This in-person world Café series at  Burleigh court Loughborough University will bring together researchers from all career stages to discuss different aspects of the socio-technological change required to transition to a Net Zero Carbon Society.

Due to the pandemic many researchers have not had the opportunity to meet in a face-to-face setting with researchers from other research groups and/or universities. We aim to provide a friendly welcoming environment to give them the opportunity to meet and discuss their research ideas,  potentially leading to future research collaborations across the C-DICE partnership and beyond.

There will be six sessions spread over two-days (23 May and 8 June 2022), based on different Net-Zero Themes, derived from academics, industry representatives and support service staff working in the Energy and/or infrastructure and cities research areas. Participants may sign up to as many or as few sessions as they would like to participate in by completing this short online form. Lunch will be provided for the 12:00-14:00 session, with unlimited tea and coffee available during the other sessions.

Why you should attend

The Net-Zero World Cafe is free to attend for researchers in the UKCRIC and Energy Research Accelerator university partnerships, and also for any researchers funded by the Faraday Institution and the Alan Turing Institute. A list of all partner universities is here.

By attending the Net-Zero World Cafe you will:

• Expand your professional network
• Work with other researchers to develop ideas
• Develop new problem solving skills
• And potentially find collaborators for future projects!

Programme Plan

Day 1: 23^rd May 2022

Session 1: 09:30-11:30 – To Cornwall in an electric car.

Session 2: 12:00-14:00 – How to create a robust and resilient net zero future.

Session 3: 14:30-16:30 – It’s a matter of scale.

Day 2: 8^th June 2022

Session 1: 09:30-11:30 – How do we decarbonise homes?

Session 2: 12:00-14:00 – Reducing your carbon footprint whilst living a full life.

Session 3: 14:30-16:30 – The invisible carbon in architecture and infrastructure.

Details of the sessions

Each session will start with a brief introduction to the topic (5-10 mins). Participants will be sat in groups of 3-5 people around tables with either a flipchart or disposable tablecloth to take notes on. There are six tables (or stations) each covering a different aspect or stakeholder to be discussed. Participants will have 15 mins at each table before moving onto the next one. As groups move round the tables it is anticipated that they will add to the previous groups notes on the flipchart/tablecloth. The session will finish will a feedback section where participants can share ideas with the whole group. The topics for the table are deliberately broad in order to facilitate discussion, there will also be post-it notes available to record any discussions that do not fit within the table topics.

Tables

Table 1: Users and user behaviour.

Table 2: Policy and Politics.

Table 3: Business and Industry.

Table 4: Skills.

Table 5: EDI.

Table 6: Joined up thinking.