Responsible Innovation Sustainability Entrepreneurship (RISE)

Responsible Innovation Sustainability Entrepreneurship (RISE) comprises researchers who share the following aims and interests in connection with the transformation of society through the promotion and diffusion of sustainable technologies.

Mission

The mission of RISE is to conduct excellent research on responsible innovation and sustainability-related innovation and entrepreneurship. Research agenda emphasises co-design with a diverse range of stakeholders, and to influence related policies and practices. The RISE group brings together researchers from across different disciplines at Kingston University and is a collaborative initiative spanning Kingston and Greenwich universities.

Director: Professor Audley Genus (Kingston University)

Members

Kingston University: Dr Bahare Afrahi (early career researcher); Professor Fatima Annan-Diab; Dr Cliff Dansoh; Dr Pete Garside; Dr Patricia Harris; Dr Ki-Soon Hwang; Dr Rita Kottasz; Dr Smirti Kutaula; Dr Ana Pedraz Marcos; Dr Paul Micklethwaite; Dr Eng Ofetotse; Professor Kay Peggs; Dr Adam Raman; Dr Egle Rindzeviciute; Dr Yuliana Toplazly; Dr Reza Zanjirani-Farahani

University of Greenwich: Dr Jin Chan; Dr Anne Marie Coles; Dr Fanny Paschek; Dr Athina Piterou; Dr Irina Popova; Dr Anton Sentic

Associate members

Dr Tim Harries (visiting researcher, Kingston University); Dr Marfuga Iskandarova (University of Sussex)

Current and recent projects

Energise

Professor Audley Genus led Kingston's activities on the recently completed 3.2 million euro Horizon 2020 project called ‘ENERGISE', funded by the European Commission. (ENERGISE = the European Network for Research, Good Practice and Innovation for Sustainable Energy). Working with local authorities, energy utilities and SMEs, the ENERGISE consortium aimed to transform energy use in households and communities across the UK and Europe and contribute to European policy-making on reducing energy consumption.

Visit the ENERGISE project website.

K2 Institutional entrepreneurship for Community Energy

This project focused on entrepreneurs in the renewable energy sector and the activities that contribute to the creation of sustainable pathways to low carbon futures/society.

The project helped students, researchers, entrepreneurs, practitioners and policy makers to understand the growth of low carbon/community renewable energy enterprises in the UK, the challenges they face, how to improve existing practices, and enable entrepreneurs and communities to learn from each other.

The project was funded via a donation from the YTL Corporation, whose CEO, Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, is an alumnus of Kingston University.

Knowledge Exchange for Entrepreneurship in Permaculture (KEEP) project

The Knowledge Exchange for Entrepreneurship in Permaculture (KEEP) project aimed to support members of Permaculture Association (PA) who want to set up and grow businesses based on ecological principles. It also aimed to help PA to develop its own capabilities as an enterprise and innovation-supporting organisation.

The project team was led by Professor Audley Genus, who has secured a grant from the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Research and Knowledge Exchange (RAKE) initiative, sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council among others, working with Dr Marfuga Iskandarova from the Small Business Research Centre and Dr Chris Warburton-Brown, Research Director at the PA.

The RAKE project was funded by the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) until the end of 2016. Results from the project were presented at the 2016 ISBE conference and published in Business Strategy and the Environment, accessible here.

An online support website for practitioners has been created, including case studies of permaculture-inspired entrepreneurship. Visit the Permaculture Enterprise Guide. An article about the project is featured on the Permaculture Magazine website.

To find out more, visit the KEEP website.

Recent publications

Journal articles

2018

Genus, A. and M. Iskandarova, "Responsible innovation: Review and Future Research Agenda", Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 128, pp. 1-9. Available online.
Genus, A. and A. Stirling, "Collingridge and the Dilemma of Control: Towards Responsible and Accountable Innovation", Research Policy47, pp. 61-69. Available open access.
Jensen, C., G. Goggins, F. Fahy, E. Grealis, E. Vadovics, A. Genus and H. Rau, "Towards a Practice-theoretical Classification of Sustainable Energy Consumption Initiatives: Insights from Social Scientific Energy Research in 30 European countries". Energy Research and Social Science, 45, pp. 297-306. Available online.

2017

Coles, A-M. "Non-linear discourse and control of technology: The Pharmaceutical Society and poisons legislation in nineteenth century Britain". Sociology, 51, 3, pp. 1-16
Genus, A. and C. Jensen, "Beyond 'Behaviour': the Institutionalisation of Practice and the Case of Energy Efficient Lighting in Denmark". Journal of Consumer Culture. Available online.

