The Challenge
Effective policy and world-class science are both needed to prevent catastrophic environmental degradation on a global scale, yet science and policy often operate in different worlds and to different timelines.
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Environment
We need to act now to address biodiversity loss, climate change and poverty, interlinked challenges that are undermining human health and wellbeing around the globe.
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Policy
The social and environmental challenges we face are solvable, but rapid responses are needed. Policymakers and scientists need to work together to develop effective, solution-focused policies to get results.
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Research
To encourage researchers to work across disciplines and engage in policy work and outreach, we need to ensure that this essential work is valued and rewarded in academic career paths.
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Collaboration
Policymakers and researchers often work at different speeds and can be driven by different incentives. Effective policy needs these communities to be aligned and work together.
The Solution
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Fast-paced research ‘Sprints’
These mobilise the best interdisciplinary research teams from across the University of Oxford and beyond to deliver solutions-focused science that provides the information decision makers need, when they need it. Sprints are undertaken in close collaboration with government at all levels, industry partners, NGOs and local communities. They build a new model for academia to work with stakeholders and catalyse a culture change around how interdisciplinary research and policy engagement is funded and delivered.
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Delivering solutions-focused science through co-production with policymakers and feeding into the policy cycle in real-time.How does it work? Can I get involved?
Explore sprints
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Can we solve the “spin-up” problem in Earth System Modelling?
This sprint will be further developing an Earth System Model algorithm to improve work within Climate Model Intercomparison Project simulations, in partnership with the UK Met Office.
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How can we manage uncertainties in habitat greenhouse gas emissions?
This sprint will address the uncertainty in how confident we can be of any climatic benefits resulting from changing land-management.
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What do we need to know to safely store CO2 beneath our shelf seas?
This Sprint will build a decision-making framework for the environmental impact assessment of proposed sites for sub-sea CO2 storage in offshore reservoirs.
News
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Growing Positive Change
In this post we hear reflections from three people who attended the recent Nature-based Solutions conference "Growing Positive Change".
25 July 2024 -
The Agile Initiative Enabling Fund
The Agile Initiative is offering non-staff funding of up to £10,000 to researchers at Oxford University who are working on topics relevant to Agile’s mission.
18 July 2024 -
Pre-announcement: Next Sprint Funding Call to Open in September 2024
Agile’s next round of Sprint Funding will be open for expressions of interest from late September to late November 2024.
15 July 2024
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Get Involved with the Agile Initiative
We are building our network of interested researchers from Oxford and beyond, as well as potential policy partners. Register your interest and we will get in touch when we have more relevant information or opportunities for you.
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