With climate change being a dominant concern for this and future generations, and a key policy for my political actions, I have recently put forward my support for the collaborative research between the UEA, the Council’s Environment Team and Norfolk Trails as I believe the work these teams are undertaking is vital. 

For over ten years the research projects that have been undertaken by these teams have helped support bids for funding whilst focusing on important topics such as conservation, and the relationship between active recreation and health.

The list of projects is extensive ranging from creating tools to help with biodiversity conservation decision-making to working with Norfolk Archaeology to develop articles published for the Archaeological Society.

In 2018 they launched the Ensure 2 Seas Project, led by NCC, to ensure sand dune resilience in light of the changes impacted by climate change. This £538,000 project saw a focus on sea level rises, coastal flooding and erosion and sought to implement protective practices through until 2021.

In 2017 the Green Pilgrimage Project saw the protection of natural and cultural heritage whilst developing jobs and growth along traditional pilgrim routes such as that from Norwich to Walsingham. This project, due to run until 2022, connects pilgrims with the local environment, landscape and culture and helps preserve important elements of our natural surroundings.

Most recently they joined with Monument to work on diminishing the burden of care for unpaid carers of people living with dementia through technological innovation. This work, launched in 2020, created a contract worth £20,000 and aimed to explore, initiate and develop the delivery of bottom-up technologies that could alter people’s lives.

The Councils Environment Team and Norfolk Trails have benefited greatly from the help offered by the staff and students from the UEA, as well as facilities and knowledge that may otherwise be difficult to access.

This knowledge and information is invaluable and I believe we should seek to contribute, to the fullest extent possible, with academic partnerships where NCC data or assets may be useful to research.

By combining resources and sharing information we can create better, stronger teams equipped to investigate and implement processes that can help us combat global warming effectively, and more importantly, quickly. 

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