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Honour for Durham geographer’s climate change research

11 January 2024
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A head and shoulders photograph of Professor Harriet Bulkeley

Durham geographer Professor Harriet Bulkeley has been honoured for her boundary-breaking research into climate change.

Harriet looks at problems and solutions relating to environmental management and governance, with a particular focus on climate change, biodiversity, energy and nature-based solutions.

This has been recognised with the award of an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Science at Lund University, in Sweden.

The award celebrates Harriet’s interdisciplinary work on climate change and the way this has helped to foster interdisciplinary climate research at Lund University.

Climate governance and urban sustainability

Harriet’s research looks at climate governance at urban, national and international levels and also in relation to energy and nature.

Her research, with Lund University and other partners, has identified multiple ways in which cities can govern climate change, including designing effective policies and guidelines.

Projects involving Lund include:

  • GUST, which provides research-based advice to policymakers involved in the governance of transition to urban sustainability.

  • REINVENT, focusing on low-carbon transition in the meat/dairy, paper, plastic and steel industries.

  • NATURVATION, which explores nature-based solutions – such as green roofs and city lagoons – to limit the impacts of climate change, enhance biodiversity and the environment, and contribute to the economy and well-being.

Highly Cited Researcher

Harriet’s work is often cited by her fellow academics worldwide and she has been included in the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list of the top one per cent of researchers internationally four times since 2016.

Harriet has co-authored the UN-Habitat’s Guiding Principles for City Climate Action Planning.

Her research has also been used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Energy Agency, the World Bank and other international organisations in urban climate change governance.

Harriet is an expert advisor to the UK Government and the European Commissions a member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council and is also a professor of Geography at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Find out more

  • Durham is a world-leading centre of geographic education, ranked joint 14th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023.Our success as a department is a measure of the open, inclusive environment we foster for students. To be a member of Durham Geography is to be welcomed by a community that wants you to succeed and creates an environment to make it happen. Feeling inspired? Visit our Geography webpages to find out more about studying with us. Durham University is a top 100 world university. In the QS World University Rankings 2024, we were ranked 78th globally. 

Main picture - credit wunderlustfotografie