Environment and social justice : rapid research and evidence review

The second of the Network's short projects and reviews looks at Environment and Social Justice, a key theme of the Government's sustainable development strategy. A number of scoping studies, reviews and other research projects have recently been undertaken that deal with aspects of environmental equity and justice in the UK. The Network was keen to pull this information together in an accessible and policy relevant form, and providing a gap analysis. The SDRN gathered an expert group to assist with the development of policy in this area, whose task was to map the current evidence base and summarise relevant messages for policymakers with respect to: Evidence of environmental inequalities; Evidence for the causes of these inequalities; and Policy interventions and their effectiveness The final stage of the project focused on identifying needs and opportunities for further research to underpin the longer-term development of policy in this area. The final report was presented at a well-attended dissemination seminar on the 16 December 2004, to a mixed audience of academics, policy makers, and public and private sector sustainable development practitioners.