Energy, water, environment and food policy in the spotlight at new research centre backed by NERC

How are people in the UK affected by government decisions? New Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus (CECAN) aims to find out.

Based at the University of Surrey and initiated by leading UK bodies, its research will aid future decision-making on complex policy such as flooding and drainage, farming, housing and transport.

Each member of the core CECAN team is a world-leading researcher in their field, has worked with policymakers or in policy-relevant areas, and has already contributed to pioneering methodological approaches to policy evaluation.

Led by Director Nigel Gilbert, Professor of Sociology, the centre will launch on Tuesday 1 March, ahead of a public launch event this summer.

CECAN is backed by £2·45m funding provided by NERC and the Economic & Social Research Council(ESRC), in collaboration with Defra, the Department of Energy & Climate Change, the Environment Agency and the Food Standards Agency.

For further information, please see the NERC website