BA: Shared Understandings of a Sustainable Future

Deadline: 8 December 2021

Researchers from the humanities, social sciences, and the arts (the SHAPE subjects) are invited to submit proposals exploring the research question 'How can collaboration across sectors (public, third sector, business and local communities), foster shared commitments to goals, values and programmes to deliver net zero as part of a sustainable future?'

Funded by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Scope
In exploring the research question stated above, the British Academy expect the following perspectives and insights to be relevant (though not exhaustive):

• An historically informed understanding of the drivers of grass-roots movements and local alliances to effect positive societal and economic change.
• Interdisciplinary and intersectoral insights about language, structures, and processes of collective action and community initiatives to adapt to new challenges, and the kinds of social, cultural and physical infrastructures which might support such processes.
• Understandings of how social, political and economic innovation can operate as a lever of change.
• Analyses of the role of voice and trust in underpinning processes of collective action and change, and implications for governance.
• Ideas which deepen our understanding of policy mechanisms based on exploring one or more of the dimensions and implications of place (locality, physical and social context), scale (individual, community, regional, national) and time (past, present, future; short, medium and longer term).

The British Academy encourages proposals from multidisciplinary teams  and encourage applicants to bring together different communities of expertise, e.g. academic, professional, business, lay or community. In particular, they encourage responses from teams that include or are led by humanities researchers.

Eligibility
The lead applicant must be a researcher from the humanities or social sciences and be based at an eligible UK university or research institute. The lead applicant must be of postdoctoral status or above (or have equivalent research experience) and their position must last at least the duration of the grant funded by the Academy. Projects can involve Co-Applicants and other participants. No individual may be a Co-Applicant on more than two projects under this call (nor may a PI be additionally a Co-Applicant on more than one other project).

For more details, see the Scheme notes.

Value and Duration
Up to six awards of £20,000 each are expected to be made. Projects must start in January 2022; awards will be for a duration of six months. Funding can be used to support research assistance; travel, fieldwork and related expenses; and networking costs.

Application Process
Applications must be submitted online using the British Academy's Grant Management System (GMS), Flexi-Grant®. The deadline for submissions and UK institutional approval is on 8 December 2021, 17:00 (UK time).

On 23 November 2021 at 9:30 am (UK time), the British Academy will be holding a Zoom Webinar Q&A (register here) to respond to any queries potential applicants may have.