Nathan Walker
Aerial group picture of the delegates
The 17th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) was dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge on methods, policies and technologies for increasing the sustainability of development by de-coupling growth from the use of natural resources and by a transition to a knowledge-based economy. All taking into account the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainable development.
These themes were highlighted right from the keynote speech by Professor Maria da Graça Carvalho, who spoke about the role of research and innovation in the European plans for the clean energy transition. Throughout the talk, it was clear that research was key to hitting key carbon reduction targets throughout Europe and beyond.
Throughout the proceeding sessions during the week, it was amazing to see the diverse ways researchers are tackling our common problems. From sessions on smart energy networks, modelling, and transport, to environmental policy and management, wastewater treatment, and biofuels, along with the sessions I presented in concerning sustainability comparisons and measurements, there was so much to be inspired from.
The research I presented was from our research on cross-sector benchmarking, where we developed a framework to analyse the sustainability of companies and compare them to others, even in different sectors.
A video of my presentation summarising our cross-sector benchmarking research can be watched below.
Alternatively, you can read the whole open access publication here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2022.101417
Furthermore, selected streamed talks from each day from the SDEWES 2022 conference are available here: https://www.youtube.com/@SdewesOrg/streams
Finally, a big thank you to the funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg Ireland-Wales Cooperation Programme for the opportunity to present at the latest SDEWES conference!