On Thursday 4 May 2017, Greater Manchester will elect its first Mayor. The creation of a directly elected Mayor is part of the process of devolving more political powers to the Greater Manchester area, helping development towards a "Northern Powerhouse".

Our 2017 climate seminar series continued with a talk by Professor Stephen Briggs, a Senior Adviser in the European Space Agency, who discussed the role that space agencies are making in monitoring climate change from space, and the potential applications of their work for future mitigation.

In the second of the 2017 climate seminar series, Clive Maxwell, Director General of Energy Transformation at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, described some of the technologies and initiatives put in place by the UK government to reduce carbon emissions, and some of the challenges we still face in tackling climate change.

The promise of local governance is to bring politics closer to the people; making it more accountable to the local community. At a recent CSaP event, Policy Fellow Jeremy Skinner of the Greater London Authority (GLA) made the case for a further devolution of powers.

The 2017 Climate Change Seminar Series kicked off in January with a talk on how understanding earth’s “vital signs” could aid efforts to adapt to, and mitigate, climate change.

In recent years we have seen weather records being broken more and more often with severe heatwaves, floods and other extreme weather around the world.

The Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at the University of Bath becomes the latest member to join the CSaP Affiliate Network.

The replacement of driving with active forms of travel has the capacity to provide myriad health and economic benefits, says Dr David Ogilvie of the Centre for Diet and Activity Research at a recent CSaP event.

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) has announced an Academic Fellowship Scheme, giving researchers from PhD to professor the opportunity to take part in projects of direct relevance to Parliament within the walls of Westminster.

Will political events of 2016 provoke a fundamental rethink of the role of institutions at the intersection of science, innovation, expertise, politics and power?