The BRIDGE Project

BRIDGE: Building Resilience In a Dynamic Global Economy -- Complexity across scales in Brazil. The BRIDGE project is a UK-BRAZIL collaboration funded by the Newton Funds, comprising of the ESRC and FAPESC. It supports researchers in the modelling, understanding and governance of the Food-Water-Energy Nexus.

The BRIDGE project aims to develop a framework of analysis and policy engagement to improve the resilience of the Brazilian Food-Water-Energy (FWE) nexus to global environmental and economic change, in close cooperation with the Brazilian academic community. It combines established UK expertise and specifically developed, state-of-the-art analytical capacity in socio-economic and environmental modelling to build a robust environmental policy assessment methodology for the Brazilian FWE nexus in the context of global change. The modelling capacity, skills and knowledge will be transferred to relevant actors in Brazil to enable local academics to continue informing and engaging policymakers through a continued sustainability transition during and beyond the end of this project. 

The project is funded by the Newton Fund, a collaboration between UK and Brazil Research Councils, the ESRC and FAPESC.

BRIDGE is a three years project, with a consortium formed of five institutions, led by the University of Cambridge (UK) and the University of the South of Santa-Catarina UNISUL (Brazil), with Co-Investigators at the University of Exeter (UK), Cambridge Econometrics Ltd (UK) and The Open University (UK).

Project partners are as follows:

•  Scientific direction: Jean-Francois Mercure, University of Exeter and University of Cambridge
•  Administrative direction in UK: Jorge Vinuales, University of Cambridge
•  Administrative direction in Brazil: Baltazar Andrade Guerra, UNISUL

WP1 - Management

Leader: Jean-Francois Mercure

WP2 - Modelling

Leader: Jean-Francois Mercure

• The diffusion of innovation and land-use modelling: Jean-Francois Mercure and Soeren Lindner, University of Exeter
• Macroeconomics and trade: Hector Pollitt, Cambridge Econometrics Ltd
• Climate change modelling and the planet surface: Neil Edwards, The Open University

WP3 - Policy Analysis and Stakeholder Engagement

Leader: Jorge Vinuales

• Stakeholder Engagement - Maria Augusta Paim and Pablo Salas, University of Cambridge
• Policy Mapping and Analysis - Maria Augusta Paim, University of Cambridge 

WP4 - Pilot Action Projects

Leader: Baltazar Andrade Guerra

• Management of the Pilot Action Projects  - Baltazar Andrade Guerra, Rafael Faraco, Joao Marcelo, Issa Berchin, UNISUL, Florianopolis, Brazil

WP5 - Public Dissemination and Engagement

Leader: Baltazar Andrade Guerra

WP6 - Innovation, Diffusion and Technology Transfer

Leader: Pablo Salas

 Representative Research Output 

• Oxford Handbook of Comparative Environmental Law, Viñuales, J.-E. (ed.) (forthcoming)

• Mercure et al. (2019). System complexity and policy integration challenges: The Brazilian Energy-Water-Food Nexus. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 105, Pages 230 243

• Evaluating regulatory strategies for mitigating hydrological risk in Brazil through diversification of its electricity mix, M.-A. Paim, Dalmarco, A., Chung-Han, Y., Salas, P., Mercure, J.-F., Guerra, J. B., Derani, C., Bruce da Silva, T. & Viñuales, J.-E. Energy Policy, 128, 2019, 393-401. 

• Macroeconomic impact of stranded fossil fuel assets. Mercure, J.-F., Pollitt, H., Viñuales, J.E., Edwards, N.R., Holden, P.B., Chewpreecha, U.,  Salas, P., Sognnaes, I., Lam, A., Knobloch, F. Nature Climate Change (2018)

• The role of money and the financial sector in energy-economy models used for assessing climate and energy policy, Pollitt, H. & Mercure, J.-F. Journal of Climate Policy, 18 (2), 2018, 184-197

• Environmental impact assessment for climate change policy with the simulation-based integrated assessment model E3ME-FTT-GENIE. Mercure, J.-F., Pollitt, H., Edwards, N.R., Holden, P.B., Chewpreecha, U., Salas, P., Lam, A., Knobloch, F., & J E.Vinuales. Energy Strategy Reviews, 20, Ap. 2018, 195-208

• Systems Innovation, Inertia and Pliability: A mathematical exploration with implications for climate change abatement. Grubb, M., Mercure, J., Salas, P., Lange, R., & Sognnaes, I., Cambridge Working Paper Economics, 1819, Mar. 2018

• Energy modelling and the Nexus concept. Brouwer, F., Avgerinopoulos, G., Fazekas, D., Laspidoud, C., Mercure, J.-F., Pollitt, H., Pereira, E., & Howells, R.M. Energy Strategy Reviews, 19, Jan. 2018, 1-6

• System Complexity and Policy Integration Challenges: the Brazilian Energy-Water-Food Nexus, J.-F. Mercure, M.-A. Paim, P. Bocquillon, S. Lindner, P. Salas, P. Martinelli, I.I. Berchin, J.B.S.O.A. Guerra, C. Derani, C. L. de Albuquerque Junior, J.M.P. Ribeiro, F. Knobloch, H. Pollitt, N. R. Edwards, P. B. Holden, A. Foley, S. Schaphoff, R.A. Faraco, & J. E. Viñuales, C-EENRG Working Papers, 2017-6

• Modelling complex systems of heterogeneous agents to better design sustainability transitions policy, Mercure, J.-F., Pollitt, H., Bassi, A. M.,  Viñuales, J. E., & Edwards, N. R. Global Environmental Change, 37, 2016, 102-115

• The importance of international conferences on sustainable development as higher education institutions’ strategies to promote sustainability: A case study in Brazil. Berchin, I. I., Sima, M., de Lima, M. A., Biesel, S., dos Santos, L. P., Ferreira, R. V., … & Ceci, F. Journal of Cleaner Production, 171, 2018, 756-772

• Contributions of Public Policies to Greening Sugarcane Ethanol Production in Brazil. Berchin, I. I., da Silva, S. A., Bocquillon, P., Fornasari, V. H., Ribeiro, L. P. C., Ribeiro, J. M. P., & de Andrade, J. B. S. O. In Towards a Sustainable Bioeconomy: Principles, Challenges and Perspectives, Springer, Cham., 2018, 375-393

• The adoption of strategies for sustainable cities: a comparative study between Newcastle and Florianopolis focused on urban mobility. Guerra, J. B. S., Pereira Ribeiro, J. M., Fernandez, F., Bailey, C., Barbosa, S. B., & Neiva, S. D. S. Journal of Cleaner Production, 163, 2027, S209-S222

• Climate change and forced migrations: An effort towards recognizing climate refugees. Berchin, I. I., Valduga, I. B., Garcia, J., & de Andrade, J. B. S. O. Geoforum, 84, 2017, 147-150.

• Education for Sustainable Development and Its Role in the Promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals. Garcia, J., da Silva, S. A., Carvalho, A. S., & de Andrade, J. B. S. O. In Curricula for Sustainability in Higher Education, Springer, Cham., 2017, 1-18.

• Promotion of Sustainable Development at Universities: The Adoption of Green Campus Strategies at the University of Southern Santa Catarina, Brazil. Ribeiro, J. M. P., Barbosa, S. B., Casagrande, J. L., Sehnem, S., Berchin, I. I., da Silva, C. G., … & de Andrade, J. B. S. O.  In Handbook of Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development in Higher Education Springer, Cham. 2017, p. 471-486