Author Archives: Simone Gristwood

Reflections on the Lancaster power cuts of December 2015

Posted on January 20, 2016

// DEMANDers in Lancaster were able to experience first hand the effects of flooding caused by Storm Desmond, that left 55,000 homes without power in December 2015. Below are some reflections of experiences from the week of 5th - 12th December 2015 written by Lancaster DEMANDers. There is also a short film "What is going on?" about demand and disruption during the power cut and a report…

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Here’s why adaptability is the key to coping with transport disasters

Posted on January 14, 2016

Floods caused by Storm Desmond left more than 2,500 homes without power, washed away bridges, closed schools and hospitals and caused serious damage to homes and businesses across swathes of northern England and Scotland. Meanwhile, the closure of the Forth Road Bridge due to structural defects has left 100,000 people, along with major corporations such as Amazon, facing large diversions…

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The washing basket is critical. Dale Southerton

Posted on November 23, 2015

This paper explores the temporal organisation of laundry. It considers coordination in two forms: the scheduling of inter-connected practices (e.g. work, eating, other water-using practices) and of practitioners (for quality time, social occasions, and to align personal schedules). In both cases, the materiality of the practice – household infrastructure, the environment and, above all…

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Talk: If the Walls Could Talk: histories of homes and domestic energy use in Stevenage

Posted on November 16, 2015

13th November, 2015, Stevenage Museum Researchers from Lancaster University, Nicola Spurling and Elizabeth Shove, held an event at the Stevenage Museum, looking at how energy use in everyday life has changed between 1950 and the present. Two specially produced booklets 'Daily rhythms and energy use in Stevenage' and 'Central heating comes to Stevenage' explain how project 3.1's archive and…

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Submission: Design Commission Enquiry: Design and behaviour in the built environment

Posted on November 11, 2015

On 15th September, Elizabeth Shove gave evidence in person at the House of Lords (on behalf of Noel Cass, James Faulconbridge and herself) to a Design Commission enquiry on design and behaviour in the built environment. She was invited in response to an official submission to the enquiry For details of the commission: …

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