As cuts to public expenditure are ramping up, demand for public services and economic growth remains as high as ever. Pressure to deliver more for less is resulting in an increased focus on innovation – in the way that public services and the economy are provided, supported and managed.

The Centre’s latest Policy Workshop – The Values and Valuation of Natural Capital, organised jointly with the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) at the Institute for Government on 13 October – brought together policy makers from Defra, DECC, CLG, DfE, BIS and DfT, alongside zoologists, economists, engineers, geographers and conservation scientists.

Behaviour change experts and officials responsible for policies to encourage increased energy efficiency met earlier this month in a workshop organised by CSaP for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The UK's targets for reducing carbon emissions are ambitious and a wide range of tools for emissions reduction merit consideration.

What role can the Centre for Science and Policy play in cultivating and nurturing scientists with an ability and passion for communication and policy?

CSaP is working with the UK Innovation Research Centre (UK~IRC) and others to design a consultation, seminar and workshop programme which will bring together the latest research and those who are best placed to apply it.

Participants in the CSaP's inaugural Associate Seminar on 27 January had a ringside seat as Andy Parker (Professor of High Energy Physics) went head-to-head with Dr David Sweeney (HEFCE's Director of Research, Innovation and Skills).