Professor Geraint Ellis
Chair of Environmental Planning in the School of Natural and Built Environment, and Director for Research for the interdisciplinary research cluster on Sustainable Built Environment.
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)
Professor Ellis’s career has been driven by the belief that people’s health and well-being are strongly shaped by the places they live, and that the way we build cities is crucial to securing a high quality of life for all. He has also focussed on the need to address climate change through spatial planning, including fostering energy transition through social engagement.
Professor Ellis began his career working with community and environmental groups in London and then to Southern Africa, where he was part of a team managing urban growth in Lesotho. On return to the UK he took up a post developing sustainable transport projects in London.
During his time at Queen’s, Professor Ellis has developed his interest in the fairness and environmental challenges facing urban development, primarily focussing on how we can make the places we live more healthy and how we can foster the transition to a low carbon economy. He has published widely in these areas and led a large number of multi-disciplinary research projects examining issues such as the Irish energy transition, designing cities for the health of older adults in Brazil, health impacts of greenway development and community involvement in renewable energy development.
His key research interests are in planning and sustainability, renewable energy, planning governance and healthy urban planning. He has published widely on these topics and is a Co-Editor of the Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning (http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjoe20/current) and a founding member of the Editorial Board of the new Routledge, journal, Cities and Health. In this role Geraint is leading an initiative thinking about future impacts of COVID and other pandemics on cities – the nature of the expertise can be seen in the call here: bit.ly/RCAH_Call_Covid-19.
Fields
Environmental Planning Natural and Built EnvironmentAreas of Expertise
Environmental Planning, Natural and Built Environment, healthy cities, urban planning, urban growth, sustainability, energy transition
Media Experience
Professor Ellis has extensive media experience and has worked with a range of print, broadcast and online media.
Notable coverage
- Estudo pretende identificar principais problemas que idosos enfrentam nas cidades brasileiras, BBC Brazil, 07/10/2016
- Community acceptance and the future of wind energy, Eolas Magazine, 15/01/2014
- Engaging communities in renewable energy projects, agendaNI Magazine, 30/08/2017
- Taylor and Francis online
- Review of Wind Energy: Briefing by Professor Geraint Ellis, NI Assembly, 07/11/2013
Video
Associated Research Centres / Projects
Professor Ellis advises a range of NGO and community organisations, including being a Board member of Belfast Healthy Cities for over 10 years and has acted as the National expert for Ireland to the International Energy Agency’s working group on social acceptance of wind energy.
Contact Information
For more information or to book an interview, email comms.office@qub.ac.uk
Academic Profile