A greener, healthier and fairer South Yorkshire: how research is changing our region

University of Sheffield researchers have been partnering with communities, businesses and policymakers to address some of South Yorkshire's biggest environmental and social challenges, from clean energy and transport to food systems and air quality.

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The South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre brought together research, policy and local expertise to address the region's sustainability challenges.
University of Sheffield research is testing practical ways to reduce emissions, improve air quality and strengthen local food systems.
The findings are informing local policy and supporting evidence-based action across the region.

How can we build a more sustainable South Yorkshire? From reducing emissions in our homes and workplaces to improving air quality and restoring the natural environment, the transition to net zero involves more than developing new technologies. It means understanding how people live and work, how businesses operate, and how policy can support practical, lasting change.

This approach was central to the work of the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre (SYSC).

Hosted by the University of Sheffield and supported by the Research England Development Fund from 2022 to 2026, the cross-disciplinary centre worked with partners including Sheffield Hallam University and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to address some of the region's biggest environmental and social challenges.

By bringing together researchers, policymakers, businesses and community organisations, the SYSC helped ensure research reflected regional priorities and generated evidence to inform local decision-making across South Yorkshire.

Over four years, the centre supported projects spanning energy, transport, food systems and environmental restoration. Many of these were co-developed with policymakers and practitioners, with research questions shaped in partnership with organisations such as SYMCA and local authorities to help the work respond to the needs and experiences of the people it aimed to benefit.

This was achieved by focusing on three of the highest-emitting and most difficult to decarbonise areas of the South Yorkshire economy:

Agri-Food Systems and Environmental Restoration: Working towards net-zero food systems by cutting emissions from farm to fork and supporting peri-urban farming and local food partnerships like ShefFood.
Residential Energy and Transport Systems: Retrofitting homes and advancing active travel to reduce fuel poverty, lower emissions, and improve public health.
Industrial and Commercial Decarbonisation: Helping local enterprise transition to clean fuels and sustainable operations.

For Professor Rachael Rothman, Academic Director of the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre, this collaborative, evidence-based approach is fundamental to creating meaningful change.

“The South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre has played a key role in our work with organisations across the region to make South Yorkshire healthier, greener, more vibrant and innovative for all.”

“Central to this work is a simple idea: sustainability challenges cannot be solved in isolation. Reducing emissions, improving health and restoring the environment require an understanding of the social, economic and policy factors that shape how change happens in practice” explains Professor Rothman.

SYSC event — Event hosted by the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre

The projects below highlight how University of Sheffield researchers have worked alongside local partners to address challenges that matter most to communities across South Yorkshire.

Making low-carbon heating work for households

Domestic heating accounts for around 18% of UK carbon emissions.

While low-carbon alternatives are essential for reaching net zero, high upfront costs, pressure on electricity networks and the challenges of retrofitting existing homes can make the transition difficult. For South Yorkshire, ensuring that low-carbon heating is affordable and accessible is key to delivering safe, secure and sustainable housing.

At the University of Sheffield, researchers in the Faculty of Engineering are exploring how heat pumps, solar power and energy storage technologies can work together to make home heating more efficient and cost-effective.

Through the ADSorB project, the team demonstrated that thermal stores containing phase change materials could provide domestic hot water and low-temperature space heating while shifting energy use from peak to off-peak periods. This could help households make better use of time-of-use electricity tariffs, reduce running costs and ease pressure on local electricity networks.

The researchers are also investigating how predictive control systems can coordinate different technologies automatically, helping households benefit from energy storage without needing to manage the system themselves.

Supported by funding from the SYSC, provided by SYMCA and the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, the project is now moving into its next phase through further laboratory development and a demonstrator in Gleadless Valley.

Delivered in partnership with Sheffield City Council, E.ON and Daikin, the demonstrator will test a low-temperature district heating system while helping researchers understand how residents experience and use low-carbon heating in practice.

By piloting these technologies in real homes and communities, the project is helping move South Yorkshire towards a future where low-carbon heating works for households as well as the wider energy system.

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Cleaner air through smarter traffic management

Traffic pollution can have a significant impact on health and wellbeing, particularly for those living and working near the busiest roads. But could cleaner air be achieved by changing the way traffic flows through Sheffield?

Researchers at the University of Sheffield explored whether data-driven traffic management could help reduce pollution without the need for major changes to the city's road network.

Their modelling found that rerouting traffic could reduce city-wide nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations by 21%, with less congestion and cleaner air in some of Sheffield’s most polluted areas. The impact on drivers was predicted to be small, adding an average of around 20 seconds to each journey.

The findings offer evidence for local policymakers considering how traffic management could improve air quality. They also illustrate how data-driven approaches could help reduce exposure to harmful emissions for communities living close to congested roads.

By showing how small changes to traffic routes could make a difference to air pollution across Sheffield, the research offers a new perspective on how the city could move towards a healthier urban environment.

Growing a fairer food system

Sheffield has the potential to produce more food locally. However, access to land, limited funding and a lack of policy support can make it difficult for community growing projects to get off the ground.

To explore how urban agriculture could play a greater role in the city's food system, the Urban Agriculture Task Force brought together University of Sheffield researchers, local practitioners and community organisations to examine the conditions needed for local food production to flourish.

Researchers mapped existing growing spaces across the city and identified opportunities to make better use of available land. The findings helped inform conversations about access to growing space and the barriers facing local food projects.

The work has also helped to support practical action. In 2024, social enterprise Food Works secured a lease to bring Sheffield’s Norton Nurseries back into productive use, opening up opportunities for community food production, volunteer training and sustainable catering. The Task Force has also supported school growing projects, community gardens and stronger links between Sheffield’s neighbourhoods and surrounding farms.

Urban growing is about more than producing food. It can give people new skills, create shared spaces and help communities connect with where their food comes from.

Through bringing together research and local knowledge, the project is helping shape a food system that is more sustainable, inclusive and rooted in local communities.

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Research rooted in the region

The South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre has proven how universities can work alongside local authorities, businesses and communities to address challenges that matter to people throughout the region.

Just as importantly, the Centre has demonstrated the value of civic research.

“Because every region is unique, the one-size-fits-all policy rarely works. The real value of our civic research lies in bringing academic expertise into direct, active partnership with SYMCA, local authorities, businesses, and residents. At SYSC, we are delivering the robust local evidence base needed to inform regional decision-making to tackle real-world challenges specific to South Yorkshire” explains Sylvia Moffatt, Senior Policy and Impact Officer at the SYSC.