2016

Coles, A-M, A. Piterou and A. Genus "Sustainable Energy Projects and the Community: Mapping Single Building use of Microgeneration Technologies in London". Urban Studies, 53, 9, pp. 1869-1884.
Genus, A and K. Theobald "Creating Low Carbon Neighbourhoods: a Critical Discourse Analysis". European Urban and Regional Studies, 23, 4, pp. 782-797.
Iskandarova, M. "From the idea of scale to the idea of agency: an actor-network theory perspective on policy development for renewable energy". Science and Public Policy, 44, 4, pp. 476-485.

2015

Genus, A and K. Theobald "Roles for University Researchers in Urban Sustainability Initiatives: the UK Newcastle Low Carbon Neighbourhoods project". Journal of Cleaner Production, 106, 1, pp. 119-126.

2014

Attar, A and A. Genus "Framing Public Engagement: a Critical Discourse Analysis of GM Nation?" Technological Forecasting and Social Change 88, pp. 241-250.
Genus, A. '"Coinquiry' for Environmental Sustainability: a Review of the UK Beacons for Public Engagement". Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 32, 3, pp. 491-508.

Books

2018

Backhaus, J., A. Genus, S. Lorek, E. Vadovics and J. Wittmayer (eds.) Social Innovation and Sustainable Consumption, Routledge, London, 173pp.

2016

Genus, A. (ed.) Sustainable Consumption: Design, Innovation and Practice, Series on Sustainable Development and Sustainability Transitions, Springer. Heidelberg, 183pp.

Book chapters

2019

Iskandarova, M and A. Genus "UK responses to the energy challenge; dominant framings and new imaginaries", in: F. Fahy, G. Goggins and C. Jensen (eds.) Energy Demand Challenges in Europe: implications for Policy, Planning and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham pp. 59-70.

2018

Backhaus, J., A. Genus J. Wittmayer, "Introduction: the nexus of social innovation, sustainable consumption and societal transformation", in: J. Backhaus, A. Genus, S. Lorek, E. Vadovics and J. Wittmayer (eds.) Social innovation and Sustainable Consumption: Research and Action for Societal Transformation, Routledge, London, pp. 1-11.
Genus A., F. Fahy, G. Goggins, M. Iskandarova and S. Laakso, "Imaginaries and practices: learning from 'ENERGISE' about the integration of social sciences with the EU Energy Union", in: C. Foulds and R. Robison (eds.) Advancing Energy Policy. Palgrave Pivot, Cham, pp. 131-144. Free Open Access.
Genus, A., M. Iskandarova and L. Champagnie, "Energy system transformation and inertia in the UK: a discourse-institutional perspective". In: J. Schippl, C. Büscher and P. Sumpf (eds.) Energy as Socio-Technical Problems, Routledge Series Studies in Energy Transitions, Routledge, London, pp. 161-179.

2017

Jack, M., Coles, A-M. and A. Piterou, "Urban development projects: a case study of the Greater Port Harcourt city development project in Rivers State, Nigeria", in: Sustainable Development and Planning VIII. Wessex Institute, Southampton. pp. 209-217.

2016

Coles, A-M. "The potential for sustainable production and consumption in a technological society", in: A. Genus (ed.) Sustainable Consumption: Design Innovation and Practice. Springer: Heidelberg, pp. 119-134.
Genus, A., "Sustainability transitions: a discourse-institutional perspective", in: H. Brauch, Ú. Oswald Spring, J. Grin and J. Scheffran (eds.) Handbook on Sustainability Transition and Sustainable Peace, Springer, Berlin, pp. 527-541.
Piterou, A. and F. Steward, "From print to digital: textual technologiies and reading as a sociotechnical practice", in: A. Genus (ed.) Sustainable Consumption: Design, Innovation and Practice. Springer: Heidelberg, pp. 51-64.

Conference papers and project reports

Selected conference papers

Genus, Audley and Iskandarova, Marfuga (2017) Challenging business-as-usual? The problematic institutionalisation of community renewable energy in the UK. In: Royal Geographical Society (RGS) with the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) Annual International Conference 2017: Decolonising geographical knowledges: opening geography out to the world; 29 Aug - 01 Sep 2017, London, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Genus, Audley and Iskandarova, Marfuga (2017) Legitimacy : the key to unlocking the transformational potential of community renewable energy (CRE)? In: 3rd International Conference of the Global Research Forum (GRF) on Sustainable Production and Consumption: Sustainable Lifestyles, Livelihoods and the Circular Economy; 27-29 Jun 2017, Brighton, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Genus, Audley, Iskandarova, Marfuga and Warburton Brown, Chris (2016) Institutional entrepreneurship for permaculture: findings from a 'RAKE' project. In: 39th Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Annual Conference: Institutional Voids, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development; 27-28 Oct 2016, Paris, France.
Genus, Audley and Iskandarova, Marfuga (2016) Community energy as institutional innovation : rules, discourses and grassroots agency. In: Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) 50th Anniversary Conference: Transforming Innovation; 07 - 09 Sep 2016, Brighton, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Genus, Audley and Iskandarova, Marfuga (2016) Institutional entrepreneurship and community renewable energy in England. In: 3rd Energy and Society Conference: Transforming Energy for Society; 12-14 Sep 2016, Leipzig, Germany. (Unpublished)
Genus, Audley and Iskandarova, Marfuga (2015) Emerging themes and controversies in responsible research and innovation: a narrative review. In: First International Conference on Anticipation; 5-7 Nov 2015, Trento, Italy. (Unpublished)

