Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI)

ECCI - a leading centre for interdisciplinary research, teaching, policy and practice for climate action - is becoming the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute.

Set up in 2010 and hosted by the University of Edinburgh, the centre’s vision has consistently focused on creating a resilient, thriving and climate neutral Scotland and wider world.

The Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, with Executive Director Prof Dave Reay and Co-director Dr Kate Crowley at the helm, will continue to expand upon over a decade of climate focused action - working in partnership across research, communities, policy and business to find and implement place-based solutions for tackling the challenge of climate change.

ECCI was originally the brainchild of Prof Martin Siegert, former head of Edinburgh University’s School of Geosciences. The centre grew out of a desire to bring together Scotland’s vibrant community of climate change academics, practitioners, businesses and start-ups.

ECCI moved into its purpose built central Edinburgh location - awarded the UK’s most sustainable historic building - in 2013 and continued to evolve under the stewardship of Executive Director Dr Andy Kerr, forging partnerships with EIT Climate-KIC, and Edinburgh Napier and Heriot-Watt Universities, to become the UK’s leading low carbon innovation hub.

A community of practice

ECCI is more than a building - its community of leading researchers and practitioners are driving forwards resilience and zero carbon action across Scotland and beyond. ECCI is home to:

Post-graduate students spanning the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Specifically reading Carbon Management; Energy, Society and Sustainability and Environment and Development.
Sustainable Scotland Network – Scotland’s largest network of public section sustainability professionals.
SNIFFER and Adaptation Scotland – A charity that provide advice and support to help Scotland be prepared and resilience to the effects of climate change.
ClimateXChange – Working on behalf of the Scottish Government and its agencies, CXC acts as a knowledge broker between researchers and policy.
Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage – The largest CCS research group in the UK, coordinating all aspects of CCS in Scotland.
Wave Energy Scotland – Accelerates development of cost effective wave energy technology for deployment in Scotland.
Tomorrow’s Cities – The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Urban Disaster Risk Hub.
Place-Based Climate Action Network (PCAN) – A UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) supported network that is about translating climate policy into action on the ground.

ECCI works in collaboration to address issues of zero carbon transition, climate risk and adaptation. Together, ECCI's staff, residents and partners are an interdisciplinary community of practice tackling the complexity of climate change.

As proud members of the COP26 Universities Network, led on behalf of the University of Edinburgh by Prof Dave Reay, ECCI will be working towards a successful conference in 2021 with partners in the University and beyond.

Leadership

Taking up the directorship in early February 2019, Prof. Reay has been working closely with colleagues at ECCI and of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences to redefine the longer term strategic direction of the centre.

In August 2019 Dr Kate Crowley joined as Co-director - a lecturer in Climate Risk and Resilience at the University of Edinburgh and Deputy Programme Director for the MSc in Carbon Management, Kate brings the expertise and skills to enable effective collaboration across the science-policy-practitioner interface.

Keep in touch

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Plus, find out more about ECCI's work via our news and events feed and take a look back at 2020.