Tuesday 14 February 2017
Do you work with or make policy for people who have a hard time keeping warm in winter?
If you’d like to learn more about fuel poverty and energy vulnerability, current thinking on research and policy, and positive solutions in a changing energy landscape, this seminar day will meet your needs. We’ll be discussing fuel poverty and how to find it, where New Zealand sits internationally in terms of fuel poverty rates and responses, local research and action to address fuel poverty, and innovative policy solutions.
Our keynote speaker Dr Harriet Thomson from the University of Manchester will join us by video-link from the UK.
Topics covered
1. European lessons for New Zealand
2. Mapping the NZ fuel poverty landscape
3. Living with fuel poverty, and flaxroots actions
4. Policy solutions - planning for a future without fuel poverty
Style of course
Symposium – Multi-speaker presentations and panel discussion in lecture theatre setting
Who should attend?
This course is aimed at people with an interest in tackling fuel poverty: policy makers looking for realistic solutions for finding and fixing fuel poverty, social workers and non-government sector workers through interactions with vulnerable households, and researchers wanting an update on current and future energy vulnerability research.
By the end of this course participants should have the knowledge/skills to
- Discuss fuel poverty in New Zealand in an international context
- Report on current and future local research
- Suggest new policy solutions for an energy future without fuel poverty
Teaching staff
- Dr Harriet Thomson is a Postdoctoral Research Associate working on the EVALUATE project at the University of Manchester, and Associate Editor of the international journal Energy Research & Social Science. Harriet’s background is in comparative social policy, and her research interests primarily centre on fuel poverty, energy affordability, and European Union policymaking. She has advised the European Parliament, European Economic and Social Committee, and the Covenant of Mayors. In 2011, Harriet founded the EU Fuel Poverty Network, which is a widely recognised online portal.
- Dr Kimberley O’Sullivan is a Postdoctoral Fellow with He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme. Kimberley has been conducting fuel poverty research since 2008, her work has included qualitative interviews with older people, mixed methods investigation into prepayment metering and fuel poverty, and mixed methods participatory action research to explore youth experiences of fuel poverty in NZ. She is interested finding solutions for achieving energy transition without entrenching energy injustice.
Course cost and registration
$300 early bird, $400 after 21 December 2016.
A 50% discount is available to full-time students, those unwaged and University of Otago staff.
