Pete Eckersley

The book brings together many of the findings from our "ExTrass" project on local climate adaptation and mitigation in mid-sized German cities.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make this happen, particularly interviewees and partners in our 33 case study cities, and project colleagues!

Really pleased to pick up these babies in the flesh from the office 😊

Book by Wolfgang Haupt, me and Kristine Kern, on "German cities in a changing climate: challenges for politics, public administration and society" now out in hard copy with @nomosverlag.bsky.social
share.google/QL3MVTJbdPXi...

Blimey, these articles by Goodwin and Oakeshott in the Spectator appear to be genuine - they both read like Private Eye spoofs

@gabyhinsliff.bsky.social on the nail here. Unlike many other economic migrants, Dubai influencers have the opportunity (perhaps even the duty) to inform their followers of the perils associated with fleeing conflict zones

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Maybe the US govt did have a clear objective after all... but didn't want to say it out loud, because it smacks so much of colonialism

👇 Brilliant take on the societal risks on relying on LLMs and their hallucinations, particularly in under-researched fields.

Also great that @leahbroad.bsky.social refrains from using the term 'AI'. These models are, of course, *not intelligent* in any genuine way.

I realise this is Bluesky and therefore echo chambers etc., but I don't think ever seen a ratio quite like this before

I see that the current holder of the FIFA Peace Prize is - once again - showing the world why that award was so well deserved

The thing about Gorton and Denton: it wasn't even close. Reform a long way behind the Greens, and not much ahead of Labour, in a seat that was supposed to be a three-way tie

Great article on tariff rebates from @alanbeattie.bsky.social in the FT, here with a gift link.

He points out that Chinese companies, rather than US consumers, will benefit from the fiasco - in direct contrast to how the policy was framed and sold originally

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

It's been a real pleasure to contribute to this report into climate action in English local government. We even managed to keep it to a very-unacademic, readable length! 🙂

Liam Clegg will be talking about our analysis at this launch event in London next month - tickets are still available 👇

My massive Schadenfreude at the tariffs judgement is tempered equally bigly by this observation

Really insightful analysis of the intelligence and diplomatic build-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, four years after it started. It's reassuring to be reminded that Putin remains a very long way from achieving his objectives.

My favourite bit 👇
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

‘Is university still worth it?’ is the wrong question The graduate earnings premium isn’t really measuring what most people think

Turns out (says @jburnmurdoch.ft.com) it's not so much an oversupply of graduates in the UK (the same would be true of other similar countries but it's not) as an undersupply of the kind of jobs that a better-performing, more productive economy would supply.

Terrific from Bedford Council 👇

Yoon Suk Yeol: South Korea’s ex-president jailed for life for masterminding an insurrection Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and indicted for declaring martial law in 2024.

South Korea, like Brazil before it, shows older democracies how to deal with insurrectionists

BBC News - www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cq...
Yoon Suk Yeol: South Korea’s ex-president jailed for life for masterminding an insurrection - BBC News

Winter Olympics 2026: GB curlers sweep aside Germany to edge closer to semis Team GB's men's curlers move a step closer to securing a Winter Olympics semi-final place as they compile an accomplished victory over Germany.

I'm all on favour of puns in news headlines, but I wonder how many times it's possible to get away with something like this when reporting on the curling

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articl...

The post is *fully-funded* for UK home students and includes a tax-free stipend of over £20k p.a. The PhD will be supervised by Marianna Poberezhskaya, Emma Hemmingway and me.

The deadline to apply is this Friday, 13th February. Perhaps you could be the lucky one?

We are looking for someone to compare net zero narratives created by state broadcasters in the UK (a democracy) and an authoritarian country (a candidate’s choice), and how these narratives influence progress on climate mitigation, particular in contexts of democratic backsliding and populism.

Analysing Net-Zero Discourses in the Context of Democratic Backsliding A fully funded PhD studentship opportunity, open for UK applicants.

Last call for our PhD position to work on the project "Analysing Net-Zero Discourses in the Context of Democratic Backsliding"! Details here, deadline is this Friday, 13 Feb 👇

www.ntu.ac.uk/study-and-co...

Four decades after we wrote Yes Minister, politics is still reduced to the pleasure of power | Jonathan Lynn Our sitcom character Jim Hacker continues to cling on – as he takes to the West End stage, nothing has really changed

I'm keen to see this play, but also highly annoyed that the tour goes to nine more southern venues after completing three months in London.

The only theatre it will play north of Birmingham is in York! Nothing in Scotland, the north east or north west...
www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/f...

‘To live a normal life again, it’s a dream come true’: UK’s first climate evacuees can cast off their homes and trauma Forty-odd residents of Clydach Terrace in Ynysybwl, south Wales, relieved by council buyout after years in fear of fast flooding

The UK's first, but definitely not last, climate evacuees 👇

The pessimist who became a prophet Michael Sandel was ignored by a generation of political optimists. Now he is searching for a way out of the mess he saw coming

This is a terrific analysis of how and why we got here - gift link

The pessimist who became a prophet - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

The Nazis located their worst concentration camps in occupied territory to the east - not within sight of the vast majority of Germans

This is quite interesting, even if it does highlight the fact that - AFAIK - no other big tech orgs make it easy for users to opt out from GenAI, despite growing public scepticism.
FWIW, the problems that GenAI has caused me since its inception far outweigh any benefits I think it may have delivered

Deutsche Städte im Klimawandel

Vielen Dank an unseren Kolleg:innen im Projekt, vor allem Antje Otto, Annegret Thieken, Janne Lis Irmisch, Philipp Seitz, Dr. Elisa Kochskämper, Leonie Laug und Hannah Müller.

Erscheinungsdatum ist der 16.02.2026. Vorabbestellung ist aber schon möglich!
www.nomos-shop.de/de/p/deutsch...

Es fokussiert sich dabei auf klimapolitische Entwicklungspfade, und strukturelle Faktoren und Schlüsselakteur:innen, die für Klimaschutz und Klimaanpassung in 33 deutscher Fallstudienstädten wichtig sind.
Dazu enthält es Handlungsempfehlungen an Entscheidungsträger:innen aus der kommunalen Praxis.

Deutsche Städte im Klimawandel

Ich freue mich sehr auf die kommende Publikation unseres neuen Buches 👇

Das Buch wurde von Wolfgang Haupt, mir, und der leider verstorbenen Kristine Kern geschrieben, und befasst sich mit der Entstehung und Entwicklung städtischer Klimapolitik in Deutschland

www.nomos-shop.de/de/p/deutsch...

Respect to this guy for wearing shorts whilst out walking dog on the seafront this morning.

Weather forecast also posted for context

The Nuremberg defence. Except in this case her bosses are neither dead, nor hiding in South America