This PhD project has developed from Jenny Patient’s work over 3 years to engage trade unions around climate change. Making connections through the fringe programme around COP21 in Paris led to conversations with trade unions in energy-intensive industries, such as steel, glass and cement, that underpin the cities of Leeds, Hull and Sheffield. She is focused on developing knowledge that can help trade unions play their full role towards an energy transition that brings both sustainability and justice, at a time when action on climate at a city level has never been so important.
Starting in September 2017, Jenny’s project developed as a partnership with the TUC Yorkshire and Humber region, where the Low Carbon Task Force has been working with Local Enterprise Partnerships, employers and trade unions to build awareness and capacity for change, including training for workplace green representatives, and developing collaborative approaches to low-carbon technology change.
Jenny has taken a participatory action research approach, working with trade union activists in the Low Carbon Task Force, to explore key questions including:
Jenny is supervised by Beth Perry and Stephen Connelly.
A summary of the core research appears with some indicative observations in the Realising Just Cities UK report (September 2019) -- see pages 30-31.
Watch Jenny and fellow Realising Just Cities PhD candidate Ryan Bellinson apply their learning to co-produce a workshop on reacting to the climate emergency at the 4th international Realising Just Cities conference:
