Dr Kate Theobald

Name: Dr Kate Theobald
Tel:  0191 2437164
E-Mail:  kate.theobald@unn.ac.uk

I joined Sustainable Cities Research Institute as a Research Fellow in September 2002, having previously worked as a researcher at two London universities.  I was promoted to Reader in the Institute in 2008.  My particular interests are local governance in relation to sustainable development both in the UK and Europe, responses at the local level to the climate change agenda, including delivery of low-carbon strategies at the neighbourhood scale, and public engagement with and responses renewable energy technologies.  These interests have developed from my work in local government during the 1980s, undertaking my PhD study into the conflict between the contracting out of local government services and the demands of sustainable development, and more recently through a focus on working with colleagues from a range of disciplines within the School, and more widely, on projects around domestic energy consumption and behaviour change.  Prior to becoming a full-time researcher, I was a lecturer in human geography at Brunel University in West London, and taught on a range of subjects in the area of urban policy and regeneration, local government policy and environmental sustainability.  I also undertook research into the impact of regeneration policy of the mid-late 1990s and on public sector restructuring and employment practices.

Roles and Responsibilities

Partner in an EU Seventh Framework Project ‘Policies and Research for an Integrated Urban Sustainability’ – PRIMUS, involving local governments and researchers from across Europe.
Co-ordinator for multi-partner project ‘Developing Eco-Neighbourhoods in Newcastle’, working with Newcastle University and key delivery agencies, community groups and local residents n the City.
Editorial Board member for new journal published by the School of the Built Environment
I was Chair of the Planning and Environment Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers from 2004-2007. I have been on the Editorial Board of the journal ‘Local Environment – the international journal of justice and sustainability’ since 2000, and on the Editorial Board for the journal ‘International Journal of Sustainability Society’ since 2008.   I am on the Expert Panel for 1NG (responsible for shaping the Newcastle Gateshead Plan), and am on the Advisory Panel for the CONSENUS project on sustainable consumption (co-ordinated by Trinity College Dublin and funded by the Irish Environment Protection Agency).

Postgraduate supervision:
Principal supervisor for Ian Morton: PhD on urban planning in Nicaraguan secondary cities.
Principal supervisor for David Lowery: PhD on energy behaviour change in social housing
Second supervisor for Andrew Waggott: PhD on actual versus modelled performance of solar hot water in a social housing context

Selected Publications

Recent Books/book chapters

1. Evans B, Joas M, Sundback S & Theobald KS (2008) ‘Institutional and Social Capacity Enhancement for local sustainable development: lessons from European urban settings’ in Baker S and Eckerberg K (eds) In Pursuit of Sustainable Development (Routledge).

2. Evans B, Joas M, Sundback S, Theobald K S  (2005) ‘Governing Sustainable Cities’  (Earthscan Publishing, London)

3. Buckingham S and Theobald K S (eds) (2003) ‘Local Environmental Sustainability’ (Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge)

Recent Refereed Journal Papers

1. Evans B, Parks J, Theobald K S (2009) ‘Urban wind power and the private sector: Community benefits, Nimbyism and public engagement’ submitted to Journal of Environmental Planning and Management July 2009

2. Evans B, Joas M and Theobald K S  (2007) ‘Local Agenda 21 in Europe. The second
phase of ecological modernization in local government’  Ekonomiaz No. 64, April. pp 92-111.

3. Evans B, Joas M, Sundback S, and Theobald K S (2006) ‘Governing Local Sustainability’ Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. Vol 49, 6 pp 849-868.

4. Joas, M., Evans, B. and Theobald, K S (2005) ‘Evaluating governance for local sustainability: online tools for self-assessment ‘ Progress in Industrial Ecology – An International Journal  Vol 2, Issues 3 and 4, pp 440-452.

5. Evans, B, Joas,M, Sundback,M & Theobald K S  (2005), ‘Citizens, NGOs and the Possibility to Influence the Local Policies for Sustainable Development – The Nordic Countries in a European Comparison’  Nordisk Administrativ Tidskrift April pp 56-74.

6.. Bulkeley, H, Davies, A, Evans, B, Gibbs, D, Kern, K & Theobald, K S (2003)  ‘Environmental governance and transnational municipal networks in Europe’, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, Vol.5 No. 3 pp 235-254.

7.. Evans B and Theobald K S (2003) ‘LASALA: Evaluating Local Agenda 21 in Europe’ Journal of Environmental Planning and Management  Vol 46 (5) pp 781-794.

Recent Referred Conference papers

1. Greenwood D, Lowery D, Theobald K S, Walker S 2009 ‘Behavioural challenges in the exploitation of low carbon domestic energy technologies’ International Conference on Sustainable Construction, Cairo 9-12 March 2009.

Recent Research Reports

1. Theobald K S and Walker S 2008 ‘Meeting the challenge of zero-carbon homes: a multi-disciplinary review of the literature and assessment of key barriers and enablers’ (School of the Built Environment, Northumbria University).

1. Evans B, Percy S and Theobald K S (2003) Mainstreaming Sustainability into Local Government Policymaking (Occasional Paper, from ESRC-funded project, Sustainable Cities Research Institute, November).

2. Evans B, Joas M & Theobald K S (2002) Institutional Capital, Social Capital and Governance for Urban Sustainability: Theory Paper for the DISCUS Project (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, Freiburg)

3. Evans B, Joas M & Theobald K S (2002) Methodological Framework for the DISCUS Project (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, Freiburg).

4. Evans B & Theobald K S (2001) Accelerating Local Sustainability: Evaluating European Local Agenda 21 Processes. Report of the LASALA Project Team, (ICLEI, Freiburg)

Publications in Preparation

1. Davidson G, Theobald K S, Walker S 2009 ‘Community level solutions to energy generation: the role of ESCOs, to be submitted to ‘Local Environment’ special issue on communities and resilience.
2. Parks J and Theobald K S 2009 ‘Public need for information on renewable energy developments: The case of urban wind turbines’ to be submitted to either journal ‘Public Understanding of Science’ or ‘Environment and Behaviour’.

Current/Recent Research Grants

May 2009 – April 2012
PRIMUS European FP7 project
Northumbria budget 270,000 Euros

March 2009-February 2010
Funding from Newcastle New Deal for Communities (£15,000) plus matched funding from University RDF budget, and £1,500 from Your Homes Newcastle for feasibility study into development of an eco-neighbourhood in Newcastle

February 2008-August 2008:
Joint co-ordinator for a collaborative SCRI-Built Environment project on building and adapting homes to meet the target of zero-carbon emissions. Funded by the University’s Research Development fund.
Budget: £25,000

January 2006 – September 2007:
ACTOR (Aalborg Commitments Tools and Resources):
Funded by the European Commission, under FP6
Project Co-ordinator
Budget: 500,000 Euros

January 2005 – March 2006:
STATUS (Sustainability Tools and Targets for the Urban Thematic Strategy):
Funded by the European Commission, under FP6.
Project Co-ordinator, co-author of the Project Proposal, and undertook negotiations with European Commission, to prepare the final Description of Work.
Budget: 500,000 Euros