous pollutants and particles) and air quality. He has developed software for multi-criteria decision analysis of transport scenarios producing strategic environmental and health assessments. The modelling tools have previously been applied to address sustainability issues associated with local and regional land use and transport policies. He has also been actively engaged in international research and has close links with academics and researchers in India, USA and Sweden. Current projects include:

• EPSRC SUE Project 4M (Measurement, Modelling, Mapping and Management: An Evidence-Based Methodology for Understanding and Shrinking the Urban Carbon Footprint). 2008-2012. The 4M project seeks to investigate how much carbon the city produces - and looks at ways it can be cut. It seeks to place calculations of the Carbon Footprint of cities on a secure platform and produce a carbon emissions inventory for the whole city of Leicester. Four topic areas are being studied: building energy, reduction of emissions and pollution from transport, carbon sequestration rates and impact of personal carbon quotas. The project is in partnership with De Montfort, Leicester, Loughborough, Sheffield and Leeds universities.
• EPSRC SUE Project ReVISIONS (Regional Visions of Integrated Sustainable Infrastructure Optimised for NeighbourhoodS). 2008-2012. ReVISIONS project is in collaboration with Cambridge, Newcastle, Exeter, Leeds universities and Imperial College London. In ReVISIONS, the research will be carried out within an integrated modelling framework to understand how regional 'top down' spatial development policies would affect the size and densities of settlements and identify the most sustainable combinations of infrastructure at different spatial scales and locations. My role in ReVISIONS would be in environmental modelling and overall assessment of various options. Each option will be assessed across a wide range of criteria encompassing the environmental impacts, use of resources, economy, social inclusion, and health.
• EPSRC SUE Project. SOLUTIONS (Sustainability Of Land Use and Transport In Outer NeighbourhoodS). 2004-2009. SOLUTIONS has the aim of developing generic guidance to support the planning, design and implementation of sustainable land use and transport strategies in peri-urban areas that experience high pressure for growth. SOLUTIONS is a collaborative project with Cambridge University, University of West England, University of Leeds and University College London. The principal research questions that SOLUTIONS intends to answer are how far, and by what means, can towns and cities be planned so they are socially inclusive, economically efficient and environmentally sustainable.

Dr Thom Brooks

Thom is interested in political and legal philosophy and specific research interests include: capabilities approach; criminal justice and punishment; global justice and international affairs (including just war); feminism and multiculturalism; and Rawls and political liberalism. His publications include Hegel's Political Philosophy: A Systematic Reading of the Philosophy of Right (2007, paper 2009, 2nd ed 2012) and Punishment (2012). He has several edited books, including Rousseau and Law (2005), The Legacy of John Rawls (with Fabian Freyenhagen) (2005), Locke and Law (2007), The Global Justice Reader (2008), The Right to a Fair Trial (2009), Ethics and Moral Philosophy (2011), New Waves in Ethics (2011), Global Justice and International Affairs (2012), Hegel's Philosophy of Right: Ethics, Politics, and Law (2012), Justice and the Capabilities Approach (2012), and Rawls and Law (2012). His current book project is on Rawls's Political Liberalism and co-edited with Martha C. Nussbaum. Future work is in the areas of capabilities, global justice, political liberalism, and punishment.

For further information, email sustainability@ncl.ac.uk.