Matt Watson

My work is concerned with understanding social change in relation to sustainability, through a focus on everyday life and the socio-technical systems that shape it. My research engages with geographical and sociological theories of practice, materiality and everyday life, as well as with science and technology studies, and literature on the structures and processes of governing. Research and writing has covered issues relating to biodiversity, waste, food, mobility and energy.

Current funded research takes this programme forward through two projects:

DEMAND: Dynamics of Energy, Mobility and Demand
The DEMAND centre sets out to advance understanding of the processes and dynamics through which energy demand is constituted, and identify the opportunities for tackling it. The centre is a collaboration across of 9 academic institutions, led by Lancaster University, with non-academic partners including the European Centre and Laboratories for Energy Efficiency Research, the International Energy Agency and Transport for London. It has funding from the Research Councils UK Energy Programme for 5 years from summer 2013. I am co-investigator in the centre, and leading the University of Sheffield’s contribution to it.

Solar energy for future societies
Solar energy for future societies is a four-year interdisciplinary project on which I am Co-Investigator. Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council the project brings together academics from Physics (including the Principal Investigator, Alastair Buckley), Electrical Engineering, Architecture and Human Geography. Working across disciplinary boundaries and with communities in South Yorkshire and in Bangladesh, the project sets out to develop new insights for the development and effective implementation of novel sustainable technologies. This project runs from late 2011 to 2015.