Dr Jack Nicholls
BA, MSc, MReS
Current positions
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
My research centres on the application of deliberative democracy for real world decision-making, with a particular focus on net zero. Further research interests include: mapping and understanding environmental public discourse; uncovering overlooked rationalities and how these might inform a new environmental politics; and how organisation structures can nuture radical political agencies and actions on climate change. I also work as an academic supervisor for student research initiatives with a civic university dimension, and design and run public engagement projects with a range of external organisations concerned with climate change, sustainability and environmental degradation.
I currently teach sustainability, risk and environmental sociology and politics on final year UG and PG programmes.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Policy for Net Zero – the case of Bristol City Leap and Social Value
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
This project is looking at concepts of social value, net zero policy and the maximising of co-benefits in decarbonising a city region. We focus particularly on Bristol City Leap which,…Managing organisational unit
Department of Computer ScienceDates
01/04/2023 to 30/06/2024
Discipline-hopping workshops: Co-producing new inter-disciplinary research in global environmental challenges
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
Through collaborative workshops and individual interviews, the project explores the co-production as a methodology for interdisciplinary research focused on the theme Global Environmental Challenges. Funded through NERC discipline-hopping award.Dates
01/04/2022 to 31/07/2022
Evaluating Bristol City Council's Community Resilience Fund
Principal Investigator
Description
The primary aim is to evaluate the new Community Resilience Fund (CRF). Following on from the Citizen’s Assembly experiment in direct forms of democracy, the CRF will apply deliberative democratic…Managing organisational unit
School of Sociology, Politics and International StudiesDates
01/04/2022 to 31/05/2023
Social Sciences for Net Zero
Principal Investigator
Description
While there is a good understanding of the technological solutions required to decarbonise cities, there is less expertise and knowhow to address the complex interconnected societal issues to create a…Managing organisational unit
School of Sociology, Politics and International StudiesDates
01/04/2022 to 31/03/2023
Many Neighbourhoods One City
Principal Investigator
Description
The basis of the collaborative research project, Many Neighbourhoods, One
City (MNOC), is that knowledge from the ‘many neighbourhoods’ should be instrumental in informing the ‘One City’. Whilst many decisions have…Managing organisational unit
School of Sociology, Politics and International StudiesDates
01/01/2021 to 30/09/2022
Publications
Selected publications
01/04/2020Technological intrusion and communicative renewal
Energy Policy
Community energy business model evolution
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Beyond resilience? State failure, mutual aid and local action
Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space
Recent publications
23/01/2025Beyond resilience? State failure, mutual aid and local action
Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space
Executive Summary Participatory democracy in practice: evaluation of the Bristol City Council Community Resilience Fund
Executive Summary Participatory democracy in practice: evaluation of the Bristol City Council Community Resilience Fund
Participatory democracy in practice: evaluation of the Bristol City Council Community Resilience Fund
Participatory democracy in practice: evaluation of the Bristol City Council Community Resilience Fund
Climate Learning Insight Mock COPs
Climate Learning Insight Mock COPs
Organizational structures for democratizing energy:
Democratizing Energy
