EnGRG Videos & Resources

Speaker: Dr Ralitsa Hiteva, Principal Research Fellow, SPRU, University of Sussex Date: 26/02/25 Abstract: The presentation explores the mis/connections of digital technologies for health and wellbeing and energy in independent living in England. The development and diffusion of digital technologies in social housing has been developed without considering the energy required to operate and maintain the technologies. The implications for environmental impact and health and wellbeing of residents are unpacked by exploring how digital technologies are experienced in independent living space through LCA, institutional mapping and digital encounters methodologies.

This talk is the second of eight in our 2023 'Health x Energy' webinar series. In it, Dr. Elisa Schramm explores how residents in two Catalan eco-communities have negotiated thermal discomfort in practice. These eco-communities, dedicated to living sustainably, communally and autonomously, have overwhelmingly renounced relying on (fossil-fuelled) energy grids and have attempted to produce warmth off-the-grid, mainly through wood heating and insulation practices. They also largely disregard Western thermal conventions for ‘healthy’ indoor temperatures as well as for health concerns around wood-heating. Considering how thermal discomforts are negotiated on site, including the contradictions that emerged can therefore be useful for informing interventions to effect change towards lower-carbon heating and sustainable living more generally in society at large. Building on David Bissell’s work on discomfort and stress and Jane Bennett’s theorisations of motivation, I conceive of thermal comfort as a contingent more-than-human achievement between human bodies, their proximate environment as well as of particular value sets. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, I will tease apart the intricate dynamics between values and affects in three examples of how eco-community residents dealt with thermal discomfort and off-the grid heating.

This is the first of eight talks in our 2023 'Health x Energy' webinar series. In this session, Rosie Knowles (Royal Holloway) will describe her ongoing doctoral research on the theme of 'therapeutic landscapes', exploring the connections between energy, industry, pollution and health. Rosie's research relates to health and energy geographies as it explores the ‘therapeutic landscapes’ of the coastal industrial town of Port Talbot, South Wales. Port Talbot is a heavy industrial town, with one of the largest steelworks in Europe. Her PhD explores how the industrial setting hinders or promotes therapeutic experiences, adding to the complexities of ‘therapeutic landscapes’. She undertook ethnographic fieldwork living in Port Talbot, using a variety of methods from walking interviews, semi-structured interviews, creative writing/ story-telling, drawing and print-making. She worked with a men’s charity, conducting walks with ex-steelworkers and interviewed stakeholders in the town including councillors, trade unions, environmentalists and Tata steel, to build up a picture of well-being. Her PhD draws on cultural geography studies on toxic landscapes, as well as feminist geographies exploring pollution and the body, whilst building on the health geography concept of therapeutic landscapes - extending it to industrial coastal environments.

Recording of keynotes for our 'Methods in Energy Geographies' workshop, July 2022. Speakers: Professor Gavin Bridge (Durham University), and Doctor Ping Huang (University of Sheffield) Timestamps: 00:07 Gavin Bridge, 'Methods in Energy Geographies' 20:39 Ping Huang, 'Qualitative Methods' 39:22 Q&A

Recording of Dr Anne Owen's keynote speech for our July 2022 workshop on methods in energy geographies. 00:00 Note 00:05 Anne Owens 27:52 Q&A