School of Social and Political Science

Dr Katherine Sugar

Research Fellow

Katherine Sugar Photo
katherine.sugar@ed.ac.uk

Research interests

Cities Energy & Sustainability Energy, environment and sustainability Environment and energy

My research is concerned with urban sustainability. I am particularly interested in the governance of low carbon and inclusive transitions at the local level - the main actors involved, the barriers encountered, the approaches and pathways undertaken in practice and the key multi-level policies progressing and hindering low carbon and equitable urban transitions.  

I am interested in supervising Master's dissertations on the topics of energy and society, specifically in terms of urban sustainability, the just transition, and energy governance at the local level. 

Background

I am an Early Career Researcher working within the School of Social and Political Sciences and School of Geosciences. I have recently completed a PhD in Geography from University of Glasgow, where I investigated governance of low carbon and inclusive transitions in the city. My academic background includes an MA (Hons) in Geography with Polish Language from University of Glasgow, and MSc in Ecological Economics from University of Edinburgh. In addition, I have a background working in the energy sector, having worked as a data analyst and GIS technician at Scottish Power, and Project Manager of renewable energy developments at Temporis Wind. 

Current Projects include:

Research Fellow for Local Energy Business and Financial Practices for Net Zero, specifically building on the 2020 empirical research findings on UK local government action on net zero greenhouse gas targets (Net Zero Localities Report), funded by EnergyREV. 

Research Fellow for Scottish Government's Energy Efficient Scotland, specifically the social evaluation of the Transition Programme, funded by the Scottish Government through ClimateXChange. 

Works within

Publications by user content

Publication Research Explorer link
Sugar K, Mose TM, Nolden C, Davis M, Eyre N, Sanchez-graells A et al. Local decarbonisation opportunities and barriers: UK public procurement legislation. Buildings and Cities. 2022 Nov 11;3(1):895-911. doi: 10.5334/bc.267
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Sugar K, Webb J, Wade F. Energy Efficient Scotland Transition Programme Survey Evaluation. Scottish Government, 2022.
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Sugar K, Webb J. Value for money: Local authority action on clean energy for net zero. Energies. 2022 Jun 15;15(12):4359. doi: 10.3390/en15124359
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Sugar K. Governing low carbon and inclusive transitions in the city: A case study of Nottingham. 2021. doi: 10.5525/gla.thesis.82289
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