On Wednesday 21st March, UCL’s Energy Institute and Institute for Sustainable Resources hosted the annual MSc EPEE networking event for alumni, current students, prospective students and industry experts.
Held at the recently refurbished Bartlett headquarters, the event began with a welcome by ISR Lecturer Dr Will McDowall, followed by a speech on ‘The State of UK Environmental Policy 2018: The government’s 25-year environment plan’ given by ISR Director Professor Paul Ekins.
Prof Paul Ekins, commented in his speech:
There’s a lot of politics going on there [government's environment plan], which makes me very suspicious.
Following this, a panel discussion chaired by UCL ISR’s Professor Michael Grubb commented on the issues covered in the speech and the importance of long-term planning in environmental policy. Panellists included EPEE alumni Jesse Glicker from the International Energy Agency, Oliver Kerr from Aurora Energy Research and Jie Zhou from the Ellen McArthur foundation. Each delivered informative segments on the work they have been doing since graduating from UCL, responding to questions from the crowd.
Noteworthy matters highlighted at the event included the ‘stickiness’ of the government’s 25-year environmental plan, whether there any real commitments made and what the future of environmental policy looks like in the UK.
After the closing remarks, the guests and speakers were invited to discuss the key issues from the keynote speech at a networking drinks reception. The evening closed with discussions between alumni, students, prospective students and industry experts, paving the way for an exciting year for the MSc EPEE and another event next year.
Dr Will McDowall, Course Director of MSc EPEE said:
The annual alumni event is a highlight of our year – it’s great to catch up with our former students and see what they’re all doing. It’s really nice to see alumni making connections with each other, and building a network across the years.
Watch the full event:
