Keele University Acer Collaboration

ACER and Keele University Collaboration: Reducing Carbon Emissions in Audlem

As part of my Environmental Sustainability and Green Technology Master's research at Keele University, I am collaborating with Audlem Carbon Emissions Reduction project (ACER), and other similar low-carbon community projects. Our aim is to discover how communities such as Audlem can come together and work towards reviewing and reducing the collective impact our day-to-day lives have on the environment around us.

Over the coming weeks, I will assist ACER with developing an online survey tool, which aims to discover how Audlem residents perceive their carbon footprint and environmental impact on a local and global scale. This tool will be the first step towards greater knowledge sharing, so residents can find out what they can do; as individuals, households and a community to cut carbon emissions and keep Audlem green for future generations.

The ACER project will be studied as an in-depth case study, focusing on strategies that could support wider community engagement and stakeholder participation. Personally, I hope that this initial survey research will be the beginning of a larger green movement within Audlem which can be replicated in other areas of the country. Many consider local action to be imperative to the UK meeting it's carbon reduction targets and ACER is at the forefront of this movement, already coordinating local action as part of the fight to reduce the impacts of global climate change.

Matthew Woodward

Keele University Master's Student: Environmental Sustainability and Green Technology MSc