Author: Rima Khatun

Researchers from UWE Bristol and the University of Bath are using arts-based methods, community voices and futures thinking to explore what a fair, sustainable transition could look like.

Led by Dr Judith Aston (Associate Professor of Film & Digital Arts, UWE Bristol), Dr Laura de Vito (Senior Research Fellow in Public Policy, UWE Bristol) and Dr Sophia Hatzisavividou (Reader (Associate Professor) in Politics at the University of Bath), the project A Just Transition for Avonmouth builds on several major strands of research that have taken place in the region over the last few years. Together, these strands have created a strong network of community, business, policy and environmental partners across the Portbury–Avonmouth–Severnside area.

The team is now using this foundation to co-create a shared theory of change for a just transition to net zero, one that reflects the lived experience of local residents and the ambitions of partners working towards a greener, fairer future. This initiative has been made possible through funding from UWE Bristol’s AHRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).

Why Avonmouth, and why now?

Avonmouth is an area of national strategic importance. It plays a pivotal role in UK energy-from-waste infrastructure, logistics and green energy production. With this comes a significant opportunity: the potential for Avonmouth to become a model for just transition, a place that demonstrates how communities, businesses and the environment can move towards net zero in a way that is fair, inclusive and future-focused.

There are already inspiring examples of this ambition in practice. The nearby Ambition Lawrence Weston wind turbine, which is recognised nationally as a model for community energy, shows what’s possible when local vision and long-term sustainability align.

Yet the area also faces ongoing challenges. Stakeholders hold very different perspectives on what “a just transition” should look like, and there is a risk that short-term pressures overshadow longer-term environmental and social priorities. Many residents feel unheard or disconnected from decision-making processes, despite being deeply affected by the rapid industrial and environmental changes around them.

The project addresses this gap through facilitated documentary practices where local voices, business interests and environmental perspectives are brought into meaningful dialogue.

The documentary began in the Avonmouth Community Centre and is grounded in environmental and social justice, two issues which are of crucial importance to a sustainable future for the area. I am deeply impressed by this project, which builds on the documentary’s innovative form and extends its reach creating the all-important dialogue needed to ensure that the voices of Avonmouth are included. 

Rachel Haig – CEO, Avonmouth Community Centre

Building on a strong foundation of past work

A Just Transition for Avonmouth weaves together three major pieces of prior research and engagement:

1. An interactive community documentary on life in Avonmouth
   Led by Dr Judith Aston, this AHRC-funded impact project has produced a ground-breaking interactive documentary using the Stornaway.io platform. It captures a rich polyphony of voices, from long-standing Port workers and migrant warehouse staff, to young professionals and community activists.
   This interactive format does more than share stories. It acts as a tool for dialogue, helping stakeholders better understand the diversity of experiences and concerns across Avonmouth.
   
2. Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plan (Innovate UK)
   Led at UWE by Dr Laura de Vito, this work brought together local authorities, businesses and researchers to co-develop a place-based industrial decarbonisation plan for the West of England Industrial Cluster. It established strong working relationships with the Port of Bristol, SevernNet and wider business communities.
   
3. British Academy-funded research on Just Transition and biodiversity
   Delivered by Dr de Vito and Dr Hatzisavividou, this project explored just transition through a biodiversity lens, with Bristol as one of its case studies.
   
   Together, these projects have generated deep community relationships, valuable stakeholder insights and clear evidence of the need for more inclusive, long-term dialogue.

Arts-based methods as a catalyst for future-thinking

The development of these new methods incorporates substantial contributions from:

• Dr Karen Boswall, Independent Filmmaker and Researcher
• Rengin Gürel Ozmen, Design Specialist and PhD researcher, UWE
  
  with additional support from:
• Dr Abbie Tabor, Senior Lecturer, Health and Applied Sciences, UWE
• Bharath Ananthanarayana, Environmentalist and PhD researcher, University of Exeter and UWE
  
  and consultancy input from:
• Bill Sharpe, co-creator of the Three Horizons Framework

By combining arts-based practice, community ethnography, futures methodologies and policy expertise, the team is creating a space where different perspectives can be acknowledged, understood and integrated.

In October, the team piloted this approach in a workshop hosted with SevernNet, with support from Bristol Port, Avonmouth Community Centre and the West of England Industrial Cluster. Using clips from the interactive documentary, participants explored sustainability themes and discussed how community perspectives can shape business and policy decisions.

Feedback was highly positive, with stakeholders noting that the format helped to “surface voices we don’t usually hear” and stimulated new conversations about shared priorities.

What this project aims to achieve

Over the next year, the team will work toward several connected aims:

1. Co-develop a theory of change for Avonmouth’s just transition
   Through workshops and collaborative sessions, stakeholders will map the changes needed to achieve fair, sustainable futures.
2. Enable meaningful conversations across sectors
   Using interactive documentary footage and futures methods, the team will bring together residents, businesses, environmental groups and policymakers.
3. Strengthen partnerships across the region
   With support from Avonmouth Community Centre, the Port of Bristol, SevernNet, environmental organisations, universities and WECA, the project will create a foundation for long-term collaboration.
4. Build a platform for larger research funding
   The project will generate a proof-of-concept model that will inform an AHRC standard grant application spanning arts, humanities, social science and policy research.
5. Share learning beyond Avonmouth
   Insights will feed into the Three Horizons Use Case Library, the University of Bath’s Institute for Policy Research, and potentially other UK communities navigating similar challenges.

This project brings businesses, local communities, and researchers together in a way that fosters shared understanding, dialogue and practical solutions. It will support the delivery of our Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plan by connecting industrial decarbonisation with community priorities, paving the way for a just transition towards low-carbon futures.

– Rhiannon Griffith – Chair of the West of England Industrial Cluster

A whole-system approach to change

What stands out in this project is the way creativity, community knowledge and policy expertise come together. Interactive media and arts-based methods sit alongside decarbonisation planning and environmental futures work, helping people see the issues through different lenses.

This cross-disciplinary approach reflects the collaborative nature of the team, who are drawing on a wide range of research traditions to support meaningful dialogue and explore practical routes toward a just transition.

As an anthropologist and specialist in energy futures, I am delighted to support this project as an international co-investigator. The team has produced outstanding work to date that resonates with my own research. It offers a genuinely innovative approach for building understanding, vision and action around a complex set of urgent and pressing issues.

Sarah Pink – Laureate Professor, Monash University

A collaborative future for Avonmouth

In a place where industrial activity, environmental pressures and community priorities often collide, this project offers something different: a way of working that is empathetic, inclusive and imaginative.

By weaving together arts-based research, applied policy expertise and community storytelling, A Just Transition for Avonmouth is helping stakeholders across the region explore – and begin to shape – a shared future.