Project reports

2018

Genus, A. and M. Iskandarova, Integrating social sciences research with EU energy policy-making: policy brief and recommendations. (Project Brief) ENERGISE - European Network for Research, Good Practice and Innovation for Sustainable Energy. 6pp.
Genus, A. and M. Iskandarova, Policy integration workshop report. ENERGISE - European Network for Research, Good Practice and Innovation for Sustainable Energy. 17pp.
Genus, A. and M. Iskandarova, Policy paper 1: state of the art and future of policy integration for EU policy on energy consumption. (Project Report) ENERGISE - European Network for Research, Good Practice and Innovation for Sustainable Energy. 82pp.
Jensen, C., A. Genus and E. Vadovics, Typology reports of results for WP6 and WP7. (Project Report) ENERGISE - European Network for Research, Good Practice and Innovation for Sustainable Energy. 24pp.
Jensen, C., I. Ropke, G. Goggins, et al., Production of 30 national summary briefs. (Project Report) ENERGISE - European Network for Research, Good Practice and Innovation for Sustainable Energy. 375pp.

2017

Jensen, C., F. Fahy, G. Goggins, et al. Comprehensive open access dataset of sustainable energy consumption initiatives (SECIS). (Project Report) ENERGISE - European Network for Research, Good Practice and Innovation for Sustainable Energy. 13pp.

2016

Genus, A. "Knowledge Exchange for Entrepreneurship in Permaculture ('KEEP')", Final Project Report for ISBE RAKE fund, Kingston University London, November, 14pp.

2014

Genus, A. "Report on SCORAI (Europe)/Kingston University Sustainable Consumption Workshop", Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, held in London, 30 September and 1 October, 2014, available online.

Engagement and impact activities

For the ‘KEEP' ISBE-funded RAKE project:

a) Project website

b) Permaculture Enterprise Guide

c) Workshop at London Permaculture Festival, Cecil Sharp House, London, July 2016

d).'KEEP' end of award project workshop, Cecil Sharp House, Regents Park, London, September 2016

Recent invited talks

Genus, A. Responsible Research and Innovation. Invited talk at ICCE, Goldsmiths, University of London 9 July 2019
Genus, A. Implications of Responsible Innovation for Insurance. Invited talk, Technology and Innovation Summit, London 3 July 2019
Genus, A. Transforming Energy Systems: Learning from the ENERGISE project. Invited keynote talk to the closing conference for Climate Action Neighbourhoods project, Arnhem 11 April 2019
Genus, A. Re-imagining the citizen for a transformed energy system: reflecting on the ENERGISE project. Invited talk to workshop on Human Behavior and Decisions in the Energy Transition, Trondheim 27 March 2019
Genus, A. An Agenda for Future Research on Responsible Innovation and Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Invited keynote to annual conference at Amity University, Delhi 21 March 2018
Genus, A. Publishing Research in Innovation Journals. Invited panel member and workshop leader, at annual research conference, Anglia Ruskin University Business School 23 January 2018
Genus, A. Changing Institutions in a Changing Climate. Invited seminar at Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Manchester 19 January 2017
Genus, A. Changing Institutions in a Changing Climate. Invited seminar at Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Manchester 19 January 2017

Selected past events organised

25 April 2019 – Closing workshop for UK Living Labs, Hastings
8 June 2018 – Workshop on Sustainable Entrepreneurship, in association with ISBE Social and Sustainable Enterprise special interest group, Cecil Sharp House, London
27 April 2017 – Business breakfast briefing on energy efficiency, in association with ISBE and the Carbon Trust, Kingston Business School
22 June 2017 – Workshop on the contribution of innovation/STS research to sustainability, University of Greenwich
20 June 2016 – Workshop on Steps to Sustainability (PDF), University of Greenwich

Research at Kingston Business School

Kingston Business School REF Results 2014

Faculty of Business and Social Sciences