The Centre for Environmental Policy (CEP) is a department at
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
in the Faculty of Natural Sciences. Its aim is to influence a wide range of environmental issues through research on the environmental, energy and health aspects of global problems. CEP's current director is Professor Mark Burgman.
History
The Centre for Environmental Policy was first established in 1977 as the ''Interdepartmental Centre for Environmental Technology'' (ICCET). ICCET was the first of many
interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...
centres within Imperial College London to cross traditional boundaries between departments. It aims “to produce quality research, teaching and advice on
environmental
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
matters”.
Whilst Imperial College is known for its scientific and technological activities,
the centre was established to combine these with the legal, medical, economic and sociological aspects of the environment, with particular emphasis on cross-linkages between the disciplines. CEP has since evolved to cover a wide range of science, technology and policy research, teaching within the broad disciplines of physical and natural environment and more specifically in the energy, agriculture and international development fields.
CEP focuses primarily on
evidence-based policy
Evidence-based policy is an idea in public policy proposing that policy decisions should be based on, or informed by, rigorously established objective evidence. The implied contrast is with policymaking based on ideology, 'common sense,' anecdo ...
making with an emphasis on
social sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...
relevant to the environment and to the interface between science and policy in key environmental subjects.
This work is often carried out in collaboration with other departments at Imperial College London.
In addition to research opportunities, the department offers two
Postgraduate Taught and Research degrees –
PhDs and the
MSc in
Environmental Technology
Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as ''clean technology'' (''cleantech''), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic devic ...
.
CEP is organized in functional groups around research topics, and teaching is related closely to the research groups by subject.
Notable Alumni, Faculty and Staff
*
Helen ApSimon
*
Professor Sir Gordon Conway
*
Lord Flowers
*
Kaveh MadaniIan Scoones*
James Skea, Professor of Sustainable Energy
Sources
Imperial College London official websiteImperial College Faculty of Natural Sciences websiteCentre for Environmental Policy website
References
Research institutes of Imperial College London
Environmental studies institutions in the United Kingdom
Environmental research institutes
Imperial College Faculty of Natural Sciences
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